The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-08-02 00:00:00

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HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

" EQuEs," ir EVER THERE WAS ONE.—Where is
the hero ever earned his spurs by service in the field
better than Archibald Forbes by his fifteen hours' ride
with the news of the victory of Ulundi? After such a
gallop he deserves to be Knight of the Bath—if only
by perspiration.—Punch.

RECOVERING DAMAGED HAY.—This season farmers
have been put to their wits' ends to save some of their
hay crop. The weather has, however, been so bad
that little or none has been saved. Spicing hay has
been resorted to as a means of preserving the swet-
nevi of the hay after it has been washed and dis-
coloured by rain. This is said to be much better than
salting, and has been extensively carried on in some
districts for some years past with favourable results.
The spicing composition costs about 2s, 6d. a ton, and
is sold by many of the large farms throughout the
country.—Land and Water.

--- -
RATHER COOL !—There are cheeky people in New
York as well as other parts of the world (says an
American paper). The other forenoon a quiet stranger
entered a real estate office, and softly asked if he could
use a blotting-pad for a moment. One was handed
him, and he sat down to the table, looked around, and
said—" Ah ! thanks, but have you pen and ink ?"
They were furnished him. He tried the pen on the
pad, shook the ink around, and modestly continued—
"lf you could spare a sheet of paper?" A sheet was
handed to him. He wrote a brief letter, folded it up,
and whispered—" I shall have to beg an envelope of
you?" An envelope was passed over, and when he
had directed it he looked all over the table, under the
table, up at the ceiling, and inquired—" You couldn't
lend me a stamp, could you ?" A three-center was
handed out, and when it had been licked on, the
have
letter
to rose and started out, saying—" As "uha
no office boy I suppose I shall have to take this
to the office myself. 4
A DESTRUCTIVE INSEcT.—Commander Ball, of the
steam ship Blenheim, w
, two
prettilybrou brought
marked snakes,
for sßnraitiefish,
Guiana a grey fox a
for the Royal Zoological Society's Gardens; and
several specimens of an insect locally known as the
borer, from the habit, of the young hatched on the
sugar canes, of boring their way from top to bottom
of the cane. In the absence of rain for the last two
years, this insect has so multiplied that one-third of
the loss of this year's yield is attributed to its ravages.
A VERY REAL NATIVE.—The Illustrated London
News, in its interesting "Sketch of the Rise and Pro-
gress of Pictorial Journalism," quotes as follows from
the list of deaths in the Gentleman's Magazine for
November, 1750 :—" Mr. Edward Bright, at Malden
in Essex, aged 30; he was supposed to be the largest
man living, or perhaps that ever lived in this island.
He weighed 42 stone and a half, horseman's weight;
and not being very tall, his body was an astonishing
bulk, and his legs were as big as a middling man's
body. He was an activemantill
Oavreorpretwweorebdefohries
his death, when his corpulence
strength that his life was a burthen, and his death a
deliverance.
AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.—The following
are the average prices of British corn for the week
ending July 26, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 475. 7d. ; barley, 295. id. ;
oats, 245, 4d. per imperial qr. Corresponding week
last year :—Wheat, 445. 7d.; barley, 375, 4i,; oats,
28s, sd.
WISDOM TEETH.—The Tusks sent in by Cetewayo
to confirm his desire for peace.— Punch.
COMPOSITION OF THE AUSTRIAN BEICHSRATH.—
Of the 349 representatives wh;) have been definitively
elected, 130 are of noble rank—viz., nine princes, 34
counts, 27 barons, 35 knights, and 25 simply noble
(" von "). There is only one innkeeper, two copper-
smiths, two secretaries of chambers of commerce, two
postmasters, three railway directors, and one retired
ditto, three bankers, four engineers, four physicians,
five literary men. There are fowl. Ministers and six-
ex-Ministers, and 36 public officials either on active
service or retired. It is, however, likely that there
will soon be several vacancies in the seats temporarily
occupied by these gentlemen. Count Taaffs the
Minister of the Interior, is reported to have declared
that all the officials who have been elected to the
Rsichsrath will be obliged to elect between their
cfficial post and their parliamentary honours. He
will not sanction the employment of substitutes to do
their, work while absent attending to their parliairen-
mentary duties. There are 19 Catholic priests,
Evangelical clergyman, one rabbi, 17 professors and
teachers, 57 advocates, 8 notaries, 34 great manufac-
turers and merchants (sugar being the business which
contributes most), and 147 connected with land, either
as proprietors or managers of great estates or farms,
There are two deputies whose profession or occupation
is not specified.