The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-09-09 00:00:00

AMERICAN HUMOUR..

Josh Billings says: "Yung man, yu kant learn
°anything new bi hearing yureself talk.''
"Henry," she said, "you don't know what a sooth-
ing influence you have on me" (a glad light came into his
eyes) ; "ye'," said she, "when you come and talk to me, I
always feel like going to sleep."
"In the charitable town of St. Louis they give
tramps bread and butter with little nitro glycerine pills
inside, and then kick them."
The great American rhyme fiend is unusually enter-
prising just now. This indicates a severe winter, and dis-
closes one of the methods of Providence for supplying editors
with an important item for fuel.
A Philadelphia bookseller once inserted the follow-
ing advertisement of "new publications
Mill on Political Economy.
Ditto on the Floss.
The times are affecting the poor Indians. They
complain that none but bald-headed emigrants go West now,
An experienced surgeon will accompany every train,
very properly composes a part of an American railway
advertisement.
Smith, the American Poet Laureate, writes thus of a
cattle show :—" As with men, so it is with cattle. They may
be and possibly are, lovely and beautiful in their lives ; but
in their death they are divided."
-

An Indiano-pOlis paper says that a banquet in that
city was opened with prayer by the Rev. Emsley Hamilton,
whiskey gauger for the Seventh district.

- - -
Yankee burglars say that they never saw such
panic La the money mirket as at present; They assert that
every other watch has been sent to the pawnbroker's.

Nobody ever stands in the horse ears at Leavenworth,
Kan. When a gentleman enters a car, the nearest young
ladv rises and offers him a seat. She then sits in his lap and
I both are satisfied.

A census ot flies has been taken in New York. The
following is the return of the fly papers: 5,00J,C00,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000 full grown flies, exclusive of ancient chief-
tains, pappooses, and squaws.
He was standing one day beside a frog-pond—we
have his word for it—and saw a large garter snake make an
attempt upon an enormous big bull-frog. The snake seized
one of the frog's hind leo' and the frog, to be on a par with
his snakeship, caught him by the tail, and both commenced
swallowing each other, and continued this carnivorous opera-
tion until nothing was left of either of then?. He was a bar-
rister on circuit, and of course mast be believed.

yOi 7111 i Iti4

THE WAR IN SERVIA.

The Times of Tuesday published the following letter,
which was received on Monday morning by Captain Douglas
Galton from Colonel Loyd Lindsay :
" Belgrade, Aug. 29.
"Dear Galton,—We arrived this morning at 6 o'clock
with all our stores, including those which left London
on the 24th. At Pesth we were joined by Dr. Leslie
and the five surgeons who were with him. Not even a
tent-peg is missing from among the vast piles of lug-
gage which have been despatched for the service of the
sick and wounded. Considering that these things have
been carried all across Europe and through the
dominions of half-a•dozen Powers, all having vigilant
Custom-house restrictions, it says a great deal for the
consideration given to the Red Cross Society that no
delay has occurred, and no duty demanded, and
a mountain of baggage brought to its desti-
nation in little more than four days. The staff of the
Society now in your service at the scene of action—l
allude to hospital action, not military numbers
twelve persons, besides those we have five other sur-
geons whom I am pleased to say are engaged in hospital
work at Alexinatz, where they have plenty to occupy
them usefully. What I have done to-day has been
chiefly in the direction of laying the foundation for
future operations. I sent a list of all the surgeons to
Mr. Ristics, the Chief Minister. I then called on
Mr. White, Her Britannic Majesty's Consul. Through
Mr. White, his Highness Prince Milan desired the
whole party should be presented to him, and at three
o'clock he received us, and expressed himself grateful
that England should take such active steps in aid of
his wounded soldiers. He said he entirely under-
stood that we must do for the Turks as much as we
proposed to do for the Servians. Izsompany with Mr.
MacCormac, I visited the hospitarcfor the wounded in
the town. There are a little under 400 wounded men.
The number of wounded men at A. exinatz and in the
hospitals between the scene of the recent fighting and
this place does not exceed 2,000 men. The sanitary
policy wisely adopted is to evacuate the hospitals at the
front and draw the wounded gradually, back upon this
place. I waited on the banks of the Danube for two
hours, expecting the arrival of a steamboat containing
100 wounded men from Alexinatz. The ship did not
arrive, but has since come in, and MacCormac and
some surgeons have gone to give their aid. There
will be no delay in getting our surgeons to work,
for they are able men, carefully selected, and
they mean business. A very significant fact is to
be observed in the hospitals here. I allude to the
number of men who ate wounded in the left hand,
It is a little foreign to the subject matter of my letter,
but it has doubtless been reported from various sources
here, and I entirely confirm it, that except among the
.Russian officers there is but one feeling, and that is for
an interference on the part of neutral Powers to bring
about terms of peace. While I except the Russians
from this feeling, I except a very powerful and very
numerous body; and I may go one step farther and
say that the Servians are getting more than a little
distrustful of the, zeal of their Russian friends. To-
morrow we shall send a convoy of stores to the hospitals
at Alexinatz, and possibly I shall go down myself to see
how the work has prospered there. With regard to
the question you put to me about the notice of a sub-
cription being opened at Coutte's I would rather that
no alteration should be made in it. This is a place
where no ladies should come."