The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-01-09 00:00:00

The Bonapartibt p‘urty urposes the eele4ration of
masses for Napoleon M. Oh January 9, the anniVersary of his
death, on a larger scale than has hitherto been attempted.
At the annual meeting of the contributors to the
Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, it was proposed that two ladies
should be elected as managers. This was, however, rejected
by 161 to 110.
It is said that the Right Hon. W. E. Forster. K 2.,
has Ited to deliver a lecture on an early' date in
Bradford on his recent visit to the United States. The pro-
ceeds of the lecture to be devoted to the hospital fund of
the town.
The revenue zeurns published in the Gazette of
Tuesday night give the receipts of the first nine months of
the financial year as £51,958,726, as compared with
£52,788,593, in the corresponding period of last year. The
expenditure has been rather over fifty-four millions sterling.
An encyclical letter has been written by the Pow ;
announcing that there will be a Jubilee this year, and ex- ir •
horting the Catholic community to offer up special prayers jr.;
in order to obtain Divine favour for the world and the
Church. •.,
The octopus (common rock squid) is frequently eaten . ,
in Jersey, and both that and the sand squid are offered fer
sale in the market, in the season. The flavour is said to be a‘r
much the same as the Jersey ormers (oreille-de-mer).
Lord Derby has intimated to the United States LI
7t,
Ambassador that the British Government will take part in -
the international centennial celebration to be held in oy
Philadelphia this year.
4
The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges (as
'Conscience Money ") the receipt of the first of half a Bank '—
note for £53, from " I.X. ," for arrears of Income Tax. ail cr
A monument to the memory of the French soldiers LL
killed in the battles round Metz will be erected close to the Iry
frontier, near Mars is Tour.
A circular has been sent out from Whitehall, ad- 1;04
dressed to the mayors of boroughs and to the authorities of
the county police, calling attention to an apparent supine- 't
ness on the part of the police in regard to the apprehension .310.3
of deserters from the army and navy, of which the number ;
continues to be considerable. The Home Office desires to tr I $
urge the importance of the subject upon the police.
The following is a statement showing the total ..x.ww
number of messages forwarded from postal telegraph station -41usa
in the United Kingdom during the week ended the 26th in., 40
and during the corresponding week of 1873 :—December 26,
1874, 295,162; December 27, 1873, 261,188; increase, 33,976. '7
The late frost in Paris appears to have been very
destructive to life and limb. Up to Sunday night six deaths 4.111#
were reported, and 262 cases of injury were under treat- '40:41
ment at the various hospitals.
Commander William B. Cushing, a young but ia
famous officer of the United States' Navy, died on the 18th ego/
of December, at Washington, aged 33. He did good service bra
daring the war, and was the commander of the party who,
in 1864. entered the Roanoke river, North Carolina, and de- •CA .1
stroyed the Confederate ram Albemarle. In 1865 he corn- 411eil
mended the storming party which made the successful at- "
tack on Fort Fisher, North Carolina. Since the war he has 4ge:4
seen considerable active service ; but becoming ill during da
last year, his mind giving way, he was sent to a-lunatic s'v's
asylum in Washington, where he died. :wee is
The Paris LiberM, in its catalogue of the events of 'is=
the year, states that during 1874 there died 19 sovereigns,
chiefs of the state, or princes, French or foreigners ; 64 ,
politicians, functionaries, judges, or barristers; 22 prelates
or ecclesiastics of high rank; 20 eminent, scientific, or :be*
iterary men; 43 dignitaries of the French army or navy':
four celebrated French pkysicians or surgeons: nine great
merchants and manufacturers; 12 journalists; 11 painters,
draughtsmen, sculptors, or engravers; 19 musicians or
dramatic performers; and 22 influential personages.
A curious skin cure has been practised by an Indian Abe
hakeem in Rajpootana. He encased the legs of his unfortu-
nate patient in clay, and when, after some weeks, the ex- . •
tremities of his subject were released from their imprison-
ment, the legs were found immovably bent, the heels
touching the thighs and the knees quite stiff. The sufferer .
was ultimately cured by an English doctor. •••
The Swedish Parliament has passed a Bill enabling
women by a marriage contract to retain the possession and
management of their property. The Bill encountered much
opposition from a large portion of the Orthodox clergy, who iste
maintained that, as Christ is the head of the Church, the las
man is the head of the household, and equality between man *ad
and wife is abnormal. The King has given his sanction to
the measure.
A type-setting tournament has been held at
Washington. Mere were eight entries in the first class,
the type nonpareiL Time, three hours. The first prize, a '
solid gold composing stick, won by S. N. Bennerman, who
set 5,079 ems; second prize, a solid silver composing stick. "d
full newspaper size, won by R. A. McLean, who set 4,998 '4'll
ems; third prize, a 3fenamin's Encyclopmdia of Printing, •
won by W. McCollum, who set 4720 ems. The tournament
was closed with a grand banquet. It is not said who did "4
the best at this, and put in most "pie." sdi
-.4 le
The list of eleatks in Tuesday's Times filled nearly ut!
a column of the paper. Forty-two of the deaths announced
were those of persons over 60 years of age, which, added to •
21 the previous day, made 63 for the two days. Of these, 22
were persons between the ages of 60 and 70, 21 between 70
and 80, and 20 over 80 years of age.--The Times had again
on Wednesday nearly a coal= of announcements of deaths,
forty-five of which relate a to persons over 60 years of age.
The list included the names of 19 persons between the ages
of 80 and 90, 13 between 70 and 10, 10 between 60 and 70,
and 3 over 90 years of age.
At a meeting of the committee of the Hospital
Sunday Fand, held at the Mausion• House, in London, on
Monday, under the presidency of Sir Sydney Waterlow, it-
was resolviathat the 13th of Jane should be fixed for the
Hospital Sunday of 1575. The coimcil was reappointed for
the year, and the report of the Committee with regard to
the distribution of the fund was adopted, after a long dis-
cussion, with the following addition to the original motion:
—" That a committee be appointed to examine and to report
to a public meeting on the claims of special hospitals in par-
ticular, and generally on a basis in which grants from the .1
Hospital Sunday Fund ought to be made to hospitals tat
general or special, and to dispensaries respectively." 44

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