The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-05-31 00:00:00

RELICS OF A BYGONE AGE.

01 all the incidents connected with the opening of
the bridges toll free to the public on Saturday last,
the most interesting was the parade of two hundred
old pensioners in front of Chelsea Hospital. These,
in their three cornered hats and their long coats, seemed
like a relic of a byegone age by the side of the regiments
of trim volunteers. Many a long year had elapsed since
any of these men stood ranged in line for the inspection
of a general of the British army, and the Prince,
on looking down the long line, no doubt thought
of the last gathering of veterans which he inspected,
the remains of that gallant band who held the defence
of Lucknow against a host of foes. In the gathering of
Saturday were men, too, who had fought in that
desperate strife when a few thoasand British troops
held an Empire against a large army, Others had
gained their pensions in the battlefields of the Crimea,
while the wars of China and New Zealand have both
their representatives in the grand old hospital.
Many and various were the medals that hung upon the
breasts of the aged warriors, and the Princess, as she
looked at them, and at their quiet home standing far
hack down the green avenue must have felt that she
had caught a glimpse of English life hitherto unknown
to her. The Prince of Wales is ever ready to do a
kind action, and now that his attention has been
called to the subject, perhaps one day he and the
Princess will gladden the hearts of the old soldiers by
a visit to the hospital, a walk through its quiet wards,
and an inspection of the trophies of British valour
which hang from the roofs of tt.e chapel and dining•
hall. —Evening Standard.

" Loud speaking " telephones are to be used at the
approaching meeting of the West of Scotland Rifle Associa-
tion, for tha purpose of signalling between the firing Points
and the targett,

ristettantous ntriligenrt.

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

Day BEFORE THE DERBY—First Costermonger.
"Suppose you'll go to-morrow, Bill? "—Second ditto.
"Well, I don't think so. Yet see, what with the in-
creased income.tax and the price o' champagne I
don't thick it'l run to it this year."—Fun.
MINERALS IN SALVADOR.—The Republic of Salvador
possesses large deposits of valuable minerals, many of
which are believed to be of remarkable richness and
extent, particularly those in the neighbourhood of
Tobanco and Lomalarya, and others at the opposite
extremity of the country. In the Cabanos region
silver deposits are met with close to the surface of the
ground. As yet these sources of wealth have been
almost unworked, and, with a view to their systematic
development, Dr. Xaldivar, the Presi •ent of the
Republic, has engaged the services of a skilled minera-
logist from the United States, who is to examine and
report on the mineral deposits in the country.

THE FORCE OF EXAMFLE.—Jones (newly-married, ft)
his bachelor friends Brown and Robinson) : "No,
it's not youth, nor beauty, nor wealth, nor rank, that
a sensible man should look for in a wife. It's common
sense, united to experience of life; and stedfastness of
purpose, combined with a deep, though by no means
unpractical sense of the fleeting nature of human
existence on this—" Re-enter Mrs. Jones, sud-
denly : " Pin sorry to disturb you, my love, but it's
getting late, and you have an early appointment in
town to-morrow with the consulting physician of the
—ahem !—of that Life Insurance Company, you
know." [raking the bbit, Brown and Robinson de-
part, each framing a desperate resolve that he will
throw himself away on the first good-looking young
heiress of title he happens to meet.] —Punch,

; f

COLOUR BLINDNESS AMONG 'NEGROES.—Dr. Swan
M. Burnett, of Washington, has recently made some
examinations for the purpose of ascertaining whether the
negro in the United States is affected with colour-
blindness to the same degree as the white race. He
has examined 3,050 coloured children, from 6 to 18
years of age, in the public schools of the district of
Columbia, of whom 1,359 were males and 1,691 females.
Of these 22 boys were colour•blind (or 16 per cent.),
and two girls (or 011 per cent.). The percentage of
colour blindness among the whites in an aggregate of
about 40,000 examinations is 3 per cent, for males and
0.26 for females. The negro appears, therefore, to be
lees liable to this defect than the white race. The exa-
minations were made in strict accordance with the plan
proposed by Professor Holmgren, of Upsala, Sweden,
and used so extensively in making similar examinations
in Europe.—Nature.

UNEXPICTED HELP. —An ancient saw, relating to
the results of referring to a personage supposed at the
time to be distant, was illustrated at the Rolls on
Tuesday last. The learned Master of the Rolls, in the
course of a case relating to infringement of a design,
had just been remarking that no decision of the
English Courts was reported on the point before him,
while there appeared to be numerous decisions of the
American judges directly bearing upon it. Hereupon
a gentleman came into court, sent up his card, and was
requested to take a seat on the bench. After shaking
hands with the visitor, the Master of the Rolls
announced that he was Mr. Justice Treat, an Ameri-
can judge, and at once proceeded to avail himself of
the legal knowledge of the assessor so opportunely and
unexpectedly provided.—Solicitors' Journal.

PARLIAMENTARY EXPENSES.—An Act of Parliament
of the year 1847 makes provisons for the "taxation
of the costs charged by Parliamentary agents, solicitors,
&c., in repect of private Bills in the House of
Commons. Mr. Raikes has charge of a Bill which
proposes to extend the provisions of this Act to the
charges of Parliamentary agents, solicitors, and others
in respect of obtaining, promoting, or opposing any
provisional order or provisional certificate, or any Bill
for confirming the same. The Bill further includes
within its scope the charges in respect of the promotion
of any Bill by public trustees or commissioners, or by
any municipal or other public authority, and also in
respect of the opposition to any public and general Bill.

Mn. GLADSTONE AND THE WORK OF THE CHURCH.
—ln answer to a letter from a Roman Catholic lay-
man respecting his speech at the meeting of the Home
Missions of the Church of England, Mr. Gladstone has
sent the following courteous reply: " Sir,—l am much
obliged by your communication of the 22nd. I hope
that on consideration you will not feel surprise or pain
at my belief that the Church of England has an im-
portant office to discharge, and not one wholly
limited within her own borders. I had not, however,
in view an office of proselytism, but a something which
seems to me higher, and which was assigned to the
English Church by no less an authority within your
communion than Count Joseph de Mastai.—l am,
Sir, your faithful servant, W. E. GLADSTONE."

A FORTIORI. - Philistine Father: "Why the
dickeos don't you paint something like Frith's 'Derby
Day '—something everybody can understand, and
somebody buy ? "—Young Genius: "Everybody under.
stand, indeed! Art is for the few, father, and he
higher the art, of course the fewer the few. The
highest art of all is for one. That art is mine. That
one is—myself! "—Fond Manama: "There speaks my
own brave boy ! "—Punch.

THE TRADE OF BRAZIL.—The gross value of the
imports into Brazil in 1878 amounted to £8,947,960,
or an increase of over £200,000 on the previous year.
On the other hand, the exports amounted to a value of
only £9,233,600, or a decrease of £870,000 as compared
with the exports in 1877. Coffee was the principal
item in the list of exports, the total quantity exported
being 2980,000 bags, of an average weight of 1201 b.
each, the value of which was estimated at 28,701,950.
The growth of the producticn of coffee in Brazil has
been very rapid, as may be judged from the fact that
in 1830 the quantity exported did not exceed 392,000
bags. The export of gold amounted in 1878 to
£213,000. The revenue of the empire for the current
year is estimated to amount to 101,000,000 piastres,
and the expenditure is estimated at 121,000,000
piastres—a deficit of 20 million piastres,
WEEKLY REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE.—Bell's
Weekly Messenger says :—" The past week has been
more favourable to agriculture than many of its pre-
decessors. The agricultural prospect being now of a
more satisfactory character, the trade has assumed a -
quiet appearance, but there has been no material
change in prices, though the tendency has, perhaps,
been more favourable to the buyers. According to
calculations based upon the official returns, the sales
of home-grown produce in the United Kingdom since
harvest have amounted to 8,130,000 qrs. ; but the
average;price realised has not exceeded 40s. 53. The
money ralue has amounted, therefore, to £16,463,250."

DREDGING IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA.—At the recant
annual meeting of the United States National Academy
Professor Agassiz presented an interesting report on
dredging operations carried on in the Caribbean Sea
during the past year. He had, he said, verified a
theory held by him for some time regarding the neces-
sity and utility of deep-sea dredging—that almost all
the fauna found at the greatest depths by the Chal-
lenger expedition are also to be found at a depth of
not more than 2,500 fathoms. The work of the Chal-
lenger Lad been confined to dredging at great depths,
and occupied about two-and a•half years, while he on
a small steamer of 350 tons had been able in a few
months to make a collection of deep sea fauna second
only to that of the Challenger expedition, and approach-
ing near to it in completeness and variety. Professor
Agassiz also discusse i the question of a sunken con-
tinent, once occupying a great share of the area of the
present Caribbean Bea, and connecting the West
India islands with the coast of Central and South
America. He further offered some novel views re-
garding the flow of the Gulf stream and its causes.
AN UNPROFITABLE CIISTOMER.,--Ostler (to Bicyclist).
Don't your 'es want a bait, sir, nor a rubdown, no
nothing?—Judy.

AUSTRALIAN RICE.—For the first time, something
like a mercantile qantity of rice has been harvested
here (says the Brisbane Courier). The rice was grown
on the grounds of the Board of Inquiry, at New Farm.
near Brisbane, and includes fully 20 varieties. It was
grown on both flooded and dry soil, and has done well
on both, the crops as a whole being satisfactory, the ears
heavy, and standing upon-healthy stiff straw from 2ft.
to 51t. in height. There is considerable difference in
the straw of the different varieties, and no claubt
selection would do much towards securing aorta suit-
able for the different districts of the colnny. In
appearance the rice at maturity looks something like
particularly well-grown wheat. In Java the average
is abont 600113. clean merchantable rice per acre. At
the price usual in Queensland, one half the weight, or
3C0113., would pay handsomely.
TIIE LONDON ENGINEERS' STRlKE.—According to the
fourteenth balance. sheet, issued on Saturday, the strike
committee of engineers received the largest amount yet
obtained since the strike commenced, viz., £5lO, and
they had, after the expenditure, a balance in hand of
£167. Last Saturday relief pay was given to the
above 400 society men, and for 560 of their children,
and to above 270 non-society men, and 340 of their
children; the total expenditure in relief pay between
society and non-society men being about £570, which
shows a further reduction as compared with the
previous week.

A FAMILY MAN.—The Sigourney (Iowa) News says:
—"A few weeks ago we made mention about the 25th
child of Father Elijah M'Clenahan. Since that time
the old gentleman has been in to see us and shake hands
over the joyful event, We learnt that 15 of his chil-
dren were boys and 10 of them girls, and at this time
20 of his children are living, and 10 of them at home,
and all in reasonable good health. Two pairs of twins
were born, three boys and one girl. He has 50 grand-
children and four great-grandchildren. He thought
at first of calling the last child Enough, but he has
since changed his mind, for he thinks, perhaps, the
Government will need finale more soldiers before many
years."

A NOTE FOR THE CLERK OF THE WEATHER.—It is
doubtless extremely polite of Uncle Sam to telegraph
in advanoe the "storm centres" he sends us. But
Britannia doeen't want any storm sent her.—Fu.

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DISASTERS Ay S24.—There were thirteen British
and foreign wrecks reported during the past week,
making a total of 693 for the present year, or an in-
crease of 91 as compared with the corresponding period
of last year. The approximate value of property lost
was £i150,000, including British £200,000,
AN INTERESTING ADDITION. The Zoological
Society's colleet:ou in the Regent's-park, London, has
just received an interesting addition in the shape of a
young male of the Patagonian sea-lion, For several
years one of the great attractions of these grirdens has
been the two female sea-lions, so well known for their
agility in capturing fish and for their extraordinary
evolutions in the water. A male sea-lion has long been
a desideratum, as this animal thrives well in captivity
and has already nred in the Brighton Aquarium. For
supplying this want the society are indebted to the
exertions of Mr, Frederick E. Cobb, colonial manager
of the Falkland Islands Company, at Stanley, Falkland
Islands. After several previous unuccessful attempts,
Mr. Cobb succeeded in bringing safely to Liverpool,
on his return home last week, a fine male example of
cithuiisckslpyeacined
s,
safelyab ollt two years old. The animal was
transferred to the "Seal Pond " in
the Society's gardens, where it is already on good
terms with its companions of the oßposite sex, with
whom and the two cormorants kept in the same bask,
he shares the daily allowance of fish.