The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-10-25 00:00:00


showing an increase of 44 per cent. Nearly five.elghths
of the whole were collusions; 34 occurred at facing
points; 21 arose from engines or carriages leaving the
rails through defects In the permanent way or obstruc-
tions on it ; 17 were from failures of axles or tires ; and
9 took place on inclines. There were 34.1 accidents on

the North.F.eatern lice, 350 n the London and North.
Western, and 31 on the Lancaster and Yorkshire
'rho Great Western, with 1,402 miles of line, had 16
accidents; the Midland, with 1,021 miles only eight ;
while the Great Northern bad the same number, with
little more than half the mileage. The total result of
the yearn casualtiee wee that 127 passengers were
killed, while 1,162 received iejuriee of a more or lees
serious character.

Good progrees is now being male towards giving the
metropolis a constant supply of water. Eight com-
panies; divide the area of Loudn between them, and
al of them are, more or lege, fixing hydrants to the
maims, and erecting stand-pipes in the crowded parts,
so that water may be obtained at any time of the day
or night. The actual consumption for all purposes in
London is about 120 million gallons • day, and of this
quantity 65 milli no are taken from the Thames. The
water which'. of the beet quality is uraished by the Kent
Company, which pumps up a clear, bright, sparkling
supply from the chalk beds, that requires no filtering,
and is absolutely free from all hints of contamination.
None of the other companies have any chalk wells;
and most of them, recognising the value of filtration,
are constructing immense beds of sand and gravel
through which the impurities of the water may be
effectually drained More being turned into the mains
for the consumption of the inhabitants of the capital.
Amongst the general public there is an impression ,
that imprisonment for debt has ceased to exist. It was
understood to be one of the sweeping reforms included
in the Bankruptcy Act of 1869. A recently published
return, leaned under an order given by the Home of
Commons immediately before prorogation of Parlia-
ment, allows that the jurisdiction of the county courts
in this matter has not only not been abolished, but is
very frequently put into practice. Now, these tribunals
have no exceptional powers over the persons of debtors,
but the number of commitments from them stands out
in contrast to those from the superior courts because the
latter rarely exercise the powers given to them by law.
The chief reason for this is of course that a debtor who
loges a suit in one of the higher courts generally has
effects upon which the creditor may distrain, whereas
many of those who contract obligations amongst the
poor have not, and but for the power of imprisonment
possessed by the county court judge, the humble trader
would often get no money from those to whom he has
given credit.
From a return just issued by the Deputy-Master of
the Mint, it appears that • large quantity of money
was coined in 1872. Gold coins were made to the extent
of thirteen millions and a half Marling, and silver to
the amount of twelve hundred thousand pounds. These
stupendous figures are somewhat startling, but they
bear no proportion to the total quantity of money
actually in circulation. Attention has lately been
drawn to the fact that • great deal of base coin is
also manufactured, some of which are such good Imita-
tions that they almost defy the inspection of the most
experienced. A number of spurious sovereigns made
their appearance • short time ago, and the probability
is that they were brought from abroad. They
are made of platinum, gilt, and are almost
identical in weight with the genuine coin. I'nder
these circumstances the delicately-constructed machined
for detecting a counterfeit sovereign by weighing it
would fall to answer its intended purpose. But the
ring of these sovereigns is bad, and there is a general
roughness of make about them which is never seen in
the beautifully-finished genuine coin which is sent
forth from the Mint. Still, they might deceive the
public when carelessly taken. "Forewarned, fore.
armed !" and now that people know that such counter.
hits are being imported, they will doubtless look
sharply at the sovereigns tendered by persons of whom
they have no personal knowledge.