The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-07-23 00:00:00

.SATURDAY, JULY 23, 1887.

The "Evening Mercury" of St. John's, Newfound'
land, publishes a long letter from the Missionary
College in Labrador, giving details of the extreme
destitution which is ;Wei to be prevailing there. The
"Mercury "urges upon the Government the necessity
of making an investigation into the condition of
Labrador, and transferring a portion of the inhabitants
to some Other country.
A fatal fire occurred on Monday morning at the
house of Mr. James Jennings, tobacconist, Agincourt
square, Monmouth. Only Mrs. Jennings was able to
escape, she being assisted through the back door by a
policeman, and the other three members of the family
were burned to death.

The Master of the Rolls made an important announce-
ment on Monday morning to the effect that it had
been decided in no case to postpone the hearing of
cases in London on the ground of the absence of
counsel and solicitors on circuit.

Mr. .1. R. Newcombe, for many years lessee of the
Plymouth Theatre, died on Monday morning at a very
advanced age. Deceased is believed to have been the
oldest lessee in the kingdom. Till within a few weeks
of his death he was remarkable for his athletic per-
formances. _

The Great Eastern steamship, which has been
moored in the Mersey for some weeks, and on which a
variety of entertainments have been witnessed by a
large number of people, left the river on Sunday for
the Clyde, accompanied by a single tug.
Great heat has been prevailing throughout the
United States, the weather being almost torrid in Ow
racter, and causing many fatal cases of sunstroke_
Several severe thunderstorms passed over the country
on Sunday afternoon, however, and somewhat cooled
the atmosphere. In New York and the vicinity it
blew a hurricane, many small craft in the harbour and
bay being capsized, and some lives lost. A schooner
was driven from her anchorage, and drifted up the
harbour, coming into collision with the National Line
steamer Erin, knocking a hole in her hull on the port
side just above the water line. The damaze, however,
was not of a serious character. Carlisle (Pennsyl-
vania) has been visited by a tornado.
It is understood that after H.M.'s ship Trafalgar has
been launched work will be short in the Portsmouth
dockyards, as the ships at present being overhauled for
the review will be then completed. The only ship
building is the Nymph, 1140 tons, and the cruiser Mel..
pomene, 2950 tons, to be commenced in a month.
These small vessels will not, however, find work for the
number of artificers at present engaged, some of whom
will be discharged at once, and others, it is expected,
in a short time

At Jarrow Police-court, on Monday, John James
McEwen was charged with embezzling £9OOO, tho
money of the Jarrow Permanent Building Society.
The piosecution declined to believe the prisoner's con-
fession, and offered no evidence. The prisoner's
solicitor applied for his discharge, but the superinten-
dent of police objected, and applied for a remand to
communicate with the Public Prosecutor. The prisoner,
who is a bank manager, was remanded in custody for a
week.
At Reigate on Monday four publicans were
summoned on a charge of keeping their houses open
after 11 o'clock on Jubilee night. In one case there
was no evidence to show that there was any sale after
closing time, and in the others the defence was that
the defendants were under the impression, from the
remarks of the Home Secretary, that they could keep
open until two a.m. on the occasion in question. The
summonses were dismissed.

Another batch of imported men arrived at Bolton at
noon on Monday, for one of the works affected by the
present strike, and proceeded to their destinations in
cabs, closely guarded by mounted police and ordinary
constables, follcw:d by a demonstrative mob. Great
excitement prevailed, but beyond the throwing of a few
stones and hooting the crowd did no damage. All the
apprentices at Kay-street works, numbering 180, have
given notice to leave in a week.

- Shortly before midnight on. Saturday evening four
young men belonging to Christchurch started off
to spend the remainder of the night on board the
Charlotte, a vessel lying in Clhristchurch harbour. They
left the quay in a small bnat, and had only got a short
distance down the river when the boat sprung a leak
and sank. Neither of the men could swim, but three
got ashore after much difficulty, while the fourth
named Cutler, aged 21, was drowned, his body being
found 200 yards off during Sunday. At an inquest held
on Monday a verdict of "Accidentally drowned" was
returned.

A Reuter's telegram from Genova says that the
Maharajah Holkar of Indore, attended by a numerous
suite has a7rived there.

Lord Herschel! gave a garden party on Monday in
the gardens of Lincoln's-inn, which was honoured by
the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales.
Numerous other guests were also present.
The outbreak of cholera in Sicily is becoming more
serious. On Sunday forty-two cases occurred in the
town of Catania, and twenty-five persons died.
Although the railway communication with Messina is
suspended, people continue to leave the afflicted town
in large numbers, and its appearance is that of a
degerted city.
_

Lord Rosebery on Monday laid the foundation
stone of a Workinz Men's Club in Bermondsey. Reply-
ing to an address, he said he attached more importance
to riblic opinion educated by reading, conversation,
discussion, and reflection than to opinions formed in
politic I clubs, as it depended on the guidance they
gave whether the Democracy, which was now in full
flood, should be a power for good.
The Coolgreany evictions were resumed on Monday.
John Dann°, who has a bed-ridden daughter, was
turned out of his house, and the sick girl was carried
into the yard by the Emergency men. At the next
cottage the tenant, Mrs. Darcy, was over 75 years of
age, and suffering from disease of the heart. After
some negotiation, in which Mrs. Darcy, through the
priest, declined all the landlord's proposals, Captain
Hamilton withdrew his men.

An exciting scene was witnessed on Monday after-
noon in Priest's Menagerie, which was exhibiting at
Salford. A middle-aged woman named Dean went
into the menagerie with a child in her arms, which she
held forward to look at some leopards in a cage.
One of the animals put a paw between the bars and
struck the child, knocking it out of the woman's arms.
The woman struck at the beast, which, however,
caught her arm and pulled it into the cage. She was
rescued by the attendant.

At Bj-w-street Police. court, on Monday, James
M Colley, self-described as a surgeon,was charged with
libelling Alice Taylor, a School Board teacher. The
libel was contained in a letter, which seriously reflected
on the mond character of Miss Taylor. The case was
adjourned, bail to a high amount being required.
Before the Bolton county magistrates on Monday the
mapager at Messrs. Andrew Knowles and Sono
(Limited), Darcy Lever Collieries, was summoned at the
instance of Mr. Dickinson, Chief Inspector of Mines,
for breach of the Mines Regulations Act, by not sup-
plying sufficient ventilation. On the 16th of May a
fireman named Haydock reported gas to the manager
in one of the working places. He continued to report
it until the 24th, when he went into roe bay and was
suffocated. The defendant was fined £l.O and costs, or
a month.
The neighbourhood of Burnley was visited by a
severe thunderstorm on Saturday. accompanied by a
heavy downpour of rain. Mr. J. Crowther, one of the
overseers of the parish of Warsthorne, was struck by
lightning and killed.

A mass meeting ef Ayrshire miners was held on
Irvine Moor on Saturday afternoon, when resolution'
were adopted, calling on the Government to amend
the Mines Bill now before Parliament.
A meeting of cabdrivers was held, under the
auspices of the Amalgamated eabdriverre Society. at
the Reformers' Tree in Hyde Park, on Sunday after-
noon, for the purpose of making public the conviction
of cabirivers by London magistrates on the ancorrob 3.
rated testimony oF police constables.