The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-08-24 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The will of a musician, who died recently at
Schanenstein, Germany, has been found set to music
- -

Mr. John MitcheFe journal, the Irish Citizen, pub
tithed In New York, has cowed to oast.

An Act of Parliament which abolishes poundage on
the collection of Income-tax, and was pulled last session, will
come into operation on the 6th of April next.
• - - - -

Ratification has been given by the directors of the
Gothard Railway to the agreement with the contractor
for the tunnel through the mountain.
_ .

The Parisians are just now occupied in replanting
large trees round the lakes in the Bois de Boulogne. These
have been brought from the Forest of s6nard.
Denial is given from Paris to a story that the
Germans were violating the Treaty of Peace by building
new works at Belfort—they are only finishing some works
left incomplete by the French before the siege ended.

A murder, the cause of which is ss yet ascribed to no
personal or p,7litical animosity, has been committed at
K ilkenny—the victim being • man named Kenally. The
murderer has escaped.

- -
The account of fines and other penal sums exacted
In Ireland during the year Ib7o has been recently published.
The total rum Imposed during the 12 months was £43,865
namely, fines, £34,036 ; compensations, £1,197; and costs,
£8,e,32.

The majority of the public-houses at Portsmouth
are now closed at eleven on week da)s, and at ten on Sun-
day and the police state that the town has never before
bees an quiet during the night.
-

During the 18,4 week in Northampton thirty-two
cases of foot and mouth diseue In beasts and sheep have
proved fatal out al 6,050 affected ; and In pigs eight were
fatal out of 286 affected. Three cases of scab in sheep have
been reported, and three fatal cases of pleuso-pneumonia in
beasts.

Mexican news is so 'mighty oncartain" that some
papers had to waft for six or eight confirmations of the death
of Juarez before committing themselves by venturing on an
obituary notice.
A Malay rajah is said to possess a larger diamond
than any in the world, and more valuable than any of the
great gems of Europe. It is said to be much larger than the
K. h-i-none and to weigh 865 carats.
The yield of gold in the Australian colonies does not
appear to have increased this year, upon the whole, although
there has been a great development of gold mining industry
in New South Wales.
At Exeter, on Saturday night, all the public-houses
baring been closed at eleven o'ciock, a large crowd insisted
on the principal hotel and a gentleman's club being shut up
also. There was some little rioting, which was suppressed
by the police.

By an Act of ParHainaut not printed the Public
Works Loan Commissioners are authotlsed to make ad.
vatwes to Sohoel Unwrap, in puraTmn,e of the Eltmentary
Education Act, 1870. Power is piven tolmue 41 000,000 out
ot the Cnuaohdated Fund for the purpose mennoued.

- -
Last week a series of experiments was carried out at
Woolwich wtth the Eogilsh bottling Iho, the only !enroll.
leuse yet introduced into the sertios. It is believed that the
use of these weepous will In: restricted to bats and fortreseea,
where the lenafe lied breadth of the space to be tempt lies
within comparatively narrow limits.
A gentleman of Brighton propounds the practica-
bility and eounomy of using °halt as a subentute isryosi.
lie says he has studied the matter, eel that he has dis-
covered how chalk may be burnt with coal as fuel, the result
being .aTing of SO or 40 per cent. of coal.
The Free Sunday Society has passed a resolution
calling upon all the trades and friendly secietiea and eadititml
orgenneetiona of the metropolis to unite for. great demon-
titration in favour of the opening of the uetional museums to
he working classes on Sundays,
An Edinburgh paper Las • singular idea of original
poetry. lbe fc.llos keg is the first "stanza" of a column and
shalt of pewit under the heading of "Original Poetry "
" between July I and 20 one hundred and eight mad, or re-
puted mad, dogs were killed In Paris The number of per-
son. returned es bitten is la." The man who takes this for
poetry has surely been one of the fourteen.
"A prospectus has been issued of the Colonial and
Foreign Meat Supply Company, with &capital of £2440c0,
Is
shares of .e 5 of which £25,000 is to be first subscribed. The
undeitakieg is supported by a number of leading people con. eeeted with Australia and elsewhere, and its object Is to
take all possible stens to Nears the meet constant end per-
fect supply of preserved meet from whatever regions it may
best be obtained, and, by • thorough orgatneation ol depeto
and other respifilte establishments in every part of this
country, to popularize its use among all cleanse. Ihe present
price of butcher's meat is erdual to la, ad.pm lb cooked, and the newt cerefolly.y.orepared mest Oen be furnished
ate. per UN"

The Dundee Adrertiser ststes that out of 249 births
registered in Aberdeen In July thirty-alge were Illegitimate
The private residence of Sir Ralph Wacllo Emersou.
the popular American essayist, bin been destroyed by Ms.

- -
General Tom Thumb went for a sail recently in
lirldport Harbour, Connecticut, when the boat capalud and
nearly drowned the little general
The Cologne Gazette, in its luxuriant advertising
columns, ham the following eri du ectur from an affectionate
nephew Dear uncle, are you dead or ahre yet "

Some gentlemen in London are getting up a fund
for supplying Cairo with an English church. fhe Khedive
has offered a site, the value of which is said tube .C 2.000
Professor Gamgee tells WI that we have lost shies
1842 some 300 millions sterling by the lung disease and the
foot-and-mouth disease.

The British Aii,ociation have decided that its next
ennereta shall he at Bradt ord. aud that of the year often at
Belfa‘t.
A London gentleman who has recently bought "s
little place in Surrey, rather amazed the neighbours by ap.
peering in his nieadoit with a scythe In one hand and
Umbrella in theother.

On Saturday the Emperor Napoleon, accompanied
by the Prince imperial, visited the Aqulrturn at Brighton
The habits anti peculiarities of the varinus fish were az
plaiued and illustrated by Mr. Henry Lee, F. LS.

The annual fke of the Foresters took place on
Tuesday at the Crystal Palace. he weather was favourable,
and the numerous attendance testiflrd to the popularity of
this yearly festival. There were nearly 55.000 visitors.
A Young Lady said she should so like to go up in a
balloon. She wished very much to get above the clouds
and look. down. It must be so pretty. She had heard that
even the darkest cloud had a diver Punk.
The Registrar-General's monthly return for the eight
principal towns of Scotland continues to nhow a mortality
below the average of the last ten years. l'he deaths registered
In July were 2,301, being 115 below the average, allowing for
Increase of population. The deaths:ate, however, was h
In l'aisley, Glasgow, and Dundee.
At the half-yearly meeting of the Great Northern
Railway Company, Colonel Duncembe, M.P., alluded to the
experiment of c nveying third-class tragic by all train..
million more of this Masao( passengers had been carried dur-
ing the six months, as compared with the corresponding
period of 1071, and the result of the revenue was "rather
favourable than otherwise."
As a proof that education is even in Russia on the
way to progress, statistics are given showing that in the
province of Moscow, at least one child in ten enjoys now
the benefits of an elementary education. It should be re-
membered that the proportion In highly educated countries
Is one Mail.
It has been decided that the war rockets are not

future to form any portion of the equipment of fortresse—
but aro only to be employed with siege trains and in the
field as occasion and circumstances demand. Practice wilt
no I nger be Carried on with rockets, except at the School
Gunnery, Shoeburyness.
Some strings of valuable and promising young horses
purchased at Horneastle great horse fair arrived hi London
on Saturday, en route for shipment to Prance and Germany.
The foreign horse dealers bought many stables of horses
before the fair actually commenced. Their tempting often
induced breeders, ttc., to mine to terms, and advanced prices
for each class of hones have this year been obtained.
The South-Westeni Railway Company are import.
lug Belgian coal and mixing it with Welsh coal in consequence
f the high price of the latter. The company's annual con.
sumptton is 100,000 tone A permanent rise of Sc • ton in
the price 01 coal will make a deference hi the coal expend'.
tore of the company ot £2.5,000 • year.

- -
A young girl. named Clara M'Call, met her death
on Saturday morning on the Great Western Railway in an
extraordinary manner. She was travelling in an exzursion
train from Bristol to Weymouth, when as it approached
Stratton the door of the carriage iu which she was eestai
suddenly flew open. The girl fell out, and was killed oaths
spot.
- • - •

Attempts have been made to prove that Shakspftre
was brought up in almost every calling, Lord Campbell pub-
lished a brochure to show that he must have been a solicitor's
clerk. The last attempt of this kind is to pro e Shakspethia
personal connection with, and technical knowledge of, the
art of printing. In fact, according to Mr. Blades, the sweet
bard of Avon Must at one time have been a printers devil.
The death of the oldest native rangatira in New
Zealand took place at Ohinemuri on -March 12th. The fact
was loudly announced by • discharge of firearms. He must
have reached the age of one hundred years, as he remetm
tiered when Captain Cooke was at Hauraki, and other hi.
back events which it would require a centenarian to know
anything of.
- - - - - - -

- -
A baby show has been held at Dundee, at whieh
three prizes were awarded to the heaviest, to the hand-
somest, and to the best dressed bahy." The winner in heavy
weichts was Master John Dewar, goilb., who is describedaa
being " stoutish, and with good hone." The show was held
in the cattle market, and the prizes were given by an itinerant
auctioneer, who also acted as judge. The crowd was
In-
mense.

One of the effects of increased cost of labour and less
hours is that there will be lees to do for the workmem.
some time ago the Corporation of Liverpool decided to erect
public baths in one of the suburbs of the borough. It Rai
estimated at the time that the cost would oe £ll,OOO, but
such has been the increase in the cost of labour and materials
hat the work cannot now be executed for less than £IO,OOO.
It has therefore been resolved to postpone the work.

On Saturday, at the Judges Chaullp-rs, an applica-
tion Was nutdeto remind an order which had been granted,
allowing a defendant to plea.' under the Bib of Exchange
Act on the ground that he was insane. A medical certificate
was put in, stating that the defendant was so insane as to be
intim custody of two keepers but the Master of the Queens
Bench, who was sitting, refused to rescind the order, sad sent
the ease for trial.

Captain Mitchell, Governor of the County Gaol at
Mlmehester (late the New Bait-y), dlcd on Monday. Ile was
horn on the first day of the century ;January], Gad), sod at
the age of rixteen became a private in the Grenadier Guards.
lie was promoted to be sergeant, and afterwards was trans-
ferred to the Otis Rifle, Lie retired in 1648 with the rank
of captain, and obtained hit post of Governor shortly alter-
wards.

The Bien PitPio alluding to the rumour persistently
repeated by some isris journals, that the French Govern-
ment contemplate authorising experimentally gamthug-
houses at Eoghlen, Vichy, Aix Pan, and other places, album
authoritatively that it ever has refused, and ever will refuse,
to liners to aby proposition of that kind. Whatever may be
Its needs, an holiest Government, it is sMieti, zoom. to seek
revenue from immorality and vice, and the partisans of
gaming-tables may rest assured that they will net be revived
either par jelly or generally.

- -
A diaturbance took place on Saturday in the neigh-
bourhood of Woodstock between thesagricultural labourers
on strike and a body of soldiers who have been sent down
to take tin ir places in the harveet field. Mr. Cardwell has
written to say that by the lbOth article of the Qaeen's Item
bilious for the army it is in the diecretion of commanding
generale to send soldiers into the harvest field, "provided
that the population is not thereby interfered with." Mr.
Tayl..r, the secretary of the National Labourers' Union, has
informed him that In this case the agitation of the labourers
for better wages has been interfered with, and that, as a
serious breach of the peace hi apprehended, the military
ought to be recalled at once.

Last week 5,762 births and 3,475 deaths were re-
gistered in London and twenty other large cities and towns
in the United Kingdom. Tee rnor`ality from all causes was
at tl.e rate of 25 deaths annually to every LOOS persons
estimated to be living. In the metropolis 2,408 births
and 1,445 deaths were registered, the former having been
247 above, and the latter 117 below the average number.
Sixteen persons died from sma/bpox. 26 from measles, 15
from scarlet fever, 4 from diphtheria, 33 from whooping.
cough 27 from different forms of fever, and 270 from
dlarrhiea. The fatal eases of both whooping-cough and
diaraces, showed a slight excess upon the corrected average
numbers in the corresponding week (f the last ten yearly
while the deaths reierred to each of the other principal
rvmotlc diseases acre considerably below the average.
Under the influence of a continued low temperature, the
fatality from diarrhrca showed a considerable further de-
crease upon the numbers of the previous seven days.