The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-07-21 00:00:00

CUTTINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS.

A witty lady says that since so many apartment
houses have been put up on Back Bay, Boston, and
so many single women are occupying them, what was
formerly spoken of as" the new made laud" has come
to be called "the old maid territory."
In recognition of the scientific advance of the time,
would it not be a good idea to represent Father
Lime with a lawn•mower in his hand instead of a
scythe?
A Texas paper, referring 'to the trouble the flies
give the bald-headed neighbour, says: "We saw an
account of a mAn similarly situated who secured
immunity from the flies by painting a large spider in
the centre of the bald space."

The latest agony is for a young lady to have a dog
to match her dress. We'd like to see a crushed straw-
berry dog—in fact, any kind of a crushed dog.
The favourite diet of the trout is the fly, and the
f avourite diet of the fly is the trout &barman. The
latter tries to even up matters by catching and eating
the trout.
Very few of the elephants in these days have any
tubks. You see, the extensive manufacture of celluloid
has made it so cheap that it doesn't pay the elephants
to grow ivory.
- - - -

A negro baby was born in Georgia recently which
weighed only a pound and a quarter, and a "literary
feller," hearing of the circumstance, remarked that it
was funny how anything so dark could be so light.

A young man in Arkansas has invented a patent
attachable bite-proof trousers seat for courting and
appre stealing. It is composed of stout wire netting,
and the patentee says the best part of the fun is in
picking out the dog's teeth after one gets home.

MEETING OF THE CONSERVATIVE
PARTY.

In London, on Monday, a meeting of the Conserva•
tive Party was held at the Carlton Cluh, under the
presidency of Sir Stafftird North,...ote. The meeting
was called to consider the present state of puhlic bust•
ness, and the principal subjects discussed were the
Corrupt Practices Bill, the Agricultural Holdings
Bill, and the Suez Canal Agreement.
In regard to the Corrupt Practices Bill, it was
decided that several Amendments should be proposed
on the Report, and that an effort should be made to
secure better conditions as to the conveyance of voters
in counties.

The previsions of the Agricultural Holdings Bill
were generally approved, but Amendments were
suggested in various clauses. It was also decided to
oppose any proposal to make the Act applicable to
sitting tenants.
On the subject of the Suez Canal, Sir Stafford
Northcote stated that the Opposition would insist on
the Government disclosing their intentions nn an early
day, and he asked the Party to have general confi-
dence in the judgment of their Leaders in regard t 3
this question.

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Amongst those who spoke were Mr. Knight, Sir R.
Cross, Mr. Chaplin, and Sir R. Buxton.

SUFFERINGS OF A SHIPWRECKED
CREW.

On Mot day night the crew of the ship Westminster,
of Dublin, which was lost during a storm in the
Atlantic, were landed in Liverpool from the steamer
Australian. The Westminster, which was under the
command of Captain Morris, and had a crew of 23
bands, left Quebec bound for Liverpool, and bad a
timber cargo on bcard. All went well until Monday
week, about four o'clock in the afternoon. The vessel
was then 700 miles from Cape Clear. A fearful
storm of wind and rain suddenly sprang up, and the
great waves of the Atlantic dashed over the vessel,
sweeping the decks fore and aft. The cargo shifted,
the deck cargo, the boats, the deck•houses were
carried away, the sails were blown to pieces, and the
rudder being damaged, the vessel became unmanagable
and rolled helplessly in the trough of the sea. When
the storm was at its height five men were at the
wheel. They were struck by a heavy sea and some of
the deck timber. The second mete, Martin Ryan, of
Dublin; John Anderson, an able seaman; Edward
M`Guinness, an able seaman; and others of the crew
were severely injnred. Some of the crew t)ok refuge
in the &ging, and others on the poop, and in this
position they remained until Thursday, each man
getting only a biscuit a day and a small quantity of
limejuice. Several of the men became very ex-
hausted, and had not assistance been at hand some of
them would have expired.
On Thursday afternoon the Australian came in
sight, and seeing the signals of distress flying on the
Westminster, hove down upon her, and the crew, in a
very exhausted condition, were taken on board the
steamer, On Monday night the poor fellows, who
have lost all their effects, were taken to the Liverpool
Sailors' Home, where they were most kindly treated.
The Westminster is a sailing ship with a net registered
tonnage of 1,426 tons.