The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-07-27 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

BRITISH AND FORgIGN.

The foot and mouth disease has increased in the
county of Bucks to an alarming extent.
A complete suit of clothes made of Japanese paper
may be bought in Boston for Eoc.
An "Association for promoting the Use of Un
fermented wines in Churches" has held • meeting at
Edinburgh.
A lady in Scotland has just given a practical proof
ot devotion to the cause of Intemperance, and destroyed all
the wine in her cellar.
It Is proposed to drive a railway tight across
Australia. The projectors, however, demand nineteen
)ears to do it in, and 200,0,0,000 acres along the line for
their trouble.
A mail train hoc run off the line between Altkirch
and Beffort, killing the stoker and driver. and injuring a
large number of passengers, two carriages having been over-
turned.

Christiana Edmunds, the prisoner who was con.
victed of murder by poisoning at Brighton has been re-
moved from the convict prison at Lewes to the Broadmoor
Asylum for Lunatic Convicts.
Official returns show that in the year IS7I there
were 7,078 persons imprisened under warrants issued by the
County Courts of Emden.' and Wales. The number Is
1,373 more than In the year 1870.
Swim soeiety must also be feeling the effects of "the
Increased price of provisions," as Federal councillors hive
had their salaries raised about 60 per cent. The President's
modest 10,000 f. have been advanced to 13,5001.
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The Anti-Tobacco Society have endeavoured to de-
monstrate the horrible effects of smoking by inducing a
certain professor to experiment upon his own nervous system
and note the results. It is said that he found them so plea.
sent that he became a confirmed user of the "weed ! '
A pioposal has been made already which threatens
to revive all the unpleasantness of ancient political party
spirit—namely, for voters to wear the names of their
favourite candidates as favours, so that those who do not
like secrecy may manifest openly their intentions,
It is stated on the part of the Spanish Government
ant the King was duly warned that an attempt would be
made upon his Me, anti that his Majesty oisregarded the
h The Goverof.,ent fi,mirs that it was unable to indl-
' gate the precise nature of the anticipated attack.
The Boston Peace jubilee Festival has ended in a
arge deficit, which will fall on the guarantors of the vast
outlay . the deficiency is stated to he no less than 250,000 dots.;
and the Seto York Times chides the citizens of America, and
reminds them that success is not always in proportion to th
" bigness "of a scheme.
A clergyman remarked the other day in Convoca-
tion that he had said the office of morning and evening
prayer for more than twenty-five years, and had often re-
peated every word when there was no one else in church.
The Observer understands that the prorogation of
Parliament cannot occur before the 10th of August, owing
to the progress made in the business of the House last week
not having been as rapid as had- been hoped.
•-—•• • •• •

The City of Oxford, with its 35.000 inhabitants can
now boast of not having a single criminal in its prison, an
unusual circumstance, which was marked by the hoisting of
a white flag on the tower of the gaol on Saturday.
--• . „ .

According to a local letter published by the Odcasa
Messenger, It Is still uncertain whether Sebastopol is to be
rewired as a military harbour or converted into a harbour
of commerce.
- - - - -

A baud of highwaymen is now arraigned before the
Pesth Assizes for tneir exploits of brigandage in the south-
ern comitats. The number of individuals indicted amounts
to the fabuious 11,ure of 2,100. About 1,900 are in custody,
the Icm:tinder being en coot n mare, or having been provision-
ally discharged for want of prison accommodation.
••• • .

Au election of a town councillor in which the pro-
visions of the Ballot lull were applied, though imperfectly,
took place at Boston on Monday The old form of voting
papers was used, but they were given in folded, and deposited
in an mor-n box instead of being made secure by lock and
seal. One candidate was declared duly elected, but the num-
bers were not given. - . -

- -
The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges as
Conscience Money the receipt of 105. in stamps, from
"Anon.,' for Income-tax; and the first half of a £lO note
from "C. W. J.'•
At Greenock and other Scotch towns many persons
having small steam engims are proposimr, on account of the
dearness of coal, to have these engines superseded by machi-
nery to be driven by water-power.
_ . . - •

The Central Committee of the London Carpenters
and Joiners have resolved to send tour delegates into York-
shire and Lancashire, with a view of tnlisting OD their side
the sympathies of the town populations in these great
counties.

Monday was a day of great rejoicing throuchout the
whole county of Sutherland, in honour of the Marquis of
Stafford attaining his majority. In each of the parishee there
were public games—some on land and some acquatic. In
every school the children had a treat, while every poor
person throughout the county received a sum from the Duke
sufficient to enable him to join in the general joy.

The Maharajah Dhuleep Singh ii'as given hie tenants
the right to kill rabbits on their occupations at any time
during each )ear. The liberty to course or snare hares is
confined to December, January, and February, and the
Maharajah will offer a silver cup to be e.mpeted for by his
tenants during the coursing season. Rabbits may be des-
troyed by the tenants on all part. of the Maharajah's
estate in Norfolk with the exception of one large plantation.

- -
Several future " doctoreases "in America are adopt-
ing costumes which are neither male nor female. They wear
short dresses, their hair not so long as many of the students
of the opposite sex, small round hats, kte. In a word, their
whole appearance confirms the opinion that if a young girl
wishes to study medicine she must cease t • bet woman. In
short, she must be, as was said of Queen Elisabeth of Eng-
land, "more than a woman, and less than a man."

On Sunday about 120 men connected with various
establishniPnts at the Great Western D-cks, Plymouth, at-
tended the f °nerd of two men named Martin and Beer, who
had died from the effects of smstroke, by which they were
attacked on the morning of Monday last while they were
wilzaged in coaling a, v.essel id the docks... The men, as soon

as they were stru7ii- down, were taken to their reepective
residences and received medical attendance, but they died

the lame eveulng..

Unuoual Efforts are beine made to recruit tne Metro-
politan Police For., the dissatisfied condition of whose
members was recently shown in our columns. There is
" considerable difficulty" in getting men to join ; and, con-
sequently the standard of height Is is certain circumstances
to he reduced to sft. 7in., while special endeavours are made
to attract into the service soldiers who have completed their
term, and men of the Army Reserve.

On Saturday evening a meeting was held in the
Manchester Town Hall to petition in favour of the Nine
Hours Bill now before the Melee of Commons, which pur-
poses to limit the hours of labour of women and young per-
sons employed in mills and factories to 51 hours per week;
and farther to re duce the working hours of children under
thirteen yearn of ege. str. W. R. Callender presided. There
was a large attendance, and resolutions to the above effect
were carried.
At the Cumberland ASSiZeS, on Saturday, Michael
Campbell, charged with the murder of lames' Patrick, at
was convicted of manslaughter. The crime was
committed on the 2nd of March, when the two men were
drinking together, and in a state of scrni.iotc,oieatlon. The
sent morning Patrick was discovered with his skull fractured
with a broken rail which lay by hie side. The rail had re-
cently been tarred, and the prisoner's hands were found to
have tar upon them. The prisoner alleged that the blow
was struck in sell-defence. He was sentenced to seven years'
penal servitude.
The Tiehborne Claimant arrived in Leeds on Mon-
day, accompanied by Mr. Ouslow and Mr. Whalley. In the
afternoon he was entertained by the Defence Committee to
a banquet at the timber's Hotel, which was attended by
about seventy gentlemen. The proceedings wore very en-
thusiastic, and the reception all that could have been de-
sired, tu tin eVellitig the Claimant appeativd before • large
audience at the Town-hall, and was well received.
" Lord Frederick Cavendi,h will succeed Mr. Alger-
non West as private secretary to Mr. Gladstone. Having a
seat in Parliament, be will, of course, receive no salary, au
, some further arrangements will he made by which he will
enabled to attend to his Parliamentary duties. Lord Ir
Cavendish is, Icy marriage, a connexion of Mr. Gladstone'
and was for some years private secretary to Lord Grandlle
when he was President of tie Council."
Mr. Parnaby, who carries on extensive fish-hatching
operations at Keswick, curnhertand, has succeeded in bring-
ing over from America sixty black bass, which have bees
safely deposited in the tanks, and which appear, we are
told, mine the worse for their voyage aeries the Atlantic.
Although these sixty Ash are but a small proportion of the
number shipped, thislexperiment of conveying live fishen long
a way, and at such a time of the year, may be pronounced
not only most successful, but a great piscicultural feat.
In a suit respecting the Colquitt trusta, which came
before Vice-Chancellor Bacon on Saturday, atrict proof was
adduced of the existence of • centenarian. It wasn petition
for an order to appoint a person to convey real estate vested
In one Ann Wallace. ling residing in India-street, Glasgow.
She is the surviving Leone° of real estates in England, under
swill which was proved in 102-4, and an affidavit of a perm.,
who had acted as her agent for thirty years, staled that she
entered her 103rd soar on the let of this month, and that he
had in his poesession • certificate of her birth. The order
was granted.
"Our correspondent at Birminghaniwrites that there
is not the slightest foundation for toe etatement circulated
that lathe event of a general election, Sir. John Bright will
not again seek the suffrages of the electors of that city. The
rumour is entirely of conservative origin. Writing a few days
ago to 505 01 his constituents, Mr. Bright said his state of
health Is very uncertain. Some days he feels,. well as over;
while on others he suffers much from pains in the head, and
at present finds it necessary to avoid all undue excitement."
—Daily Telegraph.
On Saturday evening a demonstration, composed of
between 1.200 and 1,500 people, took place in Hyde-park in
support of the Permissive Prohibitory Bill. The chair was
taken at six o'clock by Mr. Sullivan, of the Nation. The pro-
ceedings throughout were characterised by perfect order.
Resolutions were carried to the effect that it tyska their duty
to endeavour to get the Government to abolish public-bouees,
and give to the people the veto of granting &ROMS in their
localities that a petition be presented to the House of Com-
mon., signed on behalf of the meeting by the chat:man, and •
that • copy of the petition be also preeented to the Thret Lord ,
of the Treasury to lay before her Majesty's Ministers for their •
Information and that the resolutions just paned for the
presentation of the petition to the Prime Minister should be I
presented by a deputation headed by the chairman.
William M'Ginn was sentenced to death at the last
mires at Winchester for the murder of JaMes Bielen, •
builder, at Southsea. The deceased had formed an illicit
intercourse with the wife of Mr. M'Ginn, who, maddened by ,
rialezy, shot Bides, with whom he had formerely been on
tenni, who was 62 years of age, was a
pensioner from the army, and possessed of considerable pro-
perty. The jury strongly recommended him to mercy en ,
account of hie age and the provocation he received and a
numerously signed memorial was subsequently sent on behalf ,
of the condemned man. Messrs. Harvey and Addison, ,
Solicitors, of Portaea, who conducted the defence, have re- I
ceived a letter intimating that the Home Secretary has felt
warranted, under all the circumstance iniadvising her
Majesty to commute the sentence to penal servitude for life.

The Duke of Richmond has given a contribution of
BLOW to the Church of Ireland Sustentatlon Fund.
The will of the late Dean of Lincoln bequeaths
property of the value of £OO,OOO, and is written ma • hall
sheet of notepaper.
The *hunters on the Great Western Railway at
Birkenhead have struck work for iecrease of pay sod shorter
hours.
The Kladderadatach traces the course of the nezo
Nations on the Alabama question as follows :—Alahama,
Alamaba, Abalama, Almeida, Amalaba, Amabala, Alabama,
Hurrah
It is announced from Geneva that the Court of
Arbitration in the 4 labanta dispute will henceforth meet
five times each week, that is, every day except Saturday and
Sunday.
Everything is now ready for the reconetruction
the Vendome Column in the Place Veudeme at Paris. The
plans are all prepared, the expenses being calculated at
260,0001 , and M. Normand, the architect, is only waiting tor
orders to commence operations.
Japanese auctions are conducted on a more orderly
system teal our own. Mach bidder at an auction svnteshL
Dame and bid on a slip of paper which he puts into a box.
When the bidding is over, the box Is openeJ, and the goods
declared the property of the highest bidder.
A lare number of colliers have " struck " for s
" region" which hat somewhat of novelty about it ! The
men demand that whatever the price of coal is advauced
they shall receive one-third of the extra amouut which
coalowners demand from the public.
Aboard of education gentleman gave the Bible story
of the Prodigal Son. When he came to ho place where the
poor ragged sou reached his former home, and bhp Pither
saw him a "great way off," he inquired what his father prorn
bably did Oue of the smallest boys, with his Mite clenched,
said—. 1 &limo, but 1 draw he set the dog on him"
According to the Treasury returns, the Exchequer
receipts from April Ist to the 20th inst. were £21,213,709, as
compared with £20,113,068 in the corresponding period of
last year. The expenditure has amounted to £25 8,5 636,
Ou Saturday last the balance in the Bank of England was
£2,347,1D4.
• --- • • • -• •
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On Tuesday the annual jefe of the National Temper-
ance League was held it the Crydal Palece, when many re-
inforcements an tied from the produces to swell the number
of visitors to this popular festival. The inclemency of the
weather during the later hours of the day somewhat inter-
fered with the success of the gathering.
Baron Hughes, of the Irish Exchequer, died on Mon.
day, at Monkstown, county Dublin. The deceased, who was
greatly respected, was called to the bar in 1844. tie was
twice Solicitor-General for Ireland, at as member for
county Longford in 1856-7, and two years later was appointed
a Baron of the Echequer.
The Superb, the largest iron-clad ship of any yet
constructed, one of four new vessels to be built at Chatham
dockyard, is ordered to be commenced on one of the large
building slips at Ord establishment, and to be pushed for-
ward in her construction, so that she may be ready foe
launching during the ensuing year.
Koseuth has addressed from Turin a letter to the
electors who have chosen him as their representative in the
Hungarian Diet, declining the mandate. He declares that
he considers the 1807 compromise as illegal, Impolitic, and
dangerous, and cannot look upon It as the door through
which he could return home from banishment."
A Paris Correspondent states that the great review
which was to have been held at Longchamps on Thursday,
has been postponed owing to the excessive heat. There is
some talk of Its taking place on the lit of August : but the
date has not yet been fixed. The heat, though oppressive In
Paris, where it is reported several cases of sunstroke have
occurred, is proving very beneficial in the °pantry, and the
reports of the crops are highly favourable.
It is said that the agitation and anxiety prevalent
for some time amongst the clerks and operators employed in
the postal and telegraphic departments by the Government
has rather incrs.ed of late, in consequence of the fears en-
tertained that the seseion will close before any plan defining
their status and settling their, claims will be submitted to
Parliament

A bishop having inhibited a clergyman in his diocese
for having 'kissed a stole," a correspondent writes to mak if
his lordship would punish him if he " stole a kin t" The
correspondent add.:—" If no, I shall suffer great ecclesiasti-
cal ritspleasure. I am most anxious to know, but fear I
am eldest hardened in my offence."
A gentleman named Merrick, aged twenty-two
years, a visitor at Westward Ho, near Bideford, was, while
bathing on Saturday evening, drowned in the presence of two
gentlemen who were bathing with him but who were unable
to swim. Mr. Merrick was about to be married.
On Monday afternoon the Burmese ambassadors
visited the Royal Bethlehem Hospital, in London. The am-
bassadors first visited the female side. The inspection made
was most minute ; the walls and their colouring, as well as
ornamentation, the system of ventilation, the window deco-
rations of aviaries, aquariums, and ferneries were all re-
marked upon, and it was explained that these were regarded
as having a remarkably curative effect ; and this was the end
aimed at. Bethlehem being an hospital for cure, and not an
asylum.
His Holingss has been bestowing amicable counsel
on a deputation of ex.meniters of the Pontifical Police. Ho
recommended them, as the best means of insuring liberty of
action to his adherents, and of refuting the calumny that he
desired an armed reaction, to repress civil disorder with
firmness. All he desired was the election of honest men who
would see that the youth of the country was trained in
murals and in the faith.
The fact that the cholera has reappeared in Russia
was on Monday brought officially under the notice of the
Thames Shipp!, g Inspection Committee. The Corporation
having assumed the position of sanitary authority over the
whole port of London, it was resolved to seek an imme-
diate interview with its members, so as to induce them,
pending the formal passing 01 the Public Health Bill, to
carry out their new and important functions.
M. Gueroult, a French journalist of some eminenae,
has Just died at Vichy. He was originally connected with
the Daalts, and afterwards to came editor of the Praise. In
1859 he established the Opinion ationale, with the assist-
ance of Prince Napoleon, and conducted it with so much
hffiependence that he was frequently prosecuted by the
Government. He was returned for Paris in 1803, and sat
until 1870, when he lost his seat owing to his Imperial con-
nections.

A very extraordinary article of diet, agreeable to
Roman prelates, has just come into season at Rome In he
morning shrill voices .11 through the streets. "Lumache
belle lumache !" (Srails ! fine snails !") and countrywomen
with large baskets of freahly.gathered snails are to be wen
stalking along, and surrounded every now arid then by early
housekeepers, who either boil the snails, shells and all,
making niermatra of them ; or, having attained superior
skill in covkery, stew the creatures, season them, and try in
oil.
" Mrs. J— requests the pleasure of Captain
Brown's company to a small party on Friday evening next.
21, S— Place, Monday." "Captain Brown presents Ins
compliments to Mrs. J—, and regrets that thirteen
privates will be detained under arrest, and two sergeants
are on the sick lilt the rest of Captain Brown's company
will have much pleasure in waiting upon Mr& J— on
Friday evening."
It is thought that the French Assembly will shortly
pass a law authoriaing the State to monopolis- 'he mann.
factored Inciter matches and take over all luciler
match factories now in operation. The object of granting
this monopoly is to realise the tax of fifteen million francs
mposed on this article, which as yet remains inoperative.
Last week the mortality in London and 20 other
large towns of the United Kingdom was at the rate of 25
deaths annually to every 1,000 persons estimated to be
living. In the metropolis 2.151 births. and 1.4437 death, were
registered, the former having been 22, and the latter 144
below the average. Twenty-nine persons died from small-
pox, 12 from measles, 3 from scarlet fever, b from diptheria,
60 from whooping.cough, 23 from different forms offense (of
which 4 were certified as typhus, ft as enteric or typhoid,
and lo as simple continued fever), and 2be from diarrheas.
The average death-rate from the last-mentioned disease
averaged 4 per 1,000 in the whole of London,