The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-02-08 00:00:00

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AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.—The following
are the average prices of British corn for the week
ending Feb. 1, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise:—Wheat, 38s. 4d.; barley, 365. 9d.;
oats, 19s 53. per imperial qr. Corresponding week last
year:—Wheat, 51s. lid. ; barley, 41s. 6d. ;oats, 235.11 d.
CURIOUS !—lt is a strange fact not generally known
that, although you can break your fast, you can break
loose at the same time. —Judy.
THE CAMERA OBSCURA.—Hitherto the camera ob-
sour& has been little more than a toy for seaside holiday
makers. It is to be utilised. By means of a tele-
scopic combination with it, the invention may be put
to we for all sorts of observation says the Court Journat.
Just as the telephone and the telegraphic writing
instrument were combined for the phonograph, so the
telescope and the camera obecura have made the telec-
troso >pa. It is a strange instrament,and is intended to be
so used as to enable people to see around the corners of
the world. Punch's dream of a camera obscura show-
ing' an Australian garden to the inhabitant of England
is likely to come true. What with the telephone and
the telectroscope we shall be able to see and talk with
anybody at the antipodes as easily as we see and talk
with people in the same room with us.
EFFECT OF FREEZING ON SEEDS.—Some expert*
ments by Professor Haberlanit (as we learn from the
Farmer), have devdloped the fact that flax seeds which
had been froz3n germinated earlier than the unfrozen
seeds, flowered earlier, ripened earlier, and the plants
were larger in the proportion of seventy•one to forty-
nine. The weight of the dried seed obtained from a
given area planted with the frozen seed was, to the
similar area planted with unfrozen seed, as 137'6 to

88.
FlBS—Fond Mother: "Ah, Harry, if you tell lies
you'll go to the bottomless pit, where there is fire and
brimstone." Harry (who ha 3 medicinal remem-
brances) : "Ma, will there be any treacle there?"
(The mother's answer is not transmitted to pos.
teriority.)—Judy.
TRH CZAR AS A SPORTSMAN.—The Czar wished to
shoot a bear, A bear was accordingly found, a ring
of peasants surrounded it, and a word of its where-
abouts was sent to the Imperial sportsman. Unfor-
tunately, whilst these preparations were being made,
the creature contrived to slip through the ring and
escape. What was to be done? That the Emperor
of all the "tussles should come and find no gamq would
never do. A happy idea seized one of the foresters.
Regardless of cost, a tame bear was procured in the
nick of time, turned loose within the ring, and now
all was ready. The circle closed in; Bruin was dis-
covered at the foot of a tree ; the attendants fell back;
the Emperor advanced to fire; but now earns the
climax; just as the trigger was about to be drawn,
Bruin rose slowly on his hind feet, and began to per-
form the national dance! This exhibition saved his
life, but it did the reverse of securing, for those who
introduced him to the presence that Royal favour
which their ingenuity deserved,—lllustrated Sporting
and Dramatic News.

THE SUPPLY OF AMERICAN FOOD.—There was A
marked increase in the supply of fresh meat landed at
Liverpool last week from the United States and
Canada, making the figures the largest this season.
The number of live stock landed was also in excess of
the past few weeks, although there were no arrivals of
live pigs, which recently have formed an important
item in the live stock supply. The totals for the week
were 7,149 quarters of beef, 1,972 carcases of mutton,
820 dead pigs, 745 live cattle, and 1,207 sheep. Several
head of cattle were lost on the passage through the
steamers encountering very bad weather.

THE PLAGUE OF RICHES.—The Paris correspondent
of the Daily Telegraph writes :—" Several of the Paris
papers are to-day amusing themselves and their
readers with speculations as to the fate of the currier,
Aubriot, the fortunate or unfortunate winner of the
pros lot in the lottery. The Gaulois, which is the most
witty, makes him out to have been simply over-
whelmed with letters of a begging or otherwise mer-
cenary character which taxed the patience not only of
the individual to whom they were addressed, but also
of the postman and the conscierge, the latter of whom
has struck work. Some of the writers ask for money
to enable them to enter upon enterprises which are
bound to make them rich for ever in an incredibly
short space of time. Others suddenly discover that he
of the gros lot is a family connection, and modestly
request him to adopt children—nephews and nieces—
by the score. Every tale of which the human brain is
capable is invented to extort some of his gains from
the lucky currier, who at length, in despair, has had a
circular printed in the following terms Sir—Were
I to accede to all the demands made upon my purse,
I should have to go back to work on Monday.—Je
vous salue, Aubriot,"
THE LEADING FEATURE.—Tommy's Mamma.
Come and say how do you do to Mr. Dubosky ; he
wants to know yore—Tommy. Does he? Well, I
know him. He was in the pantomime, he was, only he
had the other things on him then, as well as his nose.
(Of course it is quite unnecessary to state that the
good gentleman never was on any stage all his life).—
.Tudy.
THE BLUE CORNFLOWER. The Court journal
says :—" It is well known, in Germany at least, that
the blue Cornflower is the Emperor William's favour-
ite flower and colour, and it is the practice to decorate
his room with it on his birthday, the 22nd of March.
If its cultivation has failed, Italy, or France, or some
other country, must furnish the favourite Cornflower,
which in a sense has become the rival of the Napoleonic
Violet; and these two flowers are unfortunately not
exactly friendly rivals, like the light blue of Cambridge
and the dark blue of Oxford. The blue Cornflower
had always been a favourite with the late Queen
Louisa of Prussia, the mother of the present Em-
peror of Germany, and it was during the sad period
that immediately followed the disastrous defeat by the
French in 1806 that the incident occurred to which
we have referred. Living in comparative retirement
at Konigsberg, the Queen was one day in the garden
with her children, the present Emperor and the
Princess Charlotte, afterwards Empress of Russia,
when she was accosted by a poor child who begged
her to purchase a large wreath of fresh Cornflowerse
Animated by sympathy for the poor child
whose sick mother was unable to earn anything
to provide them with food, and by love for the
flowers, the Queen took the flowers in exchange
for a handsome sum of money. She then called her
children towards her, and, presenting the wreath to the
Princess, addressed them in words of advice and hope.
This, in a few words, is the history of the favourite
flower of the Prussian royal family. After the late
dastardly attack on the Emperor's life, the Cornflower
became the emblem of loyalty and devotion of the
Prussian people. Ladies wore Cornflowers in their
hats, gentlemen in their button-holes; medals bearing
the Emperor's effigy on one side and a wreath of Corn-
flowers on the other, were worn in bracelets and neck•
lets; note-paper was decorated with the favourite
flower; in short, it was employed in every conceivable
way to testify the loyalty of a people.
A MEETING OF EXTRE3IEB.—The Vegetarian's ideal
Ce- real-ism.—Punch.
A JOURNEY ON SNOW SHOES. A party of seven
persons, three of them being Indians who acted as at•
tendants, left Manitoulin Island, Lake Huron, on the
30th of December, for Toronto, on snow-shoes. They
were hospitably received at various Indian villages on
the way, but they had undertaken a hard task, and
met with such difficulties as the following, which the,
encountered on the fifth day :—" After having passed
through a tract of rocky bushland they came to a
morw, which was crossed with very great difficulty.
Occasionally some of the party would sink down
through the snow into the mud, and before it had heels
crossed some of them were so heated by the exercise
that they took off their coats, and this notwithstanding
the fact that the mercury must have been below zero
considerably. Grumble-point was finally reached in
the evening, only twenty miles having been made
during the day." Bad River had to be crossed bY
crawling, owing to the rottenness of the ice. They
reached Toronto in safety. The whole distance
travelled was ahout'374 miles; 210 miles were covered
on snow-shoes, 64 by team, and 100 by rail. The time
occupied by travelling the distance was about ten
days.

STAUNCH.—OId lady (who had been buying eggs).
" 'Deed, Mr. McTreacle, butchers' meat 's sae dear
now-a-days ah'm no able to buy 't 1" Grocer.—" You
should turn a Vegetarian--" Old lady.—"A
Veegetarian !—Na, na ! ah was born an' brocht up i'
the Free Kirk, an' a 'm no gaun ta change ma relee•
gion m' auld days I "—Punch.
A WONDERFUL RAT STORY.—While workmen were
tearing up the old floor of the Central Freight-house
at Auburn, New York, lately, preparatory to relaying,
they came across an unused scale-box some eight
inches deep and about four feet square. It was prised
up from its position, and as it was being raised a
rattling sound was heard inside. The men broke it
open, when out jumped a monstrous rat. Chase wee
given the rodent, but the animal managed to escape
by running into a pile of freight. The rat was
as large as a good-sized kitten, and so gray from
age that it was almost white. The bottom of the
box from which it emerged was found to be com-
pletely covered to the depth of an inch or more with
peanut shucks, corn, corn cobs, and the like. The °nil
opening that could be found was a small hole about
an inch and three-quarters in diameter, through
which a rod had passed. When young and small, the
rat, it is supposed, crawled into the box, and after
gorging itself with plunder was unable to get out, and
thus became a voluntary prisoner. It gradually gr.ev>
until it reached enormous proportions. The materials
found in the box indicate that other rats fed it, and
thus kept it from starvation. The rodent was un-
doubtedly confined for several years, and the action of
the other animals in supplying it with means of sub.
sistence shows a degree of intelligence that the rat hag
rarely been given credit for. How the imprisoned rat
obtained water or other liquids to quench its thirst is
a mystery; but that it was in the box for several
years there can be no doubt. Its long imprisonment
did not seem to impair its physical qualities to an,'
extent, as was evidenced by the sprightly manner in
which it dodged about to get away from the workmen
when it was released.
WHICH Is THE GREATER LOBS ?—Whose loss is the
greater, that of an individual accidentally deprived of
a leg or that of a lady whom a railway collision
widows? By a recent somewhat singular decision
cited by the Sontags Courier de Vienne, the former, it
would seem, merits the highest compensation. A lady
whose husband, an engieeer, met his death in a rail-
way catastrophe, which occurred a short time since in
the United States, sued for damages, and obtained
matter of five thousand dollars to compensate her for
the detriment she had sustained financially, and console
her for the grief the death of a spouse is commonly
supposed to entail upon the ourv.ivor. The same
magistrate, however, who awarded the widow this
amount, granted a, gentleman who had lost a leg in
the same accident, an indemnity of fifteen thousand
dollars, which apparent partiality awoke the resents •
ment of the lady plaintiff. "Fifteen thousand dols
hire for a leg," quoth she; " a leg, then, is worth
more than a whole roan !" " Certainly, in certain
cases," replied the Judge, who found to his own otitis-
faction, at least, that his decision showed the wisdom
of a Solomon, since a man minus a leg cannot procure
himself another, even with fifteen thousand dollars;
whereas a woman poseessing five thousand dollars,
finds easily another husband, not only as good as the
one deceased, but, in many instances better. We
can understand, however, that the widow failed to
perceive the force of the reasoning. altlioogb she had
Ito Option but. to cohtent herself' with tholtnigraluit ci
the Luagiatoriiil iesaVneg.—Asing Dienemd,
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