The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-07-16 00:00:00

THE HEAT IN AMERICA.

The Philadelphia Correspondent of The Times writes on
July 12 :
Cooler weather has succeeded the hot wave. Reports
of the effects of the terrific heat on Sunday continue
coming in, especially from the West, showing that there
were 70 deaths from sunstroke throughout the country;
23 deaths from sunstroke are reported from St. Louis,
and 21 from Pittsburgh. The heat killed many cattle
in transit on the railways. It also almost entirely
stopped out door work on Saturday and Monday in
several of the western cities. It produced a terrific
waterspout near Desmoines, lowa, causing great de-
struction from winds and freshets. In some laces
over four inches of rain fell in one hour on Saturday
night. Storms are reported throughout lowa, im-
peding the railways by destroying the bridges and
washouts. Six persons were drowned, and many per-
sons in the flooded valleys were rescued by boats from
the roofs of houses.

The North British Agriculturist gives a very gloomy
report of harvest prospects in Scotland. It says that the
cereals do not look nearly so well as they looked at this
time last year, that the root crop is in a very unsatisfactory
condition, the hay crop light, and feed on pastures short.
The potato crop is the only really good one. As to prices,
they are bad for cattle and wool, and these come after a
winterin which there were heavy losses among sheep, and
great costs in feeding all live stock were incurred. On
the whole, the outlook of Scotch farmers is very dispirit-
ing.

DEPARTURE OF TEE FLEET FROM
CRONSTADT.

The Correspondent of the Standard writing from St. Peters.
burg on Sunday night, describes the departure of the Reserve
Squadron from Cronstadt in a letter, from which we make
the following extracts :
- -

The Reserve Squadron left Cronstadt yesterday
afternoon for Kiel, where, according to present ar-
rangements, three days will be spent. From Kiel the
Hercules and her consorts will sail for Leith, so that
they can scarcely be at Spithead before the end of
July.
It was finally arranged that the visit of the Em-
peror, which bad been expected on Thursday and then
on Friday, should be deferred to the last moment, so
that after an inspection of the flagship he might bid
farewell to the Duke of Edinburgh on his Royal High-
ness's own quarter deck, and might witness the de-
parture of the British Squadron from Russian waters.
At an early hour yesterday morning the ships pre-
sented a busy appearance. Besides the usual Satur-
day cleaning, those on board the several vessels had
to get ready for sea and to prepare for the visit of
several illustrious personages. Orders had been
given to get up steam for seven knots, and
for all hands to be on board by noon. Ships' boats
and shore boats came alongside one after another;
wherries and whale boats, cutters, steam pinnaces,
tugs, and launches, with officers, passengers, mess-
men, and cooks, and marine postmen in scarlet
tunics. Longshore visitors had to bid goodbye to
their friends on board, and watch further proceedings
from the decks of Cronstadt or St. Petersburgh
steamers, for the boats of the Fleet had to be hoisted
up, some to the davits and some on board, an opera-
tion that cost the Valiant her foreyard, which proved
unequal to the strain of her steam pinnace, and
snapped off, dropping the boat and staving in her
bows, but happily hurting no one.
On the previous day I had been a witness of a
terrible accident on board the Hector. The Admiral
had signalled to get down the royal yards, and the
operation had just been accomplished, when a seaman
in the main royal rigging, one hundred and twenty
feet from the deck, lost his hold and fell. The captain,
standing on the bridge, shouted to the men in the
maintop to catch the poor fellow, and, his descent
being checked by the peak halliards, one of the sailors
caught him byrthe shirt, but, failing to hold him, he
fell with an awful crash through a skylight on to the
main deck below. He was at once attended to by the
doctor, who, wonderful to relate, found that, though
one leg and one arm were broken and his head terribly
cut, there were no necessarily fatal injuries, and the
man was alive and in his senses when the Fleet left
yesterday at half-past eleven.
The Hercules signalled to dress the ship, and as if by
magic gay lines of bunting fluttered in the beeeze
from jibboom to spanker gaff. At half-past two the
guns from the furthermost forts gave warning that the
Imperial yacht Czarevna was on her way to the Fleet,
and for half an hour the air was rent with the thunder
of the guns as fort after fort and ship after ship took
up the Royal salutes, bringing the rain down in
torrents from dark clouds overhead.

At three o'clock the Czarevna, followed by a flotilla
of yachts, anchored on the port quqrter of the Hercules,
and the Emperor and his consort were pulled in their
barge to the gangway of the great ironclad, where
they were received by the Duke of Edinburgh and
his Staff, and Mr. Wyndham, our Chargé d'Affaires.
As the Czarevna stepped on board, the guard of
honour of the Royal Marines drawn up on the quarter
deck saluted, and the Imperial Russian standard run
up at the main was shaken out, displaying a double.
healed eagle in the black on a yellow ground.
By special request, no guns were fired from our
ships until they were under weigh. The Imperial
visitors remained on board for an hour and ten
minutes, inspecting the noble vessel from stem to
stern with the greatest interest and admiration.
At half-past four, after taking refreshment in the
Admiral's cabin, they returned to the yacht, which
steamed round the Hercules and past the starboard
column the ships being anchored in double column
line, ahead out to sea, there to await the passing of the
fleet.

As the Imperial party left the ship's side the yards
were manned, and three hearty cheers rang out from
some five thousand British throats. At twenty
minutes past four the ships undressed. Since the
morning they had been riding with a single anchor.
The order was now given to weigh, and at 4.50 the
Hercules' port bower was at the. cathead, and at five
the squadron started, each vessel, in obedience to
rapid signals from the flag ship, starboarding her helm
and turning in her station, so that the Hercules and
Lord TVarden, from leading ships, became the rear;
but only for a few minutes, for, forging ahead, they
soon led their respective columns, which then opened
out and fired a Royal salute, as the Czarevna, followed
by the rest of the flotilla, passed slowly through on
their way back to. Peterhoff. This was at a quarter
before six, and ere we were back at Cronstadt the
ships wete on the dim horizon
Altogether the stay of the Fleet in Cronstadt Roads
was must enjoyable for all who were fortunate enough
to ;.;(t ashore, and it will undoubtedly do much to
cnii arm the frioadly relations that now subsist between
the two count/ :,?s. It was gratifying to an English-
man to see the •tdrn, ration caused by the appearance of
the ships and men, and amusing to notice the astonish-
ment of the Russians on hearing that our sailor
Prince not only actually commanded the Squadron,
but is eminently fitted for the post. The British
colony, it is needless to say, received their countrymen
with open arms, and cricket matches, lawn tennis
parties, and dinners, with a hearty welcome to all who
could come, helped them to enjoy their first flying
visit to the capital of All the Russias.