The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-12-04 00:00:00

BRITISH AND FORRI'GN.

The 17th of December has been fixed for the
arrival of Her Majesty. from Windsor at Osborne for the
winter.
A snow slide on the Denver and Rio Grande Rail-
way, in Colorado, on Friday, buried sixty labourers. The
slide carried the track over their heads, killing one and
wounding thirty. All were, however, extricated

- -
Last week another shipload of Socialists left Ham-
burg for America.
In the London papers an advertisement appeared
the other day from the comptroller of Her :Majesty's
stationery office inviting tenders for the year's waste-paper,
estimated at 1,500 tons. Now, as there are only about
300 working clays in the year, it follows that the daily amount
of waste is five tons. Reduced to reams of 141 b. each, the
average weight shows that 800 reams of paper are per day
consigned to the waste-paper basket.
-Since the British forces crossed the frontier into
Afghanistan seventy-four commissioned officers have been
killed in action or died of wounds received in the field. ' he
list includes one general, General Brooke, whose death in
the unfortunate sortie of the 16th of August is the only
instance we believe of a British general being killed in
battle for twenty-three years—Court Journal.
A university is being established at Tomsk, Sioer,a.
Before the foundation stone was laid the following sums
were expended by the Russian Government :-354,000 roubles
set apart for the university buildings, 100,000 roubles
towards securing a teaching staff, besides 31,000 roubles as
the nucleus of a fund for salaries—in a 11485,000 roubles, or
nearly £73,000. A library, which already includes 35,000
volumes, is being collected for the institution.
Six cases of antilities have arrived at the British
Museum from the excavations at Babylon. They consist
chiefly of inscribed tablets and small objects.
The prevalence and fatality of smallpox in London
have shown a marked increase during the past few weeks
threatening a revival of the epidemic which commenced in
1876, and has never since died out.
At the inaugural meeting of the Dorchester Farmers'
Club, the Ground Game Act was discussed, when Mr. Vine
expressed his belief that the measure would prove beneficial,
and said he had known meadows where the ground game
did great mischief to the detriment of the tenants. The
Royal Commission as to America was generally approved,
and the repeal of the malt tax was also approved, on
the ground that to tax the raw material of anything was
injurious.
The City Press states that the gross annua income
of about eight hundred of the London charities amounts to
a sum approaching four millions and a quarter sterling.
An interesting acquisition has just been made by
the botanical department of the British Museum. In 1783-4
John Millar made a series of water-colour drawings for the
Earl of Bute, showing the "leaves, stalks, aud ramifications
of plants, for the purpose of aseertaining their several
species." The drawings are bound in five volumes, with an
elaborate title-page, and fill 928 octavo pages. The mu seum
has purchased the drawings.
At a public meeting held at Scarborough on Mon-
day night, a silver medal was presented to the coxswain of
the Scarborough lifeboat and £lO to the crew for their gal-
lant services in saving twenty-eight lives during the storms
that prevailed at Scarborough on the 28th and 29th ult.
Wednesday. (Dec. 1) was the 36th anniversary of
the birth of the Princess of Wales. The Princess (Alexandra
Caroline Mary Charlotte Louisa) is the eldest daughter of
Christian IX., King of Denmark, and of Queen Louise,
daughter of the Landgrave Wilhelm of Hesse-Cassel. Her
marriage with the Prince of Wales was solemnized on the
10th March, 1863, the surviving issue of the union being
two princes and three princesses.
On the property of Prince Windischgratz, near
Lienz, in the Tyrol, a vulture, measuring from the ends of
its wings 'left., has been caught in a trap.
Lord Henry Lennox, M.P., has replied to an
inquiry made by the National Sunday League, that he in-
tends to proceed next session with his motion for the open-
ing of the New Natural History Museum at South Ken-
sington on Sunday afternoons.
The Queen has been pleased to approve the ap-
pointment of Lord Coleridge to be Lord Chief Justice of Eng-
land. The noble and learned lord was born on December
3rd, 1821, and was called to the Bar at the Middle Temple
in 1847. He was Solicitor-General from 1868 to 1871, and
then Attorney-General until 1873, when he became Lord
Chief Justice of the Common Pleas with a peerage.
The ilicrk Lane Express says that owing to frosts,
heavy rains, and unsettled weather, there has been but
little progress made with wheat sowing in the late districts,
whilst frost, alternating with rains, keeps the land in a very
wet condition. There has been a rather more liberal offer
of home-grown supplies in the London market during the
week; -but there is no improvement to note in respect of
condition.
The Berlin correspondent of the Morning Post says
that Lord Granville's speech at Hanley has produced a very
favourable impression in Germany. His lordship's friendly
reference to the pacific policy of the German Empire is par-
ticularly appreciated. •
Last week's receipts of cotton at all United States
ports were 204,000 bales; ditto since Ist September,
2,307,000 bales; shipments to England, 86,000 bales; ditto
to Continent and Channel, 28,000 bales; total ditto since Ist
September, 1,175,000 bales ; stock at all ports, 890,900 bales.
A Correspondent informs us (Globe) that a large
number of the gallant fellows who fell in the ranks of the
66th at Maiwand were 49th men trained and sent out by the
latter regiment to their brave "link," which to all time will
be famous for the glorious stand made against the swarms of
Afghans in that terrible battle.
A magnificent lacustrine find has been made in the
marshes of Corcelletes, near Concise, in canton Vaud. It
consists of a fine canoe in a perfect state of preservation,
11 metres 16 centimetres long, and slightly more than a metre
broad. It was dug out and drawn fronp the marsh by 60
men and eight oxen, under the superintendence of the
director of the museum of Lauganne, and placed in the court
of the Lausanne Academy, where it is destined to remain.
Mr. Arthur Arnold, M.P., speaking at Salford on
the Greek question, expressed his confidence that the
settlement of the Greek claims was not very far off. Every
effort shouldland, he believed, would be made to render the
European concert effective for this settlement. Mr.
Gladstone very properly adhered to the principle of con-
certed action and Mr. Arnold believed that the concert
would not erid in a naval demonstration, but that it would
be as effective for the settlement of the Greeks as it had
been for the settlement of the Montenegrin question.
The Registrar-General reports that last week
scarlet fever showed the largest proportional fatality in
Sunderland and Nottingham; and measles in Salford and
Leicester. The 17 deaths from diphtheria included 11 in
London and 3 in Portsmouth. The highest death-rates
from enteric fever occurred in Salford, Sunderland, Ports-
mouth, and Liverpool. Small-pox caused 21 more deaths
in London and its outer ring of suburban districts, but not
one in any of the 19 large provincial towns.
The survivors of the gallant 24th Regiment arrived
at Colchester on Friday afternoon in last week, accompanied
by volunteers from the 108th Regiment, who upon the news
of the Isandula disaster, left Colchester for the Cape. The
bands of the 50th and 2nd Queen% met them at the railway
station, and played them through the town to the camp,
amid the hearty cheering of the inhabitants.
In carrying out some enlargements of the Fen-
church-street Railway Station, London, a rubble-stone wall
has been met with, some 10 feet below the surface. It is
supposed to be a portion of the Roman wall. It is about
7 feet thick, and built with the hard consistency of rack.
At the same place there is a sort of flue built of the Roman
red pottery.
Speaking on agricultural topics at Wrotham Sir
Sidney Waterlow urged that in view of the facilities given
"for the importation of bread stuffs the farmers would do well
to turn their attention to other branches of agriculture,
especially where they lived in the neighbourhood of the
metropolis and could grow fruit and vegetables for the
market. He also, advocated the abolition of the extraordinary,
and the placing upon a fair basis of the ordinary tithes.
The amount of the local burdens rendered a fresh agreement
between landlord and tenant necessary.
About midnight on Sunday the' Norwegian bargue
Olive Hare, which was at anchor off the pier at Down-
patrick, dragged her moorings and drove ashore on the
sandbanks between Downpatrick and Dundrum. The New-
castle lifeboat made several unsuccessful attempts to rescue
the crew. Lieutenant Spankie, N.D.R., then swam rout at
great personal risk, and succeeded in rescuing some of the
men. The others lauded afterwards.
The Liverpool select vestry have unanimously agreed
to pay f a their services the Roman Catholic priests who have
so long gratuitously attended upon the workhouse inmates
belonging to their Church.
A meeting of women was held in the Albert Hall,
Nottingham, on Tuesday night, in support of the Bill for the
removal of the electoral disabilities of women. The hall
was crowded, and, as a charge of half-a-crown each was
made for the admission of men, the audience was composed
almost entirely of women. Mrs. Lucas took the chair, and
Miss Helen Taylor, Viscountess Harberton, Miss Becker,
Miss Sturge, and several other ladies, were amongst the
speakers.
The breaking up of the ice on the Volga, at Nijni
Novgorod, in consequence of the sudden warm weather, has
destroyed five steamers and more than thirty barges. Large
quantities of grain, naphtha, and fish have been lost, and
the damage is immense.
Lord Galway's hounds (the Grove Hunt) met on
Monday at Barnby Moor, near Retford. Mr. George
Mudford, of Grove House, Retford, was one of the field, and
The animal shied, reared, and
was riding a spirited horse.
fell on Mr. Mudford, who was removed to the nearest house,
and the surgeon who was fetched from Retford said that he
had received such serious internal injuries that he must not
be moved.
The people of Berlin hoped that they were about to
be delivered from the inconveniences attending the state of
siege. On Saturday, however, it was announced that the
present condition of things would be prolonged for another
year. This is only one of many indications that the German
Government intends to make a more determined effort than
ever to put an end to Socialism.
The United States Government have decided to
strike gold coin to the amount of ten million dollars
monthly, continuing probably until the eighty-five million
dollars of bullion in the Treasury are exhausted.
The great theatrical star of the United States at
present is Miss Mary Anderson, who, in the midst of a tre-
mendous poliitcal conflict—the election of the President—
has attracted a series of crowded houses to the principal
western theatres. At Chicago the receipts in two weeks
amounted to nearly 17,000 dols. (about £3,500), and in De-
troit seats had to be secured many days in advance.
A telgram from Montreal, dated November 27, says
that a number of additional wrecks are reported to have
occurred on the Dominion coast, Attended with some loss of
life and much suffering by the shipwrecked crews.
Parliament will meet for the despatch of business on
Thursday, the 6th January.
Mr. G. Shaw-Lefevre is announced as having been
appointed First Commissioner of Works, in place of Mr.
Main, now Governor of Madras. Mr. TrevelYan, it is under-
stood, will succeed Mr. Lefevre as Secretary to the Ad-
miralty.
. The Postmaster-General's scheme for small savings
by means of postage stamps has been taken up in the Board
Schools. During the last two weeks in one school alone no
fewer than one hundred and seventy children have "opened
accounts," and the number is daily increasing. To facilitate
matte's, the teachers keep a number of forms at the school.
A. serious collision occurred on Monday afternoon at
Preston station. A coal train was being shunted on the
main down line, when another coal t took the wrong
points and rdk into *e side, of the
th
e waggons. The result
w
was that a number of the agi,oi on e main line were
forced off the metals, and the one first struck was thrown
with great violence against a pointsman's box, completely
knocking in the front wall. The down line traffic was greatly
impeded, and for some hours had to be worked on the up
hues.
The Bishop of Manchester in a sermon preached
on Sunday morning iii St. Andrew's Church, Eccles, referred
'at length to the present aspect of affairs in the Church of
England. Having exprnsed his views with reference to the
,‘ ornaments rubric," be pointed out that the Public Worship
Regulation Act did not alter any rite or ceremony of the
Church of England, but merely provided a new mode of
procedure and a penalty to be imposed on contumacious
clergymen. Speaking in terms of condemnation of the
action of the English Church Union, he said that if its mem-
bers refused to submit to any authority except their own will
they would introduce a, state of anarchy and chaos, the
result of which would probably be that the Church of
England could not be maintained in its integrity and uni-
formity.
Mr. Jacob Bright, M.P., and the Bishop of Man-
chester were present on Tuesday ev.ening at the annual
dinner at St. Andrew's Society of Manchester. The former
gentleman, in replying on behalf of the Houses of Parlia-
ment pointed out the disadvantages tinder which many
Peers labour in not being brought into frequent contact with
the people; and referring to the proposed extention of the
suffrage, said he believed if men competent to completely
represent the agricultural interests were in the House of
Commons that House would know more than it does about
the game laws, the land laws, the administration of justice,
and everythin; which conarns the vital happiness of the
agricultural districts.