The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-05-13 00:00:00

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HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

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USEFUL HtNT. —How. to make a coat '
—Why, make the other garment; first, to be sun
(Nobody but a tailor can do this properly of course.)-7
Judy. „ ,
THE THOUGHTFUL DAUGHTER.—A Brooklyn-
paper says :—ln these hard times the truly dutiful
daughter delights to study economy for her father's
sake. In this spirit of self-sacrifice, a Brooklyn young
lady observed to her parent at the breakfast table the
other morning : " Pepe., I really don't think we need a,
fire in the parlour • I can get along just as well without
it." "Why, my dear, you must have it conefoita'ule
for gentlemen when they call." "0, that makes ho'
d ffsrence, papa; there's only one calls whom I cater
for, and he's got an Ulster big enough for both of us. ,
ROYAL KINDNESS.—Tho Hospital for Sir
Children in Great Ormond street., London, hail
received a large qeautity of toys from Her Majesty,
who during her recent v:it to Germany selected th, s ,
wh:ch are beat adapted to amuse the children. Tbis
is not the first occasion on which Her 3.lajesty hits
made a similar present to the Hospital, The ne4w
building, it may be added, has recently been opened
for the reception of patients. ,
PERHAPS SOMEBODY WILL ANSWER,—A D 041.•
temporary, supposed to be especially smart upon social
subjects, asserts that "One of the most important of
the questions which concern the present generation is
this, Are the young females who have just blossomed
into womanhood fitted for Wives?' This is, doubtless,
important enough; bist another quexy which seems
just a 3 pertinent is this, Are the young females of the
present day fitted for husbands ?—Judy. ,
A HEALTHY PABISH.—The Rev. W. C.
Talbot, Rector of Hatfield, Herta, writes to The
Times :—" I have observed in your columns from time
to time special obituary notices of persons who have
died at advanced ages. I have thought that the fol-
lowing account of the ages of persons still surviving
taken from the list of permanent out-dcor paupers of
the small Union of which I am Chairman may possdss
some interest in the same direction. On going through
the list of permanent paupers I find the following
results :-34 over 70 years and under 80, giving ' n
average age of 7438 ; and 21 over 80 (one of whom is 9),
giving an aVerage of 8490. Among persons above the
rank of paupers still surviving a still more remarkable
list cf longevity might be given, and if I were to ex-
tract from the register of deaths in my own parish the
same record of the healthiness of our neighbourhood
would be yet more convincingly shown. The oldest
man buried here within the last twelve months reached
the age of 97. I may add that a tombstone in the
churchyard records the death of an inhabitant who
died in the present century, aged 107."

A CAPITAL OFFENCE.—News from Abomey
states that the wholesale-slaughter-loving Kirg of
Dahomey refuses to pay the fine levied upon him for
his recent outrage upon an Englishman at Whydah.
We know to our cost what little African wars mean,
but think the most heavily weighted British taxpayer
would not object to a brush which would be likely to I
result in the wiping out of an Abomeynation. —Fun.
THE GOOD TEMPLARS IN AMERICA.—A tele-
gram has been received by the Chief Office of the .
Independent Order of Good Templars in Birmingham,
stating that the British delegation to the Right Worthy
GrAnd Lodge of America, which sailed for the city of .
R:chmond on April 27th, arrived safely at New York
on Sunday. The whole delegation were well, though
the voyage had been rather rough. They had held a
lumber of temp,fanze meetings on board.
A CONTRADICTION IN TERMS.--They call -
England the Mother Country of the 'United States.
How can that be, whenit is to the United States-that
England owes her Beeing ?—Punch.
To AMAIEUR GARDENERS.—FIowers of rhe-
toric, when not too luxuriant, are occasicnally accept-
able for after-dinner me, though they genetally come
rather late in the day.--41fdy.
WHAT NEXT ?—lt seems that a Mr. Mahren-
holz, an American, has devised a plan for utilizing the
remains of his deceased fellow-creatnres by converting
their skins into leather. He has lately tanned the hide
of a respectable working man who lost his life by a
lamentable accident, and the value of whose skin was
animmenseboonto his disconsolate widow and childrer.
A pair of boots manufactured from the skin of this ill-
fated labourer have been deposited in the Smithsonian
Institution at Washington, where they excite lunch
interest,and attention. It is proposed by the inventor
'to exhibit the boots at the Centennial Exhibition
•at Philadelphia. The leather is remarkable'. for
its softness and pliancy, and takes a good polish, -
but its wearing qualities have yet to be proved.
The general impression appears to be that it is hardly
adapted for rough work, such as that of sportsmen or
pedestrian tourists, but for evening wear at the theatre
or in the ballroom it will be found far more comfortable
than boots and shoes made of ordinf Ty leather. Some
little prejudice, it is expected, will nave to be over-
come before the new leather is taken into general use.
—Pall Mall Gazette.

WEAR IS THE MAN . —We heard of a man de-
clarinv the other day that he had worn spectacles, on
and off, all his life. Qn and off! Pooh !—Fun.

AN INTERVIEW WITH CARLYLE.—A Manches-
ter clergyman of the Indep,ndent body recently came
upon Mr. Carlyle walking with a companion near
Chelsea. Mr. Carlyle had stopped to pet a child who
had fallen and hurt itself. The clergyman, who is
something of a "hero worshipper," asked Mr. CarlYle's
companion whether he might shake hands with the
sage. Mr. Carlyle, having heard the wish, shook the
clergyman by the hand very heartily, arid asked him
what he did. "I am a black dragoon," was the answer.
"In what regiment ? asked Mr. Carlyle. "The In-
dependents," said the "dragoon." "Well," said Mr.
Carlyle, "your body is doing a great work. Its results
will not be seen in my day, and may not be seen in
yours; but some day they will be seen, and England
will be the better for them."
UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE. A. TIIIROLIT is
current that one of our Colleges has it in contempla-
tion to establish a new and special department for
students who may desire to qualify themselves for
those public competitive examinations in spelling, defi-
nitions, music, &c., which have lately been introduced
into this country from America, and are now in full
activity all over England. The College pointed to is
St. Bees.—Punch.

.A DYNAMITE EXPLOSION.—A Times' telegram
on Monday from America says :—" In the railway
tunnel being bored through Bergendaill, Jersey city,
the dynamite magazine, located near the eastern end,
exploded at 10 45 on Saturday night. The concussion
shook New York and the country 20 miles around.
Intense excitement was caused, and the streets were
filled with people. Hundreds of buildings in Jersey
city are shattered, but in New York the chief damage
is confined to the breaking of window glass. No livts
were lost, but several persons were injured.
A PLAGUE OF MICE ON THE SCOTrISH BORDER.
—The Scotsman gives ,an account of a plague of mice
which has appeared on several farms of Teviotdale.
The Farmers Club of the district lately appointed a
committee to in eestigate the matter. On some farms
the mice hays eaten 30 per cent, of the grass which
should be ready for the ewes, and that in con-
sequence of the want of keep the ewes are in poor
condition, and the lambs are perishing. The mice,
which are in millions, do not in all respects
resemble the house or the ordinary field mouse;
they are from three to four inches long, with a short
stumpy tail, have bright piercing eyes, and large ears
almost level with the fur; are brown-coloured on the
back nod a...li.coleured on the belly ;. and the stomachs
of the few that were captured contained vegetable
matter only.. The iniportation of weasels and birds of
prey is suggested by the Scotsman as the bast remedy
for the plAgy.6—which has been coming on for the last
five years—even though the game should to some
extent suffer. The farms inspected by the committee
of the Farmers' Club are the property of the Duke of
Buccleuch.
TRYING TO ACCOUNT FOR IT.—The papers
are rather dulli just now, and a contemporary is re-
duced to a discussion of the question, How is the
" fastness " of the present generation to be accounted
for? Perhaps the explanation may be found in the
fact th4,t the English- are the descendants of a good
many different "races" cf pcop!e. —Judy,

ME ARCHBISHOP OF YORK ON INTEMPE°
RANCE.—In the course of a sermon preached on Sun-
day evening at Westminster Abbey, the Archbishop
of York referred at length to the increase of intempe-
rance in this country, which vice, he said, was eating
away the vitality of the nation. The people of Great
Britain spent 140 millions every year on drink, and
ten years ago it was 110 millions, so that this great
national vice had increased by more than one-quarter in
so short a space of time. If the question were asked
what was the cause of this fearful increase, he could
conceive of no answer but this—that the nation
had lately been growing richer, and that it drank
in proportion as it could pay for drink. That
was a miserable and shameful confession to make, that
there was no restraint on this passsion for drink but
that of want. And was it to be supposed that all this
flood of poison year after year left England and the
English race where it found - then'? If so, then
physiology might as well burn all her books and reli-
gion admit that her first premises were unsound.
With such a state of things he would ask how long
would the nation be allowed to hold in hands that were
growing feeble by indulgence the sceptre of an empire
so mighty?
THE AVERAGIE PRICE OF BRITISH CORN.—The
following are the average prices of British corn for the
week ending May 6, as received from the inspectors
and officers of Excise :—Wheat, 45,. 2d. ; barley,
345. 4d. ; oats, 264. 4d. per imperial qr. Correspond-
ing week last year: Wheat, ns. Bd.; barley, 395.;
oats, 30s.
THE BATTLE OF THE PAVEDIENTS. —lron
says :—After a sufficient comparative trial, the contest
tween granite, asphalte, and wood for carrisge waYO
has been decided in favour of the last, and the recent
conclusions of the corporation of London may be re-
garded as a final confirmation of that decimion. Mr.
Heywood, engineer for the City of London, has shown
that before a horse falls he may be expected to travel
on granite 132 miles, on asphalte 191 miles, and on
wood 446 miles; and although between the two last
materials there is a trifling advantage in cost on the
side of asphalte, that is much more than counter-
balanced in other ways. In easy traction and the
absence of noise there is no comparison between wood
and granite, and since the surface water has been kept
out by means of asphalte, wood has become one of the
most durable of pavements. The rapidity with which
it can be laid and the ease with which it can be re-
paired are not the least of is merits, while the flooring
of planks, which is now laid as a superstructure, gives
great elasticity, and by distributing the weight equallY
over the whole pavement, adds to its power of endur-
ance.

" HIGH LIFE BELOW STAIRS !"—Master
(sniffing). "There's a most extraordinary smell.
James. I've noticed it several—"—Hall porter. "
don't wonder at it, Sir. I've spoke about it .down-
' stairs. The butler, Sir, you see is "LAI Church,
which he 'as fit up a horatory in the pantry, and burns
hincense. We could stand that; but the cook is the
'Low Church' pereuasion, and she burns brown paper
to hobviate the hincense. perfeckly hawful on
SAint's Days, Sir ! !,! "—Punch.

A TORNADO IN AMERICA.—A Times' telegrani
says :—There was a tornado on Saturday Afternoon
(6th) at Chicago, with violent rain' causing damage to
property estimated at 250,000 dole. One man was killed
and 15 injured. The Alichigan and Southern Railroad
station was u,nroofed •' Grace Church steeple, 175 ft.
high, fell, crushing the church roof; another steeple
was blown down, and a hospital was unroofed, but
the patients were removed without serious injury.
A massive fog bell, with its tower, was blown into
the lake and entirsly demolished. Several other build-
ings were destroyed. The wooden side walks %Vera
turned over and jammed against the houses. The
streets were strewn with trees, lamp-poets, over-
turned vehicles, and wrer.k of all kinds. Thousands
of chimneys were blown down, and nearly every vessel
in the harbour lost its masts and sails.—A tornado on