The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-12-25 00:00:00

SATURDAY, DEC. 25, 1886.

At a meeting of the New Ross Guardians ;on Satu
day an order issued by the Local Government Board
was read dissolving the Board of Guardians for defiance
in continuing to violate the workhouse regulations
.hy
providing about 30 families—evicted tenants—nt..D.
advantages not possessed by the ordinary paupers.
James Doyle, one of the guardians, thereupon propose _
a resolution calling on the Treasurer of the National
Bank not to honour the 'Onion cheques signed by the
three paid guardians sent down to take charge of the
Union: and that if he did so the guardians, whenever
they were (einstated, would appoint another bank Mn
Dooley propooed another resolution calling oil the rate-
payers of the Union to refuse to pay any poorlate ar;
long as the Union was in the hands of officials who dirt
not represent them. The resolution was carried.
The last of the prisoners from the Ulster Winter.
Assizes arrived in Belfast on Saturday evening, ar)°!
like those who arrived on preceding days were escorted
to the County Antrim Prison by a heavy escort of
mounted constabulary. It is stated that Par. Justice.
Lawson will apply for a commission for the trial ote
the two Walkers, father and son—the former for tb
murder of Private Hughes, of the West Surrey Begi•
ment, and the son for the murder of Head Constable
Gardner, of the Royal Irish Constabulary. The father
was tried twice and the son once, and in no case vrzte
the jury able to come to a verdict.
Mr. Loftus Brock, hon. sec. of the British Arcleee'
logical Society, on Saturday conducted a parte( tell;
eluding many aldermen and Councillors of the boroug.,
over the ancient buildings still remaining of the 0)1
archiepiscopal palace at Croydon. The visit was Pals
in connection with the attempt now being made
purcha,e the buildings and grounds for £5OOO,
utilise Them for a public library and reading rooms an f
a recreation ground. Mr. Brock traced the history
the palace, and subsequently an informal meeting 'irt.%!
held in the chapel, and was addressed by Mr. Broef
Mr. Walford, and others.
Measures are being taken to arm the Paris forts with
the new Melenite shell by next spring.
Mr. Justice Stirling has made an order winding DP
the Raondda Merthyr Steam Coal Colliery CoroPtal
(Limited), on a creditor's petition. The creditor vra
Mr. E. Lewis. to whom the company owed £BO.OOO.
Further trials were made on Monday in the del
water basin of Tilbury Docks with the new torpo:l
boat Nautilus, in which her powers of submarine 138;1'
gation were demonstrated so far as was found pessibLe
within such a restricted space.
A rule was argued on Monday before Mr. Justice Del!'
man and Mr. Justice Hawkins in the matter of the tarb'.
tration between the Home Secretary and Mr. Fletcher,
who wsrked the great mine in the Lady Shore CollierY
near Balton. The umpire called in by the arbitrators
had ordered that safety lamps should be used in the
mine, and it was argued that this was beyond hi'
powers, and moreover that his appointment as unWife
was invalid, as the arbitrators had not fully gone int°
the matter before appointing him. The court held the
award to be good and discharged the rule.
A remarkable instance of the depreciation in fir
value of agricultural land has been presented at a sa,e
by auction at Newbury. The Snelsmore Farm
Estate,
comprising about 263 acres, with residence, farl9
buildings, and cottages, has been disposed of at the lel
fignre of 13120. The estate is within three miles 0,
Newbury, and it originally cost £16,000. The farm wag
formerly let at a rental of £5OO per annum, but the
present rent is £l6O, the tenant paying the tithe—gs3'
At Sunderland the shipbuilding returns just issued
show that during 1886 thirty•seven vessels of
tons gross have been launched, the lowest total fet,
many years. Messrs. James and George Thomson, D'
Glasgow, have received orders from the Brazilian Stearn
Navigation Company to construct a new vessel for them

of 2000 tons. - -
A meeting of the members of the Blanchester
Chamber of Commerce interested in the piece g°°
b 8
trade for India, was held on Monday to consider the
question of false stamping. A declaration is in coal
of signature pledging the firms signing to mark on f!'
manufactures sent to India the length of each piece 10,.
imperial yards of thirty-six inches. It was agreed Om
as many houses had not had replies from their In 0•
correspondents the time for signing the declaration
should be extended.
Favourable reports have been received in Paris frora
Madagascar, where M. Le Myre de Villers appears t°
have succeeded in ousting English and establishiolf
French financial agencies, whose agents are to colleo
the dues in five ports.
hde
At a county meeting at Ipswich, on Monday', t
Marquis of Bristol presiding, et resolution was wse
on the motion of the Duke of Grafton, arproving °`
the Prince of Wales's scheme for the formation or
Imnerial Institute t) commemorate the jubilee year o
.•__ . . .

her Majesty's reign. r the
According to a report presented at a meeting Of
Liverpool Lifeboat Relief Fund Committee, 00
day, the Mayor of Southport has stated that a suffielen;
sum has now been obtained for the relief of the sufferer,
by the late disasters. The fund is reported to anaoun.
to about £20,000.
Henry Green was brought up at Lambeth on Mondsl
and committed for trial, on the charge of burglarl
and stealing a quantity of plate and other goods'
After he had effected the robbery the prisoner vr"
cleverly captured by a constable named Collins,
was specially commended by the magistrate.
The screw steamship Fawn, of Llanelly, whicah
recently left that port for Liverpool, has foundered 0'
Holyhead, and all hands, numbering twelve, have beer/
bolt.
A prize fight took place at Witton, near Birminr
ham' on Monday, between two pugilists named Everiii,
and Barrett. The me a fought for half an hour, Ann
Everill was declared the winner. The police then
appeared and made five arrests, including the beaten
man.
A travelling hawker named Wm. Rycroft, of Cola,
was found dead in a railway train at Nelson Station
on Monday. The deceased was the only passenger
in the compartment on the journey from Colne

Nelson.
The Governor a of the Princess Alice Memorial
the
Hospital at Eastbourne have decided to enlarge
building, which is frequently crowded, owing to the
limited space of the wads and the increase of the
population.
About a quarter-past five o'clock on Monday night a
fire broke out in a cotton-mixing room at the eatensic°
mills of Messrs. Barnes and Co., Farnworth, oeBl
Boltne. An overlooker turned over a bale of cottoul
when it suddenly burst into flames, igniting two larq
stacks of mixed cotton, which soon ignited dales store
in the rooms. The Fire Brigade extinguished the flaroe:
in an hour, but not before 300 bales were damaged
destroyed. The loss is estimated at £3OOO, which 1'
covered by insurance.
Another death has occurred from the Eleracre
Colliery explosion, making a total of 28 deaths.
In the inquest concerning the Cwmpenuar Colliery .
incline diaster, which cauEed five deaths, an ePeu
verdict has been returned.
An ice accident occurred Ft Regent's-park, Londou,
on Monday. Thirteen people were immersed, but for
tun tely no lives were lost. „' •
Some Blue-coat boys presented the Queen with their
paintings and drawings at Windsor Castle on Monds.s:ie
A porter named John William Berry, aged 23, W 131,,,
engaged in oiling points, on Monday morning.
tunnel near Werneth Station, Oldham, on the Lacca‘
shire and Yorkshire Railway, was knocked down bY
goods train and k:lled.
The electricians who for six weeks past have been en.
engaged in repairing a broken cable of the Ameriesl
Union Company, off Land's End, have now succeedeu
in restoring communication. It was found that the
cable had Darted, through chafing across a reef of rqwa
some eight and a half miles west of Land's End.
cable is now laid around the reef.
While skating on Denton Reservoir, about four rol
from Grantham, a man named John Butler obserit
the body of a man through the semptransparent ice. t
was taken out of the water, and was identified as the
of Robert Beck, shoemaker, of Grantley • strea-,i3
Grantham, who mysteriously disappeared on u'
November last.