The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-01-09 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

sarnsH Ikri? FOREIGN.
The date of the General German Exhibition has now
I been definitely fixed for 1888.
A telegram from Winnipeg states that large and rich
deposits of silver have been found near Port Arthur,
Ontario' in Lake Superior, where men are already
engaged in working the ore which is being shipped.
An extraordinary incident is reported in connection
with the Windermere Harriers. The hounds had been
hunting in the neighbourhood of Cork, near Cartmel,
and a hare had been killed. On returning to kennels a dog
was missing. Next day the huntsman searched for it,
without finding any trace. Five days afterwards, how-
ever, the hound was discovered suspended in a tree
half way down a cliff. It was alive, but very weak. A
ladder was obtained and the hound rescued.
An aged widow, of about 70 years named Mary
M.srga,n, residing at Pontypridd, has been burned to
death in her bed. Before retiring to bed she sent for a
jug of beer, and the neighbours subsequently discovered
flames and smoke issuing from the old woman's tene-
ment. On obtaining an entrance the woman was found
to have been burned to death.
A singular railway accident, owing to a Great
Western engine running away from the men who were
in charge of it, occurred at Weymouth on Saturday
morning. They were on a small engine, dragging
another, when both men dismounted, and the engine
dashed away with a rush A young man endeavoured
to jump on the engine, but missed his footing and fell
under it, receiving severe injuries. The engine ran with
a terrific crash into a line of empty coaches, the colli-
sion being such that the engine became a complete
wreck, whilst a guard's van which bore the greatest part
of the collision was reared and smashed, and the whole
line of carriages more or less damaged.
On Saturday night a cocoanut fibre factory in
Albany-road, Camberwell, was seriously injured by fire,
which burned for some hours and destroyed a con-
siderable amount of valuable property.
Thomas Crozier, farmer, residing at Aghamullen,
near Newtonbutler, county Fermanagh, on Saturday
shot his wife and then attempted suicide. A dispute
arose between the family while at breakfast. The
eldest son assaulted his father for abusing his mother.
The boy was turned out, and Mrs. Crozier followed,
whereupon the husband got his gun and fired at his
wife, killing her instantly, and then attempted to cut
his own throat, but was prevented and arrikted.
Jealousy is supposed to be the motive for the crime.
A monition issued, at the suit of Mr. Jas. Hakes, of
Liverpool, by Lord Penzance against the Rev. J. Bell
Co; vicar of St. Margaret's Church, Liverpool, for
Ritualistic practices, was served on the rev, gentleman
on Saturday, and posted on the church doors on Sun-
day. Alongside the monition was a protest from the
churchwardens and sidesznen against its being issued on
the ground that it emanated from a purely secular
tribunal. Mr. Cox will elect to go to goal rather than
obey the monition.
An imposing political demonstration took place at
Cork on Sunday, in connection with the funeral of a
Fenian and ex-Papal Brigade man, named Buckley.
The city trade organisations and other soOeties, carry-
ing banners and attended by bands of music, joined in
the procession, which included several members of Par-
liament. The attendance, in spite of a heavy downpour
of rain' numbered some thousands. Contrary to pre-
cedent, there was no oration at the grave side.
A fire_occurred on Saturday morning at the works of
the Alliance Gas Company, Dublin. Wle men were
opening the furnace doors of one of rue retorts the
gas caught fire, and blazed up to such a height that the
whole east end of the city became illuminated. For
about twenty-five minutes the gas in the retort, and
the tar which the fire touched, fed the flames, which
then gradually subsided. The Fire Brigade prevented
the flames from spreading to the other portions of the
works
mr. Batchelor, Mr. Wright, and mifss Cons, the
conductors of the Victoria Hall, Waterloo-road, were
summoned at Southwark Polica-court on Monday, at
the instance of Mr. Cave, of the Elephant and Castle
Theatre, charged with causing a stage play to be per-
formed in an unlicensed place. The evidence was
somewhat conflicting, and in the end the magistrate
imposed a nominal penalty. Notice of appeal was
given.
George Welsh, a servant out of place, was :charged
at Westminster, on Monday, with assaulting and
threatening his wife, who is housekeeper to the Right
Hon. C. P. Villiers M.P. He was required to find
sureties for his goodbehaviour.
. - _

At Worship-fitreet Police-court, London, a bailiff's
broker was fined £l, and ordered to pay compensa-
tion, for wilfully damaging the property of Mr. George
Leech, upon whose goodshe had been employed to levy
a distraint.
Two men, aecused by, a policeman of assaulting him,
were discharged by the Marylebone magistrate. From
the evidence of a bystander it appeared that the con-
stable himself had needlessly assaulted one of the
prisoners, and Mr. De Rutzen hoped the facts would
be brought to the notice of the authorities.
Mr. Childers will be %paged at Edinburgh by the
Master of Polwarth in the Conservative Interest.
Speaking at Sandown on Wednesday night, Coe
:Attorney-General commended the recent annexation of
Burnish, expressed disapproval of the idea of establish-
ing a Parliament in Dublin, and urged the union of
moderate men of different parties pledged to preserve
the integrity of the Empire,. - • • •

The first annual show of pigeons at the Albert Palace,
Battersea Park, was opened on Tuesday. There are
nearly 1300 entries.
The distress on the west coast of Connemara is in-
tense, and the condition of the inhabitants of the
Innisboffin Islands is wretched in the extreme. Their
only food is potatoes, a palatable seaweed, which they
boil, and the fish which they manage to catch occa-
sionally.
The Austrian Minister of War has ordered compulsory
vaccination with calf lymph for the whole of the
Austrian army. The order will be carried out with all
expedition.
Cholera having appeared at Algeciras and Marbella,
quarantine has been established at Gibraltar on arrivals
from these places. Notwithstanding the adoption of
this precautionary measure, the authorities at Tangier
have cut off communication with Gibraltar.

On Tuesday a destructive fire took place in Man-
chester in the neighbourhoo,' of Portland-street, where
several serious fires have lately taken place amongst the
warehouse property which covers the district. The fire
began in a four storyed block of buildings in George-
street, occupied by Messrs. Baker, cloth agents; George
Collier and Co., merchants; J. and W. Hall, muslin
merchants, and others. It spread with marvellous
rapidity, speedily enveloping the whole block, and
within a quarter of an hour of the outbreak the roof fell
in with a great crash. Shortly afterwards the front
wall, facing George-street, collapsed, and the whole
place was entirely gutted. On one side of the block is
the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society's
institution, and alarm was felt for it; but on the side
adjoining the gutted block it is only one story in height,
and the firemen were able to save it. On the other
side, too, a low building checked the spread of the fire
to other warehouses. By half-past one o'clock the fire
was completely subdued.
A prize-fight of a determined character took place
on Tuesday morning in a secluded spot at Whiskers-
hill, Babworth, near Retford, between " Johney "
Jones, of Biimingham, and Prank Simpson, of London.
The stakes consisted of £3O a side, and so quietly ivas
the affair managed that there was no police interference.
At the commencement the Birmingham man was the
favourite, but at the conclusion of the 24th round, when
Jones appeared to be at a disadvantage, favour was
transferred to Simpson. In the 31st and last ronnd,
however' the London pugilist was felled by a heavy
blow on the jaw, which knocked him out of time, and
Jones was declared the winner.

At the Huntingdon Quarter Sessions on Tuesday it
was reported that there was no prisoner for trial at the
sessions, and only one prisoner committed to the
assizes, which are to be held next week. The yet urns
showed that although there was a great increase in the
number of vagrants, there had been a considerable
diminution of crime in the country, both with regard to
summary and indictable offences.
The representatives of the shipbuilders of the Tyne
and the Wear met the delegates of the workmen at
Newcastle on Tuesday, in reference to the proposed
reductions of 10 and 121 per cent. in wages. The men
intimated that they had no instructions to accept rates
lower than those paid at present. The employers
agreed to extend the reduction notices for a fortnight,
and promised in the meantime to consider any further
proposals.
A Kilrush telegram states that the schooner Eliza, of
Rochester, Captain Kenwick, which stranded near
Cappa in Kilrush Harbour a few days ago, was
abandoned in Taesday night's gale. She had on board
a cargo of flagging from Liscannon for Waterford, and
was driven into the Shannon waterlogged.
A married man named Enoch Duckett met with a
shocking death on Tuesday at Straits Green Colliery,
Lower Gornal. When engaged in the gate road the
roof suddenly came in, with a sudden shaking of the
mineral above the roof, and Duckett was buried for a
considerable time. Upon the debris being removed
Duckett was found terribly mangled, his head being
shockingly crushed. He was alive when found, but
died upon being removed home. He had a presfintiment
that he would be injured.
Mr. W. St. Chad Boscawen has read a paper at the
Victoria Philosophical Institute on "Historical Evi•
deuces of the Migraticn of Abram," his ccnclusion being
that the record given in Genesis of the migration of
Abram perfectly agreed with the Chaldean and
Westiern-Asiatic histcxy revealed by the monuments
.
, and nscriptions found during recent years in the grave-
mounds ot Chaldea. In the subsequent discussion the
urgent need of excavations in the great city mounds of
, Western Asia, especially in ancient Kharran, was re-
ferred to by several speakets.
Senor Moret, Minister of Foreign Affairs, on Monday
' afternoon presented the protocol relating to the settle-
ment of the Caroline Islands question to the Cortes.
The protocol, which consists of six articles, states that
Germany recoguises the priority of the Spanish occupa-
tion, and her sovereignty over the Caroline and Pelew
groups. Spain, in return, grants to German subjects
liberty of commerce and navigation on the same
, terms as provided by the Sooloo protocol, together with
the right to establish commerce nnd agriculture in the
islands. Germany is also empowered to establish a
naval coaling-station at a place to be decided between
the two Governments. In reply to a question, Senor
Moret stated that England claimed the same commercial
and naval advantages as Germany.
During the last few days (says the "Times of India"
of the 18th ult.) the citizens of Bombay have had a
chance of forming an idea of what the Bombay Court
will be like at the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in
London. A large portion of the elaborately carved
screen, which will go round the court, was exhibited
by Mr. Wimbridge. Mr. Van Ruith gave a wivate
view of his pictures. Mr. Griffiths showed at the
School of Art as many of the fabrics as could be con-
veniently unpacked. Mr. Terry opened the doors of
the Wonderland Pottery Works, and the models of
Indian craft were exhibited at the dockyard. Every
one was pleased with lbw general result. Bombay
there is no doubt, will be very worthily represented.
A serious accident is reported from Castleblayney, ir
Ireland. A car containing two men was being driven
through the streets when the shafts gave way and the
driver, and occupants were thrown out. The horse
galloped off at a furious rate across the main street
into a gateway, crushing two girls, named McMahon
and Burns, against the wall, and
,inflicting upon theist
fatal injuries.
The statistics of the number of suicides which base
taken place in the Department of the Seine during
1885 show that a very large percentage of the inhabi-
tants of the" %dile lumiera " find life an insupportabl,le
burden. During the past year 042 people committed
suicide, or attempted to do so; whereas their number
In 1884 was only 542. In 225 cases firearms were used
as the means of self-destruction. There were 150
cases of drowning, s 8 of hanging, and 142 of suffocit-
tion by charcoal. The other people who committed
suicide threw themselves off public mosuments or out
of house windows, poisoned themselves, or terminated
their existence in some other way. The number of
women who blew out their brains or shot themselves in
the heart is 40.
A correspondent recently wrote to Mr. Joseph
Chamberlain and Mr. John Morley in advocacy of the
principle of the second ballot, and pointing out that if
it had been law, the result of the general election would
probably have been a Liberal majcrity of eight or ten
in the House of Commons, over a combination of
Conservatives and Parnellites. In reply Mr.
Ohamberlain's secretary writes: "Mr. Chamberlain
desires me to say that he has on several occasions
publicly expressed himself in favour of the principle of
the second ballot." Mr. Morley replies: "Mr. Brett
and I brought in a bill for the second ballot in the last
Parliament. I plopose to introduce it again next
session."

Alexander Ferguson, shepherd to Sir John Campbell
Orde, discovered the dead body of Isaac Johnston,
sheepdealer' on Saturday forenoon, on the hills above
Lochgilphead. Johnston was last seen the Wednesday
previous, when he left Lochgilphead to cross the moors
for Tuns farm; but sitting down half way to rest, he
had fallen asleep, and died from exposure to the very
inclement weather

At the Munster Winter Assizes, held on Saturday at
Cork, William Kennedy,a farmer, of county Limerick,
was foand guilty of having killed John Ryan. Land
had been taken from Ryan and given to Ke.,nedy by
the agent on Lady Fitzgibbon's estate. Ryan, when
under the influence of drink, went to Kennedy's house
and called the tenant a landgrabber. A quarrel ensued,
which resulted in Ryan being struck on the head with
a stone. He died a few hours later. -

John Kelly, alias John Smith, was convicted on
Saturday at Kilraainham Sessions of having written and
posted on the door of Ballymun Chapel a threatening
notice, He was also found guilty of having destroyed
a stack of oats by setting it on fire at the Christian
Brothers' School, Artane. The prisoner confessed.
having committed the offences; but as during the ix*,
be behaved strangely, sentence was deferred to enatile
the authorities to make inquiries as to his sanity* ;
William Sheehan, who at Cork was conclerancd49,
execution for the Castletownroche murders; imhhs conr
fession states that he killed his brother Thomas in the
haggart with 8; griffaun, his sister in the stable, and his
mother in the dwelling•house, cutting both their
throats with a razor. He made no reference to the
presence of Brown, who was acquitted of the murder,
nor of Duane, the accomplice. The latter's evidence
was that the three were killed with a griffaun.
A sad accident occurred on Saturday afternoon in the
Theatre Royal, Glasgow. A stage carpenter earned
Cranford, 43, residing in North•street, was engaged
spreading canvas on the stage, when he fell through a
trap into the property-room. His right collarbone
was broken, and he was internally injured, necessi-
tating his removal to the hospital in an am' ulance
wagon.
A sad fatal accident occurred at Reavrick, on the
west side of Shetland, on Saturday evening. Two men,
named John Petersen shop manager, and James Peter-
son, seaman, lost their lives by the upsetting of a
small boat in which they were making a passage.
Mary Brown or Duncan, 87, on Sunday jumped out
of a fourth-storey window, in Derby•street, Glasgow,
and was killed on the spot. The unfortunate woman
was insane.

The seed warehouses of Messrs. Ferry and Co.,
White's Theatre, and other buildings at Detroit, have
been destroyed by fire. The loss is estimated at
1,000,000 dole.
A Nihilist, named Manutscharoff, a noble, and
formerly a student in the University of St. Petersburg, '
has been sentenced by the military tribunal of °dem
to be hanged. The trial was held with closed doors,
and all the entrances and approaches to the Court were
strongly guarded.
A curious fatality haa occurred to the Rev. John
Watson, M.A., rector of Orton, nearPeterborongh. Orb
rising from a kneeling position after family prayers, he
stumbled and dislocated his hip. He was about 70
years of age, and died on Monday from the effects of
the injuries.
The body of Mr. Isidore Goldstein' undergraduate of
Exeter College, Oxford, who had been missing for
several weeks, was discovered on Tuesday morning in
the Thames at Oxford. He had undressed to euter the
water, and his )3oat had apparently floated away, being
fikinif soon after he was missed some distance down
the river, where it was left stranded by the subsidence
IA the &evils. ,
_ . _ _

At the Middle Sex Sessions, on Tuesday, Henry
Graham, aged 61, Was found guilty of stealing jewellery,
valued at L'lso, belonging to a lady residing at
Gloncester-placb, Hyde-park, in the year 1883. The
accused was at one time known as a street preacbe.r,
It it was clearly shownthat for many years ho had sup-
- hiniself.by swindling.; and the Assistint-JiAgtl
sentenced him to five years'. penarservitude,.

1 but ...
- t ported

From Tamatave we learn that the terms of peace
between Madagascar and France have been agreed
upon. Certain territory is to be ceded to Fiance,
the north-west porta surrendered, and French
supremacy recognised in the foreign relations of Mada-
gascar.
Sir J. Macdonald, the Premier of Canada, was enter-
tained at a batapiet at St. Geol..'Ts's Club, Hanover-
square, Londokl, on Monday night. In responding to
the toast of his health, Sir John referred to the warm
loyalty prevailing among all classes of Canadians, and
spoke most hopefully of the future of the Dominion.
His Holincsa the Pope has conferred the decoration .
of the Order of Christ upon Prince Bismarck.
At Monday's sitting of the Legislative Council in
Calcutta, the Finance Minister announced the intro-
duction of a bill for extending the license tax to pro-
fessional and official incomes above five hundred rupees.
The Viceroy took upon himself the responsibility of
this measure, and added that the salt duty would not be
increased except upon extreme emergency.
Gambetta's house at Ville d'Avray was thronged on
Sunday, as on Friday, by deputations and other visitors,
bringing wreaths to place in the room where he died.
Twelve volunteer artillerymen at Rangoon have
qualified for the certificate of the St. John's Ambulance
Association. The Bishop of Rangoon, who is a doctor
of medicine, is now instructing a large class of ladies.
In reference to the monster petition receutly
presented by them at the Home Office, praying for the
release of W. T. Stead and Rebecca Jarrett, the
Salvation Army on Saturday received the following
communication: "Whitehall, Dec. 3l.—With reference
to the numerously signed petition received in the
Home Office on the 22nd December, on behalf of W.
T. Stead, I am directed by the Secretary of State to
inform you that the same has been laid before her
Majesty. (Signed) E. LEIGH PEMBERTON." A
communication concerning the said petition has also
been received by the Salvation Army from Lady
Ponsonby, but no intimation of her Majesty's views or
intentions was given. .
An inquest was held on Monday at Gomeldon, near
Salisbury, on the body of a little girl, aged five years,
daughter of a woman named Sims, who had left her at
home in charge of an elder sister, aged 10 years. During
the mother's absence a hot coal from the fire set the
little girl's dress in flames. Her sister threw water on
the flames without avail. Before the clothes were torn
off by a neighbour the child was fearfully burnt, and
she died some time after in great agony. A verdict of
"Accidental death" was returned.

The make and disposal of pig iron in Cleveland,
according to the return iasueil by the Ironmasters
Association at Middlesbrough are, for December,
214,491 tons produced by 08 out of 156 furnaces in the
North of England. Stocks amount to 517,488 tons, of
which 46,958 tons were added in December.
The celebration of the fifth centenary of the Uni-
versity of Heidelburg next August will be a gigantic
affair, over 20,000 old students being expected, as well
as many other guests, deputations, &c. The prepare.
tions have already commenced. Victor von Scheffel,
himself an old student of Heidelberg, and the cele-
brated author of many songs, has written a Jubilee
Hymn, for which Vincent Lachner has composed the
music.

The Municipal Savings Bank of Paris has just issued
its balance-sheet for the year 1885. The amount
owing to F 11,914 depositors, on December 31st was
111,824,309 fr. 75c. On the Ist of January, 1885, the
depositors numbered 492,949, and the increase since
that period is 18,965, and the amount of money in trust
has been augmented by 8,844,408 fr. 86c. About one!.
eighth of the total amount of deposits, for the sum of
774,290 fr., has been inscribed for investment in the
Government Funds.

An unusual spectacle was witnessed at a church in
Birmingham on Saturday. A bridegroom was so drunk
that his bride had to lead him to the altar, and the
officiating clergyman was so disgusted with the man's
appearance that he refused to perform the ceremony,
despite the earnest entre-atics of the bride, who
swooned into one of the bridesmaid's arms when the
clergyman ordered the party out of church.
An alarming accident occurred 4 Markgate-street
Gasworks, near Dunstable, on Saturday night. A man
named William Woodward was repairing a meter in
front of a fire, when a quantity of gas which had not
been extracted frtim the drum exploded, smashing the
apparatus to atoms. One of the pieces struck Wood.
ward in the face, cutting off his nose, and tearing out
one of his eyes, and another struck a boy who was
dtanding by, severely bruising him on the arm.
At the Stoke-on-Trent County Court, Judge Jordan
gave a verdict for £l5O against Lord Granville, owner
Of Shelton Collieries, in an action brought under the
Employers Liability Act, by the widow of George Hall,
a collier, who was killed in the mines. The judge, in
alluding to an action brought by Lord Granville
against the plaintiff's only witness for perjury, and
now pending, remarked that the action was most
indecent.
Mr. R. L. Everett, M P., has published a letter sug-
gesting that different religions denominations should
make commen We of the same church building for
their worship, care beieg taken that the church should
I be used by each denomination at different hours.
' Economy is his object.
A fire broke out shortly after seven o'clock on
Monday morning at the premises of Mr. Gee, stationer,
High-street, Chatham. Some passers-by tried to
arouse the inmates by rapping at the shutters. Mr.
Gee, who was in the garden, on perceiving the condition
of affairs, rushed into the house, and found the base-
ment enveloped in dense smoke and the shop premises
alight from end to end. Hastening up the stairs Mr.
Gee called to his wife and children, and with much
difficulty managed, with the assistance of neighbours,
to get all his family out. The house was constructed
of tarred .match-boarding, excepting the front and a
portion of the side walls. The fire brigade attended
promptly, and rendered efficient assistance.
According to returns published at Melbourne. the
revenue for the past year amounted to £6,250,000,
being an increase of £60,000 as compared with the pre-
ceding year. The railway revenue showed an increase
of £73,000. •
-; In the Dublin Corporation, on the motion of Alder-
man Harris, supported by Mr. Michael Devitt, it was
decided to retain a vacant area, exceeding an acre in
extent, within the city, as a site for labourers' cottages
to be built by the Corporation.
Isaac Wilson, a millstone maker, of Hattersage, near
Sheffield, died on Sunday night from injuries received
through falling down a steep embankment near his
residence. He lay where he fell for several hours, and
then managed to crawl home on his hands and knees.
On Monday Margaret Robertson or Brown, aged GO,
was apprehended at Inverkeithing, near Dunfermline,
on the charge of setting fire to her grandchildren, two
girls, aged respetively three and 2i years. They were
left in prisoner's charge during the absence of their
parents. One of the children was found lying on the
floor and the other in the bed, both being dreadfully
charred.

On Monday morning, at North Shields Police-court,
Captain Waller was fined £5 and costs for loading his
vessel, Agnes Louise, so as to submerge the disc.
Captain John Mitchell was fined the same sum for
committing a similar offence by submerging the disc
of the steamer Civilian. The prosecution was instituted
by the Board of Trade.
At Bucks Quarter Sessions, Alfred Miles, booking
clerk, employed by the London and North-Western
Railway Company, was indicted for stealing, on
October 3, from a portmanteau at Cheddington Station,
two suits of clothes, value £lO, the property of Earl
Spencer and his valet, and William Bennett, refresh-
ment-house keeper, of Linslade, Bucks, was charged
with knowingly receiving the stolen goods. Miles
pleaded guilty, and said he had had several dealings
with the other prisoner of a similar kind. Bennett was
convicted, and sentenced to nine months' hard labour.
Miles, in consideration of his youth and previous goad
conduct, was committed for only a week's imprison-
ment.