The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-08-23 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

A platelayer had a miraculous escape near Talbot-
road Station, Blackpool, last Friday evening. He was
at work in the track of the up line, and did not appear
to notice that a train was approaching at a very rapid
rate. The alarm was given, but he had not time to get
away, but he had the presence of mind to throw him-
self fiat on his face. In a second the whole train passed
over him, and he got up much alarmed and with only
one or two slight bruises.
A meeting of representative working men of Edin-
burgh and district has been held, and it was agreed to
organise a welcome to Mr. Gladstone on the occasion of
his visit to present him with an address, to invite him
to a large meeting, and to request him to deliver a
short speech in reply to the Address. The promoters of
this movement are the members of the committee
who arranged the great meeting in Waverley Market
in 1879.
The "Jewish World" states that the New Year of
the Jews commences five weeks hence. According to
the traditional chronology of the synagogue, this will be
the 5645th year sirce the.creation of the world. Autumn
commences at three o'clock in the morning of the 6th
October; winter at half-past ten in the morning of the
sth January; spring at six o'clock in the evening of the
6th April; and summer at half-past one in the morn-
ing of the 6th July. The year 5645 is the 1816th since
the destraction of the Second Temple.
Sergeant John Brook, late of the Ist battalion Grena-
dier Guards, who has just died at the age of 87, served
through the campaign of 1813.15, and, among other
servines, was present at. the Battles of Quatre Bras and
Waterloo. In the latter engagement his knapsack was
shot from his back by a cannon-ball,which killed several
of his comrades close to him.
A: statistician has been calculating anew the mortality
of the globe. He has discovered the number of deaths
to be 67 every minute, 97,790 every day, or 35,639,835
every year- The births exceed the deaths by three per
minute, running toeloo,ooo every day, and 36,792,000
every year.
Tenement house property in New York returns a
fabulous interest upon investment. A man can get a
bigger ineome from, 25,000 dols. sr 30,000 dols, by in-
vesting it in tenement houses than in any other way.
The new postal 'routes opened in New South Wales
during 1883 amounted to 1703 miles. The extent of
postal route traversed in the colony on December 31,
1883, was 25,162 miles, as compared with 23,923 miles
traversed in 1882. The number of miles travelled in the
year 1883 was 6,264,300, being an increase of 402,983 on
the mileage of the previous year.
Last winter Lord Dalhousie started fourteen night
classes on his estates in lorfau,Liie fur the.-instruction
of young farmers, grieves, and others in the science of
farming. The results are considered satisfactory, and
with aNiew of the extension of the scheme Mr. Buck-
master, of the Science and Art Department, has
recently held public meetings in the counties of Perth-
shire and Kincardineshire.
cMSEft Duniterley, manufacturer, of Church,
near Acer ington was killed in Chapel-walls, Manchester,
about noon on iriday, by falling u der the wheels of a
passing lorry. The deceased was well known and
highly respected on the Manchester Exchange, and the
news was received with great regret by his friends on
'Change.
The men employed at the Maenonevan Slate
Quarries, which is one of the largest undertaking in
Festiniog, have struck against a reduction in wages
of five per cent. The slate trade is at present very
dull, and many of the smaller quarvies have stopped
working.
The census recently taken in Athens shows the popu-
lation of the capital of Greece to be 84,903, which gives
an increase of 18,069 since 18794 In 1856 there were
30,000; in 1861, 41,000; 1869, 50,000; which gives an
increase of 180 per cent. in the last 28 years. It is
worthy of note that the proportion between the sexes
is 47,000 males to 37,000 females.
At Lord's on Saturday the M.C.O. resumed and
completed their first innings against Notts Castle for
140, being still 161 runs behind. The second innings
elosed for 265, and NottsCastle then went in and added
/07 to their previous score of 301, winning the match
by one wicket.
An assistant keepership of the British Museum of the
value of £6OO per annum is vacant by the death of Mr.
Eugene Armand Roy, ono of the assistant keepers.
Mr. Roy, who died from heart disease, had been for
more than forty years in the service of the nation a
the British Museum.

Kwang-su, the Emperor of China, was born on
August 15, 1871, and has accordingly just completed
his 13th year. The youthful Emperor is. the SQII of
Prince Chun, seventh son of the Emperor Taokwang,
and brother of Hien-fung, father of the late Emperor
Tung-chih, who died on January 12,. 1875, when the
present Emperor succeeded to thern throne by
,pro.
tion. His name before his succession was " t ien,
but, as it is customary for the Celestial rulers to select
a new name on succeeding to the Imperial purple, this
was exchanged for Kwang-sii, which means "Illus-
trious Succession." The present Sovereign is the
ninth Emperor of China of the Tartar dynasty of
Ta-tsing, "The Sublimely Pure," which succeeded the
native dynasty of Ming mthe year 1644. •
On Saturday night William Tee, aged 50 respectably
connected, was found Insensible on the Doncaster-road,
near Barnsley, with two ernptylaudanum bottles by his
ride. He was removed to the police station, but not-
withstanding medical aid, died at ten o'clock. At a late
hour the same night the body of a man respectably
dressed, about 35 years of age, attired in a black suit-,
with a bunch of keys in his pocket but no money, wat:
found dr9ined in t 4 PBMI near_ Ziloillalrttoil,

. .
I The two sons of the It hedite have ifed in Vienn&
I A single line of tramway will shortly be opened.
between Dulwich and PeckhaM:
A London correspondent of the •Vieima "Political
Correspondence " says the various Cabinets have agreed
that a conference shall be convoked for the settlement
of the Congo'question. The initiative of this step will
me from Gzirmany.
st4ted ih Berlin that the British Bost Office
autilerities have inquired of the North Getitart Lloyd
at whltrraies it Would undertake to carry the mails
from L'Nerpool antl Queenstown to New York" oar three
days of the week.
At an inquest held' on Monday night at Bath on the
body of Henry S. &nith, who committed suicide it
was stated tLat.tlie man hanged himself while suffer-
ing acutely, frotrtpains itr the head caused by the eves-
ewe beat.
At the Herefcnt. I City VoNee-court en Monday, James
Jones, of Ross-rod; WasTemended, bail being refused,
on a charge of maitioudy wounding Henry Nicholls, o#
The Pineapple Inn, by stabbing him. The injured man
Dow lies in a very precarious-state.
A telegram from 'Vienna; states that Herr Maurice
Thausing, Professor cf Art History at the Vienna
-University, who wrote e'vrork on Albert Durer, has
Been drowned in the Elbe,-at Leitmeritz. He had been
suffering from mental derangement, especially the fear
ofearsecntion.

,The ship Hesperus, 1777 tons- register, sailed from
Plymouth on Friday with the fbllbwing emigrants for
Adelaide: Thirty-four married couples, 115 single men,
160 single women, 48 boys and 50- girls under 12 years
olage, and ten infants—in all 451 souls, equal to 392
adults, of whom 248 arc English, 34- Scotch, 156 Irish,
are 13 foreigners.
A:telegram from Montcean Les Mines says that a
formidable explosion of dynamite has occurred at
Perrecy Hes Vosges, at the House or the engineer of
the mines. That gentleman and his wife were seriously
injured'. The explosion was so strong that a large
number of houses situated at a considerable distance
had their windows shattered.

Another case of poisoning from eating tinned salmon
occurred at Rngely on Saturday, Mrs: Banks, Miss
Banks,•l'diss- Thompson, and Mr. Joseph Banks having
partaken of the salmon were almost immediately seized
with vzolent pains. Dr. Kemton was called in, and
attended to his patients for hours. For some time the
ladies were 'AI a critical condition, but eventually they
were pronelinced out of danger.
Dahlia Curtis, aged three, child of the shepherd on
Fernley Ftirra, &Acworth, had wandered into a corn-
field which was being cut, and is supposed to have laid
down in the standing corn and went to sleep. A reap-
ing and binding machine was cutting the corn, and cut
one arm and one leg off, and nearly severed the other
leg and otherwise mutilated the poor child's body.
She died in the evening. The attention of the worker
of the machine was directed at the time on the opposite
side to the corn.

A strange case of cattle poisoning has just occurred
on the farm of Mr. Morrison, of Rampton, near Ret-
ford. Six head Of cattle have died suddenly in one field
from symptoms of poisoning, and two men who opened
the animals are seriously ill, one dangerously. A pen
of pigs and a dog which ate some of the flesh died in-
stantly, and altogether eighteen animals have died from
the same cause. The veterinary surgeons and the
analyst have failed to determine the cause. The assist-
ance of the Veterinary Department of the Privy Council
is now being sought.
About two o'clock on Saturday John Brown, a police
officer in the Accrington Borough force, was knocked
down by a heavily-laden waggonette returning with a
pic-nic party from Whalley and killed. He was a mar.
ried man 26 years of age, and leaves a widow and three
children. He had been connected with the force from
its establishment four years ago.
The committee of the Royal Irish Military Tourna-
ment, out of th 3 proceeds of the meeting held in
Dublin in May last, have granted the sum of £lOO in
aid of the funds of the Dublin Branch of the Army and
Navy Pensioners Employment Society

King Alfonso visited the cannon factory at Trubia on
Monday. He was - enthusiastically cheered on his
arrival. After inspecting the factory his Majesty re-
turned to Gijon.
The Peninsular and Oriental Company's screw
steamer Malwa, from Bombay, with 14 passengers,
arrived at Plymouth on Tuesday. Among her pas-
sengers were the three envoys to the Queen from King
John of Abyssinia, bearing presents to her Majesty, in-
cluding a male elephant„.about three and a half yearn
old, and a large monkey.
A daring burglarywas Teported on Tuesday morning
as having occurred on the premises of Mr. Tibbett,
Bordesley-green, Birmingham. The burglars entered
the house through a back window, rifled all the cup-
boards and drawers, exchanged boots belonging to the
people in the house, entered Miss Tibbett's bed-room,
stole her watch and chain and other siticles without
awakening her. They ultimately decamped without
disturbing anyone in the house.
A young man named Edwards, in the employ of the
Llandudno Local Board, was drowned in Llandudno
Bay whilst bathing on Tuesday morning. Professor
Reddish, who was ,near at the time, made several
attempts to recover the-body, but failed to find It.
A first-class carriage of the express train bearing the
passengers from London went off the rails on Monday
morning just after the train had left Boulogne The
engine-driver fortunately observed the accident in time,
and no injury is reported to-have occurred to any of the
passengers.
A St. Petersburg telegram states that an order of
February 2 prohibiting the sale of single numbers of the
" Novosti "has been rescinded.

A rural postman, named George Blamire, was re-
manded by the Cannock magistrates on Monday on a
charge of having stolen a registered parcel containing a
watch. It was stated that several other charges would
be preferred against the accused.
From the beginning of the financial year to the 16th
inst., the Exchequer receipts were £29,196,336, as com-
pared with £31,049,967 in the corresponding period
of last year. The expenditure has been £30,878.213.
On Saturday last the .balance in the Bank of England
was £2,316,588.
In London last week2s79' births and 1634 deaths were
registered. Allowing for increase of population, the
births were 145 below, while the deaths exceeded by 67,
the average number; in the corresponding weeks of
the last ten years. The annual death-rate from all
causes, which had steadily declined in the four pre-
ceding weeks, from 261 to 251 per thousand was 21.2.
Mr. Boeham has modelled two busts of the late Duke
of Albany. One is said to be intended for the Royal
Mausoleum at Windsor and the other for Balmoral.
The Carabineers sent out in search of the malefactors
infesting the neighbourhood of Rome have succeeded
in discovering and arresting a band of three men armed
with guns, and lying in ambush on the road to Salciano ;
and in a wood 'near Velletri three others were en-
countered by two Oampagna Guards, who captured two
of them after a sharp struggle, in which the Guards
were severely wounded by billhooks. The malefactors
were cutting fnel.' Arrests of other individuals believed
to be implicated have been made. No further depreda-
tions have been reported.
Early on Tuesday morning a collision occurred off
Dungeness Point between the Emma, a Swedish barque,
of Hudikswald, and a large vessel, name unknown. The,
barque has nearly all her foreyards gone, and has sus-
tained damage to,her starboard bows.
Whilst batting in a cricket field at Hereford, on
Monday, Lord Stanhope, son of the Earl of Chesterfield,
was severely hit by the ball, and was carried off the
ground.
The rope works of Messrs. Haggie Brothers, Gates-
head, were on Monday destroyed by fire. The damage
will amount to £6OOO or £7OOO. Two police officers
were injured.
A man who has since given his name as Thomas
Brown, of Battersea, London, was found on Monday on
the railway embankment, near Rugeley. soon after the
London mail had passed. He had sustained fearful in-
juries to his head andback, and near him were found a
few shillings, his watch and chain broken, and two
hats. He can give no, explanation as to whether he was
thrown or fell out of the train. His recovery is
doubtful.
An alarming accident to a crowded excursion train,
which was howeverunattended by any serious results,
happened about midnight on Monday at Bridlington.
The train was made up of twenty-two carriages and
brakes, and was running from Searboro to Arram, on
the Hull and Scarboro line. Whilst shunting at Brid-
lington the train backed into the gates crossing the
metals, and a van and one carriage got off the line.
None of the passengers were injured, and the excursion
arrived at its destination about an hour late.
General Sir Henry Ponsonby has forwarded to the
Rev. Canon Broadley, of Bradpole, Dorset, £3, being
the Queen's donation to his parishioner, Mrs. Harriet
Wilmot; who recently gave birth to three boys, all of
whom are doing well.
Two men, father and son, have been admitted to the
General Hospital, Birmingham, suffering from shocking
injuries inflicted on them by a horse belonging to their
employer. The horse on Monday night became vicious,
and, turning upon the two men, knocked them down,
trampled upon them, and bit them savagely. The son
was rendered unconscious, and now lies in a critical
condition. -

At the Wirral' (Cheshire) Farmers' Club meeting, on
Tuesday, the judges of farms, Mr. Edwards, of Ruthin,
and• Mr. Shepheard, of Seal and Chester, reported on
the great damage done to grain crops by common
house sparrow. In one fine crop .of wheat they found
quite one-third of it had been carried away or destroyed
by these birds. There was an almost unanimous feeling
at the meeting that the Wild Birds Protection Act
should at once be repealed.
A shocking accident occurred late on Monday night
to a foreman gardener named Thomas in the employ of
Mr. Simon Yorke, of Erddig-hall, near W:rexliam. It
appears that Thomas had charge of a spring gun, and
when in the act of setting it it exploded and shattered
his left hand in a fearful manser.
.lle was taken
to Wrexham Infirmary, where the medical men found
it necessary to amputate the hand just above the

wrist.
At Shoeburyness, on. Tuesday, the first prize in the
competition with 401 b, breechloading Armstrong guns
with shot, at 1600 yards, was
ment of the 2nd East York Volwon by No. 3 Detach-
unteers. An interesting
competition between eight Royal Artillery detachments
for two prizes given by the National Artillery Associa-
tion, resulted in the award of the first prize to the
Devonport and. the second to the Chatham team.
At the Gaol° Alum Works on Tuesday night John
Fielder, while occupied in a chemical tower, over-
balanced 10.-mself and fell to the floor beneath, a distance
of forty feet. He was terribly injured and lies at the
G oole lufitmary in a precarious condition.
Jean Gironde, the parricide, who forced his own
brother to participate in the murder of their
under threat of death, was guillotined on
itt far
back as 'r
morning at Tulle. The murder was coramar. Martin
st a
back as the 10th of August of las.,a his brother,
year.
Qironde, who had given evidence g
mfoantLe,r
timates the average power of
MY. Benjamin Rhodes es
watatts ascqcouirtrteezileqtAtshsiezetsr.ial, which took against
in June last
Niagara -power on the total fall
n,
2301 H t. e places th
total cost of a plane
t necessary to utilise this power,
ialguadri a n
g Fallsthe a t
rapids 7,00 0,
above
v heo r
os
f e
f 'OO miles at 5,000,000,000 dols. The
within a radius e 0
te.iitnytocielletcliftr::y, and transmit it anywhere
shown bs the calculation that
transform
nhnly uthmei
o e' •
electric light
in the cost of runmug eac c
its use undas°nie ihsotfeittdheofPsoteearm'swsould effect.a saving f 40 d ls

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SA'JUiWA. AUGUST 23r.1, 18S4.