The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-08-14 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

"It seems a pity hares and rabbits cannot under-
stand what a cause of disturbance they are to the landlords
and legislators who are their enemies. If they had been as
big as elephants, or as dangerous as tigers, they could
hardly have occasioned more trouble than they did yester-
day in the House of Commons. "—Leader in Thursday's
Times. _ _

On the 25th of July a pigeon started from London
at six in the morning, and arrived at Cologne exactly at
twelve, thus "doing" the distance in six hours.

The total number of bodies recovered at the Rises,
Colliery up to Tuesday was 77, so that there still remain 431 n
the pit.

The receipts on account of the revenue from the Ist
of April. 1380, when there was a balance of £3,273,423, to
August 7, 1380, were £26,805,614, against £26,814,155 in the
corresponding period of the preceding financial year, which
began with a balance of £6,015,756. The net expenditure
was 30,863,489, against £32 512,765 to the same date in the
previous year. The Treasury balances on August 7 amounted
to £2,449,540, and at the same date in 1879 to £1,809,061.
Three new Board schools have been opened at
Sheffield, increasing the number now provided by the Board
to 25, and the accommodation to 17,000. It was stated that
47,509 scholars were on the rolls of all the elementary schools
in Sheffield, but the average attendance was only 33,416.

A melancholy fatality-to a somnambulist w:ts reported
to the Liverpool police on Saturday. About two o'clock
that morning a man named Sheriff, who was known to have
suffered from a tendency to walk in his sleep, jumped out
of the window of his house in Fair View-place, Toxteth-
park, and was so severely injured that he died shortlY after-
wards. The deceased fell into the street.
Speaking at the Commercial Travellers' Club at
Cherbourg, M. Gambetta, alluding to the offer of a tribute of
admiration to him, observed that he had not forgotten who
he was, whence he came, what was his origin, and whither
he was going. He came from the humblest class of the de-
mocracy; to it he belonged heart and soul, and his only aim
was to be its servant.—Referring to the army -he reinarked
that France should again be raised to and maintained in a
powerful position; that what remained of her should be
preserved, and that she should be prepared for a future when
the eternal justice of things will manifest itself.
On Saturday evening as the Clyde steamer Dutton.
Castle. was approaching Gourock on the upper run to Glas-
gow, with 700 excursionists on board, she struck on a sub-
merged rock two hundred yards from the pier and began to
ink rapidly. Sh e was, however, brought to the pier when
nearly fully of water. Great confusion prevailed among the
passengers, who included teachers and scholars Of, ,Ftoyfimg
ill Sunday Sools and miners employed . ‘TraistdivuJand
Higgins Clelland Colliery. They were all safely landed.
The steamer was beached, and found to have a large hole
underneath the starboard paddle.

On Sunday an immense meeting of Irishmen was
held at Liverpool, to protest against the rejection by the
Lords of the Compensation for Disturbance Bill, at which the
name of Mr. Gladstone was received with enthusiatic ap-
plause.

Floods, owing to the heavy rain that has fallen
within the last few days, have caused terrible havoc in
Silesia. A fearful panic prevails in the flooded districts, and
numerous casualties are reported.

The Budget of Paris for 1879 shows a surplus of
fifteen millions of francs, of which it is proposed to ,Tend
three millions for the Public Relief Board, five millions for
the Schools, and six millions for the Sewers.

Professor Mivart has recently pointed out that dogs
seldom reach fifteen years, hardly ever twenty years of age ;
while wolves and other allied animals live much longer.
Does civilization then, in certain cases, tend to shorten
life?

Speaking of parasols, the Milliner and Dressmaker
states that many printed fabrics ones are used, even when
the materials of which the costumes are composed are of
much richer texture. With morning washing dresses it is
essential to have the parasol made of the same material, and
quite plain and very large ones are used, but for more dressy
toilettes they are most elaborately trimmed and slightly
smaller.

The proposed tunnel through Mont Blanc is being
seriously talked about in France, and the French Govern-
ment have commissioned M de Lepinaye to draw up a report
on the scheme. The estimated cost is 3,600,000, and the ex-
treme length would be about eight miles.

Saturday (7th) was the 57th anniversary of the birth
of Earl Nelson, of Trafalgar and Merton, in the county of
Surrey, his lordship having been born at Brickworth House,
near Salisbury, on Aug. 7, 1823. Earl Nelson is the eldest
son of Thomas Bolton, the second earl, who was the only
son of Mrs. Bolton, sister of the hero of Trafalgar, the title
having been created with remainder to the heirs male of
that lady.
--- - - •

The London General Omnibus Company during the
past half-year carried 28,334,227 passengers. The average
number of omnibuses working daily was 623 ; on Sundays, 529.
The average traffic receipts per omnibus per week were
£l7 10s. Old; the average traffic on working days,
£2 us. 3d.; the average fare per passenger was 2•40 d. ;
average earnings per mile run 10•33 d. ; total number of
miles run, 6,602,698.

The enthusiasm occasioned by the arrival of Cleo-
patra's Needle in the United States has caused a New York
paper to burst out in the following poetical lines
From sands Egyptian the Obeliscus,
Though waves promiscus, is on her way,
What pious rapture and exultation,
Likewise elation, in my bosom play.

According to the abstract of Mr. Albert Grant's
election expenses at Kidderminster, the total expenditure
was £1,302 7s. 9d The chief items are, returning officer,
£81; agents, £252; printing and advertising, £2S6; postage,
telegrams, Jct., £O5; platforms, £SS; clerks ant. Iqessengers,
£94; special constables, £4B; hotels, carriages, and posting,
4384.

Relics of the Empress Eugaie's visit are eagerly
sought after by the denizens of South Africa, and at Maritz-
burg, Natal, fancy prices were realised by the sale of her
equipage. The vehicle called the Empress's carriage was
bought for £lOl.

Owing to the heavy rains which have prevailed in
the Carpathian Mountains for the last few days the Ode has
overflowed its banks at Ratibor and at Kosel, inundating
twenty or twenty five places, and partially flooding fifteen
others. Many of the streets are under water, and the base-
ments of the houses and manufactories are filled. Heavy
loss has been occasioned by the flood, but up to the present
it has been impossible to form any estimate of the damage
done.

Captain Aylmer. on the motion for going into Com-
mittee on the Census Bill, will move, "That, in the opinion
of this House, no census can be satisfactory which does not
indicate religious persuasion." Mr. Arthur Balfour, on the
third reading of the census (Scotland) Bill will move that the
bill be recommitted for the purpose of introducing a clause
providing for a religious census.

Some time since a subscription of twenty shillings
each was asked from the members of the Devonshire Club
to provide a marble bust of Mr. Gladstone. The response
was liberal almost beyond expectation, and the result is
that not only were there sufficient funds subscribed for a
Gladstone bust, but for another bust; and it has been
decidvd to employ the surplus subscriptions in the execution
of a bust of the chairman of the club, the Marquis of Hart-
ington.—Echo.

The interment took place on Monday of Charles
Hugh, eighth Lord Clifford, in the family vault of the pri-
vate chapel attached to the deceased's residence at
Ugbrooke, near Chudleigh. About 30 priests were present
at the funeral service, which was conducted by the Roman
Catholic Bishops of Plymouth and Clifton. The chief
mourners were the present Lord Clifford, the Hon_ Walter
Clifford (sons of the deceased), Lady Clifford, the Hon. Emma
Cecilia and Eda Clifford, and Sir Charles Clifford. Lord
Coleridge, the Hon. Bernard Coleridge, and Colonel Templer
were also among the mourners. On the plate of the coffin
was inscribed the following :—"Charles Hugh, eighth Lord
Clifford, born in London April 27th, 1819, died August sth,
1880."

Sir George Rose Sartorius, G.C.8., the Senior
Admiral of the Fleet, attained the age of 90 years on Monday,
having been born on Aug. 9, 1790. The gallant Admiral is
the eldest son of the late Colonel John Conrad Sartorius, an
engineer officer of the East India Company's service, by his
marriage with Anna, daughter of Mr. George Rose. Sir
George, who is one of the few surviving officers who served
at Trafalgar, is Count of Pentraflrrne, in Portugal, receiving
that and various other honours for services rendered to the
cause of Queen Donna Maria, while in command of the
Portuguese fleet.

The centenary of the foundation of the Ecoles des
Arts et Métiers, which were first started in 1780 by the Dec
De Larochefoucauld Liancourt, was celebrated on Monday.
About three hundred of the students, accompanied by their
Professors, went down to Liancourt in the Oise, where
speeches were made round the statue of the noble founder of
these excellent schools In the evening a commemorative
banquet took place in Paris under the presidency of the
Minister of Commerce.

There are bad reports of the crops in Central and
Southern Russia. The onisoplia Austriaca has ravaged an
area of two hundred miles in the Poltawa province, and
Balta and Plaissine, in the province of Podolia, have also
seriously suffered from it.

The San Domingo Government has presented to the
town of Pavia a handful of the remains of Columbus, con-
sisting of small fragments of bones and dust enclosed in a
glass ball and sealed by the Archbishop, whose secretary was
the bearer of the relic. It has been deposited in the Univer-
sity library.

The Mark Lane Express states that the wheat crop
will be a great improvement upon that of last year, but the
yield is likely to be of a most uneven character.—A some-
what more favourable report Ls given in Bell's htessenger,
which states that the recent rains have been of considerable
advantage, and there is reason to hope that not only will
there be a good crop of barley, but that roots and grasses
will be abundant.

The St. Petersburg Correspondent of the Standard
states that telegraphic reports received at the Ministery of
the Interior from the governors of forty-nitie provinces show
that the harvest throughout Russia is a poor one, although,
owing to the recent fine weather, not to the degree antici-
pated.

On Monday afternoon a fatal accident occurred on
the Midland Railway a few miles from Sheffield. It seems
that some empty wagons were being shunted into a colliery
siding, when three of them got on to the main up line. Just
at this time an express train from York to Loud on came up
and before it could be stopped the engine dashed into the
empty wagons. John Clarke, the fireman, seeing that a
collision was inevitable, jumped off his engine and received
injuries from which he shortly afterwards died_ Though
the collision was of a serious character, the passengers in
the express escaped with a severe shaking. The empty
wagons were smashed. The train was delayed more than
an hour.
The Committee appointed to inquire into the effects
produced upon the home and colonial sugar industries by
the foreign bounty system has issued its report. It finds
that the loaf sugar refining trade has been practically ex-
tinguished, and that the sugar-growing industry of our
colonies has been checked, and suggests that steps should
Immediately be taken to stop the present system of bounties
on sugar, both raw and refined.

In London last week 2,270 births and 1,698 deaths
were registered. Allowing for increase of population, the
births were 1,158 below, whereas the deaths exceeded by 47,
the average numbers in the corresponding week of the last
ten years. The annual death-rate from all causes, which
had steaoily increased from 177 to 241) per 1,000 in the
seven preceding weeks, declined to 24*2. During the past
five weeks the metropolitan death-rate has averaged 219 per
1,000, against 25 0 and 177 in the corresponding periods of
1878 and 1879.

Reports which have been current for some time as
to the prevalence of disease amongst the grouse on the prin-
cipal Scotch moors now assume definite form. From Perth
and Inverness-shire the keepers report that disease is work-
ing sad havoc among the birds, and unless the epidemic
abates the result will be disastrous. The disease is generally
confined to the old grouse, and the young birds are fairly
healthy and abundant.
The Board of Trade returns for the past month
continues to reflect improving trade in all directions. The
total value of British and Irish exports during July was
£20,270,000, against £16,618,000 in the correspondingperiod
of 1879, or an increase of 22 per cent. In the imports the
aggregate value last month was £33,352,000, compared with
430,166,000 in July last year, thus showing an improvement
of i 0 per cent. Compared with the figures for July, 1878,
the exports present an increase of 23i per cent., and the im-
ports of 7 per cent. It will be observed that there is a ma-
terial reduction in the rate of improvement in the imports
of July contrasted with that of the three or four previous
months. This, however, may on the whole be regarded as
not unsatisfactory, in view of the enormous increases lately
noticeable.

The Indian Government has sanctioned the esta-
blishment of a patriotic fund for the relief of the soldiers
and followers disabled in the Afghan war, and for the
families of the killed. A committee of management has
been formed at Simla, with Sir Edwin Johnson as president.
Three lakhs of rupees have already been subscribed, of
which two-thirds were contributed by the Maharajah of
.Buirampore and the .Nawab of Rampore.—The folic wing is
the text of the telegram sent by the Queen to the Viceroy of
India, on hearing of the defeat of General Barrows's brigade:
—" My heart bleeds for the loss of so many brave otticerg
and men. Pray express my sympathy and anxiety for the
wounded."

Thirty French Jesuits have settled at Pastrana,
near Madrid, 150 at Barcelona, 80 at Salamanca, 50 at
Ciudad Rodrigo, 40 at Vittoria, 100 at Burgos, and 40 at
Sargossa. Municipal buildings or private mansions have in
most cases been placed at their disposal. At Lisbon some
French Jesuits have also arrived, commissioned to purchase
and fit up buildings for schools for those about to be closed
in France.
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e:Vaendrelgrr.aet et
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Lctbhoyate:tr,xmtdeNh
suffering, of Lieutenant-Colonel Cleland, commanding the 9th
Queen's Royal Lancers. This officer was severely wounded
while leading a portion of his regiment into action in
Afghanistan on the 11th December last, when it will be
reeollected that our troops suffered severely. Owing to the..
gravity of his wounds it was found impossible to move
colonel Cleland to England, or even to the coast, and on
Saturday last, 7th inst., at Murree, he succumbed to ex-
haustion consequent on 'extreme pain and a debilitating
climate."—Obituary of the The Times, Aug. 9:
The Bishop of Manchester preached on Sunday at
the evening service of the 4th Battalion Staffordshire 'Volun-
teers in camp at Oxley. He referred to the necessity of
soldiers being trained to discipline and endurance, and said
that the whole of English society needed a little discipline
to make it orderly and sound. There were great chasms in
It and disorganisation everywhere, and what was wanted
WRS greater national unity amongst us, founded upon the
high idea of patriotism. At present people were living too
easy, luxurious, and selfish lives, and many of them lived as
if they had never read Gibbons's "Deelinc and Fall of
Rome." It would be well to prepare for a dark day in
England.
Mr. William Henry Giles Kingston, the well-known
writer of books for boys, died at his residence at Willesden,
on the sth instant, at the age of sixty-six. His first work,
"The Circassian Chief," was written in 1544, and was fol-
lowed by "The Prime Minister," a Portuguese story of the
Marquess of Pomba', and Lusitanian sketches, being his own
travels .and adventures in Portugal.. In, 1851 appealed
"Peter the Whaler," which still forms an attrKtive book
for the young, in all Mr, Kingston produced .allont 125
books, foremost among which are "The Three Midshipioen,"
"The Three Lieutenants," "The Three Commanders', off
"The Three Admirals," a popular History of the Navy, and
works for soldiers and sailors.