The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-09-14 00:00:00

Misteltaneons

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

A GALLANT SERGEANT'S REWARD.—An interesting
incident attended the closing of the rifle butts at
Sandridge, Victoria. Sergeant Hall, the highest
scorer in the farewell match, was entitled to fire the
last shot, but he waived it in favour of Mrs. Blanin,
wife of the secretary of the Rifle Association, and she
fired and made a bull's-eye. The bullet was picked
up, mounted in gold, and presented to the gallant ser-
geant.
How TO LIVE ON SIXFENCE A DAY.—Use the new
electrical machine, Telegastrograph. "You have
only to put the wire in your mouth, and you seem to
be eating and drinking," etc. Strongly recommended
for poor relations. —Jud y.
JOURNALISM IN CYPRus. —TV e (Times) have received
the first number of "Cyprus, a weekly journal of
Agriculture and Commerce,' published at Larnaca on
the 29th ult. It consists of four pages of four columns
each, one half of the paper being in English
and the remainder in Romaic, and, notwithstand-
ing its modest dimensions, the price is sd. per
number. The chief contents of Cyprus which is
believed to be the first newspaper ever published
in the island, are announcements relatingto Sir Garnet
Wolseley and the British occupation, and articles on
the advantages of the English protection, with several
colunins of advertisements. This new venture in
journalism adds a new illustration of the saying that
wherever Englishmen settle one of the first results is
the publication of a newspaper,
A MAD DOG.—The'ravages of a mad dog at Oughti-
bridge, a village near Sheffield, have resulted in most
serious consequences. Within the last few days four
fine cows and a bull, belonging to Mr. Joseph Mills,
farmer, of Oughtibridge-hall, have died very suddenly,
and information was given to the police that death had
resulted from pleuro-pneunionia. A post-mortem ex-
amination was made by four competent veterinary
surgeons, but they were unable to discover any trace
of the cattle disease. On Thursday a dog belonging to
Mr. Mills, and which had been left in charge of the
cattle, died from rabies, after having bitten a man, a
child, and another dog. The cattle, it was then re-
membered, had manifested a strong antipathy to water,
and had become most excited whenever it was offered
to them. No doubt, therefore, exists that the 01,,g
bit the animals. Another proof is that a butcher who
opened the cattle at the post-mortem examination, has
since been taken dangerously ill In performing the
operation he slightly cut one of his hands, and the hand
and arm have swollen in a most alarming manner. He
is under medical attendance.
VERST AND SECOND THOUGHTS.—The Russians begin
to see that so many th,,usands of versts intervene
between them and our Indian frontier that they would
be considerably versted even before they got there.
Judy.
ADVENTURES OF A BABY.—The Sheffield Telegraph
says :—" Some of the officials of the Midland Railway
Station were very much astonished early last Thurs-
day morning by the request made by some lady first-
class passengers that they would 'kindly take charge
of a baby.' One official, being married, and having
babies of his own, expressed reluctance, as he did not
know what 'Mrs. Official' would say. Another
official was not married, and said lie would not know
what to do with it if he did take it. 'Whose baby is
it?' they asked. 'Where does it come from, and whY
do you want to part with it?' The passengers ex-
plained that the baby belonged to a lady who was going
from London to Perth. When they got to Trent
by the train due at 1.41 the mother got out for refresh-
ments, leaving the baby in their charge, and the train
left Trent bringing the baby without its mother to
Sheffield. A telegram was just then ree.ived stating
that the mother was coming forward by the next train,
This solved all difficulties, and the officials took the
baby into their charge. The mother came by the next
train, claimed her little darling with a heart full ef
gcatitudefor the kindness of the officials, and journeyed
' joifully ortwardo to rerth."

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•

MORE "SEATO " THAN COMIC " I have gone
through a great deal since you saw me last," were the
final words of a plumber to hie mate, after he had
fallen through a skylight into the first floor.--Judg.

GRASPED BY A PYTHON.-The Straits Times re-
ports that the head gardener in the Botapical Gardens
at Singapore had rather a dangerous adventure recently
with the python presented to the gardens by the Maha-
rajah of J ohore. This creature is sluzgish in his
habits and allows liberties to be taken with him. One
day the gardener entered the python's cage and was
showing to a friend that he could do as he pleased
with him, when suddenly, irritated by a kick on the
head, the python coiled himself quickly round the
gardener's body, and had well-nigh succeeded in
squeezing the life out of him before assistance arrived
in the shape of Private John Adolphus, of her
Majesty's 28th Regiment, who very pluckily seized
the snake, and by sheer strength, forced him to let go.

STRANGE FACT IN NATURAL HISTORY.—The bee
gives us hpney, but we give the wasp whacks !
Judy.

THE CAPRICE OF BULLETS AND BALLS.—Bullets and
balls often taken a curious course. This fact is strik-
ingly illustrated in Colonel Steven's book on "The
Connaught Rangers in the Crimea," an interesting
volume just out. A round shot—so relates the Colonel
—" passed under the horses of one gun and over those
of the next without touching a man or a horse," As
Colonel Shirley was leading on his men a bullet
pierced his holster and lodged in his Prayer-book,
which is carefully preserved by his nephew. A bullet
grazed the gold hand of the author's cap, but did no
further harm. On one occasion, when in the trenches,
one of the men said to him, "Don't sit there, sir- the
round shot are coming over every second." The Colonel
moved, and a round shot instantly dashed into the
hole where he had been sitting. A private was not
so fortunate, for a shot came and blew him into "a
hundred fragments." The author tells a capital
story of a sailor. The head of the Sardinian Postal
Department was a tall, stout officer, with a broad
gold lace on a dark tunic at open intervals. The Jack
tar said to a comrade, "I say Bill, whoever is this
stout old party with a gold ladder up his body?"
RUSSIAN MEMORIAL AT ERZEROUN.—The Russians
are erecting at Erzeroum an enormous monument to
the memory of the soldiers of the garrison who fell by
the sword or disease during the Turkish war. The
memorial is placed on the top of a mound in the
Erzeroum Cemetery, under which lie the bones of the
Russian deceased. In form it represents a Russian
sentry keeping watch over a series of tablets on which
are inscribed the names of the regiments which have
suffered much during the Russian occupation, and a
list of the officers buried beneath the mound. The
sculptor, a Russian named Yarnush, expects to finish
the memorial by the middle of next month. On the
departure of the Russian Army from the town the
commander has arranged with the local authorities to
maintain a watchman, and thus to prevent the monu-
ment felling into the same condition of neglect and
decay which for so many years disgraced the English
graves in the Crimea,—Army and Navy Gazette,
_ _ _ _

HARVESTMEN'S INDEPENDENCE.—The Mark Lane
Express says :—" One form which the harvestman's
independence commonly takes is that of refusing to do
ordinary day work in harvest when the weather pre-
vents him from going on with his harvest work.
Sometimes there is a day when carting cannot Joe done
and yet it is fine enough for other farm work. Then
the " poor " labourer prefers to go home and do
nothing rather than go to work at ordinary wages.
The farmer would be glad to send the horses to plough,
but there is no one to work them, and the loss of their
services at such a time is serious. Many masters,
however, will not stand this, and their men know that
such conduct will involve loss of place, and perhaps of
regular work through the winter in consequence. Yet
not a few of the men will brave this danger in the as-
sertion of their 'independence."
THE FORCE OF EXAMPLE.—(This is the second time
that Madge has pricked her finger—the first time it
bled so much that Mamma felt quite faint, and had
to drink a glass of sherry ;—now it's Jack's turn.)—
Mamma: "Well, what's the matter with you, Jack!"
—Jack: Oh ! I feel rather faint, that's all. Is there
such a thing as a bun in the house I"—Punch.
DINNER AMENITIES. —I was once at an anniversary
festival of the Literary Fund, when a clumsy waiter
upset a glass of champagne over me, and I sat for some
time in an unenviable state of sloppiness, to which
Sir F. P—, who sat next to me, tried to reconcile
me by saying, "Never mind, H—; it has only
been administered as a lotion instead of as a draught."
At the same dinner a distinguished member of the
Bar had a plate of soup discharged upon his head,
which a neighbour remarked should have been
taken as a matter of course, as it was hare soup.
The baronet to whom I have just alluded remarked, in
reference to gentlemen who indulge in longwinded
speeches at public dinners, that they seemed to think
they had the freehold of our ears, instead of only a
short lease. On another occasion on which, at a public
dinner, a very distinguished writer was replied to by
an eloquent prelate, Sir F— said to me that the
bishop reminded him of the dealing of a boa constrictor
with a rabbit ; he first oiled his antagonist all over,
and then swallowed him at a mouthful,—From
"Notes and Eeminiseenes," in the University Magazine,

AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.—The follow-
ing are the average prices of British corn for the week
ending Sept. 7, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 455. 4d.; barley, 425. 5d.;
oats, 255. 6d., per imperial qr. Corresp9nding, week
last year :—Wheat, 605. 6d. ; barley, 395. ; oats,
285. sd.

THE WHALE FlSHERY.—Letters have been received
at Dundee from Captain Adams, of the well-known
Dundee whaler Arctic, up to the 12th of July, stating
that not one vessel of the fleet had caught a s_ i ng.o
and the expectation is that the fishing will be a com-
plete failure. None of the vessels had been able to
Pass through Melville Bay, a circumstance which has
not happened during any previous season. As seen
from the highest mountains the bay appeared hope-
lessly blocked by ice, and all efforts to penetrate it
had to be abandoned.
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A ROAD FOR YELLOW FEVER.—The report of the
24th of August from Memphis says :—" The localities
in which nearly all the new cases appeared to-day are
on and near Bayou Gayoso, which, with its branches,
penetrates the entire city, emptying into the Wolf
River near its confluence with the Mississippi, in the
northern part of the city. This bayou has heretofore
been regarded as a grand natural drain or sewer—a
great mistake, becausu it contains no running water, and
is almost entirely dry during the summer. All the
street gutters empty into it, and the action of the sun
in summer on the masses of filth accumulated during
the year generates the foulest gases, which it is reason-
able to suppose have much to do with causing sickness
of every description. It is evident that this bayou is
the line of action of the Present epidemic."
THE CLAIMANT.—The claimant, whose health has
been suffering from his close confinement at the Portsea
Convict Prison and his unceasing application to his
sewing machine, is now employed upon light labour at
the extension works in connexion with Portsmouth
Dockyard. At first he was made useful in brick-
making, but the extreme publicity of the work
attracted more visitors than wore convenient, and he
has been since told off to a F eme what remote part of
the yard near the Inflexible dock, where he is employed
in preparing the stacks of offal timber for the periodical
dockyard sales. He handles a saw with considerable
dexterity. He is much thinner than at the time of his
trial, and the convict garb has well nigh deprived him
of all individuality.
INCREASED ARRIVALS OP AMERICAN FOOD.—The
American shippers are bestirring themselves in order
to get their stocks of live animals safely in this
country before the equinoctial gales set in. Seven
steamers reached the Mersey from the United States
and Canada, bringing collectively 1,780 head of cattle,
2,610 sheep, 617 pigs, and three calves. Last year the
experiment of conveying live animals during the pre-
valence of equinoctial gales resulted somewhat disas-
trously in several instances. The totals of fresh meat
last week were 3,280 quarters of beef and 155 carcases
of mutton, all of which came from New York.

THE COLORADO BEETLE FOOD FOR FISH.—A Sara.-

toga correspondent writes to the Chicago Field that
potato bugs have attempted to fly over Saratoga Lake
in New York, labouring under the impression, doubt-
less, that it was a mere pond. They miscalculated as
to distance, and it was noticed that, being unable to
reach the opposite shore, they dropped to the surface
of the water, and were at once carried under by the
Immense schools of fish in it. The farmers at once
began to rejoice at what they regarded as an almost
providential riddance of the pests; but soon their
gladness was turned into fresh trouble, for it was found
that the fish, unable to digest the hard shells of the
bugs' died, and were washed up on the shore in large
quantities. Many of them have been found filled with
hundreds of the bugs.
NEWSPAPER WRAPPERS.—The following notice has
been issued by command of the Postmaster-General
"Newspaper wrappers bearing penny postage stamps
will shortly be issued for sale to the public. They may
be purohased singly or in any number, according to the
under-mentioned scale of prices—One for lid., two for
ad., three for nd. four for 4id., five for 51d., six for
6hd. seven for 7id., eight for Bd., and so on. The
public can also obtain these wrappers uncut in quarter
reams, containing 120 sheets of fourteen wrappers on
each sheet, by making special application for them at
the post-office at which they wish to obtain them.
The price for the quarter ream is £7 Bs,"
_ _

"NA HEAVEN ON EARTH !"—Some people have
singular ideas of perfect happiness. An industrious
Scotchman, who resided near New York for twenty
years, and who had accumulated a very handsome pro-
perty, recently sent to the " auld countrie " for his
father, with the view that he should share his proa-
perity, and slip away from his lease of life as smooth
as possible. One day a friend of the family paid a
visit to the elegant Mansion on the Hudson,
where the old man wasi Jiving with his son, and
took occasion to compliment the proprietor of the
estate on its surpassing loveliness and cosy com-
fort. The owner, full of love for his beautiful
house, said he looked upon it and its surround:
jogs as a "Lind of heaven on earth." "Heaven
on earth !" growled the venerable Scot—" heaven on
earth, and no' a thimblefif o' whusky in the haill
hoose ! na, na, nae heaven here.
THE HARVEST IN FRANCEThe Paris Correspond.
dent of the Agricultural World, in speaking of the
French harvest, says :—" On the whole, the bright
prospects that we had a fortnight ago have been con-
siderably clouded, and now the grain harvest has been
reckoned at not less than 25 per cent. under the aver-
age ; but I think—or at least I hope—that this is
taking a too glo.nny view of affairs. Rye is of mediocre
quality and deficient in quantity, and barley is far from
being so abundant as we not long since reckoned on.
The provincial grain markets generally are rather
poorly supplied. The following is an estimate of the
yield according to the latest details which reach me
from the whole of France. The wheat harvest is very
good in two departments, good in twelve pretty good
in 21, mediocre in 41, and bad in eight. Oats are
pretty good in 29 departments, good in 38, pretty good
in ten, and mediocre in seven. Maize is very good in
three ;departments, good in 24, pretty good in ten,
mediocre in four, and bad in two. The other depart-
ments do not cultivate maize, or to too small an extent
to enter into the calculations. Rye is good in 21 de-
' artments, pretty good in 17, mediocre in 30, and bad
in three. The same remark made as to maize applies
to rye. Barley is very good in six departments,- good
in 41, pretty god in twelve, mediocre in nine, and bad
one.

TkiE WAGES QUElsTlON.—(Overhaarci b.t fronopolis.)
—lntelligent Working Man : " Arbitration ! Ca i
that Arbitration! Why, they've given it against us I" I
—Punch.

AN 0 (WAKE TREEI—A tree well deserving cultiva-
tion, which exists in Morocco, is mentioned with
favourable comment by Consul Drummond Hay in his
trade report on Mogador for the past year. This
remarkable tree is the " argan." It growa only in the
provinces of Haka Sbiedman and Shiedma and Sooz.
The peasants extract an oil from the nut, which is
useful for burning and cooking purposes. For their
private consumption the peasants rarely make a large
quantity of oil at a time, but crack open a few hand-
fuls of nuts with a stone, and, after toasting the kernels
in an earthenware dish, grind them into flour. The
oil is extracted by adding water in small quantities to
the flour, which is stirred in a bowl. As the oil is
being formed by this process, the it air hardens into a
cake, xvhich is finally soneez-d, leaving the oil perfectly
clear and tit for use. This kind of oilcalte then serves
as an excellent food for cattle, as also the dry rind of
the put, which is generally given to them with the cake,
forming together their principal and most nutritious
food during the year, and is invaluable to the natives
in the time of drought,
THE CUTLER'S FEAST. —A Knife and Fork Tea
Punch.

FROM HARVEST TO HARVEST.—In the 12 months
from the Ist of September, 1877, to the 318` of August,
1878, the imports of wheat and wheat flour into the
United Kingdom amounted to no less than 62,255,125
cwt., the equivalent of 14,808,966 qrs.; of Indian
corn, 40,741,135 cwt., or 9,474,432 qrs.; of barley,
11,201,373 cwt., or 3,976,384 qrs.; of oats, 12,286,354
cwt., or 4,467,74 qrs. Adding also peas and beans,
the total importation of corn in the 12 months reached
134,430,348 cwt., or 33,858,689 qrs., this last number
being substantially the same as the estimated number
of the population of the United Kingdom. In neither
of the two preceding twelve months did the imports of
corn reach 119 million cwt.

CATTLE DISEAEE, —During the past month 1 beast,
10l sheep, and 28 pigs suffering from foot-and-mouth
disease, and 20 sheep affected with sheep scab, were
landed in the port of London from the Continent.
These, together with 1922, beasts, 20,387 sheep, and
2,440 pigs, healthy animals, brought over in the same
vessels, were all slaughtered on landing, under instruc-
tions from the Privy CounciL No cases were detected
at the other ports, or in animals brought from un-
scheduled countries. The affected animals came from
Amsterdam, Antwerp, Bremen, Hamburg, Harlingen,
Rotterdam, and Tonning.

Our OF BOUNDS.—Wherein do our friends the
Muscovites differ from the mountain range which they
are forced to evacuate? Because they are not the
Balkans, but the baulked uns.—Judy.