The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-09-04 00:00:00

THE QUEEN'S JOURNEYS.

The Spectator insists that "the rule should be made
absolute that nothing should remain within a certain
distance of the Royal Standard. There would not be
the least difficuty in observing it, not the least injury
to the public, and not even an appearance of arrogat-
ing an undue privilege. There is no more reason why
yachtsmen, or colliers, or masters of merchant
steamers should not get out of the Queen's way in her
own waters than why a railway train should not be
shunted to allow the Royal express to pass. It is
the simplest, the most intelligible, and the most
effective of all precautions. A fire-engine will
traverse London at break-neck speed from end to
end, and never knock over a barrow or a donkey-
cart, just because it is thoroughly understood that every-
thing in its course is to get out of the way. There
is nothing more exceptional in such a precaution than
in the Queen's pilot engine, and nothing that we see
more to be ashamed of. The object is to preserve the
State from harm at the least possible inconvenience to
individuals, and both objects are best attained by keep-
ing the road clear. At all events, it is evident either
that Her Majesty must travel more slowly across the
Solent—that is, must risk disorganising the whole of
the arrangements made by the railway companies for
the public convenience and safety, as well as those of
Her Majesty—or the road must be cleared of loyal ,
sightseers, or there must be perpetual risk of an acci-
dent like the one which all England is regretting, and
which England might have had cause never to forget.
It does not take ' much wisdom or any overweening
loyalty to select the alternative. The road ought to be
cleared.'
lt,r • •
"
SfIMUGGLING' -• 1
•
The annual return of smuggling made by the Com-
missioner of Customs, just issued, shows that there
were 1,157 seizures of contraband goods made last year,
and 1,094 persons convicted, being a decrease of 53
and 80 respectively. The Commissioner of Customs re-
marks :—" We do not attach much importance to an
increase or decrease in the aggregate quantities of
tobacco or of spirits seized in each year, as indica-
tive of change in the practice of smuggling. The
quantities are always relatively small. The large
decrease in the quantity of tobacco seized during
1874 compared with that seized in 1873, viz.—
a decrease of 8,5251b5.—is mainly accounted for by
the circumstance that one seizure alone made in 1873
comprised 7,7521b5. To the number of the seizures
made and of the convictions obtained we look for
evidence of greater value. In both there has been a
small decrease 1874 as compared with 1873. It is
always difficult 'to draw satisfactory inferences from
these returns, as it is obvious that whilst increases
may be caused by an increase of the offence of
smuggling, they may also arise from greater skill and
vigilance on the part of our officers in detecting it, and
that the same remark applies in respect of decreases.
From the reports, however, that are made to us, and
from our own inquiries and observations during our
tours of inspection at the outports, we have no reason
to doubt that this tempting and long-established viola-
tion of the law is gradually diminishing in degree,
and giving less frequent occasion for the more serious
offences which used to be connected with it."
AMERICAN ITEMS.
all
,tht.
census
Ldreri,
bein,
\tiey
grass
gra
wli
the
wri

A young ,
land, Ohio, the o)
The Indiana
nineteen chit"
Charles Fran
Quincy, his tax
Abner Hum
old if he lives a 11

It is menti,
Minouri green ,
grew before the
brought the seed

A tall, stalw.
of Virginia eit
compelled by
cowardice alio,

,tor was caught in a sewer at Cleve-
er day.
brings to light a matron who has
with but seven birthdays among them.
Adams is the heaviest taxpayer at
ig 4,673 dole.
3y, of Cuba, N.Y.; will be 108 years
days longer.

ked that in the pastures of Western
is now growing, when only blue grass
grasshoppers. They are thought to have
-ith them.

rt Indian is often seen about the streets
!, dressed in calico like a squaw. lie is
he Pintes to wear women's clothes for
in battle several years since.

The coloured, men at Norfolk, Va., are going into
the business of raising singing birds for shipment to the
Eastern and Middle States.
Shooting or killing a mocking-bird is a penal offence
In Virginia.
At a Kentucky watering-place the waiters glide over
over the dining-room floor on parlour skates, thus obviating
the noise of tramping feet which so often disturbs the sum-
mer guest at mes.l times.
In Nashville, a few nights ago, two promenaders on
one of the main streets picked up an infernal machine, which
had been placed in such a way that the first waggon coming
along would probably have caused its explosion.
Troy has a: ladies' boat club, the fair members of
which are attired in neat white waists, broad-brimmed hats,
and ordinary shirt-dresses. The club rejoices in the
euphonious title of Walla-Walla."
The Provldince Journal, in discussing the tramp,
says that " eveb in our most rural and agricultural New
England state 1t is becoming a serious question whether it is
safe for elderly people to live alone on their farms."
The Postmaster at Vicksburg has been sued for the
recovery of three cents, alleged to have been overcharged on
a letter. '
The late Dr. Scudder, of India, when he was en-
deavouring to excite an interest in the missionary cause
among the children of America, received the following note
from a little girl "My dear Dr. Scudder,—l send you 10
cents. When you want any more money write to nie."
A Milford,'N.H., clergyman, visiting a neighbour-
ing town, entered a drug store and, among other purchases,
procured ten cents' worth of paregoric. "You are a clergy-
man, ain't you" asked the polite clerk, who observed his
ministerial bearing. "I am," responded the clergyman.
"In that case," continued the clerk, "the paregoric will be
eight cents, as we make all clergymen a discount."
Everything is worn at Saratoga, writes Jennie June.
Imagine the prettiest and the homeliest, the plainest and
the most elaborate, the neatest and the most incongruous,
the latest Parisian fashions of to-day and the styles sent to
Peoria last year—mix them all up, and you will have as true
an idea as could be given you of dress in Saratoga.
Two Warrenton (Ga.) girls are working out the
problem of women's right in a new way. They, with their
own hands, plant, cultivate, and gather a cotton crop of six
or seven bales each year, which together with their grain
crop and stock, feed and clothe them handsomely, and leave
them a cash surplus of 200 or 300 dols
'in the lowa State Penitentiary the convicts are not
allowed to read anything which will inform them of what is
going on outside of their prison walls. The warden scru-
tinises carefully all correspondence passing in and out of his
hands, and nothing in the shape of a newspaper of the day,
nor any book likely to convey an idea of the progress of
events in theeworld, is permitted to reach the inmates.
Quite an extensive business has sprung up in the
wooded country north of Little Fall., N.Y., in the prepara-
tion and shipment of witchlazeL The saplings are cut in
the woods, and bring six doh. a load, and after undergoing
a cleansing process are sent to Europe and elsewhere to be
used for medicinal purposes.
There are at present two thousand men and six
hundred horses and carts engaged on the construction of the
Southern Pacific Railroad in the Telegraphic Pass. The work
to be done is of the heaviest description of grading and rock
cutting. In one place in the Pass the road winds around
among the mountains for seven miles, whilst actually making
a direct distance of but a little over one mile.

In a store window at Oswego, N.Y., there has just
been placed on exhibition a musket of the Queen Anne pat-
tern, which was captured by Aaron Burr while serving under
Benedict Arnold at the attempted storming of Quebec on the
night of December 31st, 1775. The gun weighs 271bs.

Another field for American industry has been
opened up in New York by the establishment of a school of
lace design, where beginners are instructed in the mysteries
of that most artistic occupation. Apropos of the commence-
ment of the enterprise a New York paper gives the following
Interesting résumé of the history and development of the
Industry in France :--`' Tired of the immense sums paid to
Italy and Flanders for lace by Franoe, Colbert, the accom-
plished Minister of Finance, determined to rival those
countries in the Frenelt Kingdom, and established Madame
Gilbert, an Alenoon adept, with thirty experts, obtained
from Venice at great expense, in his own chateau. The re-
sults were so encouraging that companies were formed, and
in ten years, or by 1676, the points of France were more
celebrated than those of Venice. In 1817 there wire not
less than 240,000 lacemakers in France."

&al DU ti k

ftalit4t• *
EPITOME OF :NEWS.
BRITISH AND FOWqR.

Elephants in India are yearly becoming more scarce
and more valuable, owing to the want of discrimination
shown by sportsmen.

- -
Five nuggets of gold, weighing 341b5., have been
found at the Cape gold fields.

Ab del-Kader's son having presented the Emperor
of Austria with his book on Arab horses, he has been
nominated Commander of the Order of Francis Joseph. He
had previously received the Second-class Iron Cross of Prussia
for the same work. .
The South India Times reports that while a number
of sixteen villagers, men, women, and children, were travel-
ling to Srirungum from Samayapooram, on the night of the
13th instant, they were attacked by robbers, who broke the
arms of three men, tore off the ears of three women, and
otherwise injured the party, besides robbing them of their
jewels and clothes.
Putting the names of the streets on the street-lamps
Is a good thing. On moonlight nights, if the lamps are
lighted, by getting out of the omnibus, climbing the lamp-
post, and striking a match, you may read the name of the
street distinctly, if the wind dosen't blow out your match.—
Court Journal.

The revenue realized from gun licences in the recent
financial year was £72,133.
A fete in aid of the Metropolitan and City Police
Orphanage was held at the Alexandra Palace on Tuesday,
and, aided by the splendid weather, was a great success. It
was estimated that upwards of 40,000 persons were present.
Lemon juice has been recommended in a paper pre.
seated to -the• French Academy of Medicine as a moat effeo._
taal remedy for diphtheria.
An Act was passed in the recent Session to continue
for ten years the statutes authorising the survey of Great •
Britain, &c. ,
10 -
It is stated in several of the papers that the Queen
, wrote an earnest letter of condolence to Miss Peel On the day
'after the accident to the Mistletoe.
The late Lord Derby was the author of a small
*volume of poems which were printed for private circolation. '
According to the Liverpool Courier the present Earl is said
to contemplate the republication of the volume, so that it - •
may be within reach of all admirers of the gifted translator ,
of Homer. • • , le
From the let April to the 28th August the receipts
3: Li into the national exchequer were £28,760,291, as compared ' • ..; %
with £27,464,456 during the same period last year. The filott ,
expenditure was £32,338,730, as compared with £31,077,318 •
last year. The balances on the 28th of August in the Bank • • n .1.1.111t41 ,tal4l
of England were £1,407,03% and in the Bank of Irelan, ,rir.17:111:411
_:4411.1
£651,494. • •
The Leeds Royal Exchange, the foundation stone of
which was laid by Prince Arthur in September, 1872, was " wtlol ettiAtutita
opened on Tuesday for the use of the cloth, leather, iron, and .1 4•14 Aid Si bat
other trades. It is one of the handsomest.bulldiogs in the I aduha IV
town. After the opening a large number 'of gentlemen
teresto in the undertaking dined together. Mill leiaittiaS a aildW
The search for coal at Barrow-in-Furness is con•oi taia Ow 'Roo*
tinued with vigour. At Rampside a depth of 1,70011. has od Haw %awl SA
been pierced, and the diamond borer is now going through a :As
stratum of shale which is thought by geologists to indicate "", 7411"" s'w
7"
the neighbourhood ,of coal. It is intended to dig another Arall n
300ft.igft i4ter
On August 19th the Rev, Henry Collings, Vicar of •, . • : fof 1*
Bowes, Southgate, London, made a successful ascent of Mont , - •
Blanc, accompanied by two guides. The weather was " • ,• • '
splendid, and the view from the summit was perfectly clear ts, r • le
and magnificent.
fai "
The Supreme Court of Ceylon has recently decided • a.
that there is no law against usury in that island. -5
The Court consisting of three Judges, was divided in opinion,
the judge in the minority holding that a usury law does
exist, and that the legal limit of interest is 12 per cent.
Solicitor? Journal.
A famine caused by a plague of rats is a singular
affliction ; but such a one has befallen the Karens, inhabiting
the hills on the east of the Tonghoo district, British Burmah.
For two or three years past their harvests have been des-
troyed by rats, which have spared nothing in their wide-
spread devastations. The people, having no occupation but
that of husbandry to depend upon for subsistence, are utterly -
destitute. The scarcity extends over an area of about six
thousand square miles, with a population of not far from ten
thousand.
On Monday Alfred Bulman, aged 15 years, was pro.
ceeding to one of the engine sheds of the Bridge-street Sta-
tion of the Caledonian Railway, Glasgow, when strain came
rapidly behind him. A man standing on the top of one of the
carriages shouted to warn the boy of his danger; but the lad
becoming confused fell on the rails and the entire train pass-
ing over him he was cut to pieces.
Among remarkable deaths reported in Paris is that
of a man whom the French think may have been the in-
voluntary cause of their defeat at Waterloo. Pierre Cockx,
a naturalised Belgian, was arrested by the army of Blucher,
tied to a horse's tail, and made to serve as a guide during the
terrible days of June 15 and 16, 1815. At least, so the French
obituary says. Pierre has Just died at Nogent, at the age of
75; The papers state that he never forgot the horse's tail,
and dreamt nightly of the pistols that were held over him
while in that uncomfortable position.
A correspondent writes from Constantina in Algeria
that a troop of lions have taken up their quarters in the
coppices to the north of the Medians,. Recently, M. Deeds,
master smith at Bordf-bou-Arreridji, in company with a M.
Torrer, worker in copper, killed a fine male animal in the 'L.'
forest of Ifrahba. According to reports from Frail, there
remain in that canton six or seven lions of varying ages,
which continue to do much mischief.
A clever old lady, just arrived from the country,
entered the refreshment-room at a railway station the other
day, and said she had left her parasol on the seat. A general
search commenced and lasted for some time. Finally one of „, , •
the waiters asked the old dame when she left it, to which .. IS.
she answered, on counting upon her fingers, "Well, it was .1 WU) .fatitiA,
three years ago last 4th of August." There was a genital - 4,4 liaisissii
roar, much to the astonishment of the old lady, who rot„
away with a very puzzled loos upon her countenance. " *4-100402
A case of mistaken identity took place in an omnibus. .1. .41usauss it 4
A. pretty girl with her handkerchief up to her eyes had seen J*di ievisag
, her lover seat himself in the last seat of the omnibus, but Arthwur.v.i I.;d
while she was bathed in tears she did not see that the lover,
overcome, had left her; but presentlYshe looked up and 'l"r ILV'ttat,..lsrs
with a sweet smile said, ''Good-bye, darling," to an 'toed* looik.f.„,
astonished and bashful young man who was sitting there, in
the place where the other fellow should have been. ,ss ttelms*laa
fatuuTt
On Saturday morning Captain Gardner, 'Governor dat
of the Bristol Gaol, received a reprieve from the Home Secre- • aisai
• tary for Philip Morris, who was found guilty at the recent Aligstiftti MidT
Assizes of the murder of his wife, and sentenced to death. met two
The execution had been fixed for Monday morning at eight
o'clock; the executioner had been engaged and the other
necessary arrangements made. The prisoner heard the In. Y, .xl' 7
telligence that his sentence had been commuted to penal r ir •
servitude for life with apparent surprise, but maintained a
becoming demeanour. At ten o'clock the special guards who
had been employed in watching Morriss were taken off duty,
and the prisoner was removed to the proper department and
placed under ordinary prison discipline. "

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