The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-11-02 00:00:00

#listellancous

NO: FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL,
_

no/tette: VATIIg. —Mr. Deputy Stapleton, a
member of the Court of Common Countil of the City
of Londett, hats gh:en notice of a motion he intends to
propouhrl at their next meting, to the effeckthat it is
highly desirable that the Corporation of LoLdon should
construct end maintain floadr4l hatbs on the Thamed
for the use of the citizens as soon as the main drainage
of the metropolis is completed, and that it be referred
to a committee to inquire as to the cost of construction
and the probable annual outlay, and to report generally
on the subject to the Court.

re,eTeieonotererr (leer jr SHOOTING BY A
s isclabont fonrteen years of
age, has been charged before tiie 7t-,erposi magietratee,
shooting Sarah Ellen M'Doweil, osvB,,anday
evening last, in Lambertstreet, Islington. On tbat
evening M`Dowell, who is about fifteen years of age,
was standing at the corner of the street, in company
with some other girls when the prisoner went up to
f bent, and, after asking a question relative to SoDIO
other boys, he presented a pistol at the head of a little
girl standing nest The latter., however, ran away.
and the prisoner then pointed it at the head of
M'frowefl. and fired, very dangerously injuring her in
thy fisee. the prisoner admitted having fired 611 the
pistol, bat Bald he did not know h had a cap on, and
that he was only "tryttg fibs strength of the trigger."
He was remanded, as the inHireri girl is at present in
a very critical condition, and it was stated that she
wJuld probably he disfigured for life.

A FISHER OF MEN. —A nell• known angler
was fishing at a trouting stream, when he was accosted
by the minister, who asked him as to his sums*. The
angler, after replying, said to the iiiinister—" Dan ye
no try the rod yourseb r "Oh, no," replied the
minister, with pious awe and eyes upturned, "1 am a
fisher of men" "Oh, indeed," replied Sandy, "bet I
•doot ye're nee great hand o't, for I lcs.,kit into your
creel yesterday, and it was unco empty."
"WHAT Next. "—Affable Stranger (to Coun
try Gentleman, who was just thinking of going on
with his Gun for an hour or two): "Any Birds?—
The Squire (uncertain as to the inquirer's identity,
answers politely, but in depressed tone): "Eh?
—No-s-None rk---Aiffeble Steamer : ! it'esjinst
the same at our place !"---lhe Squire (seeing a chance
of enlightenment): "0. indeed! Where--Wliereare you
Speaking of" —Affable Stranger Ah, jes' so! Good
Morning !" (Hands him his card, and drives oil.)—
The Squire (reads) " ' Holborn ! Sraithers and Son!
Grocers! Wholesale Prices ! ! '"—Punch.


RotirltAD„
hEalbfbeltTnAT.olo.Nu.—ch:a‘
the Otle of that exhiliarating lipiof has not been
parodied liy tome rival speculator. As tea is to oak.'
leaves, so io coffee to *earns, and by this time dfi
tative genius might have bit upon the idea of adver-
tising " The New Coffee Spirit, (worms. —Punch.
Thvertieede Nethat* Tore wSonPdierir! I
A TRAFALGAR VETERAN.—The 'Nei. 11. P.
Jeston, Rinumbeiat of Chonestsiry, Trine, writes
"I have in my paehih, living within 0 Itinndred yanis of ni)
door, an old marine, flavid Newton, who fought in the
peus,s,,ton, or aa he always call her, the Billyruillan' I
am frequelitl, Puttied With his tale allcvis the battle. Asking
kimono day how Boab thsv linos of Nelson's death.'
Alt
Sir,' was the reply, we were blest dean to the Yisfrop, and
about four Or rive o'clock, I think, Is the errening, we saw
the AderwlnTi rig half mast high, and we Deo' Quip too well
what had hapoehtd besides, luxii after the action we had a
bate,h of French prisonth int en board of us. aD. at they
pasted along the deck they moe.Acd end leered, and non, r lug
stile their thumbs over their shoulder f.r."ole A,rirritrars flag
excl '• Ah , where is your N.lson 178sive is your
lelson ?"' I tat 1^ hope that, 6hould this little oat... Wye
' releß thy eye of any of sliv surviving officers,' especia:iy
those At oprfi side some of thee. may be induced to send ,
nie a trille b.. Siy old heto. fie is n thoroughly goad,
devout, old man, Agee SS, almost stione-iilind, without a
petition, ant supported in p.:-ert by parish alloiganie.-
'II.E RAILWAY WHISTLE. rnittlff States
papers complain of the annoyance rest:Sting from the
" locomotive screeching at stations and highway
4 closings.. The Cleveland notices the adoption
of trlsAui whistles on a lower note, mid observes that
this is a strg > the right direction, but tuily a step.
The Boston Advert:64r Antee that the Boston and Wor-
cester Company have 80 lest curtailed the use of the
whistle IV to make it almost oesall to be an annoyance,
fivd maintainathat its eventual disuse would diminish
the nuitibeA of aucidents by increasing the "Hance of
all At some highway mossinge a flag by de-) mid a
light at night have httri substituted for the whiifle-
exctpt fn times of fog or storm, or at sharp cnrves.
That jouries! predictif that an fncrensing number of
families will elect to' hme their homes on such railway
lines as use the whistle least
I THE " TIMES" ANENT ERZ INcomz-TAx.
Let it be rem mibered that, though we ..`soie in Eng-
land a class of officfals remarkable for probity, and sarely
to blab about the matters confided to them, fhw
working of the income-tax, eren among ourselves, is
in many respec: objectionable. Thousands make
their returns with the gseatest =willingness, with a
sect "I ,humiliaion, or a s:mire of danger, arrewd-
ing to the!: mcial or commerclai relations. They
feel this yearly peenniary confession to be one of
the greatest trials of their lives, and never make It
nart without a secret dread that it may in some way de
them harttft. Time and necessity mrc have reconciled
us to the iintresit but it must be recollected that Sir
Robert Peel, in pre'poeing expresely stated that it
sem a tax only to be >Allied by the exigencies of the
Stone, and as a temporary' expedient to maintain the
credit .1 the country. Other? have called it a war-
tax, and frrlly recognised that ttum who pay it in its
increased proportions have the first clairil tea remission
on the return of peace,
PROBABLE EXECIITIOH OF FOCH SIAmEsE
l'inveltSBEBl—The itirlian Stake-Wise says
'There are -amours that three or four rein vases of Siam
and two see rants' hate been aroused of steallo,B gold chainn,
diamonds, and preclntr' stones. The gold chains, llanu,nits,
and other precious stone' that were attached to the Xing's
*word had been taken away, and. itaitation chains and stotllF
had replaced them. These depredettores, it is rumoure,l,
were made toeing the late reign, but have eniy recently been
discovered. Some nay those accused of the theft have
eeceffed 0 lashes erect. The servants are Lo Sc, eue-
!cuted end the princesses disposed of as the 'Cie pro-
vides for pt:rtnni c.l their rank, if found really guAsr
et:ht:eeirtfthe,..nptudhneiff:th.:o:lL: guiltyor t.rai:ylutehbieez. ladies
t fof rank k
swh.onyareb
bans
;s-
-plice te are bell g tried, and ft is hot yet known what
dfoerath.the
Trumimetoeu,r..e,
josdot the
pprr.::ri,Leteenssaecnos
dowhoirll dd
fastened is a bag, a block of thsnwood Of
princesses Weald
btw:o.uantledd' be placed Pt
dm:, :nrid t: h'negs
too They
en
neckfh :we, e .b7l,
eri"luea,":lld ovl
oubt'stleismspbeit.
shape
ace
o so
w the
, chin on the triangular block. Ate given signed, the first es.
cutioner, after raising his chanwood cudgel, wolalt strike
the fatal blow on the back of the neck, and three other e'er
eutioners, similarly armel, world contiuue their blows
' upon the body uutil it entirely ceased to quiver The hag
containing the holy would then be weighted and thrown
. into the Oyer. This, it Cu stated, lot .e way in which his
, Royal Higinieft Jerome Luang Bak Konuaset was eseettted
• in 1842 "

WRONG IN THE Ht.—Mr. Malaprop, whose
acquaintance with surgical terms 13 evidently some-
what imperfect, persists in saying that she out knew
a man who We. suceesefuLly Japarm —it
ed.Ptach.
_ .

_
A SCENE AT A VOWSE.RACE I—A correspon-
dent, in alluding to a late oc-see-race, says—" The im •
precations, lamentations, actual sereams, of dismayed
rag:: and oain grate harshly on the ear amidst the loud
cheering 'the greets the victory of Playfair
horses are sweeping ran the Judge's chair. A man
dashes his hat upon the ground. and, with an emphasis '
that is comic in spite of his uncontrollable grief, Sri-
dresses it as if it were the horse that has destived hilt;
and heaps accusati no, curses, wild and futile Osreate,
upon its battered crown. Is he the only one ioneN
dened by disappointment and loss? Assuredly not;
and on the Spartan principle of deterrent example, it
might have been well if all the youth of England in
whom the passion of gambling has taken any root
could have heard and seen the many grotesque forms of
repining among those Helots."
A Goon PRECEDENT. —An American paper
states that George Coolbroth, who was a private in the
Fifth Maine Volunteers in the late war, writes the
, Pension Agent at Portland as follows :—" I have been
thinking for some time past of giving up my pension.
Lent you should think it strange, I will explain. I
am a firm believer in the Bible' and am a firm believer
in the immediate return of inn. Saviour to earth. I base
felt condemned for some time fee taking this money,
it being the price of blood; therefore you will please
erase my name from your pension list."
THE, NORI II LON DUN RAILWAY SERVANTS.--
A memorial has beim forwarded from the employs of
; the North London Railway Company to the directors,
'in which, while stating they are determined faithfully
to fulfil their duties, and pointing to the freedom of
the line from accidents as an evidence of their ,•are,
they ask for an increase of the present rate of wages.
They ground their request upon the fact that all the
necessaries of life have risen in price to an enormous
ti
eifuet
tat tt pay :i,ace
ellwtl
same
steeeliysr remind rev ;:iitttrcehtv:,aelyi directorsgal is a ris, at tnts in i
traffic:tpehlrsta:
b oetutlhdgtaehetti rateitorhest
I 1-LT be increased at the rate of is, per
I;ejeli:L.; 03,1/40 tk.,,,L• for Sunday duty.
THE NEw Ati. Pa! 1:),:.1 FARMING.—On Fri-
day (Ist of November) the Alss ,op Baby Farming
will come into force in the United .r.ings!Pm- Not
more than one infant under one year old is to De BLITSed
I for hire unless the name of the person as well as the
house is reeistered by the local authority of the place,
A register hs to be kept, and the local authority may
refuse to register, or may remove the place from the
I register for neglect in providing proper care, food, and
• attention to fufants. For an offence under the Act,
' the punishMent is not to exceed six months, with or
without hard labour, Ca fine of Eh, with the liability
to have the name remoVel from the register. The
local authorities are to pay heti', the rates the expenses
under the Act, and any fines payable are to go to the
local rate. The Act is not to extend to relatives or
guardians of infants, nor to public Institution!. In-
questoi are to be held on infants dying in registered
houses unless the coroner is satisfied with the medical
certificate.
Human Mots:A/lON. —The Act to amend
the Law Relating to the Appointment of llevisMg
Barristers affords an instance of the legislative candees-
ness common enough at all times, but of most frequent
occurrence in the closing days of the Sessioa of Parlia-
ment (remarks the Solicitors' Journal). The BID upon
which it was founded was introduced only a few days
before the end of the Session, and if passed in its
original form would have produced inextricable con-
fusion at the last revision, as we pointed out in some
remarks upon it. Amendments were however, intro-
duced, one of which deferred the operation of the Act
until the let of January next. This is fortunate, be-
cause the last clause of the Act (being "an amen-1-
went "I refers to "An Act of the sixth and seventh
years"•of Victoria, by mistake for "An Act of the
twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh" years. and has thus
. rendered the whole Act useless and unintelligible in its
present {MM. Tide mast, of course, be remedied early
11 next Session. - _

PAUPERISM AND ClightTY.—Lady de Roths-
child, of Aston Clinton, Bucks, has written a letter to
the Aylesbury Board of Guardians, apprising them that
she declines for the future to extend her charity to
those persons in receipt of relief from the Union, It
appears that for a considerable time past Lady de
Rothectrffd Lem been in the habit of supplementing the
. relief given to Petit persons by the Guardians by weekly
oontributions from her own parse, and the Guardims
have decided to reduce the allowance of every pauper
who is the recipient of Lady do Retbscbild's benevo-
lence. Lady de Rothschild says she considers her
efforts defeated by the proceedings oa the part of the
Clowidlans, but the latter contend that under the c m-
eolidated orders of the Poor Law Board, they cannot
give fete, where persons are in receipt f charity.

A (HAN? ft,-sm TAKe.—A fantems rose tree
grows on the Ooragalla estate, Hantanne district,
Ceylon. It is 80 feet in circumference, 15 feet high,
at:d is bearing at present at least two thousand roses.
Ceylon, though not rich in her native flora, is a kind
of stepmother te7 nearly all plants introdu ed there, as
witnessed in the mageasient spread of her numerous
clffee plantations, and the noes aid of varied subjects
introduced into the Peradenia Datenised Gardens. Tie
rose tree in question was planted by rilr. Wright (the
gentleman who sent to England the collection of speci-
mens of woods of the Ceylm timber trees, now to be
seen at Kese), in the bungalow gardened the Ooragalla
coffee estates and is a gloire de Dijon allowed to
spread au nature, witth slight trimmings to keep it in
bounds. It is only one of the many hue examples of
Rose growth to be found in the Handbill Province, the
central mountain zone of Ceylon, where the little fairy
Rose (RosaLawrenciana) is used as a garden eiging, as
box is used in England. _ _

SUICIDE AT BRIGHTON.—A lady, the wife of
Mr. Plenty, of the Eagle Iron Woes, Newbury, Berk-
shire, has been etaying with some (Mende at Brighton,
for the recovery of her health. She suffered consider-
ably from depression of spirits; but it was believed
that she was improving. It appears, however, that
very early on Saturday morning last she left her bed-
r Kim in her night-dress, with a shawl wrapped round
her, and went out of the front door, and towards the
Chain Pier, near which she was seen by a workman
employed on the Parade. Her shawl was subsequently
found on the roadway of the Aquarium sea-wall, but
no other trace of her was found. On Sunday her body
was washed ashore, with very little remains of clothing
on it. An inquest was held on Monday, ard a verdict
of suicide while of unsound mind was returned. It
was stated that her health had suffered recently from
nursing her second child, and she had been in a low,
melancholy way, complaining of pains in her head, and
using such expressions as "What will become of me"
But cite had never said anything indicating any loiter,-
tion of committing suicide. On Friday night she was
occupied for some hours in writing to her husband a
letter, in which she said she felt better, though unable
to collect her thoughts as she could wish. The friend
Wh, was with her also thought she was improving, She
I had been only four or five days at Brilintom