The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-04-10 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS:

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

An Englishman has been caught in the act of stealing
18,700f1. at a bank in Amsterdam. Be gives the
name of Clifford, and states that he is a native of
Boston.

The Berlin Royal Academy of Arts has elected Sir
Freierick Leighton and Sir John Millais to be ordinary
members. The International Art Exhibition, which is
to be opened on May 15, will comprise selections
from the works of the foremost living English
painters.
Lord Salisbury arrived at his house in Arlington-
street, Piccadilly, on Saturday evening, from Monte
Carlo.

At Salford, Thomas Smith, local manager and agent
for the Blue Ribbon Insurance Society, has been corn -
mitted for trial on a charge of defrauding the society
by sending in a large number of bogus proposals.
Suspicion was excited by the rush of "new business."
A memorial to the Prime Minister is in course of
signature among members, asking that in tho forth-
coming Registration Bill the period of residence neces-
sary to qualify for registration shall be reduced from
twelve to three months, and that the rate collectors
should be held responsible for the omission of the names
of pessons entitled to vote.
Two constables detailed for the special "dog duty •
were attempting on Saturday to secure a stray dog in
Broad Sanctuary, Westminster' when the animal
turned round upon them and bit them both badly.
Another anonymous parcel was received on Saturday
at the Swansea Infirmary. On being opened it was
found to contain Bank of England notes to the amount
of £6OO. Upwards of £3OOO has been received in the
same my sterious way during the past few years.
The Indian Government have received news of the
death of the Ameer's mother while en route to Mecca
on a pilgrimage.
Clergymen in Australia do not hesitate about joining
the volunteers. One of these representatives of militant
Christianity, at Maryborough, Queensland, is an
assiduous attendant at the butts. He is the best
marksman of his regiment, and is respected accord-
ingly.
Sir Henry Roscoe, F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry at
Owens College, Manchester, and M.P. for that city, is
to be the eleventh President of the Sunday Society, in
succession to Mr. George Howard, one of the trustees
of the National Gallery.
The Vice Chancellor of the County Palatine of
Lancaster made an order directing John Johnson, as
trustee of his mother's estate, to make good a loss
occasioned by his not having sold certain shares in a
Corn Mill Company. Johnson having appealed, the
Lords Justices on Saturday reversed that decision,
holding that a trustee could not be held liable for re•
tainieg an investment in which he had power under
the will to invest.
Benjamin Judge, who is charged with attempting to
extort £5OO from Mr. J. A. Kenrick, of Birmingham,
was again brought up at Clerkenwell Police•court,
London, on Saturday and committed for trial.
Riots have occurred at Fort Worth, Texas, in connec-
tion with the railway strike. Three of the sheriff's
men and three cf the mob were wounded—the latter
fatally.
Two dead bodies have come ashore at Balls gasson, on
the Wexford coast. Some wreckage, evidently part of
a coasting vessel, has been washed up in the same
neighbourhood.
A mail-cart driver from North Leach on the Cotswold
Hills was driving on Saturday morning to Cheltenham,
and when about half way saw a body in the road. On
examination he found it to be that of an ex-driver
named Hamlin, who resided close by. The body was
discoloured and covered with mud.
On Saturday afternoon, during the progress of a
football match between the second teams of the Lec da
Parish Church and Guiseley, on the ground 'of the
former at Crown Point Bridge, Arthur Cheetham, an
assistant teacher tinder the Leeds School Board, a
member of the Pariah Church team, had his right leg
broken.
M. Delaunay, the accomplished actor of the Comedie
Fran caise, Paris, has taken his farewell of the stage. He
has been 42 years an actor.
The Emperor and Empress of China, together with
the Princess and the Ministers, have left Pekin on a
visit to the tombs, with an escort of 10,000 men.
A letter from Prince Krapotkine, publishea in new
York, states that be is unable to visit the United States
owing to ill health.
A surgeon named Smith, of Bishops Lidearcl,
Taunton, has bequeathed £lO,OOO to the Royal Medical
Benevolent College at Epsom.
No appointment has yet been made to the office of
Q 1.16 '3'B Advocate at Lagos, the salary of which is 1,700
a year.

The Queen held a council at Windsor Castle on
Saturday, when Mr. Stansfeld kissed hands on appoint.
ment to the Presidency of the Local Government
Board, and Lord Dalhousie on appointment to the
Secretaryship for Scotland. The new Spanish Minister
to England also presented his credentialn.
Th.) "Kentish Observer" states that the late Rev.
A. G. Greg stone, of Tankerton Castle, Whitstable,
whose death occurred in London on Tuesday, ha left
properly to the value of £4,000,000.
The dockyard authorities at Portsmouth on Saturday
received orders to have four first-class torpedo boats
completed as rapidly as pos3ible, as they are to be
commissioned on the 17th inst. for the Mediterranean
Station. _ _

At the North Shields Police-court, on Saturday, ten
seamen of the screw steamer Fa'laden of Newcastle,
were each committed to prison for 14 days for re.
fusing duty and causing the detention of the vessel.
Heavy floods have occurred in Alabama, causing
several deaths and enormous loss of property.
On Saturday night, a fire broke out in a large cloth
warehouse in Glasgow, and property to the amount of
30,000 was destroyed.
Mrs. Eandall,the head teacher of a Board School in
Hackney, was, on Saturday, fined 10s. and costs for
slapping the face of a girl 11 years of age.
Anxiety is felt about the song birds in the United
States, as the rate of destruction threatens extinction.
The President of the American Humane Society has
taken up the matter in earnest. The fashion of birds
in hats and bonnets is the cause, and the President
says: "Three generations of men will pass away before
the birds can be restored to the number and condition
of four years ago, before the woiren of the country
caused their most wanton and cruel destruction." It
is certain. that American women will have to reconsider
that fashion, which has been imported from Europe
and cease to imitate what causes such useless loss of
life. _ _ _

The expulsion of the Sisters of St. Vincent de Paul
from the Foundling Asylum of the City of Paris, in the
Rue Denfert-Rochereau, has been accomplished. They
were about SO in number, and as they left by the door
on the Boulevard Montparnasse a like number of lay
attendants were waiting at the other entrance to take
their place. New nurses are, for the most part,
ignorant, inexperienced women, but they have the
superior merit in the eyes of the Mun;cipal Council of
not bs!longing to any religious order.—" Galignani."
In the Queen's Bench Division, on Tuesday, in tha
case of "Wilmer v. Aylward and others," for illegal
detention in a lunatic asylum, the jury having eon.
sidered the matter for nearly an hour, gave a verdict
for the plaintiff as against Mr. Hickor, the relieving
officer, damages £l.OO. They also gave a verdict for
the other defendants. His lordship gave judgment in
accordance with the findings. _ _ _

The Government views from Enfield have been
engaged at the Victoria Barracks, Windsor, in testing
the bayonets of the Ist Battalion Grenadier Guards,
now doing duty at Windsor Castle. Out of 600
bayonets examined, 170 were condemned, and 20
b:oke during the testing process.
The Government are making inquiries, says Wed-
nesday's "Liverpool Journal of Commerce," from all
the large tobacco manufacturers in Liverpool and other
parts of the kingdom with a view of ascertaining the
quantity cf tobacco manufactured in this country and
sent over to Ireland, and the amount of duty, paid here
before it is shipped. The object, it is believed, is to
enable the Government to arrive at a fair knowledge as
to the amount of actual revenue Ireland contributes to
the National Exchequer.
Viscount Cranbrook presided at Exeter Hall on
Tuesday morning at the first meeting of the A ssocia.
tion for Boarding out Orphan and Deserted Children,
when an influential council was formed and rules
framed with a view to promoting united action between
boards of guardians in the work of abolishing the pre-
sent vitiating system of bringing up children in work-
house wards. The speakers included Miss Davenport
Hill, Mrs: Charles, the Rev. W. T. Trevelyan, and
Captain Verney, M.P., the latter of whom expressed
his satisfaction that the Admiralty would assist the
movement. Lady Lucy Hicks Beach, the Hon. Mrs.
Joyce, Mrs. Theodore Fry, and many other ladies were
present.
The trial of Mrs. Bartlett and the Rev. George Dyson
for the wilful murder of the hustand of the female
prisoner will take place next Monday, before Mr.
Justice Cave, true bills having been found against both
the accused. The prosecution will be conducted by the
Attorney-General, Dlr. Poland, Mr. R. S. Wright, and
Mr. Moloney; Mrs. Bartlett will be defended by Mr.
Edward Clarke, Q.C. and Mr. Meal; and Mr. Lock-
' wood, Q.C. will lead for the defence of Mr. Dyson.
Colonel Du Plat Taylor, on behalf of the East and
Weit India Dock Company, has notified that the new
docks at Tilbury will be opened formally for business
on April 17, when a charge for admission will be made
and the proceeds handed over to the funds of the
Gravesend Infirmary, in recognition of the kindness of
that institution in allowing those meeting with acci-
dents whilst the works were in progress to be received
in their wards.

Tuesday's celebration of Greek independence passed
off quietly. In the Chamber, on the previous day,
many of the supporters of the Government are reported
to have urged a policy of action.
Results of the Spanish elections, so far as received,
lead to the expectation that the Government will have
a large majority in the new Chamber.
Public meetings are being hell in many of the towns
of Australia, to protest against the annexation of the
New Hebrides by France.
Count Corti, the new Italian Ambassador at the
Court of St. James, was entertained at the Hotel Con-
tinental on Tuesday night by the leading Italian resi-
dents in the metropolis, who had organised a banquet
in his honour.

Judgment was delivered in the Kennington election
petition on Tuesday. The judges, after observing that
there were no allegations of corrupt practices, held that
the charges of illegal payments failed. The petition
was therefore dismissed with costs, and Mr. Gent. Davis
retains the seat.

1 The "Temps" states that the Governor of New
; Caledonia has given orders to close the Protestant mis-
sionary chapel at RO, in Mare Island, on the ground
that the English minister there bad been preaching an
anti-French propaganda. A hundred men have been
despatched to the island for this purpose.
Mr. Chamberlain, in a letter addressed to Mr. M‘Leod,
of Liverpool. and written on the 29th ult., states that
he is sorry to leave Mr. Gladstone, and that nothing
would have induced him to do so but a sense that the
gravest national interests were compromised by the
Prime Minister's proposals. Wednesday's " Birming-
ham Post" is authorised to give an absolute denial to
the statement that Mt. Chamberlain has been in nego-
tiation with the Conservative leaders with a view to
concerted opposition to Mr. Gladstone's policy.
Mr. Caine, the Liberal candidate, was elected for
Barrrow on Tuesday by 3109 votes against 2174 re-
corded for his Conservative opponent, Mr. Gainsford
Bruce, giving a Liberal majority of 935. Fifteen cotes
were given to Mr. Edmunds, who was nominated as a
" Home Ruler and Gladstonian," brit retired on the
day before the polling.
A double suicide, under most distressing circum-
stances, is reported from Stoke, Staffordshire, where a
cab proprietor named Thomas Salmon and wife have
for some time been living together most unhappily. On
Sunday evening last the woman, driven to the act, it is
said, by the continued ill-treatment of her husband,
drowned herself in the North Staffordshire Canal. At
an inquest on Tuesday Salmon was censured by the
coroner in the most severe terms, and so deeply does he
seem to have felt the censure that he the same evening
took a dose of poison and died before aid could be
obtained.
The Convention of Royal and Parliamentary Bnrghs
opened its anneal session in Edinburgh on Tuesday.
Resolutions were passed congratulating Lord Rosebery
and Lord Aberdeen on their promotion in the Govern-
ment service. Lord Provost Clark explained that there
were no politics in these motions, but they were merely
expressions of regard for eminent Scotchrnen who had
attained suitable positions. Resolutions on the sub-
jects of local and county government in Scotland were
adopted. The Universities Bill was also remitted to
the Annual Committee.
At the monthly meeting of the Town Commissioners
of Kilrush on Tuesday night a resolution was moved to
remove from the list of Commissioners the name of Mr.
Brew, of Ballyena, on the ground that he had failed to
attend the meetings of the Board. Opposition to the
proposal was raised by the Chairman and ;one or two
other members, it being pointed out that Mr. Brew was
the only Protestant and Conservative on the Board, and
that the public would reasonably cry out against such
an act. The resolution to expel Mr. Brew was, how-
ever, adopted.
At the Wilts Quarter Sessions at Salisbury Mr. G. P.
Fuller, M.P., asked the Court if they would accept the
ballot-boxes used at the last election. There were
about 150. Mr. Story-Maskelyne, M.P., had informed
him that he had obtained the permission of all the
candidates in the county for them to be given over as
county property, if the county chose to accept them as
such. It was decided that the Chief Constable should
be authorised to receive them, and deposit them at the
police-statien at Devizes.
rJoseph Kennedy attempted to commit suicide on
Tuesday night by jumping out of the fourth storey
bed.room window of the North Star Hotel, Amiens-
street, Dublin. The man barricaded the bed room door,
and then commenced to scream and shout. The
police burst open the door, and as they entered
the room Kennedy sprang out of the window. He
was picked up in an insensible condition, and taken to
Jervis-street Hospital. He was dreadfully injured.
; Dr. Diplock held an inquest at Acton on Tuesday, on
the body of Richard Lee, a gardener, who was found
dead by a platelayer on the Great Western Railway on
the previous day. The body was so dreadfully muti-
lated that the deceased could not be recognised only by
his clothes and articles in his pockets. There was
some mystery attaching to tho circumstances under
which the man met with his death, but the jury re-
turned a verdict of "Suicide during temporary in,
sanity."
1 At the Spring Stock Sales, in East Yorkshire, con-
' sequent on- removals, better prices are being realised
than have been current for some time. Horses, espe-
cially, are improving in price. Good agricultural horses
have fetched from £3O to £56 per head; and sheep,
many thousands of which have recently changed hands,
also show a marked improvement in puke.
Samuel Bloomfield, miner, was found guilty at
Durham Spring Quarter Sessions, on Tuesday, of
wounding Jolm Turner, by striking him with a stone,
on February 10, when be was going to work at a col-
liery where there was a strike. He was sentenced to
six months' hard labour.
In addition to tho three deaths on Monday, owing
to the explosion at the Leith Flour Mills, two others
occurred on Tuesday. The fireman, Charles Paterson,
died in Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and the boy Sinclair
died in the hospital at Leith.
In consequence of the decreased value of land,
brought about by the low prices of agricultural pro.
duce, the assessments of farm holdings in several
parts of East Kent have been reduced by frsm 10 to 30
per cent.
The Portsmouth Town Council, having decided to
spend £120,000 in the erection of a new Guildhall, have
resolved to copy the design of the Bolton Town Hall.
Thirty-eight Danish glassblowers and their familieS
reached Dublin on Tuesday, having been brought over
from Copenhagen by the Irish Glass Bottle Company,
Dublin, to replace the men on stake,