The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-05-19 00:00:00

EPITOW OF NEWS,

An inquest was held on Saturday evening, before the
Nottingham coroner, on the body of Lucy Boultby,
eight years of age, who died on Thursday. Dr. Herbert
Taylor said he had attended the child for a fortnight
before her death, and had made a post-mortem exami-
nation of the body. He attributed death to overwork
at school, which had caused tubercular inflammation ot
the membrane of the brain, the organ having originally
been delicate. A verdict in accordance with the medical
evidence was returned.
On Saturday, at Birmingham, the Warwickshire
team commenced their batting in the cricket match
with the Australians, who had scored 346 on the pre-
vious day. Turner and Ferris, however, were in great
form, and dismissed the team for 67. Following on
they fared somewhat better, but were finally got rid of
for 129, leaving the Colonists victors by an innings and
150 runs.
On Saturday, at Dublin, the hearing of the claim by
Captain Steeds, of ClonsiLla, for malicious poisoning of
thirty of his horses in October last, eighteen of them
having died, concluded, before Judge O'Brien and a
special jury. A verdict of malicious poisoning was re-
turned, and the jury awarded Captain Steeds £3OOO
compensation.
A small crowd assembled in Trafalgar-squire shortly
after four o'clock on Saturday afternoon where Mr.
Conybeare, M.P., Mr. Saunders and dr. Cunning-
ham° Graham conversed together. There was an
attempt at speechmaking. The police quietly looked
on, not making any attempt to keep the people moving.
The crowd consisted of respectable and orderly per-
Sons. _ _

Twenty-six shipwrecks were reported last week, 19
being British-owned vessels and seven foreign vessels.
A Maryport fishing vessel, a Glasgow sailer, a London
sailer, and a Santander sailer were reported lost with
all hands. Collision cases numbered 32, while four
vessels sank by collision.
At the annual meeting on Tuesday of the Sheffield
Nurses' Home, an institution for the provision of
trained nurses, it appeared that owing to a dispute
which had occurred between the committee and the
lady superintendent, Miss Cowan, the latter had given
three months' notice to resign her post, and the com-
mittee had since received a letter signed by 31 out of
38 nurses connected with the Home, stating that unless
Miss Cowan was asked to remain, and does remain,
they will each tender their notices to leave at the
earliest possible period. A resolution was passed ap-
proving the action of the committee, and the Mayor,
who presided, said there was no need to close the Home
because of the resignation of Miss Cowan or the nurses.
They must consider Miss Cowan as dead when her
notice expired, and act accordingly.
Captain Patrick Joseph Cunningham, paymaster of
the Ist Battalion Rifle Brigade, died on Friday of last
week at Mandalay from the effects of a cobra bite
received while out hunting in the jungle. The funeral
of the deceased officer was attended by the general in
command and his staff, and by all the officers and
troops on the station.
A Russo-Swedish Boundary Commission has been
appointed, with the object of surveying and accurately
defining in the course of the coming summer thE
frontier between Finland and Sweden. The work of
delimitation will probably occupy about three months,
and it is not expected to offer any special difficulties.
The death is reported of Miss Fray, a well-known
frequenter of the Courts of Law. She died in a hoa.
pital, the cause of death being cancer. Miss Fray'l
first appearance in court happened about 30 years ago,
when she brought an action against the late Earl of
Zetland. She had been lady's maid to the countess,
who on her leaving the service of the family refused to
give her a character, and it was for this refusal that the
action was brought, in which she was defeated. Since
then Miss Fray had been almost a constant attendant
at the courts and offices in connection with some
property to which she laid claim. She was also in-
volved in other litigation.
An application was made in a Queen's Bench Divi-
sional Court, on Tuesday, with reference to the action
for alleged libel brought by Charles Wood, the well-
known jockey, against the proprietors of the Licensed
Victuallers' Gazette. It was in the result arranged that
the plaintiff should offer no objection to the defendant!,
giving evidence at the trial as to his alleged bad pro-
fessional character, and that the proposed interroga-
tories on the subject should be disallowed.
. The death-rate in London further fell last week to
16-6 per thousand, and was lower than in any week
since the beginning of October last.
Between the Ist April and the 12th inst. the
Exchequer receipts amounted to £10,561,352, as com-
pared with £10,691,536 in the corresponding period of the
East financial year; and the expenditure to £12,002,184,
as against £11,013,116. On Saturday last the Treasury
balances stood at £3,906,466, and on the same date last
year at £2,806,069.
At Kennington Oval on Tuesday the Australian
cricketers scored a victory over Surrey by an innings
and 154 runs to spare. The M.C.C. and Ground
defeated Kent at Lord's by five wickets, and at Not-
tingham Notts were victorious over Sussex by an innings
and 74 runs. _ _ _

In the Italian Chamber on Tuesday the Finance
Minister announced that after the recent rejection of
his Local Taxation Bill he would not remain in office
without a vote of the House in his favour. This was
ultimately given by 210 to 29 votes.
The annual meeting of the Si..ez Canal Company was
held in Paris on Tuesday, M. de Lesseps being in the
chair. One of the shareholders declared that the
London arrangement of 1884 caused an annual loss to
the company of seven million francs. Ultimately the
report was adopted.
General Boulanger returned to Paris on Tuesday
His carriage N.... r-nnw.-1 4- 41.-.•a..i ta..
number of people, who cheered him, but some hooting
was heard.
A bust of the Prime Minister, subscribed for by,
members of the City of London Corporation, was un-
veiled at the Mansion House on Tuesday by Lady
Salisbury.
The Duke of Cambridge presided on Tuesday even-
ing at the annual dinner in aid of the Middlesex Hos-
pital. Subscriptions were announced amounting to
about £3OOO.
It was stated at a meeting of the City of London
Board of Guardians on Tuesday that well-made leather
boots, with hobnails and tips, were supplied for boys
and girls by the contractors at sixpence per pair. OnJ
of the members condemned the system as a clear case
of sweating and "simply scandalous."
A Limerick correspondent reports the death of the
process-server Leahy, who was attacked at Doon on
Friday of last week, when attempting to serve a priest
with a writ in a confessional. A man, said to be the
priest's servant, has been apprehended, and additional
arrests are expected.
Mr. Sworder, coroner, held an inquest on Tuesday
at the Old Highway Tavern, Hoddesdon, touching the
death of Edwin Whitehouse, ostler, age 28, and Eliza-
beth Webb, aged 19, both of Stanstead, Herta, whose
bodies were found in the river Lea near the Rye House
on Monday morning, tied together round the waists
with their handkerchiefs, and locked in each other's
Lrms. They left the girl's home early on Sunday morn-
ing. saying they were going to Waltham for the night,
and were afterwards observed at the Rye House during
the day, drinking together. They were last seen on the
towing-path between the Rye and Stanstead, about
8.20 p.m., and at 9.20 p.m. Their hats were discovered
on the bank by a boatman next morning. Their bodiel
were found as described, and in the girl's pocket vim
found a letter addressed to her mother bidding her
good-bye, and begging that they who loved each other
so much might be buried in the same grave. The
evidence proved that both were of dissipated habits,
and were frequently intoxicated together. The jury
_returned a verdict of file de sa

_
The -Manchester district coroner was informed on
Saturday of the death, under extraordinary circum-
stances, of James Athertou, a labourer in the employ
of the Ashton Corporation. On the Ist inst. Atherton,
while cleaning out a sewer at Ashton, was carried away
by a sudden flood. He was borne along for 400 yards,
and on reaching the river Tame was deposited on the
other side, bruised and unconscious. He has just
succumbed to blood poisoning, the result of inhaling
sewer gas.
The Wednesbury police on Saturday obtained sum-
monses against two pugilists, named Downton and
Clancey, for having been engaged in a prize-fight. It
is alleged that the combatants fought for a long time,
early in the morning, in the presence of a good number
'of the boxing fraternity. Both combatants were
severely punished, and Clancey was disabled through
breaking his wrist. It is stated there was considerable
betting on the fight.
John Brown, a baker, of Market-street, Glasgow,
hanged himself, while under the influence of drink,
besine his kitchen door. His wife awoke at an early
hour in the morning, and, finding him suspended, cut
him down, but life was then extinct.
There were 15 female clerkships vacant in the
General Post Office. There were 458 candidates-
_
The houses of seven or eight farmers were fired. into
Dn Sunday night by moonlighters, at Knockmogree, in
the neighbourhood of Castle Island, but no one was
injured. Mr. Samuel Murray Hussey has again taken
up his residence at Edenburn, in the same district.
Mr. Hussey's house, it will be remembered, was par-
tially blown up by dynamite in November, 1884.
The booking office at Ludlow Railway Station was
broken into between nine o'clock last night and four
o'clock on Monday morning. The station was first
entered by the removal of a pane of glass in a window
facing the platform. About IWO were stolen. Some
parcels were also stolen, and two of these have been
found under the tunnel.

The Mayor of Plymouth (Mr. Paring) presided on
Monday at a meeting of the general committee for the
commemoration of the Armada. The secretary (Mr.
W. H. K. Wright) reported considerable progress with
the preparations for the event, which is to talcs place at
Plymouth on July 19 next. A cheque for £lOO had been
received from the Duke of Norfolk, who had accepted
the presidency, and £5O from the City of London
Corporation.
A petition to Parliament in support of Mr. H. S.
King's motion for the redress of the grievances of the
Indian uncovenanted officials is receiving a large num-
ber of influential signatures. Viscount Cross, as Secre-
tary of State for India, has intimated that there is no
official rule which prohibits an uncovenanted civil ser-
vant from signing a memorial to the House of Com-
mons respecting his pay and pension. The question
comes up for discussion in the House of Commons on
Juno 8.

The 81st anniversary of the Aged Pilgrims' Friendly
Society was held in London on Monday evening under
the presidency of Sir Robert Phayre. The report pre-
sented by Mr. J. E. Hazelton, secretary, showed that
there are now on the books 1174 persons, receiving
upwards of £7450 per annum. Last year the total
annual subscriptions exhibited an increase, being
£2885, the largest yet reported. In conclusion it was
stated that Mr. F. A. Bevan had accepted the joint
treasurership of the society in connection with Mr. J.
W. Parks. The total income was £BBOO.
Shortly before one o'clock on Monday afternoon a
serious accident happened in East-street, Manchester-
square, London. The premises were being pulled
down—the leases, it is said, having run out—and some
workmen were engaged at their calling, when three of
the houses suddenly fell, burying the labourers in the
ruins. Cries for assistance were at once raised. Help
speedily arrived, and then two labourers, said to be
severely injured, were rescued from the debris. and
conveyed to a hospital.

SATURDAY, MAY 19, 1888:

A Reuter's telegram, dated Simla, May 14, 63511
Numerous requests have been made ot late to the
Government of India, by charitable societies in Great
Britain, for assistance to enable the applicants te
obtain donations or subscriptions for the institutions. in
which they are respectively interested from the Indian
native princes. The Government is, however, of
opinion that, owing to the numerous claims on
.the
princes for charity in India, it would not be expedient
to place before them solicitations for aid to charitable
funds in Great Britain.
The Board of Trade issued a memorandum on Monday
on the state of the skilled labour market, which states
that the revival in trade which commenced at the open-
ing of the year still continues to exercise a favourable
influence. Sixteen trades unions have reported a total
membership of 172,005, of which number 8981 are un-
employed, as against 10,668 last month. The proption per cent. of those out of work has fallen from 5
to 5.2. For the corresponding months of last year the
proportions were 7.7 and 6.8. The rate of progress is•
therefore, slow.
Early on Monday morning an explosion occurred in
No. 3 Level of the Aber Colliery at Tyßewydd, in
Ogmore Valley, South Wales. There were seven men
in the pit at the time, of whom two only escaped. Tlr
latter suffered considerably from the afterdamp, but it
is not expected that their injuries will prove fatal.
Some of the bodies are very much burned about the
face and hands. The explosion has caused several
falls, and some of the trams have been blown to pices.
The No. 2 seam is the only one worked in the collie*
and the ventilation is supplied by a fan which, in ac-
cordance with the usual practice, had been stopped all
Saturday night and Sunday. The names of the unfor-
tunate men are Rees Joseph and Jenkin Stanford (bol.h
married), Evan Jones, David Williams, and Jenkin
Stanford. The Government inspector visited the col-
liery in the course of the day.
In the Edinburgh High Court on Monday, Mn
MacLeod and Malcolm Mackenzie were found guilty ei
breaking down fences on Aignish Farm, Lewis, last
December. Lord Trayner, in passing sentence of five,
months' imprisonment, referred to the influence er
breaches of the law upon the crofter population, 5111
said that these outrages must be put a stop to. It
.1g
understood that there were eight jurymen for con
tion and seven against; and the verdict was coupled
with a strong recommendation to leniency.
Twenty-five crofter families, with a total of 113 souls,
left Stornoway on Monday for Manitoba. Two thon-
sand persons assembled to bid the emigrants farewell,
and pipers played mournful airs as the steamer left the
harbour.
Admiral Sir John Commerell, having been appointed
to the Command in Chief at Portsmouth, a vacancy
will arise in the representation of Southampton. The
Conservative candidate will be Mr. Arthur E. Guest.
The Governor of Newgate Prison has received a coin-
munitation -from the Home Office that James White,
60 years of age, who was sentenced to death at the last
session of the Central Criminal Court for the villfui
murder of his wife in Chelsea, was respited.
Intelligence has been received from Mexico of
another daring railway robbery. A band of masked
robbers attacked a train at Arguazarca, on the Sonora
Railway, last Friday night. The conductor and fire-
men were killed, and other persons were fatally
wounded. The robbers, however, only succeeded !n
securing 139 dollars. A sheriff's posse has gone le
pursuit, and several persons, including two Mexican
Customs officials, have been arrested in connection with
the affair.
A further act of clemency is contemplated, whereby
Germans condemned by naval or military courts-martial
to life long imprisonment may be released, if their con-
duct be good, after 10 years; while others sentenced to
lesser terms may, on similar conditions, be liberated at
the expiration of three years.
In the Queen's Bench Division on Monday the trial nf
the action brought by the executor of the late Sir
Francis Gooch against Sir Alfred Gooch was conclude
The jury awarded the plaintiff four sums, amounting in
all to £l4B 10s., and they found that the defendant was
entitled to £4O in respect to a counter-claim. Mr.
Justice Hawkins thereupon said that he would leave the
parties to move the Divisional Court for judgment.
On Monday the Emperor Francis Joseph opened the
Industrial Exhibition in Vienna, which commemorates
the fortieth anniversary of his accession to the throne.
A large and distinguished company was present. In
reply to an address his Majesty spoke of the develop-
ment of the manufactures of the country, which be
attributed to the encouragement given to technical
education and to exhibitions.
The bill for the abolition of slavery in Brazil has now
been passed by the Senate.
Presiding over a meeting of members of the London
Chamber of Commerce, in London on Monday, Mr.
Chamberlain called attention to the possibilities for
European enterprise and colonisation in certain parts of
South Africa. The Rev. John Mackenzie afterwards
rdad a paper, in which he advocated Government atten-
tion to various matters in South Africa, and the
establishment of a High Commissioner's Department
there.
On Monday the anniversary of the opening of the
Queen's Hall at the People's Palace in East London,
Lord Rosebery opened a new swimming-bath provided
by him n there for the use of the students.
A movement in connection with the excessive hours
of labour in the East-end of London culminated in a
strike on Monday, when some 300 Jewish and German
journeymen bakers left their work. They demand
better wages as well as shorter hours, and much
sympathy is expressed for them by men of other
trades. The men paraded the streets during the day,
stopping at every baker's shop and cheering, the
result generally being that the men inside turned out
and joined the strikers. Considerable excitement pre-
vailed during the day, but there was no disorder.
--az a meeLiiig or rue woivernampron Town Council
on Monday afternoon, a discussion took place upon a
memorial from the Working Men's Trades Council
asking for the opening of the local Art Gallery on
Sundays. After a long debate the Council resolved by
22 votes to 7 to open the gallery as an experiment,
from three to five o'clock on Sunday 'afternoons, for
the next four months.
The trustees of the British Museum have just re-
ceived the gift of a beautiful specimen of old Wedgwood
ware, sage green ground with classical subjects by
Flaxman, R.A., from the collection of Mr. Felix Joseph
in the Nottingham Castle Museum.
Advices received at Plymouth on Monday from Table
Bay, dated April 23, state that the Dabulamanzi, which
arrived in Table Bay on the 23rd ult., from Natal, re-
ports having passed the Fairholme, barque, of Liver-
pool, from Calcutta for New York, witha cargo of jute,
on fire from stem to stern, about 60 miles south-east of
Cape L'Agulhas. The ship was seen at two a.m. on
the 22nd, and the Dabulamanzi stood by till daybreak•
but saw no signs of the crew, who, it was presumed, had
left in their boats. The Fairholme was right in the
track of the shipping. The "Shipping Register 's
shows that she is commanded by Captain Buck.
The steamer Tsar, belonging to the Russian SocietY,
which sailed from Odessa on the sth inst., came into
collision on the following day with the English vessel
the Pennygent. The latter sank two hours later. be
the crew and the ship's papers and cash were saved.
The Tsar returned to Odessa seriously damaged. The
captain of the English vessel claims damages to the
extent of £35,000.