The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-11-12 00:00:00

EPITOME OP NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN,

It is stated that the Government contemplate the
formation of four additional Sub-Commissioners under the
Irish Land Act.
During the nine months of the present year ending
last September, 103,370 persons emigrated from Germany.
For the corresponding period of last year the number was
only 63,532.
The number of persons reported killed in India last
year by wild beasts an:l snakes was 21,900, against 20,312
in 1879, and 20,256 the year before.
The Sultan has conferred on the Emperor of Ger-
many the Order of Niehani-Itntiaz, instituted by Abdul
Ifamid. A special Embassy will leave Constantinople for
Berlin to present the Order to the Emperor.
The Times' correspondent at Tunis says that a pro-
found sensation has been caused there among the Mussul-
man population by the announcement that Christians are
now freely permitted to enter the mot ques
The Queen, accompanied by Princess Beatrice. re-
turned to Balmoral Castle on Saturday from the Massalt
Shiel. Ifer Majesty walked and drove dany during her stay
there. The Dowager Duchess of Roxburghe dined with the
Queen.
Crown Prince Rudolph of Austria has publiAhed his
Oriental travels in two volumns.

A ceremonious reception was".given to Mr. Sackville
West, the new British Minister to the United States, on his
arrival at Philadelphia. The Mayor of the Quaker city and
the citizens presented addresses of welcome, auda banquet
was given in Mr. West's honour.

Eighteen new ships were launched during October
floni the building* yards on the Clyde, at Middlesbrough,
Hull, LivErpol, tte., for the ocean and couting trades. Of
these 17 were steel and irotrsteam-vessels.

A lady has placed the sum of £250 at the disposal
of the committee of the Homes for Working Girls in London
towards the founding of a home in the south of London, to
be called Garfield House.

A Californian has constructed an incubator for
hatching chiatens at the hot springs, Calistoga. The heat
used for the purpose is from steam brought by means of
opes from the hot springs ground, the temperature being
kept up to 103 deg. -
Captain Lord Waldegrave, London, Rifle Brigade,
won the gold badge of the Shooting Association of ;hie regi-
ment-at the ltainham ranges on. Saturday. Nearly 40 mem-
bers competed for the i7onott, which was ginkci with a
serme of Si points, with the Snider title at the :Isms
ranges.

-
Foreign Missionary Seminary at Paris has re-
ceived the folio., hm hg telegram, dated Hongkong, this
'corning A terrible typhoon has just ravaged Western
Toupin'. Two Itunobed churches and 31 parsonages and
colleges have besn destioed, with 2,000 houses inhabited I,y
tikristians Six thousand Christians are ruined and without
resources. The losses are immense, and the diaress terrible.
We beg for the prompt,est help."
The British Afediml Journal states that the Earl of
Leicester has given the munificent sum of 4,15,000 to the
Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, of which he is president, to
be added to the endowment fund. The late Mr. Sewell,
of Reepham, Norfolk, has bequeathed to the same hospital
£l,OOO.
Land Leaguers in Boston, U.S., have passed a self-
denying ordinance. They are not to buy -Euglish-made
goods for their own personal use and they are to urge their
friends to follow their example.
In the excavations going on at the Pantheon at
Rome an earthenware vessel has been discovered containing
more mall a hundred pieces of ancient, provincial money of
the fourteenth cebtury, the period when the Popes were
re4d,nt at Avignen. it is supposed that the vessel and its
contents must hive been hidden for s.,fety by one of the
ec,lesiastics connected with the Basilica otSanta Maria ad
r,rtl
ittoneme number of peokle from various Parts
London, probably not less than forty thousand, assembled
on ampstead-heath on Monday night to witness the annual
celebration of the Ham ea pstd Bonfire Club, postponed from
ekigl tht
id
Saturday A long procession of twisqueraders, some mountA,
,upt 'others on foot, representing pirates, highwayffien,
plleem,n, soldiers, &e..,&e.., marched through the: town carrying
lighted torches, Chinese lanterns, and aatbeta,unte tl
hog a triumphal ear, followed by a gliy for execution. The
procession went on to th 9 Heath, wheie a, very large bonetre
was lighted, fireworks dhchat-Oti,"4
burnt.

Mrs. Ramsbotharn wants to know whether the in-
habitants of the Fiji Islands are called the Fijits.
The whole of the Agricultural Hall in London is
Vag lighted with electricity, thirty-two lamps being nsed for
the purpose.
During last week only two steamers reached the
ISfersry with live stock, and live with fresh meat from the
United States &lid Canada, having on board 412 cattle, 1,854
sheep, 5,117 quarters of beef. 575 carcases of mutton, and MT
bcgri, The totals show a cecrease in both live stock and
fresh inc,
A deputation waited upon Mr. Forster on Saturday
;•:.sk the Government for a grant of twelve thousand
poilz44 to' ptc'vide labe.ratcalts and scientific appliances for
the plirpot- of feel:ideal training in Queen's College, Belfast.
The Chief Secralt" admitted the importance of the request,
and promised to rtpreSr!nt the matter to the Government.
A special Supplement to the Dublin Gazette sets out
n lizt of Dames, place of imprisonment, and ground, of all
the fietsont detained in custody under the Person and Pro-
perty l'rotefAlcu Act up to the evening of the 4th inst.
There were then 544 Persons incarcerated under the Act, and
they were ilistributeo over the gaols as follows e—Liinerick,
; Kilinainhani, 47 ; Nita 4, 62; GaJway, 40 ; l,auialit, 23;
and Carr' on-Shannon, 20. _

The winter bo commenced in enrtlcsr, ;at St. Peters-
tfurg. Lake Ladoga has been gradually fecezing, and on •
Ocidbr* 28th, the ice spread from the lake into the river
corlipit!tely putting an end to the steamboat traffic.
Next day all the Ctrals were quite frozen aver.
Under the head of" Conscience money " the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer acknowledges, in The Times, the
receipt of £lOO sent anonymously "from oversight"; also of
a nbte for £5O, sent anonymously for incense tax.
It is announced that the honour of knighthood has
been conferred Upon Professor Erasmus Wilson, President of
the Royal College of Surgeons, through whose generosity
"Cleopatra's Needle" Was brought fro.n Egypt to London.
Last l'tar the tea duty, at 643. per lb., amounted to
£3,870,655, the flrantity taxed being 154,824,0201 b.
Clacton-on
-sr!pa,tifoorri
thiiest,crie.sw gtptei
the
Albert
he P
lbetrtßaivuabrdlic Lifeboat
ebolat
of that place, in recognition of ihe gallant services rendered
In saving the crew of sixteen hands of the Frerinb ils
lugger Madeline, which was wrecked on Sunday",
October.
A fine church has just been opened at Sebastopol,
dedicated to the memory of five Russian admirals, wbose
bodies are deposited in the vault, and whose names are im-
perishably associated with the place—Admirals Lazard%
Nakimoff, Korona!, Istomin, and K.arpoff.
At the opening of the Manchester Assizes, Mr:
Justice Kay strongly condemned the practice of getting op
petitions for the remission of sentences, stating that Oils
responsibility of passing sentence in serious crimes was so
great, that the judge was always the first person, if there
were any grounds for praying the exercise of the Royal
clemency, to bring the matter before the notice of the proper
authorities.
The Bishop of London has issued a circular to
officers of the merchantile marine who take an active interest
in the spiritual welfare of their crews offering them the same
episcopal recognition and Christian fellowship as is extended
to similar volunteer Church workers on share.
A boy named Summersall, son of a Brighton trades-
man, has died in the hospital there from hydrophobia. He
was bitten by a fox terrier last August. The wound was
cauterized at once, but the disease showed itself at the
beginning of last week, and two days after his removal to
the hospital the boy died. '
An attempt to hold a large Irish mass meeting in
Chickering Hall, New York, on Sunday evening, was a partial
failure, the hall being only two-thirds filled.
Mr. Saul Samuel, C.M.G., Agent-General for New
South Wales, has been informed by telegram of the arrival
in Sydney of the ship Northampton, which sailed from
Plymouth with emigrants in August last.
From April to September of this year inclusive the
"blow post" of Berlin forwarded 283,920 letters and des-
patches, ctc., as, against 252,874 in the same period of last
year. In October during the election time the number was
54,385.
A geographical society of the Pacific has been
formed at San Francisco to further the acquisition of know-
ledge respecting the countries bordering on the Pacific
Ocean, and also of other parts of the globe.
Saturday (sth) being the anniversary of the battle
of lnkermann, which was fought in 1854, the usual custom
of decking the colours with laurel was observed in every
regiment throughout the British army that took part in the
memorable battle. In London, the subaltern doing duty
with the detachment of Foot Guards, mounting the Queen's
Guard, carried the laurels to St. James's Palace.
The fourth report of the Commissioners of Prisons
has been issued. It shows that the number of prisoners
received during the past year in local prisons under sentence
of the ordinary courts was 149,074, besides 4,619 soldiers and
sailors, sentenced by courts•martial. There were also 8,187
persons imprisoned as debtors, or on civil process, making a
total of 161,880.
The Report of the United States Treasurer for the
fiscal year ending June 30 shows increased receipts from
every source. The Customs and Inland Revenue have
severally increased by 11,000,000 dols. The expenditure, on
the other hand, has decreased by 7,000,000 dols. The net
revenue was 360,782,292 dols., and the net expenditure
260,712,887 dols.
A telegram from Massachusetts says that the whaling
schooner Delia ITodokins capsized in a squall off Nantucket
Shoals on Friday night in last week. lhe crew. 15 in number,
took to their boats. Five died from exhaustion. The sur-
vivors were picked up on Saturday night and taken to
West Dennis, Massachusetts.

At a meeting of Ministers, at Accrington, it wag
reported that in the places of worship in the town there
was accommodation for 13,900, and there was in attendance
7,550. The population was 31,400, and the church-going
population was over 13,000. There were thus nearly 10,700
absentees. There were 9,06 S scholars in Sunday schools,
being one scholar to every three and a half of the popula-
tion. In 1843 the rate was one in every three.

In London last week 2,618 births and 1,645 deaths
were registered. Allowing for increase of population, the
births were 115 below. whereas the deaths exceeded by 49,
the average numbers in the corresponding week of the last
ten years. The annual death-rate from all causes, which had
steadily increased in the live preceding weeks from 166 to
21'6 per 1,000, further rose to 22.4.
A New York telegram says that the visible supply
of wheat on Nov. 4, was 21,300,300 bushels; ditto Indian
corn, 26,400,000 bushels. Expor lclearances of wheat for
Europe during the past week, 710,000 bushels; export clear-
ances of Indian corn for Europe during the past week,
?20,000 bushels.
It appears that the famous old house at Dolgelly,
well known to antiquarians as the place of assembly of the
last Parliament of Wales, which was convened by Owain
Glyndwr, in the fourteenth century, is this week to be razed
to the ground, the project initiated by Mr. Holland, M.P.,
for its conversion into a public museum having fallen
through owing to want of funds. Ass ironmonger's shop is
to be erected on the site.
A destructive boiler explosion occurred last Satur-
day morning at the manufactory of Messrs. Cox and Son,
Newbury, causing damage to upwards of a thousand pounds.
Fortunately, the explosion occurred while the workmen
ix,,Ay rn
gartebarte a 41 itsse w u
t, otherwise,,
tlLes, 1ife..%,?u,1i7.d1d o avtebeen
Nthe
ground, while the boiler itself was carried to a great heignt.
So destructive an explosion has never before occurred in the
town.
Laq week's receipts of cotton at all United States
ports have been 215,000 bales, and since let September, 1881.
1,346,000 bales. Exports to Great Britian, 4000 bales, and
to the Continent and Channel, 65,000 bales : total since let
september, 1881, 623,000 bales. Stock at all ports 697,000
bales.
There were 56 British and foreign actual wrecks, of
which 27 were British, 4 being British steamers and 2 foreign
steamers, reported during last week, making a total of 1,581
for the present year, or an increase of 272 as compared with
the corresponding period of last year. The decrease on the
week was 34. The approximate value of propersy lost was
£5,500,000 including British £3,500,000. The lives lost and
missing amounted to 70. The amount of coals lost was
6,000 tons; and of foreign timber, 7,000 tons; and corn, 3,000

The additions to the Zoological Society's Gardens,
Regent's Park, London, during last week included a green
monkey from West Africa, presented by Mr. G. Aldridge; a
ring-tailed coati from South America, presented by Mr.
Francis B. Norcliffe ; a tarantula spider; a millipede from
P.rnanabuz;o, presented by Mr. Chas. C Craven; a smooth-
headed capuchin from South America, a Richardson's skua,
British, four Tuatera lizards from New Zealand, deposited;
a hooded crow, a common rook, two grey plovers, a ruff, a
bar-tailed godwit, British, a green-checked amazon from
Columbia, a Finsch's amazon from Mexico, purchased; feur
finches from Bolivia, on approval.
"Not the least among the many signs of constraine
speculation in the United States is the enormous increase
which has recently taken place in the sales of land the *.
The Land Office at Washington has published some very
, interesting statistics on this point, which show .that the
sales of Government laud have risen from 3,430,900 acres in
1876-77 to no less than 10,759,000 acres in 1880-81. The
highest total reached in any previous year was in 1872, the
year before the financial panic and collapse, when Over
0,000,000 azres were sold. To appreciate the significance of
these figures, it must be remembered that they relate only
to the sales made under the Homestead and other Acts, and
do not include the huge tracts of country disposed of by the
railways. Regarding these latter no complete data are
forthcoming; but it is well known that speculation has been
as active in railway lands as in those of the Government, if
not more so.'—" City Notes" in Pall Mall Gazette.