The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-05-05 00:00:00

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HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL

AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.—The following
are the average prices of British corn for last week,
as received from the inspectors and officers of Excise :
—Wheat, 42i. ; barley, 325. 9d.; oats, 21s. 10d. per
imperial qr. Corresponding week last year :—Wheat,
46a, lid.; barley, 30s. 7d. ; oats, 225. sd,

THE CIGAR STUMPS IN LONDON STREETS.—A Curious
exhibition (says the British Colonial World) has lately
been on view in the North of London. It consisted of
nothing but an array of cigar ends collected during
seven years' peregrinations up and down the metro.
politan thoroughfares. The enterprising collector
reckons that in this time he has travelled nearly 12,000
miles on foot, and he has picked up 600,000 pieces of
cigar, averaging an inch and a half each. He is said
to have valued his stock, thus literally composed of
odds aryl ends, at £l,BOO.
SOUND ADVICE.—Never eat garlic when about to
address a lady except it be through the telephone.—
Judy.
DISASTERS AT SEA.—The Bureau Veritas has just
published the following statistics of maritime disasters
reported during the month of March, 1883, concerning
all flags :—Sailing vessels reported lost :—Eleven
American, three Austrian, 45 British, two Danish,
four Dutch, two French, twelve German, two Greek,
one Hawaian, nine Italian, 25 Norwegian, two Portu-
guese, one Spanish, five Swedish, one Uruguay—
total, 125. In this number are included nine vessels
reported missing. Steamers reported lost.—Two Ame-
rican, one Belgian, 16 British, one Dutch, three
German, one Italian, one Norwegian— total 25. In
this number are included six steamers reported missing.
" ! "—Mistress : " Well, I'm afraid you wan't quite
suit; but I'll pay your fare. Let me see—did you
come by omnibus or by the Metropolitan Railway ? "
—Cook: "Oh, no, Ma'am, I drove up in a hansom
with my young man, as I'm engaged to be married to.
There and back it will be five shillings, Ma'am! "
Punch.

INCOME-TAX COLLECTORS AND THE INLAND REVENUE
BILL—The collectors of income-tax over the country,
who number about 7,000, continua a vigorous exercise
of all the influence they can muster against Part 3 of the
Customs and Inland Revenue Bill, which gives power
to supersede them by Government officials. About
1,200 telegrams from them on this subject were
received by members of-Parliament on Monday night,
and on Tuesday evening a deputation of the collectors
from Birmingham, Manchester, and other places, had
interviews with Mr. Bright and other members in
order to represent their view of the case. They have
received extensive promises of support to Mr. Slagg's
opposition to that part of the Bill which they
especially regard as objectionable.
TWEED SALMON FISHINGS, —The takes of salmon
and trout at these fishings have been keeping up re-
markably well, and are much better than at the cor-
responding period of last year. As many as 181
salmon, besides trout, have been got in one day, while
the daily average catch of salmon is 150. Trout have
also been pretty numerous. Prices On Saturday were
—Salmon, is. 5d.; trout, is. 3d. per lb. 'For the cor
responding day last year the prices were—Salmon,
is. 9d.; trout, is. 7d. per lb. For the week ending
April 14, the number of boxes sent to Billingsgate
Market from Berwick was 24, as compared with 16
last year.

FIRES IN PARIS,—The Colonel of the Paris Fire
Brigade, in his annual report to the Paris Munici-
pality, states that there were 982 fires in Paris last
year, and of these 47 broke out in shops, 38 in places
where alcohol and chemicals were stored, and 14 in
theatres. With less than fifty exceptions all the
buildings in which the fires occurred were insured, and
in more than 7JO cases out of the 982 the furniture
was insured as well. The total amount of damage
done was estimated at rather more than £300,000, and
the great bulk of this damage was sustained in 274
fires, each of which caused, upon the average, a loss
of £l,lOO. In 21 cases the firemen rescued 55 persons
from being burnt to death, but the report does not
state how many fatalities occurred. The number of
chimney fires officially reported during the year was
1,756.
BRITISH AND FOREIGN SAILORS' SOCIETY,—On
Monday the Lord Mayor of London presided at the
165th annual meeting of the above society, held at the
Mansion House. It was reported that during the year
there had been circulated 2,829 bibles, 7,186 testaments,
28 632 gospels and portions, making a total of 38,647.
The society had issued 277 floating libraries in boxes,
and there were at sea at the present time 547 libraries
on board 545 different vessels. In those libraries there
were 8,629 bound books, 16,831 tracts, and 13,383 perio-
dicals. The financial statement showed that the total
receipts, including the amount brought forward, were
£10,483, while the expenditure was £9,732.
INVENTlVE.—Scene—Drawing-room. Mother re.
turned from a walk, to her nine-year-old daughter.—
Mother: "Well, Ethel, has baby been good whiie I
have been away ? "—Ethel: "Oh, no, mamma."—
Mother: What has she been doing ?"—Ethel : "
cavating."—Mother : " What ! What do you mean?"
—Ethel: "Hollowing out all the time, mamma."—
Fun.
AN ISLAND FOR SALE,—The St. James's Gazette
says :—An unusual opportunity now offers to
those persons who hanker after titles and social
distinction to attain the second highest dignity
known on earth. There is a little island lying to the
east of Sardinia for sale at the moderate price of
£30,000. It is the property of King Humbert, who is
prepared to award the purchaser the title of King by
royal letters patent, should he so desire it. It must
not be forgotten that a king has it in his power to
make princes and princesses of all his relations, to
confer titles of nobility on his friends, to found an
Order or Orders, and distribute crosses and decorations
to any extent. The advantages of the position are, in
fact, "too numerous to mention ; " and all for a sum
which many a retired tradesman could pay without
missing it.
NEWSPAPERS OF THE WORLD —A French journal
says that the whole number of newspapers in the
world is 34,274, producing 160,000,000 of copies, and
reaching an issue of 10,t92,000,000 copies each year.
This is nearly six and a quarter copies for every inhabi-
tant of the globe! These numerous journals are dia.
tributed as follows : 19 557 appear in Europe; 12,400
in North America; 775 in Asia • 699 in South
America; 661 in Australia; 132 in Africa. The Eog-
lished language is employed in 16,500 periodical pub-
lications ; 7,800 are printed in German; 3,850 in
French; 1,800 in Spanish. There are 4,020 daily
journals; 18,274 weekly, and 8,508 appearing at longer
intervals.

PRICE CURRENT OF WILD BEASTS.—The circular of
a dealer in wild animals for menageries and private
collections, at Marseilles, gives the following prices :
For an Indian elephant, 12,500 francs; for a Bengal
royal tiger, 7,000 francs ; a full•grown rhinoceros 10,000
to 12,000 francs. The price of monkeys varies from 30
francs for the small Havannah species to 300 for the
mandril. A fine specimen of the latter has been known
to fetch 3,000 francs, a full-sized and 'good-tempered
animal, Zebras and antelopes fetch the highest price
of the deer tribe.
A NIGHT MARCH OF ELEPHANTS.—When a dozen or
more elephants marched down Madison and Fifth
avenues, New York, in the moonlight on their way to
Madison Square Garden the other night, the spectacle
was one not unknown among the palaces and streets of
ancient Rome on the eve of an emperor's triumph
(remarks the Detroit Free Press). Men ran ahead to
warn drivers of teams that the elephants would claim
the right of way. In Madison avenue the street cars
were running, and the horses terrified by the mammoth
animals. Near Fifty-third strrt the elephants,
annoyed by the antics of a street car team, began
trumpeting, and half a dozen of the foremost made a
stampede. Hundreds of windows were raised, .the
stoops of houses were crowded, and persons flocked to
the corners from the side streets. Jumbo behaved
well. A stupendous squeal chilled the blood of the
servant girls on the sidewalks or in the basement
doors. The stampeded elephants were brought under
control a few streets further down. It would have
taken but little to start the entire herd on the
rampage, and then it would have been a lively night
for New Ycrk.
THE .EGTPTIAN PENSIONS.—The Standard says:
The Government have, with the concurrence of Lord
Alcester and Lord Welseiey, agreed to commute the
proposed pensions to these noble lords into the pay-
ment of lump sums computed on the actuarial value
of two lives. The sum in Lord Alcester's c4se will be
about twenty-five thousand pounds, and in the case of
Lord Wolseley between twenty-nine thousand pounds

and thirty thjusand pounds. -
BANKS IN THE UNITED STATES.—It appears that at
the close of the year 1882 there were 2,308 national
banks in the United States, with an aggregate capital
of nearly 500,000,000 dols., a surplus fund of 136,000,000
dole., and other undivided profits exceeding 55,000,000
dols.—thus yielding a total of 691,000,000 dole. Loans
and discounts amounted to 1,2'60,000,000 dole., and
individual deposits to about 1,100.000,000 dole. These
figures are very large. It is stated that on a capital of
484,883,492 dole., the profits still undivided are
191,274,786 dols., and this after an annual payment of
divideLds varying from 6 to 10 per cent.

A MAY•DAY SNOWSTOBIL—Under date May 1 the
Annual .Reguter for 1786 says :—Abcut six o'clock there
was a very smart fall of snow for near 20 minutes;
which was succeeded by an intense frost which proved
fatal to the blossoms wherever it was felt; and, be-
tween ten and eleven, were some of the most luminous
appearances of the aurora borealis ever seen in this
Kingdom; the coruscations were as vivid as the flashes
of lightning in the hottest season.
REWARDS FOR BRAVERY.—The German Vice-Consul
at Swansea, Mr. Dahne, has received £133 from the
Imperial Government to be distributed among the
Mumbles life-boat crew and widows of thoi,e who lost
their lives in attempting to rescue the crew of the
German barque Admiral Prinz Aldeiert, which was
wrecked on the Mumbles Lighthouse rock on the 27th
of January. - The German Government has also for-
warded a medal to Jenkin Jenkins, coxswain of the
lifeboat ; and Miss Jessie Ace, daughter of the light-
house•keeper, is the recipient of a handsome gold
brooch, the gift of the Empress of Germany,

THE SrANlsu ARMY. —ln accordance with the
Spanish law of military organisation, the army of
Spain has an effective of 134,000 Men, of which -94,000
men are stationed in the Peninsula, 30,000 in Cuba
and Puerto Rico, and 10,000 in the Philippine Islands.
According to the data supplied by General Jovellar,
in the SpAnish Senate, the French army numbers, on
a peace footing, 470,000 men, with 300 generals;
that of Germany, 427,000 men, with 282 generals;
that of England, 315,000 men, with 179 generals;
that of Italy, 220,000 men, with 130 generals; and
that of Spain, 134,742 men, with 260 generals. Those
figures slow that in England there is one general to
every 1,759 men; in France, to every 1,566 men; in
Germany, to every 1,451 men; in Italy, to every
1,407 men; and in Spain, to every 518 men. Spain,
consequently, has in proportion three timas as many
active generals as the other European countries
named.

FORETHOUGHT.—UncIe. "Now, what would you
say if I gave you a shilling apiece r—Master jack.
"I'd rather you gave mine to sis, uncle, and told her
to buy me a shilling cannon, as pa said the first money
/ got should go for that window I broke ! "—Fun.
ARRIVAL OF SUMMER BIRDS.—A correspondent of
the Morning Post writes :—As I was walking from
Southend to Shoeburyness this (April 25) morning I
had the pleasure of seeing the first flight of swallows,
evidently just arrived. There must have been fifty of
them ; and near the coastguard station the nightin-
gale was heard last Sunday morning and several times
since, and the cuckoo was heard this morning, also
about the same place, which is skir:ed by the sea-
shore.

THE TAX•COLLECTOR IN lIIINGARY.-‘1 Probably,"
says Mr. Phipps, British Consul-General in Pesth,
"there is no country in which the payment of taxes is
enforced by such rigorous measures as in Hungary."
Direct taxes, such as are collected in England annually,
become due in the middle of the second month in each
quarter, and persons who have not paid them on the
day fixed receive a written admonition. Should they
not be paid by the end of that month their movables
or any real property or income they may possess are
at once seized, and if within fifteen days the arrears
are not paid the property seized is sold by auction.
The articles alone exempted are beds, bedding, food
required for the fifteen days succeeding seizure, farm-
ing utensils, tools, books or instruments up to a certain
value, and indispensable, in order to earn bare liveli.

hood.
FATAL AOCIDEVIT.—A shocking accident happened
in the Mersey Tunnel excavation works on Friday
morning in last week. Four labourers were descending
No. 1 shaft, which is on the Liverpool side and about
180 ft. in depth, in an iron cage, and had got down
about 50ft., when the naphtha lamp which one of the
men was carrying seems to have been upset or flared
up, and two men either fell or leaped from the cage to
the bottom of the shaft and were killed on the spot.
The other two were burnt severely by the naphtha.
They were brought to the surface and taken to the
Northern Hospital. The men who were killed were
both married.
JAMAICA PEASANT LIFE.—The material prosperity
of the great body of the people is most marked. Man,
woman, and child all are well dressed' rags are a
phenomenon, and even patches a remarkable rarity.
On the weekly market days and on Sundays any-
where over the island will be found met together a
body of peasantry certainly and absolutely better
clothed than similar groups in almost any
other country. On these occasions the bright
handkerchiefs and stylish " costumes " of the
women, the boots, suits, and watch-chains of
the men, and, above all, the open-work pelisses,
the brilliantly, coloured shoes, the marvellous
head•gear of the babies and children, show that there
has grown up in Jamaica a great market for clothing,
most of which comes ready-made from England, Nor
is this superiority of dress less marked when one
watches the peasantry—negro, for the most part—at
work in their homes or in the scrub. A vast prepon-
derance of the peTiple are thoroughly well clothed,
even for their everyday work, in sound materials with
few or no patches.—Leisure Mug.
COMPULSORY VACCINATION. —After the division OR
Tuesday night upon the motion of the Prime Minister,
which deprived Mr. Hopwood of his opportunity of
bringing or his resolution as to compulsory vaccina-
tion, a conference of the leaders of the movement was
held in the House, when it was decided to request
Messrs. P. A. Taylor and (3. H. Hopwood to continue
their efforts; and it was agreed that, failing a sue-
cessful ballot, the question of the abolition of the
compulsory measure should be raised upon the Esti-
mates.