The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-01-24 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

f,f•-ii -',3t3arbrib.ge labsertnr. , ,

Too much stress cannet be laid on the nar- ere cause of it was that he was canvassing for the
roweess and mischievousness of these recent a el.ool Board, and ,„etet a little too reneh. Fined 53
arrangements. Townsmen may have very ! and c.,sts ;in default a distress, or 14 days.
strong and opposite political doctrines :—" 'Pis i OBSCENE LANGUAGE.—a tward James u was. charg-d
with our judgments as our watches, none go just with using obscene lane utie itr_Stbb roliclge,
the
Sunday last. PoliFe-constab. le We proved. h
alike, yet each believes his own," but the con-
cas. e. Pleaded guilty. Fined 5s and costs.—
elusions to which the
.wisest have steadily
adhered, have been to stir no strife tetween Michael Harrington was charged with a similar
offence. Police:constable Cio,s proved tie cas'.
IN a commercial aFe like the present, when party and party; to deal with citizens as citizens, Fined 5
s and costs.
the accumulated experiences of the past have apart from their political or religious creed; and Dattxx AND Disoenenet.—Jehn Little and Owen
Ne by degrees brought the varied appliances of . for the sake of peace, progress, and prosperity, . ary were charged with being drunk and disorderly
trading to an almost perfect condition, it to return the very best candidates; whether as 'at Haeley, on the 18th inst. Police-eonstable
Commissioners, Guardians, or Members of Wallace proved the case. Pleaded guilty. Fined
would seem nearly impossible to conceive a
. School or Burial Board. Impartiality such as 55 each and cA;ts.
state of society in which money was un- • this is an instance of sterling patriotism ;it has HIGHWAY OFFENCE. —Benjamin Hall was charged
known as a medium of exchange. A system I spared Stourbridge many a sad scene rehearsed with obstructing the highway at the Lye, on the .
of barter is the origin of all the commercial ,in other towns ; and we doubt not, at the ap- i 19th inst. Police-constable raynter proved the
intercourse; but it is obvious that such al proachiuP r, Election, victory will pronounce for '
case. Fined Sc, to include costs.
COAL STEALING.—John Glazard (15), was charged
system in its purity would admit only of the the patriotic rather than the partisan system
with stealing coal on the 12th inst, the property of
most restricted operations, and could exist Joseph King and Co. Police-constable Oakey
only amongst nations whose habits and proved the case. Fined ss, to include costs; in
wants were of the most primitive description. default 7 days.—Parnella Clews (11) was clisrg,ed
with a similar offence. Fined 2s ed and costs.
Indeed, we learn from the writings of travel.
SCHOOL BOARD PROSECUTION —George Heath-
lers and explorers that even barbarous na. cock was summoned by William Cook, School At-
dons have found it necessary to adopt some- tendance Officer, for neglecting to send his daughter
to school. The defence was that the child was ill,
token of value which may pass from hand to
hand, and thus facilitate their simple trans-
and produced a medical certificate. Order made for
the girl to attend school as soon as well.—William
,-,eti,lns. With the greater complication and . Parkes was summoned for a similar offence. The
-.. (I.er spread of commercial intercourse arose , defence was that they could no all rd te pay.
F -I•owing need of a standard value which Ordered to send the child to scho,l and pay 2s. 6d.
C;uld be widely recognised as a purchasing COAL STEALING.—Sarah Cartwright (12), was
charged with stealing coal on the 14th inst, the
power. The precious metals, gold and silver
property of J. King & Co. John Stevens proved the
furnished such a standard, and as business case. Fined 2s. 6d. to include costs.
transactions multiplied, to avoid the neces- DRUNK AT HAGLEY.—James Priest was charged
sity of weighing the amount, convenient with being drunk at Hagley on the 17th in 4.
portions received in some form or other the i Police-constables Wallace and l'aynter proved the
ease and defendant was fined 58. including costs,
stamp of authenticity—and thus originated
CHARGE or WouNDlNG.—Alfred Gauden (10),
the coinage of money. was brought up on remand charged with unlawfully
Probably the earliest mention of money in 1 wounding Samuel Brettle with a red hot iron, at the
a commercial transaction is in the Bible, Lye Waste, on the Bth inst. Mr. Waldron de-
where we find that Abraham purchased the fended. Samuel Brettle said he lived at Ball's Lane,
Lye, and on the Bth inst. he wen - into Benjamin
field of Muchpelah for four hundred shekels Gauden's nail shop at about 8 o'clock in the evening
of silver. But the invention of coin is and the defendant Alfred Gaudin was there trying
ascribed to the Lydians,who flourished in Asia to .m.,t's.s. a horse nail A boy named Joseph Bills
Minor several centuries before the Christian shortly afterwards came it and told him to kno k
era. We owe the introduction of coinage the head straight. Defendant bad a hot iron iiihis
hand and ran it into his belly. He then went home
i:Ito this country to the Romans, whose con- and went to bed and Dr. Thompson attended on him.
quering legions were the pioneers of the arts Wesley Hayes Thompson, surgeon, at Crad ley
Gf civilization in this and other lands. Since Heath said he had been attending Samuel Bruttle
their time the art has kept pace with other since the Bth inst. He had been suffering from a
branches of mechanical science, and the post punctured wonnd on the abdomen. It was such a
wound that would be caused by a red hot iron. It
of Master of the Mint has been held by such
penetrated into the cavaty but not to the bowels.
distinguished men as Sir Isaac Newton and
The boy was going on very well. He did not ap..
Sir John Herschel, the latter of whom intro- prehend anything serious and he was out of danger.
dnced many useful reforms. Police-constable Widdows proved apafehead ilig
the prisoner. Tois being the ease, the Bench con •
As a coin of some description or other is a
necessary ingredient in each of the multi-
siderecl it was a prima facie case. Mr. Wal iron
addressed the Bench for the defence at consi 'enable
faiious transactions of our daily life, it may length and said his client's parents were willing to
not be inopportune to glance at the present make compensation to the complainant; but the
extent of our coinage and at the means by boy's father wanted a large sum of money to settle
the affair, which his client was not prepared to pay,
which it is replenished. The annual report
or the Bench would not have heard anything of the
for 1878 of the Deputy-Master of the Mint case ; and called Benjamin Gauden who said it, was
informs us that, owing to the prevailing de- accidentally done: Prisoner was committed to take
Ty....s@ion of trade during, the year. there was his trial at the Worcester Sessions. Bail ace ,pted.
a decreased demand for coin, and the Mint STEALING A PURSE AND MONEY—Edward Pardoe
and William Taylor were charged with stealing on
was consequently able to meet all require- the 20th inst., a leather purse and is 100,
meats for Imperial coin, and to undertake in the property of Sarah • Wiilia,ins. Mr. Perry
addition the execution of the colonial coinage defended, a ogecutrix, who lives at Drew s
without any assistance from private firms. Holloway, said the two defendants came into
her house and asked for a light. At that time the
The total number of pieces struck at the purse coniaining the money was on the table.
Mint during the year was 24,491,230
,as Defendants then made improper overtures to her, and
against 30,131, i3O in the previous year), she sent for a man named Davis. After they left
representing in value £2,785,790. The total the house she missed the money, followed them, and
charged them with taking the mothey. Pol.ce-c in-
number of British coins was 22,823,230,
stable Oakey proved apprehending prisoners. Mr.e
representing the following values :—Gold,
22,132,245 10a ; silver, £6144426 lls 10d ; Perry addressed the B. nch for the defence. The
Bench considered it a case of strong suspicion, but
-onze, £18,664 is 0d; making at discharged them.
r):` £2,765,336 2s 1015 d. Not only was this STEALING ProzoNs.—Henry Allis was charged
amount smaller than in the previous year, with steal;ng on the 17th inst., five pigeons, the
property of Joseph Whitmore, Higti Park. Mr.
but the quantity of gold coin received from
Waldron defended. Prosecutor plowed lacing the
the Sydney and Melbourne branches of the pigeons. They were safe in the pen on the above
Mint was also less by nearly a million than date, and the next morning he took some corn and
the amount received in 1877. It is calcu- threw it down for them, but the pigeons had gone.
late(' that the gold coin in circulation in the The.`;pigeons produced were his property. Prisoner
worked on the furn with his brother. Thorns
United Kingdom amounts to upwards of Corfield, labourer, said the prisoner asked him to sell
&0,009,000, of which a considerable portion some pigeons, but he refused to, and swore that the
becoies worn out each year, a sovereign pigeons produced were the property of Mr. Whitmore
p
ceasing to be a legal tender when its de-
Police-constable Cartwright said that he visited the
house where the prisoner lived, saw the pigeons
ficiency of weight amounts to three-quarters produoed, in a pen, with three bags over tbeem.
of a grain—the weight of a sovereign just Prisoner said he had bought them of a man on
issued from the Mint being somewhat over Beauty Bank. Mr. Waldon addressed the Bench
1231 grains of the standard quality of 22 for the defence, and contended that there was a
doubt in the case, and asked the Bench to give hint
carats, or 22 parts of pure gold to two parts the bent fit of that doubt. Prisoner was committed
of alloy. . t.) take his trial at the Worcester Sessions, bail
The coins in ordinary use it is unnecessary being accepted.
to enumerate; they seem sufficiently various SETTING FIRE TO A HOUSE —James Yarnol I vi,RE
for all the requirements of commerce, al- brought up on remand ch,trged with unlawfully and
maliciously setting fire to a house, on the 20th D„,c.,
Clough it mast be remarked that their pro.
the property of Samuel Moore. William Lhtle, ,
portiouate values are fixed by no scientific baker, sai3 that about seven o'clock in the mo-ning
rule. The desirability of the adoption of prisoner was on a ladder, and had alighted candle in
the decimal system of coinage must be his hand. He was trying to enter the balroem
obvious to everyone who may have to add window. Saw him enter the room, come out again
and take the ladder away. About a hour atterwards
up a column of accounts. This system is he saw a fire in the bedroom, ant put it out with the
already adopted, as most of our readers are assistance of Mr. leavens. A box of clothes was
aware, in many ceuntries ; and the practical set fire to and burnt. Joseph Jeavoes said that his
convenience of assimilating our coinage to attention wes called to a fire in the hou-e he got a
ladder and found flames in the front beciroom. A
our arithmetical system is so apparent that
clothes box was on fire, containing clothes; cane ' for
it is a matter of surprise that this step has water and put the fire out. Prisont,r went to hint
not been taken long since. A temporary about six o'clock the sante night, and he asked him if
inconvenience would, of course, attend the he was not ashamed to set a house on fire. He said,
substitution of a new system; but the ad- "Who says I set it 071 fire." Ho then told him teat
vantages are so incontestable that the nation plenty of persons saw him go into the house, and
come out. Plies-sergeant Jones proved going into
would doubtless tolerate a slight derange. the room, he found the box and a quantity of clothes
had been burnt, also a spent match and a piece of
merit of the eurrency during a brief period
of transition. Should the proposal for candle. :Received the prisoner into custody on a
erecting a new Mint on the Thames Em. warrant at Birmingham. Prisoner said he did not
bankment be carried into effect, a &tin?' s t the hous 3on fire, he borrowed a candle, went into
the room, and that his sister's doll caught fire, and
opportunity would be presented for makine•
P he put it out and WAS almost suffocated wi h the
the suggested change. A further convem- smoke. Alter putting the fire out he pat • the
once would accrue by the establishment of things into a box and catne down the ladd,r. ELS
an international standard of currency, which un de told him if he did not get away he would
get seven years. The floor of the roots was burnt.
wl'ould enable travellers to dispense with the Remanded until Mondae.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 24th, 1880.

DIRECTIONS TO VOTERS.

The Returning Officer has laid before the
Public some excellent hints in regard to Ballot
Voting; but as he seems to have forgotten that
many voters can neither read nor write, we witl
help the reader to advise the non-reading class.
Oftentimes undue unjust pressure is put upon
the poor ; indeed in sbaie towns the latter have
been told they must vote for a certain candidate,
or they will be dismissed from work, or ejected
from their humble homes. As a consequence,
alarm and anxiety have forced multitudes to
abjure their freedom : they have voted .is they
have been ordered, instead of following their
own convictions.

Let us than say it plainly ; no Stourbridge
voter has the slightest uneasiness on Tuesd y
next. The voting will be Secret Voting ; and
by the provisions of the Ballot Act, 1872, it is
impossible for Presiding Officer, Candidates, or
Agents of Candidates, to tell how any person
accorded his votes. For the special conveni-
ence of such as can neither read nor write, the
Officer has a clerk, or assistant, who is bound
by secrecy, and liable to the severest penalties
for violation of his oath. He it is who marks
the Ballot-paper at the orders of the uneducated;
and he does it privately, in one of the private
compartments; and the paper is then folded and
placed in the Ballot-box, like every other voting
paper. Of course before a person can have
the services of this clerk, be must openly de-
clare that the clerk is needed, and in the room
must sign a declaration to that effect ; but as
we have stated, the process of voting is aceoulp-
lished subsequently with the utmost secrecy,
and the vo.er may laugh at his tormentors—
defying them, defeating them at the last
moment. It only remains to tell the uneducated
that they have seven votes, and can plump, or
divide, as they please.

total avura I

loss and vexation attendant non a monetary
ptchange in every country they visit in
rnlking the tdur of Europe. Such a mono-
-041 assimilation. seems to be the natural
crltcome of the increased facilities of locomo-
tion which now invite both men of business
and pl-asure-seekers to pursue their objects
beyond the bounds of their native land.

CRADLEY LIEATA

THE CHAINHAKERS AND THEIR W IGES. On
Wednesday at a meeting of crane chaiatnakers of
Cradley Heath district, it was deciled that notice
should be given for an advance of 10 per cent. on
all sizes and classes of crane chains. An effort to
to establish a Conciliation Board has been projected
by the operative section of the chain trade, and the
attention of the masters will sh ntly be so•ieit.A.
to the subject.

SCHOOL BO RD ELECTION WHISPERS.

To tell oar readers that On Tuesday next
something will tarn up on "Ye briddge 1-..)f ye
Stover," or our nineteenth century Stoarbridge,
would be quite as novel news as Queen Anne's
death, or -Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo. Walls,
windows, and thoroughfares bristle with the
intelligence thitt numerous tradesmen, influ-
ential ratepayers, or brother commissioners have
ounniiAi,i)ltid somebody to rush into print, and
as a cutsequence to air his views on bible read-
ing •Ind retrenchment. A millenium is in store
for Stearbridge if we may credit the mural
oratory; tradesmen's takings may not be twenty-
folq, ten-fold, three-fold; but at any rate the
rNag generation will be bible ebristians, and
utna will rapidly run down to zero, and every-
body will laugh like a hyena over his dinner.
There's a gootl time coming, boys; only wait a
little lnnger.
a a,
No doubt these excellent effusions are very
kindly made and meant; the misery is that
seven, not fifteeri, candidates can sit at the local
School Board, and thus the bulk of the prophets
and prophecies must disappear when St.
Thomas's clock has st.ruck seven. If we did not
sympathise with the delisted even to the
o)Attr sni hrln2 educ,tiunist--ce should be
very unjest ; for it is a healthy feature of
Engiish ;its that men of all grades volunteer to
servt t;;•o ; ofrentian:s their lal.ours are
very laborious, end the:r nny rt!c.,mpe:use is
-:; ~f ci..iz .n's duty.

0 *

• *

we rr.grc.,t to notice in
Oa Ple Other hand,
Stourbridge a dangerous departure Iron our
usu•ll broui-gnage lines. Hitherto we have in-
thgt Vac: ablest citizens shall b elevated
to civic honours. ; creeds, parties, politics, have
been eschewed in the choice of local administra-
tors, and thus men of experience, rather than
raw hands, have had charge of the helm in
weather. Recently, however,
sternly and s unny
.31liance ha 4 been announced by Liberals and
forrni4s in regard to our future School
Three geN, sitem to have to:owl
cteii fur the ridicall:w rewcon that thfly were
Dissenters; aod having been clunisi!y lablei
7..Lthe?rthi, ware proposod. and adopted at a moo.
Ing of the Liberal A.-isoe;atioi), s tho;igl; poii•je,
Were dearer than the principle uf
." the. rigLt
thoagh tho worth of
OM in the right place."
citiaeu .depended on bow he wore-141nd, and
etWaliais liort iota.
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