The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-06-19 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The Court Journal Kays that this year dining late
has been absolutely abolished, and even the Prince of %Vales
gives his dinners at 7.30, in order to attend the operas or
the theatres.
A telegram from New York says that a sudden rise
of 22f1. in the waters of the Chippewa river has caused im-
mense damage to property at Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Large
quantities of logs of timber, together with bridges, mills,
houses, and barns have been washed away, and a number
of families rendered homeless. The loss is estimated at
1,000,000 dollars.
Intelligence received at Lloyd's from Lima, dated
May 12, states that the blockade of Callao by the Chilians is
still in force. The port of Ancon is also blockaded, but
ships were to be allowed to load and sail from there up to the
19th of May.

. -
An Inquest was held at the Blackburn and East
Lancashire Infirmary on Monday touching the death of
Edward Nord, carpenter, of Liverpool, who died on Sunday
morning from injuries sustained on the previous evening at
the Accrington railway station. After giving up work at
the station, where new works are in progress, the deceased
stepped from the platform to cross the line. The Leeds
and Liverpool express, which he had not seen approaching,
struck him, and the injuries inflicted proved fatal. A
verdict of "Accidental Death ' was returned.

In reply to the memorial from members of the
House of Commons praying facilities for passing the Deceased
Wife's Sister Bill, Mr. Gladstone, in a letter to Sir Thomas
Chambers, M.P., states that in view ot the time required for
the transaction of the Irish business of the present Session
he has nothing to add to his previous statement that he
cannot aid the Bill.

The Channel Tunnel preliminary workings are
going on so well, according to the France, that it is hoped
that the work may be finished in three or four years. The
stratum in which the tunnel is to be bored has now been
reached by the first shaft, so that another will be sunk in
order to lower the necessary machinery. It is expected that
a distance of two kilometres (one mile and a quarter) under
the Channel will be reached within eighteen months.

The postal authorities of Berlin are considering the
advisableness and practicability of providing the public with
a telephonic service, to be worked in connection with the
telegraphic system.

- -
During each of the past few years, it may be re-
membered, days have been set apart by the authorities of
the Church for services on behalf af the missionary cause.
One of the results of this was observed on Friday (St.
Barnabas Day), when 22 candidates for missionary work
were presented to the Bishop of London in St. Paul's
Cathedral for ordination. Twenty of the candidates had
been educated and trained by the Chirch Missionary
Society in their college at Islington. One of them, a native
African, had been brought over by the society from Lagos.
The Rev. Prebendary Wright, the secretary to the Church
Missionary Society, preached the sermon, adding that,
although the society had been successful in obtaining mis-
sionaries, those who were then to be ordained could not be
sent forth to their work immediately, owing to the want
funds.

The documents relating to Thomas Wentworth,
third Baron Raby, Viscount Wentworth, and Earl of
Strafford, has just been acquired for the Manuscript Depart-
ment of the British Museum. They consist of family corres-
pondence from 1692, and political papers and letters con-
cerning the negotiations which led to the Peace of Utrecht
in 1713, as well as of various matters concerning the private
and domestic life of Lord Strafford

Americans are wisely taking a hint, given by Lord
Carnarvon to our own colonists, to plant young timber to
replace the drain upon ancient forests. A statistical journal
calculates that the annual consumption of timber in the
States is equal in value to 200,000,000 dols. Railway ties
alone amount to 40,000,000 in number annually. The annual
requirements for railway fencing amount to 65,000,000 dols.
Thirty thousand telegraph poles are consumed yearly for
the repairs of existing lines. Such wholesale destruction
must exhaust the supply in time, and fifty years of cure•
stricted growth would then be required to restore the forests
to their original condition.

A grand sham fight was held at the camp at Alder-
shot on Tuesday, in presence of the Prince and Princess of
Wales, the King of the Hellenes, the Duke of Cambridge,
and several other distinguished visitors.

A seventy-two hours' pedestrian match was con-
cluded at Dundee on Saturday night. Several well-known
pedestrians took part in the competition, and the successful
walkers were: Ferguson, of Pollockshaws, 402 miles; 31un-
den, of Grimsby, 362 miles; Day, of London, 353; and Nore-
man, of Edinburgh, 326 miles. Ferguson had beaten the
"time record" by sixteen miles.

Intimations have been received by South Yorkshire
coalowners that negotiations are pending between the
several railway companies interested in the carriage of
coal to London for an alteration in the rates which, in-
cluding City due, now amount to Bs. 3d. per ton. Ihe
house coal trade is greatly depressed by the high rates.

The Times says :—" The Afghan war has proved to
be more costly than it was expected to be, and it has been
needlessly prolonged by mistakes which a little prudence
would have kept us clear of. But there can be no question i
of the mportanee of the success achieved by it. It has. Put
us in a position for settling our relations with Afghanistan
satisfactorily and once for all. The advantage thus hardly
gained is not lightly to be abandoned as if it were a thing of
no worth. The needrather is to improve it and to make the
best of it."
General Farre, the French Minister of War, speak-
ing at Le Mans upon the state of the army, said the progress
of the army during the last ten years had been on a par with
the agricultural, the industrial, and the financial prosperity
of he country.
"Judge Jones, of Ohio, President of the American
Shorthorn Society, a gentleman well-known as an agricul-
tural authority in his own country, and by English readers
of -United States' agricultural journals, is on a visit to this
country. !Ps Principal objects are to become acquainted
with our system of cattle disease Prevention amt its cost,
and t o take note. of the sanitary-e.onditiolun which American
cattle arrive at our ports. Ile is anxious to see a good system
at work in his own country, and he may learn something
from the virtues and failings of that in practice here. It is
to be hoped that our officials will give him all the informa-
tion he requires, so that he may go back to the United
f_;!utez N‘ith a full knowledge of what to do and what to
in taking proceedings for securing the health of
American cattle."—Mark Lam Expreii.

The Court of Cessation (France) has decided that
magpies and wood-pigeons, though classed as noxious
animals, which may be destroyed by traps or wires at any
time, may not lawfully be shot without licence.
The Greenock Advertiser says that the last two
weeks have witnessed the largest number of live cattle
Imports ever brought to the Clyde from the other side of the
Atlantic.
As the Spanish war vessel Cuba Espanola was
entering Santiago de Cuba on Friday in last week, her boiler
exploded, causing the death of twenty men and injuing 113
others, Including eighty-eight soldiers proceeding for ser-
vice in Cuba.

A farm labourer was gored by a bull at Longbridge
Dever'll, near Trowbridge the other day, and died from the
Injuries within two hours.

A meeting of some 400 persons claiming descent
from Sir Andrew Chadwick, of Westminster, who died in-
testate, as regards his real estate, which is chiefly in
London, and is said to represent about £7,000,000, has been
held in Rochdale. An association was formed, and if its
efforts to find the " real " heir amongst the members should
prove successful, the property is to be divided in proportion
to the number of £1 shares taken up.
Should the affairs of State allow of his doing so,
the Marquis of Lorne, accompanied by the Princess Louise'
will, it is understood, pay a short visit to England in tire
course of the ensuing winter.
A parliamentary return, published on Saturday,
shows that during last year there occurred in the metropolis
eighty deaths upon which coroner's juries returned verdict
of death from starvation, or death accelerated by privation.
The Berlin Statistical Bureau publishes the num-
bers of German emigrants who have, during the first quarter
of the current year, gone across the ocean from Bremen,
i
Hamburg, Stettm, and Antwerp. The sum total s 13,062,
or 8,775 more than left the country during the same
period in 1879. Of these 12,869 went to the United States.
The steamer Eurove, haying on board 2,890
packages, consisting of articles sent by one thousand Italian
exhibitors to the Melbourne Exhibition, left Venice on
Saturday last for Melbourne.

Plans for restoring the Tay Bridge have been pub-
lished by the North British Railway Company. Instead of
the thirteen long girders that were blown down, it is in-
tended to erect twenty-six smaller ones, varying from 1001 t.
to 109 ft. in length. This will necessitate the construction of
twelve new piers. The girders are to be 571 t. above high
water, being 811 t. lower than the original bridge. The
girders still standing are to be lowered considerably to suit
the altered plans.

Captain J. Liversedge, of the British and African
steamer Congo, has received a valuable gold watch from the
Union Steamship Company, in recognition of his humanity
towards the 54 passengers and crew of the foundered
steamer American whom he rescued at sea. One hundred
pounds have already been divided among the other members
of the Congo's crew.

The Empress of Russia for some weeks before her
death was kept in a room which was almost hermetically
sealed from the outside atmosphere, and fed, so hr as her
lungs were concerned, upon an aerated gaseous composi-
tion in which, of course, there was more than the usual
quantity of ozone. It was only by this means that.she was
kept alive as long as she has been.—Court Journal.

Extravagance in dress amongst the Parisians has
reached a climax (says the Court Journal). A correspondent
tells us she has seen a dress at a fashionable milliner's which
is valued at £4,000.

On Saturday evening a man named Cornelius Bull,
living at Clifton, was found hanging by a portion of his
clothes in a tree below the Clifton Suspension Bridge, and in
such a position that it was evident he had had a frightful
fall from the top of the rocks. His skull was fractured, but
he was still alive. He was taken to the hospital, where he
died a few hours after his admission. He had been missed
by a party of friends who were in Leigh Woods on Saturday
afternoon, and it is believed that while wandering near the
edge of the cliff near the bridge he accidentally slipped over.
A sad oalamity has befallen the Highland village of
lva. A fire occurred there on the 4th inst., and all the
houses except the grocer's store were burned to the ground.
In several of the Royal parks there have been
serious losses through disease among the deer. Mr. Frank
Buckland and Professor Simmends are investigating the
matter.

That Australia will in the future share with New
Zealand an important trade in iron has been patent for some
time; but recent discoveries will inevitably tend to hasten
the establishment of ironworks in the Antipodean Colonies.
The latest news from Sydney announces the discovery of
some valuable bands of ironstone lying close to the surface,
and of considerable extent. One of tbese bands contains
over 61 per cent, of iron, and another yields Sioz. of gold to
the ton, besides several ounces of silver. The gold alone
will thus fully pay for the working of the iron.

Mr. Woodall, M.P., speaking at a tea party of
Odd Fellows at Burslem, remarked that the new Parliament
was already engaged in useful work at home, besides dis-
charging the inherited responsibilities in the East. He
lately accompanied a deputation from the Chamber of Com-
merce to the Foreign Secretary in reference to our com-
mercial relations with the Continent. They had the satis-
faction of hearing from Lord Granville that the Government
hoped a basis had been agreed upon which would result in
securing for us very favourable conditions in the new French
Treaty. He was glad to have a confirmation of this in the
speech of the Prime Minister.

A meeting, attended by about 2,000 persons, was
held at Rome on Sunday at the Sferisterio for the purpose of
demanding electoral reform. A number of speeches were
made, and a motion was adopted declaring the Ministerial
Bill now before the Chamber to be mere irony, and calling
for universal suffrage as the only reform which would com-
mend itself to the people. A telegram from General Gari-
baldi was read, advocating the principle of universal suf-
frage. Similar meetings were also held at Naples, Milan,
Leghorn, and other towns, all passing off without any dis-
turbance of public order.

The Sydney Exhibition realised £45,000, and though
the receipts are £5,000 below the estimate they will probably
cover the working expenses. The number of admissions
amounted to 1,022,000, and exceeded all expectatidns.
The Executive of the Manchester and Salford
Licensed Victuallers' Association have expressed great dis-
satisfaction with Mr. Gladstone's proposals, and criticise
adversely the arguments which the Premier urged for the
readjustment of the malt tax, though the barrel duty will
tend to encourage the production of lighter kinds of
beer.

On Wednesday in last week, a tornado in Potta-
wattsmie county, lowa, destroyed a large amount of pro-
perty and killed 20 people.

- -
An appeal was made at the garrison churches at
Dover on Sunday for funds for a Christian church which it
is proposed to erect to the memory of the 24th Regiment on
the site of the unfortunate engagement of that regiment at
Isandlana in the late Zulu campaign. The appeal has re-
ceived considerable support.
At a meeting of the West of England branch of the
Workman's Peace Association held at Bristol a resolution
was carried denouncing excess in armaments and expressing
the intention to forward to the House of Commons a memo-
rial in favour of Mr. Henry Richard's motion on the sub-
ject.
Young ladies who adopt a semi-masculine garb
should take warning by a recent occurrence in a New 'York
church. A couple came in, dressed alike in ulster& and
round hats, and on being shown to a pew one of them im-
mediately doffed his hat. The usher waited a reasonable
time for the other to show the same token of respect, and at
last, out of patience, reached over and knocked off the
offending headgear, when to his horror he found that he had
uncovered the curly head of a young lady.

The American papers state that Harvard College
has established a permanent Professorship of Sanskrit, and
appointed to the chaff Professor Charles R. Lanman, of Johns
Hopkins University, Baltimore.
The King of Spain has conferred the Order of the
Golden Fleece on the Sultan. This is stated to be the first
time that this distinction has been bestowed on a Mussul-
man. _ . _ _ _

Lord Mount-Edgcumbe, the Bishop of Truro, and
other noblemen and gentlemen, waited upon the Lord
Mayor of London on Monday, and at their request the chief
magistrate undertook to open a Mansion-house fund in aid
of the erection of a cathedral at Truro. About £60,000 more
is required.

For some time school boards have been in a dilemma
with reference to boys between ten and thirteen years of
age. According to the Factory Acts they are eligible for
half-day employment, but according to the educational bye-
laws in force generally throughout the kingdom the half-day
exemption from attendance at school is not applicable to
such boys unless they have passed the second standard. The
Courts have given contradictory rulings as to which is para-
mount. On Monday, however, the Education Department
have recommended the Milton School Board to enforce their
bye-laws.

At a meeting of farmers held at Berwick on Tweed
on Saturday it was unanimously agreed to petition the
Government in favour of their Hares and Rabbits Bill; also
the proposal to apply it to existing leases. One speaker
pointed out that this might cause an injustice to those land-
lords who had let their farms on easy terms for the right of
shooting the game, and farmers ought, therefore, to pay
compensation Another said the Act should be applied to
grazing as well as to arable farms for it was well known that
where hares and rabbits settled down sheep and cattle
would not eat the pasture.

There were 15 British and foreign wrecks reported
during the past week, making a total of 641 for present
year, or a decrease of 94 as compared with the correspond-
ing period of last year. The approximate value of property
lost was £580,000, including British, £420,000.

A scientific American has turned his attention to
the tug strain that human hair will stand. He estimates
that the supporting power represented by the hairs on the
heads of 130,000 people is equal to 2,000,000 tons, and using a
larger illustration, he calculates that the hair of the heads
of the entire population of the globe could hold supported
in space, against the gravity of the earth, the planet Vesta,
and yet have 7,000,000,000,000 tons of strength to spare.
- - -

-
The Norwich Diocesan Conference have resolved
.that, while earnestly desiring that any reasonable grievance
should be removed in reference to the burial of the dead, it
was anxious to record its solemn protest against the
principle of this Bill, as depriving the Church of England
of her ancient and just rights in the use and control of her
churchyards, and causing great offence to a large number of
the clergy and laity. While protesting against the principle
of the Bill, the Conference thought an endeavour should be
made to obtain such amendments as were still possible.

The recent wars have been in no means beneficial to
the Birmingham gun trade, but strange to say, now that the
Afghan and Zulu wars are almost ended, the prospects of
the Birmingham gunruakers are becoming brighter. Owing
to the representations of a deputation of workmen that
Birmingham has been greatly, if not entirely, neglected, Mr.
Childers, Secretary for War, has issued to the Birmingham
gunmakers tenders for £lO,OOO stands of arms. The Hares
and Rabbits Bill (should it pass), by giving the ground game
to the tenants, will, it is expected, improve the demand for
sporting guns, a branch in which Birmingham can success-
fully compete with the whole world.
At eleven oi,clock on Friday in last week, during the
prevalence of a dense fog, the steamers Stonington and
Xasragansett came into collision off the mouth of the Con-
necticut River, when the latter vessel caught fire and burned
so rapidly that those on board were obliged to throw them-
selves into the water to escape the flames. The Narragansett
is reported to have had about 350 passengers on board, and
the clerk of this vessel estimates that 30 persons belonging
to that vessel perished. No one on board the Stonington
was reported missing.
The British Museum Trustees have just entered
into possession of a large bequest left to them fifty-seven
year ago by a gentleman named White, subject to the life
interest of the widow, who died only last year. The Trustees
have received stock representing £63,941 13s. 10d., and
dividends have accrued during the past year amounting to
£1,299. The legacy duty came to £6,369. Some part of the
money is to be spent in the erection of sheds in the inner-
quadrangle of the Museum, for the reception of sculptures
recently housed under the portico. It is also intended to
make a substantial addition to the south-eastern wing of
the building, and to enlarge the Greek sculpture gallery.
Whilst some boys were fishing on Monday evening
in a resorvoir at the Bowling Dye NlTerks, Bradford, one of
them named Jowett slipped into the water. A companion,
named Layeoek, jumped after him to try and save him, but
both lads were unfortunately drowned.
In London last week 2,736 births and 1,294 deaths
were registered. Allowing for increase of population, the
births exceeded by 383, whereas the deaths were 130 below
the average numbers in the corresponding week of the last
ten years. The annual death-rate from all cause:, which
had been equal to 190 and 186 in the three preeeding
weeks, further declined to 184. During the past ten
weeks of the current quarter the death-rate in Loudon has
averaged only 198 per 1,000, against 230 and 23•5 in the
corresponding periods of 1878 and 1879.

A sad accident occurred near Bolton the other day.
Two children, one aged four years and the other sixteen
months, sons of John "lampoon, collier, were playing on the
banks of a reservoir, when the younger child fail into the
water. The other child ran home and told his mother, and
she immediately hastened to the reservoir and jumped into
the water. Unfortunately she got out of her depth, and
before assistance arrived she had sunk. A colliery manager,
named Grundy, afterwards saw the body of the infant floating
on the water, and he drew it out, but life was then extinct.
The body of Dirs. liatupson was subsequently recovered.
She WM 42 years old.

The Duke of Bedford's remissions to his agricultural
tenants during the last eighteen months amount to over
£lOO,OOO.
A cablegram from San Francisco states that the
Bossuet, French ship, has been wrecked at Tahiti; crew
and part of the cargo saved; vessel a total loss.
Is it true that blowing soap-bubbles is becoming a
fashionable drawing-room' amusement amongst young ladies
In the afternoon? (asks the Court Journal). It is a desperate
remedy for ennui, which, medical authority tells us,
commits greater ravages amongst the womankind of
" society " than any ether disease known to medical science.
Herr Makart's picture of " Diana " which has only
recently been finished has been sold to a Munich dealer for
£5,000.

A boa of natural flowers tied on the left side after
encircling the throat has been adopted by fair Parisiennes
anxious for novelty.
A circular by the French Minister of War announces
the abolition of drummers, on the ground of the long train-
ing requisite and their military inutility. Trumpeters, on the
other hand, will be retained.
The next "new thing" is likely to be glass type for
newspaper printing! Experiments have just been made in
Paris with glass type, and the result is said to have been
very successful. The type preserves its cleanliness almost
Indefinitely; it is said to wear better than metal, and to
maintain its sharpness of outline longer.—Court Journal.

The original inscription on the pedestal of the statue
of General Hoche at Versailles, obliterated many years ago,
Is to be restored on the 24th of.:this month. The epitaph
objected to under the Empire contains the following words:
"He died too soon for France, and his ever-increasing glory
was neverprejudicial to his country's liberty."
On Monday the body of a man, unknown, was
picked up in the harbour at Dover.

The British Medical Journal says :—A benevolent
gentleman offers a premium of £5O for the best essay on the
medical means of counteracting the effects of opium-smoking
in China. The president of the Royal College of Physicians
in London, Dr. Sieveking (Senior Censor,) and Sir J. Fayrer,
have consented to act as adjudicators.
Her Majesty's Government has acquainted the
Government of the United States of America that the sup-
plies of stores left in the Arctic regions by the Expedition
under the command of Sir George Nares, are at the entire
disposal of the Expedition under the American flag nowil
those regions.

On Sunday,3oo miles from Sandy Hook, during a dense
fog, the steamer Queen bound westward, came into collision
with the steamer Ancitoria bound eastward. Both vessels
were seriously damaged, the Anchoria suffering most. The
Queen took off all the Ancharia's passengers taking them to
New York. The Anchoria also steamed to New York. She
had 281 t. of water in the hold, and two compartments
stove in. Nobody was "hurt. The Queen stayed by the
Anchoria till both arrived in port. The Queen's bows were
stove in.

At a special chapter of the clergy of the Deanery
of Ipplepen the following motion was carried unanimously:
"The chapter of the Deanery of Ipplepen solemnly protests
against the Burials Bill contemplated by the Government as
an interference with a sacred trust committed to the Church
and as a violation of the rights of property."
The Athenkeum says the first edition of the revised
translation of the New Testament may be expected in the
autumn, and along with the English translation two recen-
sions of the Greek text will be issued simultaneously; the
one will proceed from the Clarendon, the other from the
Pitt Press.

Lieutenant-Commander H. L. Ryder, of Her Ma-
jesty's gunboat Merlin, permanently doing duty as guard-
ship of the Clyde at Greenock, suddenly dropped down dead
while passing along Brougham-street, Greenock, oil Monday.
Captain Ryder was only recently appointed to the Merlin.

-
Intelligence received at New York states that 500
of Sitting Bull's Sioux Indians, from Canadian territory,
have surrendered to General Miles, the United States com-
mander. They were in a starving condition, and others are
reported to be coming in.

On Monday evening an accident occurred in No. 1
pit, Seaham Colliery, causing the death of James Brittle,
aged 14, and seriously injuring Peter Cockburn and Joseph
Cockburn, pitmen, brothers, whose recovery is considered
Improbable. The accident resulted from a collision between
a set of coal tubs and some other tubs, which the men named
were loading, while the boy was assisting in removing some
timber.

An inquiry has been held at St. Bartholomew's
Hospital, London, as to the death of Frederick Herbert
Davis, aged ten, of Upper Clapton. On the lit of May he was
playing in the garden in front of the house when a large
retriever dog came up. The child was stroking the animal
when it flew at him and bit him on the left cheek. The dog
subsequently bit another child and was then taken byAbe
police to the station. Davis was attended by a doctor, and
the wound began to heal. On Saturday last, however, he
complained of pains in the head and expressed a fear that
something was going to bite him. He was then removed to
the hospital, where he died in a few hours. The jury re-
turned a verdict of death from hydrophobia. •

- -
A meeting of the Mansion House Relief Committee,
Dublin, was held on Tuesday. From the Paris Committee a.
final subscription of £4OO was acknowledged. An applica-
tion for a further grant was received from county Donegal.
It was stated that the distress was gradually increasing, and
that there was no hope of improvement before the end of
August. The harvest, it was added, would be late through-
out the country, and assistance would be required to a later
period than in other places. A final grant of £2,000 was
made. It was stated that harvests prospects throughout
Ireland were promising.

The Prince and -Princess of Wales picnicked at
Virginia Water last Saturday evening, accompanied by the
King of the Rellenes, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught,
the Duke and Duchess of Teck, Winces iAlbert Victor and
George, and Princesses Louise, Victoria, and Maud of Wales.
There were also present the Marchioness of Ailesbury,
General Hardinge, Colonel Ellis, and the rest of the visitors
at Titneas. Boats were moored near the Fishing Cottage,
and in these some of the Royal party embarked, and remained
upon the lake till sunset.

The American Correspondent of The Times says
that the lightning on Friday in last week struck a petroleum
tank near Titusville, Pennsylvania, causing a flre, which
burnt two days, being Inc/wed by another lightning stroke
on Saturday. Three hundred and twenty thousand barrels
of petroleum were destroyed, as was also a large portion of
the town of Titusville. The loss is estimated at 1,500,000 dols.
It is said that the Marquis of Bute has bought a
house on the Mount of Olives, so pleased were he and Lady
Bute with their visit to the Holy Land.—Court Journal.
The Mark Lane Express of Monday night says the
weather during the past week has been, on the whole,
favourable to the growing crops, and vegetation has
materially advanced. Both wheat and barley are reported
to have improved greatly during the past fortnight, the
latter especially presenting a most promising appearance.
A higher temperature in, however, desirable, to enable the
young plants to reap the full benefit of the moisture which
has contributed so much of late to their strength and vigour.

The revisers of the Authorized Version of the New
Testament met on Tuesday in the Jerusalem Chamber for
their 100th session. There were present the Bishop of
Gloucester and Bristol, who presided, the Archbishop of
Dublin, the Deans of Westminster, Rochester, Lincoln, and
Lichfield, the Master of the Templg, Archdeacon Palmer,
Principals Angus, Brown, and Newtr, Professors Hort and
Moulton, Dr. Vance Smith, and Prebendaries liumphry and
Scrivener—in all fifteen members. The company were en-
gaged in considering proposals made with a view of securing
harmony of rendering.

The Select Committee of the House of Lords on re-
porting met again on Thursday—Earl Beauchamp in the
chair. Gentlemen representing the Morning, Post The
Standard, Daily Telegraph, Reuters agencies, were exa-
mined, and offered suggestions for the better hearing of the
debates. Questioned as to the value of official reports to
morning newspapers, these gentlemen gave it as their
opinion that they would be practically useless. The general
bearing of the evidence was that the present arrangements
were meagre and defective, and the acoustic properties of
the chamber were so bad that it was impossible under the
present system to supply satisfactory reports.

A numerously attended gathering of school teachers
has been held at Exeter for the purpose of forming a local
society in connection with the National Union. This was
determined upon, and subsequently a public meeting was
held for the consideration of educational matters. It was
unanimously resolved: " That, in the interests of a truly
national system of education, it is advisable that a scheme
of graded schools should be adopted:" and, "That the ex-
amination pressure which obtains at the present time has a
tendency to act prejudicially upon pupils and teachers,
causing an undue strain upon both mind and body of the
former and unnecessary worry to the latter; that it is
fostered by the so-called system of payment by results and
by the fallacious inferences deduced from percentage
statistics." A third resolution was passed to the effect that
the efficiency of the instruction given to pupil-teachers
would be largely increased by the adoption of some such
plan as the "pupil-teacher centre system."