biglam/hmd_newspapers huggingface dataset:
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

STORM ON LAKE MICHIGAN.

On September 10 a fearful storm visited Lake Michigan,
doing great damage to shipping. The terrible disaster is
thus described in a special dispatch to the Herald :
CHICAGO, ILL., Sept. 11, 1875.

A most terrible disaster, arising from the great storm
of Thursday night, and involving the loss of the pro-
pellor Equinox with all on board, is reported. By it
twenty-six persons were drowned. The Equinox left
Saginaw for Chicaga.tont.9Pando.y last, laden with salt,
and was near Point du Gable, about 180 miles from
Chicago, when she went down. The story of the
disaster is told by Captain Lusk, of the schooner
Emma A. Mayes, which has just arrived here. His
schooner was being towed by the lost propeller up to
within a few minutes before she went down. The
storm was the most severe that has prevailed for years,
and struck vessels with great fury. No signs were
shown by the Equinox that there was any danger an-
ticipated, but about two o'clock on Friday morn-
ing Captain Lusk heard an order from the pro-
peller to cast off lines, which was immediately
followed by the shrieks of women. For a few
seconds all was still. The crew of the Mayes
meanwhile loosened the lines, and the voices of women
from the propeller were again heard crying for help.
Captain Lusk was peering through the darkness at the
receding propeller, It appeared to tip, and almost
before he could make a motion that immense craft
went down a hissing and bubbling of the water only
telling of where she had been. It was so quick that
no one on board the schooner seemed to have an idea
of the true state of facts. For a moment it seemed as
though it might be that the propeller had steamed
away and was lost to sight in the storm but that the
spectacle of the sinking steamer was too plainly im-
pressed on his mind. There could be no mistake that
the steamer had been swallowed up, and there had
been no warning, no sign that anything was wrong,
until the order came to cut loose, and from that
instant all seemed to have been lost. Captain Lusk
weathered the remainder of the night as best he
could, and arrived in harbour considerably worse for
wear."
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

THE MONSTER GUN AT WOOLWICH.

The Daily News says :—The big Woolwich gun
which was proved last week, and which is, we are in-
formed, to be bored out further to take a sixteen-inch
projectile, is by no means the most capacious weapon
in existence. In fact, the tendency just now to pro-
duce monster cannon is simply one instance the more
of history repeating itself. Nearly four centuries
ago, in 1478, there was a battery directed against
Scutari by the Turks, consisting of fourteen guns,
of which the largest was capable of throwing
stone-shot of the diameter of 32.4 inches, weigh-
ing 1,6401b5., while the iron projectile of the
81-ton gun weighs, as we know, but 1,2501b5.
And the Scutari guns were no mere braggart
weapons, for General Le,froy tells us in his ac-
count of these Eastern cannon that between June 22
and July 21, 1478, as many as 2,534 rounds were fired,
making an average of sixteen shots a day towards the
end of the siege. At the Castle of Asia, on the
Dardanelles, there exists to this day a battery of
similar giant weapons made of bronze, and these,
although three centuries old at the time, considerably
Impeded the progress of a squadron of our vessels
when in March, 1807, Sir John Duckworth forced
a passage through the Straits. Six ships were
damaged by the gigantic stone missiles, the Admiral's
vessel the Royal George being hit by one
of them. In one case, we are told, the shot
made so large a hole in the side, that the Captain,
looking over to see what was the matter, saw two of
his crew thrusting their heads through it at the same
moment." In 1829, Major Von Moltke, the great
strategist of 1870.71, inspected these weapons, and
stated "that some of them are 28 inches in diameter,
and a man may creep into them up to the breech."
Another traveller, Von Hammer, tells indeed of a
poor man who really did conceal himself in one of
the guns: " peu de temps avant mon arrive, un
tailleur, poursuivi pour dettes, s'y 6tait blotti
et y restait cachd pendant plusieurs jours." So
that the incident of a man entering the Woolwich
gun, on the occasion of its proof, is likewise no
novelty. One of these Turkish guns, our readers may
remember, was presented to the Queen in 1868, and is
now to be seen at the Woolwich museum. The great
gun of Beejapore, which has a calibre of 285 inches,
is another instance of the enterprise of gun founders
more than three centuries ago; this gun being last
fired, it is said, on the occasion of a visit of the Rajah
of Sattara to Beejapore in the last century, the shot,
of which several remain, weighing about I,ooolbs.
There is, moreover, the Tzar Pooschka, or great gun
of Moscow, to be mentioned, which has a calibre of
35 inches; there is no record, however, of this weapon
having been fired, at any rate, with shotted charges.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

-
itributim
to pia'
tlllO5O
ristonß

A .NEW

The Deutsche Beichszeitung announces that Father
Martin Egger, a German 4-esuit, has discovered an
electromoter. • For the lut fifteen years Father Egger
has been trying to find out a way of making electro-
magnetism useful in machinery in the same way that,
steam is employed. He has at last succeeded in exco-
gitating a machine in which electromagnetism will be
employed as the moving power, just as steam could be
employed. He laid his project before the Imperial
Society of Arts and Sciences at Vienna, which, upon
examination, pronounced it practical, and decided to
furnish the inventor with the means for fully com-
pleting his machine. The inventor has obtained an
Imperial patent, and is now engaged in completing his
invention, which, when finished, will be sent to the
Universal Exhibition in Philadelphia. The Imperial
Academy seems to take a very great interest in his dis-
covery, which, if it does not prove too Godly, seems
destined to effect great changes in machinery and the
'means of locomotion. Father Martin Egger was born
in 1832 at Zell in the Zillerthal; in the Tyrol, made his
preliminary studies in the Gymnasium of Salyburg.
He became a Jesuit in 1852, d was ordained priest
in 1866. He made his diNinity studies at the Univer-
sity of Innsbruck, and has been for many years Pro-
fessor of Mathematics and Physics at the Jesuits'
College at Mariaechen, in Bohemia. - - - -- -
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

CRADLEY

ASSAULT CesEs.---At the Public Office, yester-
dhy, at Stourbridge, before Colonel Fletcher Messrs.
R. L. Freer, and C. Cochrane, Mark Brooks and
Martha ißrooks were charged with assaulting
Nary Fradgly on the 28th ult. Mr. Waldron de-
fended. Complainant who lives at the Old House
at Home, said the female defendant came into the
house to see her father, who was having a pint of
ale. On coming in, she picked up a jug, threw it
on the floor and broke it. She then caught hold
of the hair of her head and beat her. The husband
came up and struck her, and she would have been
killed if assistance had not come. Two witnesses
gave corroborative evidence, and all denied that
complainant struck either of the defendants.
Their was a cross-summons charging Mary
Fradgley with assaulting Martha Brooks at the
same time. After hearing the evidence, the two
Brooks' were fined 5s each and costs, and the
cross-summons was dismissed.
HIGHWAY OFFENCE.—WiIIiam Attwood was
charged with allowing a horse to stray on the
26th ult. Police-sergeant Rea proved the offence
Ordered to pay costs.—A similar complaint was
made against Ann Leonard. Withdrawn on pay-
ment of costs.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

Referring to the Darlington Railway Jubilee, The Standard,
in a leader, aLso writes :

Of all the great revolutions of the age the greatest,
however, is that which began at Darlington in 1825.
Turnpike roads and canals are alike antiquated; the
great rivers of the world, evert the Mississippi and
the St. Lawrence, much more the Ohio, the Danube,
or the Ganges, have lost or are losing their import-
ance as highways of trade; and travellers in
civilised countries hardly ever dream of spending
a single day on the roads of fifty years ago.
When the first railway was opened the public was
far from foreseeing its importance. It was con-
structed for horses and stationary engines, and was
to have been laid with wooden rails; only the
influence of one great engineer, twenty years in ad-
vance of his age, introduced the iron rail and the loco-
motive engine. The railway was meant only to convey
coal and iron to a river port; the same engineer said
that it would carry passengers, and provided, besides
the coal waggons, a simple stage-coach body, fastened
on a truck. That engineer alone comprehended what
he had helped to do. George Stephenson pre-
dicted that day to his sons a time when every one would
travel by rail, when highways would be gone out of
use, and the mails would he carried by train. Even
he might have been surprised to learn that in fifty
years peeple would travel by rail from Cala.is to
Constantinople, and from New York to San Fran-
ciaco (then an unknown port in the north of
Mexico), that Europe would be covered with a net-
work of railways, that England would have scarcely
a village Gut of their reach, that they would govern
the course of a great civil war in America, and form a
principal stay of the Enzlish power in India. It is
worth while to look back fifty years and note what has
been done; to see that in the lifetime of men who are
not yet old the entire system of communication over a
whole continent, and over great regions in other conti-
nents, is more changed than it was changed between
the time of Ulysses and that of George IY. ; that one
new invention has revolutionised trade and travel, and
brought Australia nearer to us than Austria used
to be; that the locomotive of George Stephen-
son is now the one great motive power of
the conveyances by which all traffic is conducted
throughout Europe, and throughout a domain larger
than Europe on the other side the Atlantic; that in
the United Kingdom alone the yearly number of
passages by railway reaches near 500,000,000, and pro-
duces a gross revenue of some £60,000,000 sterling.
This we owe to George Stephenson; and the world
never owed half so much to any man before. There
is here a triumph worth celebrating; there are here
practical results achieved within fifty years that make
the period a great epoch in the story of human ad-
vancement, and may well be noted with pride by a
whole nation, and celebrated by a local festival in the
place where the first step in so marvellous and so rapid
a march was taken. . . .
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

[ESTABLISHED 1801.]

FAMILY AND WHOLESALE BREWERY STORES,

ENVILLA: STREET. BTOU.RBIUDGE.

W. ,SL T. S. BUCKNALL,
OF THE BREWERY, KIDDERMINSTER,
BEG to announce that they have OPENED COMMODIOUS CELLARS, as above, for the
the STOlta GIC of their well-known

AND SrXQUiTa,

CASKS OF NINE GALLONS AND UPWARDS,

And that they have appointed

MR. JOSHUA BRIDGES,
THE RESIDENT AGENT FOR STOURBRIDGE AND DISTRICT,

J *
:oltl

From whom Prices and other Particulars may be obtained.

The fact of these CELEBRATED ALES having now been before the Public for three quarters of a century
8 C gu.arazatee of their excellence.
air AU Orders addressed—

AIJE STOIEJS,

STREET,

STOURBBIDO E.

Will noire vrcaapl etteatiaa.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

From Puna.]
MISTAKES ABOUT SCOTLAND.
(Contributed by a Converted Cockney.)

It is a mistake to believe that every Scotchman,
when he goes to Edinburgh, immediately walks down
Princes Street clad in the ancient costume of the High-
landers.
It is a mistake to believe that the piece de resistance
at every. Scotch dinner-party is a Haggis.
It is a mistake to believe that a Scotchman does not
enjoy a joke every bit as much as an Englishman.
It is a mistake to believe that a Scotch Sabbath in
the country is a whit more triste than an English Sun-
day in the provinces.
It is a mistake to believe that a Scotchman sets a
greater value upon his " bawbee " than an Englishman
upon his shilling or an American upon his dollar.
It is a mistake to believe that inns in Scotland are
dearer and less comfortable than hotels in England.
It is a mistake to believe that we have a City in
England that can compare favourably (from an archi-
tectural point of view) with the town of Edinburgh.
It is a mistake to believe that it always rains in the
Isle of Skye.
It is a mistake to believe that there are no more
"Fair Maids" in the houses of Perth.
It is a mistake to believe that Hampstead Heath is
as beautiful as Dunkeld.
It is a mistake to believe that the Caledonian Canal
is at all like the Serpentine.
It is a mistake to believe that Aberdeen is less im-
posing in appearance than Chelsea or Islington.
It is a mistake to believe that the countrymen of
Scott and Burns do not appreciate the works of
Shakspeare, Milton, Byron, Dickens, Thackeray, and
Tennyson.
And, lastly (this is added to the Cockney's list by
the wisest sage of this or any other age), it is the
greatest mistake of all to believe that Mr. Punch does
not like and respect (in spite of an occasional joke
made at their expense) the kindly, homely, sound-
hearted people who live North of the Tweeds
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

WATER AS DANGEROUS .AS FIRE.

Floods are now so frequent and their effects so disas-
trous that the chances of being drowned seem in some
places to be greater on land than on sea, and the perils
ashore to be far more serious than the perils of the
deep (remarks the Pall Mall Gazette). The late floods
in the Allahabad City District, India, afford an ex-
ample of the immense amount of ruin, misery, and
death that may be effected by what may nowadays be
termed comparatively a diminutive deluge. Accord-
ing to a local paper, as far as is known at present,"
177 lives have been lost, 2,428 head of cattle drowned,
10,024 houses ruined, 115,436 maunds of grain sub-
merged and rotted in the subterranean storehouses,
and 39,066 statute acres of khureef crop destroyed.
The estimated value of the property of all sorts
destroyed is 14,50,000 rupees. About eighty per
cent, of this destruction has been inflicted in about
equal shares on those portions of Parganas, Khaira-
gerh, Bara, and Arail which border on the river Tons,
and on the city of Allahabad and RS suburbs. No
account whatever is here taken of damage caused by
mere rainfall. The above loss is chargeable to over-
flow of rivers alone. Much injury has also been done
by the heavy rain, but that happens to greater or leas
extent every year, though to a greater extent this year
than usual. This little flood cannot of course be com-
pared for grandeur with the floods that have just taken
place in Texas, United States, but it shows that water
when not kept under proper control can be quite as
dangerous an enemy as fire, and that in some districts
lifeboats are as necessary as fire-engines,

CHEAP COOKlNG.—Warming the cockles of
our hearts, —Judy.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

MR. BAXTER AT MONTROSE.

On Saturday afternoon the Right Hon. W. E.
Baxter, M.P. for the Montrose Burghs, was present at
a harvest home given to the tenants on his estate of
Kincaldrum. He said that within a quarter of a cen-
tury the time of the harvest in this country had been
accelerated about a fortnight. Farming was not now
what it used to be, a mere mechanical operation,
ploughing, sowing, and reaping, but to be profitably
carried on required capital, energy, enterprise, and
skill. Now that the thoughts of the people of
this country were being more directed to agricul-
tural matters, and the attention of Parliament was'
being called to the necessity of seeing that the
land should produce as much as possible for the food
of the people, all privileges dating back from feudal
times, including, of course, such absurdities as thirlage,
would be abolished sooner or later. The greatest im-
provement of all would be the abolition of the laws of
entail and primogeniture, and of every statute which
had the tendency of preventing land being circulated
as freely and being bought and sold as cheaply as any
other commodity in the market. To bring about these
and other important changes of a beneficial nature, in
his opinion not only the county authorities but the Im-
perial Parliament ought to be brought more directly
tuAler the influence of the ratepayer. He wanted to
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

anb :15trict

BOARD OF GUARDIANS.

The usual meeting of this Board was held in
the Board Room, yesterday, Mr. Granger in
the chair. There were also present :—Messrs.
Rollinson, Rhodes, Guest, H. Billingham, Has-
Forrest, Wood, Hall, Thomson, Fiddian, J.
Brooks, Giles, and Raybould. Admitted into
the house 19 ; discharged, 9; dead 0; born 0;
remaining 287 ; against 311 ; last year. Out-
door relief, Kingswinford district £2O 7s ld ;
Stourbridgo district £l4 158 lid; Halesowen
district, £l5 3s. 9d; non-resident, paupers,
11s. 8d ; total £5O 8s 5d ; against £69 12s. 5d ;
last year.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

WORDSLEY.

W. Clarke, Ibw, b Parkes • • .. 36
W. New,lain, b Parkes .••
S. Greenway, b Parkes • • • . 0
T. Lowe, e.f.ewis, b Parkes • • .. 5
SY. Davis, b Parker .. .• 1
U. NVA.tara, lb w. b Parker .. 0
S. Los,e, bN. J. Otter, b Parker .. 6
J. flack, e Yates, b Jackson .. 12
S. b Jack-on • • .. 3
J. Thrti. ci is her ~ 2
J. Orebard, not out .. . • .. .. 7
Extras .• • • .. 16

-- -
Good 71,4'nel:if- mwtcy is desired by all, with artich s
tat c.innot bc jiidg.-.4; of by appearance, careful pnr-
cliasers rely the high standiug of those with ;chow
c.
they dell. For 20 yeiir,, 11.iriiitasn's Pure Teas in
packets have 41ven genandßatisf„ctir, being exceedingy
stronß, of nn.iforre. good gatal tro:,l truly cheap Agents :
Stoarhridge—Clarke,l3l, L 4 h street; Raker, 121,
street; Uieh
liewit,.!.ifsvket.Pluco ; IlarrisK High-street
Brierbi'laill—Thivricagn chemist ; Kidderminster, Bill
Ring ; iTale.F.oweii„Vtlam, ch4-m is: ; Lye, Jones. chemist
; win ford, Fi,iiirsou
Coltinsz, ift,„_•(„dst ; Pk.
.

- -,- •
OM TUE U.A.P.I OP OK's %Chile. tii.
other funeti,cis jNatore are intit..t-is a, serious apolitica-
l:len to y tIL,O nowtive,r, is the con-
t.;
•rlie,,,itatisiii or gout. To
witbou; CL4IL to use the arms.
free from escrtici:i.beg.p.:int, numtay impracticable. A
feeling of gratitusie thei re periextei; -the franie who:
the means are afforded -wing :ill the, members without
judicious and Ire:pie-tit application. of Powism.'s Itinat-
ravric KmnitecATioN. rt, is past 2411 Clinibt the grandest
specific for the ha-, and others of s
similar character. May be obtained of 11 Chemists.
Price is lid. and 23 9d. Laboratory: 114 and 116 viuth-
raptou-row, London.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

ENGLAND AND CHINA.

The Daily News says the announcement that the
Government intend to strengthen the squadron in
Chinese waters comes after too many instances of the
unfriendliness of the present rulers of China to excite
much surprise. Happily it is still possible to regard
this reinforcement as a measure calcalated to promote
the interests of peace. Nevertheless, we are bound
not to overlook the many signs which present them-
selves of a disposition on the part of the Chinese
and their Government to throw off the obligations
they have contracted to us, and to do so even at the
risk of war. The experience of a quarter of a
century dictates the policy to be pursued in dealing
with a Government like that of China, which accepts
obligations to free itself fro difficulty, and then oh
serves or neglects them according to. its convenience or
even its humour. There is nothing gained by ac-
quiescing in such a policy of encroachment as is daily
practised upon our merchants at the treaty ports, and
which aims at the destruction of the trade of foreigners.
Doubtless another expedition would be more costly in
every sense than the last ; but there is no way by
which hostilities are so likely to be averted as by the
assertion of our demands, accompanied by the frankest
announcement of our intention to procure their fulfil-
ment and support by the display of an adequate belli-
gerent force.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

ENVILLE

Auctioneers' Catalogues, Sermons, Concert, and
other Posters.
Handbills, Circulars, Cards, Programmes, Bill
Heads.
Club Articles, Address Cards, Post Cards,
And ALL KINDS of PRINTING, in Black or
Coloured Inks.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

HAGLEY.

STOCK SALE. —On Monday there was rather
a large collection of sheep than at recent sales, for
which there was a brisk competition. In addition
to the ordinary stock there were some Lincoln,
Leicester, and Shropshire Rams disposed of some
Shearlings from the Kinver Hill Flock, making
7 and 7i guineas. The number of cattle was
smaller than usual owing doubtless to the pre-
valence of foot and mouth disease. Beef of prime
quality was dearly sold.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

l'2. REWARD.

in the Month of July last, a GREY
i A PA kt.tiOT. Has been seen in the Neighbourhood
of Wollaston and Longlands.—An;:ere returning the-
same to Dr. Campbell, High-street, Stouirbridge, shall
receive the above itevward.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

The following reply has been received from the Ad-
miralty :
Admiralty, Sept. 25, 1875.

Gentlemen, —I am commanded by my Lords Commis-
sioners of the Admiralty to acknowledge the receipt of the
memorial from the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society,
dated 20th instant, in regard to the reception of fugitive
slaves in her Majesty's ships ;. and my Lords desire me to
inform you that a copy of your memorial has been trans-
mitted to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.—l am,
gentlemen, your obedient servant, THometl WOLLEY.
To the Honorary‘Becretaries and Secretary of the British
and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, 27, New Broad-street.
_, .

SHOOLS OF COOKERY.—It has been a subject
of complaint that the excellent scheme of instruction
in cookery given at the Exhibition at South Kensing-
ton hardly reached the class among whom it Is most
needed. In Liverpool the movement is taken up in a
more practical way, and at the tobacco factory of
,Nlesers. Cope Brothers, where about 1,500 females are
employed, a lady- lecturer—formerly a pupil of Mr.
Buckmaster—has been engaged to give lessons in plain
cookery to the employees, votho eagerly avail themselves
of the gratuitous instruction. There is hardly any
class who waste so much food through ignorance of
domestic economy as do the working class, so that the
benefits that will accrue should this scheme be gene. 1
ally followed must be considerable.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

CARDINAL MANNING ON EDUCATION.

'
Cardinal Manning visited Deptford on Sunday.
Quite a demonstration was made in his honour by the
Roman Catholim- He preached to a crowded congre-
gation in the Church of the Assumption. On the sub-
ject of- education his Eminence said :—One hears a
great deal now-a-days about secular education. What
is secular education? Is it the full inheritance of the
Christian child? No; for it only means secular know-
ledge, which is only a part of the ,education to which a
Christian child is entitled. EdtrCation-means the full
possession and understanding and enjoyment of the in-
heritance of faith, which the child has by virtue of his
regeneration in baptism ; it is that Christian education
which will illuminate his understanding with the light
of faith, and enlarge his heart with his love of his
neighbour, and cultivate his conscience by the law
of God. Any instruction in 'which these things are
wanting is not education. There is a great deal
written and taught, I may say chattered, about
this subject; and even some professing the name
of Christian seek to separate religious training from
education. Without religion there is no education.
Mere secular knowledge does not form the character;
It does not train the soul. Now we are sometimes
taught that it is the right of the State to give a
secular, but not its duty to give a religious education.
It is the duty of a Christian State to take care that
both shall be given, and every state which acts dif-
ferently gives up the name of Christian. It is said
that parents and pastors can impart religions educa-
tion; but I ask how can the poor labouring man and
his wife, who are pressed down by incessant toil, do
this duty to their little ones? You all know that it is
a cruel mockery and a violation of Christian charity
to say that fathers and mothers can teach their
children their religious faith and give them religious
training. As for the priests doing it, we are quite
ready with all our hearts to impart religious teaching
to our children, but how can we do it if the children
are taken away from us and put in schools where no
religion is allowed to be taught or only allowed at cer-
tain stated times. ,
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

DANGER FROM LIGHTNING.

The Globe of Tuesday, remarks :—To persons of
nervous temperament such a storm as that which burst
over the metropolis on Friday night must be a very
digressing ordeal to go through. Such a storm is, in
truth, a very terrible display of a force at once the
most tremendous and apparently the most capricious
in nature, and there are no doubt many persons for
whom the terrors of the phenomena cannot be reduced
by any array of facts or cogency of reasoning. There
are others, however, whom facts and figures may
serve to afford some degree of assurance, and it may
be worth while to call attention to a few. In the
first place, the danger to any individual human life
in England, at least, is almost infinitesimally small,
more particularly in the level portions of the
country. About one person in a million is killed by
lightning annually, and in flat districts the average is
far lower than this. That hilly country is most
exposed to this danger is a rule that holds good
everywhere. In France there are some seventy
deaths annually from this cause, nearly sixty of them
usually occurring in the mountainous Puy-de-Dome;
and all over Europe statistics appear to prove that the
peril of thunderstorms is just about in proportion
to the hilly character of the district in which they
occur. It has been shown, too, that deaths from
lightning occur more frequently to persons who are
outiof doors than to those who are in buildings; con-
sequently, although it should be quite certain that
the next flash of lightning apprehended will kill
some one, the chance of escape for any individual
sitting in a room situate in a tolerably level country
are far more than a million to one. Again, it has,
we believe, been asserted on competent authority
that no person ever saw the flash of lightning which
killed him. Such a death is absolutely instantaneous,
and, it is believed, entirely painless. Persons who
have been struck, but not killed, deseribed the sensa-
tion as a stunning shock all over the body; but the
flash which kills probably brings with it instant
annihilation of all sensibility, and the fact of a
person seeing a flash of lightning is in itself
the best of evidence that danger horn it is
passed. In connection with this subject it may be
well to mesation a very useful suggestion by which
the annual average of deaths from lightning might
undoubtedly be reduced. It is well known that many
are the direct result of the conductive power of
trees, which is just sufficient to bring down a dis-
charge but not enough to retain the current until it
reaches the ground, the fluid being very apt to glance
off to buildings or persons near them. M. Catladan, a
Swiss electrician, suggests that a metallic rod should
be inserted into the lower part of any tree near a
house., and especially poplar trees, and connected with
a chain running down into the earth. By this very
simple plan he maintains that trees may be rendered
thoroughly efficient conductors, and all the danger
from them avoided.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

AIT KINS AND HINTON, OR VINTON.

IN FORMATION required as to the relations
of Mr. Aitkins, formerly a Draper in or near Wor-
cester, but who shortly before his death, in 1849, took
the management of ft large Hotel, probably in the same
locality. He married one Catherine Hinton or Vinton,
who carried on the Hotel afte,r his decease. Information
is also required as to the whereabouts or relations ofilthe
said Catherine Hinton or Vinton.—Communications to
be addressed to Mr. W. Ponlett Thompson, Solicitor, 10,
Grays mu Square, London.—Worcestershire papers
please copy.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

PUBLIC NOTICES.

WANTED, a Good GENERAL SERVANT
who understands Plain Cooking.—Apply,
H. A. Webb, Hawkish, Brettell Lane.

WANTED, a Good GENERAL SER-
VANT--Apply, Mrs. Green, Union-trees,
Stourbridge.

WINE AND SPIRIT MERCHANT.
YOUNG COUPLE are desirous of Managing
for the same. Fifteen years' couneetion.—Addrass,
" J.N.," Post Office, Stourbridge.

WANTED, in a Public-house, a GENERAL
SERVANT.—AppIy, Obsover Office, Stour-
bridge.

WANTED, a BOY; ono xlsed to a Farm
House, and to Milking.—Apply " C.," Observer
Gilice, Stourbridge.

TiIjVENING EMPLOYMENT.—Wanted, by
a Clerk, in a large Pullia Company, Two Hours'
Employment in the Evening. To keep a Traveller's
Accounts preferred.—Address, "Hubert," Old Hill Post
Office.

WANTED, a YOUTH to learn the COACH
TRADE. No Premium required.—Apply, W.
B. Moore, Oldswinford Carriage Works, Stourbridge.

irAO ST, on Sunday last, in the Neighbourhood
of Stourbridge, a Light Groy Waterproof OVER-
COAT; Maker's name on the Collar.—Anyone bringing
the Same to the Observer Otßze, Stourbridge, shall be
Rewarded for their trouble.

DANCING, DEPORTMENT, AND CALISTHENIC

EXERCISES.

MADEMOISELLE SILVESTRE
[Fnom LONDON]

HAS the honour to inform her Papile, the
Gentry, Schools, and Inhabitants of Stourbridge
and Vicinity, that her CLASSES will be resumed at the
TALBOT HOTEL ASSEMBLY ROOM,!OR SATURDAY, OCTOBER
9th.

—MORNING CLASS at Eleven o'clock ; AFTERNOON
Ditto, at Three o'clock.

TO ADULTS.

Those who have never learnt before Taught in a Few
Easy Lesson*ll the Fashionable Dances.
Mademoiselle SILVESTIIE'S EVENING SUBSCRIP-
TION CLASS, for Ladies and Gentlemen, at Seven
o'clock, for the Practice of all the Fashionable Dances.
Private Lessons by appointment in the Valse a trois
temps. Schools and Families attended.
Address,-
15, Hagley Road,
E dgbaston,
Birmingham.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

CLARKE'S

WORLD FAMED

BLOOD MIXTURE

Trade Mark,—" Blood Mixture."
Tim GREAT BLOOD PURIFIER & RESTORER
QKIN DISEASES, Eruptions, Blotches,
Ulcerated Sore Legs, Old Sores, Glandular
Swellings, Cancerous Ulcers, Spots, Pimples,
Pustules, Boils, Carbuncles, Ringworms, scald
Head,, Bore Eyes, Erysipelas, Itch, Scuds,
Discoloration. of the Skin, Humours and
Diseases of the Skin of whatever name or
nature, are literally carried out of the system
In • short time by the use of this world-famed
Medicine.
THOUSANDS OF TESTIMONIALS FROM ALL PARTS.
IMPORTANT ADVICE TO ALL.—Cleanse
the vitiated blood whenever you find its im-
purities bursting through the skin in pimples,
eruptions, or sores ; cleanse it when you find
it obstructed and sluggish in the veins ; cleanse
it when it is foul, and your feelings will tell
you when. Keep the blood pure, and the
health of the system will follow.
As this mixture is pleasant to the taste, and
warranted free from anything injurious to the
most delicate constitution of either sex, the
Proprietors solicits sufferers to give it a trial
- to test its value.
CLARKE'S WORLD-FAMED BLOOD
MIXTURE is Sold in Bottles 2s 6J each, and in
Cases, containing six times the quantity, us each—
sufficient to effect a permanent cure in the great
majority of long-standing cases, by all Chemists and
Patent Medicine Vendors thrvughout the United King-
dom and the world, or sent to any address on receipt
o 30 or 132 stamps, by the Proprietor,
F. J. CLARKE,CaziaisT, Apothecaries' Hall,Lincoln.
Agent for Stourbridge : Mr. J. H. Bland, High-street.
Wholesale: All Patent Medicine Houses.
L coliDol,l DEPOT; 160 OXFORD BTREET
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

A STAG-HUNT AFTER THE OLD

FASHION!

The following doubtful story is told of King Louis
of Bavaria, who has gained a reputation among his
subjects for eccentricity (says the Court Journal).
His latest whim has been a revival of the Court of
Louis XIV., with all the accessories complete. As his
imitation of " le Grand Monarque" was intended to be
as close as possible it became necessary to have a stag-
hunt after the fashion of those held in the Forest of
Vincennes 170 years ago. His Majesty, therefore,
gave the necessary orders to his Master of the Horse,
and the chase was arranged to come off at Hohen-
schwangan. It was to take place at night by torch-
light, and the king was to witness it in state from the
balcony of the palace. There was, however, one
difficulty in the way which the Master of the Horse
was rather puzzled to get over. Suppose the deer
should take it into his head to choose a course of
its own and strike off in a direction totally
opposite to that in which it was wanted to go! It
would not do even to risk such a contretemps. But
the Master of the Horse was a man of ideas; he
hurried off to Munich, and engaged an ingenious
mechanician there to construct an artificial deer to be
set running by clockwork, and warranted to go straight
whenever put in motion. A scratch pack of hounds
was brought over from England, and a track was made
which would lead the hunting party right in front of
the Royal balcony. The deer, which was covered with
real deerskin, w tried and found to move admirably.
But there was another hitch—the noble creature gave
out no scent. One of the chamberlains this time came
to the rescue, and suggested that the hounds should be
kept on meagre diet for a day or two before the chase,
and then one hour previous to the start be allowed a
taste of smoked sausage; that a string of these sausages
should be fastened to the deer, and there would be no
fear then of the hounds not following it fast enough.
The suggestion was acted upon. The King sat upon
the balcony in his Louis Quatorze costume surrounded
by his Court. Presently the huntsman's horn was
heard, and then deer and hounds came into view, the
latter racing at a furious pace. Just in front of His
Majesty the two leading hounds raced up to the deer
and sprang upon—the sausages.—The shock upset their
"quarry,' which lay upon the ground striking out
furiously with its legs in the air. But, strange to say,
the hounds totally disregarded the deer, and fell to
fighting among themselves for the sausages. Even his
Majesty was not blind enough to be deceived. He
left in disgust, shut himself up in his palace, and there
has been no more stag-hunting a la Louis Quatorze.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

COMMISSIONERS' MEETING.

The first meeting of this body since the election
was held in the Corn Exchange, on Monday after-
noon last. There were present Messrs. Stringer,
Edwards, Woolley, Penney, Allchurch, and Grif-
fin. The following gentlemen also attended, and
made the usual declaration qualifying them to act
as Commissioners :—Messrs. C. Evers, R. Kelly,
G. Perkin, W. Flavell, and H. Hicklin.
In the absence of Mr. L. H. Packwood, Mr. W.
Edwards was called upon to preside.
The report of the Returning Officer stated that
the total cost of the late election amounted to
£l2 18s 6d.

The Clerk read the minutes of the previous
meeting, which were signed and confirmed.
The Clerk then read the following report of the
Finance Committee :
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

RECEPTION OF FUGITIVE SLAVES ON
BOARD H.M,'S SHIPS,
The following memorial has been forwarded to the
Admiralty :

TO THE LORDS OF THE ADMIRALTY.

The members of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery
Society respectfully beg to convey to yor- Lordships the ex-
pression of their profound regret that certain instructions
have been issued, requiring naval officers to surrender fugi-
tive slaves to their masters. They submit that these instruc-
tions constitute the entire abandonment of that noble and
honourable policy which has distinguished Great Britain for
more than a hundred years. Ever since the decision in the
case of the slave Somerset, nobly defended by Granville
Sharp in 1772, it has always been held that a slave on
British soil, or on board a British vessel of war, was
absolutely free, and the property of no man. This is the
cherished opinion of the people of this country, and we
should feel alarmed for the cause of humanity could we
believe they would ever consent to allow the settled policy
of the nation to be reversed, and fugilive slaves once on
board her Majesty's ships to be ever delivered back to the
grasp of the slaveowner. "Thou shalt not deliver unto his
master the servant who is escaped from his master unto
thee," was the command of God under the Old Dispensa-
tion, and being in harmony with the spirit and principles of
the New Testament, Should be binding upon every Christian
nation. In addition to all the other objections to these in-
structions, we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that they
afford a moral support and give the direct sanction of this
country to slavery. On all these grounds they therefore re-
spectfully urge upon the Lords Commissioners the imme-
diate repeal of these obnoxious regulations. On behalf of
the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, we are, very re-
spectfully, JOSEPH COOPER, EIIyUND STUMM/ and ROBERT
ALSOP, ROD. See& ; AARON BUZACOTT, Secretary.
27, New Broad-street, Sept. 20, 1875. •
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

CRAD LEY HEATH.

FHLONY.—At the Police Court, at Old Hill, on Wed-
nesday last, before Messrs. N. Hingley and W.:Bassano,
Annie Lord, assistant in a draper's shop,' was charged
with stealing a quantity of drapery on the 291h?inst, the
property of her master, Enoch Gould. The prosecutor
deposed : I am a draper,:at Cradley Heath. Prisoner
was in my employ. I missed five handkerchiefs!and three
antimacassars, and suspected the prisoner, as she was
about: leaving. I asked to be allowed to examine her
boxes. Prisoner opened the boxes, and produced the
articles, my property. They are worth 20s. She also
had some goods in her pocket, of the value of 10s. She
admitted taking them out of the shop. He hoped the
Bench would be as lenient with her as possible. She is
very respectably connected, and prisoner had been in his
employ for eleven months The greater part of the time
she had behaved very well. Ho took the present pro-
ceedings, because he had been robbed bet .re. Prisoner,
who pleaded guilty, was, sent to prison for one month,
without hard labour.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

GLENFIELD. GLI4',NFIELI)

The
Queen's
Laundress
Stir this Starch
Is the best
She ever
th:ed.

G LENFIELD. GLENFIELD
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

TALLOW.

LONDON, Monday, Sept. 27.—New P.Y.C. is firm at ,535. per
cwt. on the spot. Town Tallow is quoted at 455. 6d. net
cash. Rough fat remains at 2s. 2d. per elbs.
s. d. s. d.
Town Tallow, per cwt. 48 0 Rough Stuff, per cwt. 17 0
Rough Fat, per Sibs. 2 2 Greaves 18 0
II
Melted Stuff, per cwt. 33 6 Good Dregs . 6 A
Yellow Russian, new sos. 6d. per cwt
old oos. od,
„
Australian Mutton Tallow. • 40s. Od.
„ Beef „ —478. 6d, ::
RAY.

WRITZCILLPIIL, Sattrday, Sept. 26.—The market ha been
better supplied with hay and straw.. A dull inquiry has pre-.
vailed, at the annexed prices.: Prime.clover 100 s. to 1575.;
Inferior 85s. to 955. ; Prime meadow hay, 90a bo 1455. ; in-
ferior, bbs. to 755. and straw, 355. to 60s. per load.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

GUNPOWDER AND ITS RIVALS!

• The Daily News remarks :—After years of protracted
trial, it really seems likely that some other explosive
besides gunpowder will be permanently adopted for
warlike purposes. Gunpowder has so long been the
sole combustible employed in warfare, and has been
subject to so littletchange in composition since its first
introduction into Europe many centuries ago, that
one was beginning to believe that no other compound
could be possibly devised superior, or even equal, to it
as a military agent. Detonating compositions and ful-
minate mixtures of allkinds have been tried from time to
time, as everybody knows, both in this country and
abroad; but the conclusion has always been that they
were no improvement at all upon the old-fashioned gun-
powder. Recently, however, two materials, which
chemists pronounce to be very much alike, and which
have been experimented with for some years past, have
we learn, been acknowledged by military authorities
to be more valuable than gunpowder under certain cir-
cumstances, as, for instance, for employment in mines,
and in that terrible instrument of warfare—the tor-
pedo. The foundering of the Oberon, through the ex-
plosion of a charge of gun-cotton at a distance of/forty
feet from the hulk, must be still fresh in the
memory of our readers, and some torpedo experi-
ments which have taken place this month under
the auspices of the United States Government,
go to prove the efficacy of dynamite, a preparation
of nitro-glycerine, when nsed in a similar manner.
Nitro-glycerine and military gun-cotton possess, it
appears, about the same explosive power and as this
amounts to four or five times that of gunpowder, their
superiority in a torpedo or mine is obvious. The
Americans are so satisfied with their recent torpedo
experiences, that they are about to adopt dynamite as
an ordinary war agent, and to employ it not only for
submarine charges, but in torpedoes to be used above
water and carried by a torpedo launch at the end of a
long spar. In this country gun-cotton, or we should
say rather gun-paper—for the cotton is now used in
the form of papier-2nache—has found more favour
than dynamite, and the War Office has established
Gun-cotton Works at Waltham Abbey for the supply
of .this material, of which large quantities will be re-
quired if we intend to organize torpedo defences on
an extensive scale. Besides its use in torpedoes gun-
cotton has, as we have seen, found an important appli-
cation in the water-shells, whose doings at Okehampton
we chronicled a few weeks back; in this case it will be
remembered the new explosive was also proved to be
far superior to gunpowder, so that we may now fatrly
assume that villanous saltpetre" will not be the
only combustible smelt by our soldiers in future.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

A REMARKABLE CASE OF SOMNAM-
BULISM.

A remarkable case of somnambulism is reported from
Great Bend, Pennsylvania. An old gentleman named
Stephen Howe, highly respected by his neighbours
and fellow-citizens, but suffering from dropsy and in a
most feeble condition, was missed by his wife on the
morning of the 23rd ult., when she awoke. To add to
her anxiety, the clothes he had worn on the previous
day were lying where he had placed them on retiring
to rest, and it was feared that he had dragged himself
somewhere and committed suicide to get rid of his suf-
ferings. Mrs. Howe, after thoroughly searching the
house, proceeded to the barn, the door of which she
found open, and a look inside revealed the fact that
the horse also had disappeared during the night.
Mrs. Howe immediately aroused a neighbour, Mr.
Schouten, ~who, on examining the ground, found
horses tracks leading to the road in the direction
of a village called Harpersville. Another neigh-
bour named Pintz coming to Schouten's assist-
ance, the two started to follow up the horse's tracks,
and see whether they were in any way connected with
the disappearance of the old gentleman. The horse
was traced to Harrersville and from thence to other
villages, the trail being kept as far as Colesville, Broome
County, where it led to a house in the village and
stopped. Inside the house was found Mr. Howe, who
had arrived there on horseback at six in the morning
with only his night clothing on. On entering the house
Mr. Howe had said, "I am very tired, and want to go
to sleep," and it being apparent that he was in a state
of somnambulism, he was at once put to bed. When
Schouten and Pintz arrived he was still fast asleep,
but soon awakened, and expressed much surprise on
being told where he was. He had no recollection of
anything since retiring to bed the night before. He
was carried home in a waggon none the worse for his
unconscious ride, but, on the contrary, much the
better, for by latest accounts he was more nimble and
active than he had been for many years, and, more-
over, feels "exceedingly well," though rather stiff.—
Pall Mall Gazette.

'A Canadian Indian has accomplished the feat of
running twelve miles an hour. His wile chased him the first
two, however.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02

FORGED BANK NOTES,

A paper was laid before the House of Commons
Select Committee of last Session on Banks of Issue,
giving an account of the number and nominal value of
the forged notes presented at the Bank of England in
every year since 1805. Up to 1820 the number was
very large. In that year 29,083 forged notes, of the
nominal value of £33,682, were presented, and no less
than 27,993 of them were £1 notes. The £1 notes
were then called in, and the forgeries declined rapidly.
In 1822 the number of forged notes presented had
fallen to 3,642, and since 1829 the number has never
reached 1,000 in any year. In 1873 it was but 52,
of the value of £173; in 1874 it advanced again to
93, of the value of £475, one being a £2OO note.
In 1871 a forged £l,OOO note was presented, the
only one mentioned in the 69 years' list. Mr. K. D.
Hodgson, M.P., a director of the Bank, stated to the
Committee, that in the last ten years forgery of Bank
of England notes may be said to have become almost
unknown; but it is beginning again, not in this
country but in foreign countries. The system which
the Bank of England has for many years followed,
and found very successful in detecting forgeries, has
been to make the note as simple as possible, to rely
largely upon paper very difficult to make, and to obtain
the most perfect uniformity. Even the signature of the
cashier is engraved on the plate, and the examiners are
able to see in a second if there is the slightest difference
evtn in the breadth of a line in any portion of the
note, showing it to be false. The public have always
claimed from the Bank of England the means of stop-
ping notes and of being able to trace them in case of
robbery. No note is ever re-issued by the Bank; and
the notes brought in are preserved in the Library, in
which may be found every note that has been pre-
sented for a certain number of years back, with a state-
ment of the date at which it was presented, and the
person from whom it was received. It would be diffi-
cult, if not impossible, to apply to £1 notes that
system of record and tracing which is adopted with
the notes now issued byt he Bank of England. If £1
notes were issued, they would circulate amcng a larger
and poorer class than the present holders, and would
probably remain out for yea's. The average life of a
£5 Bank of England note is not above 80 days. The
forged notes have almost always been notes of small
amounts. The largest number of forged £5 notes pre-
sented was in 1812, when it reached 1,049; the last
year in which it exceeded 100 was in 1862; in 1873
it 'peached its minimum of seven ; it was 27 in 1874.