The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-06-26 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

Four acres of freehold land, covered by 77 residences,
close to Gloucester-road Station, London, producing £250
a year in grouna-rents until the end of the leases, which
expires in 1919, have been sold for £20,500.

The coiffure Ophelie, wild flowers scattered care-
lessly in the loose hair, is the latest fashion of hair-dressing
In Paris. _ . _

It is many years since the hop gardens throughout
Kent have presented so favourable a prospect in regard to
the future of the crop as they now do.

It is stated that Mr. Gladstone's expenses in con-
nexion with the Mid-Lothian election have been met by
subscriptions from Liberals throughout the country, and
that he has accordingly been returned free of expense.

A terrific hailstorm, accompanied by thunder and
lightning, passed over Ilo'beach last Saturday. The windows
of most of the houses in the district were broken by the
hailstones and the straw crops have been levelled to the
ground. In many of the fields the tops of the plants were
cut off as with a scythe, and the farmers generally have
suffered much damage to their crops.

Are Welsh Rabbits included in "Ground Game"?
—Punch. . . _

Her Majesty, accompanied by Princess Beatrice and
the Princess Victoria and Elizabeth of Hesse, left Balmoral
for Windsor on Tuesday afternoon.

The liquidators of the City of Glasgow Bank, at
their meeting on Tuesday, resolved to pay a further dividend
of Is. per R.l on the debts of that bank on the 9th of July
next, snaking a total payment of 17s. per £l.
The members of the Sunday Society visited the
Hanover and Graphic Galleries in large numbers on Sunday,
and the public were again admitted to the exhibition at the
Albert Hall. In all about 6,000 persona visited these three
exhibitions.
Those who dry flowers, and wish to preserve their
colour, should .immerse them for about a quarter of an hour
in a mixture composed of equal parts of water and spirits of
wine. This seems to " fix ' the colour.

The Princess Christian wore her diamonds in a
novel fashion at the recent State Ball. She had a black
velvet dress, with a row of the precious gems on the edge of
the corsage. The effect was very striking.—Court Journal.
Lady Stra.ngford urgently appeals for contributions
for the famine-stricken people of Kurdistan and Armenia.
As yet she has been enabled to send out only £6,800 to feed
a population of four millions. In the villages and some of
the towns the daily deaths from starvation are from 30 to 40
per cent.
At a special meeting of the Licensed Victuallers'
Association, Waterford, a resolution was adopted to oppose
local option, and ask the co-operation of the corporations of
Waterford and other towns.—The Supplementary Budget
was opposed, and a deputation was appointed to attend the
meeting of the Brewers' Association in Dublin.
The receipts on account of revenue from the ;Ist
April, 1880, when there was a balance of £3,273,428 to June
19, 1880, were £17,011,473, against £17,516,066 in the corres-
ponding period of the preceding financial year, which began
with a balance of £6,915,706. The net expenditure was
£16,379,878, against £17,009,608 to the same date in the
previous year The Treasury balances on June 19 amounted
to £7,516,546, and at the same date in 1879 to £5,917,720.
As facts accumulate, it becomes evident that Dr.
C. W. Siemens has found an economic use for the electric
light in the cultivation of fruits and flowers, and he is now
about to put down a steam engine at his country residence,
which will at once supply the hot water to warm them, and
the light to bring them to a speedy maturity. The engine
will, at the same time, be employed to cut wood and chaff,
to mince food for the cattle, and to do much of the other
work of the farm, and then, by charging the engine with the
remainder of the expense for furnishing light at night, Dr.
Siemens expects to be able to prove that electricity may be
used with advantage in so common-place an industry as
growing fruit, flowers, and vegetables.
The Chicago Tribune says that the first new wheat
of the season was received at St. Louis on the 29th of May,
and was sold by auction at 1 dol. 62i cents per busheL

There was a very large muter of equipages and
equestrians in Hyde Park on Tuesday evening. The Princess
of Wales and her sons and daughters and the King of the
Hellenes were in the drive, and the Duke and Duchess of
Connaught, attended by Captain Eliot and Lady Adele
Larking, were riding in the Row.
- • • - - -

A Vienna paper states that the English Mediter-
ranean squadron is soon to sail from Naples for Corfu, to
observe the course of events in Epirus.

The town of llomonna, in the comitat of Zemplin,
has (a Pesth telegram in the Standard says been reduced to
ashes. Many of the inhabitants were burned, and others
wounded. Famine having raged there since the beginning
of winter, the misery has now become indescribable. Fires
have been very frequent in the present year.—No fewer than
1,009 houses, a mill, and a theatre were burned down in 161
Hungarian places during the month of May.
At a meeting held in Leeds on Monday it was re-
solved to present a testimonial to Mr. Edward Baines,
formerly M.P. for Leeds, to celebrate the completion of his
eightieth year, and to manifest appreciation of his services
to his fellow countrymen. It was ultimately resolved that
the testimonials should take the form of a permanent endow-
ment for promoting education; that a committee should be
formed for the parpose of inviting subscriptions; and that
the mode of application of the fund be fixed by the com-
mittee after they have ascertained the amount at their
disposal and conferred with Mr. Baines.

This year's " takes " of fish in Windermere lake up
to the end of May included 2,602 char, weight 716 lbs. ; 324
trout, weight 162 lbs. ; 129 salmon. The salmon were duly
returned to the lake, as they were too young for sport.
Good fishing is being obtained on the Scotch lochs.

At an inquest held at Doncaster on Monday, on the
bodf of Sarah Cox, aged seventy.seven, it was proved that
the deceased was killed instantaneously by lightning while
she was sitting in a hut during a thunderstorm on Saturday.
Paris is becoming quite ac,customesi to lottery draw-
ings, and the operation is beginning to take rank among the
many popular amusements of the day (says the Paris corres-
pondent of the Daily Telegraph). The Salle du Trocadero,
where the result of the Great National
.Exhibition Lottery
. _ .

in 1878 was decided, was the scene of the drawing for th.e
Franco-American Lottery, and a goodly number of interested
persons assembled to ascertain theirlood or evil fortune.
At first, as usual, revolving cylinders bearing the single
numbers were used. The prizes ranged from 20,000 f. down-
wards, the first gros lot, a service of silver plate, falling to
No. 75,742. A sot of jewellery, value 5,000 f, was won by the
ticket 1,484. Many prizes of less value were also drawn.
The following curious advertisement appears in
a Paris paper :—" A poor blind man wants an infirfu woman,
unable to work, and who would lead him. She would have
2 francs a day, without her food, or she might share his
daily earnings; or he would be glad to meet with an afflicted
little boy, from ten to twelve years old, and able to read.

According to an official statement by the chief
civil authority in the province of Lauban, near Breslau,
it would seem that the late torrential rains brought death
there alone to 51 persons and destruction to 105 dwelling
houses.

Fifty-one questions were put and answered on
Monday evening in the House of Commons, and an hour and
a half was devoted to the purpose. One question and
answer covered six minutes and a half.

A Bill granting a complete amnesty to all who took
part in the disturbances in France in 1870 and 1871, and also
to all persons convicted of political or press offences up to
Saturday last, was introduced in the French Chamber on
that day and was very well received. M. de Freycinet read
an explanatory statement of the views which had led the
Government to propose this measure, which it is expected
will be passed into law very speedily.

- -
Foreign fruit prospects would seem to be good. The
first large consignment of cherries from Hamburg arrived at
West Hartlepool on Monday, three weeks earlier than last
year while the quality is better.

- -
The New York Herald publishes a telegram from
Bt. John's, Newfoundland, stating that the ,steamer An-
thracite, from London, the smallest steamer that has ever
crossed the Atlantic, arrived there on Monday last.

The Inquirer says :—" President Eliot, of Harvard
College, in his speech at the recent anniversary of the Ame-
rican Unitarian Association, told the meeting that he had
recently found among the books in the college library,
which were given to it in 1767 by Thomas Hollis, of Lincoln's-
inn, a collection of tracts, which was printed just two hun-
dred years ago. The title of the first tract is as follows :
'Moral Reflections upon the Number of the Elect, proving
plainly from Scripture, &c., that not One in a Hundred
Thousand, nay probably not One in a Million, from Adam
down to our Times shall be saved, by Dr. Lewis du Moulin,
late History Professor of Oxford.' This wonderful treatise
was dedicated by the author to a gentle lady, the Marchioness
of Leigh."

The Bishop of Worcester, in his triennial charge,
delivered at the Cathedral on Tuesday, referred, amongst
other matters, to burials and the prevalence of religious dis-
belief. In reference to the former subject, he expressed
general approval of the Burials Act of 1879 wisely ad-
ministered. He was far from being alarmed at the evil
which was anticipated by many from the provisions of the
Bill now before Parliament for authorising Christian and
orderly services to be conducted by others than ministers
of the Church of England. As to the increase of late years
of doubts or disbelief, which he admitted, he denied that it
was true Ihat the pursuit of knowledge, whether in science
or literature, was unfavourable to the claims of revealed
religion upon us; but he cautioned his clerical brethren
against mixing error with the truths which they taught.
The Earl of Onslow intends on Monday to call the
attention of the House of Lords to the report of the Select
Committee on Intemperance, and will inquire whether Her
Majesty's Government intend to introduce any measure to
carry into effect the recommendation of that committee.
The London Gazette publishes a War Office notice
stating that the Queen has been graciously pleased to give
orders for the appointment of Lieutenant-General Sir
Garnet Joseph Wolseley, K.C.8., G.C.M.G., to be an Ordi-
nary Member of the Military Division of the First Class,
or Knights Grand Cross of the Most Honourable Order of
the Bath.

A writer in The International Review says that in
fifteen years production of wheat and barley iii the United
States has trebled, corn, cotton, and tobacco more than
doubled, oats increased nearly 140,000,000 bushels, potatoes
nearly doubled, and hay increased more than one-third.

Earl Kilmorey died at his residence, Gordon House,
Isleworth, on Sunday, in the 93rd year of his age. Notwith-
standing his great age, his lordship being the oldest peer in
the realm, he retained all his faculties to the last, and took
an active interest in the management of his affairs. The
late earl was remarkably eccentric in many things. For a
number of years he has had a handsome mausoleum in his
grounds at Isleworth, containing the body of a deceased
friend; and here also was a handsome coffin, prepared by
his lordship's instructions frir himself. It bears an appro.
priatVnthall lay blank
erectedfo r
athe
i 3
rdateon Ipot
of
n death.
Cemetery, Th
Till: ibis lordship had it removed, at a cost of £7OO, to his seat
soe
Ineuamme,, .a plate,(,r
at Woburn Park, Chertsey, and when this place was sold it
t
was again removed to Isloworth at a further cost of £4OO.
The heir
t9,Charles, Vscount the tile is the venerable earl's grandson, Francis
Newry and home, who is in his 37th
, nd sat as M.P. for Newry from 1871 to 1874, when he
Yweaasrio'l unsuccessful candidate
The city Press says that the share of the expenses
of the Fire Brigade and the Salvage Corps which is paid by
the London Insurance Companies amounts to £lOO,OOO per
annum. •
Preparations are in progress for the erection in the
gardens of the Thames knibankment of a statue of Robert
Itaikes, by whom the first Sunday-school was established in
England in 1781, and who earned well-merited fame through
his ardent and eminently successful services in the establish-
ment of Sunday-schools throughout the country. The site
selected faces the first entrance-gate east of Cleopatra's
Needle, and the pedestal, which is of grey Cornwall marble,
is now in course of erection. The height of the pedestal and
the statue, which will be of bronze, will be twenty feet, and
it is expected that the work of erection will be completed in
the course of this week.
Mr. Gladstone's beer tax does not grow in favour
even in Midlothian. The Edinburgh brewers held a meeting 1
last week to consider the new financial scheme, so far as it
affects their trade; and they came to the conclusion that
instead of reducing the price of beer the transfer of the tax
from malt to the manufactured artiCle would have an
exactly opposite effect. A strong opinion was also expressed
that the 4 per cent, allowance for waste, which is the amount
Proposed by Mr. Gladstone, comes far short of the actual
requirements of the case, the real waste being estimated
at from 8 to 10 per cent A committee was in the end ap-
pointed to consider the whole subject and report upon it to
another meeting which is to be held later on.—St. James's
Gazette.
A Correspondent in Notes and Queries states that
the phrase "Old English" is used for convenience, because
" Old " forms, as it were, part of the title of a language, it
being usual to denote the names of languages by a capital
letter, as in the case of Swedish, &c. Besides, in using con-
tractions, it looks better to print "0. E." than "o. E."
Further, "Old English" differs from "old English" in much
the same way as "Brother Stiggins " differs from "my
brother Stiggins." Lastly, "Old English" is to be "distin-
guished by the ear" from "old English" precisely as
" Brother ' (or in other word), when written with a capital,
is distinguished from" brother" (or any other word) when
spelt with.a small later. The ear that detects a difference
must be peculiarly constituted.

The Earl of Pembroke has made a remission of 15
per cent. on the rent due by his tenantry around Wilton in
Wilts.

The manufacturers of Austria and Hungary are
sending to the Melbourne Exhibition a much larger quan-
tity of goods than they did to Sydney. They accordingly
wish to have a space of 50,000, instead of 25,000 square feet
granted to them.
- -

The Beichsanzeiger of Berlin announces that the
honorary rank of General in the German army has been con-
ferred on his Royal Highness the Duke of Connaught and on
. . . .

Prince Christian- of Sclileswig-Holstein.

There were 13 British and foreign wrecks reported
during the past week, making a total of 659 for the present
year, or a decrease of 94 as compared with the correspond-
ing period of last year. The approximate value of property
lost was £575, including British £420,000.
The Berlin Official Gazette hss been commissioned
to contradict the report that the Empress and Crown Prin-
cess contemplate visiting England this Autumn together, on
board the Imperial yacht Hohenzollern.
A great falling-off in the takes of salmon in the
takes of salmon in the Tweed was reported last week, but
trout were more plentiful. On the whole, however, the takes
were somewhat similar to those of the preceding week.
From statistics recently compiled, it appears that
within the past fifty years ten million emigrants have landed
on the American shores.

The last mail from Australia brings detailed
accounts of the laying of the first stone of St. Paul's Cathedral,
Melbourne, by the Marquis of Norrnanby—a circumstance
which is due to Bishop 3loorhotise's untiring labours to re-
place the miserable pro-cathedral by a building worthy of
the city. The new church, from designs by Mr. Butterfield,
will be 27315. long, with transepts of 120 ft. It is to have a
panelled ceiling at the height of 751 t., western towers, and a
central spire 2701 t. high. At first it is intended to build only
the choir, transept, and three bays of the nave. The first
contract is for £lOO,OOO.
The strikes in France are breaking out again. The
masons of Creuzot have resolved to turn out for higher
wages. The hat-makers of Nimes have struck. Some of the
weavers of Rheims have left their looms. Finally, the
marble-workers of Marseilles demand a rise of one franc

per day and less hours.
It will be remembered that Mr. C. S. Read and
Mr. A. Pell, II P., proceeded to Canada and the United

States last year forthe purpose of reporting to the Agricul-
tural Conmiission upon Transatlantic agriculture. Messrs.
Pell and Read have completed their report, and it is now
. _ .

in the hands of the printers.

On Monday the King of Greece received at Marl-
borough Rouse addresses of congratulation presented by
deputations from Greek residents in London, Liverpool,
and Manchester. In replying, King George said he would
do all in his power for the welfare of Greece. It was a laud
small in geographical extent, but it was great because of its
antecedents.

Another amendment is notified to the Hares and
Rabbits Bill. Sir Tollemache Sinclair will move, That
in the ease of unenclosed moorlands, waste, and pasture,
the right of the grazing tenant to shoot hares and rabbits to
be restricted to the interval between February 1 and May
1." Sir H. Selwin-Ibbetson also proposes to bring in a Bill
to amend the law relating to game and trespass on land.

During a dense fog early on Monday morning the
barque Pooboar, 1,032 tons registered, belonging to Liverpool,
went ashore on the rocks at Roseness Point, in Rolm, Orkney.
The vessel was on a voyage from Bremen to Quebec, with
cargo of wire and iron. The crew were all saved, having
succeeded in reaching the rocks by means of a ladder. Had
the wreck taken place a few, hundred yards to the north-
ward, all lives would probably have been lost, as there the
crags rise perpendicularly to a height of 400 feet, with deep
water close to the face of the cliffs. Paoisoar was expected
to become a total wreak.

A telegram from Athens states that the Greek
Government is taking measures to increase the army from
12,300 to 40,000 men.

On Saturday evening a salmon trout weighing 101 b.
Noz. was taken from the Cam opposite Mr. Forster's mill,
Silver-street, by Mr. A. T. Ellis, of Cambridge, who was
fishing with a live gudgeon as bait. The length of the fish
was 27 inches, and it will be preserved.
A telegram from Quebec says the Princess Louise
and Prince Leopold have gone to the salmon fisheries, where
they will remain several weeks. The Marquis of Lorne will
join their Royal Highnesses next week.

A model faotory town is to be formed near Chicago
by the Pullman Palace Car Company. Around the workshops
will be extensive grounds laid out like a park, with a drive
two miles long, while a wall will encircle the estate, the
workmen's cottages being scattered about the grounds. The
Americans have probably taken a hint from Herr Krupp's
establishment at Essen.

An aeronautical race is said to be one of the coming
attractions of the Brussels festivities. Half-a-dozen balloons
will be launched simultaneously into the air, and the prize
will be awarded to the one which in a given time will have
gone the farthest distance.
The ruins of the Palace of the Tuileries are now
abandoned to birds of prey like the towers of an ancient
Carlovingian castle. A hawk may be seen every evening at
dusk to leave the ruins of the Pavillon de Pliorloge, snap
up one of the tame sparrows that enliven the parterres and
carry it to his nest, accompanied by the shrieks of the jack-
claws. pigeons, and starlings which have built their nests in
the Palais des Rois. —Court Journal.
Mr. Bradlaugh was in the House of Commons on
Monday evening during the time the petitions were presented
by Mr. .Nowdegate, Sir Rainald Knightley, Mr. W. H. Smith,
and others against his admission, but retired as soon as
Mr. Labouchere rose to initiate the debate in his regard.
On Sunday afternoon the Princess of Wales, ac-
companied by the King of the Hellenes, the Princes Albert
Victor and George, and the Princesses Louise, Victoria, and
Maud, paid a visit to the Victoria Hospital for Children,
Queen's-road, Chelsea.

The Mexican papers report a strange freak of nature
which occurred on the 7th instant. About sixty miles from
San Luis Potosi a small mountain has suddenly sunk out qf
sight into the earth, leaving an aperture 650 feet in length
and 500 in width, whose depth is about 300 feet. No shock
of an earthquake was felt in the neighbourhood.

Mr. Payne held an inquest at St. Bartholomovv''s
Hospital, London, on Tuesday, on the body of Robert
William Catling, aged 30, of Homerton. It was stated that
for some time past a large retriever dog had been roaming
about Hackney and Homerton, snapping at everyone who
came in its way. On the 2nd ult. the deceased was going
into his house when the dog suddenly flew at him and bit
him in the hand. Catling died from hydrophobia on Satur-
day last. Police-constable Morriss stated that he pursued
the animal and killed it with his truncheon. The jury re-
turned a verdict of "Death from hydrophobia."

It has been decided by the General Committee of
the King's College (London) Lectures to Ladies to take pre-
liminary steps for the foundation of a permanent college for
the higher education of women, under the management of
au association, to be formed in accordance with the Com-
panies Act, and continuing to work in union with the staff
of King's College. The attendance at the classes, which now
include almost allbranches of academic education, has been
very large, and maintained with little variation during the
past three years, the number of entries still averaging up-
wards of 500 in each term. It is therefore proposed to
establish the institution on the basis of a regular corpora-
tion. A public meeting will be held with that object in the
ensuing autumn, and it is hoped that suitable premises for
the college will be built or purchased next year, in or near
Kensington, where the classes are now conducted.

A bicycle tour of England is about to be made by
Americans, and a party of 'twenty, principally Bostonians,
were to leave New York for this purpose on the 26th nit
The route will lie through Chester, Shrewsbury, Wolver
hampton, Dudley, Birmingham, Coventry, Warwick, Wor
cester, Gloucestershire, Dursley, Bath, Devizes, Marl-
borough, Hungerford, Reading, Maidenhead, Taplow.
Slough, and Hounalow to London. After a brief halt in
London, there will be a circular run to the south coast and
return, passing through the counties of Surrey and &Ilse.;
back to the metropolis. Our visitors intend to spend about
forty days in England.
- - - - - - - -

- -
The following further particulars have been received
at Lloyd's relative to the closing of the port of Buenos
Ayres announced by telegram a few days ago :—" BUENOS
AYERS, June 16.—A revolution has broken out here. The
city is besieged, and the port is blockaded. The Savoie,
French steamer, from Marseilles, Rio Janeiro, and Monte-
video, arrived in the roads, where she disembarked her
passengers, but was afterwards obliged to return to Monte-
video, there to discharge that portion of her cargo intended
for this place. The Pampa, French steamer, from Havre,
Bordeaux, and Montevideo, has been compelled to do the
same thing."

An attempt to introduce Asiatic bees into Western
countries is now being made, and the result of the experi-
ment is watched with keen interest by the disciples of api-
culture. The following special advantages over the English
are claimed for the Syrian bees ;—(1.) That they Ely farther,
and forage more vigorously for their honey. (E.) That they
fly faster, and, having greater wind-po.,wer, get more honey
in a given time. (3.) That they are stronger, and can carry
•heavier honey-wads. The coldness of our climate seems
against the Syrian bee; but no one can say, until they have
tried, whether this or that foreign insect cannot be accli-
matised.