The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-04-30 00:00:00

A STEAMER PURSUED BY A WHALE.—The British
India Steam Navigation steamship Punjab recently,
while on her way to Bussorah, was closely followed for
about twenty-four hours by a large whale, said to have
been about eighty feet long. It was fired at with Snider
bullets, but they did not seem to make much impres-
sion upon the sea monster.
THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH.—There are at present
two archbishops and 29 bishops by whom the Church
of England is,governed. There are also 30 deans, 81
archdeacors, 610 rural deans, and over 13,000 bene-
fices, The clergy, from the archbishops to the stipen-
diary clergy, number 23,000. In addition to these
there are 1,800 clergy of the Irish section of the
Anglican Church—with its two archbishops and 10
bishops—seven bishops and 232 clergy in Scotland,
and 61 bishops and about 2,700 clergy in the colonies.
There are likewise many missionary clergymen, in-
cluding several bishops, in counties not subject to
British rule.

EXTRAORDINARY FASTING CASE.—An account is
published in Glasgow of a remarkable fasting case
which is exciting great interest in medical circles in
Lanarkshire. It is stated that Catherine Marshall,
aged fourteen years, daughter-of a surface-man, has
not taken food sitice the commencement of the year.
Her parents cannot get her to take any food, her
only nourishment being a little water daily. She
scarcely sleeps, and is dreadfully emaciated. Her
pulse is perfectly natural. Last autumn she was
treated for a pulmonary cold.
THE. BREECH-LOADER IN THE BRITISH ARMY.—A
veteran who has seen much active service said to me
the other day, says Society :—" The breech-loader is
the curse of the British Army. In the old days,
when a man had to bite his cartridge, ram down his
bullet, and then clp his piece, he had time to think
what he was doing, and having taken so much trouble
in loading, he thought he might just as well take aim
at something, and did so. But now with these breech-
loaders that are so easily and quickly loaded, a ma,n blazes
away without thinking what he is about; no aim is
taken, the smoke from the rapid continuous firing
becomes so dense that you might as well be in the
middle of a London fog, and the constant, ceasless
rattle unnerves the men. Depend upon it, air, that
so far as accuracy of fire goes, and that's the great
thing after all, the British soldier was far more for-
midable with the old muzzle-loader than he is with
the Martini-Henry."
PRESENCE OF MlND.—Tommy. "Oh, kiss me too,
Janet! "—Janet (conscious of mamma's approaching
footsteps). "Don't say Kiss me two,' Tommy. Say,
'Kiss me twice I "—Punch.

THE STEPHENSON CENTENARY.-At a meeting of the
Committee for arranging the Stephenson Centenary
celebration in June, held at Newcastle-on-Tyne on
Sitturday, the following outline of a programme for
the day was agreed upon :—A procession of loco-
motives of past and present forms, from the Central
Station, Newcastle, to Wylam or Street-house, the
birthplace of Stephenson; a representative procession
of the principal trades and public bodies in the Tyne-
side district, including the members of the Northum-
berland and Durham Miners' Association, through
the streets of Newcastle to the Town Moor, where a
public demonstration will be held, the day's proceed-
ings closing with a banquet in the Assembly Rooms
and a display of fireworks in the Leazes Park.

LANDOWNERS IN THE GOVERNMENT.—JUSt now (says
Land), when the Land Bill is engrossing public atten•
tion, it may be interesting to see what are the respec•
tive positions of the members of the Administration as
landed proprietors. The present Government is em-
phatically a Government of country gentlemen. We
find that the Premier owns 7,000 acres of land, Mr.
Dodson 30,000, Lord Kimberley 11,000, Lord North-
brook 10,000, Lord Spencer 27,000, and the Marquis
of Huntly 90,000. The Marquis of klartington,
although not himself a landowner at present, is heir to
200,000 acres; while the Duke of Argyll, the late
holder of the Privy Seal, is the proprietor of 175,000
acres. Several other members of the Government own
less ambitious estates.
SERIOUS FIRE IN PARIS.—A serious fire occurred on
Monday morning in a private apartment in the
Rue de Ponthieu, occupied by Madame de Clomesnil.
About four o'clock that lady was awakened by a
strong smell of 'burning in her dressing-room, where
she found that the carpet and hangings were on fire.
Madame de Clomesnil made vigorous efforts to ex-
tinguish the flames, and in so doing seriously burnt
her right hand; but the fire spread so rapidly that
she had to call for help, and when the engines arrived
the flames had invaded the whole apartment, and
threatened to spread to an adjoining house. The
burning ,chamber was quickly swamped with water,
and in an hour and a half all danger was over.
Madame de Clomesnil's room was very richly fur-
nished, and the damages are roughly estimated at
350,000 f, in pictures, china, jewellery, and articles de
luxe.

RE-NAISSANCE.—An American journal puts the
birth announcements under the "heading" of 'State
of the Quivers."—Funny Folks.
CHURCH SIGNAL BELLS.—In many places 3 bell is
rung "after dark." The origin is usually curious,
though generally and wrongly put down to the curfew.
At Storrington, a village in Sussex, the bell rings at
8 p.m. This is in virtue of an endowment: a man
lost his way on the Downs in a sea-fog, and only
found his home by hearing the bell of Storrington
Church. In gratitude, he endowed the church with a
sum of money, on condition that the bell should be
rung at eight o'clock every night. A similar account
is given of the bell at Great St. Mary's, Cambridge,
which rings at 9 p.m., having been endowed by a
Saxon princess, who was saved from perishing in the
fens by hearing a Cambridge bell. "Great Tom," of
Christ Church, Oxford, is tolled 103 times every
night: the origin is probably the same as that of the
others, but the " scout " only knows that the
" buttery" is then opened. At Rome a bell rings at
'one hour of night " for the De Profundus, and at
"two hours," the evening before a fast. This "one
hour of night" means one hour after the Ave or
Angelus; and not, as a defer tourist once described
in his diary, one o'clock in the morning.—Weekly
Register.
THE BRAHMO-SAMAJ OF INDIA.—The followers of
Reshub Chunder Sen have made another step in ad-
vance. On Sunday, the 6th of March, the Sacrament
was administered in the spirit of the early Church,
though in a form differing from that adopted in
Europe. The Hindop Apostles of Christ, as they call
themselves, gathered after prayer in the dinner-hall,
and sat upon the floor on the bare ground. Rice was
brought in on a silver plate, and water in a small
goblet. The minister then read the words from
Luke xxii., "And he took the bread and gave
thanks," &c. A prayer was then offered asking a
blessing on the sacramental rice and water :—" Touch
this rice and this water, 0 Holy Spirit, and turn their
gross material substance into sanctifyin& spiritual
forces, that they may upon entering our system be
assimilated to it as the flesh and blood of all the saints
in Christ Jesus. Satisfy the hunger and thirst of our
souls with the rice food and drink Thou hast placed
before us. Invigorate us with Christ forces, and
nourish us with saintly life." After the rice and
water had been blessed, they were served in small
quantities to those present. Men ate and drank re-
veaently, so did the women and children, and they
blessed God, the God of prophet and saints.

UN.CLE'S JOKE.—When may a man be said to
pledge his veracity ?—When he exclaims, "a
-pawn my
word."—Judy.

COLONIAL PUBLIC RESERVES IN ROMANTIC DIS.
TRICTS.—The sale to a private person of the Katoomba
Falls in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales
caused a great outcry in Sydney a year ago, and it
was made evident to the Lands Department that the
public would not countenance the alienation of any of
the "beauty spots" of the colony. Attention-having
been thus drawn to the desirability of forming
reserves, after the practice observed by the United
States in connection with the glorious Yosemite and
Yellowstone Valleys, and the principal groves of big
trees, the Minister for Lands, proceeding to make
amends for his past mistake, has, says the Colonies
and India, set apart for public use an area of 1,040
acres surrounding Danger's Falls, a fine cataract of
500 feet, near Armidale, another of 810 acres round
the Great Falls in the same district, and a third of
450 acres embracing the Moona Falls, near Waicha.
General satisfaction is expressed that these gems of
scenery are to be for ever public property.
LADY BEACONSFIELD'S WIFELY CARE.—A Corres-
pondent of The Times writes :—" Lady Beaconsfield,
almost till her last hour, spared her husband all cares
connected with daily existence. It was her practice
to wade through masses of the papers and ephemeral
literature of the day in order to extract all that might
interest him. It may truly be said that in each event
of life she strove to find something to gratify him.
And he was one who knew how to be grateful.
By the exercise of her power of discriminating
organization the household at Hughenden and in
Grosvenor-street was maintained on a footing con-
sistent with the dignity of the statesman. She
bestowed thought on every detail, and nothing was
too minute for her to study if it could contribute to
the gratification of him to whom she was a faithful
helpmate. Many were her thoughtful little kind-
nesses to poor tand rich. Childless, she loved children.
When near fourscore years sritt exerted herself in a
manner that might have given a lesson to a woman of
thirty. It is pleasant to recollect that she often dwelt
on the happiness of her life. It would be unbecoming
to do more than hint at the devotion and foititude
with which Lord Beaconsfield tended her to. tthe end.
Those who remember the forgetfulness of self shown
by both can only pay a tribute of silent sympathy."
DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN LONDON.—en Saturday night,
shortly before eight o'clock, a destructive fire broke
out at the stores of the Civil Service Co-operative
Society, Haymarket, and was not extinguished until
nearly two o'clock on Sunday morning. Smoke
was observed proceeding from the upper part of the
centre building, and five minutes after the alarm Wag
conveyed to the fire brigade stationed at Chandos-
street an engine from that station was on the spot at
work. Before that time, however, the flames had burst
Ohrough the roof. Superintendent Palmer, who arrived
from the district depot at Westminster, telegraphed
for more help, and in a shoit time some fifteen
steamers and two manuals had arrived; and thirteen
steamers, one manual, two standpipes, and two private
hydrants were engaged in pouriffg water upon the
flames. The building in which the fire had broken
out was one of five floors, about 100 ft. by 30ft.
Before twenty minutes had elapsed from the first
alarm the roof had fallen in, and the lower floors
were quickly alight, the flames being carried clow°
by the draughts of the various lifts. The fire*
men could not stop the fire from spreading
to the back buildings, which extend to Oxen'
den-street, and are much loftier and larger thArl
those fronting the Haymarket. The uPPeI
floors of this portion of the premises vier`
soon alight from end to end. The top part of the Rre;
mises was used as stores for oils, &c., and the burun4'
liquid ran down the sides of the premises and through,
the lifts, adding very considerably to the strength °
the flames. A large body of the Salvage Corps
the means of saving a very large quantity of goon;
from damage by water, &c. At half•past ten o'cl°c
the Cile was at its height; but about one o'clock on
Sunday morning the immense amount of water thiov:,';
upon it began to take effect, and by two o'clock tl'h
, majority of the engines were enabled to leave, althoure
several standpipes still continued to work upon tm
smouldering ruins.

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