The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-05-16 00:00:00

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Astellantons )afrlligtaa,

ONE, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.
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FALL or A CiIIURCII TOWER.— A bad accident
has jhst happened at Breslau. A handsome church,
iisiocA St. Michael's, has been in progr,s of building
at the expense of the prince-bishap, „aid was nearly
usopleba , It had two towers, a northern and a
va.steca, all 8i feet in height. On Thursday last
P. was observ.d that there were great cracks in the
tower and its state wm considered so Ilinge-
ra•st that tv, workmen were allowed to approach it.
The precaut:on was not mineeemary, for on Friday the
.hole pAver came dawn with is tremendous crash,
•aving the other in such a precarious stat.; that it is
very doubtful whether it will long keep lip. The sshole
amount hitherto expended*on the church is stated at
t:45,000 ; the towers have cost about £7,500 each.
FASHION'S CHANGES !--There used to be a saying
aboutclothes that had gone out of fashion— "Pot them
ty far seven years and the fashion will have come round
again." The people of Orleans have been trying this
plan, and have not found it to succeed. Their young
eculptor Rognet made them a statue of Liberty many
ar:,l ago. Just about that time Liberty went out of
fashion, aud they put their statue by for a whiff la

dark chamber beneath the museum. They have now
taken it out again, aml they find that it is more out of
fashion than ever. Partly because they have not faith
iii another seven years' trial-- partly because they want
ail the statues they ean get for an amorwashing possible
visit of their Majesties— they have determined to alter
the character of the statue of Liberty and convert it
into a personification of the town of Orleans, te grace
the entry of the Emperor and his consort. It has been
announced that the only change necessary will be to
nanove the gilded rays from the head and replace them
eith a mural crown, while the symbolic hive of bow
which Liberty carried must be replaced by the arms of
the town of Orleans. The father of the deceased
sculptor has given full permission for these changes to
be made.

THE LAST Pus.—A London contemporary gives the
following dialogue between a lady and her husband on
the gentleman's returning home unusually late one
night, and reproaching histtife with unnecessary anxiety
at his absence :

"I was almost afraid that you had spoken."
spoken, my dear. What an you possibly mean?'
•• Well, I supphse it is unomumatical to say so ; but it
occurred to me, dearest Alfred, that you had Speked."

A SIXTY YISAILS' Couirremp.— A marriage
has recently been solemnised at Mark between
an old gentleman (a widower) of eighty and a
widow of seventy-eight. The circumstances are
very peculiar. In 1812, the old lady now married
gave birth to a /laughter. At that time her present
husband promised her marriage. About the year 1818
she gave birth to two more daughters, and an action
was then commenced for breach of promise, and re-
sulted in defendant's being imprisoned in Ilchester
gaol for several mouths. At length the matter was
compromised. After this the two parties separated,
married, each having a large family, who are all living
in forei,m countries :out dour" well, About nine years
ago they became widow and widower, and from that
time ill, to the present the latter has been paying his
constant addresses to the former, and at lag he has
made her his happy partner in life, after a courtship
("off and ‘m") of over sixty years.

METEORS AND COMETS—Professor Pepper, in
his Lenten lectures on "Physical Astronomy at the
Royal Polytechnic, stated that, fourteen years ago,
Dr. Bedford discovered the relation between meteor
and comet, and announced their actual identity; that
at the time, and long since, it was regarded as mere
theory; but within the last two years astronomers
have proved the truth of Pr. Bedford's discovery, which
was made by a careful comparison of recorded pheno-
mena from the earliest times. The Professor said that
it had been proved by live mathematical ebiments of
the orbits of five several comets and meteors, and that
the discovery is regarded as one of the grandest addi-
tions to astronomical science ; and stated that Dr.
Bedfonl has propounded entirely new theories of as-
tronomy. winch are most profound and very interest-
ing, and well worthy of being studied.

A FATAL DELAY. —A terrible disaster has just
occurred at Lintz, in Austria. A large vessel, heavily
laden, in descending the Danube, struck against the
piers which support the woollen bridge across the
river there. hundreds of persons hastened to look at
the boat, which rapidly began to sink. A few minutes
later a loud cracking sound was heard • the piers gave
way, and the bridge fell. Fifteen dead bodies were in
a short time taken out of the water. So far back as
1847 the municipal council hail decided on reconstruct-
ing the bridge in stone, but the execution of the plan
was delayed.

ARMORIAL BEARINGS IN AMERICA.—The New
York Bound Table comments on a proposition made by I
Mr. Chanter in the House of Representatives, to levy
a tax upon armorial bearings, which are beginning to ;
make their appearance pretty frequently on the panels I
of the carriages that roll along the drive in the Central I
Park. 'rhe proposition has 12xeited a good deal of dis-
cussion : some persons would have the bearers of coats
of arms compelled to prove their right to them to the ;
satisfaction of the heralds before that right was recog-
nised by the Government ; others would have the
ch.,ice of the bearers perfectly unfettered an it is in the
matter of other ornaments aml personal decorations.
A third party would suffer a man to paint what coat .
of arms he pleases on his panels, but would compel
him to set under his coat the date of its acquisition. I
• EXEMPLARY SENTENCE.—At the Middlesex
Sessions, on Monday, John Augustus Crabb was
brought up for judgment. The prisoner was con-
victed a session or two ago of obtaining various sums
of money, of LIU and £2.7.; from young men, for
whom he pretended to obtain situations as clerks and
collectors. The Assistant- Judge, after reviewing the
case against the prisoner, and commenting upon the
heartlessness of robbing young p eople of, perhaps, all
they haAl in the world, under the pretence of obtain-
ing them sitnations, said the Cou rt, considering the
nature of the case had determined to pass a heavy
sentence, and woula thereby make an example of the
prisoner. He must be kept in penal servitude for five
years.
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FATAL GUN ACCIDENT.—An inquest has been
held at Howden, on the laxly of Thomas Featherstone,
aged 24 years, who was found dead in a field, about a
quarter of a mile distant from the station, on Sunday
afternoon. From the evidence adduced at the inquest,
it appeared that deceased, who resided at the station
brickyard, left home in the morning of Sunday, taking
a gun with him, and was last seen alive soon after
non, by a neighbour, in a field near the common. As
he did not return home, search was made for him, and
about half-past four his dead body was discovered in a
ditch near the hedge side. The surgeon stated that
death was caused by a gunshot wound. The charge en-
tered the side, under the shoulder, and went through
the long. Death would be instantaneous. From the
position of the body it was evident the man had been
getting through the hedge, dragging his gun after him,
and that the gun was discharged by catching a branch
of the hedge. The jury returned a verdict of Acci-
dental death.

A QrARTETTE.- The wife of M. V. de M—,
of Antwerp, was a few days back safely delivered of
four female children. According to the local journals,
this occurrence created quite a semation in that town.
When the christening took place the church was
crowded with spectators, and thousands of persons lined
the streets along which the corhsge of four nurses, with
their charges, and as many godfathers and godmothers,
were to pass. Cries of " Vivent les epoux V. de M—!
Vivent leurs enfants !" were raised, and many ladies
only found relief from their emotion in tears. After
the return home of the children, they had to be brouqht
out to the balcony of the house to receive an ovation
from the crowd a.ssembled in the street. All the little
ones, as well as the mother, are doing well.
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THE ABYSSINIAN EXPEDITION.—The Moniteur
de l' Armee gives the following account of our first suc-
cessful action with Theodore in the open, previous to
the storming of Magdala "The spies having ap-
prised the Commander-in-Chief that the .Ne;ms con- .
templated an aggressive movement, crossed the river
Jeddah in haste, landing at the plateau of Talanta, at
the extremity of which stood the fortress of Magdala.
The next morning he caught sight of the enemy en-
camped on the brow of a hill which commanded the
intervening ravines, theescarpments of which rendered
approach to the Alepsinian army extremely difficult.
The English General hesitated ; he had not as yet
arranged his plan of attack, when he was forestalled
by the Abyssinians, who threw themselves en maw
on the first brigade, and who, being resolutely rece.ved.
were speedily driven back to thvir entrenchments,
leaving the held of battle covered with dead bodies."
A DAffit FOR LIBERTY.—A prisoner named
Phillips escaped from Durham Gaol last week, and was
recaptured after a smart chase. He had been employed
with others on a new residence for the governor of the
p.,a01, and as he was leaving the building to go to dinner
at the gaol he slammed the door in the face of the
warder following him, and made off across the fields. A
man named Taylor tried to stop him, but was nearly
knocked down for his pains The chase wan kept up
for about two rffiles and a half, and the prisoner, by
artfully doubling on his pursuers, and concealing
himself behind a hedge, had almost been given up as
lost, when his suppressed coughing was heard by a
passing warder, and he was at once secured.
A PERSECI-TED AMBASSADOR.—The British
Embaasy is at present occupied in the solution of the
following very delicate question (says the Court
Journal)
When Lord Lyons was at Washington. he was introduced
to a very liands,me lady, Afdlle. T— o—, whose mother
was a Spaniard and father a Frenchman, but a naturalised
American citizen, residing near New Orleans. As it was at the
young lady's request the first introduction took place, Lord
Lyons was very polite towards her. Time roiled on his
lordship went to Paris, and the young lady went to St.
Petersburg. The rumoured marriage of Lord Lyons with the
widow of a noble brother diplomat brought his admirer from
St. Petersburg. She sends daily invitations to his lordship
to join her dinner parties. to come to her balls—she presents
him with costly gifts, that are immediately returned. Being
rich, well connected, and witty, she 1111.9 the entr,,e to every
circle, and is sure to arrive as RAM as Isis lordship, about
whose univements she is kept well informed. The French
ladies humour the lady's whims, hut the matter is becoming
so annoying. that the first lady In France has promised to
use her Influence in the rescue of the hard-hearted ambas-
sador from his fair tormentor.
MAKI NO lIIS RHETORIC TOO ell KAP. The
omlon correspondent of the Liverpool Albion re-

marks :
Undoubtedly Mr. Gladstone commits the mistake of
making a mountain of every mole-hill. Re never can speak
xi ithout being up to the highest level of impressiveness. On
great occasions this is of singular advantage to hint; but he
cannot be said to rise with his subject. He makes every
subject, however small, rise with him. If he has to ask all
unimportant question or to answer a foolish inquiry, he must
be eloquent, and he insist make a speech, so that he is con-
stantly investing paltry topics with a meretricious grandeur
to which of themselves they have not a shadow of pretension.
Instead of ridding himself of this vicious habit, he is becom-
ing more and more confirmed in it, end is carrying it to
more extravagant lengths. In homely phraseology, he
makes his rhetorical earnestness too cheap. Ile might take
a lesson from his right honourable opponent on this point.
As a rule. Mr. Disraeli uses HO unnecessary language, except
wheu he has an OhjOHt its it—when he wishes to be very pro-
found or inexplicably enigmatical. He fails when he aims at
pathos, because he becomes ridiculously artificial. In what
Mr Gladstone would be greatest. he, as compared with him-
eel( at other times, would be least.
A Cufifous CLoce.—A clock of singular work-
manship, designed by Raingo the elder, and of the
period of the First Empire, is now on view at M. de
boos's, Down-street, Piccadilly. In the base is a
musical box, which plays every hour. The front dial
has, in addition to the usual index of time, a record of
the days of the week. The simis of the zodiac and days
if the month are also registered, and in connectiiin
with these is a mechanical arrangement exhibiting
from day to day the relative positions of the
moon, earth, and ,on. The whole of this mechanism
is worked by three springs,
HAS A RICH MAN NO RIGHTS?— Rh+ men in
the United States cannot Ire regarded with unqualified
envy. In the first place they are taxed at a much
higher rate than other classes of the community, and
iu the next their affairs are always being pryed into by
active joornalists. Recently a New York magazine
mentioned the names of ten wealthy citizens, and
inwle their wealth the subject of some invidious com-
ments. One of the accused, Mr. Roosevelt, writes to
the nincs of New York to complain of this as "another
evidence of the increasing tendency on the part cd the
imblic press to invade what WH,H formerly Fonsidered to
be the sacred domain of private life, and in the end to
nadir larivnto if. iioasibl i thi. Woo country."

Mr. Roosevelt further asks whether a rich man has no
rights, and whether the accumulation of property is to
be considered an offence against society?
AhCTIC CußioarriEs.—At the late reception
Logy Sir R. Murchison, as President of the Royal
pineal Society, Mr. Frederick Whymper ex•
hibited a aeries of sketches and a collection of Indian
carvings and skin clothing. Soule of the latter,
derived from the coaettribee of Northein "Alaska,' or
Russian America, were of the Esquimaux character;
while others, from the great Youkon river, for in the
interior, were of the worked buckskin style, like those
commonly found in the Hudson's Bay Territory.
Two Co-Youkon pipes showed the infinitesimal
amount of tobacco used by these people. They con-
sume their own smoke by swallowing it, as do also the
Tehuktchis on the opposite Asiatic coast. Mr.
Whymper's collection was, perhaps, the most in-
teresting in the room, as it had the advantage of
novelty, and related to a people bordering on the
Arctic circle, having probably some affinity both to
the Esquimaux and the Red Indians. A few of Mr.
Whyrnper's Indian carvings, with a huge Indian mask,
were very curious.

LORD BROUGHAM AND THE DAGUERREOTYPE.
Lord Brougham was at his Chateau at Cannes when
the first introduction of the daguerreotype process took
place there ; and an accomplished neighbour proposed
to take a view of the chateau with a group of guests
in the balcony. The artist explained the necessity of
perfect immobility. He only asked that his lordship
and friends would keep perfectly still "for five
seconds ; " and his lordship vehemently promised that
he would not stir. Ile moved about too soon, however,
and the consequence was—a blur where Lord
Brougham should be; and so stands the daguerreotype
view to this hour.

DULNESS IN LEGAL BusiNESS. The Law
Journal reports an unusual stagnation in legal busi-
ness. For a brief peri,sl the Courts of Chancery were
inundated with proceedings in the liquidation of joint-
stock companies, but even in Lincoln's-inn the tide is
on the ebb. At common law there is ninth more than
slackness; there is an approximation to total absence
of work. Then, again, it is rumoured that in the
offices of celebrated attorneys, clerks are sitting idle--
that a great commercial firm in the city has even dis-
charged a portion of its staff. At the offices of the
Queen's Bench the receipts for fees in the proceedings
in actions fall short of the average amounts by the
immense sum of 1:100 per week.
CHEAP LUXURIES. Of all the strange sights in
this strange city, none is more curious than the snail-
seller (says a Paris correspondent). He trundles a
large and shallow handcart through the streets, covered
with huge snails crawling all over the sides of the cart,
with horns extended, and house on back. A dozen can
be purchased for the small sum of two sous ; you can
select them yourself, and carry them away in a paper
bag. Some people eat them raw, like oysters', others
roast them with savoury herbs. The best snails come
from Burgundy in the autumn, and are fattened on
the vine leaves. Those now selling are gathered in
every ditch outside the city, the several cemeteries
yielding the largest supplies.

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LORD BROCOHAM.B DAUGHTEL—Over the
chapel staircase of Lincoln's-inn may be seen a tablet
erected to the memory of the Hon. Miss Brougham,
containing three of the best Latin couplets (from the
pen of the celebrated Marquis Wellesley) that ever
were composed by a scholar in any age :

"Blanda anima, e cants lieu! Immo exerelta morbo,
Inter maternas hen ! laeryniasque patris,
Quas risu lenire tat, jueunda solebas
Et levis, et proprii rix mentor ipso mall,
I, pete citlestes ulii nulla eat eura, recussus,
Et tibi sit, nano mista labore,

How TO DESCRIBE A Don.—A farmer living I
at Mount Music, near Macnmm, Ireland, wishing to
have a dog registered, sent the following description of
the valuable animal to the clerk of the petty sessions
for the Macroom district :--
He has a black back and sides with black hind tight down
very near to the paws the breast white all along up to the
mouth white nose white belly a black head but a little of the
nose and a white stripe from the nose to the middle of the
forehead curved with stripe about the neck and the tips of
his tail white a pretty tan dog.
FELINE AFFECTION EXTRAORDINARY. The
Edinburgh Daily Reriew says:—
There is at present to be seen, at Mr. Greig's Temperance
Hotel, Aberdour, a fine tortoise shell cat nursing sue kitten
and three ducks. The ducks were hatched on the same day
as the kittens, three of which were taken away and the ducks
substituted. Puss lifts the ducks to any place they cannot
follow her, and, if supplied with 10011 of any kind, will place
it before the ducks, and sit by while they are feeding. She
seems even more affectionate towards the ducks than to the
remaining kitten but her composite family is a decidedly
'happy one," and the young iiestle together when mater-
families is absent in the most amiable manner. The
phenomenim has attracted much attention in the district.
'rue POST-OFFICE.--A Parliamentary return
shows the constant progress of the Post-office revenue.
The gross revenue in 1839 was £2,390,763. Late in ,
that year the maximum inland postage was reduced to '
4d. ; and on the 19th of Januar, ,v 1840, the uniform
charge of 14. was established. The gross revenue of
that year was only £1,359,466; but it has risen from
that amount year by year until, in 1866, it reached
£4,548,129. This does not include the produce of the
impressed newspaper stamp, which franks newspapers
through the post by a payment made to another
revenue department. The net revenue of the Post'
office has not been readily ascertainable until recently,
owing to the payment out of the gross revenue, in its
progress to the Exchequer, of pensions having no rela-
tion to the Post-office service. In 1858 the net revenue
was £1,389,251, and in 1866 it had gradually risen to
£2,127,125. This calculation is made, however,
according to the mode in use when the penny postage
was established—viz., excluding the cost of the packet
service and of stationery.
A RIDDLE AND ITS SOLUTION.—Once a Week
says that the following riddle was written by Arch-
bishop Whately, who offered in vain £5O to any one
who would guess it
When from the Ark's capacious round
The world came forth in pairs
Who was it that first heard the sound
Of boots upon the stairs t
An ingenious correspondent of our. contemporary uuw
solves the enigma thus :
To him who eons the matter o'er
A little thought reveals.
He beard it first, who went bore
Two pairs of soles and 'eels.
THE POISON OF THE COBRA.—AR extensive
series of experiments has recently been conducted in
India by Dr. Shortt to test the efficacy of a large
number of reputed antidotes to the poison of the
cobra. These antidotes have been brought forward by
claimants for the prize of 1,750 rupees offered by the
Maharajah of Travancore for the discovery of a
specific, but not one of them has been found to possess
any counteracting influence over the rapid and deadly
action of the poison. In consequence of communica-
tions which lie has received from various parts of
Europe, Dr. Shortt has made arrangements with Dr.
Tilbury Fox to superintend any experiments which
may be made in England with the view of discovering
any real antidote which may be in the possession of
any one ill Europe. Dr. Fox has been supplied with
an ample stock of active poison, both in the liquid and
crystalline form, for the purpose. Dr. Shortt will
finally test the virtues of any specific which may
possibly be discovered.
DEATH BY DROWNING. —On Saturday after-
noon last, two youths, one the son of the Rev. W. It.
Cosens, the incumbent of Trinity Church, Bessborough-
gardens, Pimlico, and the other Albert Bryant, the
son of the chief warder of Iklillhank prison, and head
chorister of the above-named church, were playing by
a pond in a brickfield near Dulwich, when they became
smlilenly immersed in about nine feet of water.
Cooeso, with great presence of mind, extricated him-
self, but the other unfortunate youth WWI not got out
for about ten minutes, and every effort to restore ani-
mation proved unsuccessful.
A LONG LOAN REPAID.—About fourteen years,
ago a daughter of Mrs. Allan, of Banff, dropped a half-
crown in the street. The girl did not find it again,
and of course the cifietanstance was soon forgotten.
An anonymous letter, bearing the Banff postmark,
was, however, received by Mrs. Allan a short time
ago in the following terms, and contained 2s. Gd. in
postage stamps :
" Mrs. Alen, there was a little lacie of yourslet full hal-a-
crowen at Johny Nicol's door on the high street. about 14
years ago an I took it up and now I am able to pay it back"
VALFF. OF REAL PROPERTY IN AMERICA.—
The marvellous rise in real property in the metropolis
of America is shown by the following from the New

York Times
The South comer of Broadway and Bond-street ham been
valued within a lifetime at ten dollars; It was sold once for
250 dollars, then offered for 500 dollars, then for 2,000 dollars,
and in 1839 was again add for 15,000 dollars. Recently the
Wilcox and Gibbs' Sewing Machine Company offered 200,000
dollars for it, which, being declined, they have leased the
premises for a long term, and are abut to open the most
magnificent sewing machine establishment in the world.
During the past forty years the property has doubled in
value every seven years. The whole of New York Island was
once sold for ten dollars.
HOTEIS WITH "Thes"—At Bolton, on Satur-
day, a person named Cooper was munitioned under
the following circumstances :---He is the occupier
of a "tall," an adjunct to the Lever's Arms I
Hotel, sub-let to him by the proprietor of that I
establishment, Mr. Bird. The defendant pays
a rent to Mr. Bird, and sells beer and spirits under
Mr. Bird's licence. This the inland revenue authori-
ties contend is illegal, as it is a distinct tenancy and a
separate establishment. On the other bandit was held
that Cooper, the tenant of the "tap," was Mr. Bird's
servant. The magistrate decided that there was a
distinct tenancy, and as two specific cases of selling
beer and spirits had been proved, they fined him £2O
for the first and for the second, but mitigated the
penalties to one-fourth. The magistratss, however,
expressed a wish that their decision might be reviewed
by one of the superior courts. Mrs. Cork, of the Swan
Hotel, was afterwards fined in a similar case.
A YANKEE AeoLocrr.—An American news-
paper contains the foilosving retraction, which would
probably be not quite satisfactory to the offended
person : —" Amende Honorable--We yesterday spoke
of Mr. Hamilton, of the Chestnut-street Theatre as a
'thing.' Mr. H. having complained of our remark, we
willingly retract it, and here state that Mr. Hamilton,
of the aemut-street Theatre, is nothing."
A TALE OF REVENGE.—A murder has just
been committed at Cleyzien (Ain). For a long time
past an extreme hatred had existed between the sous
of M. Jacquet, formerly mayor of that commune, and
a young man named Delorme, of the same neighbour-
hood, all of whom were under twenty years of age.
They had frequently fought together, and Delorme,
being the strongest, had always obtained the ad-
vantage. A few days back the three young men, with
a fourth, a companion of Delorme, met on their return
from a fair, and appeared to be in very good intelli-
gence. They stopped to drink together at a grange I
where wine was sold. The two Jacquets were the first
to leave, and when Delorme's friend followed a few
moments after, he found himself suddenly attacked,
and after being severely beaten, was pushed down a
steepbank towards a smallstream below. He, however,
fell into some bushes at the side, where he remained
insensible for some hours. Delorme, who followed his
friend alertly after, was stabbed mortally, and then