The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-04-07 00:00:00

MR. CAINE AT BARROW.

Mr. W. S. Caine, M.P., addressed a meeting of his
constituents in the Town Hall, Barrow-in-Furness, on
Easter Tuesday night. He said that members of Par-
liament, whether Liberal Unionist or Conservative,
could meet their constituents with a cheerful
countenance. The bargain between the Government
and the Liberal Unionists :was a very simple one.
When the'Libefal party was split in two by Mr. Glad.
stone's Home Rule scheme the Unionists were to sup-
port the Irish policy of the Government and keep them
iii office, and file Conservatives were to bring in measures
for the settlement of such questions as Local Govern-
ment on a broad and Radical basis. Last session
the burden of the bargain was felt most heavily
ty- the Liberal Unionists; but this session it was their
turn to go lightly rejoicing, in the hope of the fulfil-
ment of some of those measures that have been the
object of Liberal aspirations for years past. The
work of the session reminded him of one of Mr.
Gladstone's in those palmy days before he became
absorbed by Mr. Parnell. It was hard to believe
that it was Lord Salisbury, Lord John Manners, and
Mr. W. H. Smith who were disestablishing the
county squire ; that it was a Tory Govern-
n?ent that had got the biggest surplus for 15
years, and a Tory Chancellor of the Exchequer that
was fulfilling Mr. Gladstone' i long-cherished hope of
reducing the interest on the National Debt by a half
•per cent. Mr. Goschen's scheme for the conversion of
the National Debt was a huge benefit to the taxpayer.
No Government but a very strong one could have
done this, and it was a clear proof that the Govern-
ment enjoyed the entire, Confidence not only of the
country it governed, but of all the Governments of
Europe and America. The Government had
carried through the mightiest financial mea-
sureof the century in the face of tre-
mendous. -difficulties so successfully that the
country failed to realise the stupendous magnitude of
the achievement. Mr. Caine next dealt with the Local
Government Bill, and, after describing its most impor-
tant clauses, said the bill provided very substantial
relief to the Jaurdens of ratepayers by large grants of
revenue froth the Imperial Exchequer, which would
place at the disposal of the County Councils about five
and a-half millions, the grants in aid now paid being
of course discontinued. The bill had been received
with la chorus. of,approval from all sections of the
House and all political parties. Mr. Gladstone re-
ceived Mr; Ritchie's explanation with favour, and pro-
mised to give the proposals in detail a fair and candid
consideration. Sir R. Paget, the typical Tory country
squire, warmly approved of- its main features, and
even Mr. Healy had given it his blessing and said it
was a scheme which could easily be made applicable
to Ireland. It was, in fact, the most important and
wide-reaching measure of local government ever sub-
mitted to Parliament
4 A
THE OPORTO FIRE. -4111

A correspondent, writing from Oporto, on the 25th
March, sends the following particulars respecting the
recent fire at the Baguet Theatre :—" Our city is in
mourning. Whole families disappeared, and many
lost relations and friends. I saw a house which had
been shut up simply because all the family had
perished in the fire; father, mother, four children, a
friend, and even the servant had gone to the theatre
on account of its being a birthday, and none of them
survived. From another house a child, a servant, and
a lodger lost their lives; the father, who was badly
burnt, has become insane; the: mother, who was also
badly burnt, is the only one expected to recover. The
,fire =commenced in the stage hangings. A young
Englishman, Mr. Harris, who was in the stalls, tells
me that When the alarm of fire was given a stampede
took place from the pit towards the Rua de Sto.
Antonio exit. Seeing that it would be dangerous to
try to getout in that direction, on account of the crush,
, •
he looked towards the. opposite exit near the stage,
towards the'Rua de 5.3. de 13andeira. This he saw was
also blocked up; with people, but in a lesser degree.
He, therefore, waited till he could see an opportunity for
escape. Sheets Of flame soon'-spiang from the stage
towards the roof,.rnaldrig a rOaring noise, and filling
the upper part of the theatre *ith smoke. There was
only.one other person in the pit, an old lady, sitting
I.bout five, rows. behind him. When the exit door
from the pit to the Rua de SA de Bandeira was clear
I 14e sifoute'd and beckoned, to that lady to come out
with him. She stared at him without moving, and
It was then apparent that she was paralysed by fear
at the terrible position she was in. Mr. Harris seized
her by the arms, dragged and pushed her .through
the door, down the passage and out into the street,
when she was in an unconscious state. The passage
being by this time free, he returned into the theatre
to afford assistanae to anyone else there might be
there. The pit, the boxes, and all the theatre,
appeared to be empty. He called out in
Portuguese, but there was no reply. Things
r began to fall from the roof. The flames were spread-
ing in all directions, the smoke was advancing down
the passages, putting out the gas jets one by one as
it reached them, and he therefore left the theatre again,
little thinking that there had been so serious a loss of
life towards the other exit. There the result of the
panic was the usual one, a surging mass of people, a
terrible struggle to get out; some fell and were
trampled on by those rushing over them; the gas
went out, and the struggling crowd found their
way out in the darkness as best they could; but
many never rose after they fell, and were
suffocated by the smoke. Those in the lower tier of
boxes were the most fortunate, as their passage
abutted on to the main exit, a wide door opening to
the street, and the occupants soon found themselves
in the Rua de Sto. Antonio. The occupants of the
third tier of boxes, and the gallery above these, were
not .so fortunate. The passages from these were
narrow and low, and the stairs steep. Smoke swept
across and filled the boxes and passsges, and before
long this was followed by the flames. There was
not room for all to go out at once through one exit,
where all the passages met, and to this the peat 4o!is
d life is attributed." ti '

JEWS AS JURYMEN.—At the conclusion of an inquest
held by Mr. Wynne Baxter, the other day, a singular
scene was witnessed. The whole of the jury, with one
exception, were Jews, and when the inquiry ended they
all refused to sign their names to the inquisition. The
Coroner pointed out that they had heard the evidence
and returned a verdict, and that their signatures were
necessary, but still they refused, stating that it was the
feast of the Passover, and that it was against their
religious belief, as Jews, to sign their names during the
period over which the Passover extended. The Coroner
said that their signatures would have to appear on the
inquisition, and eventually his officer was deputed to
sign for all those who were of. the Jewish persuasion;
gnd the inquiry we bought 19 aslosit _
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