The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-06-11 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The imports into the United Kingdom during May
amounted to £32,800,000, against £30,400,000 in the same
month last year. The exports were £19,000,000, against
£17,200,000.

A striking illustration of the depreciation in the
value of landed property is afforded by a remark made re-
cently by one of the richest noblemen in England, who, in
conversation on the subject, said he should be glad to get
a return of 1 per cent. on the estimated value of his land.—
Court Journal.
Friday in last week was the 16th annniversary of
the birth of Prince George Frederick Ernest Albert, the
younger son of their Royal Highnesses the Prince and
Princess of Wales, the young Prince having been born at
Marlborough House, London, on June 3, 1865.

•
Addressing a meeting of h's constituents at St.
Helen's on Tuesday night, Sir R. Cross conOemned the policy
of the Government in Ireland, in Afghanistan, and in the
Transvaal, and justified the course which the Opposition
had taken. He ventured -to say that no Government had
ever made so many mistakes of such a serious character in
so short a time, and lie had no doubt as to the result when
they came to be tried at the bar of public opinion, unless
they much altered.
The Arctic cod fishing this year has proved a failure.
Five of the fishing vessels from North Faroe have returned
to Shetland with takes only ranging from two thousand to
four thousand cod. One vessel, the Walrus, is reported to
have seven thousand, the highest take of the fleet. A second
trip will probably be made later in the season.

- -
A New Orleans telegram says that the visible sul-ply
of wheat on June 3 was 15,000,000 bushels ; Ditto Indian
corn, 9,800,000 bushels. Export clearance of wheat for
Europe during the past week. 2,400,000 bushels; export
clearances of Indian corn for Europe during the past week,
2,180,000 bushels.
- - - -

,
The attempt to blow up the London Mansion House
has (says the Daily Telegraph) caused the City Police autho-
rities to revive some precautions that were taken not only
by the City but by the Metropolitan Police during the
Fenian troubles in 1867. A number of the men in the force
are being instructed in the use ef the revolver. The weapon
with which they practise is the Government pattern issued
to the services.

The Daily News of Tuesday gives prominence to a
rumour that "the Russian Government have proposed to
the Powers that attempts against the lives of Sovereigns
should cease to be regarded as political crimes, and their
perpetrators be rendered liable to extradition."

-
Samuel Evans, a leading stoker of her Majesty's
ship Indus, was practising diving in the Hamoaze. Devon-
port, the other day, and when he had been under Water 20
minutes, he was signalled to ascend. His response was
" All right," and he was hauled up. When within 31t. of the
surface of the water he was seen to olutch at the ladder.
He was quickly hauled into the boattbut was quite dead.

Cincinnati is in treaty with the Brush Electric Light
Company for illuminating that city. The preposition is to
erect several towers 200 feet high, bearing lamps of some
18,000 candle power each, as also 75 foot-post lamps of from
2,000 to 4,000 candle power.

The death is announced, in the American papers
just received, of George Washington Marrison Nutt, better
known as Commodore Nutt. lie was horn at Manchester,
Newhaven, in 1844, and in 1859, whet fifteen years of age,
he was engaged by P. T. Barnum, in whose museum at New
York he made his first appearance before the public in
1860.

The Berlin Correspondent of The Times writes
"For the last evening or two the Berliners. have been enjoy-
ing the spectacle of illuminated ballooning by two skilled
French aeronauts, MA. Godard and. Crommelin, who gene-
rally select by lot one or two aspiring fellow-passengers.
Marshal von Moltke (who, by the way, Was now retired to
his Silesian estate for his long annual holiday, which argues
a highly satisfactory state of the political barometer) has
taken much interest in these exercises of an alarming
vehicle of scouting and communication, which cannot be
intercepted even by 50,000 Argns-eyed Uhlans ; while the
Emperor was present one evening to whness an aeronautic
ascent at Potsdam, which cannot but remind his Majesty of
the siege of Paris and a prominent incident in the career of
th• Dictator of Tours.

The medical advisers of Prince Bismarck again
urge him to proceed to Kissengen for the summer, his con-
dition not being at all satisfactory to them.

It is reported in Ottawa that the Marquis of Lorne
intends to pay a short visit to Fngland in the autumn.

Only six lines of the Irish Land Bill have been
considered in Committee, and the Bill contains 1,055 lines.
In addition, about 1,500 amendments have been proposed by
members of the House.

Sir Edward Thornton has paid £I,OOO to the
United States Government, being the amount agreed upon
by the British Government as compensation for the American
fishermen in the Fortune Bay dispute.

The Customs receipts at Montreal for the past
month show an increase of 72,000 dols, as compared with
N[ay, ISSO. The receipts for the eleven months of the fiscal
year have been 6,500,000 dohs., being the highest total ever
reached.

The public debt of the United States is now
],852,921,971d018. The May decrease was 11,150,721 dais.
The decrease since Tune 30 was 89,250,323 dols.
Five steamers landed 4,363 'migrants in New York
on June 1, including 287 Mormons, who were immediately
forwarded to Utah. The May emigrants show that 40 per
cent were Germans, 22 per cent. Scandinavians, 19 per cent.
Irish, 9 per cent English, and 2/- per cent. Scotsh of the
whole New York emigration.

At a meeting of the local Conservative party in
Bristol it has been resolved to erect a local memorial to the
late Lord Beaconsfield, which will probably take the form of
a memorial hall, with offices for the Conservative Associa-
tion.

According to a report received at St. Petersburg
the crops in the greater part of the Russian governments
are in a very satisfactory condition, and even in the less
favoured provinces the prospects are good.

The cotton crop of the United States lastryear was
by far the largest gathered In the Southern States

As a number of the school children attending St.
Nfary's Church Schools, Barnsley, were on Tuesday morning
being conveyed in some large brewery waggons, drawn by a
traction engine, a wheel came off one of the waggons while
going down Market-hill, and threw most of the occupants
out. Great consternation prevailed, as it was thought
several of the children were killed, but fortunately no one
was seriously hurt, and the only injuries sustained were cuts
and bruises.

Mr. Maclver, M.P., speaking at a banquet given
on Tuesday evening to the Druids' delegates at Birkenhead,
said that during his seven years' experience of Parliament
he had been persistent in urging certain views with regard to
c(-rtain trade relations of this country when those views
were very unpopular, but now he thought he had the
approyal and support not only of his own constituents, but
of the people of other towns. He asked the delegates, repre-
senting as they did various trades and industries, whether
there was not something in the demand for fair trade, and
if they thought there was, to press the question upon their
members of Parliament.

Rapid progress is being made with the railway pass-
ing through the Alps. The Arlberg tunnel is advancing at
the rate of more than 200 yards per month, and the lines of
approach will be undertaken shortly. At the St. Elothard
Tunnel preparations are being made for propelling the trains
by electricity, the mountain torrents—the Reuss and the
Tessin— offering sources of an almost unlimited supply of
electro-motive force.

From calculations made as to the effect of the new
French treaty on the various classes of cotton goods manu-
factured in Oldham, it has been found that in some instances
the increase of duty will be nearly 200 per cent.

Prince Frederick, eldest son and heir-apparent of
Christian IX., King of Denmark, and brother of the Princess
of Wales, completed his 38th year on Friday in last week,
having been born on June 3, 143. The Crown Prince is
married to the Princess Louisa, only daughter of the late
Carl XV., King of Sweden and Norway.

The other day Mrs. A. M. Sullivan visited Michael
Davitt in Portland Prison. She reports that she found him
in good health and well contented with his treatment. He
lives apart from the other prisoners, and is engaged in work-
ing in the governor's garden

The sale of postal notes has steadily increased since
their introduction—the aggregate at the present time ex-
ceeding the most sanguine expectations. It is a notable fact
in connection with this that the sale of Post-office orders has
has not appreciably diminished.

A number of boys were bathing the other afternoon
in a pond near Redhill Junction, whext they were disturbed,
and ran across a level crossing. Just then the Brighton
express was coming along at a great speed, and knocked one
of them down and killed him. The driver pulled up at the
junction, where he gave information, and the remains, which
were dragged about ten yards by the train, were removed to
await the inquest.

The Czar has received the five Tekke chieftains who
have come as a deputation to Russia. Be conversed with
each of his visitors, conferred a military rank on the
principal man, and gave valuable presents to all. The depu-
tation is said to have declared that the reception surpassed
their wildest dreams.

On Sunday afternoon the bodies of two boys,
brothers, John Todd, aged 13, and Joseph Todd, aged eight,
were found floating in the Bradford cana They had been
missing since Thursday last, and it is not known how they
had got into the water.

The King cf the Sandwich Islands has been on a
visit to Calcutta. By his own wish he was received without
pubic ceremony, and probably the great majority of the in-
habitants were ignorant of the presence of a Royal visitor.
After staying for twojlajs he left for Agra and Delhi, but,
finding the heat oppresrive, he changed his plans at Allaba-
bad, and proceeded direct to Bombay, in order to embark
for Europe by mail steamer.
The Report of the Committee on Indian Coast
Defence, of which Admiral Bythesea, V C., was President, is
now in the hands of the Secretary of State for India. It
furnishes the fullest particulars as to all the vulnerable
points on the Coasts of India, Aden, and British Burmah.
The Committee have gone into the most elaborate details,
and recommend an expenditure of some £2,000,000 or
£3,000,000, and there is every probability of some part of the
money being granted, the necessity for improvement in the
defences of many of the positions being most ably demon-
strated.

The total value of imports at the port of New York
during 1880 was, in round numbers, 539,000,000 dole., which,
compared with 1879, was (axchicling specie) an increase of
124,000,000 dole. The exports amounted to 425,000,000 dols.,
an increase (excluding specie) of 59,600,000 dols. over those
of the preceding year. The most notable increase in ex-
ports of domestic produce was, to England and Wales, of
30,500,000 dols., to Ireland of 5,000,000 dols., and to Germany
of 8,000,000 dols.

Mr. Rupert Carington, M.P., in opening a bazaar
at the Centenary Hall, Winslow, expressed, amidst much
cheering, his sorrow that there was such a system in exist-
ence as rendered conformity and nonconformity possible.
Some of those gentlemen who called themselves Ritualists
did much -more harm than good, and if his choice lay
between Ritualism and Nonconformity only he would not
hesitate to dissent from the Established Church.

Advices received by the Liverpool Journal of Com-
merce from Chicago state that 1,600 miles of new railway
will be constructed during this year in Texas. The aggre-
gate cost of these new lines is estimated at 40,000,000 doltars.
Lord Justice James died on Tuesday night, at his
residence in Wimpole• street, London. Sir William Nlilbourne
James was born on the 29th Julie, 1807, and WAS educated at
the University of Glasgow, where he graduated as master of
arts, and where, in 1873, he received the honorary degi ee of
doctor of laws. Alter leaving the university he became a
student at Lincoln's-inn, and was called to the bar in 1831.
In 1851 he "took silk," and in the same year he was made
vice-chancellor of the County Palatine of Lancaster, an office
which he held for sixteen years. In 1869 he was knighted,
and elevated to the bench as a vice-chancellor. In 1870 he
was sworn in as a privy councillor and created a Lord Justice
of Appeal In politics Lord Justice James was a Conserva-
tive, but he was never conspicuous as a partisan. He un-
successfully contested Derby in 1859.
Sir J. Eardley-Wihnot, M.P., in addressing a
meeting at Leamington, said that his aim in entering
Parliament was to ameliorate the condition of Ireland. Be
wished to see that country placed on the same footing of
prosperity as England. That object could not be obtained
by coercion. He should do his utmost to tic:cure fair play
and justic? for Ireland. •

M. Cochery, Minister of Posts and Telegraphs, dis-
tributed the awards at the Agricultural Show at Tours 'on
Tuesday. He referred to the terrible disasters which in 1870
so seriously affected the agricultural and horticultural pros-
pects of La Touraine, which still bore the proud title of
" Garden of France," disasters which had been felt more or
less throughout the country, and said its resuscitation was
due to the combined labour of the farmers and artisans.

Lord Selborne, in reply to a question put to him by
the Bishop of Lincoln respecting the use of the "Revised
Version," says :—" If any clergyman reads in his church the
lessons appointed for the Sunday and other services from the
' Revised ' Version, before it has been recommended or
authorised by some sufficient public authority, he will, I
think, incur a serious risk of being held to be an offender
against law."

The total number of newspapers now published in
Greece is 129, fifty-five of which appear in Athens alone.
The splendid ruins of Abergavenny Castle and
grounds, together with carriage-drives up the famed Sugar
Loaf Mountain were thrown open free for ever on Whitsun
Monday. There was a grand procession, with three bands
of music, fireworks, and illuminations of the castle ruins.
Excursion trains brought crowds of people, but the weather
was unfavourable.

The amended and more elastic rules for the Naval
Reserve, and the greater facilities that have been afforded
for drill, chiefly due to the exertions of Mr. Brassey, have
resulted in an increase of the total strength of the Reserve
from 11,500 in 1873 to 19,250 at the present time. The force Is
at present made up as follows :-Ist Reserve, 11,750 ; 2nd
Reserve, 6,300 ; Royal Naval Artillery Volunteers, 1,200 ;
total, 19,250.
It is estimated that 100,000 buffalo hides will be
shipped out of the Yellowstone country this season. Two
firms alone are negotiating for the transportation of 25,000
hides each. When to this is added the immense amotint of
skins and furs of other kinds—deer, elk, antelope, bear,
beaver, etc., some idea may be formed of the extent of the
Yellowstone belt and fur trade.

The French Minister of Marine has just issued an
order allowing sailors henceforth to wear beards. The
order says that moustaches must not be worn without
beards, and that the beard must not be more than six centi-
metres in length, and must be well kept.
The arrivals of live stock and fresh meat at Liver-
pool last week fr@rn the United States and Canada were the
largest for many months past, the total being in all 3,512
cattle, 656 sheep, 110 hogs, 10,724 quarters of beef, 852 car-
cases of mutton, and 110 dead hogs.
The Postmaster of New York has written to the
Postal Department at Washington, suggesting that the
british postal authorities should be informed of the damage
frequei;tly done to the mails by rats during the voyage from
England to the United States.

Mr.H.Fowler, Af.P., speaking at a civicbanquet in con-
nection with the opening of a public park in Wolverhampton,
said that the regulations which had been wisely laid down to
keep straight the conduct of public business tad become
fetters which were manacling the House of Commons and
preventing it from doing its duty to the constituencies.
They were using the machinery of the eighteenth century in
a fond and foolish and futile attempt to carry on the gigantic
business of the nineteenth century, and Parliament had
neither the sense nor the nerve to do otherwise.

The following cable message was received at the
London office of the Am York Herald from the Herald
Weather Bureau, New York :—" A succession of depressions
is crossing. First will arrive on the British and Norwegian
coasts between 6th and Bth; one following likely to develops
energy about 10th. Rain ; south-east veering north-west
strong winds."

_
According to the Russian papers, the deputation
of the Turcomaus which has gone to St. Petersburg consi4s
of five persons, headed by the late Corm-mull:l,r of the
Tarcornan force, Tyknii Serdar. The latter has with him
his son, a boy of ten years, who is to enter the Corps of
Pages. A native chief from Mery accompanies the expedi-
tion, in order thaLlie may report to his countrymen the
condition of the Empire of the mighty White Czar who has
overcome the sturdy furcom an tribes. The latter has been
received with great distinction and friendliness.

The late Mr. Joseph Jackson, of High-street, Shore-
ditch, London, bequeathed ten thousand pounds for the
establishment of a Cottage Hospital and a Soup Kitchen in
Shoreditch, with a further sum for providing a chapel at
Little Ashy, in Westmoreland. Objection was raised to
these bequests before Vice-Chancellor Hall on the ground
that they necessarily involved the purchase of land, which
was prohibited by the ,Nlortmain Act. Sir C. Hall, however,
decided in favour of their validity, except as regards the
bequest for establishing a chapel.
A Paris telegram announces the death of M. Vieux-
tamps, the violinist. He was born at Verviers in 1820, and
when eight yelrs old, he played in public in different towns
In Belgium, and Beriot, struck by his talent, gave him in-
struction for some months. In 1830 he made a successful
debut in Paris, and visited Vienna in the following year.
Subsequently he made a tour of the Continent, and was re-
ceived at St. Petersburg and Moscow with enthusiasm.
Be was appointed a professor of the violin at the Conserve-
toirs of Brussels, but resigned the position in 1879 on ac-
count of ill-health.

The American peach crop is expected to prove a
complete failure. _ _

There have been several more or less destructive
storms in tipper India. At Naini {al the roof of a school-
house was blown off during school hours, but no one was in-
jured.
- -

The town of Siniawa, in Galicia, has been entirely
burnt down, and 3,000 persons are homeless.

A telegram from Nice says that the committee for
the erection of a statue to General Garibaldi have held a
meeting 'arid -decided to close the subscription list for the
present. They will deposit at the Municipal Treasury the
funds which have been collected, and propose to take up
the scheme again at a future date.
Steps are about to be taken by the NN, ar Office for
increasing the number of Field 3lar6hals permanently to
six.

The Piccolo of Naples states that Queen Margherita
has expressed her wish not to be attended either by Guards
or Carbineers when she drives or walks out in that city.
Her virtues, her b auty, and...the affections of the people,
adds the Piccolo, are sufficient protection for her.
It is stated that the grouse hatch is a good one
everywhere, and shooting prospects on the moorlands were
never better.

The want which has long been felt of some more
extended place where artillery and engineering experiments
can be carried out will, it is hoped, shortly be met by the
purchase of a large tract of rough ground near Dungeness.
- -

Electric 'Velocipedes, Engineering tells us, are fast
being perfected in Paris. A. tricycle was recently driven by
electricity at the rate of an ordinary cab, but it is hoped that
by modifying the apparatus the speed may be increased to
twelve or fifteen miles an hour.
All officcrs whose regiments are quartered in Ire-
land, and who are at present on leave have been ordered to re-
turn at once.

A telegram from Cyprus says that the damage done
by locusts to the crops this year is of a very limited extent
and a good harvest is expected. The tithes, it is anticipated,
will be double the amount of last year's.

In the Braye Chapel, in WindsJr Castle, where the
nationa, memorial to the late Prince Louis Napoleon has
Just been erected, two figures of angels, sculptured in white
marble, have been placed in the niches on each side of the
centrat windows of the south wall.

At Sheffield, on Monday, in beautiful weather, the •
annual Whitsuntide Sunday School ine took place. The
largest gathering was in Norfolk Park, where 12,000 scholars,
1,500 teachers, and 60,000 spectators assembled. The
Wesleyan schools met at Wesley College, numbering 6,000
scholars, 1,00 teachers, and 10,000 spectators. The'ehurch
of England schools had several places of meeting in different
quarters.

in _earls, on Sunday night, a startling accident
happened on the Seine. Two steamboats laden with holiday
folk came into collision between the Bridges of Grenelle and
len& A terrific panic ensued, but thanks to speedy relief no
life was lost. One of the vessels was much damaged,
and sank just after the passengers had been transferred to
another boat. Two or three women were injured by the
shock, and one man had his leg smashed.

Early on Sunday morning, at Cambridge, Mr. W. A.
D. Weldon, an undergraduate of St. Peter's College, went up a
staircase to visit a friend, who, however was out. On descend-
ing the staircase Mr. Weldon fell down in an apoplectic fit.
He was conveyed into the tutor's room, but survived only one
hour and a half.

Last week's receipts of cotton at all United States
ports have been 32,000 bales, and since Ist September
5,52,000 bales. Shipments to Great Britain, 39,000 bales ;
and to the Continent and Channel, 30,000 bales; total since
Ist September, 4,126,600 bales. Stock at all ports, 463,000
bales.

Count Fritz Eulenburg, Prussian Minister of the
Interior from 1862 to 1878, died on Friday in last week, at
Schomberg, near Berlin. One of the most active associates
of Prince Bismarck in the days of the Parliamentary conflict,
he, after the events of 1866, turned Liberal, and by his ex-
traordinary talent and versatility acquired considerable
popularity.

The waste lands of Yorkshire are very extensive,
and at the present time it seems a great pity that they are
not utilised. Much of the land bears a valuable deposit of
peat, which might with a little enterprise be worked to
great advantage and profit. Rabbit warrens might be
formed. The rabbits would thrive, and where rabbits thrive
their fecundity is enormous. Most proprietors, however,
are content to make whht they can out of grouse-lettings,
which do not increase the general wealth or food production
of the country—Graphic.

Some sensation has been caused in Rome by the
publication of a pamphlet by the Jesuit Father Curd, ad-
vocating an alliance between the Church and democracy.
The Glasgow Liberal Six Hundred have expressed
un ibated confidence in the Irish policy of the Government.
and its appreciation of the unwearied services of Mr. Forster.

Official reports received by the State Department
from American Ministers and consuls in Europe show that a
thorough investigation into the hog diseases in the United
States, and also a strict inspection of all pork before exporta-
tion, are necessary to dissipate the false reports and alarm
which led to the prohibition of the importation of American
pork.

Mr. Mundella, M.P., speaking at the festival of the
London Drovers Benevolent Institution, expressed a hope
that the period for closed markets was coming to an end.
At the same time care must be taken not to give a handle_to
those members in the House of Commons who were de-
sirous of preventing the importation of cattle into this
country.

A Dairy Show on rather a large scale was opened on
Tuesday at Bingley Hall, Birmingham, and prizes to the
amount of one thousand pounds were awarded. The Mayor
observed that the exhibition was an experiment which he
hoped would be successful. They could not see English
agriculture languishing without making an effort to improve
its position.

On Friday afternoon in last week a platelayer
named Cox was about commencing work near the up plat-
form at Slough station when he was knocked down by the
one o'clock express from Windsor and killed. He leaves a
widow and several children.

Mr. H. S. Northcote, M.P., speaking at the open-
ing of the Beaconsfield Club at Abingdon, urged that the
first and most essential requisite of Conservative reorganisa-
tion was that they should secure the cordial and loyal sup-
port of the working classes.

On July 14 a commemorative tablet will be placed
on the house No. 6, Rue des Vertus, at Choisy-le-Roi, where
Rouget de l'lsle died. The tablet will bear this inscription:
—" L'Auteur de la Alarseillaise Claude-Rouget de Lisle ne
Lons-le-Saulnier, is 10 mai 1760 eat mort dans cette maison
le 27 juin 1536."

At a recent meeting of the Royal I:otanic Society,
the Secretary reported that the wonderful plant Aristolochia
Goldieana, from Old Calabar, was juA coming into flower
for the first time in the foci ty's garden. It is said to be the
largest flower but one of the whole world.

The annual aggregate meeting of the members of
the Welsh Calvinistic Methodist Churches in the Liverpool
district was held in Liverpool on Monday. The number of
adherents was reported to he 11,130. The total amount of
collections during the year was £8,674. There as a
falling off in the number received into full communion, but
a large increase iu the number of Sunday scholars.

A sad accident, which terminated fatally, occurred
at Eynsham Athletic Sports on Tuesday. Two under-
graduates were seated in a light trap, when the horse was
frightened at the band, and the vehicle coming into collision
with a coach was overturned, and the animal dashed among
the crowd with a portion of the harness. A man named
Richard Brooks, of Uxbridge, was knocked down, and ulti-
mately died of the injuries he received.
An Irish meeting was held at Sheffield on Tues-
day night, and was addressed by Mr. T. P. O'Connor
and Mr. Redmond. A resolr.tion was unanimously passed
expressing the opinion that unless materially amended in
Committee the Land Bill would prove inadequate, and call-
ing upon the Government to accept such amendments from
the Irish party at would tend to make the measure entirely
satisfactory.

An inquest has been held at Oxford on the body of
John Lionel Postgate, an undergraduate of Queen's College,
who was drowned while bathing at the University b4hing
-place. From the evidence it appeared that the deceased
gentleman went iuto a shallow part of the stream and it is
Supposed gradually got out of his depth. The jury returned
a verdict of "Accidentally drowned." and recommended
that notice should be posted of the dangerous nature of the
bathing place to those unable to swim.

The Czar has promised his personal aid in improving
the condition of the Itussian Army; but he has declared to
the Minister for War that it was necessary to economise.
The St. Petersburg correspondent of the Standard states that
it is believed a serious effort will now be made to reduce the
expenditure on the Russian Arzv.

The first sod of the new storage reservoir in connec-
tion with the water supply of the town of Birmingham was
cut on Saturday by Alderman Avery, chairman of the water
committee. This reservoir will cover seri area of 90 acres,
and have a storage capacity of 400,000,000 gallons. There
will be a smaller reservoir, capable of holding 20,000,000
gallons, into which water from the river Bourne will flow,
so that any solid impurities may subside before the water
passes into the larger reservoir. The cost of the reservoirs
will be £78,990, and engines, boilers, and buildings will
bring up the whole to £125,000.

The Vienna Correspondent of the Standard says
that according to information p-ivately received from St
Petersburg, the Khan of Khiva has promised his best sup-
port and very profitable terms to the Russians in the event
of their cutting a navigable canal to connect the Caspian Sea
with the Lake of Aral.

A Times' telegram says that the lager-beer brewers
of New York and the neighbouring towns struck on Monday
for less work. Two thousand men are thus thrown out of
work and 150 breweries are embarrassed. The men demand
a reduction of the working hours, which are now 15, to 12
daily, with no Sunday work Twenty six breweries have
yielded to the demand, but 76 breweries, who were repre-
sented at an employers' meeting on MomTay, determined to
resist the strike. Whit-Monday, which is the busiest season
with the German beer brewers, was shrewdly selected for
'opening the strike.
At three o'clock on Friday afternoon in last week,
a large building that was being erected in Bridge-street,
Llangollen, Jell in with a tremendous crash. Four men and
boys who were working there at the time were buried in the
debris. One lad named Williams with difficulty extricated
himself from the ruins, and was able to proceed home, though
not without severe scars. A young man named Rowlands
was, however, hurt more seriously, and had to be conveyed
home. A young lad named Le.ris, who was engaged with his
father in clearing out the basement of the North and South
Wales Bank, adjoining the fallen building, and which is now
undergoing extensive alterations, miraculously managed to
scramble out into the street ; while his father, Thomas Lewis,
was completely buried in the huge mass of bricks, stones,
and timber, and when taken out, in about fifteen minutes,
was found to be dead. A carriage passing at the time
narrowly escaped. The street was blocked for a considerable
time.

The hapless lady whose fate was linked with the
unfortunate Maximilian, Emperor of Mexico—the Empress
Charlotte, completed her 41st year on Tuesday, having bc en
born on June 7, 1840. Her marriage with the Archduke'Maxi-
milian of Austria was solemnised on July 27, 1857; her
husband was elected Emperor of Mexico on July 10, 1863,
and his career was ended by his execution, by order of Pte
sident Juarez, on June 19, 1367, nearly 14 years ago. The
Empress Charlotte is the only daughter of the late Leopold
1., King of the Belgians, by his marriage with Queen Louise,
daughter of Louis Philippe, King of the 'French, being,
therefore, a sister of the present King of the Belgians.

ibnetc,ovuee course o
the
execution,
'
Advices from Vienna state that in view of the
piercingatl ex cano
exchange
et the Pa
viewsnam
Powers in order to secure the complete neutrality of the
Panama
s Canal,proceeding
l'a w
canal when completed. The United States agent of the
rallarila Canal Company left Nev York on Monday for
Europe. lie reports that the company is fully formed, that
a quarter of the capital has been already paid, and that the
necessary material for the works is in course of manufac-
ture. It is announced that the Canal can be constructed in
four years, and at a cost of one hundred million francs below
the original estimates.

- .
A sad occurrence happened at Swindon on Monday.
About seven o'clock in the morning Mr. Henry Kenneir,
junior, aged 25, eldest son of Mr. H. Kenneir, a solicitor.
went, accompanied by his father, his brother Walter, and
Mr. Henry Ryland, a son of a member of a legal firm in
London, to the Coate reservoir, about two miles from
Swindon, to bathe. This reservoir, about fifty or sixty
acres in extent, is used to feed the Wilts and Berke
canal, and is a favourite spot for bathing, boating, and fish-
ing. The elder Mr.Kenneir did not bathe bit the three younger
men did so, and appeared to thoroughly enjoy it. Suddenly
young Mr. Kenneir was seized with cramp and Mr. Ryland
was too far off to assist him. His brother Walter held him
up for -a tithe, but became exhausted, and before help came
deceased sank. Immediate steps were taken to recover the
body, but it was not until the afternoon this was effected.—
An inquest was held on Tuesday, when it was stated that the
deceased, his brother, and Mr. Ryland went to bathe, leaping
from a large boat that was in the middle of the reservoir.
The boat was not moored, and the wind being high it
drifted a considerable distance from the deceased, who had
got into the water a second time. His brother Walter, who
was ahnost exhausted in seeking to save him, had to be pre-
vented by force from again entering the water to search for
deceased. The Puy returned a verdict of accidental death,
and suggested that bathing boats should be moored and
proper appliances tor saving We provided.