The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-03-29 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The Paris correspondent of the Standard states that
the French Government has come to tie determination to
renew the commercial treaty with England. There will be
some alteration in the details, but the basis is to be the
same.
A novel pedestrian contest is about to be decided in
America. Two one-legged men are to "walk" twenty-five
miles for a purse of 100 dollars and the championship.
Officiating on Sunday morning at the Metropolitan
Tabernacle, Mr. C. Spurgeon, jun., referred to the health of
his father, which, he said, was physically and mentally much
improved, though a weakness of the knees still existed. Not-
withstanding this weakness he was determined, however, to
appear once more before and address his flock on Sunday, the
13th proximo.
The State apartments at Windsor Castle will be
opened to the public on and after Monday, the 31st, on the
asual days, until further notice.
The Council of the Bath and West of England
Agricultural Society have accepted an invitation to hold
their show in 1880 in Worcester.
- -

A Swiss paper publishes some curious hunting
statistics, from which it appears that daring the past year
seven hundred and seventy-nine chamois, four bears, five
eagles, four vultures, fifteen owls. sixty-nine sparrow-hawks,
three hundred and twenty-four magpies, and one other bird
were killed in the canton of Grisons. Compared with the
previous twelvemonth the number of chamois appears to be
considerably on the increase, in spite of the mortality caused
by sportsmen.
A Rangoon telegram states that a great fire has
taken plane at Akyab, and that the Government buildings
were destroyed.
The preamble of the Thirlmere water scheme was
on Monday declared by a Committee of the House of Lords
to have been proved.

There were 22 British and foreign wrecks reported
during the past week, making the total for the present year
473, or an increase of 111 as compared with the correspond-
ing period of last year. The approximate value of property
lost was £500,000, including £300,000 British.

-
According to a Berlin telegram Queen Victoria is
expected at Coburg in the course of this spring. The Duke
and Duchess of Edinburgh are also expected at the same
place somewhat later, and it is said that the Czar will Join
them there.

An important meeting of the representatives of about
20,000 spinners, weavers, and other operatives was held at
Rouen on Sunday to concert measures for the amelioration
of the present depressed state of trade Fifteen delegates
were appointed to proceed to Paris for the purpose of having
interviews on the subject with the Minister of Commerce and
with the President of the Republic.
Last year there were employed in the French
fisheries 21,850 boats, °Lan aggregate tonnage of 111,780 tons,
and manned by 70,739 men and boys Statistics recently
published in France show that the actual value of the fish
realized by these fishermen amounted to about 90, 000,060 f ,
or £3,600,000, besides which large quantities of fish are con-
sumed by the fishermen and their families. The produce of
their calling, in fact, forms directly the principal means of
sustenance among the French fishermen—much more so than
is the case in this country.
The Mayor's Relief Fund, organised last December
for the relief of the very serious distress among the working
classes of Sheffield, is now exhausted, and no farther relief
will he given after this week. The whole of the fund, which
reached £12,669, and included £BOO from the relief fund of
the previous year, has been expended, and not only the work
of the district relief committees, but that of the Ladies' Com-
mittee, has to be discontinued. The fund has been applied
to the giving of children's dinners, soup, and clothing in
nearly thirty districts, and many thousands of families have
been relieved from the fund during the past four months.

According to Professor Dubois•Reymond, of the
University of Berlin, there are no physical reasons for
apprehending the dissolution of our planetary system just
yet, though how long this world may remain worth living in
seems to have been left an cpen question. In a lecture which
he gave last week at Bremen "On the End of the World,''
the learned professor came to the conclusion that, according
to the law of the conservation of force, the sun can continue
to shine only for 17,000,000 years longer. By the expiration
of that time the surface of the earth will have been
gradually covered by glaciers.
The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce, at their
monthly meeting, adopted the report of a committee upon
the silver question :—" That a fixed ratio between gold and
silver, in conjunction with unlimited freedom of mintage,
and the recognition of the two metals as full legal tender
money, would, if adopted by the majority of the leading
monetary powers, including England and India, be adeivate
to restore silver to its former international value as money."
It was resolved to appoint a deputation to submit the report
to the First Lord of the Treasury, the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, and the Secretary of State for India; to transmit
the report also to the Manchester Chamber of Commerce,
and to invite the co-operation of its members.
An injunction granted by the Master of the Rolls to
restrain the Great Eastern Railway Company from letting
for hire any locomotive engines or other rolling stock except
for the purposes of the traffic on any other railway in extra-
ordinary emergencies, and from manufacturing locomotive
engines or other rolling stock for the purposes of letting the
same on hire, on Tuesday came up on appeal before the
Lords Justices at Lincoln's-inn, a majority of whom dissolved
the injunction, with costs.
- - - -

On Tuesday afternoon a crowded meeting was held
In London ot goods guards in the employ of the Great
Western Railway Company to consider the amended pro-
posals of the directors of the company as to the hours of
labour and wages.
On Tuesday afternoon a meeting of the River Dee
Board of Conservatives was held under the presidency of
the Duke of Westminster, to consider the propriety of
passing a bye-law to alter the date of the commencement
and annual close season for all modes of salmon fishing
except with rod and line, the close season to commence on
Sept. 16 and terminate on March 2. The bye-law was,
after discussion, carried by eight vetes to six.
A levde was held at St. James's Palace on Monday
by the Prince of Wales, on behalf of Her Majesty. The pre-
sentations were about 200 in number. In the evening his
Royal Highness dined with the Prime Minister. The King
of the Belgians was also amongst the guests.
An inquest has been held at Windsor on the body
of a man named Lamb, aged 73, formerly an Eton fisher-
man, who was killed on Saturday night by being run over
by a train on the South-Western Railway at Windsor. As the
6.20 train from Staines was approaching the Windsor Station,
the deceased, who had been standing at the gate of the
level crossing leading from the Home Park te toe Windsor
Lock, stepped on to the line and was knocked down, the
whole train of ten carriages passing over him. The jury re-
turned a verdict to the effect that the deceased committed
suicide while in a state of temporary insanity, and that no
blame rested upon the engine driver.
Since 1875 the production of beetroot sugar in
Austria has just doubled.
There has been a considerable improvement in the
takes of salmon in the Tweed, especially on Friday and
B,turday in last week, although compared with some years
the produce of the river is yet very poor. The improvement
Is, no doubt, due to the snow water having almost run out
of the river. The prices on Saturday were—Salmon, 2s. 4i.
per lb., and trout, is. 11d, per lb. In the corresponding
week of last year the prices were—Salmon, is. 10d., trout,
is. Bd.
Dr. Sommerbrocit, one of the physicians despatched
by the German Government to the seat of the plague in
Astrakhan, has reported to the Imperial Board of Health
that a fresh case of plague appeared last Friday at Wet-
lianka.—A telegram from Si. Petersburg says that General
Loris Melikoff has returned toWetlianka, where it has been
decided to burn down 67 houses, the value of which is esti-
mated at 46,216 roubles. The Minister of the Interior has
issued a circular to the governors of the provinces enjoining
upon them vigilance and co-operation to prevent the spread
of epidemics during the approaching spring.
Manchester merchants are not the only men who
look with longing eyes on Africa as the source of abundant
prosperity in the future, nor Is England the only country that
is paying attention to the subject. Already a second expedi-
tion from Belgium for the colonization of Central Africa is
being fitted out, under the auspices and patronage of King
Leopold.
It is expeeted that, owing to the backward state of
public business, the Parliamentary Easter holidays will this
year be short, probably not longer than from the day before
Good Friday to the following Monday week.
The Essex Chamber of Agriculture have been dis-
cussing the question of tithe rents, and have unanimously
declared their opinion that It is desirable to pay a fixed sum
of £lOO tithe rent charge, instead of the fluctuating charge
farmers are now liable to. At the same meeting, it was
resolved to ask the Beard of Trade why the corn averages are
taken from so comparatively few market towns in this
country, the number being decidedly less than was ormerly
the custom.
The city of Columbus, Ohio, is suffering from a
a strange epidemic of incendiarism To use the words of
one of the local papers, Ills terrorized by firebugs." During
the week ended the Bth inst. no fewer than forty fires
occurred, entailing heavy loss, all of which could be traced
to incendiaries. On the night of the 7th inst. eight stables
were burned, and various other attempts were made to set
buildings on fire. The excitement of the week, it is stated,
has nearly worn the people out, and although the police
force has been increased and private watchmen are em-
ployed, the "demon of unrest" seems to have taken pos-
session of the city, and a general feeling of insecurity pre-
vails. The incendiaries not unfrequently effect their object
by throwing bundles of rags saturated with coal oil through
open windows, and seem to be actuated by no other motive
than the pleasure of destroying property.

- -
James SlIbMB, an American seaman, who was found
guilty at the hat session of the Central Criminal Court of
the murder of a woman, whose throat he cut in a public-
house in Shadwell, was executed in London, at Newgate
gaol, at eight o'clock on Monday morning. The prisoner had
no friends in England, but a petition asking for a commuta-
tion of his sentence on the ground that he was drunk when
he committed the crime was sent to Mr. Cross, who, how-
ever, expressed himself unable to comply 'with It. The pri-
soner, who expressed his sorrow for his crime and is said io
have behaved very well since his condemnation, walked
firmly to the scaffold. Before the bolt was drawn he thanked
the governor and the officers of the gaol for the kiiadneli
which he had received at their hands. Death was tutu-
tanecno.

The Liverpool Sailors' Union have resolved to request
Mr. Burt to include sailors amongst the workmen on whose
behalf the Bill for the liability of employers for injuries to
workmen is to be introduced into Parliament:

The Roman Catholic members of the House of
Commons met on Monday afternoon in the tea-room to con-
sider the terms of an address to Dr. Newman on his eleva-
tion to the cardinalate.
A new block of warehouses has been built on the
site of All Halows Church in Bread-street, London, and on
the corner one bas been erected a medallfan and memorial
stone with the following inscription :—" John Milton, horn
In Bread-street, 1608; baptized in the Church of M 1 Hallows,
which stood here ante 1878."
- -

The Birmingham Post says the Mayor (Alderman
Collings) has decided upon placing within the reach of a
large number of his poorer fellow-townsmen the opportunity
of hearing music of a high-class, and he has therefore
arranged for a series of four concerts in the Town Hall, to
which admission will be given by free tickets, distributed
through the agency of ministers, manufacturers, and others
specially qualified to select the class of persons whom the
Mayor desires to benefit.

A gentleman with a turn of mind for curious re-
search states that, daring five days last week, in one region
of London, he counted fifteen sharp variations in the tern-
peratnre.—Court Journal.

A youth in Illinois has thus written to the Marqui
of Lorne :—" Esteemed Sir,—Would you be so kind as to
send along your autograph and Princess Lorne, and I would
also like the signature of her mother if I could get it.—
Yours truly," &c.—Court Journca.

Mr. Lewis Franks, farmer, of Nempnett, near
Wells, has met with a shocking death. He was mounting
on a fresh young colt at a wayside inn, when the animal fell
back upon him, as he was holding the reins too tight. He
was carried to the inn insensible and died soon afterwards.
The strike in the iron trade at Bradford continues,
and the masters report that there are considerably more
applications for work in all branches of the trade than scan
be granted by employers who are really in a position to exe•
cute orders. They are, therefore, resolved to stand by the
proposal for 56i boars per week.

The rank of "torpedo-lieutenant " has been created
in the navy.
The trustees of the British Museum have deter-
mined to transfer to the National Portrait Gallery a number
of historic portraits now in the possession of the Museum,
and for a long time inappropriately displayed among the
stuffed beasts

France knows one thing better than we do. She
knows that our pennies are only tokens, and that if they
get into France and are made legal tender they will in the
end involve a loss to the state. Se the Bank of France has
declared that no foreign bronzes ale current coin. In Eng-
land French pennies are as plentiful as English pennies.
They involve a loss to our state. Yet no authority issues its
fiat against them.

Great efforts are being made to raise semi-tropical
fruit in Southern California. Oranges grow so abundantly
that the markets will, by-and-bye, be overstocked, and culti-
vation will be unremunerative. It a expected that pines
will flotuish ere long, so that there will be plenty of ilgs,
almonds, olives, pines, lemons, and oranges in the Golden
State.

The cold weather has driven the wild boars in the
East of France from the snow-clad hills to the plains. In
Upper Alsace several weighing 200 pounds have been killed,
and two were slaughtered the other day a few miles from
Sainte-Marie Coal Mines.

"Lieutenant Zubowitz: the Hungarian officer who
last year made and won a heavy bet that he would ride to
Paris from Vienna in a given time, has once more dis-
tinguished himself—this time by his bravery in saving life at
Szegedin. He has rescued at least a dozen people with his
own hands from the floods and falling houses, a work of great
personal risk."—Vienna Correspondent of the Globe.

The Samuel Plimsoll, 1,444 tons, Captain Richard
Boaden, sailed from Plymouth on Saturday last, with 466
emigrants, for Sydney.

A deputation, consisting of the Committee of the
Council of the Cremation Society of England, has waited on
the Horne Secretary, to lay before him the basis of the plans
on which they seek to extend the operations of the society.
Mr. Cross, in reply, suggested that a Bill should be brought
Into the House of Lords, so as to determine the wisdom of
establishing cremation, and thus have the question thoroughly
argued. The deputation thereupon agreed not to proceed
any further with the erection of machinery until the matter
should be settled in Parliament.

Her Majesty the Queen has been graciously pleased
to give directions for the issue of a Royal Commission, of
which his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales has consented
to be the Executive President, in fartherance of the Inter-
national Exhibitions about to be held in Sydney during the
autumn of this year and in Melbourne in 1880.

We understand that the label parcel post is to be
commenced on June L—Giobe.

The Town Council of Paris have decided to erect a
colossal statue of the Republic on the Place du Chateau
d'Eau. Sculptors are invited to compete. The successful
competitor will be allowed a thousand pounds to execute the
work, and the figures to decorate each corner of the pedestal
will be paid for at the rate of £240 each. The two competi-
tors who are next best will receive 4,500 francs and 4,000
francs respectively.

Mrs. Dodwell, the wife of the Rev. H. Dodwell,
recently appealed to the Queen by letter to release him, and
in reply received the following letter from Mr. Liddell :
" In reply to your application to her Majesty praying the re-
lease of the Rev. Henry John Dodwell from Broadmoor
Asylum, I am directed by Mr. Secretary Cross to acquaint
you that the same has been laid before the Queen, who was
not pleased to give any instructions thereon.

The expenses of last year's Paris Exhibition amount
to 55,000,0000 and the receipts to ab..-att 30,000,000 f., the
latter consisting of 16,000,000 f. for admissions, the subsidy
of the Municipality, and some other items. The deficit of
25,000,0001., less the sale of materials, will be defrayed out of
the surplw es of the last few years. The demolition of the
main building is all but decided upon' but the gardens be-
tween it and the river will be preserved.

Literature for the sick and poor is always eagerly
sought after, and is sometimes difficult to obtain, so charit •
able ladies may take a hint from the successful efforts of
their American sisters. The ladies of Memphis, in Tennessee,
Progress tells us, have originated "Book receptions and
entertainments," the profits from which are used to pur-
chase books and papers for the inmates of hospitals, alms-
houses, homes and refuges, and prisons.

A new colony is likely to be established in the
Western State. of America by some forty families of Phila-
delphia soldiers who fought during the Civil War, and who
were rewarded by the Government with land warrants of
160 acres each. The beads of these familes are maifily busi-
ness men and mechanics, industrious but poor, and they
will therefore try the experiment of emigrating in force to a
good tract of public land in Kansas, Colorado, and
Nebraska.

The New York papers of March 13th describe an
accident at Gilmore's eardens on the previous evening
during an international walking match. Several thousands
were present, when suddenly the north gallery fell and pre-
cipitated its occupants upon the heads of those on the
ground floor. A fearful panic ensued. Shrieks and groans,
with cries of "Fire," prevailed from the great mass of
struggling humanity. For a time the match was stopped,
but soon the track was cleared, the wounded, of whom a
long list is given, being carried away. Three were fatally
Injured. Sir Edward Thomson and Mr. Vanderhill had
narrow escapes.

"Although we import but little wheat from Franoe,
except in years of extraordinary abundance, the state of
French agriculture is of great practical interest to us, since
In bad years we find the French actively bidding against us
in the markets of the world, and thus running up prices. It
is satisfactory to note, then, that the spring sowings are
almost completed, and in very satisfactory condition, too.
February was excessively wet in France, and not only threw
back farm work generally, but injured, it was feared very
seriously the autumn wheat. March, on the contrary, has
been beautifully fine. It there is no serious change the
cereals of all kinds will be sown by the end of she month,
and the injury done to the autumn crops is fully repaired.
The importance of the French yield will be understood when
we statt, that since the beginning of September the imports
of grain into France have been about seventeen million
hectolltres.—From "Trade and Finance in Pall Mall
Gazette.
The Swedish missionary, Mr. Witt, accompanied by
the Zulu Prince limkore Cantaba, has passed through Copen-
hagen en route for Sweden (says the Pall Mall Gazette). The
Prince is reported to have expressed his surprise at the great
number of white people he saw everywhere, as he thought
that the greatest part of the white population had left to fight
his uncle, King Cetewayo. The Prince was naturally much
observed, especially at Helsingborg, where he took his place,
rather unlike other princes, on the box of Mr. Wilt's car-
riage, by the side of the coachman.
The City Press states that the members of the Cor-
poration of London are about to establish a benevolent fund
for the purpose of rendering assistance to any of their
number who may become decayed in circumstances, or to
the widows and oz phan s of members.

A Columbia Machinist has been at work eight years
on a clock. At the first quarter-hour a locomotive runs
across an open space; at the second, a miniature bell is
tolled in Independence Hall, and Washington walks into
eight; at the third, the twelve Apostles bow to Christ,
Peter denies his Lord, and a cock crows; at the even hour
there is music, and a skeleton hastens along, bearing the
legend, "Time flies." Every noon Lincoln appears with the
Emancipation proclamation, and a slave fall/ on his knees as
his shackles drop off.
-

The Press Association understands that the Govern-
ment have come to terms with the Eastern Telegraph Com-
pany for the laying of a cable, which is to be manufactured
by the Telegraph Construction and Maintenance Company,
and which it is expected will be speedily laid down. The
route is to be from Aden to Zanzibar, thence to Mozambigne,
Delagoa Bay, and Natal. This will connetht the Cape with
the whole eastern system of telegraphy, iPhich extends to
India, China, Australia, New Zealand, &e., and it is free
from the objection of going through a possibly hostile
country.
"After an absence of more than eight years, and
after successive migrations to Tours, to Bordeaux, and to
Versailles, there seems at length to be a reasonable proba-
bility of the speedy return of the National Legislature of
France to its historical home in Paris. On Saturday, the
Chamber of Deputies decided by three hundred and thirty to
one hundred and thirty-one votes in favour of convening
both Houses of the Legislature in Congress, with a view of
revising that article of the Constitution which fixes the
Seat of the Legislature at Versailles."—Leader in Daily
Tetegraph.
There was submitted to a private view in Liverpool
a few days ago an extraordinary animal, which has been
brought over to this country from India by Captain W. D.
Folger. The animal IS described as the "sacred ox," Rajah,
and depending from its left side is a protuberance re-
sembling the arm and hand of a human being. What are
said to be the "fingers," however, fall short of the human
formation, and may be described as claws. The animal is six
'ears of age, and was purchased in Calcutta by Captain
Fogler for £2,000. In a week or two the ox is to be on
exhibition in ('arts.

The recent Royal marriage causes some complica•
tion of relationship. Prince Frederick Charles, the father
of the new bride, is first cousin to the German Prince
Imperial, whose wife is the bridegroom's sister. It
would appear, therefore, that by this marriage the Duke
of Connaught becomes second cousin to his own sister,
while the young Princess, his bride, becomes sister to her
second cousins. These curious affinities, pursued further,
might show that one of the parties is uncle or cousin to him-
self.—Court Journal.

In view of the suspension, forvarious periods, of the
publication of several Russian newspapers, the journalists
of St. Petersburg propose to raise a fund for the support of
those who may lose their means of suasistence through
being thrown out of employment. It is calculated that the
Incomes derived from journalism in the Russian capital
amount to 1,000,000 roubles, so that if each journalist sub.
scribed one per cent. of his Income to the fund a sum of
10,000 roubles a year could be realised.

Lord Beaconsfield's diet is described by the Albany
Sunday Press, which tells us that the Premiers chief sus-
tenance is champagne jelly, which be uses three times a
day, and each repast of which costs something like three
guineas. The restorative qualities of this nutriment are
very great, and to a man of the Premier's sad and meditative
temperament and feeble physique must be invaluable. If
this is true, and the price of this invaluable jelly is as great
as alleged, it costs the Premier £3,449 ss. per annum to diet
hims —Graphic
At a general meeting of the National Rifle Associa-
tion, the Duke of Cambridge, who was in the (their, stated
that the Council had decided upon allowing Martini-Henry
rifles of private manufacture to be used this year in the
competition for both stages of the Queen's Prize. The total
value of prizes offered for competition was £14,614, and the
total number of prizes 1,753, of which the National Rifle
Association gave 1,430, of the aggregate value of £7,626,
about £ll7 more than in 1877.

There were 2,684 births and 2,085 death's registered
In London last week. Allowing for increase of population,
the births exceeded by 121, and the deaths by so many as
363 the average numbers in the corresponding week of the
last ten years. The annual rate of mortality from all causes
rose to 300, a higher rate than in any previous week of the
present long and severe winter. The deaths included 15
from small-pox, 21 from measles, 33 from scaxiet- iemer, 13
from diphtheria, 101 from whooping-cough, 20 from different
forma of feVer, and 12 from diarrhosa.

In the year 1878 there were 107,3480 z. of gold, the
produce of New South Wales, remind at the Sydney Hint
for ootnage. Its grows valuej stated at 082,741 or ZS lie.
3d. per ounce.
of
CTlihnetoAstnom
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aonnyal eanstacestea httheadtiPscorofo
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21-2 of two minor planets.

" Queenie.—fear to write for reason you mention.
Send me a letter directed to parties in questinn, and I will
enclose the needful. Write if possible soon., with an news."
—Advertisement in The Times.

Commandant Deberly, said to be the last survivor
of the battle of Austerlitz (fought Dec. 2, 1805), has just
died, near Bordeaux, in his 95th year. He entered the army
in 1802 and was pensioned off in 1833.

birNthodtaiycewieillgibveenkienptthoen LosatnudrodnayGathzeet27ll2mataytheonQnwehienls
day her Majesty will complete the 60th year of her age.
In Accrington there are at least 2,000 looms stand-
ing idle, out of a total number of about 12,000 looms.
The London treasurers of the West of England,
Bank Fund (A.. Mills, Esq., M.P., and H. Stafford North-
cote, Esq.) have already received about £2,000 in aid of the
destitute Devon shareholders, and the local committee about
£l,OOO, but much more is needed.
The Stockport cotton masters have resolved to re-
duce the wages of their spinners and weavers by 5 peg
cent., and those of the other classes of operatives by 10 per
cent.
The mermaid at the Brighton Aquarium is attract-
ing thousands, and see= quite as much at home in the tanks
of the Placatory Palace as she was in the wild ocean of
Trinidad.
The other day a pigeon of the Antwerp tribe WM
tossed up at Reigate at the time of a train leaving the station
for London Bridge, and the pigeon, which was the property
of Mr. Comber, of New Crone, arrived home, wu caught and
presented on the railway bridge before the train reached
that locality. The distance, about 19 miles, was flownin
23 minutes.

Mr. Tennyson will coatribute to the April number
of the Ningkenth Century a dedicatory poem to the Princess
Alice, iollnwed by a ballad on the banner of England, en-
titled, "The Defence of Luck-now."
- -

In London, on Sunday evening, in spite of the bitter
weather, nearly five hundred members of the Sunday Society
visited the Grosvenor Gallery to view the Winter Collection
of the Old Masters.

The distress in Berlin this winter is reported to have
been unusually great, all classes having been affected.
Numbers of workmen, thrown out of employ by the weather,
have been reduced to sweeping the streets and carrying
away the snow. For one clerk's situation, with a salary of
16s. per week, 237 applicants appeared; while a doctor,
advertising for a general servant, had 450 answers.

At a fancy 1;a11 of the Austrian Embassy at St.
Petersburg, the daughter of the French Ambassador the
other day appeared in the costume of an Alsatian peasant
girl. The Russian guests applauded. Insignificant as the
incident is, it is interpreted as another symptom of the
attempts being made to bring about a rapprochement
between Russia and France.

A Sheffield gentleman recently wrote to Mr. Glad-
stone asking him whether he felt disposed to take a lead in
upholding the temperance cause, in common with many
thousand Liberals in all parts of the country. Mr. Glad-
stone, in reply, says :—" I hope that my own position rela-
tively to the cause of intemperance is sufficiently defined by
the votes I have given on different questions. I have, how-
ever, no intention of assuming any more prominent position
in regard to it. _ _ _

-
Imperial babies are expensive infants to keep, to
judge from the example of the little Grand Duke Michael
Alexandrowitch, the youngest child of the Cstarevitch, who
at four months old has an allowance of /.1,369 for his table,
while his household consistifiaf fifteen persons.
When in England, the King of the Belgians always
makes good use of his Lime. The other day he went with the
Duke of Sutherland to Colonel Gouruad's offices in Lombard-
street and inspected Edison's new lond-epealuing telephone,
with which he was much pleased. The King afterwards re-
ceived a deputation from the Royal Geographical Society,
who desired to confer with his Majesty upon the exploration
of Central Africa, and later on the King, attended by General
Lynedoch Gardiner, visited the Royal Albert Hall, and
witnessed the lighting of the building by electricity.

The sufferers by the accident to Widcombe- -bridge
at Bath, many of whom reside in Dorset, have been awarded
£4,000 free of legal costs. The claims were submitted to
Mr. Nicholetts, the costs of whose arbitration, as also the
legal expenses of claimants, have been paid by the proprie-
tors of the bridge. _

Lord Carnarvon distributed the prizes to the
students of the Science and Art Classes at Newbury last
Saturday. Afterwards he addressed the audience, and in
the coarse of his remarks reviewed the subject of art from
both a practical and an 'esthetic point. He said the foreign
monopoly of high sense of form and colour was now having
an English rival, and although the products of art gene-
rally ministered to luxury, yet the trades of luxury were an
necessary to the life of a nation as those of a harder charao-
ter. Having adverted to the elevating influence of artistic
pursuits upon the home life, he referred at length to the
canons and practice of the well-spring of art, the ancient
Greek.
The manufacturers of Dewsbury have held a meet-
ing for the purpose of considering the increased tariff of the
Canadian Government. It was explained that the impost
tion of a specifle duty and an increase of the ad valorem
duties on the heavy cloths, blankets, and carpets in the
Dewsbury district would act as a total prohisition to their
being exported to Canada. The meeting appointed a depu-
tation to remonstrate with the Colonial secretary.

The monument erected to the memory of the soldiers
who fell at the battle of Novara was unveiled on Sunday.
The attendance was large, and several speeches were made.
The Austrian Colonel von Kell, speaking in the name of the
Emperor Francis Joseph and the Austro-Hungarian Army,
thanked the committee for their labours, and gave expres-
sion to the cordial sentiments of friendship existing between
the armies of Austria and Italy.—[The battle of Novara was
fought on March 23, 1849, when the Austrians, under Mar-
shal Radetzky, totally defeated King Charles Albert and the
Sardinian army.]

The strike of bricklayers and stonemasons in
Ashton•under-Lyne and district has ended. The men turned
out two months ago in opposition to a proposal to reduce
their wages a penny per hour, and alter the rules as to
walking home. Building was brought to a standstill, but
the employers found little difficulty in filling up the
vacancies.

Karl Montresor, the senior general in the Russian..
Army, died lately at Kursk. He served in the campaign of
1812, was a Knight of St. George, and General of the Cavalry
of the Guard. Last year he celebrated his 50th anniversary
as General and the 70th of his services as an officer. Last
New Year's Day he entered on the 95th year of his age.

No fewer than a dozen weddings took place between
the men of the 17th Lancers and their sweethearts on the
Sunday before they left for the Cape. The ceremonies took
place at St. Paul's Church, Hounsrow, near the barracks, and
were performed by the chaplain to the troops there.

Ali sorts of different methods have been adopted for
spelling the second name of our new Princess. Some people
anglicise it to Margaret; others fancy they are keeping lit is
Its Teutonic shape when they make it Margaretha ; a few, by
way of compromise, have fallen back on the French
Marguerite. It may be well to mention that in the marriage
treaty between the Kaiser and the Queen, which is printed
as a Parliamentary paper, and written both in German and
English, the name in the former language Is "Margarethe "
whilst in the latter it is given, of course, in the ordinary
English form.—Court Journal.

Much anxiety is felt in Madrid on account of the
Infanta Christina, the sister of the late Queen Mercedes, who
is lying dangerously ill at Seville.

The Queen and Princess Beatrice left Windsor
Castle at twenty minutes to ten on Tuesday morning for
Italy. The weather was cold, and snow was falling lightly
when the Royal train left the station, which was thronged
with people. The Royal train arrived at Portsmouth as the
Dockyard clock was striking twelve. The public and the
press had been excluded from the dockyard, but there was a
large muster of persons on the harbour station jetty, and al
the train passed a cheer was gives, and acknowledged by her
Majesty. When the train reached the Dockyard the Royal
party embarked on board the Royal yacht Victoria and
Albert, which left at once for Cherbourg, which was readied
shortly alter six o'clocto.

The Berlin Correspondent of The Times says:—" The
subterranean telegraph is attaining vast dimensions in
Germany. On Monday, in the Reichstag, after considerable
debating in connexion with the Imperial Budget, 1,830,000
marks were voted for the construction of underground wires.
The strategical value of such an invisible and inaccessible
means of communication does not require to be commented
upon."
The Ramsgate lifeboat and a steamer went off on.
Monday to the Kentish Knock and found a water-logged
barque driving over the Long Sand. The lifeboat sailed close
to her and found she was abandoned. The steamer and life.
beat then proceeded to the light vessel and took out nine
men, part of the crew of the waterlogged ship, which proved
to be the barque Lina, 265 tons, of Tonsberg, bound from
Porsground, Norway, to London with a cargo of deals. One
of their number had perished while attempting to
.get on
board the light-ship from their boat.