The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-12-10 00:00:00

i Shoeblack : "Clean yer. boots, Sir! clean yer
, boots! "—Brown : "No, no, no."—Shoeblack (observing that
: Brown wears spectacles) : "Clean yer winders, Sir! clean
.1 yer winders I "---Itoonahtne.
The Dublin Gazette of Dec. 2, contains a Proclama-,
tion, extending the prohibition as to • the importation of
English and Scotch cattle into Ireland until the 31st of
January next. . ..
On Tuesday night the 440th anniversary of the '
founding of the "Kynge's College of Oure Ladye of Eton
beside Wyndesore," by Henry VI. in 1441, was celebrated by
a grand banquet given by the Provost and Yelloiva in the
ancient hall, to which about eighty guests were invited.
From Philadelphia an order has been received by a
Berlin sculptor, Professor Stet:gyring, for a statue of Wash-
ington on horseback, for Philadelphia. The cost is to be
54,000 marks, or £2,700 sterling.
Prince Henry of Prussia, the second son of the
Crown Prince, left Berlin on Tuesday for a tour of five
months' duration in the East.
Her Majesty's dinner party on Sunday included
Princes Beatrice, Prince Leopold, and the Duke. of Camp
bridge, the . Dowager. Duchess of Roxburgh°, the Hort
Horatia ' Stopford, the Hon. Mary Pitt, the' lion. Am
Lambert, the Bishop of Manchester, the Deau of Winds°
ancrLieutenant-Weneral Sir il. Ponsouby.
.A. Reuter. telegram dated Montreal, Dec. 4, says,
—An attempt was made here last night to destroy the MI
court-house by means of an infernal machine with a'clock
work arrangement. The machine, which contained 'ten
pounds of dynamite, is now in the possession of the police.
it is made of zinc, and is described as a very complete pl-ce
of mechanism.—A later telegram s.tys that another infernal
machine, similar-to*e one found on the 3rd inst., was dits
covered on the 6th in the same spot near the City Com!!
House by the same two boys who made the first discovery.
The ma had apparently exploded without doing any
cb
damage:
It appeac ,-from the official returns for October
Just issued, that in the United States the excess of exports
of merchandise over the imports was 9,271,536 dole., while
the imports of gold and silver coin exceeded the imports by
7,163,013 dols.
An Indian recently started a large elk in Sumas!;,
British Columbia, and after a three days chase succeeded in
shooting his game. The weight of the elk was 1,000 pounds,
and his antlers measured five feet from tip to tip. -.
An extensive landslip has taken place on the Melton
Mowbray and Grantham and Nottingham branch of the
Great Northern Railway. Many thousands of tons of earth
slipped down and fell upon the line, entirely blocking the
traffic. Passengers, however, were carrieq up to the point
of obstruction on either side, and had to walk the intervening
distance.
" Pat " Junior (in answer to inquiry by Saxon
Tourist): "There's foive of us, yer Honour, an' the baby."—
Saxon: "And are you the eldest ?"—"Pat " Junior: "lam,
yer Honour—at prisent I I "—Punch.
The authorities of various towns and parishes which
contain Government works and buildings are at the present
time corresponding with a view to making a joint representa-
tion to Her Majesty's Treasury, and elsewhere if necessary,
on the subject of the insufficient contribution made by the
national property to local burthens. It is proposed to hold
a conference of delegates in London before the meeting of
Parliament, and many members of the House of Commons
are expected to assist in the movement.
On Tuesday, at the Guildhall, Exeter, the Devon
team handed over to the Duke of Somerset, Lord Lieutenant
of the county, the China Vase won at the last Wimbledon
Meeting. The Duke, in accepting it, spoke of the position
and prospects of the Volunteers, and, alluding to shooting
for prizes, observed that what is really wanted for good rifle
shooting is the judgment of distances. His Grace then dis-
tributed the badges and bars to the team.—Sir Stafford
Northcote also spoke on the same subject, observing that
the strength of the country was to a great extent developed
by the Volunteers.
"In reference to certain reports which have obtained
currency, we have authority for stating that the Marquis of
Lorne has every intention of returning to Canada to resume
his official duties as Governor-General of the Dominion, and
that although it is not yet certain whether the Marchioness
of Lorne will accompany the Marquis on the return voyage,
It may be regarded as definitely settled that her Royal High-
ness will leave England before the spring for Ottawa, her
long absence from the Dominion being entirely due to the
fact that her medical advisers do not approve of an earlier
departure, owing to the state of her Royal Highness's
health."—Standard.
The French Crown jewels will soon have ceased to
exist as a collection. The committee on the bill for their
sale has decided to examine the gems, and, after selecting
such as possess any actual historical or artistic value, to
dispose of the remainder without further delay.
The Hon. F. Leveson Gower M.P., addressing his
constituents at Bodmin, congratulated the farmers on not
having been induced by a body of people calling themselves
Fair Traders to go in for Protection. No bubble ever burst
as that bubble had burst. Their proposed duty on corn was
simply preposterous, and he was delighted that the fallacy
had been detected. The law of distress he would abolish,
and remarked that the only opposition to that reform came
Irons the landlords.
The Standard says :-'-"A Correspondent points out
that in our Obituary Columns of Thursday last there were
recorded the deaths of sixteen persons whose united ages
amounted to 1277 years, and that, allowing for the extra
months in each person's age, this would give an average of
SO years to each. The oldest gentleman was 91, the oldest
lady 93.
The French Census is to be taken on the 18th inst.
Madame Albani sang-n, short time ago at the per-
formance of an oratorio at Manchester, for which she re-
ceived £l6O. Some curious person has been counting the
number of notes in her parts, and finds the total to be
2,975; thus the popular singer was paid at the rate of 13d.
per note.

There were fifty-seven British and foreign actua
wrecks, of which thirty-one were British—four betng British
steamers and five foreign steamers—reported during last
week, snaking a total of 1,832 for the present year, or an
increase of 318 as compared with the corresponding period
of last Year. The increase on the week was fifteen. The
approximate value of property lost was £6,000,000, including
British, £3,600,000.
• The Cleveland iromogasters' returns for the month of
November, which were Issued ou Saturday, showed stocks
of iron to be reduced by 33,149 tons, while the shipments
during the same period have been increased 11,616 tons as
compared with the corresponding month of last year.
The Bombay Gazette of Nov. 17 says that a stiff gale
at Madras has greatly damaged the new harbour works, which
were nearly completed and were estimated to cost £56(,000.
The groins which enclose the harbour seaward subsided two
feet, the two Titan cranes, one on each groin, were swept over
and sunk, the top tier of blocks (concrete, weighing 27 tons
each) was washed away all along the outer face, and the sea
rolled right in with scarcely any obstruction, causing a very
heavy surf within the harbour. The only vessels inside were
two steam hopper barges belonging to the port, both of
which were sunk, and the majority of their crew drowned.
Mr. Dodson, M.P., speaking at the inaugural meet-
ing of the Lewes Liberal Association, said that the Govern-
ment inherited a long lists of arrears, and had had little
opportunity of snaking them up. They had, however, closed
many doors. They had overcome the embarrassment in the
Levant and settled the Greek frontier question satisfactorily,
and they had no reason to suppose that Egyptian matters
would seriously trouble them. It was of no use to bark at
Great Powers and bite small ones.
In London shortly after ten o'clock on Monday
night, a woman was observed to leap over Blackfriars-
bridge. Owing to the tide being low she struck on the pro-
jecting portion of one of the piers. Death must have been
instantaneous.
The Prince of Wales has consented to have his
splendid Indian collection exhibited at Copenhagen during
next summer, when the Prince and Princess will visit
Copenhagen, where they will meet the Emperor and Em-
press of Russia, and possibly also the Greek family.
The party assembled at Gunton last week, which
was the third in succession, brought down three thousand
five hundred in two days, of which two thousand one hun-
dred and sixty were pheasants.—The World. -
During last week only two steamers reached the
Mersey conveying live stock, and Biz a ith fresh meat from
the United States and Canada, having on board 385 cattle,
449 sheep, 5,444 quarters of beef, 761 carcases of mutton,
and 75 pigs, showing a decrease in live stock and an in-
crease of fresh meat in comparison with the preceding
week.
The Shakers at Enfield, Conn., have commenced
sowing the seeds of forest pines. The States are doing their
best to encourage this useful industry, which is of very great
importance at this time when timber threatens to become so
scarce from the wholesale destruction it has undergone in
days gone by.
The eclipse of the moon was well seen in London on
1 Monday evening; and letters from various Correspondents
show that the weather was equally favourable for its obser-
vation throughout the country.
At Swansea, on Monday, Mr. John Griffiths, of
Porteynou, master of the steamship Inehmaree, of Liverpool,
was presented by the mayor, on behalf of the French
Minister of Marine, with a handsome silver-mounted
" binocular" for gallantry in saving life at sea. On October
17, last year, he rescued 99 French sailors and passengers
from the waterlogged ship Mathilde tie Grancille'in mid-
Atlantic, and conveyed them to 'America. Since then, it ap-
pears, he has been instrumental in taking off 20 more persons
from a disabled ship under similar circumstances.
A novel illumination took place the other day in
Rome on the occasion of the Queen of Italy's birthday.
When their majesties appeared on the balcony, everyone
struck a match and held it in the air The effect was quite
pretty. It seemed as if the air were filled with fire-files.
The reason for this novel kind of illumination was that all
the gas of the town was turned off, on account of a tremen-
dous fire that had burst out in a palace near the gas-works,
and for prudence the gas was turned off, and Rome was in
pitch darkness all night.
"it is a common remark that November has this
year belida its traditional reputation in regard to weather,
particularly in London. We have not had, for example, a
single fog worthy of thd name. What is perhaps even more
singular is that a continuous rise of temperature through
the month is reported from Sweden. Has the gulf stream
turned its course more to the north?"—Globe.
Speaking at a large meeting at Blackburn connected
with the church of Church of England Temperance Society
on Monday night, the Bishop of Liverpool said there were
only three, subjects more important than that of temperance
—those Were the preaching of the Gospel, the promotion of
Scriptural 'education, and the maintenance of the old Pro-
testant faith of England.
On Saturday, the Earl of Dalhousie entertained the
the whole of his tenantry, numbering between 203 and 300,
at a banquet in the New Public-hall, Arbroath. The noble
lord, who presided, intimated that, in view of the depres-
sion existing in agriculture, he had decided to grant a
reduction of 15 per cent. in rents on the crops of 1881,1882,
and 1883, pending a revaluation of the farms on his estate.
Recently therc lived at Geneva an ancient spinste
of ample means who was in the habit of making a yearly
visit to Lucerne, and she always stayed at the well-known
and hospitable Schweizerhof, where one of the waiters in
the hotel was always particularly attentive to her. Some two
or three weeks since the fortunate garcon received an intima-
tion of the old lady's death, and that, in consideration of
the zealous service he had always rendered her during her
sojourn at the Schweizerhof, she had ordered to be paid to
him out of her estate the sum of 100,001.
• Mr. Maclver, M.P., at a Fair Trade demonstration
at Bradford, moved a resolution to the effect that the meet-
ing protested agaiest the renewal of any cemdiercial treaty
with France that did not secure fair treatment to the
industries of this country, and objected to the continuance
of negotiations which have for their basis proposals that
France should be allowed to continue to tax the products of
British labour whilst this country for a term of years bound
herself to admit the products of French labour duty free.
The resolution was carried.
The Direction of the Bureau Veritas has published
the followingfitatistics of maritime disasters reported during
the month of October, 1881, concerning all flags :—Sailing
vessels reported lost.—Five American, three Austrian, 84
British, one Republic Argentine, one Belgian, one Chilian,
two Danish, 10 Dutch, 17 French, 27 German, two Greek, 11
Italian, 40 Norwegian, two Portuguese, 10 Russian, five
Spanish, 15 Swe•Nsh ; total, 236. In this number are iu-
eluded three vessels reported missing. Steamers reported
lost.—One Austrian, one Belgian, one Brazilian, 18 British,
one Chilton, one Dutch, two French, two German,
ttNovtoal, Nor
32.-
wegian, one Russian, oxinieclSupdaeidffsht
n
In this number are one
Swedish total,
reported
missing.
There were 2,508 births and 1,460 deaths registered
In London last week. Allowing for increase of population,
the births wero 71 and the deaths 337 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 19-5 and 21-8 per I,ooe in the two preceding weeks; de-
, clipedste.lol4) p `-• SlPia" diatClift4,)
At a meeting of the air ra T e League a ions ot
on Tuesday a letter was read from Sir Stafford Northcote
the effect that he was glad to be in possession of the views ~f
the committee on this important subject, but as he atitici-
pated a full discussion of the question in the course of the
next se.,sion he thought it well to wait for that opportunity
of entering into its merits.—Resolutions were passed calling
upon the Government to adopt speedy legislative enact-
ments to place all competitors on their natural fair-trade
footing.