The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-07-18 00:00:00

enr Pan Coutsponent.

W. deem It light to state that we tlo nut at all time.)
identity uursulvea clOt our tunespoutlunt' upiniuna

company summoned for travelling without a ticket
had merely been tined Is. and costa, which were
immediately paid, the gentlemen found himself imme-
diately placarded all over the line, the placard ending
thus: "And was convicted and fined with costs, or in
default condemned to three days' imprisonment with
hard labour ;" thus conveying a false impression. But
without further reference to this particular case, it is
worth notice that the Lord Chief Justice spoke
' strongly against the practice of railway companies in
jwsting people thus. The verdict of £250 will be a
caution, and we shall now probably have more actions
of the kiwi. This pillorying a man after he has been
duly punished for an offence is becoming an intolerable
nuisance; and if, in future, companies wish to offer a
caution to the public, it will be quite sufficient to post
up a man's initials, with no address. The "moral
example" will be just as good, and the anomaly of
punishing a man twice for the same offence Avill be
obviated.

The waniog Parliament excites no great amount
public interest either in what it doom or in what it omits'
Everything that was of absolute importance being now
regarded as safe, there is all the less tendency to feel a deep
interest in the remaining talk or action of the Legisla-
ture. People rather incline to feel an interest in the
coming elections - each constituency for itself, and the
elections generally in the probable result. Specula-
tions are very heely indulged in as to the composition
of the New House of Commons ; and though I cannot
pretend to gauge the public mind, it appears to me to
be the prevailing opinion that the new House will not so
materially differ from the present as we have frequently
been till would bathe case. But there is another opinion
o hieli, to nay the least, is also widely spread —that for
the present Ministry long to continue in office after the
new Parliament hag been muturnoned will be impossible.
Qui Tier(' Terra.
We have not of late year, heard much about the
Sandwich Islands, but we are threatened with a state
of affairs which may turn out to be serious. In
America a rather powerful section of the people are
agitating for the annexation of this group of islands to
America, and the King of the Sandwich Islands is said
to intend to throw them under British protection--or,
In plain English, to get Great Britain to go to war on
his behalf. It is to be hoped, however, that the time
has gone by for such dangerous protection.
Some idea may be formed of the gigantic works
connected with the Suez Canal, from the fact that no
lees than four millions sterling were recently required
to complete them. This money has been raised in the
easiest possible way. It sufficed merely to open a
lottery loan in Paris ; and so dearly do foreigners love
lotteries that the subscription list was soon full.
There are 200,000 obligations of 300 francs each, bearing
an annual interest of 25 francs, and redeemable at
500 francs in fifty years by quarterly drawings. It
seems that for several days the offices of the Suez
Canal Conipany in Paris were besieged by persons
wanting shares in the lottery. One reason which led
to the money being so easily raised was the fact that
the Suez Canal approaches completion. It is now
estimated that on the Ist of October, 1569, this vast
canal will be opened to the ships of all nations. It is
not easy to form an idea of the vast changes that will
thus be produced in international communication. It
will give a short route between the East and the West.
Between Eurepe and America on the one hand, and
India on the other, sea voyeges will be shortened by
Icons four to eight thousand miles. By the Suez
Canal the communication between London and
Bombay will be shortened by about tine-half; between
Constantinople and Bombay, it will be shortened by
more than two thirds ; between New York and Bombay
by about a third ; and many of the great ports of
Europe and America will find that their communica-
tion with India will be a third or a half shorter in
distance, and therefore in time, than before. What
immense changes will not this produce ! The whole
enterprise is gigantic--in its design, its execution, and
its object. It is said that at this moment there are
more than 10,000 workmen of all nations labouring at
the completion if the canal; and there is no doubt of
the whole work being crowned by success's, so far at
least as the paesage between the two seam is concerned.
But there are some who fear that the union of two vast
tidies of water will result in some terrible convulsion
of nature, and they speak tremblingly of the two seas
not being at the same level. M. Ferdinand (le I.esseps,
however, who has been the directio; and animating
mind throughout, has no such fears, and the scientific
world support hint In little more than a year he
homes to see his glorious work completed. Whether
all his sanguine expectations are to be realised remains
to be seen; but the whole world may well look forward
to the completion and opening of the Suez Canal as
one of the grandest works of modern times.
I have been reading a long description of the
Working Men's Club, in Soho, which so exactly
tallies with the impressions I received some time ago
from a visit to the place, that I can confidently note
the chief features of this description, which may
possibly serve for a guide as to what to adopt and what
to avoid in establishicg other clubs. The great diffi.
eulty is the preliminary expense of establishing such The following melancholy event occurred at Clifton
an institution. In the present case £l,OOO was kindly on Sunday evening, and created a profound sensatiou
advanced by Mr. Henry Hoare, and there is every on becoming generally known s—
afreb, a gen 16
prospect that this will be wholly repaid in the years Iteginidd.l b young tk
years of age, a son of NlajorJebb, man between and 11
Duncan-house and one
from the time the money was advanced, and this by of the students at Clifton College, comniiited suicide at his
subscriptions of threepence per week from 760 member,. ta,ttrersztetieoefizehryhhsi,giog lose-cit. Major \'. ciii, otto is
Circumstances, of course, vary ; but in most cases it ;eft 531u1t1 on Sliturday for'Whohleilon, accompanied
isili be found that for twopence a week 500 working daughter, and the deeeased with thiee domestic servants
men can have a very good self-supporting club. This eeatrilley C;Calr.rt,lllZnlatli.leahe'
SAO Climb is a great boon to its members. It is parish church. In the evening. efter partaking of tea, he
sell-governed. ana e,°°n be be ; ;‘,..'r"s'oeni)etitlrestinliew. a=s"!Cietub: fete ail note o'clock use ut
in (act, it may tie soot to ire so already. the servants, in going to the upper part of the house, was
'lime rules are broad and liberal, and many horrified at beholding her young master hanging front the
would say they are too liberal. For instance, there )I:l"Aset,Tim
Is no restriction as to the consumption of beer and down the body Life dha Leen for seine time extinct, as the
thisigh there is a strict rule as to intoxication. Verg, o'relWtofitne.cuol
sztsn, tr,„hae,,,,11 prof asial
zirr.
But a remarkable fact is that there never is any vices were of course unavoiling. The sad intelligence WWI
drunkenness. Another thing in which many persons cu,i,titftvne,,,ts Intt-raph to Major Jebb, who returned to
would consider the club too free is the permission to
The only rims.° suggested fer the fatal act is that
play cards, dominoes, draughts, chess, billiards, and Mr. Jebb had been studyim„,s hard lately, and it is.
bagatulle. But the promoters of this club looked at feared his brain had thereby become affected.
facts am they are ; and in providing these amuse- An inquest was held, and a verdict of "Temporary
;nests, as well as concerts, library, and news-room, insanity" was returned.
they thought they were, after all, providing a counter- ,
attraction to the public-house and the music-hall, bah THE CHARGE OF MUTILATING A
of which I, fir one, eonsider to be antagonistic to the HUSBAND.
welfare of the working man. The result is worth At the Warwick Assizes, on Saturday, Harriet Curtiss, 28,
consideration. lam as.sured that there is neither in- was indicted for having, at Birmingham, on the 15th of iltty,
feloniously wounded Thomas Curtiss, her husband, with a
toxication nor gambling for money. There is yet razor while in bed.
another thing in which many persons would consider After haring the evidence, the jury found the
this Soho Club too free. There are facilities for prisoner guilty of wounding with intent to do grievous
debate and discussion almost as a matter of course, , bodily harm, but strongly recommended her to men y
but there is no restriction as to politics or religion I (6nnatzinta,rdf thveilgrmTvocaot.ir
wsh; rece d,m. -eesLa
being excluded. But here again it is worth noting t
of the Cgourt eshould not be passel upon heriu, the pri-
that no ill result has followed. Perfect freedom of soner said, "jam , uilty of slob g it, but not with iet.ht
discussion of course produces occasional heat in debate, of doh g grievous bodily berm."
but there the matter ends. Talk is, in fact, the great His lordship said in his opinion tbe jury had returned
eafety-vall eof antagonistic opinion, and certain rules a Nriypvrtetrinmlict,tirrd
: Ivoftlienoottf
,snecee lonfiwwtitit,
as to the duration of this talk individually, and the elm had been foundY guilty she might have been
right of reply, produce a very different result, for in- tsnced to :penal servitode for life but he should take
stance, from 's-hat has been observable at the Murphy into consideration the recommenhation of the jury.
lectures. Altogether the success of this club is re- Although the worthiest, f.lb,w who Was her Intsband
markable, especially in connection with its broad and ini,fhotifalmost b: said to have deserved wchist tgot, yeti
f
liberal aelfimanagement, and taken in connection also t°
had beeeuncea IlTtatleamin:rsetsevere it probably have
with the fact that in other places restrictions proposed proved fat I. If a woman who received the provoc is
rota the best possible motives have been found to be tion the prisoner hail done might do such an act with
unpracticable in the working out, impunity, women who fancied they h.. d receiv, d such
provocation would 1, avenging themselves in the same
In a Parliamentary paper, giving an account of the way, and men who did not descry- such punishment
money coined at the Mint in the ten years frem would be the victims of mere jealousy. Looking at
.Tanuary. POO, to December, DC, I notice that there the enormity of the act she had committed, tutwith•
were coined 22,191,481 sixpences, 41,510 fourpences, satistlitofemlreiens:ii,strlmpnrt,owinoceartcionbshe h sd.lz !ni:
19,559,760 threepencee, and 47,520 twopences. What sentence her to penal servitude): LYut vvojna 'give the
has become of these silver twopenny pieces f I cannot , shortest term decreed by the law—five years' penal
oall to mind having ever seen any of this coinage. It is servitude.
said that the Mint intends to coin no more half-crowns, The prisoner then ask.d his lordship how she was to
sr fourpenny-piece, ; and the great difference in the get support from the prosecutor when liberated, a
aisle
s het
ntoe ltahinutzinfeLlr,r,N rit,yd,hruitv,
rnotati
nsle.stinmul lie
number of fourpenny and threepenny-pieces mentioned lbs
in the Parliamentary paper alluded to gives Houle sups replied that he could not assist her, a.til added th!t
port to the assertion. Be this as it DWI, it is certain the treatment she would la crive in gaol would be
that there is at present too great a similarity between attended with beneficial rssults to her health.
the half-crown and the new florin, and between the
threepenny and fourpeuny piece. The florins that
were first struck - smaller and thicker than the new
ones were much more easily distinguishable. Why
not return to these? The calling in of worn silver
money seems a difficult thing to manage. It is too
much to expect that the Mint will go to an expense of
giving full-weight and new money for old, besiilms
Issuing considerably after all this labour is performed ;
and, on the other hand, who is there that likes to take
less than its nominal value for a worn cein of the
realm? But leenething onglat to be done with cur
worn-out smoll silver coma. They are mere silver
discs, which it becomes increasingly difficult to pass.
Some curious, proofs of the power of vested interests
in opposition to those of the general public may be
referred hi as illustrating our great need of beneficial
'public laws, which shall override all private interests
There is a suburb of the metropolis, lying between the
City and Greenwich, which is a kind of refuge for
nuisances. Evil smells and villainous trades, that
would not be permitted elsewhere, are allowed here,
and the fortenate proprietors of property in this
district unbluehilvely vannt their rights. For instance :
" Hatchani—manufactering premises in a privileged
steighbourhood. with stabling, How the neigh-
I/0111410nd in privileged may be seen from the following
passage hi another advertisement, relating to the same
locality : "These premises are admirably adapted for
oil refining, grease, tallow, or any works deemed
egfensive "(1 Another advertisement, referring to
the same privileged neighbourhood, may offers
premises as suitable to a bone boiling !adore,
soap works, oil refinery, or any offensive 1/11S1-
Venn." I have spoken of this privileged neighbaorlexel
as a suburb, lint it in really rart of London. Afol
nearer still to the heart of the great metropolis is a
nest of abominations which, it would seem from a
demutation to Government, must last till 1571. It is
marvellOns how such noxious trades now permitted tie
London sionfld continue to brave public protests, till
we conic to think that protostet without -44,4ilative
vowtr are completely Veltes.
Most persons who have erer reflected on the
subject, will be glad to find that the South
Eastern Railway Company has been di...lilt:illy
inuMbed by the Lord Chief Justice, and that a
jury has awarded £eso, being L'.150 more than a plaintiff
claimed. in the case of a libel by placard. Of
the rigin of the affair nothiag need Le eeid j but it is
remarkable that whereas the gentleman whom the

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