The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-08-29 00:00:00

glistrllantous
ROM, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

A SAD TRAGEDL—A melancholy occurrence
took place at Vevay on Saturday last. The Rev. T.
N. Irwin, rector of Charlynch, Somerset, went out,
accompanied by his wife and children, on a boating
excursion to Byron's Island, the day being fine and
the lake calm. On their return the wind suddenly
got up and the waves became high. The boat, spring-
ing a leak, soon filled and capsized. Mr. Irwin kept
his wife afloat till he became exhausted and insensible,
when she dropped from his grasp and was drowned.
Two little boys, aged ten and eleven, saved them-
selves by swimming and laying hold of the oars, while
the eldest son, Mr. De Vere Irwin, who is a good
swimmer, got hold of both his sisters; but the eldest,
her dress being caught in the wreck, was drawn under
the boat, and he, in diving to extricate her, was
obliged to relinquish his hold of the younger child,
aged five, when she sank. The survivors, cold and
perishing in the darkness,. had quite given up hope of
escape, when they saw a light in a boat bearing down
on them. They were rescued, and received into the
house of a resident, where they were treated with the
utmost care and tenderness.

THE SAFE KEEPING OF PETROLEUM.—An Act
was passed in the last session to amend the 25th and
2fith Victoria, cap. 06, for the safe keeping of petro-
leum. It is to be construed as one with the recited
statute. From and after the lot of February next no
petroleum is to be kept, otherwise than for private use,
within fifty yards of a dwelling-house or of a building
in which goods are stored, except in pursuance of the
licence given in accordance with the Petroleum Act,
1862. There may be annexed to the licence conditions
as to the keeping and storage of petroleum. After the
day named no person is to sell or expose for sale for
use within the United Kingdom any description of
petroleum which gives off an inflammable vapour at a
temperature of less than 100 deg. of Fahrenheit's
thermometer, unless the bottle or vessel containing
such petroleum have attached thereto a label in legible
characters stating that "Great care must be taken in
bring any light near to the contents of this vessel, as
they give off an inflammable vapour at a temperature
of less than 100 deg. of Fahrenheit's thermometer."
Any person acting in contravention of the section, for
each offence is to be subject to a penalty not exceeding
£5. By a provision in the Act the inspectors of weights
and measures are empowered to test petroleum.
GAME CERTIFICATES—The Commissioners of
the Inland Revenue have issued their annual caution
to sportsmen. Shooting game at the ensuing season
without being duly qualified with a game certificate—
the reduced charges now are £3 for a full licence, £2
for a certificate to shoot till the list of October, and
for a licence taken out after that period, and to ex-
pire on the sth of ApriL A certificate to kill game
does not exempt sportsmen from the law of trespass,
or authorise game to be killed other than within the
stipulated periods prescribed by law. The guardian
angels of the Inland Revenue intimate their intention
of enforcing the full penalty of £2O, and a surcharge
of duty against all persons detected sporting without
a licence. Partridge shooting will be legally com-
menced on the lot of September, and pheasant shoot-
ing on the lot of October next, and terminates on the
ensuing Ist day of February. Hares and rabbits may
be killed at any time of the year, by duly qualified
persons. Woodcocks, landrails, and snipes are game,
and it is illegal to shoot them without a game cer-
tificate.

RETURN OF FATHER IGNATIUS.—OR Friday
morning in last week "Father Ignatius" resumed
what are known as his "Friday morning lectures" at
the church of St. Edmund the King, Lombard-street,
London, after a lengthened absence from London. i
Although one o'clock s the time of service, and the
hour one of the busiest in the city, the church was
densely packed, the majority of the congregation being
men—business men for the most part—who rapidly
ran off immediately the service was over. The Dean
of Norwich (Dr. Goulburn) and a large number of
clergymen were among the congregation. Mr. Lyne
" said" the Litany, there being no approach to a
musical service, and it was a noticeable fact that he
was habited simply as a deacon of the Church of
England—wearing a surplice, the hood of Trinity
' College, Glenalmond, but no stole. He preached an
impressive sermon upon the 2nd verse of the 61st
Psalm—" When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to
the rock." He explained that his institutions at
Laleham - -differing in some respects, though not
materially, from his monastery at Norwich—were
mainly supported by the offertories at these Friday
morning services, and the offerings which were made
on the part of the congregation appeared to be liberaL
The services will be continued henceforward without
interruption.

A MOUNTAIN FLOOD.—The G a=etta Ofliciale of
Florence give some details on the interruption of com-
munications over Mount Cenis :
A violent storm burst during the evening of the 10th,
and rain fell in such torrents as to render in a few hours the
great road on which the railway is laid quite impracticable
between the stations of St. Martin and the Bard. The
effects of the flood were terrible. Immense masses of earth
slipped from the mountain on the road, which was inter-
cepted in several places by deep crevices. The enormous
quantity of water also caused some of the supporting walls
to give way, and the result was that not only the railway
truffle, hut also that of ordinary carriages had to be suspended.
When the rain ceased measures were immediately adopted
for repairing the way, and the interruption is now confined
to a distance of about 3,000 yards. The entire communica-
tions on the ordinary road will be re-established some days
earlier than on the railway in consequence of the exceptional
nature of the repairs required by the latter. The old rpad Ia
wed to supply the place of that which has been injured.
WILD BEASTS IN INDIA—It appears that in
the year 1867 the rewards given for the destru:tion of
wild beasts in the four divisions of the Central Pro-
vinces amounted to upwards of forty-one thousand
rupees. This outlay represents the slaughter•of nearly
3,000 beasts of prey—VlZ, 902 leopards and panthers,
535 bears, 527 tigers, 475 hyrenas, and 467 wolves. The
' greatest amount by far was paid in the Saugor district
—viz., 7,135 rupees; and much more than half this
sum (4,520 rupees) was for the destruction of wolves
(353). The item next in importance is one of 4,250
rupees for the spoils of 86 tigers in the district of Rae-
pore in the Chutteesghurh division. Five of these
Raepore tigers are said to have been man-eaters, as
were three in the Nagpore district, and one at Betas-
pore. Mention is also made of a man-eating panther,
for whose death a reward was given of 100 rupees.

A ROADSIDE MURDER.—A letter from St.
Petersburg says :—"One day last week Sir Andrew
Buchanan, the English ambassador, when out riding
near his country house at Ligovo, about thirteen versts
from St. Petersburgh, remarked the figure of a man
lying down not far from the roadside, apparently
asleep, but took no further notice of the incident and
passed on. Three days later, when riding the same
way in company with his daughter, he was surprised to
see the man still lying in the same position. He

stopped accordingly, and sent his to see what
was the matter, when it was discovered to be the dead
body of an Imperial Chasseur, with his throat cut from
ear to ear, and deep bruises on the head. Intelligence
was at once conveyed to the police. Some bank-notes
were found sewed up inside the man's shirt, and
in his pockets were receipts for large slims recently
collected by him. fleece it is supposed that the
murderer knew that the unfortunate man had a large
sum of money on his person, though he failed to
find it all, or was scared away from the spot before the
robbery was completed. As the body was discovered
within the grounds of the country house of the Coun-
tess Catherine Koushleff—who is now residing at
Athens, at the court of Queen Olga—and in a spot
certainly not unfrequented, it is thought likely that
the poor Chasseues body had been seen by other people
before Sir Andrew, but that they feared to give infor-
mation to the authorities, owing to the ridiculous law,
which makes the last person seen near the body ac-
countable for the murder. The affair is at present in the
hands of the police."

SAGACITY OF A DOG.—On Friday, Mrs. Love,
keeper of strayed children at the police-office,
Greenock, observed a little girl straying in Hamilton-
street. and apparently unprotected. She noticed at
the same time that the child was accompanied by a
retriever dog. Mrs. Love brought the child to the
, police-office, the dog, meanwhile, closely following
her; but scarcely had she taken the child into an inner
room and shut the door, unobserved by the animal,
than it rushed out of the office and returned to the
street, but not finding the child it again returned.
Eventually it was observed to dart along Hamilton-
street, and, turning up Vennel, pursued its course
until it reached Inverkip-street, when it proceeded to
the door of Mrs. Bonar, who subsequently turned out
to be grandmother of the strayed child and owner of
the dog. After scratching at the door some time for
admission, the door was opened by a young lad,
brother to the strayed child, when the animal at once
seized him by the dress, and commenced drawing him
towards the door. This singular conduct on the part
of the faithful animal induced the boy to follow it,
when it guided him direct to the police-office. And
upon inquiries being made, and the strayed chill being
produced, the boy said she was his sister, who had left
kome a short time before. The joy of the dog when it
again saw the child was, for a time, unbounded. The
brother, sister, and faithful guardian then left the
office and returned home.

A COLLIERY PROPRIETOR FINED.—Mr. Wilson,
colliery proprietor, at Farnworth, was on Monday
' summoned before the county magistrates at Bolton
for a breach of the Collieries' Act, by neglecting to
pi-vile proper ventilation. Mr. Dickinson, govern-
ment inspector of mines for this district, and one of
the colliers whom he called as a witness, proved that
on the 12th inst. there was black damp in the pit in
such vast quantities as to endanger the lives of the
men at work. The underlooker excused this state of
things by saying that several "faults " had occurred
in the roof by which the gas had accumulated. Mr.
Dickinson said that might easily have been remedied
by bratticing or air-pipes. The magistrates said in
consequence of the dreadful accidents that so fre-
quently happened through similar neglect they felt
hound to enforce the regulations, and fined defendant
£6, including expenses.
OPENING OF TIIE NEW DOCK AT BOULOGNE.
—The formal opening of the Grand Docks took place
last week, on which occasion the Imperial yacht,
having on board Prince Napoleon, steamed up the
harbour, and entering the lock gates bore up for the
east quay, where she was made fast. There was a
great croWd, chiefly English visitors, collected on the
pier heads and quay to witness the opening, who,
seeing the Prince on the bridge of the yacht, loudly
cheered him. The dock was commenced in the year
1859, and has thus been nine years in course of con-
struction. The total cost has been a little under
£300,000. The space it occupies is on the west side of
Roulog,ne harbour, at Cape Cure. The basin for ship-
ping occupies an area of more than 17 acres, with a
quay wall frortage of 3,600 feet and a quay space of
over 240,000 square feet for the stowage of goods. It
is of irregular shape, and about 1,300 feet in greatest
length and 630 feet in greatest breadth. The lock or
half-tide basin is 325 feet in length and 68 feet in
breadth, with a depth over the cill of the gates of 29
feet at high-water spring tides and 23 feet at high
water neap tides. But the facility of entering it is
measured, not by its own depth but by that of the
channel leading to it over the bar of Boulogne harbour.
This is stated by the most recent measurements to be
about 24,A feet at high-water spring tides, and 19 feet
at high-water neap tides. From these figures about 3
feet must be deducted for the fall of the waves, the
allowance to be made for not following the exact
channel and other causes, and finally the maritime
authorities of Boulogne declare the harbour to be easily
accessible, under all circumstances, to vessels drawing
21A feet water at high-water spring tides, and 16 feet
at high-water neap tides.

THE PEACE OF EUROPE.—In an essay pre-
ceding the reports of the International Jury on the
Exhibition of Irt7, M. Michel Chevalier specially in-
sists on the necessity of maintaining peace, and points
out to the nations of Europe that they are in danger
of seeing their supremacy fall to the younger States
of the American continent if they continue to ex-
haust their resources in what has been aptly termed
"bloated armaments." At the sometime he looks with
uneasiness on " the situation." "Honest, enlightened,
and generous men," says he, "who are passionately
desirous of veritable grandeur and true glory have, it
is true, made their choice • they are unanimously in
favour of peace. But violent passions occupy such a
great place in the human heart, and have 8.1 dominated
in the wcrld, that it would be very imprudent to con-
sider certain that the partisans of European order anti
of the harmony of nations will have the upper hand
in the controversy that is now going on among the
great Powers. It may be that the Exhibition, ad-
mirable as a pledge of peace, will be only a meteor,
ominous but fleeting, on a horizon destined to become
obscure, and to be rent by storms."
CAUTION TO AMATEUR COIN-TESTEP.S.—Wm.
Fleming, whose son keeps the "Railway Hotel,"
Lockwood, was charged before the Huddersfield magis-
trates with breaking a sovereign, the property of
William Washington Wilson, power loom turner,
Batley. On Sunday night the complainant went tc;
the hotel, and, having had something to drink, asked
if they could give him change for a sovereign. The
defendant, in receiving the coin, put it in a rack, and
broke it into two pieces. He had refused to give the
complainant another sovereign ; and hence the present
proceedings. Fleming, who alleged that he was simply
testing the coin, was ordered to pay the complainant
20s. and the expenses which had been incurred

A GOOD SUGGESTION. —ln a long article,
headed "The Way to Prevent Railway Accidents,"
the Birmingham Daily Post suggests the widening of
the lines. The present railways, it thinks, are far too
narrow to properly accommodate the many trains that
have to pass along them. "At Liverpool, for instance,
trains run on an average every ten minutes. An
accident of any kind, therefore, involves almost of
necessity a collision, and the collision is too generally
fatal to life and limb." There is space enough, the
writer thinks, for the laying down of additional rails
on the main lines if the money could be found • and in
the fact that the existing companies are never likely to
be able to find it, he sees a new argument for the pro-
posed transfer of their property to Government.
"SAVE ME FROM MY FRIENDS."—That Anglican
out-and-outer, Archdeacon Denison, is deeply disgusted
with Dr. Pusey's letter to the Wesleyan Conference.
He delares its animus is Pusey-banimous.—Punch.
MODEST OFFER OF A SPORTING WRITP;4I.
The following is a verbatim copy of an application
(one of a lame number of a similar character) which
we (Leeds Mercury) have received from gentlemen to
fill a post which has no existence on the Mercury;--
Sir—Hearing that you are in want of a Sporting writer i
offer my services i have a good kooledge in all Lacing mat-
ters flatt Racing Hurdle Racing and Last tho not least
steeple Chaseing i am a good midge of Rath Weight and dis-
tince and from information i remvs i can tell pretty near i
offer my services for 2 pounds per week Roping you will
acknoledge this letter and let me know if it suits you.-11.
Remain your obedient servant. J. T.

WALKER TO WlT.—EleCtioll, WC all know, is a
synonym for choice. But choice is not a word which
we should ever dream of using in reference to people
who most thrive by an election—Fund,,
HORSE BRUSHING BY MACHINERY.— Hair brush-
ing by machinery is hardly applicable to human
heads; none but the shortest crop of bristles and the
toughest of skins being able to support it, whilst fine
hair, if not torn out by the roots, is apt, if long, to get
round the spimlle and scalp the patient before he can
say, "Hold, enough ! "--is thing not likely to occur in
dressing the horse (remarke the Gentleman's Magazine
for August). Grooms, of course, will for a time be
against the method, and old hands sadly bothered to
use the rotating brush; but with several horses to
dress, the saving will be great, the flying polisher pass-
ing over the surface with ten times the velocity of the
hand. The use of the machine would not abolish the
hand-brush, any more than the lawn-mower supersedes
the occasional use of the shears for trimming round
shrubs and borders. The scheme is well worth a trial.
It saves seventy-five per cent, of labour, and with far
more brilliant results.
HALF A Tows DESTROYED BY FIRE.—A letter
from Prerau, chief town of the district of that name
in Moravia, states that half the place has been reduced
to ashes :—" At nine in the morning," he says, "fire
broke out suddenly in the suburb, and spread rapidly
under the influence of a high wind, so that the entire
of the long line of the street which opens on the square
was in a few minutes in flames; the finest buildings,
as well RA the two towers of the church, fell with great
noise. The handsomest quarter of Prerau, which was
really an ornament to the town—namely, the High-
street, presented at two o'clock no more than a heap of
ruins. The firemen did not arrive from Olmutz until
about four o'clock. About 150 houses were destroyed.
The origin of the disaster is not known."
CONTRADICTION OF A MATRIMONIAL RUMOUR.
—We are authorised to contradict a report that a
union has been on the toids between a divine of
eminence and a daughter of the distinguished house
of Wesley. Where there is smoke there is tire, how-
ever, and some grounds have been given for the
rumour. The eminent cleNyman in question having
recently been unsuccessful in Ids courtship of a party
of the Roman Catholic persuasion, had subsequently
turned his attention in the direction of the dissenting
family that inherits the name of the founder of
Methodism, as also the original name of the I)uke of
Wellington. His overtures were deemed unacceptable,
not on account of any personal or mental disqualifica-
tion, for Dr. Pusey is a gentleman of the highest
moral and intellectual character; but because the
sentiments of those with whom he sought alliance are
strongly opposed to the practices of the theological
OAAOCiates with whom he has connected himself. The
lady's guardian, the lies. Dr. Jackson, therefore,
signified in explicit language that the union was
impossible, and the opinion of society is that the
most desirable termination to the affair has taken place.
—Punch.

GETTING A VERDICT.—In a recent important
trial at Boston (U.S.) the jury, after long deliberation,
were not able to agree, a minority holding out for
acquittal. It so happened that the foreman was a
minister from a country town, and after arguments
and appeals had been exhausted, he astonished his

associates with the wenmown purpit formula, "Le
us pray." Ana pray he did, long and fervently, that
the jury might agree and their decision might be in
accordance with right and justice. The effect was de-
ve. A unanimous verdict for consiction was agreed
up.ot, and the praying foreman delivered it to the
court.

COMPENSATION FOR RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.—
There are two new provisions in the recent Act on
lliiiiways (31st and 32nd of VictAiria, cap. 119) with
respeet to compensation for accidents. By the 25th
seetion, where a person has been injured or killed by
an accident on a railway, the Board of Trade, upon
application in writing made jointly by the company
from whom compensation is claimed and the person if
he is injured or his representatives if he is killed, may,
if they think tit, appoint an arbitrator, who is to deter-
, mine the compensation, if any, to be paid by the com-
pany. With regard to medical evidence, the next
clause enacts that whenever any person injured by an
accident on a railway claims compensation on account
of the injuiry, any Judge of the court in which pro-
ceedings to recover such compensation are taken, or
any person who by the consent of the parties, or other-
wise, has power to fix the amount of compensation,
may order that the person injured be examined by
some duly qualified medical practitioner named in the
order and Tnt being a witness on either side, and may
make such order with respect to the costs of such
examination as he may think fit.

iOY HORSE-STEALMS. Two boys, named
Bousunerat and liocquart, aged respectively 10 and
11, have just been tried at the Paris Tribunal of Cot,
revtional Polico on three distinct charges of horse
stain,. In the first instance they had taken the
annual', which was grazing in a field, and left it with
a h. me-flesh butcher after unsuccessfully offering to
sal it to him ; the second case showed still more
daring, as the young thieves went to the stable of a
greengrocer named Bonvallet, harnessed the horse to a
cart, and were driving off, when they were detected by
the owner's wife. They then jumped out of the
vehicle and escaped. They had also stolen a horse and
cart they had found standing at a shop door, which
they afterwards abandoned on the Buttes Montmartre.
They were now condemned to remain in a reformatory
institution until they have terminated their sixteenth
year.

FATAL FIGHT AT BARNSLEY. —Oll Monday
afternoon the festivities attending the annual feast
Were marred by the report that an innkeeper, named
Jas. Burton, had been killed in a fight. The deceased
and an aged man, named Benjamin Whitehead, of
Barnsley, had been drinking together, when a dispute
arose, and blows were exchanged. The accused was
seen to deal the deceased a blow on the huad, the force
of which felled him. Not offering to get up, a young
man, named Battle, went and looked at him, and find-
ing he was helpless, took him into a mom belonging to
the "Rose and Thistle" Inn. The surgeons called in
pronounced him to be dead, his neck having been
dislocated.

CAITLE DISEASE IN AsiEruce.—A serious form
of cattle disease recently made its appearance in the
United States, and it has been rapidly disseminated
from the west to the seaboard. It originated in
Western Minois, where immense herds of cattle had
lately been brought from Texas, The Texas cattle,
however, remained quite well, but other animals taken
from the same locality and sent on to New York have
been found in almost a dying state before reaching
their destination. Mr. Alexander, a large stock raiser
in Illinois, has already incurred immense loss by the
destruction among his herds. Professor Gamgee made
a report on the disease, and states that in the spring
and early summer Texas cattle, like our own in some
parts of Scotland, eat the young succulent shoots of
certain reeds, which are highly charged with astringent
Principles. From this feed the animals get their
systems impregnated with materials not fatal to stock
in a certain latitude, but producing the "black water,"
which is now killing the cattle of Illinois and adjoining
States. The people of New Jersey appear to have
eaten at least three of the diseased animals before the
alarm was given, and they are not entirely free from
anxiety as to the consequences. The latest news is
that the disease is abating,
. .

FEMALE VOTER/3.-111i. Spofforth, the Conserva-
tive election agent, has issued a warning to overseers,
and quotes a statute which enacts that overseers who
wilfully insert in the list of voters the names of women,
or of male persons not entitled to vote, are liable to
be sued in an action of debt for the penal mum of
C5OO, with full costs of suit. This action may be
brought by any person. It is stated, however, that
the section of the Reform Act of 1832 which Mr.
Spofforth cites does not in any way refer to the point
at issue; and that the case quoted in support of his
view has reference, not to the placing of women upon
the register, but to the "improper and wilful" in-
sertion of the names of "three men not entitled to
vote."

--
AUTOGRAPH LETTERS AND MSS. —An un-
usually interesting assemblage of autograph letters and
MSS. was disposed of last week by Messrs. Puttick
and Simpson, at their gallery in Leicester-square,
London. Among the most noteworthy were the sub.

Cote-F7-19. Lord Byron, poet —Autograph letter, signed,
three pages 4to, dated March 0,1816; another, one page4to,
dated October 10, 1814 : and a third, two pages 4to, dated
February 7, 1815 (all capital specimens`„ addressed to R. A.
Davenport in his capacity of editor of the Pot tisal Register
—FAO 17s. 6d. Harvey . 28. Henry Kirke White, poet.—
Autograph letter, signed, one page 4to, interesting; "I
am now only at the age of 17;' and enclosing a ballad coin.

" Be husli'd, be Irash'd, ye bitter winds,"
addressed to the editor of the Poetic Register--stx guineas
Waller. SO. George Washington, first President of the
United States.—Autograph letter, four pages, large folio,
dated White Mains, July 24, 1775; a splendid specimen, and
very rare. A most interesting and valuable letter, addressed
to the Hon. henry Laurens, President of Congress. The
letter is entirely on State affairs, and contains most interest-
ing references to contemporary persons and events—
£o Ire. Willis). GC Album of Autographs, containing
many interesting examples especially connected with Ame-
rica. Among others are Jefferson Davis, R. Lee, Washington
Irving, Winfield Scott, Andrew Johnson, W. 11 Seward,
Admiral Parma, Charles Summer, General Sherman,
George MUlellan, Daniel Webster, Thaddeus Stevens, G.
Bancroft, Arc. • signatures, letters, and signed documents—
£lo. f.lerninghlm . 72-3. Admiral Lord Nelson—Autograph
letter, signed, two pages 4to. A capital example, dated St.
George, April 5, ISul, 10 at night, written entirely with the
left hand, and addressed to his favourite captain, Sir
Tin omaa Troubridge, whose son he had that day received at
dinner,—" a very line lad, awl he minds a shot no more than
Ins father." Also another letter to the same, one page, 4to,
no date—£s Its, (Harvey.)