The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-05-12 00:00:00

COMING TO THE POINT.

The way in which witnesses persist in refusing t
come to a point was illustrated at Lambeth County
Court in a case in which a woman was summoned for
the cost of a mob-cap the other day. The following
colloquy occurred between the judge and the defen-
dant :

Judge: Was the cap supplied to your order?
Defendant: I thought, your worship-
Never mind what you thought. Did you purchase
the cap, as alleged?
When the gentleman called upon me for the money
he told me to "fry my oc.l face."

Never mind what he told you. Have you had the
cap? _ _

I could not-

I don't want to know what you would or could not
do. Did you, as a matter of fact, order the cap ? Yes
or No.

Well, I know, my lord-
We don't want to hear what you know or what you
do not know. The two would make a big volume, no
doubt. Will you answer my question?
Please, your wuship-
__ . _

Don't please",‘ me ! I'm not at all pleased. Will
you or will you not give a direct answer to my ques-
tion ?

"Well, sir, the gentleman, with a deal of unneces •
sary jaw, insisted upon-

_
I shall commit you for contempt of court directly, if
you go on in this way. Leave the plaintiff's jaw
alone! Have you had the cap for which you are now
called upon to pay?
Of course I've had the cap, if it comes to that. But:
it don't suit me—there's no colour in it. And I worA.
wear it; and, what's more, I didn't order it, and
won't pay for it! . . . _

We'lliee all about that. Is that all you have tn
say?
Defendant: No; I could say a great deal.
Judge: No doubt; but—not here. Short order.

GILDED YOJTHS.—CIara : "Why do they speak of
the young men about town, Ethel, as gilded
youths'?" Ethel (whose fifth season is rapidly
slipping by) : " Eecause they are largely made of
brass, Clara."

MR. PARNELL.

IMPORTANT SPEECH.

Mr. Parnell was the guest of the Eighty Club or
Tuesday night at a dinner held in London. In re-
sponding to the toast of his health he said that Lord
Carnarvon had complained of his having disclosed
another of the promises to the Irish party at tin
commencement of the present Session. The story was
not as Lord Carnarvon had called it, an old story
but a new one, and he wanted to show when Lord
Salisbury had abused the Liberals for associating with
the Irish party, that the Conservatives had ask&
them to dinner and luncheon, and had consulted
them as to how Ireland was to be governed. IR
produced a copy of a letter from Lord Car-
narvon to the late Mr. E. D. Gray, M.P., and
detailed the character of correspondence which
had taken place with regard to the Crossma glen
prisoners. He went on then to give his account of
the interview between himself and Lord Carnarvon,
which, he said, was no after-dinner interview, but a
meeting by appointment in an empty house. He
thought it would be satisfactory if Lord Carnarvon
would give to the public the statement he had then
put into writidg for Lord Salisbury. Mr. I'arnell
referred with gratification to the effect which that
entertainment would have upon the people of Ireland.
He was, he said, ill when the Plan of Campaign was
adopted, or he would have advised against it, as some
of its features would have a bad effect upon the
national situation—affording an excuse for the Tories
to bring forward a measure of coercion, and causing
the people of Ireland to lose sight of Irish grievances.
Referring to the Papal Rescript, he said that the Go-
vernment having failed in coercion had called in the aid
of Rome. He did not think it his business to interfere
with the line which the Catholics who had been
engaged in the Plan of Campaign, had thought it
right to take in vindication of their political freedom
against the claim put forward from a distant country
in reference to Ireland. When he could speak out
about the Plan it was too late, as his friends had
already been struck at. He had for some time been
engaged in maturing an organisation similar to trades
unions, which would have superseded the Plan, but it
must now wait. The National League and the Irish
Parliamentary party had never been identified with
the Plan, and if it were destroyed they would remain.
He thought however that the Papal Rescript would be
a disastrous failure.