The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-03-06 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

A reward of £5OO has been offered for the recovery
of the will of the late Lord St. Leonards.
In the year ended the 31st of March last the stamp
duty on marine insurances amounted to £127,397, being an
increase of £8,238 on the preceding year.
The large sum of £3,413,712 was received as legacy
and succession duty in the year ended March 31, being an
increase of £236,002 on the year 1873.
The fee stamps used in the Probate Court in the
year ended the 31st of March last amounted to £153,918
being an increase of £4,935 on the preceding year.
The authorities of Jena University have issued strin-
gent regulations for the prevention and punishment of duels.
Two promising young men lost thei; lives in these encounters
just before Christmas.
The monument erected in the Pre Lachaise in
Paris to Generals Thomas and Lecomte, who were assassi-
nated by the Commune in 1871, will be unveiled on 18th inst.
The Legislature of the State of New York recently
accorded the unprecedented honour of a public reception to
Mr. William Cullen Bryani;, the journalist and poet.
The number of post cards issued in the year ended
the 31st of March last was 76,986,240, against 69,233,280 in
the year 1873.
A little boy has been killed on Lord Ashburnbam's
estate, at Penshurst, Sussex, by another boy who was shoot-
ing rabbits.
At a meeting held in Belfast resolutions were
adopted in favour of the Bill now before Parliament for
stopping the sale of liquors in Ireland on Sunday. There
was, however, considerable opposition.
The total receipts of the theatres, balls, and concerts
at Paris amounted in 1874 to 25,375,600 fr. There was an in-
crease of 41 per cent. in five years.
The Liverpool Mercury states that Mr. Gladstone
has given permission to Mr. It. J. Price, of Bangor, to trans-
late " Vaticanism " into Welsh.
A South African paper states that at the Diamond
Fields travelling Kafirs are charged £1 a head a night for
resting under a tree. This is a dear night's lodging for Kafirs
The story, however, Ls not vouched for.
A deputation has waited on the Chancellor of the
Exchequer with a view to induce him to alter that clause in
the Friendly Societies' Bill which fixes £3 as the maximum
assurance for young children. Sir S. Northcote pointed out
that the clause was really a concession, and that the sum
originally allowed (£6) was found to be more than was

mecessary.
Long life in Great Britain is on the decrease, and
centenarians are much less frequent than forty years since,
despite the increase of population. The two millions of popu-
lation in the south-eastern counties produce 1,086 nionoge-
narians ; but London, with a population of three and a
quarter millions, can only muster 834 persons above the age
of 90, and Lancashire and Cheshire, with a similar aggregate
population, only 585.
An International Exhibition, in which:great promi-
nence will be given to all matters connected with marine
and river industries, is to be held in Paris under high patron-
age, from July to November next. The building selected is
the well-known Palais de lindustrie, in the Champs Elysees,
where, twenty years previously, the Exhibition of 1855 took
place.
"His Majesty King Alfonso XII. has now been
formally admitted into the fraternity of European sovereigns.
Ile is henceforth authorized to address the reigning monarchs
of Europe by the title of brother, and his envoys have been
received everywhere with a friendliness which may fairly be
regarded as the expression of something heyoud,a mere formal
courtesy."—Daily Telegraph.
"Dear Fred.—How cruel not to write, as you
promised. The little gui who kept her white hat on at
dinner, Jan. is, cannot forget you, but fears, alas! you have
forgotten her."—" TruthfuL —A business engagement
abroad. Return end of next month. Letter left at the ring
address, superscribed with the original motto. Important
that you should obtain it. Fidele toujours."—Advertis
ments in The Times.
The Railway News says that the opinion is gaining
strength that the Chancellor of the Exchequer will propose
a modification of the passenger duty, by which the corn
panies will be relieved from the payment of the duty upon
passengers travelling at fares under one penny per mile by
trains not stopping at every station. This will apply to
workmen's trains and to a large proportion of the traffic
carried upon the suburban and other lines at low fares.
The total receipts of revenue from the let of April,
1874, to the 27th ult. were £67,188,835, against £68,411,419
in the corresponding period of last year. The budget esti-
mate for the current financial year, which closes on the 31st
inst., was £74,425,000, so that the sum required to make -
the estimated amount is £7.236,165. .The expenditure up.
the 27th ult. was £66,944,976, against £69,043,897 last year.
The balance in the Bank of England on Saturday was
£4,225,554.
In their report for 1874 the Charity Commissioners
say they have issued 2,046 orders during the past year, and
authorised sales of property to the amount of £267,032, and
increased the total value of stocks, &c., standing in the
name of the official trustees of charitable funds to
£6,059,647 10s. They announce that the general digest of
the charitable endowments of the country will shortly be
completed. The report concludes with an allusion to the
new duties imposed on the commissioners by the Endowed
Schools Act of last year.
A. deputation from the Farmer's Club, accompanied
by many members of Parliament, waited upon Mr. Disraeli
on Tuesday, and pointed out the importance of the Govern-
ment dealing with the question of compensation to tenants
unexhausted improvements. The Premier, who expressed
his sympathy with the general purpose of those who had ad-
dressed him, said that the'Government intended to legislate
on this subject. In a very short time, perhaps in a few days,
the Bill would be before the country, and no effort would
be wanting en the part of her Majesty's Ministers to pass it
_

11.4

through Parliament.
In London last week 2,348 births and 1,854 deaths
were registered. Allowing for increase of population, the
births were 148 below, whereas the deaths exceeded by 173,
the average numbers in the corresponding week of the last
ten years. The annual death-rate from all causes, was 28.
The deaths included 2 from small-pox, 15 from measles, 38
from scarlet fever, 10 from diphtheria, 71 from whooping-
cough, 2.4 from different forms of fever, and 16 from diarr-
hcca ; thus to the seven principal diseases of the zymotic
class 176 deaths were referred, against 144, 166, and 163 in
the three preceding weeks. These 176 deaths were 78 below
the corrected average numbers from the same diseases.
' A Council meeting of the Gen6ral is:nd AsSeciated
Chambers of Agriculture was held on Tuesday, Lord Hamp-
ton in the chair. The report of the Local Taxation Com-
mittee viewed with apprehension the repeated proposals
made to extend over the whole country the expensive
machinery of School Boards, and the consequent large addi-
tions to the local rates; but they believed it would afford
satisfaction if existing institutions were more fully utilised.
The Committee also expressed an opinion that the large
number of officers which the Adulteration of Food and
Drugs Bill necessitated would place upon the ratepayers an
unfair liability for their remuneration.
The House of Commons votes annually a sum of
money which is known as the Civil Contingencies Fund.
Thi% lund Is ayailable for the payment of those charges
isibtch spring up uneipectedlY, And strae Sery curious items
are invariably found in the list. Here are some spectmeno
—Repairing the bpeaker's plate, £33; burying the carcasses
of porpoises waslped ashore. near Londondery, Ll 18s. :
Duke of Connaught's visit to Norway to be present at the
Coronation of the King, £,258 4s. 4d. ; Installation of the
Shah as Knight Companion of the Garter, £439 3s. 4d. ; and
Gratuity to Hon. Beaty J. S. Wood, 11th Hussars, for
bringing the despatthde relating to (allot Cfoobilable, ow,