The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-12-10 00:00:00

EPITOME. -(.)1. NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN-

The Lord Mayor of London has opened a fund at
the Mansion Rouse In aid of the association for the relief of
those Mall ladies who are in distressed circumstances owing
ito the non-receipt of their rents.
An AcbbiratiY Circular has been issued giving effect
ito Mr. Trevelyatis statement in the House of Commons re-
[specting the rum. ration. Henceforth the officers rurn
Intim; is to be discontinued, and the men may take in lieu of
'rum partly money and Pertly cocoa.
A line of telegraph has just been finished frout
Shangahi to Chinkiang, about 750 miles up the Yangtsze-
liiang. and at the entrance to the southern portion of the
Grand Canal, along the northern part of which it is to be
'carried to Tientsin, and afterwards to Peking.

• A New York telegram says that the visible supply
!of wheat on bee, 2 was 19,800,000 bushels, as against
j 20,400.000 last week. Visible supply of Indian corn
120,600,000 bushels as against 22,400,000 last week, Export
clearanctes of wheat during the past week, 930,000 bushels;
'export clearance of Indian corn daring the past week,
I,l2o,ooo_bushels.

It is understogj that the King. and Queen of Italy
will pay a visit to fife German Emperor early._ in the spring,
and that the route thgy will take will be by the new railway
i through the St. Gothard TunneL
The Customs and Excise returns of the Dominion
of Canada for the first five months of the current fiscal year
show an excees of 1,700,000 dols., as compared with the corre-
sponding period of las year.
Intelligente from. Minneopolia (Minnesota) an-
nounces the destruction by fire of -four Sour mills and one
:cotton mill at that place.. In one of the flour mills an explo-
sion occurred, by which four men were killed, and several
'injured. The loss is estimated at 400,000 dols.

The Duke of Rutland has been forbidden by his
, medical advisers ever to mount a horse again. His grace
will, however, keep up his celebrated pack and his large
,stud of hunters as usuaL The Belvoir Hounds will ba
hunted by his brother, Lord John Manners, and other
'members of the family during the present season.—The
World.

The double anniversary of the deaths of the late
Prince Consort and Princess Alice will, it is understood, be
kept by the Queen with the usual solemn observances on
the 14th inst.' at Windsor Castle, when a service, which will
be attended by her Majesty, Princess Beatrice, and other
members of the Royal family, will be held at the Mausoleum
in the grounds of Frogmore House.

All steamers arriving at Bristol from the Atlantic
report terrible gales. The Sea Breeze (schooner), which had
been given up as lost Ms come in, after vainly attempting
to cross to St. John's, Newfoundland, from Spain. She was
battling with the heavy westerly gale for fifty-six days.

Mr, Boal, of Consett, made a curious discovery the
other day upon opening in his shop a ling which weighed
251 b. In the stomach of the Osh were found a three-gill
bottle, some herrings, and a codling. There were also
several pieces of parchment and bits of sealing-wax, which
induce the supposition that the fish had swallowed one of
these mournful messages of shipwreck which have recently
been so numerous.
Sir Jhmes Paget is reported to be making satis-
factory progress towards recovery from the severe attack of
pneumonia which has confined him to the house for some
time past.
According to the official account received by the
administration of the Daira Sanieh, the Egyptian sugar crop
this year promises to be exceptionally good.
The Committee of Lloyd's have bestowed the Bronze
Siedal of the Society upon Mr. J. Flynn, chief boatman of
the Robert's Cove Coastguard Station, Kinsale district, Ire-
land, as an honorary acknowledgment of his extraordinary
exertions in saving life at the wreck of the Austrian brig
IsO untio, in Rocky Bay, on 20th October last.
It is stated that the Army Estimates for 1882-83
will show a considerable reduction on those of the present
financial year, but the actual amount of the decrease cannot
yet be estimated, as several votes are now being made the
subject of departmental investigation.
The Post Office authorities have decided that the
Bank Holiday, which has hitherto been in veration only at
the larger offices, will, on and from Dec. 26, apply to all the
post-towns in England and Wales. On such holidays there
will be but one delivery, and the sale of stamps and regis-
tration of letters will end at ten o'clock in the morning.
This will not apply to telegraph work, which will continue
uninterrupted throughout the day as on ordinary days.
At the rent audit of Lord Boston, it was announced
that his lordship, who attained his majority last month,
had granted a reduction of 10 per cent, on the half-year's
rentals of his Welsh estates, with permission to the tenantry
to kill all the rabbits.

It has been determined by the corporation of Barrow-
in-Furness to build a new Town Hall, at a cost of £50,000, to
construct a high level bridge over the docks, and to esta-
blish a free library.

"From all accounts, it would seem as if an
ethereally mild December were making April fools of the
birds and tho flowers. The seasons are getting mixed to
such an extent that the rose, which had made up its mind to
perform the role specially provided for one of its species by
the late Mr. Thomas Moore, has finally decided, finding the
summer perennial, to bloom once more in company with ita
mates of the garden which are neither faded nor gone."—
Daily Telegraph.
A horse without hair is the latest curiosity, and the
Zoological Garden at Moscow claims the wonder. lt w:e3
sent from Turkestan by General Kauffman. The color of the
horse's skin is red, and his points are said to he admirable.
He is, howevz.r; very sensitive to the cold, and has to be lit it
warm by thick woollen cloths.
A Correspondent, dating from Penally, near
Tenby, Dec. 1, says "A zarden, sheltered iron the gait s
of west and south-west, has in bloom violets in plenty, rose=,
chrysanthemums, almost of course, in good show ;
hydrangia-maguolia almost in blossom, geraniums, and a
few others, in a bright sunshine and mild atmosphere.
Petasites vulgaris, the butter bud, is to be seen in
blossom."
Some people in this country are terrible frightened
at the word retaliation as applied to customs duties. Neither
the word nor the thing alarms Prince Bismarck, who, we
are told, is seriously considering a resort to it to bring
Russian Protectionists to their senses ; the Imperial alliance
notwithstanding. —Globe.

At Sheffield, on Monday, a labourer, while working
In a main sewer, was suffocated by sewer gas. Two others
who went to his rescue had to beat a hasty retreat.

ThB completed totals of the Bombay census show an
actual decrease of 550,244 on the population in 1873, and a
decrease of 963,843 on what the population should have been
had it increased as in ordinary times.

About 150 refugee Jews were among the passengers
of the disabled steamer Lessing, lying in Plymouth Sound.
The greater portion came from Elizabethgrad, South
Russia, and were on their way to America, having come
overland to Hamburg, where they embarked. A million
francs have been subscribed by Jewish philanthropists for
helping these and other persecuted Russian Jews. The
emigrants were brought ashore at Plymouth on Saturday, to
attend the 1e7.al synagogue. lhe scene at the service is
described as most affecting. Subsequently the emigrants
were served with refreshments, and assistance, in the shape
of additional clothing, was arranged to be given, so as to
enable the emigrants to pass their long voyage in compara-
tive comfort.

Mr. Barclay, M.P., addressed a meeting of agricul-
turists at Chester in support of the Land Bill prepared by
the Farmers' Alliance. In the course of his address he re
marked that, if the farmer had proper facilities for prose-
cuting his work, the produce of the country might be in-
creased by over £100,000,000 sterling annually. A resolution
approvin the Bill was unaniipoualy.passed.
rand, M.P. for Stroud, spea mg on
agricultural depression, said the Conservative party had
two remedies to offer, one being subventions in aid of local
rates and other protection. The first meant that the artisan,
out of his hard-earned wages, should pontribute to the relief
of the landowners, and the other that the commodities of
domestic life should be taxed. He was convinced the public
would not accept either. What was wanted was good county
government, readjustment of local taxation, and generous
and fair reform of the Land Laws.