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

CHESS- PLAYING FEAT.

On Monday evening, at the City of London Chess
Club, was givdn the third of the series of exhibitions
of chess skill at present being held in London by well-
known experts.
Mr. G. Macdonnell, the well-known chess cham-
pion, played against 20 opponents, who were ranged
behind as many chess boards on the outside of two
tables, while the champion walked up and down the
centre, making his moves in regular rotation:
The play commenced at a quarter-past six by Mr.
Macdonnell moving pawn to King's fourth on every
board, but the games were varied from tho second move.
The condition of the play was that each player was
allowed to consider his move until Mr. Macdonnell
came round to him in turn, when he was at once tci.ipake
the move. The play was therefore tolerably guick, and,
indeed, it appeared somewhat surprising that so
many moves should be made in time. for the
average number in an hour was from 160 to 200
moves, or 8 to 10 on each board. Some of the games
were remarkably closely contested, and in one of
them Mr. Aiverdi offered to draw the game at the 17th
move, but Mr. Macdonnell preferring to continue they
went on for about a dozen moves further, when Mr.
Macdonnell resigned. Mr. Edward Redp;th Mr. G.
H. Bentley, and Mr. T. A. Verkruza also Won three
games, and one game was drawn, but in the remaining
16 games Mr. kiacdonnell was victorious.

SIR WILFRID LAWSON ON THE
TEMPERANCE QUESTION.
Speaking at the annual meeting of tha Bradford
Auxiliary of the United Kingdom Alliance On Tuesday
night, in St. George's-hall, in that town, Sir Wilfrid
Lawson, observed that for fifty years the tem-
perance organization had been working vigorously to
remove the evil of drunkenness, but without effecting
so desirable a result. Some said, "You have laboured
now for fifty years without attaining your object ; you
had better give it up." He replied, "Nothing of the
kind; we do not give it up in that way." The friends
of the Alliance took a lesson from the present action
of Mr. Forster; he did not give up in his effort to
promote the pacification of Ireland. England had
been trying for 700 years to bring satisfaction or peace
to the people of Ireland, and had not as yet succeeded.
Mr. Forster would not give up the effort; he was still
going on trying to effect this result, and they all hoped
he might succeed. The vice of intemperance had
been more persistently attacked than any other, and
yet it still prevailed. The Alliance had taken this
matter firmly in hand. They had secured the support
of men of all parties ; and, depending for their success,
upon the blessing of God, they hoped to remove this
great evil.

Sir Wilfrid Lawson then proceeded to contend that
considering the great obstacles that stood in the way
of this reform, its friends had every reason to be
encouraged. It would be admitted that this was the
most powerful political question in the country. Mr.
Disraeli once said that every great question in this
country went through three phases before its final
triumph—first it was a public question, then a Parlia-
mentary question, and next a Ministerial question.
The last election had turned the question into a
Parliamentary question. He should never forget the
last election. The last Parliament had been called a
Jingo Parliament, but he called it a " stingo " Parlia•
merit. (Laughter.) The people got tired of it and
put an end to it. Sir W. Lawson observed that little
progress had been made as yet in practical legislation,
but he maintained that the prospects of the cause were
most encouraging.

THE TERRIBLE WEATHER IN THE
ATLANTIC.

The correspondent of the Daily News, in a telegram from
New York, on Monday, says :

The Italy, from Liverpool, Nov. 16; arrived this
morning. Sixteen ocean steamers are still overdue
here. Considerable anxiety is felt among the friends
of the passengers on board the steamers the longest
due, but the agents and seafaring people generally
are confident there is no cause for apprehention for
the safety of the vessels. They say it is possible some
of them have their machinery disabled, or are short
of coal, and are making for port under sail.
The Devonia, of the Anchor Line, from Glasgow,
November 18, which arrived on Saturday evening,
had a very tempestuous passage. The captain says
he had ugly weather all the time and encountered two
hurricanes, one on November 21st, the other on
November 23rd, "I can only say of the second," he
remarks, "that in twenty-eight years' experience I
have never known a more tremendous sea or a fiercer
blast. On the morning of the 21st it begun to blow
hard. The vessel laboured heavily in a terrible cross
sea. The waves dashed over the deck constantly;
in fact, the ship wa,s under water most of the time.
In the aftennoon the mainboom was carried away.
The 23rd was an ugly day. About five in the evening
the wind began to freshen, and it took two hours to
reach its greatest force. Tremendous seas swept over
the vessel, now from starboard, now from port. I
could do nothing but heave to under bare poles. No
canvas ever woven would have held for a minute.
One of the starboard boats was stove in, and half
of the men were laid up for a couple of days
with bruises. One had his collarbone dislocated.
By midnight the wind settled into a steady gale,
and blew frightfully all night. I have seen
cyclones in the East Indies, and all sorts of hurricanes
all over the world, but I never saw more tremendous
waves. I was in Calcutta seventeen years ago, when
20,000 lives were lost in the hurricane there, and I say
with confidence that the wind on that occasion was no
fiercer than this. The steerage passengers nearly
' 300 in number, had a terrible time. For twelve days
they were • not above deck. The barometer fell to
27.57 on the 23rd, and within five-tenths of that on the
21st; lower than 1 ever saw it before on the Atlantic,
or probably ever will again."

THE WELSH SUNDAY CLOSING ACT.

Mr. Justice Grove and Mr. Justice Lopes gave
judgment on Wednesday in an appeal against the con-
viction by the Flintshire magistrates of a publican at
Saltney, for having his house open on Sunday the
11th of September. The case turned on the question
which arose as to the date on which the new Act came
into operation, and their lordships held that the
magistrates were wrong in convicting in the case, as
the words of the statute "day next appointed" meant
the day that should after the enactment of the Act be
next appointed. The appeal was therefore allowed.

ENCOUNTER WITH A SLAVE DHOW.

A telegram was received at the Admiralty on
Monday from Zanzibar, reporting that on the 3rd
inst. Captain C. I. Brownrigg, of her Majesty's ship
London, in a steam pinnace, with ten men, ran
alongside a dhow, full of slaves, flying F.:ench
colours.

After a fierce resistance by the Arab crew, Captain
Brownrigg, John G. T. Aera, writer, Richard Henry
Monkley, stoker, and Thomas Bishop, ordinary sea-
man, were killed; one man severely, and two slightly
wounded.
The dhow escaped.

The late Captain Brownrigg was born November 19,
1836. He entered the service in 1849 ; was midship-
man to H.M.S. Algiers in the Baltic Expedition of
1854 (Baltic medal), and in the Black Sea in 1855.
He was present at the capture of Kertch and Kin.
burn, and the bombardment of Sebastopol (Crimean
an,i Turkish medals and clasp) ; and served during the
Chinese War of 18-,7-59. He received the thank& of
both HousA of Parliam'ent fni•hiservicei the*Mita-:
tralian Colonies; commanded H.M.S. Euphrates dur-
ing the Zulu War, and for his valuable service thus
rendered was awarded the Zulu war medal. He was
appointed to H.M.S. London in June, 1880, which
ship was re-commissioned at Zanzibar let September,
1880.

Orders have been sent by the Admiralty to Zanzibar
for her Majesty's ship Philomel to blockade Pemba
Island, near which Captain Brownrigg and four of the
crew of the London were killed, in an attack upon a
slave dhow,