The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-09-19 00:00:00

ORE STOUBBRIDGE OBSERVE&

&A, are Made to be aids to iellgion ifTWhn call them-
selves " High Church," it brought the following anecdote to
my remembrance; its truth I can vouch for :—A few months
ago a lady went to Leeds with her nurse and child the
nurse WAS sent to one of the churches on a Sunday morning;
when she returned, her mistress asked her how she liked the
service? The younu woman replied "It wag beautiful ; I
have not had such a treat since I went to hear Pow,.
THE RATS IN THE MINE.—A miner of the Im-
perial Mine if Gold Hill, Nevada, publishes in a
paper of that locality the following rat story. He
says:

is not generally lmown, excepting in mining localities
it rats inhabit the mines, but such, however, is the fact. i
trout the top ground down to the lowest levels they are to be
found in our mines. Some time since the Imperial company
stopped work at the lowest level for several days to repair
the shaft just above it. After resuming work, the carman,
who was the first to go below, went down alone to run out
the ore from the chutes, and as soon as the rats heard the
old familiar sound of the car rumbling along the track, they
rushed out from behind the timbers to welcome the presence
of man once more. They ran up to the carman in squads,
climbed all over hint, then down to the station floor again,
and scampered and gamboled around in ecstasies of un-
mistakeable delight. When he started for the chute again
with the car, they ran following and playing around hint,
and when he had filled his car with ore and started back
again for the shaft, they the rats, sprang upon the car and
ran all over it, and jumped and leaped as if mail. The
carman sat down a moment to see what they would do,
when they all huddled around and ran over hint without the
slightest apparent fear and without offering to bite him. Ile
did not hurt any of them, ache said if they could live in such
a place he felt in duty bound to let them have the "freedom

o( the city."
SUICIDE OF A YOUTH—An inquest was held at
Leeds on Saturday on the body of Jas. Thomas
Horner, nineteen years of age' who lived with his
father at Burniston Court, and had committed suicide
under somewhat remarkable circumstances. He is
reputes! to have bad a disinclination for work, and
seems to have harboured a strong determination to
destroy himself, as on two or three occasions he had
made unsuccessful attempts to take away his life. On
Friday night his father left the house for some pur-
jsise, and returning about twelve o'clock he discovered
that his son had hanged himself by attaching a rope to
a hook in the ceiling, and, then standing upon a sup-
port, had afterwards kicked it away on completing his
horrible preparations. The jury returned a verdict ,4
Temporary Insanity.
SINGULAR AND FATAL ACCIDENT.—A fatal ac-
cident of a singular character has been the subject of
inquiry at the Middlesex Hospital in London. The de-
ceased, Mr. Antoine Fug!. aged 49. was tripped up with
the carpet in his bedroom, and fell through a pier glass,
receiving injuries that caused his death. Mr. Draper
said the deceased occupied apartments in his house.
About one o'clock in the morning of the 2nd instant,
witness was awoke by some one knocking at his bed-
room door. It was Mr. Fugl, who said "For God's
sake come down, for lam bleeding to death!" He
went down and saw the deceased's bedroom covered
with pools of blood. Deceased said he was about to get
the lucifers and his foot caught in the carpet and he fell
through the pier glass, which was temporarily placed
against the wainscoting and resting on the floor. Witness
ran for a doctor, who strapped up a wound in the thigh
of the deceased, and 'directed his removal to the hospitaL
The glass was entirely smashed. Three days after
erysipelas set in together with paralysis, and death
ensued on Tuesday night. The immediate cause of
(bath was congestion of the brain produced by the
erysipelas. Verdict—" Accidental death."
NEW AMERICAN WORD—We have done our
wilt lately to bring into use the veil) "cables!," as
applied to a message conveyed by the Atlantic Cable.
It is proper to say "it has been cabled," instead of
'it has been telegraphed over the Atlantic Cable."—
Neve York Timer. Yes! And by the same rule, in a
little while' if capital punishments continue, it will
be said that a criminal has been "coped," and not

hanged.
ALLEGED CASE OF BIGAMY.-At Birkenhead
William Edward Scowcroft, about thirty-five years of
age. has been charged with having, on the 18th day of
May, 1863, feloniously married Mary Wharton, his
former wife being then alive. In 1862 the prisoner
was married at St. Mary's Roman Catholic Chapel,
Blackburn, to Fanny Elkin. Five weeks after his
marriage prisoner and his wife separated, and have
since lived apart. In 1863 prisoner was again married
at Holy Trinity Church, Birkenhead, to the prose-
cutrix, Mary Wharton, who at that time was a bar-
maid in Mr. Ferneyhough's Hotel at Tranmere, but is
at present residing with her brother-in-law, at Sea-
combo. Prisoner then represented himself as single,
and he and prosecutrix lived together up to five or six
weeks ago, during the whole of which time she had no
suspicion that he had another wife living. About that
time the prisoner went to Blackburn to look for work.
On Saturday the prosecutrix met him in Accrington,
and asked him what he intended to do. He said she
had better go back; to which she replied that she
had no place to return to, and she wished she was
single. Prisoner thereupon said, "You are single ;
and called in his sistsr Jane, at whose house he was
staying, who confirmed the truth of his statement.
Prosecutrix then returned to her friends, and took
out a warrant for the prisoner's apprehension. When
charged with the offence the prisoner said, "It's all
right ; it's no use denying it." The prisoner was com-
mitted to take his trial at the next general assizes at
Chester.

FATAL BOAT ACCIDENT.—On Saturday morn-
ing Mr. Stunner, a retired ship's captain, and Mr.
Boaden, schoolmaster, both of Barrow-in-Furness,
went out in a entail boat to fish near Peel Island, in
Morecambe Bay. As they were returning to Piel
pier, a sudden gust of wind caught the sails, which had
for convenience been tiek and the boat capsized.
Captain Sumner was unable to swim, so Mr. Boaden,
who is an expert swimmer, supported him until the
crew of a pleasure yacht came to their assistance.
When brought to shore, Mr. Boaden soon recovered,
but his companion, who was an aged man, only
breathed a few minutes, and then expired. A doctor
was quickly procured, but his efforts to restore ani-
mation were unsnccesduL

INSTRI7CrIONS TO VOLUNTEERS.—The following
circular was issued on Monday to the Lords-Lieutenant
of counties by Sir John Pakington :
War Office, September 11, 18438.—1 n view of the ap-
proaching general election, and id the proceedings prepara-
tory thereto, I think it right to remind you that volunteers
in uniform should take no part in any political demonstra-
tion if party meeting, and I have accordingly to request that
you will give directions to this effect to the commanding
officers of all volunteer corps within the county under your
charge. I have further to request that you will also inform
them that thee are not to assemble their corps for drill or
any other purpose between the issue of a writ and the
termination of the election in ally county or borough in the
neighbourhood of their head-quarters.
There is nothing new in this circular, it being quite
in accordance with former instructions issued 7th June,
1814, by Mr. Sidney Herbert.
FEARFUL EXPLOSION.—On September 14, five
gunners of the garrison of Malta, with two Maltese
workmen from the Store department, were engaged
under the superintendence of a sergeant of artillery in
fuzeing twenty-nine bombs in the drillingdmim out-
side Fort St. Angelo, when one of the shells acci-
dentally exploded. Seven of the party were killed
instantaneously, and the other has since shed of the
injuries he received. The names of the Englishmen
killed are :—John Mavell, sergeant ; John Drazy,
James Clark, Henry Lloyd, John Stewart, and D.
Anderson.
POACHING ON THE CONTINENT.—A gendarme
names! Thomas, and a gamekeeper named Parise were
shot dead on September 4, by poachers sin the lands of
M. Cannes, proprietor and mayor of Grosrouvres.
The poachers were a father and son, of Grosrouvres,
and in easy circumstances. 'lwo gamekeepers found
a poacher on preserved ground belonging to Baron
du Sart, at Bezlers. One of the keepers advanced
towards the poacher, who, raising his gun, cried
out, "If you advance I shall shoot you." The keeper,
disregarding the threat, continued to walk forward,
when the poacher fired and killed the keeper on the
spot. He was arrested by the second keeper and lodged
in prison.
AN ECONOMICAL SUICIDE.—A man, who was
in the habit of constantly frequenting a cabaret in the
Versailles-road, in Paris, was a few days ago observed
by the mistress to be sitting with his glass empty before
him. "What will you take?" said the woman. "Oh.
nothing more," was the reply. "I have but forty
sous, and I must buy some charcoal to stifle mvself
with." " Oh, that's very foolish," rejoined the land-
lady, who thought he was joking ; "with twopenny-
worth of cord you could hang yourself, and by that
arrangement you would have some snore money to
spend in drink." "Vpon my word, you're right," said
the man; and he spent thirty-eight of his remaining
801114 in drink. On Saturday morning he was discovered
hanging to a tree.
A "STAGE WISPER."—The man who puts the
straw in the omnibus.—Punelt.
A BET OF A Kiss.—A young gentleman of
Coxsackie met a young and handsome lady of Albany,
who WBB visiting at that place. Their acquaintance
ripened into intimacy, and, on one occasion, a bet was
made between them--the stakes to be a kiss in public
on first subsequent meeting. Our youth won the bet,
and last Saturday morning, on the City of Hudson's
Dock, a crowd witnessed the payment of the stakes.
The lady was about to leave for home. Coxsackie boy
in attendance at the pier —his features a strange mix-
ture of sorrow, expectation, and embarrassment.
Captain shouted "All aboard." The young gentle-
man wanted t t take the stakes that he had won, but
his courage was not equal to his ambition. He dared
not do it before such a crowd. But the lady was not
thus afraid. She was ready and willing to pay the
forfeit. And so, when the young man was doubting
and hesitating, the young lady seized hold of him just
when the ruddy flush of shamefacedness had reddened
his cheek with its glow, imprinted upon it a fervent
kiss, exclaimed that she had paid the bet, and tripped
on board the boat.
BoXIANA AND ROGUES.—The Magistrates ex-
hibit a lanililde firmness in dealing with Prize-flOters.
It is particularly to be hoped that they will enforce
the law with rigour against all those dishonest small
tradesmen who employ Light Weightx.—Pu tick.
THE. PROPOSAL To BRIDGE THE. CHANNEL
.
Mr. Weigall, who recently visited Hull in connection
with the proposed bridge over the Humber, one if the
promoters of the proposed Channel Railway Bridge,
was in Dover loot week, and had interviews with some
of the principal residents of Dover and the neighbour,
hood whose countenance to the scheme he is desirous
of obtaining —among others with Earl Granville, the
Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. As already an-
nounced, the Emperor of the French and other persons
of distinction in France are waranly in favour of the
project, and we are informed that one-half the capital
required for preliminary operations has already been
subscribed by onr French neighbours. The remainder
is to be provided in England, it being the sibject of the
promoters to make the undertaking an international
one, and to cause the commercial interests and „oene-
rail convenience of both countries to be e• madly re-
presented.
A HIGH AFFAIR iF BONOUR.—The French
code of honour obliges any gentleman insulted by
another to challenge him, and allows that other the
choice of weapons. It should also allow him the
of pl.we. . Then a funambulist, though le,o skilled than
M. Mandan, wont I lie enabled to assassinate anybody
he pleased,. by extorting a challenge from luau and
then obhgusg him to tight upon the tight-rope.—

SERIOUS ACCIDENT-TO A-HUNO-ARLiN NOBLE-
mAN.—A serious accident recently occurred to Count
de Forgach, formerly Chancellor of Hungary. He was
out quail shooting at Kekko, is the district of Neograd,
and WU about to reload one barrel if his gun, when
the other, which was on full cock, went off in conse-
quence of the stock striking I,n the ground. The
charge passed through the rim of his hat without
hurting him, lot a spark falling in his opened powder-
flask caused it to explode, burning the lower part of
his face most s, and shattering the lingers of
the hand which held it.
A rivieg To IDLE VAGABONDS. Put your
shoulder to the wheel—or put your feet .—Punch.
SUICIDE AT PROADSTAIRS.-011 Saturday morn-
ing a widow lady, aged sixty-five, named Mary Emily
Craft was found hanging to a rope in her bedroom at
Broarlstairs. A surgeon was called in, who said the
deceased had been dead about three hours. At the
inquest it was given in evidence that the deceased had
formerly been an innkeeper of Margate, and was in-
dependent, having an income of t2OO a year. She
had for along time been under medical treatment, and
was at times somewhat " strange " in her manner.
She went to bed as usual on Friday night shortly
after eleven, and nothing unusual was observed in
her appearance. The jury returned a verdict that
" the deceased committed suicide by hanging herself
while in a state of temporary insanity."
• •

A GREAT PATRON ON THE TITRE - OLD

Scratch.—Punch.

NOT DEAD corpse in an advanced stage
of decomposition, as discovered in June last in a
fiat of oats near Dijon. Although all traces of iden-
y were obliterated, objects found near it led to the
mansion that it was the body of a man named Hier-
ling, who had disappeared for some time, and it was
duly certified as such and buried. A few days ago a
man suddenly made Ids appearance at the house of
the widow, who screamed and fled in great alam, on
recognising her husband. The whole quarter was in
, commotion and refused to acknowledge the supposed
defunct, who, not being able to gain admittance into
his own house, consoled himself with a few bottles of
wine, but having taken too much he became disorderly
and finally found himself in the hands of the police.
When asked by the magistrate how he came to create
such a disturbance he narrated what had occurred,
and in consideration ot the strangeness of the circum-
stances was liberated in a few hours. The necessary
measures are being taken to restore him to legal life.
THE PRIME MINISTER'S FAMILY—Our Premier
belongs to a very long-lived family. His mother and
his grandmother both attained a good old age; his
father, the author of " The Curiosities of Literature,"
died about five-and-twenty years ago, at the age of 82;
and his grandfather died in 1817, in his 20th year.
The family became English denizens in 1748; and the
present Prime Minister's grandfather (to use his own
words) was an Italian descendant of one of those
Hebrew families "whom the Inquisition forced to
emigrate from the Spanish peninsula at the end of
the 15th century, and who found a refuge in the more
tolerant territories of the Venetian Republic.
MOTTO FOR CONFECTIONER'S PLIES.—" What
I-con I sticks to ! "—Punch.

A SINGULAR CEREMONY—The German jour-
nals, in announcing how the King of Prussia was to
employ each day during his visit to Dresden, stated
that, after a review on the 9th, his Majesty was to
attend a grand banquet in the ancient hall of the
palace at Moritsburg, and they then add :
King William will have to undergo a singular ceremony nn
this occasion. In the chateau there exists a cup made of a
a stag's skull, still adorned with the horns, and deep as an
ancient Gothic vidrecome. This vessel is filled with cham-
pagne, and every guest has to empty it as adroitly as he can
—a difficult task, however, in which many a drinker has
failed. The King of Saxony, while the guests take their wine,
takes notice of their address, and draws up a report of the
trial in an antique register, which dates from the first days
of the Saxon Monarchy. The most illustrious names figure
in it, and that of Frederiek the Great among others. The
Germans, who are 1011114 Of pleasantry at times, are curious
to know how the conqueror of Sadowa will extricate him-
self front the difficulty, and whether the misfortune will
occur to him, as to many others, of spilling some of the con-
tents on his glorious uniform.
M. GUIZOT ON THE PEACE OR WAR QUESTION.
—ln a paper on "France and Prussia," published
in Monday's &rue des Dear Monde*, M. Guizot admits
the existence of the uneasiness caused by the peace or
war question. He gives creditto the Emperor Napoleon
for a sincere desire to maintain iware, but blames him
for his apparent indecision,. and holffing that war is
not inevitable nor even probable. M. Guizot advocates
the reduction of the French military forces to a bona
tide peace footing as the only measure which, in the
present state of Europe, would be viewed as serious,
significant, and effectual. The general tone of the
article is extremely kindly and more than courteous
towards the Emperor.
Tile STAFF OF LIFE.—A French Bread
Bludgeon. —Puns.k.
A FEAST OF FAT MEN.—A curious gathering
of portly men took place at Gregory's Point, Connec-
ticut, ssn the 20th of August. 'The occasion of this
gathering was a clam-hake, to which no guest was in-
vites! who did not cause the scales to kick the beam at
2001lis. avoirdupois. And these heavy-weight
champions were all to be from Fairfield county.
There should certainly be something remarkable in
the air, the diet, and the physical conditions ssf life
generally in this county, since it furnished to the
clam-bake no less than thirty-nine men, the lightest
of whom weighed 200 and the heaviest 3151b5. The
number of clams eaten by this formidable party is un-
fortunately not given in the aocount from which the
foregoing particulars are taken.
HUMAN SUFFERING—TWO men employed by
a gold mining company to drive a drift on Pine
Island, in Lake Vermillion. Michigan, worked alone,
and one slay, a blast having failed, they set to drilling
it out witht sut taking sufficient pains to prevent an
explosion. The blast went off and blinded and severely
wounded both men, who lay where they were hurt
nine slays before assistance reached them. They were
found in a horrible state, with worms preying on their
wounds, and it is wonderful how they survived so long.
Great loss of blood saved them from suffering the
cravings of appetite. They are likely to recover.
ROMAN BRIGANDS—The Giornale di Roma
says:—" Beneath Verdi, a pontifical town, built like
an eagle's nest on the summit of a sterile mountain,
extends the estate, admirably cultivated, of a Roman
noble. The proprietor, having been summoned by
the brigands to send 4,000 midi (20,000 f. to a cer-
tain spot, applied for the protection of the gendarmery.
An arrangement was made that a vice-brigadier,
dresses! as a peasant, should proceed to the place in-
dicated, provides' with a revolver and 400 scusli, and
followed at a distance by a patrol of his men. On
his arrival he found the chief and lieutenant of the
band. 'My master can only send you,' he said, 'this
stun at present. Money is not easy to find. In a few
days you shall have the rest. In the meantime, for
my discharge, count what there is,' While the two
robbers were stooping down to comply with the re-
quest the other drew out his pistol and shot them
both dead. Their companions, who were posted in a
neighbouring thicket, seeing them fall, rushed out to
take revenge, but the gendarmes also hastened up,
and after a short resistance put to flight the male-
factors, who left three wounded and two dead on the
ground. The non-commissioned officer was men-
tioned in the order of the day, made a brigadier, and
decorated by the Pope with the Grand Medal."
CLASSES IN SCOTLAND. —For in Scotland, while
the landed aristocracy and the wealthier professional
classes still keep aloof from the people (says Frazer's
Magazine), and have M a great measure adopted
English tastes and habits, and Episcopal forms of
worship, and English ideas on education, the middle
and lower classes have remained staunch to Scottish
traditions and influences. These two classes have
become in a manner blended together into one class
without any very distinct line sif demarcation between
them. They attend the Presbyterian churches, send
their children to the parochial or other schools, and to
the universities, where they sit together on the same
benches ; they associate together afterwards, and live
their own lives, influenced to an almost inappreciable
extent by the vexatious restrictions and annoyances
of caste which are so noticeable in the middle classes
south of the Tweed. These characteristics are due
partly, no doubt, to the comparative poverty of the
country, but mainly to the levelling influence of the
Presbyterian church and to the diffusion id a certain
stamp of education amusing all classes of the people
through the agency of the school and university
system.
A MONSTER CANNON.—The following is irom
Vims's Gazette
It has been decided that the gt,,,antic Krupp cannon, in-
tended for the defence of the port of Kiel shall form, with
twelve 96-pounders breechloaders , the armament of the
Strand Fort. This monster is unique of its kind. The lump
of steel from which it was made weighed originally 040
quintals 10011 t. each . The interior gun, in a single piece,
still weighs 400 quintals, and is surrounded by three steel
bands of 600 more, so that the entire piece represents 1,000,
while the heaviest English one is only 450. The solid shot
used for it weighs I.loollt and the shell I,lollb The manage-
ment of the weapon is Said tO be perfectly easy. The expec-
tation is that by means of it an armour plating 10 inches
thick could be pierced at 3,000 or 1,000 yards. But an
enemy's vessel Wiallillg to force the entrance to the harbour.
would be at only 800 paces front this terrible battevy, and
would probably receive at the first discharge more than
4,000115. nearly two tons of iron, which would be sure to
slink her.
ABORIGINAL Scourrs.—At an exhibition of
native Australian sports by the aboriginal cricketers,
at Bootle, near Liverpool, on Saturday, a boomerang,
thrown by Mullagh, was carried by the wind amsmg
the audience. It struck a gentleman on the head, the
brim of the hat saving the face from severe laceration.
As it was, the boomerang cut through the hat and in-
flicted a severe wound across the brow. Surgical aid
was at once procured, and the gentleman was able to
return home.

DEATH OF AN AMERICAN ARTlST—Charles
Loring Elliot, whose death at Albany on the 25th
instant has been announced, was one of the best
known of American portrait painters. His first ex-
periment came near being at once the beginning and
the end of his career, as when a mere boy he narrowly
escaped suffocation by locking himself in his bedroom,
with a portable furnace of charcoal as his only com-
panion, in order to paint "The Burning, of Moscow."
His brush was in constant demand in his later years,
and his death is traced to his last exertion to finish a
task quite beyond his strength. In his last illness he
had his pencil and palette by his side, and as his mind
wandered, visions of beautiful colours passed before
his eyes. His last effort was to carry his pencil to his
, lips, as if to wet it ; he then made the familiar motion
with it in his fingers, as if he were painting, and then
fell into a stupor, from which he never recovered.
OATHS.—Among the Acts passed on the day of
the prorogation was wie to amend the law relating to
promissory oaths. The oath of allegiance as well as
the official and judicial oaths to be administered are
very short. The oath of allegiance which will have to
be taken by members in the new Parliament is very ,
brief, "I d swear that I will be faithful and bear true '
allegiance to Her Majesty queen Victoria,•her heirs
and success cc, acc,:rding to law. Si, help ine I i.ol! "
A Solemn affirmation or declaration may be taken in
its place. In the first part of the Act the oaths con-
tinued are set forth, and in the second the oaths to be
abolished. The statute is not to affect certain matters
detailed as to the oaths now in force.

-
ABDUCTION OF JAPANESE J ACE The'
e
Courrier de Dux states that the Japanese company,
which are now fulfilling engagements at different
theatres in the south of France, were recently inter-
rupted from a singular cause. The great attraction
of those representations was the feats executed by a
boy named di acko, aged about ten, at the end of a long
pole poised on a man's shoulder. A week back while
at Dax he suddenly disappeared, and with him the
director of the company, a Scotchman named Grant,
and the manager Lintz, an American. The Japanese
applied to the authorities, after a three days' search
the missing trio were traced to a small inn at a neigh-
bouring village, where they had been waiting for an op-
portunity of getting secretly away. Grant and the
boy had, in fact, already left the hiding-place, but
Lintz was arrested . while endeavouring to conceal
himself in a wood. The police, having learned that
the luggage of Grant was to he sent to the railway
station for a train which left at about midnight, pro-
ceeded there and discovered Jacks asleep in a third-
class carriage with a handkecchief over his face. The
man had, however, succeeded in getting away, and has
not since been heard of. The boy was restored to the
Japanese, who wept with joy at his return. The ab-
ductors had, no doubt, intended to abandon the com-
Pally after getting the must valuable actor into their
possession.
"L'EXTINCTEUR." WAN TED.—For something
like 100 years a fire has been burning in the disused
workings of the Bank Pit Colliery, at Parkgate, and
on more than one occasion it has threatened to break
through into the workings of the collieries belonging to
Earl Fitzwilliam. About twenty years ago this
danger was imminent, and a thick 'bank wall was
erected to avert it. During the recent dry weather
the ground in the neighbourhood has cracked to a very
considerable extent, and it is supposed a current of air
has found its way into the workings, causing the fire
to spread. The danger of its breaking through into
the earl's collieries has again presented itself, and,
under the direction of Mr. Cooper, the manager, steps
are being taken te prevent it. The fire is believed to
extend over many acres of workings.