The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-11-23 00:00:00

rticceseivi I WARUIP,

%time were commenced to enable _
of miners to work M the excavation of the fallen
and the work will be carried as without inter-
until entry is affected into the workings

WIDANAIDAT.
A meeting was field yesterday to organise a sub-
scription for the widows and orphans of the unfortu-
nate miners. Meetings will also be held in the
other large towns in the district. Nearly two
hundred pounds has already been raised. The
gangs in the pit which had been sent down in
turns to nmove the enormous dam of eilt which had
barred the progress of the ex plmi 44 party on Mon-
day night continued amid 4 great difficulties to remove
the obstruction inch by inch, and before many hours
had elapsed a great heap of loose stone was ready to be
conveyed to the top of the shaft. The odour of decom-
position was very strong through the whole night,
and doubts were expressed as to whether it did not
arise from the dead bodies of the men, and not from
the dead horses, as was surmised. At about three
o'clock yesterday morning Mr. Heinke, of Great
Portl nd-street. Lnadon, in response to a telegram,
arrived at the house of Mr. Ness, and brought with
him two divers, who would be able to enter the mine
in costume, and be perfectly free from the effects of
choke-damp, but their services will scarcely be of any
use now that the roads of the pit are completely blocked.
The divers were, however, detained, and they were in
the immediate vicinity of the pit at noon. Several
descents were made into the drawing-shaft in the
morning, and on each occa-ion it was found that the
men were proeeeding very rapidly with the work of re-
moving the obstruction. At a descent which was made
just before eleven o'clock it was discovered that there
wee perfect ventilation in the mine, the two seta of air
pipes in the drawing shaft having done their work.
:Shortly before twelve o'clock Messrs. S. Checkley,
Frans, and A. 11. Lindop descended the mine, and
that the silt had been cleared away for ten or
eleven yards. There was a total disappearance of
choke damp, but there wax a great danger of another
portion of the roofing falling in. Should this happen
the obstruction, of course, will be increased, and it
will take several weeks before it can be sufficiently
cleared to allow of the passage of an exploring party.

-.LNG RAILWAY CARILIAOIII GAMAANT.
---A mode of more safely and effectually warming rail-
way carriages than by stoves or hot water has, it is
said, been widely adopted in Germany. The invention
canasta of the use of a composition which only 'moul-
ders slowly, and is encased in an iron tray enclosed in
a copper box "hermetically closed." The heat Is said
to last for 24 hours it necessary. The fuel is called the
" charcoal brequettes." At 4:13 per ton the cost is said
to be almost nominal, and the appirattui only costs
e for each compartment.
WoRKIS 0 MEN IN WESTMINaTER ABBEY.- -
Last Saturday the Dean of Weetuainster invited a
large number of masons employed on the Offices in
het two years, to go over the Abbey with him. At
mit.iDownoinnaryg-st. reweht,othrerhasubg Meeh
nry.isNiNrtinabihgteh,ethine
dLamailydornorCtihty.
one p.m. he and Lady Augusta received them in !he
Jerusalem Chamber. and after hearing the leading
points of its history, they were lea through the chapels
of the Abbey, the Chapter-hruse, and cloisters.
The party being unusually large, and fearing. they •
would not all hear the Dean, Lady Augusta graciously
took a good part of it into her charge, And 1.4
the way from tomb to monument, describing
the staking events in the lives of those to whose honour
they Lad been erected. The visit was prokinged owing
to the interest manifested by the men, and to the wany
Dean, anti
manyf o r which
ch
The last place visited was the Abbots' dining-hall, in
which, the visitors were told, the monks of old time
dined well On this occasion it had more than a
hqwuee e subsequently
hos brought which
outtht h they
nlik?hke'them,
mighte them'
have been omitted.
b
historical interest for the men, for it contained a very
libel al amount of refreshment, to which they did ample
justice for more than an hour.
seventeen
.re
teen Diets
of CHANGE
.r fortu-
nate in having so many varieties of food. We hope to
taste a few of them, next stimm:r, at the Vienna Exhi-
bition.—Pitech.
Austria"
!OFT
hLeiv p.lNopGie ,—; Thethat
A STRANGE STORY.—The ./Vet
of the 7th inst. reports a terrible tragedy front Boston.
A large barrel had been discovered floating ra Charles
River, and it wee found to contain a human heard and
r.' York Herald
i two legs. The head was bald, and, from its apn'ear.-
once, the victim appeared te be about 50 yeses ols.!.
The blood that was still dripping from these remnants
of the body proved that the butchery had taken place
within a very few hours of the time of the discovery.
Shortly afterwards a second barrel was seen in the
stream, and this on being brought to shore was found
Ito contain the rest of the body. Indications were ap-
-1 parent that decapitation and amputation had been
performed with a sharp knife, for when the remains
were placed together they fitted perfectly. None of
the clothing was missing except the hat, and, beyond a
flesh wound on the face of the deal man, there was
nothing to indicate a struggle. Upon the back, be.
tween the outside and under shirt, there was a gold
chain that had been secreted there. The clothing was
of the best quality. No clue to the identity of the Dian
had been obtained.
MURDER OF A CUSTOMS' OFFICER. The
Court of Assizes of the Doubs has just tried a man
named Piegelin, a smuggler, for murder. About two
months ago the prisoner with two of his comrades en-
gaged in combat with the Custom-house officers of
Etraches, on the Swiss frontier, and two of the latter
were seriously wounded. Piegelin, meeting another of
them afterwards, knocked him down with a club and
trampled on his head in a frightful manner. Two ac-
complices, the brothers Lagting, were tried with him
for participation in both attacks. The principal
criminal VFW condemned to death, and the other two to
20 yeas' hard labour.
ASTOUNDING INTELLIGENCE. Are we in
Wondeil,wid? We rub our mental eyes, and wildly
stare and fancy we must be dreaming. Still, here it
is in actual prins, like the ballad of the Jabbertcock
Bonnet. are mai %tun much the same in shape as those
of last month."
Can this be really true is it possible that ladies
can consent for two whole montng to wear their bonnets
" much the same in shape?" ra,:ium et mutnlate
semper in most affairs of life, the fair si.:3 in none is
more so than in fashionable matters. We' shall be
tempted to believe in the strong-mindedaess of Vamen,
when we find them wearing bonnets of the same shape
for • month or two together.—Parreh.
CARBONIC ACID AND RESPIRATION.—IfI his
recent book on "Air and Rain," Dr. Angus Smith
makes an important correction of the statement, often
found in works on physiology, that air can support re-
spiration until it contains 10 per cent of carbonic
acid. It is shown by a number of careful experimente
that human beings cannot long endure an atmo-
sphere containing more than 4 per cent, the higher
numbers having probably been obtained by experi-
ments of very shert duration. But although
as much as 2 or 3 per cent 01 carbonic acid causes but
little annoyance, it is shown that this is only true when
other impurities are absent. The senses detect
the difference between the air of the streets and of
the parks of London, where the difference of the
carbonic acid is only 'OO4 per cent., the real annoyance
arising from organic matter and gases from putre-
faction. Hence the quantity of carbonic acid found
I. significant, 'because it almost always comes in bat
company." On the other, hand, Dr. blorgan (in his
paper on chloroform), remarks that a diluted form of
carbolic acid is not dan,rereus to life, since in the
, mining districts in Cornwall, when the work goes on
in gangs, tunnels are entered for which no means of
ventilation are provided, the foremost labourer, with a
knowledge that he may become perfectly insensible,
relies on his rear-rank companion to drag him out when
he becomes so; this he does in due time, and then steps
forward himself to undergo a similar ordeal, although
a candle would go out in this vitiated re-breathed
atmosphere.
GREAT NEws.—There are good times coming.
Mal denier is likely to be abolished by Mr. Bessemer
(we were not equally glad to read, in a review of slr.
Darwin's new book, that blushing "seems likely to be
lost," Eleanor, and Alice, and Isabel, and IA great
many snore looking so charming under flying colours) ;
and "Foot-warmers are row supplied to all third-class
passengers upon the Great NortLern Railway." We
shall yet live to see the streets kept :9lerably clean.—
Punch.
PIRACY inc THE EAsT. —The ...Ve re Ft'
Herald of the 3rd inst. say s --" By mail front Ole
far East we have received our files from RIO
Philippines, dated in Manila, conveying additional
details of the battle which was lately fought
between the forces of her Britannic Majesty and the
armed pirates of the Sulu, and which resulted in the
breaking up of the outlaw's nests in that quarter of the
world. The Coorreecio of Manila says r -The boats
of the British war steamer Nassau, Commander
William Chimmo, have been attacked by pirates
near Carang-Carang, on the north-cost portion of
Sulu. The fight lasted four days, at the end of which
the crews of the boats were victorious, after having
disembarked and destroyed the brahus and villages,
&c., of the pirates. The boats bombarded the villages
for two hours. The loss of the pirates was fearful.
Lieutenant Gray, of the Nassau, and some of the crews
of the boats were severely wounded. Mr. White was
wounded in the neck by a spear. While the boats
were attacking by water the natives harranged them by
land. On the following day the officers of the Nassau
were received by the Sultan of Sulu, who thanked them
for what they had done and made them presents."
THE LATE MR. MAGUIRE, M.P.—A meeting
was held in the Mansion-house, Dublin, on Monday,
convened by the Lord Mayor, for the purpose of
adopting measures in aid of a national tribute to the
memory and services of the late John Francis Ma-
guire, member for Cork. Resolutions were adopted
authorising several gentlemen to receive subscriptions
for the above purpose. The meeting was attended by
the Hon. David Plunket, M.P., Mr. Jonathan Pim,
ALP., Mr. Matthew D'Arcy, M.P., Sir John Gray,
M. P., and several leading citizens. A subscription list
as w opened, and reali about £250, which included
s subscription of 100 gn eas from Mr. Mitchell Henry,
M.P. Baron Rothschild and Mr. Montagu Chambers,
M.P., have sent 4:150 and £2O respectively to the fund.
COMMONS AND ENCLOSURE. —The Chancellor
of the Exchequer , at the Lord Mayor's Feast, com-
plained that the House of Commons of late had been
taking upon itself the proper functions of the Govern.
ment. Mr. Lowe refrained from illustrating his com-
plaint by examples. One instance to point might have
been suggested to him by local circumstances, lie was
',peaking in Guildhall, and it was the influence of the
Corporation of London, exerted in the House of Com-
mons, which defeated the Government's proposed
measures designed to legalise the further enclosure of
Epping Forest..—Punek.
little yvou,,nirverifcahiitTenT
The
thhoe. e family
w
DiSASTROTS FIRE AND HEROISM OF A BOY.
—The Orkney mail brings particulars of a disastrous
fire in the Island of Sanday, and the heroism of a
(saysle the Ninorsathvilgrittwi4ho
ise
an old family residence, but was occupied by two
separate families' one of theba having children. Dur-
ing the. absence of the adult members, excepting an in-
firm widow, the youngest child was in a cradle, and
the eldest was off on an errand, four little children
being left in the hou-e. Early in the morning one 01
the little ones miming an article of clothing, r it er
paraffin lamp to seek for it in a bed, and while PO
employed upset the lamp, and in an instant the
room was on fire. Seining his sister, the second son
bore her down stairs in her shift. Returning he lifted
his little brother out of the cradle, arid bore him out
also, By this time the staircase was on fire, and in
priming with his burden the hair of his head was singed.
Meanwhile the little fellow who had caused the con-
flagration had escaped to the outside in little mere
than his shirt. The noise and smoke soon aroused tire
aged widow, who hastily arose ard fled for her life with
very little clothing on. The neighbours were speedily
alarmed by the smoke and flames, arid a multited.
gathered; but, owing to the combustible nature of the
old dry wood, the flames spread so rapi ily that in
very short time the roof fell in, and the whole was rt
blazing MAIM of ruins. Fortunately no lives were lest,
but the poor inhabitants have lost their little all, ease
what clothing they happened to have on.
AN ADVENTUROUS SALT LAKE GIRL.—In this
city (says the Utah Herald) lives a young lady who is
seemingly delicate, but although pet.te in form Bed
figure, is abundantly endowed with nerve and energy.
Fond to a passion of the grand in nature, she has
scaled on foot the highest peaks of the Cottonwoods,
and explored the cavernous recesses of the deepest
mines. We have known her on several occasions, When
prosp rating on foot, with staff in hand, the tall peaks
of the Wasatch, to compel her male escort first to cry
halt. Our fair preepectrese being at Alta a day or two
since, saw for the first time in operation thewire suspen-
sion tramway just completed by the Vallejo Company,
and her masculine eircort proposed to her, in jest, to take
a ride up the wire cable to the mine. She promptly
accepted the invitation when our male friend, growing
a little nervous, suggested difficulties in the way of
the trip, but failed to dissuade her from attempting its
The tramway is .2,:.;b0 feet long, rises at an angle of
about twenty degrees, and the cable is suspended on
stanchions forty feet high. There were no other car-
riages than ore buckets, and in one of these, which are
suspended Fix feet below the cable, our heroine, un-
daamted and alone, took passage and made the ascent
without mishap or serious inconvetience, although the
swaying of the wire between the stanchierei is calcu-
lated to create the sensation of sea sickness. Quite a
wowd gathered, and to those a short distance off, to
ithom the wire was invisible, it appeared as if our fair
friend was sailing through mid air,