The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-05-01 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The Queen has been pleased to bestow a peerage upon
the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Erskine May, K.C.8., late
Clerk of the House of Commons, in recognition of his
long-continued and valuable services.

Dir. Reginald Palgrave, who has hitherto occupied the
position of Second Clerk, will be appointed to fill the
vacancy caused by Sir Erskine May's resignation.
On Saturday Dr. Diplock was informed of the death
from drowning of a waiter named Henry Fisher, whose
dead body was found in the Thames at Hampton. On
the 15th inst. the deceased and two other men hired a
boat for a row on the river. The boat capsized. One
of the men who was a good swimmer, was rescued, but
the deceased and the other man were drowned.

Mr. Arthur Ernest Canney, honorary secretary of the
Kilburn Temperance Council, has been committed for
trial by the Marylebone magistrate on the charge of
publishing a libel on the landlord of the Lord Palmers-
ton public%house, Kilburn.
Hawarden was besieged by visitors during the holi-
days. _

An impression having got abroad that the home-
ward India, China, and Australian mail route has been
altered owing to quarantine, the Peninsular and
Oriental Steam Navigation Company state that these
mails will continue to come by rail through Egypt to
Alexandria and thence by mail steamer to Brindisi and
Venice, as heretofore. There will be no delay what-
ever in the arrivals of the mails, which are coming
forward as usual.

A sad occurrence took place at Bromley, Kent, on
Saturday morning, at the School of Science and Art.
Mrs. Simmonds having missed her husband, who was
the caretaker of building, called in a neighbour. A
search was made, and the missing man was found
drowned in the cistern. He had been in a desponding
state of mind for some time, and had mentioned to
some friends that he expected his fate would be
similar to that of his brother, who had committed
suicide some years previously.
In Moscow in 1885 there were 600 fires, the damage
at which is estimated at £500,000, but no fewer than
20 persons were burned alive, 22 being burned at one
fire. Ten murders and only one infanticide were re-
ported, although there were 93 suicides, and 270 at-
terripts at suicide.
A paper manufacturer in Saxony, named Penig, has
just discovered how to prepare paper so that if any
attempt be made to change the writing of the original
contents the spots where such change has been at-
tempted will assume a different colour front the rest of
the document.

On the suggestion of the Earl of Essex, the Church
of England Funeral and Mourning Reform Association
has issued an appeal to all the solicitors of the country,
urging them to advise their clients to insert a clause in
their wills giving clear and positive orders as to the
manner in which they desire to be buried. The fol-
lowing form is suggested: "I desire my executors to
conduct my funeral in a plain and unostentatious
manner, and to avoid all unnecessary expense and dis-
play. I wish my body to be placed in a perishable
coffin, and to be buried in the earth itself, and not in
lead or a brick vault. And I desire the mourning worn
by my family and servants to be of the simplest descrip-
tion."

A volunteer named George Evesleigh was charged at
the Dartford Petty Sessions on Saturday with assault-
ing Instructing-constable Bailey in the execution of his
duty. Evesleigh, in the full uniform of the 2nd Volun-
teer Battalion of the Queen's Own Royal West Kent
Regiment, was observed to kick the constable twice,
and was settenced to three weeks' imprisonment with
hard labour.

Ur. Josiah Pitman, the accomplished musician, died
suddenly last Friday. He had been organist and choir
master to Lincoln's-inn Chapel, the musical services of
which were greatly improved under his zealous direc-
tion. In subsequent years, and until his death, he was
chiefly occupied with his operatic engagements, espe-
cially at the Covent Garden establishment, where his
extensive knowledge of musical requirements and his
versatile powers were of high value.
From Berlin it is reported that the only Conven-
tions for the mutual protection of the rights of English
and German works of literature and art up to the pre-
sent are those which are concluded directly and sepa-
rately between England and several of the Federal
States, and that all these partial and separate agree-
ments are shortly to give place to a single Convention
between Great Britain and Germany, which will apply
to all the German States alike.

A ladylike woman, who applied to Mr. Lushington,
at the Thames Police-court on Saturday, for a separa-
tion order from her husband on account of neglect and
cruelty towarsis her, stated that at Christmas he
violently assaulted her, and on Friday night he had
threatened to kill her. Mr. Lushington : What did he
do that for? The applicant: Because he did not have
a parsnip for his dinner. (Laughter.) Mr. Lushington
told the applicant he would seni an officer to caution
her husband. _ _ _

Extensive alterations are to be made on the bat-
teries at Sheerness, facing the North Sea, to enable
them to be equipped with a more powerful armament.
Four of the 64-pounder muzzle-loading guns are to be
moved from the Centre Bastion, in order to mount two
2740 n steel breechloading guns of the latest design ia
their stead. Another of these guns is also to be
mounted on the earthworks of No. 1 Bastion, in such a
position as to command a clean sweep of the confluence
of the Thames and Medway.
At a court-martial on board the Dur can, flagship of
the Prince of Leiningen, Admiral Commanding-in-
Chief at the Nore, on Saturday, for the trial of Ge:,rge
Burd, engine-room artificer, of her Majesty's ship
Penelope, on a charge of being absent without leave,
and with improperly leaving his ship, the prisoner
pleaded guilty, and a conviction for insubordination
having been proved against him, the court sentenced
him to three months' imprisonment with hard labour,
and to be dismissed her Majesty's service.
An inquest was held at the Crown Hotel, High-
street, Kensington, on Saturday, as to the death of the
Rev. Josiah Monne, aged 70, a Baptist minister, of 112,
Walmer-road, Notting-hill. On Tuesday the deceased
was found dead in a railway carriage at Addison-road
Station. A verdict of death from heart disease was
returned.

--iii-Rottingham, late on Saturday night, James
Walker, a middle-aged man, living in Dame Agnes-
ttreat, took his boy out of bed and cut his throat,
ca ising instant death: Walker then cut his own
throat, but after a desperate struggle he was secured
and taken to the police station, only suffering from a
slight wound. He complained of the conduct of his
wife.

The barque Florence, of Montreal, which on Sunday
arrived at Passage East, Waterford, had on board four
of the crew of the brig Star, of St. John's, which
foundered in the Atlantic on the night of the 10th.
The other four, including the master and first mate,
were drowned. The survivors were in an open
boat 14 hours before being rescued by the crew of the
Florence.

It is now stated that at the Antwerp Exhibition the
receipts amounted to about 4,000,000 fr., and the ex-
penditure to about 3,000,000 fr. The guaranteed capital
was 1,500,000 fr., in 15,000 shares. A 6 per cent.
dividend is to be paid on the shares, and of the
remainder 18 per cent, goes tp the administrators, 2
per cent, to the auditors, and 80 per cent, to the share.
holders.
The Belgian Minister of Justice, in his annual report
on the execution of the law relative to foreigners re-
siding in Belgium states that altogether 404 expul-
sions have taken place. Sixty-nine men were ejected
for compromising public order, and the expulsion of
German vagrants continues.
A bottle has been found in Sinclair Bay, N. 8., con.
taimng the following message, written on a piece of
grey paper: "ship Admiral, Pentland Firth, great dis-
tress, making water rapidly, sinking fast. Good bye to
my dear wife, Annie Anderson, Ki.kcaldy. My last
testimony.— James Anderson."
Henry Mantis, formerly an inmate of St. Pancras
Workhouse, and lately acting as a porter, died sud-
denly, and on his body being stripped for burial over
£2O in gold, silver, and bronze was found stitched away
in various parts of his clothes.
The German steamer Kepler, from Lisbon for Hol-
land, with cork, was lost on Friday morning at Ushant,
and near the same place another steamer is supposed to
have been lost at two a.m. on the same day.

Detective-Sergeant James Elliott, who was mur-
derously attacked by burglars at Leytonstone on the
20th of July last, and who has since been a great suf-
ferer from the stabs and blows then received, has, upon
the recommendation of Superintendent Sherlock of the
Islington police, been pensioned for three years with
an annual sum of £BO 10s. As the injuries Elliott sus.
tamed have brought on frequent epileptic fits, it is
feared he will not be able to resume duty. The injured
man's brother officers have started a subscription
throughout the N Division.
The death was on Saturday announced of Sir
Henry Morgan Vane, at the age of 77 years, at his resi-
dence, 74, Eaton-square. The deceased was the eldest
son of the late Mr. J. H. Vane, comptroller of the
Stamp Office.
After enjoying immunity in Dorsetshire from pleuro-
pneumonia for more than eighty years, the disease was
on Saturday reported to prevail amongst stock on the
farm of ',Messrs. Stevens at Church Knowle, Isle of
Purbeck.

The trustees of Mr. Nathaniel P. Symes, a landlord
owning a pretty extensive estate in the Westport dis-
trict, have offered to sell the land to tenants at 12 years'
purchase, to be calculated at the present poor-law
valuation.
On Saturday a gentleman named Francis Eglington,
residing at Brixton, fell from an omnibus in the Strand.
He was taken to Charing Cross Hospital, but expired
shortly after admission.
On Friday evening, at Chatham, a grand field day,
ed by the S Ilvation Army, and comprising what
was termed" an attack on Chatham," was held. Con-
tingents of the army, numbering several hundred,
arrived in the town, headed by six brass bands, and
soon after nightfall, as one of the bands was proceeding
along High-street, a horse attached to a waggonette,
containing a number of ladies, shied and bolted, running
over a child. The spectators thereupon attacked the
band, and the police, in their endeavour to protect the
Salvationists, were badly treated.
At a meeting of the Kilrush Board of Guardians on
Saturday, tenders were received for supplying the work-
house with milk, and among the applicants was Mr.
Charles Martin, ex-guardian, and head bailiff to Mr. H.
S. Vandaleur, D.L., whose horses were boycotted at the
Kilrush Steeplechases, leading to disturbances and the
imprisonment of two persons at Cork Assizes. Mr.
Behan objected to Mr. Martin's tender on the ground
that he had shown a very bad feeling towards the
public, and a similar objection was lodged against the
application uf Mr. Joseph Garry, who is also a bailiff,
Mr. Devine considering that no tenders should be enter-
tained from bailiffs. Mr. Grogan said that as that was
a public Board they should not exclude any tender, but
it was eventually decided that both applicants should
be rejected:
A fresh bill has just been submitted to the German
Federal Council with regard to the sugar duties. It
propoFes to fix the duty on beetroot sugar at lm. 70pf:
per 2 cwt., and the county on exportation from Oct 1,
1886, to Nov. 30, 1887, at 18m., and at 17m. 25p1.
afterwards.

—On Friday evening the residence of Mr. Hubert
Davis. an old country mansion at Oooque, near Bally-
haunis, was destroyed by fire, and Mr. and Mrs. Davis
had a very narrow escape.

Iber

The German Goethe Society now has 1775 mem
There is to be a general assembly of the Association
Weimar soon.
At the Easter Fair, at Chorley, on Monday, a save!
year-old child, Emmanuel Whitehead, was struck (""
the head by a awing boat and killed.
Intelligence from Owen Sound (Ontario), dated
April 16, reports that the British steamer Africaf„
valued at 20,000 dole. was burnt to the water's edge 0"
the night of April 15.
Dr. George Fisher, a well-known Scotch doctor, we,
sound late on Sunday night lying dead on a sofa in lo'
back shop, at Millport, Island of Cumbrm.
It is proposed to add to the trade of Whitstable bi
the cultivation of mussels. Not only do these Ebeilli
fish make rood bait; but there is an enormous derna_,
fcr them as human food in London and the large Prw
vincial towns.
Mr. R. V. Skinner was on Monday elected Mayor
illbo
' f
Winchelsea one of the ancient Cinque Ports. W.‘
chelsea is the only unreformed corporation wblc
enjoys the privilege of electing the chief magistrate
under the old charter.
The shipwrecks reported last week declined in nt2„01;
boy to 20, of which nine were British vessels.
number of lives lost during the week in connection vitb:
these disasters was 46. The wrecks for the year ne"
number 532.
The athletic sports at Brighton on Monday Well
marred by a lamentable incident. In the final heat 0
the two mile race, Nicholson, a wellsknown bicyclist,
was thrown from his machine in endeavouring ta
avoid a cap in the path, and had to be taken to the
hospital.
The population of Victoria, which in June last Ytt
was estimated at 973,403 souls, is said now to
upwards of a million.
St
The man Widdowson, of Wakefield, arrested by tIl
Cumberland police a day or two ago, has confessed tbs
he committed all the burglaries which have recentlf
taken place in Cumberland, with one exception. fle
adds that he did all single-handed. He also told whore
he concealed the property from Rose-hill, and it bet
since been found.
At the Derby Police-court on Monday a small be/
named Selby was charged with attempting to ha,,eg
himself. He said he had been brutally treated by Bw.,
drunken father, of whom he was afraid. He I"'
sent to an industrial school, and the father was severeli
censured.
M. de Capazza made on Sunday certain experimeot!
with a balloon at the Esplanade des Invalides, Paris, te
ascend and descend by means of parachutes serving
lieu of ballast, and which can be thrown out An 4,
retaken when needed. The experiments were roeB"
satisfactory.
As a large waggonette and pair were being drive°
through Carlisle on Monday on the way to the race'
the horses took fright when crossing the railway bridge
and ran away. Two of the occupants were serionsli
injured, and one, an Edinburgh man named Christie,
died at the infirmary in the evening.
Mr. Joseph Saint, who until a few day previously etv
joyed good health and possessed all his mental fecal;
ties, died on Monday at Chollerton, Northumberlanor
in his 103rd year.
It is reported that the chief beet-root sugar refiner°
in South Russia have voluntarily associated together
order to reduce their surplus production and rep's°
oil-producing grains and cereals.
A party of "moonlighters," numbering 20, attacko
the houses of several farmers at alplace called Rocv
chapel, on the borders of the counties Cork and Kcal;
From the first house they carried away a watch, havio&
failed to:secure arms; but at the second house they riel
successfully resisted by the occupants, who arroe_
themselves with pitchforks and refused to admit the
raiders. They then went to a house in a neighbour
town, and after firing three shots through the d°ol.'
searched the house, but having found no arms thei
went away.
Mr. Walter Dixon, of the firm of Dixon and Sone,
tanners, Manning-street, Bermondsey, London, 0.11
fined at Southwark Police-court, on Monday, for
a furnace in such a way as not to consume its ovi"
smoke.
A farmer named John O'Neil was returning hero°
from Milltown Malbay, county Clare, when he Nyll
assaulted by some men he met on the way in a brat
manner, his skull being shattered to pieces. OA
coroner's jury returned a verdict "That the deceasie'
came by his death from fracture of the skull." Igue
deceased was a Nationalist and an ex-suspect.
The Comas, 14, steel corvette, 2450 tons, 2380-hers6
power, Captain Thomas Jackson, was passed out of the
bands of the dockyard authorities at Sheerness
Monday upon completion for sea. The Comm; has hes;
a thorough refit, costing £35,000, and her armatoell
has been strengthened. She is to sail for the Non',"
America and West Indies Station to relieve the Gone";
An inquest was held on Monday on the bodies 0`
three persons drowned at Leicester. The evidence dies
closed great heroism on the part of a shoemaker nag',
Charles Green. His wife called his attention to tue
upsetting of the boat, and after running a long distance
he dived into the water, and by great exertiooo
succeeded in swimming ashore with three persons, tbo°
allying their lives. He was warmly thanked.
At Abergavenny on Monday a musical Eisteddfocl
was held, with Mr. Price, M.P., as president, and 1711,
attended by between 3000 and 4000 persons.
hundred and fifty pounds was offered in prizes, of whic,'
the first (£3O) was awarded to the Dowlais Harnsolve
Society.
The Charity Commissioners propose to direct tll,°o
Governors of St. Bartholomew's Hospital to apply „ '•`,4
annually for the benefit of deserving and neeessiton
discharged prisoners who have been imprisoned in eO/
of her Majesty's prisons in or near the City of London
At the Thames Police-court, London, on Mendel
Matthew Fernell, Alexander Dean, and William Wrigha
were charged, on remand, with stealing £5O and a go),
chain from the person of William IKlJann, captain e`
ship. Between one and two o'clock on the morn
of the 18th, the prosecutor was returning home alo°l
East India Dock-road, having £45 in gold in a. bag 11°_.
a£s note, and wearing a gold watch and chain. Vire'
or four men suddenly attacked him, knocked him -clovril:
jumped on him, and thrust dirt into his eyes to preve,.°:
his identifying them. Mr. Saunders committed tu'
prisoners for trial.
The first steamer of the newly-formed Ens°°:
Bulgarian Danube Navigation Company arrived 8'
Rustchuk on Monday. The company, which receive°
from the Russian Government a subsidy ot two rouble;
for every mile run, has at present three steamers for the
service between Odessa and Sistovo. By the arrange'
ment concluded between the Russian and Bulgaria!,
Governments two years ago, the latter undertook 141
afford facilities to the company.
Mr. Christopher Sykes, M.P., has intimated to hi!
constituents in the Buckrose Division of the Es°'
Riding that he does not intend to seek re-election. •
Mr. Woodall, M.P. Surveyor-General of the
Ordnance, availed himself of the Parliamentary recce°
to visit the military ports in the south of England.
The Emperor of Germany has sent the Pope a vey,
valuable gold cross, mounted with precious stones,
a souvenir of the mediation between Germany so
Spain in the Caroline Islands question.
At a bull fight near Nimes on Monday pia of the
circus fell in, and in the panic which followed 25 of the
spectators were injured.
The Premier and the Colonial Treasurer of Neft
Zealand have declared that the colony is in a soull7
financial condition, there being a surplus for the ps_B.:
year of £37,000. Native affairs had never been in el"
satisfactory a condition. Titles to millions of acres
were passing through the Land Court, and the hativeS
were willing to sell along the north of the Trunk Lio_e'
The triennial property tax valuation showed an increseg
in the value of property.
s Consequent on the settlement of the Dahlia
bottle trade dispute the imported Swedes 19"„
Dublin on Monday night "en route" le`
Copenhagen, via Hull. The Swedes sided roll!.
the employs, and refused to work, but the 008"
of sending them home and paying them some compeo'
sation has cost the Dublin trade no less than £450. The
Dublin men have resumed work.
About a quarter of a million of persons crossed tbe
Mersey between Liverpool and Cheshire on East era
Monday-210,000 by means of the ferry steamers so.,
40,000 by the railway under the river. The nunsht
who sailed between Liverpool and Wallasey ferries
_,„srig'
123,000, and betwen Liverpool and Birkenhead 53,01.5-7
The numbers are greatly in excess of those of laeu
year.
John Cocken, the old Windsor pensioner. of the
Royal Household, who suddenly disappeared on Gooa
Friday, has been found at Kilburn in an almostdeet,ll
tute condition, and sent back t 3 his home. The o''
man, who is somewhat peculiar in his mannef'
appears to have walked up to London, where he won,:
dered about, sleeping at night in one of the parks. In
states that he took some money with him, seVer"
pounds, and was knocked down and robbed.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has definitely fi%eci
the confirmation of Bishop Moorhouse for Tuesdaif
May 4, at twelve o'clock. The ceremony will till°
place in the Church of St. James's, Piccadilly. At
A whole family narrowly escaped being burnt to clean
on Monday at Hull. The house and shop belonging 1"
Mr. Horsfield, watchmaker, in Witham, were
covered in flames at an early hour, and when tb_.,,e
inmates were aroused it was too late for them to escer;
by the stairs. Mr. Horefield, his wife and thre;
children got out of a window on to the leads, and stoo?
there some time amid great excitement, but were tilt's'
'
mately rescued by the heroic efforts of Police-001,d°
stable Wilkinson. The stock and furniture were entire,/
destroyed.
Mr. Duncan M‘Laren, ex-M.P. for Edinburgh, diti
on Monday morning at his residence in Edinburg"'
The deceased, who was born in 1800, represented Edit::
burgh from 1865 to 1881, and took specie/ interest
the Anti-Cora Law agitation in Scotland. The d_e;
ceased was elected Lord Provost of Edinburgh in
Two soldiers of the Coldstream Guards, named Gw
and Dare, were fined on Monday at the Thames Police'
court for riotous conduct and assaulting the police'
The accused were found on Sunday morning fightheo
with their belts and behaving in a very discreditable
manner. Several bystanders complained of 130.0
struck by the soldiers, and a person was found lying °-
the ground suffering from a wound.,
The returns of the several unions in the East Ridifig
show a great reduction in the amount of the rateable
value of farms, some sweeping reductions having he.e/30
made in the assessments. The rentals of most fatø.
have been permanently lowered, and corresponding ras
ductions have followed in the assessments to the 41
tent, some cases, of 20 to 30 per cent. The work
revision this year has been unusually laborious. • .
At an early hour on Saturday morning a shcrolcia
accident occurred at Broomside Colliery, Durhi'llt
whereby one man was killed and two others_ vie'i;
seriously injured. It appears that three workoe
named Clough, Graham, and Belles, were -doing. 00'40
repairs in the workings, when a heavy fall of-
came away, instantaneously killing Clough and serietl4„ra
injuring the other two. Three hours elapsed Pa„r'
Clough's body could be recovered. •
An elderly woman, named Towle, committed sill°,
whilst in bed, at Little Eaton, near Derby, on Saturof_sso
morning. Her husband was awakened by feelipg4
pain at his neck, where he found she had itflicted"
deep wound. On turning round he discovered
_that
wife had nearly severed her head from her body,
was covered with blood. The husband was remov
the Derby Infirmary.
Canon Eliot, vicar of Holy Trinity Church, Bolge'i..4B°
• on
mouth, has been offered and has accepted the ean
of Windsor, rendered vacant by the death of the Eau
Lord Wriothesley Russell. The value of the canond '
£lOOO a year.

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