biglam/hmd_newspapers huggingface dataset:
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

A VOLCANIC RESURRECTION.

Some extraordinary terrestrial commotions have
lately occurred in the Republic of Salvador, with
results which, it is alleged, have not before been
witneseedin the history of the world (says the Pall Mall
Gozette). These disturbances have been caused by
what may be called a volcanic resurrection. The Lake
of Itapongo has always been regarded as the crater of
an extinct volcano, which in one of the many changes
the surface of the earth has undergone sank out of
sight, leaving in its place an immense depression that
was soon filled with water from the surrounding
country. The volcano has now in the most unpleasant
fashion asserted its right to the place filled by the
lake, and teems inclined to make itself intensely dist.-
greeable. On the 20th of December a series of earth-
quakes began which were felt in the capital, but more
severely in the neighbourhood of the Lake of Ilo-
pango. On the 21st the movements were accompanied
by se horrible rumbling sound beneath the earth, which
caused even more alarm than the tremblings and
oscillations. That night no fewer than 150 chocks were
di,tinctly felt, and people fled from their houses in
dismay. The movements continued during the rest of
the month, and on the last night of year a tre-
mendous subterranean detonation was heard; this was
succeeded by three successive shocks of great vio-
lence, felt throuihout the Republic. Then came
a frightful rainstorm which deluged the country.
The waters of the lake, howevee, instead of appearing
to be increased by the flood actually diminished, and
it is believed will entirely disappear. As the waters
retired, cunic.l ghc,pad pos.ks or.hille appeared. From
the highest of these peaks, which are constantly in-
greasing in size, smoke, vapour, and flame issued.. The
mountain is gradually taking the place of the lake,
and the inhabitants of the district are not only
labouring under great anxiety but are afflicted with
nausea and fevers, arising from the sulphurous smell
which pervades the atmosphere.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

CHINISE LABeim.—The difficulty experienced ize.
Brazil in procuring European agricultural labour haw
induced the Government to look elsewhere for a supply
of hands to work the coffee and sugarcane plantations
(says the Pall Mall Gazette) The question of import-
ing Chinese has lately been seriously considered, and
the Brazilian consubgeneral in New York has just
published a report he was commissioned to make on
the subject of Chinese immigration to the United
States by Senhor Sinimbii, the present Premier of
Brazil, who is himself a large planter. After dwelling
on the experiment of Chinese labour in the Indian
Archipielago, British Guiana, and California, the
consul arrives at the conclusion that, considering the
actual needs of Brazil, the employment of Chinese in
the empire is essential as a stepping•stone between the
present and undesirable African and the European
labour. A current of Chinese immigration once
directed to Brazil worikl in his opinion have the im-
mediate effect of lowering the price of the slaves, and
thus hasten complete emancipation.
Urtimoi) HORSES,—A traveller in Australia says:
"In wet weather an unshod horse is a pleasant and
'safe mount. Many a roll over I have had after cattle
an a shod horse, when the country was soft above and
hard below—as some English racecourses and hunting
countries often are--_-which would not have occurred
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

A NARROW ESCAPE.

There are great mysteries on the illimitable ocean
which, besides exciting feelings of awe might very
well serve the subser • went purpose Abeing useful to
novelists and melo-d
snore effective
me
at tBWhat subject, for
instance, could be
sensational etagewright then the mivatttheer hands of a
which has
jest be,,n reported by the captain of the Brodie
S.n Francisco to Cork, undezwent perils of
Castle? That anclent mariner, on his y
y did he find himsel;
ague from
,ri uwahueenl
magnitude, Not only
off the Falkland Islands, in the
Tgpursei t'
"
eight icebergs, each eight hundred feet high; ice
hut,
as if this were not enough to satisfy his
ed h;n b ight of ite destination.
Fates
i his ship ran a narrow escape from being
totally wreck when wit
mind which has not become
Eight icebergs, each tviice the height of St. Paul's' ,
and, it is to be presumed, of an area in proportion, are
sufficient to appal anY
sensations. Captain Seward
callous to all human
happily escaped from being crushed like thder among
these gigantic grangers from the Arctic seas; but it is
bability that under certain
within the region of pro
unfortunate circumstances the Brodie Castle might
never have been hear.i of again after she enoeuntend
these gelid floating islands. Sad there been foggy
weather, and the Brodie Castle had suddenly found
n
herself with icebergs towering high above her; and
had these been bearing down upo her remorse-
lessly with a speed which the vessel could not
imitate, there would have lemen a cresh emong glitter-
ing frozen walls, the momentary shriek of " some
strong swimmer in his agony," and the bergs would
have floated on in awful grandeur unheedieg the de-
struction they had made among the petty works of
man. Of course an expert playwright might avert the
grand catastrophe by depicting the icebergs bearing
down upon the ship and just before they reached her,
crashing among themselves, splitting into millions of
glittering masses, and leaving her to float away safely
amid a grinding frozen sea. But irrespective of what
capital dramatists might make of awful icebergs 800
feet high and doomed ships, it is clear that Captain
Seward has good reason to feel thankful that he was
not too near his terribly formidable neighbours when
he sighted them.—Evertieig Standard.

A return presented to Parliament of pensions
awarded to officers of the Irish Constabulary has been
loaned. The aggregate amount of pensions to the officers of
the force is £2,297, and of pensions to head and other con.
stables; £210.943 per annum. . .
The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in declining to
receive a national deputation on the subject of the foreign
export sugar bounty, has expressed the hope that a fresh
oommittee will be appointed at the very commencement ef
the new Parliament to take up the inquiry at the point
which it hen already reached.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE.

A crowded meeting was held on Tuesday at the
house of Mies Jane E. Cobden, 14, York-place,
London, to hear addresses in favour of the extension
of the Parliamentary franchise to women ratepayers.
The chair was taken by Mrs. Duncan MacLaren,
who, in her opening remarks, draw attention to the
fact that Mr. Cobden, in a speech made many years
ago, gave it as his opinion that women were as
capable of using their judgment in this matter as
men.

Miss Orme moved the following resolution, which
Wh2 seconded by Miss Mittler, of the London School
Board :

" That, by the exclusion of women from the right to vote
In the election of members of Parliament, a considerable
portion of the ptoperty, intelligence, and industry of the
nation i.e deprived of representation in the House of Com-
mons ; and that the extension to women of political rights,
by strengthening in them the sense of the responsibilities and
duties of citizenship, would be conducive to the highest wel-
fare of the State."

Mr. Albert Dioey, the Rev. Brooke• Lambert, and
Sir David Wedderburn, M.P„ spoke to the second
resolution, which was as follows
"That, in a system of government avowedly representa-
tive, the interests of an unrepresented classeare certain to
suffer."

The meeting concluded with the adoption of a pea.
on to Parliament.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

HAGLEY.

STOCK SALE.—At this sale, on Nlonday, thero was
a fair supply of beef, but a short supply of mutton ;
there Was also a inod,Tate quantity of nivs an L
calves. Mutton was much better sold. Beef w.ls
very dear. Pigs and calves =vie high rates,

HAR LE BURY. -
STOCK SILE.—At this sale, on Tuesday, there was
a very sliort su,ply of sheep, which were- said
,at
iaiproved rates on previous markets. There was a
vt-q'y go .id cntry of fat beasts- of unusually goo"
quality for which thee was a considerable com-
petition. Very high rats were realiz,:d.

SPORTING NOTES.
(By our own Tarf Correspondent.)
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

CHINA DEFYING THE WORLD.

"China is making heavy war preparations, and
purchasing arms extensively." Such is the latest
telegraphic+ news from the Flowery Land, and it is in
ittelf momentous ; but the explanation of this extra-
ordinary accumulation of warlike implements enhances,
If possible, the importance of the news. "The Russian
complication," we read, "is the chief cause, but a
defiant attitude is shown in a less degree towards
Foreiga Powers generally." China, in fact, not content
with having got the werst of it in her recent war of words
with the Loocheo Islands, now throws down the gaunt-
let to all the rest of the world, and strikes with her
lance-head not one but every shield hung up in the lists!
Was ever such " inclomptable" courage heard of before
as this challenge from Pekin to all the four Continents?
But when will the programme of this terrific conflict
be published? Are we all to come on at once, or does
China stipulate for one continent down before another
begins? Will Cana congregate all her forces for one
vast Armageddon at home, and await in the Flowery
Land itself the simultaneous shock of battle from a
score of armies, or will the Celestials assume the
offensive and commence hostilities by an indiscriminate
attack upon everybody? The conception of a universal
war is sublime, and, indeed, history could afford no
parallel to the preliminary mustering of all the Chinese
hosts on the top of the Great Wall, and the advance
of an unbroken wave of Chinamen stretching from
the Arctic to the Indian Oceans, and sweeping majes-
tically, regardless of opposition, from east to west—
and back again. It behoves us to be prepared,—Daily
Telegraph.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

••••••••

iestimonial from Sir CHARLES LOCOCK.
Physic:an to the Queen.
have for -me ye...rs reconim nde I LIEBIG'S
"Ulf E.", ICA I. I'oo D i:. case of g nem! ill-neath
"'al Ii t. e most beneficial results. I find it to be a
v,ry pure prei,arv.tion, containing amongit other
"thinas tree and un,xydized l'ilospholous highly
"diffused, and when persevered w.th has always
seemed to give fresh life to the la..guid Lnd
"exh-.usted, and health, strength, aL.d energy.
"By its use the dull, the sluggish, tie I,zy and
"languid arise in the morning well and refreshed,
"with an api etite for food, and fit for study,
"society or business.
"CHARLES LOCOCK, II D."
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

THE OPIUM TRAFFIC.

The Society for the Suppression of the Opium Trade
has issued an address to the electors of the 'United
Kingdom, which is signed on behalf of the society by
the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Duke of Westminster,
several of the bishops and peers, Cardinal Manning,
Dr. Bennett, President of the Royal aollege of Phy-
sicians, thirty-seven members of Parliament, Herbert
Spencer, James Martineau, C. H. Spurgeon, the
secretaries of the great missionary societies, &c.

The address points out that the opium traffic is not
a pa ty matter, both Conservatives and Liberals being
equally responsible for it; that the trade is carried on
directly by the Indian Government, and ministers
notoriously to the vices of the Chinese, the Chinese
Government having repeatedly declared that opium
is most injurious, and that the trade in it is a
most serious provocative of ill-feeling against our
country. Coins, in spite of repeated protests, is
still obliged by the treaty to admit the drug,
although we have allowed the Japanese to exclude it.
It concludes in these terms :—" We are face to face
with the appalling fact that this Christian nation is
guilty in the eight of God of a great national sin.
Electors This opium trade is carried on by authority
derived from you. Upon you the responsibility rests
until you have solemnly charged your representatives
in Parliament, that they at once take steps to termi-
nate our national support of this unrighteous trade."
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

AMERICAN RESOURCES IN MEAT
PRODUCTION.

The following figures culled from the recent issue of
the annual report of sales of live stock in Chicago will
convey some idea of the enormous resources of
America (says Land and Water). The figures are the
more interesting in view of the fact that only a small
portion, comparatively speaking, are thus far opened
out, and that they refer to one city alone, where every
year are sold about one-third as many cattle as the
entire number of Great Britain, In 1879, 1,215,672
head of cattle, 6,448,933 pigs, 235,119 sheep, and
10,473 horses were sold. In every department an
Increase is shown ever the sales of 1878, when the
returns were as follows :-1,0f33,956 cattle, 6,339,631
Pigs, 310,420 sheep, and 9,415 horses,
Of the numbers sold the followieg were the export
in the two years refuted to :-1878-oattle, 699,108;
pigs, 1,226,900; sheep, i 56,727; horses, 8,176 1879
—Cattle, 715,125; pigs, 1,643,338; sheep, 157,159;
horses, 9,128.

All cattle are sold by the 100113., and the average
price for the year for good average quality steers wee
from 3101, 50c. to 4dol, 60c. Put hit° English, this
shows an average price of a fraction under 2d. per lb.
For 1878 the average price WAS from 3dols. to 4dols.
per 1001 h,, as against %lola. 50c. to 4lols. 50c. in 1878.
Pigs Bold at from 31ols, 25c. to 4clols. 70c. each in 1879,
being an increase of 141. as compared with the price
in 1878. Tile average weight of the pigs sold in 1879
was 2391 b, each—a decre.se of 71b. on the average
weights of the previous three years.

A telegrAm from St. Peteriburg, dated Sunday,
says that a collision occurred on Friday morning between
the train by which the Duge of Edinturgh left tit. Peters.
burg for the frontier,
on his return journey to England, and
a goods train which had got on the same line. Two waggons
were smashed up, but there were fortunately no injuries to
life or limb, and his Royal Highness was able to continue
his journey after a short delay. The accident occurred di
the station of Ivanovka, which ix MO miles from St. Peters.
burg, en the Warsaw ling.—B.li Royal Itighneu arrived in
DMZ from Calais on Sunday afternoon, and proooided to
London.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

THE CHURCH DEFENCE INSTITU-
TION.

The following address of the Executive Committee of the
Church Defence Institution ha been issued to the electors
of England and Wales:—
"Fellow Countrymen,—Parliament is about to be
dissolved, and you will be shortly called upon to exer-
cise the important electoral rights committed to your
charge. Those rights involve great responsibilities.
Upon the manner in which you discharge them the
future welfare of the Church and kingdom will in a
great measure depend. A vigorous and determined
effort will be made at the election to return candidates
pledged to undermine our pTesent Constitution in
Church and State. It will be your duty to give all such
candidates your decided and persistent opposition.
The maintenance of the Church of England as the
National Church of the land, the upholding the reli-
gious education of our children in our elementary
schools, the right of the Church to the control and
management of her own churches and churchyards
will all be brought forward in the new Parliament
with a view to future legislation respecting them. It
is of the utmost Importance that the views of all nand!.
dates upon these subjects shoull be fully and distinctly
expressed before any promise of support at the coming
election is given them. All friends of the Church arc
therefore earnestly entreated to use every exertion to
return to Parliament only such candidates as will
protect our religions rights and liberties, and resist all
measures that are destructive of the highest spiritual
interests of the people of this country."
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF
COMMONS.

The Right Ron. the Speaker, acting on the solicits-
tir.,n of the Governnaent and the
leading members of
the House a Commons, has cons i
ented to continue his
duties, if elected, during the next Parliament. The
late hours and the continuous sittings have materially
affected his health, and when the dissolution of the
prevent Parliament was announced Mr. lin.nd placed
his resignation in the hands of the Premier, who, how-
ever, declined to receive it until the right hoe, gentle-
man had fully reconsidered the position in which the
new House would be placed by a ohange in the chair.
—Daily Telegraph.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

THE IRON TRADE.

WOLVERHAMPTON, Wednesday.

There was an improved attendance on
'Change this afternoon, and the inquiries
were somewhat numerous; but few orders
were, however, given otit so far as finished
iron was concerned. The marked bar makers
are now getting short of orders, and some
of their works are this week on short time,
as they refuse to take anything below the
prices at which their last contracts were
p!aced, viz., from £9 5s to £9 10s. A number
of good specifications were offered for hoops,
unmarked bars, nail rods, and galvanisers'
sheets; and most of the orders with regard
to the last-mentioned class of goods were
accepted at about £ll delivered over quarter-
day. Ordinary boiler plates met with a
steady inquiry, and prices keep tolerably
firm at £lO 10s to £ll. Several lots of
tank plates were sold to-day to people who
have bought very little iron since Christmas.
The trade in best pigs is still active, and
prices are strong, but the weaker quotations
of Middlesbrough and Derbyshire iron
brought down part-mine pigs from 2s 6d to
5s per ton below the rates ruling a few weeks
ago. Cinder pigs are pretty strong in value
though it is only in exceptional instances
that makers take under £3 ss. Several
large orders for ironstone were placed at old
rates, and forge and furnace fuel went off
rather quickly. Illusehold coal was offered
at less money than prcducers have been
tTetting for the last few months.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

PNEUMATIC CLOCKS.

In a few days (remarks the Globe) a large part of
Paris is expected to be in possession of the new pneu-
matic clocks, about which there has been so much talk
ever since the exhibition of 1878. Already for some
time past the great discs which are to mark the hour
by this new agency have been set up and the appa-
ratus for working their hands is now, as it seems,
either completely finishei or very nearly so, The
system by which they are set in motion is not gene-
rally understood, and it may be interesting to borrow
from the Gaulois an explanation which it has received
from a scientific gentleman belonging to the Academy at
Etampes. He describes the metal reservoirs which are
to serve as storage places for compressed air pumped
into them by four steam pumps, and are to act as the
motive power for all the new clocks, At each minute
the air collected in these reservoirs will be allowed to
escape in a suffft‘ent quantity into the pipes or ducts
leading to the clocks, and will advance the hands
over one minute space en the discs, The central
head-quarters will thus act as a sort of heart, each
throb of which is felt in every part of the mechanism
connected with it, and gives a pulsation that must
necessarily be produced at the same instant in all the
different clock towers, Nor are these the only places
where the new system will perform its useful functions.
It is to be allowed to all private persons, no matter
where they live within the arrondissement, to have
clocks in connection with the pneumatic tubes, All
that is required is ti hire a clock of the administration,
and have it united by a small tube with one of the
main ducts, A small charge of a few sous per ciem
is to be made for this convenience, and then the house-
holder will have no longer any trouble in winding up
his clocks, nor any reason to fear that they are gaining
or losing or stopping or in anywise acting in an irreg.
, ular and misleading fashion,
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

COUNTY COURT.

WEsTON V. WILSON.— At the County Court, held on
Thursday, before Kettle, Esq., Judge This was
an action to reeov,- r the sum of £7 beinv the balance
of amount for a butch..r's cart. Mr. W. S. Hayes
appeared for plaintiff, and Mr. Stokes defended.
From the evidence of phuntiff, it appears that he is
,in au.ttioneer, residing near Halesowen. On the
4th February, he held a sale at the Shenstone
hotel, of farming stock, and Mr. T. W. Wooldridge
sold, as be had not then taken out his license. L
37 in the catalogue was de.eribed as a new butcher's
cart, and lit 38 as a market cart. On the article
-
tieing numbered the wrong number was put on the
cart. Defendant bought the market c .rt at .C 3 17s 6,1..
as described in catabtgue. rrie number 38, being
pla-sed on the but-hr's cart, defendant took th,
cart away from the sale yard after pAyino• for it.
The money swiss offer, d him back, and he was told
it was a mistake, but he to .k the cart away anti
old •t for £5. His Honour remarked that there was
a difficulty in to case. Mr. Wool iridge was the
n-inn to have sued. Mr. Haves asked his Honour to
amend thi. summons and n;ako Mr. W...oldr.ige a
ioint plaintiff. Hi= Honour sii he would if Mr.
Stokes wou,d agree, which was done by plaintiff
reeing to pay the costs of he ilay. Mr. Wool-
d-idge was caliel and proved sel'ing the g00d..., and
that he read the cond.tiions of sale, and considere:l
the butel e:'s cart was worth more than the
market cart. Mr. Bt.i&le, the wner of both trap.,
said that the re-ei ye. on the butcher's Cart was £7,
qui was worth the mines, After In rher evidence
kis honour gave a verdict for plaintiff for £3 17s 6d,
. d costs, in addition to what had been paid,
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

TIIE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER

scale, but the imposition of a new and very heavy
tax. Mr. Gladstone had taken occasion the other
day at Marylebone to point out that this tax would
fall very heavily upon the farmers as distinguished
from the landlords. The tax, falling as it did
on personal estate, pressed upon the tradesmen and
middle-classes in the towns, whose property was
almost wholly personal, while it almost completely
passed over those possessed of real estate. At the
present moment land contributed-but in a small degree
to rates as compared with leases, The local and im-
perial taxation pressed with peculiar severity upon
those classes upon whom this burden was to be exolu.
sively thrown. Mr. Gladstone would no doubt that
evening point out in the Rouse of Commons how
grave an inroad this new tax would form upon the
best traditions of equality ot taxation in this country.
Sir Charles Dilke, who concluded his short address by
a warm commendation of Mr. Rogers's powers as an
orator, resumed his seat amid loud cheering,
Mr. Rogers, after briefly reviewing the present state
of parties, entered into an eloquent vindication of Mr.
Gladstone's policy and conduct, insisting strongly upon
his integrity and earnestness, and also upon his bril.
liant achievements in the past in the cause of freedom
and the amelioration of the condition of the people.
The rev, gentleman's address was received with loud
cheering at frequent intervals by the large audience
present, and the incidental mention of the names of
Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Bright, Mr. Cobden and Lord
Derby called forth enthusiastic applause.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

CYCLONE IN THE PACIFIC.

A storm in December did very great damage in Fiji.
The banana plantations were laid level with the ground.
At Nada a tidal wave went two miles into the bus?,
sweeping away and destroying everything before it.
The cutter Alarm was washed up into the bush. The
Byron, cutter, foundered at Nunda Point, and the
owner, Mr. M'Pherson, and one Fijian were drowned.
Among the drowned was also J. B Grundy, manager to
Mr. William Bailey. S. L. P. Winter and two Fijians
were lost in a half decked boat at Ban. Three Fijian
men and three women were drowned in a canoe at
Curti. Two natives were drowned and every house
blown down at Radmarre and Madroch. The whole
country is described as denuded of timber, and the
native food crops destroyed. The steamer, Go Ahead,
engaged in towing a number of logs for the construe•
tion of Nicholl's patent slip, had to cut them adrift
to secure the safety of the steamer.
Her Majesty's ship Emerald, which had en board
Sir Arthur Gordon and suite, en route for Rototu-
mate, encountered a cyclone off that island, but
managed to weather it safely, The Stanley, of
Queensland, 113 tons register, caught the full force
of the late gale, She had 159 islanders on board for
Fiji, who were kept under battened hatches for 30
hours at a time. Fifty subsequently died, and one
committed suicide on being discharged from Levuka
Hospital. Ten more deaths were expected.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

"MARITANA" ON MARGATE PIER.

In the Common Pleas Division an action brought
by Mr. Adams against the Margate Pier hnd Harbour
Company was concluded on Saturday. It was an
action to recover penalties or damages for the per-
formance of some airs from Mr. Wallace's opera of
" Maritana " upon Margate Pier. An injunction also
was asked for to restrain future performances.
Mr. Justice Lindley said that the airs from the opera
which were played upon the pier-head were "Angelus,"
"The Harp in the Air," and " Alas ! those Chimes,"
and the facts were that the defendants entered
into an agreement with Mr. Dachener, the band.
master, and it was he, and not the defendants,
who selected the music that should be played,
and he was to have "the general conduct of
the band subject to the direction of the company."
His lordship was of opinion that the plaintiff was not
entitled to penalties under the 3 and 4 William IV„
cap. 15, because the music was not played in a place of
dramatic entertainment. He was satisfied, also, that
no injunction was necessary, because the defend-
ants, immediately the complaint was made, stopped
the performance, and there was no reason to
suspect that the directors of the company would
again permit the performance to take place.
Then came the question whether the defendants had
within the terms of the Act of Victoria performe4,
or caused or permitted to be performed, the plaintiff's
copyright music. They had not performed or caused
it to be performed; but he was of opinion that they
had "permitted" these airs to be performed. Under
these circumstances there would be judgment for the
plaintiff, damages 40s.
Judgment was given for the plaintiff.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

LORD DERBY AND THE GENERAL
ELECTION.

- -
The following letter, addressed by Lord Derby to the Earl
of Belton, has been published :
" 23, St. James's-square, March 12, 1880.
"Dear Sefton,—You have told me, and others have
said the same, that many of my friends in Lancashire
expect from me a more explicit declaration of political
opinion than I have hitherto made. Under present
circumstances I cannot refuse to comply with their
wish. I have been long unwilling to separate from
the political connexion in which I was brought up, and
with which, notwithstanding occasional differences on
non-politic al cines dons, I h &vein the m ain acted for many
years. But the present situation of parties and the
avowed policy of the Conservative leader in reference
to foreign relations leave me no choice. I cannot
support the present Government, and as neutrality,
however from personal feelings I might prefer it, is at
a political crisis an evasion of public duty, I have no
choice except to declare myself, however reluctantly,
ranked among their opponents. You may make any
we of this letter that you please.—Believe me, very
truly yours, DERBY,
"The Earl of Sefton."
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

PUBLIC NOTICES

I need scarcely assure you of my attention • ur
local be iness, if you shouici do m.. 3 the honour .orn
me to Psrliameut. I have worked at it long an ow
it thorouahly.
I beg to remain, Gentlemen,
Your faithful servant,
G W. HASTINGS.

Barnard's Gre(n, Malvern,
March 11th, 18S0.

T° THE
Ob'ELECTORS
ELT WORCe:SEERSHIRE.

GENTLEMEN,

In response to an invitation f w,r(leti to me unit.r
vr fli,tering cite= ,aiines, in b .hcf .of the Ltbtrm
..itC.ur.3 Of East. ,Vore:sterelao:e,llJSO 11U tnatoin
-pros:nting myseif to y0u.41 nlil for the it,pre-
,tiii•tou of y.,ar Division la l'itedaile-is, at tn.)
prouchiu,s: Dieisointton.
Distra,Aed by a tortuous and disturbing emirs, of
Fortigu Poliey, aud aue4.y at tae inerea,e of 3tlr
.einancial obiigationg, the country, covtit,ii.. t;Lit ia
llotriur and inter,sts of the Empire would e sze in
toe halide of Lioerei efivernateat, 'vomit I bedeve.
gladly revert to tho path of Domestic Legislation and
lieform under their gui:'ance.

eilher in Europe nor in Asia has that Foreign Policy
redout.ded to our c eitit as a nation ; and, while its
tonueLcy has been to overload our own resources, it has
not auk ceeded in preven.mg tee aggrandisemelt of
1ma,18., or even in maintaining tee influence of England
with Lhe Porte.

The subject of Home Kole -13113 been obtrusively put
forwaru lyy the Prime sift:lister. Home ~uie is a vaguct
and c hisequently objealouab!e teral ; bat, it it rn.aus,
as is generally sJp, 'feu, WO transfer f iuctt p-n ,ent
Parliaulentary autuoriq to any p vion of tilt: United
Kingdom, I wholly repudiate suca a notion as fatal to
its uuity and well-betug.
With refereuce to Doinsatic Legislation, w:lich has
been so long n..glected, .1 shah Iwartily support any
wee urea calculated to give ths Ratepayers a just
control over Local Expeudlture, and I shall carefully
consider any proposals ',inch snail have for their objets
tee amending of otr Laud Laws, so as t') bring them
more Mos confoinitty with tne tunes 111 Winch Yid
live.

Haviug ha.i the honour of a :eat in Parliament for
the lat. 15 years, ILC adt J. way appeal LO c joa,UCI
during that period tie evinc,ug my fidelity to and support
of Liberal Prtncipies anti Measures.
Should I receive the holour of ElLction at your hands
I shalt epare no cilia Lo cuusult the wishes mid to
promote the ihtereats ol al! cia.aes ot wy Gonstituents.

I eau, Gentlem,m,
Your very faitLf4l Servarit,

W. H. GLADSTONE.
House of Commons, Westminster,
March 11th, 1880.

T 0 TUE ELECTORS
OE THE,
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

In connection with the above, tho Paris Corrospon,
dent of The Times writes :

".Paris is getting the start of other capitals as regards
public clocks, the Ilinnicpality having contracted with the
Pneumatic Clock Company for the erection of a number of
clocks in the principal thoroughfares. Some of them have
been set in motion this evening. Each clock consists of
two opaque glass dials, with a hollow space between
in which a gas-burner is lit at night, so that the
time can be seen by persons approaching in either direc-
tion. The bands are moved at an interval of a minute
by means of pneumatic tubes, the air being pumped in by a
six horse power engine. Observatory time is, of course,
given, and the company offer to lay tubes to private
houses. The principle is that of an Austrian firm, Popp
and Hirsch, and it wlll have to compete with the electric
clocks used at the railway stations. One objection will,
perhaps, be taken to it—viz., that it does not indicate frac-
tions of minutes."

A Paris paper says that the pneumatic cloaks which have
lately been erected on the Boulevards and in various other
parts of Paris were set worlds. g on Monday evening. A
considerable number of people had collected in the vicinity
of the timepieces awaiting the moment at which the hands
would begin moving. A few seconds before 531 the patienoe
of the onlookers was rewarded by a premonitory eliding
forward of the minute hand, which almost instantly after-
wards made a Jump and settled at the mark. The new clocks
are by no means ugly additions, with their blue-dial pieces
and elegant supports, to the public thoroughfares. The
pneumatic system, it may be added, has been in force in
Vienna for the last three years, and has there given general
satisfaction.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-20

THE AIISTRO-BELGIAN ROYAL
WEDDING.

-- -
The Etoile Beige states that, conformably to the
Belgian Constitiition,which requires that the civil
marriage should precede the religious ceremony, the
civil marriage of the Princess S'ephanie with the
Archduke Rudolph will take place at Brussels and the
religious ceremony at Vienna ; that the time of the
marriage is not yet definitively fixed; that the young
couple will reside at Prague, and that for the present
the Archduke Rudolph will take the command of a
regiment at Salzburg, The Communal Council of
Brussels will offer to the Princess St6phanie a work in
Brussels lace of the minimum value of 25,000 f. as a
wedding present.

The 19th annual meeting In connection with the
Home for Lost and Starving Dogs was held on Saturday last
at 105, Jermyn-street, London. The report stated that
during the past year the instttution had found homes for
upwards of 5,280 dogs, being 598 more than in the previous
year. New compartments had recently been made at the
home for additional accommodation at .a cost altogether of
about £.BOO.
The revisers of the Authoricld 'Version of -the Vow
Testament met on Tuesday in the Deanery, Westminster, for
their ninety-seventh session. Thirteen members were pre-
sent, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol being In the
chair. The company was enga;s4 in considering ProPosall
made with a view of aecurioii IllawouY In rendering.

The TRADERS' DEFENCE ASSOCIATION.

The following is an extract from a leader in the Daily
Talegraph :
Daring the coming struggle for supremacy at the
polling-booths, besides the main points of difference
between the Government and the Opposition on such
Impeiial subjects as the policy of Great Britain abroad
and the future relations of Ireland to the rest of the
United Kingdom, there will be other and side issues
which cannot be ignored. Not least among these ap-
pears the problem as to the future of the British shop-
keeper. An institution, styling itself "The Traders'
Defence Association of the United Kingdom," has
already stepped into the arena and flang down a gage of
battle, in which the tradesmen of the country are called
upon to exert their influence for the election of
men who will demand that the new Parliament shall
prohibit the clergy, Crown servants, and State pen-
sioners from being concerned in the management of
co-operative stores, and it is asked that the disposition
of the candidates towards this subject shall be made a
test question in every borough and county town. The
trumpet of "The Trader's defence Association,"
calling eleetors from the counter to the combat, will
probably be answered lof other trumpets, and it may
be expected that the shop-keeping class will, as
advised, demand to know whether the Liberal
domestic policy is similar to that which failed among
the Israelites before the election of Saul to the mon-
archy, at a period when every man did what seemed
right in his own eyes. . . .
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

SALMON IN TASMANIA.

Upon this subject the following letter has been sent to The
Tunes :

Sir,—l am constantly applied to for information as
to the progress made in the attempt to naturalize the
salmo salar in Tasmania; I would feel obliged if you
will permit me to reply to these inquiries through The
Tiraes as far as lam able.

During the past two years I have received accounts
of the netting by fishermen in the Derwent of large
numbers of salmon grilse weighing from a pound and
a half to three pounds and of their having been sold
in Hobart Town at 6X. per pound. Great fears were
entertained from these large captures of young fish
evidently returning from the sea to spawn, that their
destruction before having had an opportunity of pro-
pagating their species might probably prevent the
complete success of the experiment, after all the ex-
pense and care that had been incurred in successfully
placing the fish in the Derwent. At the request of the
Salmon Commissioners, I have obtained and sent them
a precis of such laws as, if passed by their Parliament;
would prevent this wholesale destruction of the grilse
and give them a fair chance of reaching the spawning
beds. Yesterday I received a hobart Town, Mercury
containing the following cheering paragraph :
"A fine fish, said to belong to the salmo salar tribe,
was captured in the river Shannon, near its junction
with the Great Lake, a few days ago. The fish was
i
taken by a shepherd n the employment of Mr. James
Haddon, of Green Ponds, and it is stated that a large
number of similar fish have been seen going up the
river, with a view, it is supposed, to spawning in the
Great Lake. The specimen has been packed in snow,
and will be sent to the Melbourne Exhibition Com-
mission. It is said to be about 30in. in length and of
considerable girth, so that it should weigh upwards of
201 b."

BY this it would appear that a good many salmon
had passed safely up the Derwent and into one of its
tributaries, evidently for the purpose of spawning. I
guess the distance from the sea where this fish was
caught would be over 60 miles, and this, I believe,
gives good ground for the hope that the experiment
will prove most successful.—Your obedient servant,
JAMES A. YOLTL.
Waratah-house, Clapham-park, Aug. 31.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

AFG-HANIST AN.

THE RECENT ACriON.

TOTAL NUMBER OF BiUTIR
CASUALTIES.

[FROM TII2I DAILY NEWS." 3

CANDAHAR, September 3rd.
Our total casualties are now wcrtained to be 44
killed 196 wounded.
The Cavalry Brigade reports Lieutenant Baker,
officiating squadrat officer of the 3rd Punjaub
Cavalry, and Lieutenant N. F. F. Chamberlain,
squadron officer of the 2nd Central India Horse,
very slightly wounded during the cavalry pursuit
of the enemy.
General Phayre is to arrive here to-morrow with
an escort of the 15t'l Hussars. He reports that
Ayooh's emissaries excited the peopla to sloe as far
as IC zai.
All is quiet in this neighbourhood. The cavalry-
have gone to Kokeran, owing to the sarcity of for-
age and supplies
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

MONEY LENT FROM £lO to £l,OOO,
ON easy Terms and without Sureties to re-
spectable Householders, Farmers, Cabowners,
?‘lOl/4wlteepers, Profossional Gentlemen, Lodginghouse
Niers. and Others,
IiPPLY TO
MR. T. BANNINGTOr,
First Floor, 48, Union Passage, Birmingham.
Distance no object.
a
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

POTATO.

Potatoes aie arriving at the mar)Lets in moderate (it=
titles, and Eales progress slowly at the subjoined pricesgegents, 4E. to it. ; kidnelE, 6a.; ditto Jerseys, es. to 18. Per
cwt.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

ENGLAND.—First Innings.

Dr. W. G. Grace, b Palmer .. 152
Dr. E. M. Grace, c Alexander, b Bannerman .. 36
• Mr. A. P. Lucas, b Bannerman .. .. 55
; Alexander .. 28
• Lord Barnes,darris, c Bonnor, b e. 52
Mr. F. Fenn, b 8annerman.................
23
i Mr. A. G. Steel, c Boyle, b Moule, . 42
Hon. A. Lyttelton, not out .. „ 11
4 Mr. G. F. Grace. c Bannerman, b Moule .. 0
Shaw, b Moule .. • • • • • • 0
•.;
Morley, run out 2
Byes, 8 ;1-b, 11 • • 19
• Total .. —420
AUSTRALIANS.
First Innings. Second Innings.
Mr. W. L. Mc s
Steel .....................o not out 70.
A. Baunernian, b Morley .. 32 c Lucas, b Shaw .. 8
Mr. T. U. Groube, b Steel .. 11 c Shaw, b Morley .. 0
Mr. P. S. M'Donnell, c Barnes,
b Morley .. .. 27 Ibw,h W. G. Grace 43
Mr. J. Slight, cG. F. Grace, b e Harris, b W. G.
Morley ...................11 11 Grace .. • • 0
Mr. J. M. Blackham, c and b c E. M. Grace, b
Morley .. 0 Morley .. .. 19
Mr. G. J. Bonnor, c G. F.
Grace, b Shaw .. 2 not out .. .. 13
Mr. H. F. Boyle, not out .. 36 run out .• • • 3
Mr. G. E. Palmer, b Morley .. 6
Mr. G. Alexander, c W. G.
Grace, b Steel.. .. .. 6
Mr. W. 11. Moule, e Morley, b
W. G. Grace ..
Byes, 9; l-b., 3 .. 12 Leg-byes • • 5
Total ..
Total .. 170
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

-fiAL.E:SOIVEN.

USING THREATS. —At the Police Court on
ruesd..y, :,betore E. gem, Esq., Daniel Smi.h,
frui Ct. r r, was charged' with using threatening
laL.O gt tov% anis his brother Jessie Smith, on the
2ad it Mr. Hayes defended. The case was
dismissed.

Dautitt —Win. Saddler, dealer, Quinton, was
charged with being, drunk in the highway, on the
31st ult. Police-constable Taylor proved that de-
fendant was diunk and using load language at the
Quinton. The Beneh iiiflicted a ft.te of fis and
costs.

STEALING PEAS.—Wm. Rose, nailnr, and Isaac
Mullett, labourer, both of Bla.ekheath, were
charged with stealing peas, the prop, rty of Joseph
Merrisi, farmer, of Blackheath. Police-constable
Knowles said that on the 22nd ult, he was on duty
in a field, leading from Malt Mill Lane to the
Potteries, where he saw the men picking the peas
and putting them in their pockets. Defendants
we:e fined 6d each and costs.—Riehard Potter,
bricklayer, also orßlackheath, TM charged with
vanmitting a similar offence on the 27th nit, De-
iendant, who said.tha£ he only had five peas, was
fined 8s 6d, including costs, or 7 days' impison-
men t.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

. THE POPULARIZATION OF THE

FUNDS.

Truth points out that a man who has little money
in a savings bank does not regard himself as an in-
vestor in the same sense as one who is the owner of
Consols. It therefore thinks that "the scheme of
Mr. Fawcett, by which any one may buy ten pounds'
worth of Consols at a post-office is a most useful and
conservative provision, for not only will it tend to en,
courage savings, but it will give to all who take ad-
vantage of it a direct stake in property. What all
classes want just now is to acquire the habit of saving.
This habit has converted France into the richest
country on the globe, and the absence of it is likely,
unless we mend our ways, to do us serious
harm." To nationalize the French public debt
by subdividing it, and by distributing • it
among all classes, was, our contemporary says,
the work of Napoleon 111., and he deserves
credit for it. "What has been done in France might
as easily be done heye, provided that the proper steps
are taken. The Post Office might, too, act as agent
for the sale of Indian Four per Cents. No one doubts
but that we have practically guaranteed the Indian
Debt. We took over the country and its indebtedness
from the East India Company, and if India could not
pay interest we should have to make up the deficiency.
The India Four per Cents, are, however, only about
2 above par, and they, consequently, are far more
remunerative to investors than Consols, and I see no
vllid cause why persons who make small savings and
wish to invest them, should not be permitted to do so
in our Indian loans through the machinery of the Post
Office."
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

WRECK OF THE "CITY OF VERA
CRUZ."

The steamer City of Vera Cruz, later reports state,
was struck by a hurricane on Saturday night; the
gale constantly increasing in fury: At midnight the
waves swept the deck, carrying away the upper works,
and tore off the hatches, extinguishing the fires. The
crew then began to throw the cargo overboard to relieve
the vessel, which was leaking rapidly, but could accom-
plish little, several sailors being washed overboard. The
captain and every officer, one after another, while at
their posts, were washed overboard, the captain
perishing at four o'clock on Sunday morning. Every
boat and life-raft were destroyed by this time, when
the survivors fastened life-preservers on themselves,
taking fragments of wreck, such as room doors
or other articles that would float, and awaited the
end. The vessel, while thirty miles off the shore,
foundered at half-past five on Sunday morning,
carrying • several persons down with her. Of the
seventy persons on board only thirteen survive, three
being passengers and ten of the crew. They were all
in the water for over twenty-four hours, coming
ashore exhausted. They are now being capd for at
St. Augustine. Among the lost is GeneraVTorbert,
of Delaware, who was on a business mission to
Mexico. Ten bodies; including that of General
Torbert, have been washed ashore.
[A later report says that eighty-two persons in all
were on board, only eleven of whom were saved.]
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

THE HOP HARVEST.

The Maidstone Journal says that if the magnificent
weather which has prevailed during the last ten days
had come a month earlier, the crop of hops" would un•
doubtedly have been the largest and best on record.
As it is, the heat and brilliant sunshine have much
improved those hops that were at all sound, and
there can be no question that it has completely
arrested the progress of white mould. Owing to
the complete change in the weather it is now almost
certain that 500,000 cwts. of hops will be picked, of
which from 350,000 to 380,000 will be of from fine to
useful quality, and the remainder of from medium to
indifferent quality. Not only has there been great
improvement in all parts of Kent, where the hops were
not too far gone, and particularly in the Weald, but
in Worcester, Hereford, Hants, and Surrey there has
been a surprising alteration for the better. It is said
that the Herefordshire hops were never Of a better
quality. With regard to the trade and the probable
range of prices, there is not much doubt that hops of
fine, good, and even medium quality, will make re-
munerative figures.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

THE FAMO ITS DALRYMPLE FARM.

Some interesting details are given in the American
papers with respect to the famous Dalrymple farm, 25
miles west of Fargo, Dakota, which is the largest cul-
tivated farm on the Western Continent. It contains
36,000 acres of arable land, 24,000 of which are now
under wheat and 12,000 under oats ; 125 reaping
machines were set to work last month to cut the
wheat.
Mr. Dalrymple manages his farm on strict business
principles, his harvest work being performed on a forty-
day contract with each workman at 1 dol. 75c. per day,
he boarding them. The harvesters all board at large
dining-halls prepared expressly for the Dalrymple
family. Each reaper is operated by three horses or
mule.. There are 375 of them on these reapers. When
shocked and sufficiently dried, both wheat and oats
are thrashed from the stubble and without stacking.
The estimated yield by harvesters and proprietors is
about 18 bushels of wheat per acre, and 90 of oats.
The wheat product of this one farm amounts to
430,006 bushels—about 900 car-loads, or 45 train-loads
of 20 cars. This immense crop will go to the seaboard
by way of the lakes, through Canada and the Erie
Canal, and is expected to net 60 cents per bushel at
the farm.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-09-11

TRADE RETURNS FOR AUGUST.

The Board of Trade Returns for the month of
August were issued on Wednesday. They show the
declared value of imports for the month to have been
£31,019,087, an increase of £2,684,078 over August,
1879, and of £1,912,264 over the corresponding period
of 1878. The total value of the Imports for the eight
months of the present year was £275,632,435, showing
an increase respectively of £44,009,631 and £20,245,944
over the corresponding periods of the two preceding
years. The value of the month's imports was
£19,088,115, being £1,751,807 in excess of the corre-
sponding total for last year; and £1,784,577 over the
value for August, 1878. • The eight months' total
was £146,992,430, showing an increase respectively
of £24,218,507 and of £18,627,635, as compared
with the corresponding periods of the two preceding
years.