The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-03-06 00:00:00

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—Licences to kill gaol° issued during the year for the
whole of the "United Kingdom were 65,846; for carrying a
gun only 132,036.
- The Earl of Pembroke has ~ent a donation of Eso'
in
aid :el tlie funds of the Model HOUseS Association for Im-
proving the Dwellings attl4e IndustrLal Poor, 121, Pall-mall,
-London. •`1: 11 I A
The Rev. Robert Willis M.A. j:wksonian Pro-
fessor of Natural and Experintental Philosopty in the Unj-
varsity of Cambridge, died on Sunday night. The "deceased,
who was appointed to the professorship in 1837, was the
author of many valuable works.
A lev4e was held at St. James's Palace on MoNdsky
by the Prince of Wales on behalf of the Queen. About 150
presentations were made.
The gigantic clock exhibited by Mr. Benson at the
Exhibition of 1862 has been purchased for:St. James's Cathe-
dralin Toronto. Theschimes of this clock were a modificar
tion of the celebrated Cambridge chimea.
The Paris papers mention the death of M. Seguin,
the nephew and pupil of Montgolfler, at the age of 89. He
constructed the first important French railway, the line
from Lyons to St. Etienne, and introduced into France ex-
press trains ana chain suspension bridges.
The joiners in Dundee came out on Monday on
strike for the standard wage of Bd. an hour, this being equal
in some cases to a rise of id. and in others of fd. About 4101
men are out. Five firms have agreed to the men's demands,.
The national debt of the United States was de-
creased during February by 6,680,183 doLs. The total of the
debt is now 2,17,315,989 dols.
A evtrious instance of dental vitality is reported.
A ram, aged ninety, died in Paris recently, who, in addition
to the two seta of teeth which grew in her youth, had a
new set at forty-seven, another at sixty-three, and a fifth set
a few years before her death.
The Paris Correspondent of the Standard says that
at a sale of arms the other day at the public auction roema
in Paris, a Turkish scimitar of the 16th century was knocked
down to Baron Rothschild for two thousand pounds ; it was
originally bought by the late owner for ten pounds.
• A quantity of very rare telescope fish from Shanghia,
some fantail golden carp from Portugal, and a hairy tortoise
from Hangkow, are among the latest curiosities in the Brigh-
ton Aquarium.
The Bombay Gazette says: "It is rumoured, but we
cannot say on what authority, that the man who personated
the Nana died at Gwalior a few days after he had been given
back to Scindia."
The total number of messages forwarded from postal
telegraph stations in the United Kingdom during the week
ended the 20th of February, 1875, was 347,108 and during the
week ended February 21, 1874, 326,496, showing an increase
in the week of 1875 on that of 1874 of 20,612.
The number of detections of illicit distillation in
England in the year ended the 31st of March last was 1%
In Scotland 6, and Ireland 796. In the preceding year there
were as many as 1,033 in Ireland.
Sir Wilfrid Lawson, in speaking at a temperance
meeting at Southampton on Monday night, said the theory
• of English law was that the publicans were the guardians of
public morality, but they had totally failed in their duty..
He did not regard the Permissive Bill as a perfect measure.
'Let any one show him a better one, and he would tear it in
tatters, and support the better one.
A Reuter's telegram from New York of Monday's
date says :—ln consequence of an accumulation of ice Skuyl-
kill and Manayunk (Philadelphia county) are flooded. Por-
tions of the railway line and some factories have been sub- ,
. f
merged, and several telegraph stations destroyed. It is I 1.1.
calculated that 15,000 operatives have been rendered home-
less. f.-t-se4llll
It is announced that the Queen has, on the rec0m-
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mendation of the Prime Minister, granted a pension of £2OO moat gkeise.
a year to Mr. Wood, in recognitioa of his labours at Ephesus y
and the distinguished services rendered by him to science aai
and history by the discovery of the site of the Temple of
Diana, and by the acquisition for the British Museum of a
most valuable collection of sculptures, architectural marbles, . need Arai
and Greek and Roman inscriptions, in obtaining which railiOarbe
results his health has suffered permanent injury. lepre
Dr. Stables, in his book on cats, treats his readers • _
to the following statistics :—" It is the very lowest average
to say that every cat in this country does away with twenty
mice or rats per annum; and also on the lowest average,
each mouse or rat will destroy one pound's worth of pro-
perty a year. Well, there are in the British Islands over
4,000,000 cats ; that, multiplied by twenty, gives an
annual
saving of £80,000,000 worth of property; and these cats do
not take £4,000,000 to keep them alive—not more at any

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rate.
A fox hunt of a kind which would amuse British
sportsmen recently took place near Albion, Indiana. Early
in the morning the various parties took their stands, and at
a given signal all started for one common centre. About six
hundred men were out, covering a track of about eighteen
square miles. Five foxes were driven into the circle, but
only three were killed—two getting through. As the men
were all on foot and no firearms were used, no casualty can
be reported. ! One of the dogs was killed by a member of the
party, " who,kicked at a fox and killed a dog."
the report presented by Brigadier-Gen. Sir J. M.
Adye, K.C.8., Director of Artillery and Stores, on his return
from inspecting the graves of British soldiers in the Crimea,
has had the generally desired effect, for Government pro-
poses not only to have the graveyards restored to decent
order, but also to provide for their supervision and preserva-
tion in future. For these purposes Parliament will be asked
to vote the sum of £.5,000, and so soon as this is done the
work of restorationiwill begin. eAiLI
A Vienna Correspondent writes to the Daily News:— ;
"The winter here is hard beyond description. An English
sportsman visiting the mountain towns saw one day fifty
starved deer picked up in a forest. Big stags run into the
midst of villages and are caught by hand, yet soon die after-
wards from the effects of exhaustion. If a sudden thaw sets
in the inundations will be serious indeed."
As a gravedigger, named Taylor, was engaged o
Monday morning in removing the woodwork shoring up the
sides of a recently opened grave, about sixteen feet deep, in
the cemetery at Preston, the earth gave symptoms of giving
way. Perceiving the jeopardy in which he was placed.,
Taylor raised the most heartrending cries for help, being
apparently paralysed with fright and unable to assist him-
self. Just as some person reached the spot the supports gave
way, and the poor man was buried together with the coffin
beneath a tremendous quantity of soil. It was two hours
before the body could be extricated, and then it was found
that Taylor had been crushed to death upon the coffin.
Dr. Hardwicke held an inquest on Saturday after-
noon at the " Chalk-farm " Tavern, Regent's Park-road,
London, on the body of Archdeacon Freeman, who died from
injuries he received at the Chalk-farm Station of the North
London Railway. The evidence showed that he had slipped
out of the train while it was going on. The surgeon who
attended him said that the Archdeacon had sustained a severe
lacerated wound on the left thigh. There was also a wound ,
Over the left eyebrow, and contusions over the head and right 5%. A q
hand. The character of the injuries was quite consistent
with the statement that he had been dritged for some dis- nag,
tance along the platform. The Coroner remarked that the
Archdeacon must have attempted to get out of the train "41 'WI
while it was in motion. The jury returned a verdict of
"Accidents death - ; irinOf
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