The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-06 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

An order has been received at Wednesbnry for bridge
and girder work for Afghanistan of so extensive a character
that it will give employment to 1,000 men for the next six
months.
-

-----
The Burgomaster of New Gratz has died of apoplexy,
on hearing that the ice had destroyed the Itadkersburg
bridge.

The Bishop of Litchfield, in delivering his primary
charge to the clergy of his diocese, said he thought that in
large parishes clergymen or godly laymen might preach with
advantage, not in great thoroughfares, but in courts and
alleys. He advocated the leaving open of churches for
private prayer.
-- - -

-
At a meeting of the Worcestershire Chamber of
Agriculture, the following resolution has been pasted in
reference to the malt tax :- "That the malt duty, as at pre-
sent levied, prevents the British agriculturist from making
the best of his produce, and this chamber is of opinion that
the duty upon truth should be transferred to beer."

A coroner's inquest has been held in Manchester on
the body of John Shaw, letter-carrier, employed by the
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company. The deceased
was knocked down by a train on Friday in last week and
had both his legs taken oft. He had previously lost his
arms in another accident. A verdict of "Accidental death"
was returned.

Several of the principal colliery owners in Dean
Forest on Monday gave notice of a reduction of 6 per cent.
in wages and of 6d. per ton In the price of house coals.
Tuesday (2nd) being the 25th anniversary of the
Emperor Alexander's accession to the throne, a Te Deem
service was celebrated at the Russian Chapel, in Welbeck-
street, London, at which a number of Russian subjects at
present residing in London agteneed Prince Lobanoff, the
Russian Ambassador, with M. Bartholomel, Councillor, M.
Bouteneff, and Prince Dtmitrt Dolgoronky, Secretaries of
the Embassy, attended in state. M. de Berg, Russian Con-
sul-General, was also present in uniform, besides the Naval
Attache and others.

Apopos, the Russian Government has just made an
unpleasant significant discovery. For sears past the privets)
sales of gunpowder throughout the empire have not ex-
ceeded in value 700,000 roubles. In 1879, however, the re-
turns reached the sum of 1,000,000 roubles. The impression
not unnaturgslly is that the revolutionary party is secreting
large stores of the explosive somewhere or other, and a
searching investigation has been begun.— Whitehall' Review.

According to a table drawn up by a correspondent
of the Manchester Guardian, who describes it as "a
dfully complied tabulated statement of the number of
Joms engaged in the manufacture of cotton cloth in the
principle towns and villages (Preston excepted), the number
of looms working is 214,832, out of a total of 229,585, the
number working short time 1,122, and the number stopped
13,611.

carefull:

;Last week there were 2,746 births and 1,662 deaths
registered in London. Allowing for Increase of population,
the births exceeded by 158, while the deaths were 141 Delaw,
the average numbers in the corresponding week of the last
ten years. The annual death-rate from all causes, which in
the three previous weeks had been eqr.al to 481., 355, and
28.7 per 1,000, further declined to 23 7. The deaths included
13 troth small-pox, 18 from measles, 46 from scarlet fever, 5
from diphtheria, 136 from whooping-cough, and 13 from
different forms of fever.
The members of the Nordenskiold expedition are to
be rewarded by the King of Sweden with a medal specially
st,ruck in commemoration of the North-east Passage. There
are tour gold and forty-six silver medals for the officers and
crew, which bear on the one side a portrait of King °tear
and on She obverse the insignia of the Order of the North
Star.

A French paper states that Dr. Phipaon has proposed
a new solution of the question relative to a cheap means of
illuminating for domestic purposes. He ham succeeded in
augmenting considerably, by means of a comparatively weak
electric current, the phosphorescence-of certain substances
influenced by the solar rays. He encloses within a Geissler
tube a phosphorescent substance, such as the sulphide of
barium, and causes the tube to be traversed by a constant
current oft certain intensity. By this means, it is stated, a
uniform and agreeable light may be obtained at a less coat
than by means of gas.—Eiectrtcian.
The storm of Tuesday appears not only to have
extended over a considerable area, including England and
Ireland, but to have raged with marked severity in widely
separated localities. In many places the gale was accom-
panied by rain, hail, or snow. In the Northern, Midland,
and some of the Western counties a number of streams over-
flowed their banks, doing considerable damage.

_
"Many farmers in East Essex do not agree with the
farmers of South Norfolk with respect to the Malt Tax. A.
meeting of barley growers was held at Colchester on Satur-
day, not to urge the repeal of the Malt Tax, but to ask for a
duty on sugar used in brewing equivalent to the duty on the
malt for which the sugar is substituted. This is not the
right way to go to work. Repeal the Malt Tax, putting a
duty on beer instead, and malt will hold its own against
sugar."—Mark Lane Express.
It is stated that the run spots are lost now nnusu
ally large and numerous. This, according to scientific
persons, is a proof of the passing away of the languid period
of the solar energies, and the beginning of a new cycle of
their activities, bringing favourable seasons for agriculture.
This may also be good news to salmon fishers, as the salmon
disease has lately been attributed in a great measure to the
want of the usual solar heat.

Foremost among angling eaploits this year must be
placed the capture on Loch Tay of a miguificent salmon
weighing 501 b. The captor of this fine fish, Mr. Haynes, has
also been fortunate in taking another Tay monster, having
landed the other day on the Ktllin water a beautiful " fresh-
run " salmon of 401 b. During the past week other waters
have yielded some heavy salmon.
At a Council meeting of the Central and Associated
Chambers of Commerce, held in London in the large room
of the Society of Arts, a discussion took place on the subject
of the Malt Tax, and a resolution was passed affirming that
the tax on malt was contrary to every Round principle of
taxation and ought to be repealed, and that a tax upon boar,
of a sufficiently large amount to prevent possible loss to the
revenue, might be with advantage imposed in lieu thereof,

The Rev. Dr. Joseph Parker, minister of the City
Temple, intends to come forward as a candidate at the
general election. In an address " o the electors and non.
electors of the 'City of London," he lays it has long ap-
peared to him desirable "that there should be a number of
men in Parliament whose training and occupation especially
qualify them to deal practically with the religious progreas
and necessities of the country.', .

The Allan Line steamer Manitoban arrived at
Greenock on Monday evening, after a voyage of twenty-five
days. Her propeller was lost when six days out. Some
heavy weather was encountered, and during one of the
storms several cattle were killed, the wheel was smashed,
some of the bulwarks were swept away, and two of the crew
were Injured. The hfanitoban was picked up In the Channel
by the Liverpool tug Rescue, which towed her to the Tail of
the Bank.

Actors who have reached the ripe age of 100 are
seldom to be seen actively engaged in the exercise of their
profession. According to the Farb Pate, however, one
of these ram ayes may now be witnessed nightly at
Toulouse. He ix a comic actor named Graffetott, was born
on the 2nd of July, 1780, came out at 15 years of age when
the Revolution was at its height, and appeared successively
at Robin°, at the 31ontansierTheatre, at the Glatt% at Nantes,
and at Toulouse, where he settled for good.
General Garibaldi has written a letter to the Riforma
In which he rejoices at the success attending the trial of the
Duzlio, and declares that the Italian Government should
effect all possible economy in every department except the
navy, which he regards as the fundamental basis of Italy's
existence, and for which the nation should be prepared to
make the greatest sacrifices.
The Kurier Poranny reports ss project which it
understands to be under serious consideration for early
execution, the object of which is to substitute a row of
colossal catacombs for the cemeteries now in Use in Warsaw
for burying the dead. A'clesign of the proposed vaults has
already been prepared. The vaults are to be of sufficient
size to hold 50,000 coffins It is proposed that each coffin
shall be kept in the catacombs only for the space of live
years, and shall after that be destroyed by fire, together
with its contents.
As an instance of the influence the land agitation
has had on investments in landed property in Ireland, it is
stated that several estates in the counties of Kerry and
Waterford were put up the other day for sale in the Landed
Estates Court, Dublin; but there was not a single bidding for
any of the lots, and the sales had to be adjourned.
The Prime Minister of France narrowly escaped a
serious accident on Tuesday morning. As M. de Frey duet
was leaving the Council of Minister', and when he had
already put his foot on to the step of the carriage, the horse
I suddenly bolted. M. de Freycinet and M. Cazot, who was
with him' were knocked aside, but recovered their presence
of mind sufficiently to riip alter the carriage. The coachman
was thrown from the "box at d very seriously hurt. The
Ministers received no injury beyond a shaking.

" When the Queen and Princess Beatrice visited
the Empress at Chialehurst on Wednesday they took with
them three large wreaths. Two were laid by the side of the
Prince Imperial's flower•covered coffin; the third by the
Emperor's tomb—no hands but the Queen's and the Princess's
touching these tributes. The iron grille was opened to
enable the Queen and her daughter to walk close alongside
the Prince's coffin. There was no card or inscription of any
kind on the wreaths. Mousigncr Goddard received the
Qacen and the Princess (with whom came Lord Sydney) at
the church; and the visit to the Empress at Camden lasted,
as usual, about a quarter of au hour. The Queen noticed on
the Prince's coffin a spray of heather; it was brought from
Scotland by the Empress last year."—Whitehall Leview.
Those who have seen the Empress Eugenielately
say that although she has recovered her health, the terrible
blow which fell upon her last year has left indelible trace'
upon her face. The features, which were once considered
as amongst the fairest in Europe, are marked by deep lines
of grief and care, and as she walks on foot to the little
chapel of Father GJeldard, dressed in deep mourning, the
Empress inspires feelings of the deepest compassion. Few.
visitors now intrude upon her retirement.-.--Court Jouroa4
Mr. Clare Read, M.P., at the Norfolk Chamber,_o,f
Agriculture, on Saturday, moved a resolution affirming 0"
the Malt Tax is contrary to every sound principle of tare-
lion, and ought to be repealed, and a tax upon beer sufticie.trit
to prevent a loss to the Revenue imposed in its place' 'a°
t
argued that putting stamps on barrels before being se
from the brewery, as was done in America, woulden out
enable
farmers to use malt for feeding without prejudice to the
public. The motion was adopted.
As the London and North. West ern Rail way auill fury
mall train was passing through Wolverton Station, prl3' last
Saturday morning, at a speed of between fifty and sixty miles
an hour, it ran into a bale of leather, is is supposed
which
had fallen from a passing down goods train. The wheels of
the engine, except the two front ones, were The
off the
metals, and in this position the train Pfoeed-6___d _a—b?tit 700
yards before it came to a standstill. FerblelttP. the
carriages remained on the line. The passengers. Who Were
very much alarmed and shaken, were enabled to proceed on
their journey after a delay of about two holm.
The Direction of the Bureau Veritas has irnit pub-
lished the following statistics of maritim disasters reported
c ;
during the month of January, 1880 oncernieg all flags
,
Sailing vessels reported lost :-61 6
17 American, 10
Engibh.s Italian, 3 Greek,
French, 8 German, 6 Danish_ Norwegian,
3 Dutch, 2 Austrian, 2 Spanish 2 Portuguese, 1 Nicaraguan,
1 Russian, 1 Siamese, 1 Swedish, 9 of which the nationality
Is unknown—total, 123. In this number are included 8
vessels reported missing. Steamers reported lost;-15 Eng-
lish, 1 French-6. In this number is included one steamer
' reported missing.

A private telegram has been receive i in Lonslon
from Professor John Milne, dated from Tokio. Japan, Feb.
26, to the effect that there has been a severe earthquake in
Yeddo.
Owing to the House of Commons sitting to so late
an hour last Saturday evening, a meeting of the Cabinet,
which had been postponed from the afternoon till six o'clock,
did not take place.
The Queen is expected to leave Windsor Castle
about the 22nd inst. for the Continent.
Lord Aberdeen has announced his intention of re-
mitting the half-year's rents due in June next by all his
tenants on all his estates in Aberdeenshire.
Sir Frederick Johnstone, the Conservative member
for the borough of Weymouth, has offered to provide £2,000
for helping the town to provide a Winter Garden.
There are in the North Lancashire and Cumberland
district 63 out of 89 furnaces in blast, and in the course of
about a month or six weeks eight others will be lighted. At
most of the works in the district new furnaces are being
built.
The officers and men of the Bombay Army have Bent
the sum of £791 is. 6d. to the office of the Patriotic Fund as
a contribution to the Zulu War Fond,
The Royal yacht Victoria and Albert is being pre-
pared to convey her Majesty and Princess Beatrice in about
six weeks' time to Cherbourg, en route for Baveno. Her
Majesty, after remaining a few weeks on the Continent, will
return via Qaeenborough and Flushing.
At his rent audit at Kelso, the Earl of Haddington
made a redaction of twenty per cent, on the past half-year's
rents to the tenants on his estates in Scotland.
Under the head of "Conscience Money." the Chase.
cellor of the Exchequer acknowledges (in The Times) the
receipt of the first half of a £5-note from "N. F.;" and also
the second halves of banknotes for £75 from "X Z. A.," for
Income-tax.
There were 30 British and foreign wrecks reported
dining the past week, making a total of 266 for the frtesent
year, or a decrease of 96 as compared with the correspond-
ing period of last year. The approximate value of property
lost was £410,006, including British /3345,000.
A telegram from Ottawa says that the D minion
Senate has adopted an address to the Marquis of Lorne
congratulating him on the escape of the Princess Louise and
himself on theoccasion of the sleigh accident on the 14th
nit. The address has been sent down for approval to the
Dominion House of Commons.
At a meeting of the Nottingham Town Council on
Monday a motion was introduced by Mr. Councillor Jacoby
in favour of opening the Castle Museum of Ark on Sunday,
and after 'a lengthy discussion was lost by 30 votes to 24.
The subject has of late been exciting considerable interest
in the town. Mr. Jacoby intimated his intention of again
bringing forward his resolution at a future time.
Rod salmon fishing in the British Isles appears,-ao•
cording to full reports to the Field, to be almost all that
the most enthusiastic angler need desire. The captures, more
particularly in the northern streams of Scotland. have been
plentiful during the past week • the condition of the water
and the state of the weather 'being highly favourable for
sport. Indeed, on the Dee, not for many years have so
many salmon been lauded during the first month of the
season.

A reception in honour of M. de Leseeps has been
held in New York by the Geographical Society. M. de
Lesseps delivered an eddress, In which he declared that the
Panama Canal can and mast be cut, and that he staked
his past and future reputation upon the success of the
undertaking.
The Paris Globe states that France has entered into
negotiations with England and the United States, with a
view to bringing the war between Chili alid Pere to a con-
clusion.
The Parliamentary holidays for Easter will begin it
is expected, about the 25th inst., and the Budget will be
brought forward on the n'ght of Monday, April 5.
Operations for the construction of the Forth Bridge
have been commenced at South Queenaferry. The turf was
cut on Tuesday by Mx. Brownhiti, Inverkeithing, and the
first barrowfull was wheeled away and " tipped" by Miss
Baxter, of Newhall,.
It is expected that upwards of 25,010 men of all
arms will be present at the Easter Monday Volunteer Review
at Brighton. The arrangements will be carried out by the
Military Department of the War Office, which will also
decide the officers to be appointed to the command of the
respective divisions and brigades.
A new Slave Convention has been entered into
between the Governments of Great Britain and the German
Empire, whereby co-operation between the ships of the two
Powers in the suppression of slave traffic is assured.
The General Shipley, which has arrived at Liver-
pool from New Orleans, reports that on February 14, in lat.
43 35 N., long. 32 W., a ship on fire was sighted. She had
painted ports, her topmast was gone, and her yards were
In a crippled state. Later on she was on tire her whole
length. There were no signs of boats nor any signals of dis-
tress, but a vessel was seen eight miles off, and it was
though probable she had the crew on board.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has informed the
Church Missionary SociSty that a gentleman, whose name is
at present unknown, is willing to give the sum of ten thou-
sand pounds, invested in Colonial Government Securities,
towards the endowment of a bishopric in the North a China,
on the condition that the selection of the Bishop should be
Invested in the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The idea of connecting the Baltic with the North
Sea by a canal navigable for large sea-going ships sod
steamers has of late been again much discussed in Germany;
and in a pamphlet Just published under the name of The
Baltic and North Sea Canal" the writer maintains that if
such a canal were constructedOoy a pilvate company even
for commercial purposes only, it would be a paying
concern.
The Birmingham Post is informed that Cardinal
Newman, though still confined to the house is rapidly re-
covering from the effects of his accident a Neil:light ago, and
that his medical attendants have every reason to be satisfied
with his progress.
The greatest exertions are being made by the Paris
newspapers to reassure public opinion, and they unite (the
Paris correspondent of the Standard says) In telling the
public that they have been weak in allowing themselves to
be scared by the phantom of approaching war.
About half of the modern vill4ge built on the ruins
of the temple of Eleuals, has been purchased by the
Arclitoological Society of Athens with a view to the excava-
tion of the site. New houses will be built lower down by the
edge of the bay, and, when the present population has been
withdrawn to these new quarters, the workmen of the
society will begin operations.
Bishop Fraser has been prosented at his residence,
Bishop's Court, Manchester. with a service of plate, valued
at £6OO, on behalf of the clergy of the diocese. on the occa-
sion of his marriage. At the request of the Bishop, the pro-
ceedings were of a private nature. The committee having
charge of the general presentation from the laity of the
diocese have not yet determined the form their tedi niontal
is to take.
As a proof of the numbers of Scotchmen of good
family who took service in foreign countries in early times,
It may be mentioned that the " Armorial de Sabre" at
Brussels was recently found by Lord Crawford to contain,
-says the Atheneeum, 45 Scottish coats of arms. This collec-
tion is heraldically of the more importance in that 30 of
these coats have also the crests. An armorial found at Paris
contains 124 Scotch shields, but without the crests.
The Court Circular of Tuesday says that the Qaeen
was deeply grieved by receiving the announcement of the
death of LieutenanteColonel Arthur Pickard, V.C., C.B.,ay
of
the Royal Artillery, which took place at Cannes, on Mond
evening, the Ist of March. Lieutenant-Colonel Pickard,
who had served with distinction in the New Zealand
war, where he had earned the Victoria Cross, had been for
many years Equerry to the Duke of Connaught, and latterly
was appointed Assistant Private Secretary and Assistant
Keeper of the Privy Parse and Groom-in-Tatting to the
Queen. Histioss is sincerely deplored by Her Majesty and
all the members of the Royal family.
Harvest in south Australia is progressing favourably.
'aye
The Adelaide Observer of December 20th ;--" During
the past six weeks the weather has been extremely hot, but
very favourable for harvesting operations, which in every
direction in the North are proceeding vigorously. In the
higher and cooler districts the fields are putting on the
golden tint, and operations there will very soon commence.
The promise of a heavy yield is being fully confirmed, and there
are few eomplaints of the crop; turning out under average.
From many puts of the country we are receiving reports of
yields very considerably over the average."
The Bishop of Manchester, speaking at a meeting
in the Guildhall, Preston, on Monday evening in support of
the Society tor the Propagation of the Gospel, responded to
a hearty welcome given to him on his first appearance in
Preston since his marriage. His lordship explained a mts-
conception•that had admen to the effect that he intended
limiting Ids supervision of the episcopate to ten or twelve
years. It was his intention to continue in the office so long
as his health and strength permitted him. The Bishop of
Madagascar and other speakers followed.
The Qaeen Princess Beatrice, and Prince Leopold
attended Divine service on Sunday in the private chapel at
Windsor. Dr. Vaughan Dean of Lhandaff and Master of the
Temple, preached. Princess Christian of 81.sewick-Hoisteln
visited the Queen and remained to luncheon. The Prince
and Princess of Wales and their daughters attended divine
service at the Chapel Royal,
Si.
James's. The sermon was
preached by the Bishop of Chlchesber.
giggfn, Q.C., in charging the grand jury at
She intermediate sessions for the Salford Hundred, alluded
to the agitation which is being raised for a reform of the
Jury sy.tem. One of the heads of the proposed reform
is that jurors should be paid. The chairman was of opinion
that, as a platter of principle, all persons who serve upon
jades in civil causes should be compensated for their loss
of time. In eriminal cases, however, they ought to give
their time freely; but be recognised the hardship existing
under the present system, and could not help thinking that
arrangements should be made by which jurors, whether in
in civil or criminal cues, should not be detained from their
homes for a longer period than two days, although this
might require the presence at sessions and assizes of a
larger number of persons as jurors than is now found to
be necessary.
In London, on Monday, an inquiry was held at the
"Tankard" Tavern, Lambeth, relative to the death of Mr.
William Breedou, aged 80 years, late a commander in Her
Majesty's Navy, who died from the effects of lejartes on
Saturay morning last. It appeared from the evidence that
on the 18th of January last he retired to rest, and some time
after a heavy fall was heard. His niece entered the room
and found that deceased was seriously injured. Dr. Walter
Monday was called in immediately and discovered that Mr.
Breedon had broken the neck of the right thigh bone within
Its capsule. The injured limb could not be placed in splints
owing to deceased's age. There was not the slightest Menu
of mar cohesion of the bone. The jury returned a verdict of
"Accidental death."
0 a Tuesday morning the body of David Mitchell
the driver of the train which was lost on the occasion of the
ray Bridge disaster, was recovered near Tayport, six miles
from Dundee. The body was not much decomposed. The
hands were still black and greasy, and the face was perfectly
recognisable. Mitchell had been in the service of the
North British Railway Company for sixteen years. He has
left a widow and six children. This is the 39th body re-
covered.
Sovereign Pontiff of
Leo XIII. (Joachim Pecchi)
the Roman Catholic Church, was born ou March 2, 1810, and
accordingly completed his 70th year on Tuesday. nix
'fellness was elected to the papacy, in buccession to Pope
Pius IX., on Feb. 20, 1878, and crowned on March 3 follow-
ing. Leo XIII. is the 258th pontiff of the Church of Rome.
His Holiness has placed 9,000 f. at the disposal of the
Apostolic Almoner for distribution among the poor of Rome
on the occasion of the second anniversary ot his coronation.
The Shrewebury huunde had a narrow escape from
destruction the other day. The pack met at Pltchfcrrd, and,
a fox being found, the hounda in full cry got iu front of the
huntsman on to the Severn Valley Railway, near to Ber-
Tinton. In an instant a train was seen approaching, and a
catastrophe was expected to happen. Fortunately the driver
of the engine saw the pal, shut off the steam, and applied
the brake, bringing the trade' to .a standstill within a few
feet of the dogs.
Mr. Knatchbull-Hugessen, M.P., has addressed a
letter to Mr. George Candelet, of Manchester, respecting the
action of the licensed victuallers' and brewing interests at
the coming general election. He advises them to profess an
equal desire with all other right-thinking people to check
intemperance, and a readiness to allow fair consideration to
any proposal made for that object. Farther, he advises
them to avow their confidence (which, he is sure, is well
grounded) that Parliament will not allow any unfair attacks
on their interests to succeed, and their reliance upon the
good sense and feeling of statesmen on both sides of the
House. In this spirit he would have them counsel their
friends to vote according to their political opinions in every
constituency.

The Correspondent of The Times says that the new
St. Petersburg police house regulations are pretty rigorous.
After six o'clock in the evening all house doors inset be closed,
and be opened again at six in the morning. No lights are
allowed to burn after midnight, and the dvornik, or house
watchman, has the right, if he sees lights burning after mid-
night, to enter the house and see what the occupants are
doing. Anybody paying a visit after six in the evening is
stopped by the dvorni.lc, and asked for the name of the
person he means to call upon, and for his own name and pro-
fession or calling. The dvornik must, moreover, be in-
formed by the occupant of every visit he receives. There
are also strict regulations for hotels and lodgingshouses.

Tbe hailstorm of August last damaged the Kew
Gardenz to the extent ot £5,500, for which a Parliamentary
vote is nlw asked.

Dr, Lyon Playfair hat we understand, adopted the
.Tablochkoffs system for paitially lighting his town residence.
—.Electrician.
Brethren of the Brush are plentiful in Paris, where
there are 002 painters in oil, 193 miniature painters, 607
pastel and fan painters, 107 sculptors, and 764 moulders,
without counting several thousand sign painters, decorators,
eolourists. and photographers.

According to the latest returns, Copenhagen has a
population of 235.000 inhabitants. In 1850 it contained
129,000, in 1860 150,000, and in 1870 181,000
Who wears the anklets which are beginning to make
their appearanc,e in some of the West-end shops devoted to
the mysteries of the female toilet? This reversion to a bar-
baric custom, is probably no more than a passing caprice,
and is hardly likely to become popular.— Court Journal.
The oldest member of the Orange Nissan family,
Prince Frederick of the Netherlands, attained his 83rd birth-
day last Sunday. His Royal Highness is reputed to be the
wealthiest man in Holland. He is Grand Master of the
Dutch freemasons.

Mr. Hannay, of Glasgow, writes that the cost of
producing diamonds by the newly-discovered process Is so
great that new e4periments must be made.
The email town of Urfa, the Scriptural Urr of the
Chaidees, has been nearly destroyed by lire. The inhabitants
removed their valuables to the house traditionally known as
Abraham's birth-place, which was uninjured.
The French Government has awarded silver medals
to William Blacker and John Chalk, of the steamer lichen.
for saving a drowning woman in Dunkirk Harbour on the
19th of November last.

Leave of absence from the House of Commons has
been granted to Mr. Fielden until Whitsuntide on account
ot ill-health. His health has greatly improved since his
arrival at Cannes, where he now is. There is every pros-
pect that he will be restored to his usual robust health, but
his doctors strongly urge him to reside in a southern
climate for the next two or three winters.
Beiog excessively dainty and more for ornament
than warmth, muffs are still worn. They are of coloured
satin, very prettily trimmed with lace and feathers. A very
elegant one worn by the Duchess of Edinburgh on her return
from Cannes, was composed of the blue part of the feathers
of a jsy. The costume of blue Indian cashmere had a feather
trimming to correspond.—Court Journal.
The funeral of the late Dr. Fairbank, surgeon to
her Majesty's household, took place at Ciewer Cuurch
Tuesday. The Queen and the Prince and Princess Christian
were represented among the mourners. The coffin was
covered with wreaths. Ihe Dean of Windsor officiated, the
choral portions of the service being sung by the Si. George's
Chapel choir.
The movement for holding an International Fair at
New York in 1888 is making good progress. In several
states the Governors have appointed Commissioners, and
have expressed their warm approval of the scheme. An
effort will be made to persuade the Federal Government to
take the whole matter in hand.
They tell a good story of a young Dulse (says the
Whitehall Review). The day after his succession to the title
he called on a friend who, as luck would have it, was out.
Milan he returned he asked his servant if there had been
any visitors, and was petrified by the man's answer, given in
that peculiarly "knowing " way in which Jeames permits
himself to indulge on occasion. "Yes, sir," he said, "Mr.
called but I'm sorry to say, sir, that he seemed rather
queer, for he gave his name as the Dook of !••
The Admiralty is said to have decided upon the
reintroduction of heavy breech-loading ordnance for service
afloat, especially in turret ships. The question of the con-
struction of 12-inch breech-loaders has been under consider-
ation, and the first of this pattern will be supplied to the
Colossus, steel armour-plated turret ship, now building at
Portsmouth.
A new school, for the accommodation of 4,000
children, erected at a cost of £13,838, including the site and
fittings and furniture, was opened by the Mayor of Bradford
on Monday. The school is erected on Bradford Moor, and
Is one of about 13 which have been erected by the Bradford
School Board, at a total expenditure of more than £200,000.

The receipts on account of revenue from the let
April, 1879, when there was a balance of £6 915,756, to
Feb. 28. 1880, were £72,479,048, against £73.991,978 in the
corresponding period of the preceding financial year, which
began with a balance of £6,243,389. The net expenditure
was £73,921,375, against £76,154,859 to the.same date in the
previous year. The Treasury balances on Feb. 28 amounted
to £6,464,624, and at the same date in 1879 to £6,140,232.
On Monday the Baroness Burdett•O 3utts presented
the prizes to the students in the Female School of Art at the
theatre of London University. Her Ladyship dwelt upon
the relations of the City Gruilds to art education, and spoke
of the advantages whic/' the school offered to young ladles
who desired to become artists. She also made some remarks
about the Home for Students which has been opened in
Brunswick-square, and which bids fair to become self-
supporting.
On Tuesday evening the Emperor and Empress of
Germany gave a family dinner, in honour of the twenty-fifth
anniversary of the Czar's accession to the throne, at which
all the members of the Imperial family now at Berlin were
present.
On Monday, the anniversary of the death of the
Emperor Nicholas, A solemn commemorative service was
held in the church of the St. Peter and Paul Fortress of Bt. ,
Petersburg, which was attended by the Emperor and the
Imperial family.

On Tuesday the scheme for supplying the Metro-
polis with sea water was under the consideration of a
Select Committee appointed by the House of Lords. The
scheme was opposed by the Metropolitan Board of Works,
who represented that the poor of London would not be
bebetited by it in any way, and that there was no excuse for
allowing Smother water company to disturb the streets. The
Committee rejected the scheme.
Her Majesty's staghountis met at Sikh-hill, near
Slough, on Tuesday. There was 'Marge field out, the London
division coming down by train from the metropolis. Frank
Gooelall, the Queen's huntsman' bad provided a capital deer,
Teddington, for the day's sport. On being uncarted the deer
made away for Langley, Ditton P.rk, the seat of the Duke
of Buccleuch, and Windsor Home Park, where it took to
the water opposite the Castle and swam up the Thames to
Surly Hall, after a most unsatisfactory and dodging run in
the Buckinghamshire country.
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Mr. Benjamin Whitworth, the Liberal candidate for
Drogheda, was returned on Tuesday by SB2 votes, as com-
pared ivrtn 181 given to Mr. lirCoan, the Home Ruler.
_ __

Two men, Hcnty Brown and Henry Bakewell,
have been killed at the Dronfield Steel Works, Sheffield, by
the breaking of the apparatus employed to move the ladle In
which the molten metal is taken from the Bessemer con-
verter. Bakewell was struck on the back by broken
ballance," and killed almost at once. Brown was thrown
Into the ladle amongst the steel, and though palled out in-
stantly, the flesh was burnt from lala body and legs, and his
face was frightfully diafigured._

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The,Comtesse de Paris is doing her beat to bring India
shawls into fashion again, but so tar Her Royal Illghness has
not met with much success hiller praiseworthy undertaking.
The Isot is that the days for shawls have passed away.
Young women who are well made are not averse to showing
their slender waists, and look with horror and disgust upon
the prodigious raiment in which their mothers used to wrap
themselves some flve•and-twenty years ago.—Whitehall
Review. _

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It is said that, at the Quern's desire, the Duke of
Edinburgh will make his stay at St. Petersburg as short as
possible, and that it is by no means certain that the DuchesS
will return at once to England. Whether she does so or not
must depend upon her mother, the Czarina's state of health.
Tuesday night's London Gazette announces that "her
Majesty is pleased to approve ot the 'Four Bushel Measure'
as a new denomination of standard, and doth direct that the
same shall be a Board of Trade standard in like manner as if
It was mentioned in the secohd schedule to 'the Weights
and Measures Act, HIS."
Vice-Chancellor Dlalins has dealt with a petition of
the Imprisoned Debtors' Discharge Society, to enable them
to make donations to certain specified charities oat' of the
surplus income °tithe association, amounting to £2,866. His
lordship sanctioned the distribution of the money in the
manner prayeg.
An inquest was held at the borough police-station,
Wakefield, on the body of George Hirst, a constable in the
force, who was drowned on Monday night while on duty.
The deceased was going, it is supposed, to Messrs. Stubley's
mill in order to have his lamp reUt, when he fell into a clay
pit with seven feet of water therein. A private watchman
at the mill was attracted to the spot by the conduct of his
dog, which had heard the moaning of the unfortunate man.
Efforts were at once made to rescue Hirst, and the watoh-
man caught him by the cape, but it supped over his head,
and the policeman fell back into the water. Further assist-
ance was procured, but when the body was recovered lit
was extinct.