The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-07-22 00:00:00

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HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

"IN MAIDEN MEDITATION."— Stout Farmer:
—" Gie yew a job o' wark I Don't knaw as I can and
don't knaw as I can't. What's yewr name ?" Peasant:
—" Tummas I" S. T. :—" Don't mean that. I mean
—what's yewr maiden name
FEARFUL ACCIDENT IN THE HEBRIDES. —A
fearful accident is reported from the butt sf Lewis, the
northernmost point of the Hebrides. Three :form g women
were engaged gathering a peculiarkind of grass in a pre-
cipitous ledge of rocks overhanging the sea, when one
ot their number, named Campbell, 23 y ears of age, laid
hold of a loose mass of rock, which gave way, and
hurled her over a precipice one hundred feet high.
She was instantaneously killed, and her body mangled
beyond recognition. One of her companions was
seriously injured, and the third escaped by lying
down.

WANTED TO Kmow.—ls the seat of war any-
thing to do with the stool of repentance? Pernaps
the very little Powers who have persisted in breaking
the peace of Europe may find out before long.—Judy.
SERMONS TO THE DEAF AND DUMB.— On
Sunday morDing the Right Rev, Dr. Magee, Bishop of
Peterborough, preached in St. Saviour's Cnureh,
Oxford-street, in aid of the Instituii ,n for the Deaf
and Dumb. During the service of Morning Prayer
one of the officiating clergymen explained to the large
number of deaf mutes present, by means of the alpha-
bet, explanatory signs, and movements of the
lips every word of the service as it went
; and in the same way the sermon of the
right rev, prelate was explained to the afflicted portion
of the congregation. Taking for his text the words,
"Blessed are the merciful," Dr. Magee enforced the
duty of kindliness to our fellow men in act and word,
in everything done, spoken, and written, concluding
an eloquent sermon by a powerful appeal on behalf of
the 1,800 deaf mutes of that ministration scattered
over the metropolis.
THE SIMPLE TRITTIL—The Russian Govern-
ment has addressed a circular to its foreign
representatives abroad stating that Russia "will
remain a simple spectator" of the present straggle.
"Artful spectator" would be nearer the mark.—Fun.

TH U OYSTER SUPPLY.-TllO report of the select
committee appointed to inquire into the subject of the
oyster fisheries has now been issued. The Committee
find that the supply of oysters has been steadily
decreasing for some years, and that the principal cause
of diminution is the continual and constantly-growing
practice of over dredging. They therefore recommend
that a close time should be instituted from the Ist of
May to the Ist of September. With regard to deep
sea fisheries, they think the present close time sufficient,
and recommend that only oysters to two and a half to
three inches in diameter should be allowed to be sold.
For selling oysters during the close time they recom-
mend that a penalty should be inflicted; and, further,
that the carrying out of the regulations should be
entrusted to inspectors.

TRANSPORT.—Curate (reproachfully). "And
I'm afraid you've taken more beer to-night than is
good for you, Giles."—lnebriated Rustic. " Sure-ly,
Sir I dare saye I could a' carried it horn' easier in a
jar I "—Punch.
_ - -

THE INCOME TAX.—A short history of the
Income Tax since its imposition in 1842 is given in a
single page Parliamentary return, ordered on motion
made by Mr. Allsopp. In addition to showing year
by year the rate of the duty and the exemptions or
abatements allowed, the name of the Chancellor of the
Exchequer for the time being is given. Mr. Gladstone
was Cnancellor in ten of the 33 years, and was Prime
Miuister in five other years in which Mr. I, )we was
Coancellor of the Exchequer. Mr. Disraeli, as
Chancellor, bad to propose a Budget in three years—
viz. 1852, 1858, and 1867. From 1842 to 1853 incomes
under £l5O a year were absolutely exempt from in-
come-tax, and now, by Chapter 16 of the Acts of 1876
this exemption is restored, after standiag at £lOO
the last 23 years.

"THE HARD TimEs."—The latest Revenue
report stronKly confirms the view we have taken of
the prevailing "hard times" (says the Spectator).
They are hard times for the well-to-do, rather than for
the bulk of the people. The Commissioners report
that in 1875, in spiee ot the continued decline in trade,
the importation of spirits, tobacco, tea, wheat, and
butter all increased, that of common spirits by 75 per
cent. That is not good news for the teetotallers; but
it certainly shows that the population in 1875 were not
suffering—that, in fact, as the Commissioners of
Customs say, "the year was one in which those de-
pendent upon agricultural and other partially skilled
labour for their maintenance, whose labour is paid for
on the lowest scale of remuneration, but who form the
great majority of the people, have materially advanced
in the possession of wealth." If the distress lasts, it
will undoubtedly hit the majority, but as yet pauperism
is very low, bread is very cheap, and outside the iron
trade the only audible cry comes from the luxurious
trades. Coach-painters suffer, not ploughmen.

A QUESTION ANSWERED.— Punch lately asked
who '•among all the quotations in all the Money
Market and City Articles, ever met with a line of
verse." Several Cockney correspondents have written
to say, that bad as the state of the Money Market has
been lately, they expect to see the quotations " vorse"
yet. —Punch.
A LLD OF PROMISE. The Leavenworth
Times, after stating that the present crop of wheat in
Kansas is much the largest ever gathered, says :
Breaking teams are at work all over the prairie,
and the sod is being turned under at the rate of
hundreds of acres daily, all to be put down to wheat
this Fall. Only give Kansas a few years more in
which to get 'a good ready, and she will be prepared
to offer sealed proposals for feeding the world,"
EMIGRATION OF S CRYAN TS. Paterfamilias"
writes to the Standard:—"Aa I see from the Standard
that a batch of seventy four single women, domestic
servants, has just been shipped oil for the other side of
the world, I shall be much obliged if you will allow me
to suggest that the next party be sent ea by Great
Northern train to Yorkshire. The ladies in this part
of the country are almost in despair for want of female
servants. I know families who have had to "muddle"
on as they could for weeks, or even months, with one
or none. No sooner does it get known that a decent
cook or housemaid is likely to be at liberty than there
is a regulhr hue and cry after her. Wages have risen
to such a pitch that people with only moderate in-
comes are feeling the pinch most severely. Mistresses
are afraid to say a word in their own kitchens. I know
of a cook, with £2O a year, who gave " warning " only
the other day because the family ventured( to invite
two or three friends to dinner. Charity, in emigration
as in other things, b?gins at home.
APPROPRIATE TIM TIME. -- The NEW Yorkers
have given a concert, at which six thousand persons
were present, in honour of the Emperor and Empress
of Brazil. Though professed Republicans, our cousins
are always " nuts " on such an opportunity.—Fun.

THE DRUGGING or Azirme Aor.----The Act
to prevent the administration of pois.onous drugs to
horses and other animals )2as now—thanks to the
efforts of Sir John Astley—been enrolled on the
statute Book—it may be summarised as follows :
Whereas it is expedient to provide against the practice
of administering poisonous drugs to horses and other
animals by diequalified persons, and without the know-
ledge and c,insent of the owners, be it enacted that if
any person wilfully and unlawfully administers to, or
causes to be administered to, or taken, by any horse,
cattle or domestic animal, any poisonous Or injurious
drug or substance, he shall (unless some reasonable
cause or excuse is shown on his behalf), be liable to a
penalty not exceeding £5, or to imprisonment, with or
without hard labour, for not more than one moiith in
the case of a first °fence, or three months for a subse-
quent offence. Nothing in the Act is t,3 extend to any
owner, or perscn acting by the authority of the owner
of the animal to which any drug has been administered.
Nothing in the Act shall exempt a person from lia-
bility to any greater or other punishment tinder any
other act or law, so that he be not punished more than
once for the same offence. Prosecutions may be con-
ducted before two justices of the peace. The Act does
teat extend to Ireland or Scotland. —Land and Water,
lt,) •,;Lia 4,2 Lt .;.i..ie; ~;

ArSTR ALL&N GOLD.— The Custom house ac-
cunt of gold rec.ived from Australia in the first half
of the present year states its value at only £1.918,93a.
This is 28 per cent, less than in the cotresponding half
of last year. The Australians, however, have much
hope of the productiveness of deep quartz reefs. The
Oriental Company at Stawall struck a lode in May at
a depth of 1,0601 t., and on a trial crushing 7i tons of
stone yielded upwards ef 48 ounces of gold. In the
same month 20 tons of qaartz taken from the Port
Philip mine, Cl-unes, between the 9001 t. and 1,0001 t.
levels, yielded 22 ounces of gold.
DMATH OF A WATERLOO VETERAN.— The
Times, in its naval ant military c3lumn (luesiay),
says :—William Willis, aged eighty-four (late of the
52nd Light Infantry), died in the Easthampstead
Union Workhouse on the 7th inst. Willis had seen a
great deal of service during the time he was in the
52nd, and was present with his regiment at the Battle
of Waterloo, where he was slightly wounded. He
was awarded the Waterloo medal and a pension of
10s. 6d. per week upon his discharge from his regiment.
Finding be had cu lived all his friends and relatives,
Willis desired to be admitted to the workhouse, the
Guardiacs, by the advice of Sir Warwick C. Mor-
ahead (chairman of the board) and Sir William G.
Hayter, accepting a nominal sum for his maintenance,
and allowing him to retain for his own use the major
portion of his pension. His Royal Highness the Duke
of Cambridge upon several gecaeione graciously sent
Willis remittances. His wants had also been well
cared for by the rector of the parish, the Rev. Osborne
Gordon.
INTERMUNIOIPAL AMENITIES.—The Mayor of
Baltimore (Mr. Ferdinand C. Latrobe) has forwarded
to the Lord Mayor of London two splendidly bound
volumes, with suitable inscriptions, containing his last
annual message to the City Council of Baltimore and
the reports of the heads of the various departments of
the Municipal G3vernment. He adds that he trusts
it will be gratifying to the Lord Mayor to learn of the
continued prosperity of the city
,91 Baltimore and to
receive the assurance that they there recognized, with
pride in their mother country, the greatness of the
metropolis over which he so hononrably presides.
Their earnest hope was that the agreeable relations
which had so long existed between England and
America might be perpetuated, The Lord Mayor, io
his reply, heartily reciprocated the sentiments of the
Mayor, and ob.erved, as an instance of les personal
regard for the United States and their citizens, that it
afforded him much pleasure to attend on the 4th inst.
the banquet given in London by the American re-i-
-dents in honour of the centenary of American indepen-
dence.

A MEMORIAL OF Mn. GLADSTONE.—A corres
pondent, whose name was not published, writes to the
Liverpool Mercury: "We often regret, when a friend
has passed the inevitable bourne, that we have rot
shown the rispect he was deserving of when he was
living. With your kind assistance, I hope that this
w.ll not be the case as regards W. E. Gladstone.
What I humbly propose is a full-sized statue in marble
to be place in S. George's Hall, and, if funds would
allow (which I have no doubt), to endow one or more
scholarships in any of the universities; and, as a begin-
ning, please put my name down for i;5O, and more if
required."

A LOVER'S VENGRAIME.—A singular attempt
at murder has just taken place at Marcq en-Bum it,
in Belgium. Henri Brocquet, a market gardener,
was engaged to be married to a young woman of that
place who had discarded a former suitor. She received
an anonymous letter stating that to avenge her forget-
fulness of her former lover three of his comrades
would take vengeance, by "suppressing" the new one.
Three sketches represented as many men, one holding
a cord, another a cudgel, and a third a sword. Last
Thursday evenin Bocquet was going to Marcq, when
be was set upon in a lonely part of the road by three
men, who threw a sack over his head, beat and kicked
him, stabbed him in the side and then, removing the
sack and finding him insensible, drew a cord tightly
round his neck and left him in the road for dead. The
mayor of the place passing by shortly afterwards
found the inanimate body, and, obtaining assistance,
cut the rope and had the man removed. Hopes are
entertained of saving his life, but his assailants have
not yet been captured.
THE Hon' CROP. —The Brewers' Journal says:
—" Our inspection of the hop gardens this month does
not enable us to speak of them at all favourably. The
state of the gardens generally is unsatisfactory. Many
in Kent show very little bine, are much injured by
vermin and moiVd, and the bine appears to bs fast
turning into blight. In Sussex pretty much the same
state of affairs is noticeable, although it is not quite so
bad as Kent. Some parts of Surrey are pretty good
while in Hampshire the bine is very thin and shows
traces of vermin. We have indeed, been through all
the hop districts' and considering the gardens generally
the good with the bad, we cannot reasonably antici-
pate that more than half a crop will be produced, even
if the vermin clear off • but we fear that in many
gardens this blight will b triumphant."

A tBEFUL inVENTION.—A useful invention
has been communicated to the Socid.e Industrielle du
Nord by a M. Terguem, the object being to write
permanently on glass with common ink (says the
Standard). The surface to be wvitten on is heated
over glass with a spirit lamp until vapour of water
ceases to condense upon it, when it is covered with a
transparent varnish of alcohol, mastic, and sandarib,
dissolved by heating in a stoppered &AL When the
varnish hardens, the glass will take ink for writing or
sketching, and it is then varnished with any ordinary
transparent non-alcoholic varnish. The use of such an
invention in Ow sting the necessity for paper labels is
obvious, and it is suggested that for ordinary magic
lantern slides the invention would be readily applicable.
Whether it might be made subaervient to the decora-
tion of glass with artistic designs remains to be seen,
but most likely it will be found of use in this way.