The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-05-28 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied by
their three daughters and the Crown Prince of Den.
mark,visited the East-end of London on Saturday, and
opened the Nursing Home and new Library in con-
nection with the London Hospital. Acknowledging an
address which was presented by the Duke of Cam.
bridge, president of the hospital, the Prince set forth
the manifold tclaims which this institution has on the
support of the public.
By the Queen's command a Levee was held in St.
James's Palace on Saturday, the Prince of Wales
acting on behalf of her Majesty.
In the name of the Queen, Princess Mary Adelaide
Duchess of, Teck, on Saturday afternoon, opened the
grounds attached to Buccleuch House recently ac-
quired by the Richmond Vestry as a place of public
recreation. .

On Saturday, at the Constitutional Club, Northum.
berland•avenue, London, a life-size statue of the
Marquis of Abergavenny, the founder of the club, was
unveiled in the presence of a large company by the
Prime Minister, who impressed on his audience the
necessity of extending and strengthening their party
organisation.
On Saturday Dr. Morell Mackenzie, a Berlin cor-
respondent announces, performed a slight but satis-
factory operation on the German Crown Prince's throat.
The general health of his Imperial Highness is good,
and he returned to Potsdam after the operation, whither
Dr. Mackenzie was summoned. Dr. Mackenzie has held
another consultation with the leading Berlin physicians.
Professor Virchow's opinion, after microscopic examina-
tion of the Crown Prince's throat, is that the malady
affecting it is not of a serious nature.
M. Tisza, the Hungarian Premier, furnished the
Chamber at Pesth on Statarday with detailed explana-
tions concerning the Austro-Russian Convention of
1877 having relation to the occupation of Bosnia and
Herzegovina.
As the 3rd Battalion (Militia) Royal Welsh Fusiliers
were about to be paid off at Wrexh.rm on Saturday,
after a mor..th's training, one of the officers' servants,
it is alleged, absconded with £l2O. It is stated that
he sent a note to the officers' mess for the money, as
the men were waiting, and by an accident he obtained
the sum and got clear away with it.
On Saturday morning, shortly after midnight, Mr.'
George Hardy, assistant overseer for the Hebburn
district, was awakened by a loud explosion, and, upon
examination, found a window shattered. He gave
information to the police, with the result that portions
of a three-gill bottle, which had evidently been filled
with gunpowder and placed on the window-sill, were
discoverad.

An alerming statement was made on Saturday in the
Free Church Atsembly at Edinburgh. Dr. Wilson,
senior clerk of the House, in calling attention to the
applications for grants from the Infirm Ministers'
Fund, said he was afraid none could be given this year,
as the committee was £2OOO in debt. It was assumed,
he said, that a minister's occupation was a healthy
one, but in the Free Church the reverse seemed the
case, as every ninth minister was on the fund, and the
proportion was yearly increasing. A special committee
was appointed to consider the matter.
The GoVernment will, when the House of Commons
reassembles on June 6 try to secure the passage of the
Crimes Bill through the Commons before the end of
that month. The members will be asked to hold all.
night sittings, should that be thought necessary, and
unremitting efforts will be made to get the measure dis-
posed of as quickly as possible. With respect to the
change of venue to London clause, it is understcod
that the Government will propose to substitute in
place thereof an amendment giving power to a com-
mission of judges to try certain cases.
It was stated in the " Gazette " that between the Ist
April and the 21st inst., the Exchequer receipts were
£12,341,461, as against £12,645,811 in the corresponding
period of the last financial year; and the expenditut e
£12,163,243;as compared with £11,993,753. On Satur-
day last the Treasury balances amounted to £3,484,716,
and on May 21st, 1886, to £5,758,082.
On Tuesday the Duke and Duchess of Connaught
left Bombay for England, in order to be present at the
celebration of the Queen's Jubilee.
At the Central Criminal Court on Tuesday,
Meshach Lee, a gipsy, was found guilty of a felonious
assault upon a girl eight years of age, and Mr.
Justice Hawkins sentenced him to penal servitude for
life.
James Lambkin, blacksmith and local preacher, was
charged at Canterbury, on Tuesday, with stealing a
watch and chain belonging to his employer, and was
remanded.
The Princess of Wales, with Princesses Louise,
Victoria, and Maud, were present, on Tuesday after-
noon, at the exhibition of the Donegal work at Spencer
House.
The third annual meeting of the Ladies' Grand
Council of the Primrose League was held on Tuesday
afternoon in London, Lord Harris presiding, and was
attended by a numerous and distinguished company.
The Duchess of Marlborough proposed a Jubilee
address to the Queen, which was unanimously adopted.
The report of the Executive Committee, which was
adopted, gave a highly satisfactory account of the pro-
gress of the League during the past year.
On Tuesday afternoon the Countess of Rosebery, in
the presence of a numerous and representative com-
pany, opened an exhibition of East London industries
in the grounds of the People's Palace in the Mile-end
road.
In Cairo it is thought that England and Turkey will
propose a European Conference to modify the capitu-
lations under the new Convention.
Two old offenders were convicted at the Middlesex
Sessions on Tuesday of attempted burglary, and were
sentenced to terms of penal servitude. The judge
ordered rewards to be given to the police officers who
had been concerned in the case.

Lord Randolph Churchill will be proposed by the
Government as Chairman of the Committee on the
Army and Navy Estimates.
Colonel King-Harman's Bill relating to the police
arrangements of Belfast is expected to provide for the
establishment of a Watch Committee, an increase of
the local constabulary force, and for making a change
with regard to the jurisdiction of the borough magis-
tracy.
Mrs. Morgan, the respondent in a recent Indian
divorce case, attended at the High Court of Calcutta,
and produced her little girl, eight years of age, who,
by the terms of the decree in the suit, is to be made
over to the custody of the father, Captain Morgan.
The child protested that she would not live with her
father, end had to be separated from her mother by the
officers of the court.
Councillor Seekings, of Gloucester, has defied the
Income-Tax Commissioners. The councillor asserted
that they had charged him on 40 per cent, above his
income—and as he would not pay the sum, they seized
and sold a boiler. The councillor then addressed an
enthusi it tic meeting of sympathisers, who cheered his
denunciations of oppression.
Attempts have been made to induce the millmen of
Formosa to adopt machinery for sugar-cane crushing,
but without avail. They adhere obstinately to the old
rough and expensive method—two millstones and a
water-buffalo—doubtless fearing that the introduction
of foreign machinery would deprive them of employ.
men t, and prove of more benefit to the foreigner than
to themselves.
Numerous robberies have taken place in Poona of
late—and they have been traced to British soldiers. A
private, named Bell turned informer, and immediately
after Private Egan was sentenced to three months'
impriscnment, and a number of silver spoons. silver
box, ivory box, and brilliants were found in Private
Roath's kit. The circumvented gang, who belong to
the Dublin Fusiliers, had been the terror of Poona.
The strike in the Northumberland coal trade which
has lasted seventeen weeks end thrown 14,000 men out
of employment, has at length terminated. The con-
ference between the Wage Committee of the miners
and the Strike Committee of the owners, began on
Saturday, concluded on Tuesday evening, and as a
result of the negotiations the miners agreed to accept
a reduction of 121 per cent. in the case of steam-coal
collieries at 6/ in house-coal collieries. The original
demand was for 15 and '4 respectively.
At the East Cheshire Petty Sessions on Tuesday, a
farmer's daughter, named Hooknel, of Chelford, was
fined £5 108. for having, on four occasions, filled up
milk consignment notes with a less amount than the
quantity actually sent.
The police constables who went to Rochdale with a
view of Identifying a man who is in custody as a par.
ticipator in the Kentish-town murder have returned to
London unsuccessful.
The Mabarajah of Vizianagram is an accomplished
horseman. Mounting a Burman pony in the compound
of his Nuegumbaukum residence, he rode it through
the house, up a zigzag staircase, on to the roof of the
bungalow. Then came a drop of a couple of feet on to
the roof of the porch over the entrance to the bun-
galow. In that position his Highness and steed were
photographed.
The so-called civilisation of the Aborigines of Formosa
does not make much progress. There have been
several encounters between them and the Chinese
troops; but generally to the disadvantage of the latter.
In the extreme South the Chinese appear to gain
ground, but by more peaceful means. As trade comes
in, the savage goes out; he is no match for the China-
man at barter, whatever he may be in bush-fighting.
The Governors of the North Wales University
College have condemned the intermediary education
system of payment by results applied to elementary
schools, and recommended payments for general excel-
lence of a school.

• Australia is losing one affliction, but only to receive
another. Rabbits are decreasing, but wild dogs are
increasing. On one station alone all the lambs from
200 stud ews have been killed by these animals, styled
in the vernacular' dingoes."
The London Hospital possesses a distinctive feature
in a Jewish ward. The importance of- such special
accommodation is evident, when it is mentioned that
the yearly average of Hebrew patients treated in this
special ward amounts to nearly 700.
Lord Bute has given nearly 100 acres to Cardiff as a
site for a public park. As a return Cardiff means to
confer on the noble lord the freedom of the borough.
It is said that Sir West Ridgeway will shortly leave
St. Petersburg for London, in order to inform the
Government verbally as to the state of the Afghan
Boundary Legotiations.
Mr. Parnell's hea'th is improving—so much so that it
is expected he will resume Parliamentary duties on the
reassembling of Parliament. The hon. member will
epend the recess at the seaside.
The Crown Prince and Princess of Germany will be
conveyed to England—for the Jubilee celebrations—in
the Victoria and Albert. The Osborne has been set
apart for the other Royal and distinguished visitors.
At the usual meeting of the Croydon Board of
Guardians on Tuesday, it was resolved, on the motion
of the chairman, Mr. R. J. Cheesewright, to forward
to Sir S. F. Ponsonby, for presentation to the Queen,
an address of congratulation to her Majesty on the
completion of her 50 years' reign. The Board also
decided to provide the inmates of the workhouse and
Infirmary on June 21st with Christmas fare, and enter.
tainments in the evening. It was stated that on the
20th the corporation anticipate feeding and amusing
nearly 10,000 children out of the Jubilee fund, the
place of meeting being the Woodside race-course.
The scheme for the purchase of the old Aroblepisecpal
Palace at Croydoa has been abandoned as imptaetio.
able.

On Sunday the Egptra iveñoñwit—iiidined at
Constantinople after a conference of 10 hours' duration
between Sir H. D. Wolff and the Ottoman Commis-
sioners.
A Circular Note has been despatehed by the Porte to
its representatives at the Courts of the Great Powers,
recommending the proposition by these latter of one or
two candidates for the Bulgarian throne.
According to intelligence received at Simla from
Afghanistan, the Ameer's general, Gholam Haider
Khan, has joined Sikander Khan near Maruf, and an
engagement with the Ghilzais is expected shortly.
It is reported that from five to 12 persons were
killed and 20 injured by the recent collision between
the White Star steam-packets Celtic) and Britannic.
The Celtic entered New York Harbour on Monday
morning:
Thirteen thousani Belgian colliers are now on
strike in the Berinage coal district.
All peers of the United Kingdom and of Scotland
and Ireland, as well as peeresses in their own right,
have been informed by the Select Committee nf the
House of Lords appointed to arrange the admission of
peers to the Jubilee Service in Westminster Abbey,
that applications must reach the committee clerk not
later than the 4th of next month.
Mr. Registrar Gifford, sitting in the Bankruptcy
Court on Monday, made a receiving order in the peti.
tion against Lord Colin Campbell. The petitioning
creditor is the Duke of Marlborough, whose claim con-
sists of the amount of his taxed costs as one of the co-
respondents in the recent divorce suit:
William George Thompson, a butler, was charge
at Marylebone Police- court on Monday with fraticm •
lently obtaining £3O from a young woman named
Moden, a parlourmaid,whom, according to the evidence
of the prosecutrix, he had wronged under promise of
marriage. The accused was remanded.
A man, calling himself John Jones, who refused
his address, and George Smith, were at Rochdale on
Monday charged with intent to commit a felony in
that town on the 13th inst. After stating the ante-
cedents of the men, the Chief Constable said he had
learned from Scotland-yard that Jones was identified
as a thief called David, and that Smith was also identi-
fied. Three £5 notes and some gold had been found
on the prisoner Jones, secreted in pockets on the inner
side of his braces. Witness had communicated with
Scotland-yard as to the notes, and they had tele-
graphed that a remand for a week should be asked
for. There was a most serious charge, which he was
not allowed to make public, against one of the men.
Inspector Charles Dodds, of the Criminal Investigation
Department, identified the prisoners, and Jones was
remanded for a week. Another telegram states that
the charge referred to is in connection with the
Kentish Town murder.

Two women, named Lily Fairhurst and Mary
Bannister, have been charged before the Manchester
stipendiary with conspiring to defraud. It appeared
that the prisoners some time ago set up a Servants'
Registry Office in that city, and inserted several very
tempting advertisements in the local newspapers, offer.
jog high wages to young women as general and other
servants. It was proved in evidence that, although in
the case of five advertisements there were really vacant
situations, yet the prisoners accepted fees on account of
these alone from nearly 40 applicants. When the pd..
goners first came before the magistrates the precincts
of the Court was crowded by women who declared they
had been victimised. The prisoners were committed for
trial. _ _

At a committee meeting of Governors of the North
Wales University College, held at Chester, a resolution
was passed condemning the intermediate education
system of payment by results applied to elementary
schools and recommending payment for general excel.
lence of a school. It was also resolved that an
essential feature of the Welsh Intermediate Education
Bill should be the appointment of an academy board to
regulate the examination and supervision of schools,
and of a representative board charged with the distri-
bution of funds, such board to be for the whole of
Wales and Monmouthshire, and to be composed of
representatives of the three national colleges.
Ann Hughes, a farmer's daughter, living near Pen.
maenmawr, has been charged before the Conway
magistrates with having poisoned her sister by giving
her a dose of rat poison in tea. The two sisters were
on bad terms, and the charge against the accused, who
had been nearly a fortnight in custody, was hand upon
a statement made by the deceased, who died after a
three days' illness. The coroner's jury had returned
an open verdict. On Monday the police reported that
as the county analyst had failed to discover any trace
of poison in the viscera, it was useless to proceed with
the case. The prisoner was, therefore discharged.
Private Kelly, of the 3rd Battalion Royal Welsh
Fusiliers, who decamped on Saturday with £l2O, the
pay money of the regiment, was apprehended some
few miles from Wrexham the same evening. Another
man named Davies, who was in league with Kelly, was
also caught and looked up. Both men were brought
before the Wrexham Borough Bench, and sentenced to
six months' hard labour each. Only ao of the money
has been recovered.
At Staines parish church on Sunday morning some
excitement was caused immediately after the publics.
tion of banns of marriage by the Rev. J. H. Armstrong,
vicar, by a man standing up and saying in a loud voice,
"I forbid the banns." At the conclusion of the service
he saw the vicar in the vestry, and it then appeared
that he objected to his daughter's marriage on the
ground that she was under age.
The whole of the farmers on the Earl of Dudley's
estate, North Wales, with one exception, who were
distrained on for tithes by the Ecclesiastical Com-
missioners, on Monday, paid their tithes in full, the
entire cost of the distraint being borne by the land.
lord. The trustees of Lord Dudley refused to have
any sales on their estates, and stated they would
pay tithes and readjust the rents if the farmers
refused.

Isaac Wood, a weaver, of Thornton, near Bradford,
was, late on Sunday night, beaten to death by Jonas
Drake, a collier belonging to Bradshaw, a village, near
Halifax. It is asserted that Wood was caught .by
Drake in company with the wife of the latter under
suspicious circumstances, and Drake immediately fell
upon him with such fury as to cause fatal injuries.
Drake has been arrested.
At a meeting of the Dublin Corporation on Monday,
the Lord Mayor, Mr. T. D. Sullivan, M.P., presiding,
the Town Clerk read a letter from the Lord Chamber-
lain inviting, representatives of the Corporation' :to
attend the Jubilee thanksgiving service in West-
minster Abbey. The Corporation, by a large majority,
declined to attend the ceremony; but Mr. Alderman
Moyers stated ,that the Conservative members of the
Corporation were anxious to attend, and would gladly
avail them.elves of the tickets placed at the disposal
of the Lo:d Mayor.
The Board of Trade have received, through the
Foreign Office, two gold watches and chains, which
have been respectively awarded by the President. of
the United States to Captain George Ritchie, of the
British barque Batchelors, in recognition of his ser—
vices in saving life from the American ship, Saragossa,
on the 23rd March last, and to Captain George W.
Freeman, of the British barque William I3ickett, in
recognition of his services in saving life from the
American brig Ada L. White, on the Ist February,
1886.

The Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has .been
informed that, by the courtesy of the Customs
authorities at Trieste, special facilities are given to
travellers landing at that port, and that their luggage
is not examined if they notify to the official who boards
the ship that it is their intention to pass through
Austrian territory without stopping. Travellers, by
making this declaration, can secure the same advan-
tage, even if they remain some days at Trieste.
A Renter's telegram from St. Petersburg states that
the Emperor and Empress and the Ozarewitch and
Grand Duke George returned to Gatschina on Sunday
from their tour in the Don Cossack country.
A good service pension has been conferred upon
Colonel H. Shaw, V.O , Royal Irish Regiment. Colonel
Shaw gained the Victoria Cross for conspicuous
gallantry in the New Zealand War.
Major• General A. 0. Johnson, R.A., has been
selected for the command ol the Royal Artillery in
Ireland.

The Lord Chancellor has issued an order authorising
the closing of the County Court offices on June 21.