The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-03-26 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN,

A correspondent says it is probable that arrange-
ments will be made which will permit Mr. Gladstone to
spend the greater part of the Easter recess in a sea trip.—
Wednesday's Times.

The King and Queen of Spain have presented the
Pope with a costly enamelled goblet, set with pearls and
valued at 200,000 francs. It has been placed in the Vatican
Gallery of Arts.

There were 2,709 births and 1,459 deaths registered
In London last week. Allowing for increase of population,
the births were 11 and the deaths as many as 275 below the
average numbers in the corresponding week of the last ten
years. The annual death-rate from all causes, which had
been equal to 23 and 224 in the two preceding weeks, further
declined to 201.

Last week the fatal eases of small-pox in London
declined to 43.

The Daily Telegraph says :—" It was an interesting
incident on Tuesday night that, for the first time this ses-
sion, the notice paper of the House of Commons contained
no question put by any Irish member."
' The report of the Registrar-General will be forth-
coming in about a month and for the first time it will con-
tain a feature of tmusual interest. Each month will be
divided into certain periods, and the prevalence of every
disease will be shown for each of these periods, according
as it exceeds or falls below the average of the past forty
years. The advantage of this series of tables is obvious, as
it will be possible, by means of it, for even the unpro-
fessional laymen to tell in what months of the year each
disease is most dangerous.

Additional precautions for the safety of the Houses
of Parliament from the foolish or guilty misdeeds of un-
principled persons continue to be taken the arrangements
being made under the personal supervision of Sir Edmund
Henderson, between whom, Mr. Leonard Courtney, and the
chief of the detective force in Manchester, a conference took
place on Monday night.—Daily Telegraph.

At the meeting of the managers of the Metropolitan
Asylums Board on Saturday it was reported that there was an
increase of fifty-eight small-pox patients in the past fort-
night.

A Vienna telegram says that the charming watering
place of Veidol), or the Worther Lake, in the province of
Carinthia, has been almost entirely destroyed by lire. Only
two villas, which were situated on high ground apart
from the other houses of the place, have escaped injury.
The loss of property is very large, and the population is in
great distress.

The week's receipts of cotton at all United States
ports have been 107,000 bales, and since Ist September
4,893,576 bales. Shipments to Great Britain 70,000 bales,
and to the Continent mid Channel 63,000 bales; total
since Ist September 3,205,765 bales. Stock at all ports
863,000 bales.

The Earl of St. Germans died at eleven o'clock on
Saturday night, at his house in Grosvenor-gardens, London,
after a short, but severe illness. The late Earl being a
bachelor, the family honours and estates in Cornwall are
inherited by his brother, the Hon. Henry Cornwallis Eliot.
of the Foreign Office, born Feb. 11, 1835. The late Peer was
a Liberal in politics, but voted against the Government on
the Irish Compensation Bill in August last.
While the Duchess of Connaught was returning to
Bagshot Park on Saturday afternoon in a carriage drawn
by a pair of Russian ponies, the Duchess herself driving,
one of the ponies took fright. In running through the
village of Bagsh)t the carriage came in contact with a
baker's cart stand,ng on the roadside, and tke Duchess and
the lady who accompanied her were thrown out on the
road. Fortunately her Royal Highness escaped unhurt,
and was able to walk to Eagshot Park immediately after-
wards.

An action by the widow and seven children of the
late Captain McCulloch, of Kilcreggan, Clyde, against the
Caledonian Railway Company, was to have been tried in the
Court of Session before Lord President Inglis and a jury on
Monday, but has been settled extra-judicially. The pursuers
sued for £14,500 damages for the death of Captain McCul-
loch in the collision on the company's line at Pennilee, near
Paisley, in September last. The action was compromised by
the company paying £6,000

At New York five steamers landed 1,818 immi-
grants on Wednesday in last week.
Snow fell heavily on Sunday in the north of Scot-
land, and for a time it looked as if there was to be a renewal
of the storm, but towards the afternoon the snow ceased.
A Bill for clobing of public-houses during the hours of
polling at Parliamentary elections; a Bill to amend the
Copyhold Acts, to promote the general enfranchisement of
lands of copyhold and customary tenure have been issued.
A New York correspondent states that Mr. Thurlow
Weed has published an important statement concerning the
attitude of Russia towards the United States during the war
of secession. In the early part of the war a Russian fleet
anchored all the winter in New York Harbour, and another
in San Francisco. The fleet, it is said, had sealed orders, to
be opened only in case of foreign interference with the war.

We (Academy) hear that—whatever may have been
the case in this country—ten thousand copies of Lord
Beaconsfield's Endymion have been sold in Canada, being
the largest sale which any book has yet reached in the
Dominion.
By order of the Serjeant-at-Arms, all strangers in
the precincts of the House of Commons who carry bags or
parcels are to be requested by the police to allow an inspec•
tiou to be made of their contents.

The interior of Windsor Castle will, it is believed,
be shortly illuminated by the electric light.
The Portuguese Government at Goa have made
primary education compulsory in respect of all children
between seven an twelve years of age living within a radius
of two miles from any Government school. Only the very
poor will be exempted.

In spite of the pressure of work, it is said that Mr.
Gladstone has been able to read through the two volumes of
Mr. Carlyle's Reminiscences, and to give an exhaustive con-
versational criticism of them.

An American authority asserts that the feeding of
horses with hay is not understood, and that universally more
is given them than is healthy. It weakens the digestion,
and makes horses unfit for quick work and a long-sustained
effort.

The American Arctic Expedition, in search of the
Jeannette, will leave San Francisco about July let. The
Government have bought the whaling steamers Mary and
Helen, and will fit them out, contributing £20,000 towards
the expenses of the voyage.

Chicago has determined to commemorate the 10th
anniversary of their great fire by erecting a fine library.
costing 500,000 dols. The nucleus of a library was formed
by 7,000 volumes obtained by Mr. Thomas Hughes from
English authors and publishers directly after the fire.
The arrivals of live stock and fresh meat at Liver-
pool last week, from the United States and Canada, were in
excess of the preceding week, the totals being 1,008 cattle,
20 sheep, 11,295 quarters of beef, 2,566 carcases of mutton,
and 1,525 pigs.
The ship Clyde, 1,140 tons, Captain Hoyle,
chartered by Agent-General for New South Wales, sailt d
from Plymouth for Sydney on the 19th inst., with 331
emigrants, under the supervision of Dr. William Baly as
surgeon-superintendent.
No Good Friday performance of the " Messiah "
will be sanctioned in any of the town-halls or public insti-
tutions within the tjurisdiction of the Middlesex bench of
magistrates, an official intimation having been given that
a disregard of the injunction will jeopardise the renewal of
the licenses for music which are held for such buildings.

On Monday a number of navvies employed at ham-
green, Upchurch, near Sittingbourne, in constructing a
seawall, were proceeding to their work in a boat when they
struck a pile. A large hole was knocked in the bottom of
the boat, and it sank immediately. Six of the men were
rescued or managed to save themselves, but two were
drowned. •

The Senatus of the University of St. Andrews have
approved generally of a number of petitions on the subject
of the university education of women, and agreed to grant
separate courses of systematic university instruction to
women as soon as a sufficient sum of money is raised for the
purpose. A committee of professors has been appointed to
correspond with those who have initiated the movement, and
to take steps for its further development.
On Sunday last, through the liberality of Sir Coutts
Lindsay, the Grosvenor Gallery was visited by a large num-
ber of the members of the Sunday Society, between ,the
hours of six and half-past eight. Next Sunday the Gallery
will be open to the public by free tickets, obtainable from
the society.
The proposal to extend the Employers' Liability
Act to the men employed in the Government Dockyards has
been abandoned. It has been found on investigation that
the men, in case of injury or death from accident, enjoy
greater advantages than they would possess under the Em-
ployers' Liability Act.
A sixty-five hours "go-as-you-please" pedestrian
contest was concluded at Dundee on Saturday. The success-
ful competitors were Ferguson, of Pollakshaws, 366 miles;
Murdon, of Hull, 345; Corbett, Aberdeen, 835; Day, London,
329 miles.

The Census analysis shows that the whites in the
United States number forty-three million four hundred and
four thousand eight hundred and seventy-six, and the
coloured six million five hundred and seventy-seven thou-
sand one hundred and fifty-one; and that while the
coloured race has increased numerically, the ratio of their
increase falls largely behind that of the whites.
Friday (18th) was the thirty-third anniversary of
the birth of Princess Louise, but, in consequence of the
death of the Emperor of Russia, the customary demonstra-
tions at Windsor were, by the commands of Her Majesty,
omitted.
According to the New York Irish World, the number
of Irish Land League branches in America is 1,085, of which
New York has the highest number, 210. Massachusetts
comes next with 163, and Pennsylvania with 144. Every
State in the Union is represented.

Mr. Broadhurst proposes to introduce, either in the
Corrupt Pratices Bill or in the Ballot Bill, a clause providing
that the expenses of the returning officer shall be paid out
of the local rates.

Mlle. Sarah Bernhardt, on her return from the
"United States, will give three performances at the Hague,
and three at Amsterdam, for each of which she is to receive
4,0001 r.

The new Italian ironclad about to be constructed
will be armed with two guns of 100 tons and 12 smaller ones.
The engine will be compound, of a force of 10,000 horse-
power, and capable of making 16 miles an hour. The new
vessel will be superior, it is thought, to the Inflexible, or any
other ironclad, and will carry 875 tons of coals. Her plates
will be 45 centimetres in thickness.

The reults of the late Swiss Census, taken on the
Ist of December, 1880, have now been made up, and show
that at date the population of the confederacy amounted
altogether to. 2,846,102 souls, of whom 2,831,787 were resi-
dents in the localities where they were enumerated.

At the meeting of the City of London Commis-
sioners of Sewers it was announced that, of the three
different systems of electric lighting which are to be tried
in the streets and on the bridges, two will begin work on
the 31st inst., and the other a month later.
Shipments of grain from the United States to
Europe, as telegraphed on Tuesday, comprise 260,000
quarters, of which 145,000 quarters were forwarded to the
United Kingdom, and 115,000 to the continent. Of a
total of 209,000 quarters maize, 149,000 quarters were shipped
to this country, and 60,000 to other parts of Europe,
95,000 bags of flour being included for England. The visible
supply represents 23,409,000 bushels wheat, and 14,700,000
bushels maize.

Her Majesty's Drawing Room, which was postponed
from the 18th inst., will take place on Tuesday, the 29th
inst. The Court will be in mourning, and all persons who
attend will be expect to observe the published orders; but
brides and young unmarried ladies, on their presentation,
may appear in white.

At a recent sporting dinner in New York two
splendid floral decorations ornamented the dining table.
Two horses of excellent proportions were woven out of
flowers with fine effect. The bodies of the racers were of
white carnations, the manes were of lilacs, and the tails of
pampas plumes. Each horse was blanketed with crimson
carnations.—" Pencißings of the Week," in Land and Water.

-
The wife of a Chester cabman has received notice
that a brother, who has died abroad, had left her £ll,OOO.
The heaviest snowstorm of the season occurred in
the North-Western States of America last week, the trains
being again blocked.

The steamer City of Pekin, from Hongkong, landed
900 Chinese at San Francisco last week.

The eleventh annual contest at football, under the
Rugby Union Rules, between England and Scotland, was
played on Saturday at Edinburgh, in the presence of a very
large number of persons. The match was one of the most
interesting ever witnessed, and it resulted in a tie, each side
having obtained a gaol and a try.
A practical attempt at "Boycotting" has recently
been made in Net" York. Last week three large brewers had ,
a difficulty with some employEs, resulting in their discharge. s
By way of retaliation the trades societies, numbering
upwards of 8,000 notified retailers that they will not drink
the beer of the obnoxious manufacturers.

The result of some investigations that have been
lately made by M. Mintz as to the presence of alcohol in
substances where its existence has been least expected places
total abstainers in an uncomfortable and anomalous position.
Alcohol is found by M. Mtintz in spring, river, sea and rain
water, and also in sugar. Only in very pure spring water is
it altogether absent.

The anniversary dinner of the Highland Society of
London took place on Monday evening at the Freemasone
Tavern. Mr. Cameron of Lochiel, M. P., great grandson of Sir
Ralph Abercrombie, who fell at the battle of Alexandria in
1801, presided, on the anniversary of which engagement the
annual dinner of the Society is held.

A New York telegram says that thirty men are re-
ported to have been killed and the waggons belonging
them burnt by the Indians of New Mexico.

News received at St. Petersburg from Tashkend
states that the family of Abdur Rahman Khan will shortly •
leave for Afghanistan. The Ameer has st nt several envoys
and an escort to bring them to Cabul, alit the Russian
authorities will conduct them to the frontier with all due
honours.
The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland anil Lady Cowper
have been on a visit with the Earl of Listowel at Convamore,
near Mallow. A meeting of the Dulhallow hunt took place on
Monday, at which their excellencies attended. Two ladies,
the daughters of Colonel Roberts, who attended the hunt in
a dog cart, met with an accident, Tilt) horse became •
restive and plunged; the vehicle was upset, and the ladies
were thrown oast ; fortunately, they escaped uninjured.
The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens,
Regent's-park, London, during the past week include a
bonnet monkey from India, presented by Mr. R. W. Okes-
Voysey ; an azara's fox from Buenos Ayres, presented by Mr,
Wm. Petty ' • a gold pheasant from China, presented by Ur,
W. 11. St. Quintin ; an ornamental ceratophys from BueAos
Ayres, presented by Mr. E. W. White, F.Z.S. ; a Watt vol 4
British, purchased two dingo dogs, born in the G-iwietu3.
It has been gravely proposed in the French Chamber
to legalise the practice of selling and buying titles of
nobility. The proposer, M. Jouhett would charge 10,000
francs a year for the title of duke, 5,000 for that of martinis,
and so on in a descending scale, finishing with 2,000 francs
a year for the use of the particle de. Ile thinks there are
Frenchmen osough who love titles to pay the State
100,000,000 francs a year for the right of using them.

On Tuesday night Mrs. Gladstone presented the
prizes at the Bow and Bromley Institute to the successful.
members of the East London Floricultural Society. Theo*
was a crowded attendance, and the show of flowers was a,
very fine one. After the distribution, a handsome banquet
was presented to Mrs. Gladstone, as also a vote of thanks, li
acknowledging which Mrs. Gladstone observed that the East
of London, which had been noted for its smoke hitherto
would soon become frmous for its flowers.
A singular instance of the presence of ex:glostve gas
in a lake is related by a correspondent of ;(1/122.e. During
the late frost, Loch Ken, in liirkcudbri:gfitshire, was con,
pletely frozen over, but here and there small spots near 03
banks resisted the frost, and when they did freeze, the leo
was thin.. The largest of these holes would have admitted
an ordinary curling stone. Gas was emitted, and when
the ice first formed, one person who bored a small hole and
lighted the gas thus liberated, had his face severely burned.
After a while the gas seemed to lose its powers of cornbus•
tion, and only a feeble flame appeared when a hole was first
Accor 'lig to a semi-official announcement made ste.
St. Pe rg, it is intended to reduce in twenty-three, ,
Govern s the payments due from the peasants for the'
redemption of the land allotted to them on the abolition
serfdom. The reductions would vary from 40 to 10 ceo.l
and would amount to about 9,000,000 roubles per annum.
An inquest has been held in Liverpool on the boas
of harles Eloyle, nine years old, an inmate of the BoYa
Refuge, St. Anne-street. The unfortunate boy, while
playing in the washhouse on Saturday a,fternoon, fell into
the boiler, which was about five feet deep. Another lad,
named Lewis, 15 years of age„ gave evidence of the discover,'
of the deceased, saying he was going to get some hot water
to bathe his neck when he saw a face in the boiler. He then‘ •
gave the alarm. When got out the lad was of course, quite:
dead. A verdict was given in accordance with evidence, Oa,
jury adding a recommendation that the rule prohibiting the,
boys ol the Refuge tb enter the washhbusisbb mere Arica),
enfeutetl,

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