The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-01-02 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.
BRITISH .1:.‘7:4 ' FOREIGN.
The Great Northern Railway Company have
discontinued the issue of sem-id-class tickets between
its stations in the West Riding of Yorkst're, and
between those stations and Doncaster inclusive.
_ _ _ _

A conference of miners throughout Great Britain is
to be held from the 19th to the 23rd of January. Mr.
Thomas Burt, M.P., will preside, and he is expected to
deliver an important address. The conference will
consider many questions of practical interest, and will
advocate the appointment of a Minister of Mines by
the State. The adjustment of labour by day and night
shifts will also be discussed.
The Marquis of Ripon. K.G., has been elected an
honorary member of the Leeds and Yorkshire
Architectural Society.
On Christmas Eve Mr. John Harrison, secretary and
manager of the Boythorpe Colliery Company, Chester-
field, was walking over a level railway crossing near his
own home, when he was knocked down by a locomotive
and killed on the spot.
The death has occurred of Canon Blomfield, which
occurred at Mollington Hall, near Chester. The de..
ceased was 86 years of age, and for over half a century
had been connected with Chester Cathedral. Canon
Blomfield attended the funeral of the Dean of Chester,
when he contracted a severe chill, which resulted in
bronchitis.

A shocking accident occurred near Pembroke on
Christmas Eve. Mr. George Young, one of the leading
farmers and deputy receiver of wrecks of the district,
was proceeding homewards after dark when his trap
came into collision with another trap which was being
driven in the opposite direction. Mr. Young was
thrown violently out, and when picked up it was found
that he had broken his neck in the fall and life was
extinct.
At a fire which broke out early on Friday morning
at a small private house in Rook-street, Poplar, a
lodger, named Timothy Hennesey, aged 45 years, was
burnt to death. _ _ _

Two brothers, named Bernard and Patrick Bryce.
land, quarrelled on Friday night at a house in St.
Mungo-street, Glasgow, when Bernard mada a rush at
his brother, knocked him down, and stabbed him in the
mouth with a sailor's knife, the wound cxtonding to
the throat.

The Russian Government is going to create con-
sulates in Liv,- rpool and Hull.
Nearly 60,000 acres in Great Britain are ecvoted to
market gardens, and 197,532 to fruit orchards.
Portrait models of Prince Alexander and King Milan
are the latest additions to Madame Tussaud's collec-
tion.

A decree has been promulgated in St. Petersburg
establishing a Russian Political Agency in Bot hara.
The ostrich walk, so called from its similarity to
the stride of an ostrich, is now the "go " in San
Francisco.

The death is announced of Mr. J. T. Hoyle, solicitor,
who for half a century has been Coroner of Newcastle-
on -Tyne.
A couple, each over 70 years old, who separated
about two years ago, were remarried last week in Rut-
land, Vermont.
An employ() at the Regent-road brewery at Salford
fell through an opening in one of the floors, and died
from concussion of the brain.

A 'Wiltshire correspondent writes to the " Times " to
say that he saw a bright rainbow-coloured halo round
the moon the other night.
An engine driver at the Groby granite quarries, near
Leicester, has been crushed between a truck and his
shed. He died immediately.
Mrs. Langridge, of 9, Thomas-street, Waterloo-road,
died on Christmas Eve of burns received while coking
her husband'6 dinner the previous day.
The Bishop of London has accepted an invitation to
join the Royal Commission on Education. It is possible
that be may be nominated to the Chairmanship of the
Commission.

There is no foundatio— for ..he statement published
In New York, according to which the Farmers' Union
of Manitoba had resolved that, owing to the want of a
market for damaged wheat, the farmers were unable to
live. The Hon. John Norquay, Premier of Manitoba,
states that the Union did not pass any such resolution.
Messrs. Ogilvie, the principal grain buyers and millers
in Manitoba declare that there is a brisk market with
good prices, for all wheat offered for sale; while the
Canadian Pacific Railway authorities state that their
utmost resources have been engaged in moving the
crop, and that there is a very larae increase in the
acreage ploughed for the next crop
Two fast composite gun vessels of her Majesty's navy
have been ordered from a Tyneside firm.
Sheepscab has appeared in the flock of Mrs. Cook,
Spennymoor, Durham.
After a brief discussion on Saturday the French
Senate adopted the Tonquin and Madagascar Credits
by a large majority.
Twayoung fellows, John Maughan clerk, and Simon
Dodd, upholsterer, were drowned in le Tyne while out
boating on Sunday afternoon.
Yorkshiremen of the East Riding have spent their
Christmas in spring weather, with the thermometer at
times as high as 60 deg. Fah.
According to an authoritative statement just pub-
lished, the Bank of Ireland has never invested any
money in land in Ireland, has never lent any money on
mortgage of land in Ireland. Any charges on land
which it holds were given to the Rank in order
to secure debts incurred in the ordinary way of busi-
ness.

By a convention which has been signed in Madrid,
England will be admitted in the Carolinas and Pelew
Archipelagoes on the same footing as Germany.

The nineteenth annual congress of Irish Nation*:
gehool Teachers was opened on Tuesday in the Sack-
ville•street Lecture-hall, Dublin, under the presidency,
of Mr John Nealon. A number of departmental com-
mittees were appointed, and at a second meeting, ig
the evening, the report of the executive was discus,ed
and adopted. Mr. Nealon having delivered his retiriug
address as president, was unanimously re-elected to the
office.

The three raen, Budge, Martin, and Baker, charged
with the recent burglary at Netherby Hall and the
subsequent murder of Police-constable B 3 roes at
Plumpton, were again brought up and examined at
Carlisle on Tuesday, when Lady Hermione Graham
identified certain articles of jewellery, and said thry
had all now been recovered. Later in the day the man
James Baker, alias Smith and Johrstone, who was
recently apprehended in London, was brought up
privately and discharged, the witnesses having failed
to identify him.
An inquest was held on Tuesday at the St. Gilt
Coroner's Court, London, by Dr. G. D. Thomas, on the
body of James Whitehall,4l, a japanner, who lodged at
5, Drury-lane, and who, after attempting to murder his
wife, destroyed himself on Saturday last. The medical
evidence showed that the deceased was evidently suf-
fering at the time from homicidal and suicidal mal.is,
and the jury returned a verdict to the effect that he
committed suicide whilst of
_unsound mind.

A serious accident took place at the Taylor's Pit of
the Wigan Coal and Iron Company, at Sheving ton , near
Wigan, on Tuesday morning, which unfortunately occa-
sioned injury to 15 persons. A fire broke out in the pit
on Monday afternoon, after the colliers had left we
for the day, and efforts were made all night to extin-
guish the flames. Early on Tuesday morning an exple-
sion happened which resulted as already stated.
At the London Mansion House Police-court, on
Tuesday, Frederick Langford, a clerk, who had b& en
brought back from Melbourne on a warrant, was
oharged on remand with forging and uttering two
cheques for £B5 and £45, respectively, on the London
and County Bank, Lombard-street. The prisoner had
been a clerk in the service of Messrs. F. A. Hughes and
Co., lightermen, of Mark-lane, until July last, when he
absconded. It having been proved that the prisoner
had no authority on the part of his employers to sign
the cheques, he was committed for trial.
Two young men were out shooting at Black Rock,
near Camborne, on Tuesday, when one of them, namsd
Wesley Jewell, received a full charge from someone's
gun a little below the hip.
A strike has occurred among the navvies and plate.
layers on the new Elham Valley Railway between
Canterbury and Folkestone.
As a witness was giving evidence in a stabbing case
at Falmouth, on Tuesday, the magistrate's clerk was
observed to scrutinise his dress curiously, and presently
asked him to retire to an ante-room. He did so, and
took off his coat, as requested, when it was at once
identified by the magistrate's clerk as his property.
Witness said he had bought it from a lodger in his
house, and the man, being fetched by the police, con-
fessed that he had stolen the garment from the magiss
trate's office, and was dealt with accordingly.
On Monday night a young lady named Gertrude
Fairley, 17, the daughter of Mr. Fairley, sbipbroker,
residing at Murton, Sunderland, met her death under
most painful circumstances. It seems that the de-
ceased had been subject to fits fcr some years past, and
happened to be left alone for a few minutes. By Kure
means her nightdress caught fire, ca 'sing such severe
injuries that death ensued shortly afterwards.
A correspondent states that a wealthy person who
was devoted to music died lately in Paris, leavieg
behind him four stringed instruments, all made by
Stradivarius, which could with difficulty be matched.
One violin, dated 1737, the year of the maker's death,
was his last work, and was named by Stradivarius the
"Swan's song." Its owner paid 17,000 francs for it.
A second violin, dated 1704, was purchased for 12,750
francs. The viola dated 1728 was bought for 19,000
francs. And for the violoncello, made in 1696, the
owner paid 17,500 francs. Duly authenticated docus
ments attest the origin of each instrument.
With reference to a statement that a German pro-
tectorate has been proclaimed in Damaraland, South-
East Africa, and that a German has left for Europe to
obtain Prince von Bismarck's sanction, there is official
authority for stating that the territory in question is
outside the sphere of the British interests in Africa.,
and beyond the boundaries to which the British ro-
tectorate was extended under Sir Charles Warren's
expedition. In addition to this the country is sterile
and inaccessible, the nearest port in the vicinity, Wal-
fisch Bay, being in the possession of England. Fir
these reasons it is considered almost certain that
Prince von Bismarck will have nothing to do with the
project.
The Right Hon. H. Childers was on Tuesday night
present at a meeting of electors held in the Literary
Institute, Edinburgh, having first written consenting
to become a candidate for the representation of the
Southern Division of that city, in the place of the late
Sir George Hari ispn. Having returned thanks for the
honour e mferxed upsn him, Mr. Childers said he was
opposed to eccentric speculation in politics, and would
ceie forwa: to support the views expressed in Mr
ielothian

After an inquiry into the net fishing in the Dee
(Cheshire), Mr. Berrington, fisheries inspector, has re-
ported that some restriction in the use of drift nets is
imperative.
While the crew of a boat were fishing off Johnshaven,
on the Kincardineshire coast, a large shuk got en-
tangled among their lines, which were greatly damage.i.
It was captured, and this makes the second recently
secured in these waters.

The Tonquin Medal, which has just been issued from
the Paris Mint, has been submitted to M. Grevy. It is
in silver, and worth five francs. On one side is the
figure of the Republic, end on the other the names of
the different Tonquinese battles. The rlbbon to attach
it to the soldier's breast is yellow.
Early on Sunday morning the Cotton Doubling Mills
of Messrs. Balfe and Co., at Stockport, took fire, and
not only was damage done to the extent of several
thousand pounds, but a dyer named Bentham was
burnt to death.

The Government is said to be preparing a bill to in-
troduce into Parliament which it is hoped will remedy
the main grievances of the Crofters of Scotland. Tho
Duke of Richmond will be charged with the conduct of
the measure.

Twenty-four shipwrecks were reported during the
past week, of which 14 were British owned, three being
steamers, making the total for the present year 1310.
This is more than 250 less than the record of last year
for the corresponding time.
On Saturday the Spanish Cortes was opened by Royal
decree, when resolutions were adopted expressing
regret at the death of the King and loyalty to the
Queen-Regent.
A man named Spriggs, foreman to Mr. Henry John-
son, carman, of Milk-street, Cheapside, London, com-
mitted suicide on Sunday morning. He was married on
Christmas Day.
It has been decided by a branch of the Irish National
League of Great Britain at Kensington to collect the
names of all Irish voters from off the burgess rolls of
North and South Kensington, and to endeavour to
induce all Irishmen in the district to join the League.
Other Metropolitan branches of the League have
adopted a similar course.
A Christmas tree set up in a crowded hospital at
Chicago, on Friday, caught fire from the lighted
candles. The spectators, says a " Times " correspon-
dent were closely packed around it, and the clothing
of several caught fire. An outcry was raised, and the
crowd rushed towards the doors, trampling on one
another. About a hundred persons were injured—.
several of them fatally. The attendants eventually ex-
tinguished the fire and restored order.
Intelligence comes from New York that the steamer
"Persian Monarch " arrived on Saturday after a terrific!
passage. Matters at one time were so critical that the
passengers had to assist the crew in baling.
The Rev. William Hutton, M.A., was found dead
under extremely painful circumstances, at his residence,
at Lancaster-gate, London, last week. Not making his
appearance as usual at early prayers, one of the
servants went to his bedroom and found him dead, with
a revolver by his side. The reverend gentleman was to
have taken the whole service at the Chapel Rosal,
Whitehall, on Christmas Day instead of °anon Knoll) a.
The melancholy circumstance has caused much
sympathy with his wife and young family. 'The
reverend gentleman was made a deacon in 1866 ; arid
ordained priest by the then Bishop of Winchester in
the following year.
Some time ago Father Ignatius preached an Advent
sermon at All Saints', Netting-hill, London, the Bishop
of London declining the request of one of the
churchwardens that he should interfere. In reply to
further correspondence his lordship wrote as follows:
"There is no irregularity in Mr. Lynes preaching in
All Saints' Church, Notting-hill, at the request of the
incumbent, though, of course, the bishop could prohibit
it. Mr. Lynes has done and said a great many very
silly and some 'very wrong things, but it hardly seems
to me to be worth while to give him the opportunity of
calling himself a martyr and the victim of persecm ion.
People need not go and listen to him, and I do not
think many of those who do will get much harm from
so foolish a man. I should look on it in a different
light if he had been announced as a preacher at one of
the Sunday services."
On Sunday morning a woman's bonnet being seen in
the lock at Mersey Mill, Warrington, the lock was
dragged, and the body of Sarah Ann Dumbell, aged 17
years, was found. It then transpired that Charles
Wilson, tailor, of the same age, who kept company
with the young woman, and was seen with her about
nine o'clock on Saturday night, was also missing, and,
on the lock being again dragged, his body was also
found. Saturday night was dark and foggy, and they
appear to have walked into the lock while on their way
home.

Comparatively few "holiday charges" came before
the metropolitan magistrates on Monday. The heaviest
list appears to have been down for bearing at the
Tharrr- Court, most of the charges having reference to
drunL,onees or disorderly conduct.
A sa.; affair occurred in a Congregational chapel at
Nottingham on Sunday morning. The Rev. Josiah
Bull, with his wife and daughter-in-law, occupied one
of the front pews, and during the service he was seized
with what was believed to be a fainting fit. He was
conveyed to the vestry, but death ensued before medical
assistance arrived, the cause of death being syncope.
Mr. Bull was 78 years old, and for many years 't% as
pastor MI Newport Pagnell, Bucks, but since his
retirement, eight years ago, he has resided in Notting-
ham. Deceased was much respected by numerous
people in the district. .

At Nottingham' on Saturday, an inquest was held on
the body of Mary Ann Digman, five years old, who was
set on fire by her little brother, aged three years. The
children were playing together, when the younger said,
"Polly, I'll burn you," and set fire to his sister's cloth-
ing. Before the flames could be extinguished she re-
ceived injuries which proved fatal.
It is stated that a bill dealing on uniform principles
with the qbestion of Local Government both in Great
Britain and Ireland is in preparation, and has been
referred to a Committee of the Cabinet, with a view
to its introduction early in the session.
_ _

PrJessor S. Barbaro, who is undergoing a term of
seven years' imprisonment, inflicted some time ago by
the Court of Appeal for having addressed threatening
letters to Ministers and other high functionaries, has
been elected Deputy for Pavia with 7740 votes.
The Countess Mirafior, who was married to King
Victor Emmanuel in 1876, died at Pisa on Sunday.
King Humbert ordered all the proper funeral observ-
ances to be made at his expense.

At the Tiow-atreet Police4gourt, on Monday, Prank.
Adderley, a check-taker at Drury-lane Theatre, was
charged with stealing ss. 6d., the money of Mr. Au-
gustus Harris. In sentencing the prisoner to two
months' hard laboar, Mr. Vaughan said the importance
of the: case could zlot be estimated by the amount
prisoner was charged with stealing, as in his posi-
tion he had ample opportunities of committing thefts
that were difficult to detect, and consequently likely to
remain undiscovered. _

The leading Canadian inurnals comment upon the
recommendation made to Congress, in President Cleve-
land's message, that a Commission be appointed, repre-
senting the United States and Great Britain, to settle
the entire question of fishing rights on the United
States and British North American coasts. The
"Toronto Globe" says: "No one can possibly object
to such a Commission. In such a =se, however, where
Canada is so deeply interested, she should be well and
worthily represented by men thoroughly able to see
Canadian rights fully respected and maintained. We
have no wish to say anything offensive to the ohne
men of the Mother country; but in all previous Com-
missions of the kind managed by British Commis-
sioners, it is notorious that either the ignorance or the
indifference of the Commissioners allowed Canadian
interests very greatly to go to the wall."
A high wall which stood near the scene of the recent
great fire in Clerkenwell was blown down on Monday by
the strong wind which prevailed, and in its fall tock with
it the partly-erectud warehouses which were being con-
structed in the place of thcse destroyed by the fire.
The noise occasioned by the fall caused some con-
sternation in the neighbourhood, but no one was
injured.
A numerously attended meeting of gentlemen inte-
rested in the Commercial Travellers' Schools was held
at the Terminus Hotel, Cannon-street, London, on
Monday, and the report of the board of management
showed the condition of the institution to be satis-
factory.
On the afternoon of Christmas Day the inmates of
Clerkenwell Prison had the gloom of their condition
considerably lightened by a selection of carols, nymns,
and sacred songs, rendered by a small choir of gentle-
men and boys from the Temple Church and elsewhere.
The chaplain has for several years arranged this enter-
tainment, which is unique of its kind, and is always
much appreciated.
The report of theYorkshirc Fishery Board for the past
year states that there has been an abundant harvest of
salmon' and that the total number of fish taken was
5659. The average size was 1011 b., showing a total
increase on the year 1864 of 91 tons weight. During
the past five years the capture of fish has been more
than doubled.

The Queen has been pleased to confer the Third-class
or Companionship of the Order of the Bath upon
Howard Vincent, Esq.' M.P., formerly Director of the
Criminal Investigation Department, London.
William Garlick, a porter, and Samuel Ray, a booking
clerk, in the employ of the North Staffordshire Railway
Company, were charged at Macclesfield, on Monday,
with stealing two tickets and 3s. 3d., the property of
the company. It was proved that they acted in concert,
and each was sentenced to imprisonment for four
months.

Two football accidents are reported from Yolks/lire.
Mr. Seth Tinsley, captain of the Melton Football Club,
has had his collarbone broken whilst making a run
with the ball, and Mr. Thos. Chapman, a reporter, of
Driffield, sustained a fracture of the left arm whilst
playing under Rugby rules at the last-named place.
A man named George Matthews, who is respectably
connected, and who was married on Sunday at the
Priory Church, Leominster, was arrested by the local
police the same evening on a charge of herse stealing.
The Derby magistrates on Monday convicted Mr. P.
J: Doherty, silk manufacturer and a member of the
Derby Town Council, on four charges of assault com-
mitted on Christmas afternoon on his wife, his sister-
in-law, a policeman who took him into custody, and a
hairdresser who entered Mr. Doherty' house with the
object of protecting the women. The fines with costs
amounted to £5 17s. 6d. The magistrates, however,
said they considered that the defendant had received
provocation from the women.
Sir Charles Warren received a case of cutlery on
Monday from his political supporters in Sheffield, in
recognition of his efforts to win the seat for Hallam
for the Liberal party. He said he could not pledge
himself to be the candidate at the next election, but
Mr. Leader said, as long as there was a possibility of
getting Sir Charles as their candidate, they would not
look for anybody else.
Mr. E. Clarke, M.P., speaking in London on Monday
night, referred to the Irish question. Until Mr. Parnell
had formulated the Irish demands in Parliament, he
said, the political leaders could not deal with it, and he
believed that there would be found a sufficient number
in the House of Commons who would resist any pro-
posal for injuring the integrity of the United Kingdom.
The Dean of Westminster preached in the Abbey on
Monday to a crowded congregation, chiefly children,
the occasion being Innocente-day. He pointed out
that, although there had ,grown up a large number of
institutions for helping poor children, great misery and
suffering still existed, and he appealed for funds to
enable the Destitute Chilaren's Dinner Society to ex-
tend its work.
The Congress for the election of the President of the
French Republic was opened at one p.m. on Monday at
Versailles, and for some time the proceedings were
very, turbulent, many of the members of the Right pro-
testing againo the proceedings. M. Leyorer, the presi•
dent, refused to allow any member to address the
Congress' which was, he said, merely an electoral
college. The voting commenced at two p.m., and the
result was announced at 20 minutes past four. M.
Grevy was elected by 457 votes out ot 589 recorded.
Only five members of the right voted.
The death is announced of Lord Borthwick at the
age of 73 at Ravenstoze Castle, Wigtoruihire. He is
succeeded by his son, the Hon. Archibald Patrick, born
in 1867. _ _ _ _ _ - _

_
Some cases of swine fever having occurred at the
Royal Dairy in Windsor-park, which is in the occupation
of the Queen, and the matter having b€en duly reported
to the Windsor authorities entrusted with the carrying
out of the provisions of the Contagious Diseases
(Animals) Act, the place on Saturday was declared,to be
an infected area, and measures were adopted to prevent
the spreading of the disease.
Replying to a letter from Mr. Bradlaugh, inquiring
whether the Government would give an early day for
a division on Mr. Serjeant Simon's Affirmation Bill, in
the event of its being introduced, Sir M. Hicks-Beach
writes that it would be impossible for him to make a
promise as to the order of business in the House of
Commons next Session.

Bank Holiday was very generally obcerved in London
on Saturday. The day was dull slid misty, but no rain
fell. A large number of holiday-seekers availed them-
selvgs of the opportunity to visit the various public
institutions and places of amusement. No fewer than
26,700 persons were admitted to the Crystal Palace,
more than 15,600 visited the Albert Palace, and about
10,600 the South Kensington Museum.
The " Italie " gives the following statistics with
regard to the cholera epidemic in the peninsula last
year and this. The " Italie " says that last year it
attacked 44 provinces and 858 communes, but that in
20 of the provinces the cases were very mild. Alto-
gether there were 27,030 cases ani 14,299 deaths:
During the past year the epidemic attacked 27 pro.
vinces and 152 communes, the provinces in which .it
was worst being Parma, where there were 313 cases and
202 deaths, Ferrara, Reggio, Massa Rovigo, Genoa,
Modena, and Venice. But the hill force of the
epidemic seems to have spent itself in Sicily, as out of
6397 cases and 3409 deaths which occurred in the
whole kingdom 5535 cases and 2959 deaths took place
in the town and province of Palermo.
Orders for 110,000 soldiers' garments have been given
to the Limerick Army Clothing Factory.
Mr. Sheehan, one of the new Parnellite M.P.'s is re-
ported to have advised a meeting of tenantry at Kil-
larney not to offer the landowners anything in March,
as "the new Irish Parliament would allot the land
free, without compensation to exterminating landlords.
Dr. Franz Boas, a German savant, who has during the
past two sermons carried out unaided a series of explora-
tions in the neighbourhood of Cumberland Gulf, has
been picked up by a Dundee whaler which transferred
him to an American vessel.