The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-11-21 00:00:00

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HOME, FOREIGN, A-10 COLONIAL k

FREEBOOTERS' FLAG.—Sir Charles Warren has brought
home with him from Bechuanaland the flag of the
Freebooters' Republic in Ste'island.
THE LIVERPOOL EXHIBITION.—The Italia:t Railways
have granted a 50 per cent, reduction on the rates for
goods intended to be sent to the Liverpool Exh'hition,
and from 30 to 50 on the fares of exhibitors.
COLONISATION.— The German Colonisation Soci.4l'
announces that it has decided to raise a capital of •
million marks, or £50,000 sterling, in order to found
Colouies in South America, especially in certai3 parts of
Brazil.
FOREIGN ExurnmoN.—The "Paris" states that
Count MUnster, the German Ambassador,has informed
the French Government that Germany will abandon its
project of holding a National Exhibition at Berlin in
1888, if France definitely fixes on the year 1889 as the
date of her Grand International Exhibition.

Raaz POLYCHROME WORK. PA:de/180r Z&Mbolliy
who is superintending the excavations which are being
-carried on at the site of the ancient Carnuntum, near
the Danube, some miles below Vienna, found a few
days ago, in a stone coffin, two ball-length portrait
paintings. Such specimens of old Roman polychrome
work are very rare.
ConN AVERAGES.—The following are the average
prices of British corn for last week, as received from
the inspectors and officers of Excise: Wheat, 315.;
barley, 30s. 4d.; oats, 19s. per imperial qr. Corre-
sponding week last year: Wheat, 31s. 5d.; barley,
31s. 10d.; oats, 19s. Id.
THE SIEMENS ISIBMORIAL.—The ceremony of unveil.
ing the Siemens memorial window, in the nave on the
north side of Westminster Abbey, is appointed to take
place on Thursday, the 26th inst., at two p.m., being
the second anniversaiy of the funeral service in the
Abbey.
DISAPTEARANCE OP AN ISLAND.—OHO of the Faroe
Islands has been swallowed up by the sea. For some
time past strong currents have been undermining the
hue of the "Monk," a vast mass of rock, and now the
whole island has disappeared. The Monk was of con-
siderable importance to navigation, serving as a warning
of these dangerous currents, but was uninhabited. ,
Coseo POSTAGE STAMP.—A special Congo postal
stamp will shortly be issued in Belgium, as the new
State has now entered the postal union. The stamps
will resemble the ordinary Belgian issue, and will bear
Bing Leopold's portrait. and the words, "Congo Free
S' ate."
ART PRESENTATION —Six valuable pieturee have just
been presented to the Paris Louvre by a committee of
amateurs, including several members of the Rothe
child family, who had subscribed liige sums for
their purchase with a view to preserving them W
France. They are a" Dead Christ," by Carlo Oruvelli,
a painting which originally had a place in Josephine'e
gallery at Mahealson ; Fre Angelico's Annunciation; "
another "Annunciation " by an artist of the Bruges;
Sandrot Botticelli's "Virgin at the Well Lucus
Gassel's " St. George ;'-and Hugo,Van der Gaea's " Ma-
donna with the Lilly." The authenticity of all these
works of art is guaranteed.
Venues New OPERA.—A letter from Milan reports
that one of Verdi's greatest admirers, who went to
visit him on the occasion of his 74th birthday, which he
celebrated last month at his country place near
Busseto, asked the " maestro " when people might hope
to hear his" lago." Verdi said he doubted whether he /
should ever be able to finish it. "It is a difficult and
doubtful effort to attempt to clothe in mulical notes
that glowing je,alousy, which one is too tdd any longer
either to feel or imagine." It is well known that he
has been for years engaged on an opera which Is,eo
should be the chief personage, and which should be a
sort of complement to Rosaini'a "Othello."
THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.—The additions to the
Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week in*
elude a macaque monkey from India, presented by BIG
'Montague 0. Clark; a gannet, British, presented by gr.
H. Archer; a tawney owl, British, presented by Mr. J.
Hillier, a greater sulphur-crested cockatoo from AO'
tralia presentel by Mr. 0. A. 0. Marsham ; a squirrel
monkey from Guiana, a ruffed lemur, from Madagascar;
a macque moakey from India, a capercailzie from NOT*
way, deposited; a Brazilian tree porcupine, a naked:
throated bell-bird from Brazil, two blue-winged tese
from South America, five lesser snow geese from Alaska,
purchased; five golden-bellied beaver rats from Aus"
tralia, received in exchange.
GERMAN MACHINERY.—The following figures in relm
tion to machinery used on German farms, taken fro"n
a recently-published volume of imperial statistics, are
interesting at the present time. Of 5,276,344 farms,
only 391,746 used machinery at all. Of these, 836 used
steam ploughs, 63,842 sowing machines, 19,634 mowing
machines, and 374,057 used steam or other threshinf
machines. Thus not much over 7 per cent. uva'
machinery at all, and of these by far the larger pro-
portion only the threshing machine. Three-fourths of
the whole agricultural industry used no machinery,
4,000,000 peasants dispensing with it altogether. The
farms between 25 and 125 acres, numbering roughly
6e0,000, employed in round figures 213,000 threshing
machines.
ROYAL BOTANIC SOCIRTY.—The first meeting sin°
the recess was held on Saturday, Mr. J. P. Gassiott,
vice-president, in the chair. Mrs. Chapman, Mr. W. re
Merchant, and Mrs. T. G. Jackson were elected Fellows,
and the names of several others read for ballot at the
next meeting. A long list of donations received since
the last meeting was read. It contained many objects
of general and botanical interest from all parts of thl
wdrld, comprising among others seeds of many tropics'
food plants, the bean said to produce special watch'
makers' oil, varieties of quinine-prolacing plants, and a
very complete series of our native berry-producie.g,
plants, presented by Mr. Mai neck, the original design
of ihe gardens, these illustrating in no small degree ths
advantages offered by the society to students 811
others interested in botany and allied pursuits.
A
-vers
THE CONTINENTAL WINTER.—The threatened 1 ,-."
winter has already set in on the Continent. NOD;
Berlin has been grumbling over snow falling ten d/qA
earlier than for thirty-eight years, Switzerland a%
, Northern Italy are suffering from intense cold.
falls heavily at Florence and Ancona, while the diatarc
mountains are already white, and the temperatura2o
unusually low. No such early winter has been WI
, in Switzerland for eighty years, for the snow is not on
I unusually heavy on the mountains, but on the 13,16ig;
and in the Cantons of Vaud and Zurich full hal.' ;Ay
telegraph wires are broken and many trees seri° 00,
damaged by the weight of the snow. The cold, tole
has come most suddenly; for a few days previnesli ess
sun was hot, the birds and insects were as lively alio,
summer; then a thick fog came up, followed WI r
and finally twenty four hours of anewfall. the
,„ r.,1 to
TELEGRAPHIC FACILITIES.—It May be use.—
__end
public to be reminded of facilities at their earr3n-
with regard to telegrams which, althouo deseriberdely
the "Post Office Guide," do not appear to be we ee
known. The sender of a telegram who desires t?
his name or ' any instructions such as "
on
"confidential," "to be opened," or the like, writLywriie
the outside of the envelope of the message Inn' for 0
the necessary instructions, which must be Paid e 55
part of the message, immediately after !he ad a „la-
the receiver. Persons not wishing to send to To'pe,
er pillar graph office may post a telegram in an evr
addressed "Telegrams, immediate," in a wall
box, or at a receiving office or sub- I
Peollectiou
Telegrams so posted are sent on by the next
to the next telegraph office, are thence transretr,,wer
are delivered free of.extra charge, provided th „pal)
amounts for transmission and for porteroge,
have been prepaid by stamps affixed to the
etleo in
Telegrams may also be posted not
entreated if;
envelopes, and when so posted they will berero
the same manner. Telegrams may be handeck
nostmen on their way to telegraula oftioec