The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-01-03 00:00:00

Nisallanunts .itttlligenft,

IMRE, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

DEATH OF A PHILANTHEOPIBT.—The Ray. Enool
Cobb Wines, D.D., the secretary of the National
Prison Association, died suddenly at Cambridge,
Massachusetts, on the 10th of December, in the 74th
year of his ago. The New York Times says of him
"0! late years the entire time and attention of Dr.
Wines has been devoted to a philanthropic endeavour
to ameliorate the condition of priaonoro, not only in
ihia gmnr.h.N., in th.oughout the world. In 1862 he
was made secretary of the New York Prison Associa-
tion, and in that pocition most of the actual work
of tL3 ao.-:.iety fell upon him. The work was
always faithfully performed, and finally New York
State became too limited a field for his enthu-
siasm in the cause. In 1670 he founded the National
Prison Aassociation of which he also hstzma the
secretary, an office which ho coutizued to fill, till the
day of his death, Alta organising the society, he
devot3d himself to carrying out his ideas of prison re-
form in other lands besides his own, and on July 4,
1E72, he succeeded in calling together in London the
first 'lnternational Penitentiary Congress,' at whitt
26 Governments were represented. ts socoad in-
ternational congress was called, and met in Stockholm
in 1877. The publiched works of Dr. Wines comprise
1; hooka and a number of contributions to magtzine
literature. The most noted of his books are Two
Years and a Half in the Navy,' 'Commentaries on
the Laws of the Ancient Ilebrews, Adarfl Und
Christ,' and Hints on a Systeln of Popular Edu-
cation.''

BLlMlDiabel AMONG RusslAN SOLDIEBS.—The Rua.
sian oculist Skrebizky has lately visited and inspected
26 military hospitals in Russia. He estimates the
at about '4,090. Only number of soldiers still living who lost thcir sight
during the late war four per
cent. of this number have become blind through the
iiireotbaction ofwarlike causes. The remaining 96 per
cent. owe
the loss of sight to defective sanitary
arrangements , want of personal cleanliness, insufficient
clothing, and bad food.
WEIN% ON TH GOODWIN BANDS.—A despatch
frok peal uays s—During a gale of wind from the
T,
south-west on Sunday afternoon, the weather being
very thick with rain at the time, signal guns of distress
were heard from the light.ships, in response to which
the North Deal and Kingsdone lifeboats of the
National Lifeboat Institution proceeded towards the
Goodwin Sands. On nearing the East Goodwin light-
ship the ship Leda, of Bremen, bound to that port
from New York with a cargo of petroleum, was seen
aground, and soon afterwards her main and taken
masts were observed to fall. The Peal lifeboat armed
the Sands through a very haavy Bon, let go her anchor,
and vparpd climu to the wreck. With great risk she
witu anabled to rescue the vessel's crew, numbering 19
men, by means of roper. One man was nearly lost,
and another was much hurt by being knocked down
in the boat by the heavy seas which repeatedly glled
her • in fact, the sea was so strong that the men had
to hold fast to prevent themselvp frL in being washed
out of the lifeboat. Tile Kingsdowne boat stood by
ready to hp 11 required, but her services were not
ultimately needed.

UAL ov Er/Guam—The Duke
Norfolk (Henry Fitzalan Howard), Hereditary Earl
Marshal and Chief Butler of England, was born In
Carlton•terrace, London, on December 27, 1847, and
consequently completed his 32nd year on Saturday
last. His Grace is the eldest son of Henry Granville,
fourteenth Duke of Norfolk, by his marriage with
Augusta Mary Minna Catherine, daughter of the late
Admiral Lord Lyons, G.C.B. He succeeded to the
title on the death of his father, which took place on
November 25, 1860. He is Premier Duke and Earl in
the peerage of England, and Lord of the Manor of
Sheffield. He married, in 1877, Lady Flora Abney
Hastings, sister of the Earl of London, and has a son
and heir, the infant Earl of Arundel and Surrey, born
during the present year.

THE ELECTRIC LIGHT AT SEA.—The passengers
the Inman steamer City of Berlin, on board of whi2
vessel on her recent voyage to New York the electric
light was fitted by way of experime
the conclusion of the voyage a note of
the company. The experiment is sal.
highly satisfactory. Not only was th
vessel brilliantly illuminated, but the r
the most gloomy part of the vessel, wi
all parts. It is probable that the eleot.
used on all the vessels of the Inman ficw

THE AMERICAN Claisus.—The exbau.
of the corning census is still further &
arrangements made to obtain all kinds c
as to the mines of the States. Not only 1
trial character of each mine be ascertaii

its yield and the character and value of the ores. This
chemical differences and the metallurgical capabilities
of each will be accurately given; and for this purpose
one of the departments of the Geological Survey is now
engaged in gathering the statistics, by a careful system
of sampling and analysis, carried on at the laboratory
at Newport, R. I. The mass of information thus
gathered will be of a most unique kind, and it is almost
needless to point out its immense value to all those who
are engaged in the industries of the States.

COLLIERY AWOIDENT.—On Monday night an engine.
tenter named Eyre met with his death at Gunnes•
thorpe Colliery, near Sheffield. Eyre wound the
nightmen out of the pit at eleven cecolock, and when
they arrived at the surface they saw him standing at
the pit-bank. As they were turning away they saw
Eyre fall down the pit theft. It is believed that he
was seized with a fit. He leaves a wife and three

AN INFANTILE SELL.—Effie. "Now I 'in the clock.
ru tick, and you tell me when to strike, Aunty!
Tick —tick tick tick tick," Ste., —Aunty.
"Now strike 1" —[Effie boxes her Aunty's eared—
Punch.

AN " ESCAPE "fl THE OLD COACHING DAYS.—
Such a terrible loss of We as that which has occurred
in consequence of the fall of the Tay Bridge was im-
possible ia the old coaching days; but there are many
ingtances on record of accidents of a most distressing
nature and hairbreadth escapes in those days, which
created much sensetion at the time of their occur-
rence. One o! these " escapes " is recorded in the
Annval ilegister of 1805 as a startling incident. On
the 12th of February of that year the new bridge at
Widford, near Chelmsford, received so much damage
by the great swell of water during the previous week
that al the mail-coach was passing over it at about
feui in the morning it suddenly gave way, and the
passengers "escaped only by the velocity at which
the carriage was going, as a few moments afterwards
a great part of it fell in." A more frightful position
can hardly be conceived than that of passengers In a
mail•coacb being driven at full gallop over a bridge
that is giving way beneath the horses' hoofs.—PaU
Mall Gazette.

A GRANDMAMMA'S EDUCATIONAL HlNT.—Children
should not be allowed to ask for the same thing twice
—you should always give it to them at once.—run.
Tgz EMPRESS EUGENI/L—lt is stated the Empress
Engtinie will embark at Southampton, in the Union
Company's steamship Danube in February next, for
the purpose of visiting Zululand, and placing wreaths
and other tributes on the spot at which the Prince
Imperial was killed. The cabin occupied by the
Prince will be placed at the disposal of the Empress,
together with its original fitting. The horses anal
carriers used by the Prince will also be at her ser-
vice. Her Majesty will visit the Prince's places of
residence in Natal, and, subsequently, with her "snit,
travel by the route taken by the Prince, in ox waggons
apecially fitted for their accommodation. The Empress
will not debark at Cape Town, but go direct to Natal,
where she will b 3 received privately.—The Timer of
Natal understands that a sum of money has been
given to the Roman Catholic bishops and clergy of
tiaal by her Majesty the Empress Engdnie, as an
acknowledgment of what they did in rendering tha
last honours to the remains of the late Prince Imperial
and that the bishops and olergy have agreed to give
the money toward 3 the erection of a tower on the spot
where tb,o body of the Prince was deposited to be em-
li4lmed. The tower will be near the church intended
to be erected there, and will be Galled the Napoleor,
Tower.

"FRIENDS OV SIMPLIOITY."—Reform in dress is
being studied by some Armenian ladies in Constan-
tinoplo,,who have founded a society, "The Friends of
Simplicity," binding its members to wear only inex-
pensive materials made in the simplest manner. Tha
richer members are to eoutribute the amount saved in
their toilette towards the support of schools. Indeed,
the feminige portion of the Armenian colony are also
enclavouring to spread educational efforts, and one
society of young girls is occupied in training teachers
for the provinces, while another similar society has
bean_patAhit.ci h. 4u promote instruction in Armenian
and ()Weis,

SIJIMAY REST."—The Swiss papers announce that
the International Association for the Promotion of the
Observation of the Sabbath, which many months ago
offered a priza of 2,0001, (280) for the best essay in
support of the principle of "Sunday Rest," received
up to the 10th inst., the final date for sending in con.
tributione, fifteen treatises in all. They are in Eng.
fish, French, and German, and have been written by
natives of Switzerland, Germany, E,ngland, France 4
and the United States of North America. The
average length of the essays is such as to fill 250 octavo
pages of printed matter, so that it will be some time
before the comraittee of adjudication will be able to
get through their labours of examination and make the
award. _

CONSIDERATE.—EIder sister (to young lady inquir-
ing for situation). I think yen have been in my
employ before?—Y. L. Yes, ma'am, but when Miss
Helen was going to be married, I thought, as one of
the family, I could best express my annoyance by
laaving my situation for a short.time. —Judy.
A TRA.IN.—" How much are these goods a yard ?
said a gentleman at the White House dry goods store
the other day, as he picked up end examined a piece
of ruffled silk. "Good gracious," said the horrified
clerk, "that isn't for sale! That's the end of a lady's
trail. She's just gone up to the third story in the
elevator."
COSTUME Op BUILDING WORKMEN.--The Builder
remarks :—" It we: once very easy at first sight for an
ordinary observer to recognise the bpilding or other
skilled workman by his every-day costume or working
dress, but it has for some years past become more and
more difficult to identify one class of workmen from
another, except when witnessed at their work, or found
in the street bearing or carrying some instrument of
their respective crafts. So completely have skilled
a•,:timans thrown off the once distinctive signs of their
ancient calling in apparel and other observances that
it takes one acquainted with their trade, habits, and
manners to identify them with any certainty. Build-
ing and other artisans have most foolishly cast aside
some 'sensible customs and habits which they would do
well to revive wholly, or subject to modifications.
The mason, carpenter, joiner, bricklayer, plasterer,
painter, and those in other branches wore once dio-
tinctive caps and aprons, and their working clothes
varied, particularly in trousers and vests. Carpenters,
masons, and bricklayers wore either fustian, baracan,
moleskin, or corduroy trousers, or some other kindred
stuff, and for the protection of their working dress and
other useful ends they also wore an apron. We do not
Infer that all workmen are ashamed of their craft, but
we regret to write that too many of our present-day
artisans act in a manner as if they wished that nobody
should recognise that they were mechanics."