The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-04-09 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

The Berlin Post, criticising the projected new British
army reforms, says that they will cause a degeneration of the
once famous British Infantry,
"Amenities of the omnibus: That's a very bad
cold of yours, madam ; ' to which the lady demurely re-
plied, 'I know it, sir, and I'm very sorry for It, but it's the
best I've got.' The old gentleman was crushed."—The
Cuckoo.
Six thousand five hundred pounds is the amount of
the expenditure for extra military and police during the
recent colliers' strikes in Lancashire.

The Prairie Farmer says that stock breeders in the
western States are unanimous in the belief that the severity
of the winter has had a marked effect, from the Rio Grande
to the British boundary. Some Nebraska herdsmen„predict
a loss of 20 to 30 per cent., with still greater damaf.te unless
there shall soon be a rise in temperature. About 150,000
Texas cattle are wintering in Indian territory.

In each county in Texas there has been set apart
four leagues of land to constitute a fund for the support of
county academies or high schools. This provision was made
In the early legislation of Texas, and many of the counties
now have a fund of from 25,000 to 60,000 dollars.

•
Several persons summoned on the Grand Jury at
Middlesex Sessions on Monday were fined £lO for non-
attendance.

It is stated that the Empress of Austria has rented
Thomastown Castle, between Cashel and Tipperary, the
residence of the late Comte de Jarnae, as a hunting lodge
for next year. The situation is picturesque, and is in the
centre of a fine sporting district.

Large numbers of sheep have been lost on the fells
of Westmoreland. The severe winter has told heavily on
the flocks, and as many as 60 per cent, have died in some
'districts. The present cold winds, with continuance of snow in
some places is aggravating the state of things, and alto-
gether the present winter is likely to be one of the most dis-
astrous on record for farmers.

In connection with the marriage of the Princess
Stephanie, the Queen of Belgium is said to have expressed
the desire that Brussels might show what she could do in
sustaining the honour of her time-honoured industry. At
the factory of Air. De Vergnies, a piece of lace has just been
finished, which excites the admiration of the favoured few
who are allowed to see the same. This piece of lace is best
compared to a spider's webb in fineness, and has hitherto
never been made of such dimensions. It can be used for
volants, or as a train to a dress, and costs 11,000 francs.
With it goes a box of ivory, lined with white velvet, and
bearing the initial " 8."
Mr. Blennerhassett's Marriage Registration Bill
will be opposed by the representatives of the Liberation
Society on the ground that it is based on erroneous prin-
ciples and is otherwise objectionable. A contest will ac-
cordingly take plaoe when the measure comes on for second
reading,_

The enckoo says that this is the preaching season
throughout France. In Paris to ihear a sbrrnon just now
is about the most fashionable thing you can do on a
Sunday

The Prince of Wales will pass the Easter recess at
Sandringham, for which a number of distinguished persons
have, already received'invitations.

Nearly 200 German emigrants passed through West
Hartlepool on Saturday, on their way to the United States.
As the American had it, it is well not to prophesy
until you knew. The Freeman's Journal, speculating on
the Budget in its Monday's issue, intimated that it was
likely that Mr. Gladstone would propose "the complete
removal of the Income-tax." Our contemporary credits the
Chancellor of the Exchequer with something more than
courage when assuming that at such a time as this he would
entertain the notion of abolishing a tax which brings in
£9,000,000. —Echo.

From official statistics it appears that of 13,472,213
men and boys in Italy, only 2,636,829 know how to read, and
2,320,428 how to read and write. Of 13,328,892 women and
girls, only 1,697,729 know how to read, and 1,488,410 how to
read and write.

Her Majesty has been pleased to appoint General
Sir W. Fenwick Williams, Bart., G.C.8., to the vacant office
of Constable of the Tower.

It is exactly eighty years since the first census of
Great Britain was taken. It was a startling disclosure of
the last census that the United Kingdom contained about
nine hundred thousand snore women than men, and philo-
sophical statisticians are no doubt impatient to learn
whether nature has in the interim adjusted the balance or
enlarged the very remarkable disproportion.
By an edict of the communal council of Tinter-
hallen, in the Swiss canton of Schaffhausen, young persons
under fifteen years of age are forbidden to smoke tobacco or
cigars, whether in the public streets or at home.

"It is stated that Canada exported 50,905 cattle
last year, again of 26,896 head over 1879. The sheep exports for
1880 were 81 843; swine, 700. The Pittsburgh Stockman
observes that Canadian exporters are now considerably
embarrassed by the stringent British regulations, affecting
United States stocks.' No doubt they are. Those 50,905
cattle were probably nearly all bred in the United States,
and now that the importation of cattle from the United
States to Canada is stopped, it must indeed be an embar-
rassing thing to the Canadian export cattle trade. '—Mark
Lane Express.

On Monday afternoon a fire, supposed to have been
caused by a spark from a passing engine, was discovered to
have broken out by the side of the Great Western line between
Shifnal and Wolverhampton. Before the flames could be
extinguished they had extended over a distance of 200 yards,
burning the boundary fence and causing other damage.

Mr. Guildford Onslow, Mr. Quartertnain Ea.it, and
Mr. Morley visited the lichebourne claimant on Monday, at
Portsea Prison. With the exception of a rheumatic attack
In the feet, his health seemed good. The result of the de-
cision in the House of Lords in no way surprised him.

- -
The electric light wilt shortly be introduced in
Indian railway stations. The light will be tried in the first
Instance at the Allahabad Railway Station.

A remarkable story has reached the Antiquary fron-
Algiers. M. Tarry, a French archaeologist, who has been
carrying on work in connection with the proposed Trans.
Sahara Railway, has, it appears, discovered a town as com-
pletely buried iu the sand as was Pompeii in the ashes of
Vesuvius.
ti
the,

The Morning Post draws attention to the fact that
the profit which the Government might now realise by the
sale of the Suez Canal shares taken over from the Khedive
at £23 is. Bd. each would amount (at £5B per share) to
£4,750,000, or considerably more than 100 per cent. premium
upon the original investment ot £4,070,000.
Dress-coats are now called "ebony whistles " by
Gallic dandies.

The telegraph is at last to be introduced into China,
between Shanghai and Tientsin.
The arrivals of live stock and fresh meat landed at
Liverpool last week from the United States and Canada, as
was expected, were above those of the preceding week. The
totals were 1,004 cattle, 486 sheep, 7,016 quarters of beef,
1,514 carcases of mutton, and 342 pigs.
The quantity of gold coin in the Bank of England
at present is greater than for many years past, and amounts
to 14 millions.
A Parliamentary paper was issued on Wednesday
on Elementary Education (Singing), showing the amounts
paid in respect of the grant of one shilling for singing for
the year ended August 31, 1880. The total amount paid
was £13i3,602, and the number of schools in which the grant
was paid was 25,447. Schools connected with the National
Society, or Church of England, received £73,087. ; British
and undenominational schools, £12,045; Wesleyan schools,
£6,060; Roman Catholic schools, £7,237; and School Board
Schools, £38,172.

A Chicago gentleman who recently travelled through
Ohio, says that everybody he met called potatoes " taters,"
except one young lady, who called him a small pertater."

- -
At Birmingham, on Tuesday night, a crowded
meeting in support of local option was held in the Town
Hall, the Mayor in the chair. Sir Wilfrid Lawson, M.P.,
said that, as soon as he got the opportunity, he should move
that the House of Commons and the Government ought to
carry out the resolution they had passed. He should simply
ask for urgency. Other reforms were important, but this
was the most of any canvassed by the people of this
country.
Three children of Mr. Round, M.P. for East Essex,
were on Saturday attacked by cows in a field near Colchester.
They were thrown into a ditch, and the eldest, Sybil Mary,
aged nine, sustained a fracture of the skull. She has ;low
regained consciousness, and is believed to be making Tair
progress. The other two escaped with a shock.

The shipments of wheat from America to Europe
during the past week amounted to 297,500 quarters, of
which 177,500 were for the United Kingdom, and 120,000 for
the Continent; and of maize to 283,500 quarters, of which
203,500 were for the United Kingdom. To the same destina-
tion were also shipped 95,000 bags of flour. The visible supply
of wheat is now 9.1,400,003 }*she's, and of maize 14,300,000
bushels.

Lord Carrington presided on Tuesday at a council
meeting of the Central and Associated Chambers of A.zricul-
ture, at which the report of the Local Taxation Committee,
which was adopted, referred to the narrow majority in the
House of Commons which rejected Mr. Harcourt's resolu-
tion in respect of the maintenance of highways • a result
which was encouraging, looking at the figures in the division
list and the opinions expressed in the debate.
Trout-fishing in Loch-Leven has just set in, but the
extreme coldness of the weather has hitherto rendered good
sport out of the question. The first basket of the season
was taken on Saturday.
Mr. Foster, of Huddersfield, has been fortunate
enough to capture a 35ib. salmon in Loch Tay, while the
Earl of Airlie and Sir W. Elliott score one each of 24Ibs.
weight upon the same water.
A telegram from Washington says that Mr. Blaine,
Secretary of State, has forwarded to the Senate the reply of
the Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs to the resolutions
adopted by that body expressing condolence with the
Emperor and the imperial family on the occasion of the
assassination of the late Czar. The reply declares the
Emperor Alexander 111. to be profoundly touched at this
mark of respect and sympathy coming from a country for
which the late Emperor always expressed sincere esteem and
warm friendship, a legacy which the present Czar, in accord
with the whole Russian nation, accepts from the bottom of
his heart.

Cardinal Manning had a letter read at all the
:churches of his archdiocese on Sunday, urging truthfulness
and. good sense upon his people in the matter of the Census.

- -
"Her Majesty the Empress of the French is writing
the life of her sou' the Prince Imperial, and the memoir sail
be brought up to the date of her visit to the desolate doug
in Zululand where the young Napoleon fell, 'with his flee
to the foe.'—lnfluitely more Important, however, is the fat
that Her Majesty is now editing the notes, ' tin Men mid
Things,' kept with considerable fulness by Napoleon 111."
The Cuckoo.

The victims of the Nice disaster numbered 61, and
are thus classified :-36 Frenchmen (25 of them natives of tits
province), 20 Italians, three English, one German, and one of
unknown nationality. The Mayor has closed the subscription
for the sufferers, 300,000 f., which is more than sufficient,
having already been contributed. The surplus, to be swelled
by 20,0001. raised in Paris, will go to the poor of the town:.
The estimated numbers furnished by the command-
ing officers of the volunteer corps which have received the
sanction of the Secretary of State for War to take part in the
manceuvres on Easter Mopday, and on which the " disposi-
tions ' have been made, show a total of 22,310 of all arms,
the artillery being represented by 2,695, the engineers by
1,352, and the infantry by 18,263. •
A memorial, signed by twenty-two thousand lay-
men, was presented to the Archbishop of Canterbury, on
Saturday, in opposition to the claim recently made for
recognised toleration of wide diversities of ceremonial " in
the Church of England. The feeling which prompted the
memorialists is described as one of profound uneasiness lest,
under the plea of toleration, ceremonial practices and
doctrines should obtain recognition which are alien to the
spirit of the Prayer Book. The signatories include, besides
many members of both Houses of Parliament, one hundred
and forty-one generals and other officers of the army, thirty-
one admirals and other officers of the navy, seventy-nine
physicians and surgeons, seventy-five barristers and solidi-
tors, and one hundred and ninety-one magistrates.
The French Government has just granted the sum
of 33,000 francs for the erection of a statue of Admiral
Coligny in one of the squares of Paris. The committee is
desirous that the site selected should be the square between
the Louvre and the Church of St. Germain l'Auxerrois, from
the belfry of which was tolled the signal for the commence-
ment of the massacre of the Huguenots on the fatal St.
Bartholomew's night.
The Dzthlin Gazette, issuel on Tuesday night, WU,
• tallied proclamations under the Peace Preservation Act, and
orders that every person not licensed to carry arms is re-
quired, on or before the 15th inst., to deposit at the nearest
police-station all arms and ammunition in his possessioia. .
A Parliamentary return has been printed showing
that the total amount of railway stock fitted with continuous
brakes to December 31, 1880, is as follows :—Engines, 1,645,
or 33 per cent. ; carriages, 17,654, or 41 per cent. ; 3,364
engines remain unfitted with continuous brakes, and 25,738
carriages. A number of the brakes comply only in part
with the conditions specified in the circular of the Board of
Trade of August SO, 1877.

On Wednesaay morning the Queen and Princess;
Beatrice left Windsor at 10.35 for Osborne.

A Reuter's telegram says that the theatre at
Montpellier was burned down on Tuesday night. There
was no loss of life.

By command of the Queen, a lev6e was held on
Tuesday afternoon at St. James's Palace by the Prince of
Wales on behalf of her Majesty. Presentations were made
to the number of about 30u.

It is only two years ago that Szegedin was corn.
pletely destroyed by an inundation, and now, before the
town has been fully rebuilt, the inhabitants find themselves
In imminent danger of a similar calamity.
Advertising is making great strides in Faris. From
blank walls and hdardings it has passed to the drop-curtain
in theatres, to the tables in cafes, to the walls of bath rooms
and lately, to cabs.

No steps have yet been taken to reduce the military
establishments in Ireland, which consists of seven regiments
of cavalry, twenty-seven battalions of infantry, eleven
batteries of field and garrison artillery, four companies of
Royal Engineers, besides several troops and companies of
the Army Service and Hospital Corps.
"Bishop Colenso once tt. ld me he was nearly caught
and burnt up by a grass fire in Natal. For a minute or 80,
said the grand old prolate, "It was t(incli and go with me
whether I got to the fence in time or not."—Th.e Cuckoo.

The Windsca• Castle, 1,075 tons, Captain Smith,
chartered from Messrs. Green and Co., of Blackwall, by
the Agent-General for Queensland, left Plymouth on Thurs-
day in last week with emigrants for lirisbane. She had on
board 323 souls, of whom 100 were English, 29 Scotch, 112
Irish, and b 2 foreigners. The emigrants were under the
charge of Dr. C. It. Woodward.

A shower of meteoric dust fell at Catania, Sicily,
on the 27th ult., lasting the whole day. Leaves of trees
presented yellowish red spots, the colour of terracotta.

In making selection of Sunday evening for the time
when census schedules should be filled up, the authorities
are actuated by the belief that on that day more than any
other the scattered members or the family are gathered
together.
Five degrees of frost were registered at Greenwich
Observatory on Monday night.
At a meeting of the North Wales Miners' Per-
manent Relief Society, held on Monday at Chester, it was
stated that the whole of the members, numbering 8,000,
were working under an amicable arrangement in lieu of the
Employers' Liability Act, and satisfaction was expressed by
representatives of both masters and workmen with the ad-
mirable manner in which the arrangement operated.

France seems to have a serious trouble on its hands
in the matter of Tunis. The fighting on Thursday in last
week was of rather a desperate character, and lasted eleven
hours, and instead of mere provisional drafts being sent to
the front, a regular corps d'annte isnow being organised.
The monthly statement of the National Debt of the
United States shows ,the total amount to be 1,873,763,693
dols , being a decrease during March of 8,192,819 dols.,
although over eight millions dols. of pensions were paid
during the month besides the regular Government ex-
penses.
First appearances are often deceptive (says The
Cuckoo). This old adage has had a very striking illustration
in the case of a wild plant—a weed, as it is supposed—on
the high lands of Louisiana. The farmers tried for years to
exterminate it as a pest, but it has been discovered to
yield a woody fibre closely resembling Jute, though of a
much finer quality. It is claimed that the process of pre-
paration is very simple, and far less expensive than that of
jute or ramie. The planters' name for it is the creole tea
plant.
St. Petersburg is now invested by a chain of
Cossack patrols, with posts of guard officers and police on all
the high roads. There is no means of ingress or egress for
Nihilist conspirators or peaceable citizens. The incon-
venience to many townsmen, whose business constantly calls
them outside St. Petersburg, can easily be imagined.
Earl at anville has during the last few days kept to
his residence from a slight bronchial attack, by the advice
of his doctor, from fear that, owing to the prevalence
of the bitter winds, his malady might become more
serious.

Telegrams received in Dundee announce the unpre-
cedented success of the Newfoundland seal fishery. Of the
six vessels hailing front Dundee four, the Resolute, Narwhal,
Esquimaux, and Aurora, are reported full. No news has
been telegraphed regarding the other two Dundee steamers,
the Arctic and the Thetis, but it is believed they will also be
full. Assuming that they are so, the fishing may be regarded
as unprecedented, and the value of the catches of the
Dundee ships alone may be roughly estimated at at least
£lOO,OOO.

A tunnel has been made through one of the big
trees of California, along which stage-coaches are driven.
An autograph fan is the latest social instrument of
torture in Pikris. It is made of pure white parchment, and
hangs unnoticed by the fair wearer's side, until the lady
meets with any celebrity, when she unfurls her fan, and begs
her victim to inscribe his signature, or any short impromptu
which may occur to him at the monent.

Letters from Malta state that a serious accident
occurred on tho,27th to Lieutenant Groves, of her Majesty's
ship Superb. fa was engaged in a polo party on the Mersa
when he came into collision with another horseman. The
animal he was riding stumbled and threw him, and Lieutenant
Groves was pitched forward with great violence upon his
head. He was conveyed on board his ship, where he lay un-
conscious for several hours. He was afterwards removed to
the Royal Naval Hospital suffering from concussion of the
brain. When the mail left he was doing fairly well.
Railroad enterprise is universally developing. Con-
tracts are signed and in treaty for the laying of some thou-
sand or more miles in Brazil and Mexico. Servia is to be
opened up. India, Australia, and almost every country are
extending their systems, while the United States will leave
history far in the rear. This year 7,000 miles will be laid
there, and for the whole world the estimate is about double.

As an unusual circumstance, and especially with the
severe weather of the present spring, it may be mentioned
that woodcocks have been found nesting in Berkshire, and
one nest was found on the 26th of last month which con-
tained four eggs.

Those interested in Arctic exploration will hear
sincere regret of the death, at the early age of forty-three,
of Lieutenant Karl Weyprecht, of the Austrian navy, who,
with Lieutenant Payer, discovered Franz Joseph's Land
during the Austrian Arctic expedition (1872-4). Of late
years Lieutenant Weyprecht's name has been much before
the scientific public in connection with the scheme for
international simultaneous observations in the Arctic regions
which is to be 'carried into effect in the year 1882, and in
which almost all European countries except England are
going to take part. lieutenant Wtyprecht died at his home,
Michelstadt, on the 29th ult. The cause was pulmonary
consumption.

The company appointed for the revision of the
Authorised ersion of the Old Testament finished their 6.3 th
session on Friday in last week at the Jerusalem Chamber.
The first revision of Proverbs was completed and that of
Ecclesiastes was carried as far as' chap. vii., verse 6.

At Kidderminster on Tuesday evening Mr. Brinton,
M.P., delivered an address on Free Trade. He expressed a
belief that the United States would come round to Free
Trade principles, and said that was the only nation which
would be able fully to compete with this country. England
would then have to besti: herself all the more vigorously
and look more closely after her foreign trade.
A demonstration, attended by between two and
three thousand people, was held in Hyde Park on Sunday
afternoon, when a resolution was carried protesting against
the action of the Middlesex magistrates in having issued an
order te prevent religious services on Sunday in the Metro-
politan Music Hall, and calling upon them at once to rectify
the error.

Malmsbury, in Australia, is in a deplorable state
(says The Cuckoo). There is not a single marriageable man
in the town. A correspondent writes to ask :—" Dear Mr.
Editor, would you kindly use your influence in getting a con-
signment of single men sent to lialmsbury at once."

On Saturday afternoon the Empress Eng4nie,
attended by M. Pietri and Madame D'Arcoa, left Twicken-
ham on a visit to the Queen, at Windsor Castle, being met
at the Royal waitintz-room of the terminus by the Princess
Beatrice, who, attended by Lady Biddulph and Lord Charles
Fitzßoy, had driven from the Castle. The Empress drove
with Princess Beatrice to the Palace, where the Queen was
waiting to welcome her visitor. On Sunday the Empress
and suite drove from the Castle shortly before eleven o'clock,
and attended the morning service at St. Edward's Catholic
Church, Windsor, returning afterwards in one of the Queen's
carriages to the Palace. The Empress Eugenie concluded
her visit to the Queen on Monday morning, and left Windsor
Castle, shortly after eleven o'clock, on her return to Coombe-
cottage, Kingston-on-Thames. While at Windsor Castle the
Empress Eugenie and her suite visited St. George's Chapel
and inspected the site chosen within the Braye Chapel by
the Queen for the erection of the proposed memorial to the
late Prince Imperial. The Empress Eugenie will probably
not remove to Farnborough-hill till towards the close of
the year, when it is anticipated the alterations and im-
provements now in progress at the mansion will be com-
pleted.