The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-03-10 00:00:00

HOME. FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL

THE CHURCH AND EMIGRATION TO CANADA.—The
Rev. J. Bridger, emigrants' chaplain, St. Nicholas
Church, Liverpool, and the representative at that
port of the Emigration Committee of the Society for
the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, is arranging
to take a party of settlers to. Manitoba, and other
parts of Canada, leaving England on April 19. Very
encouraging letters have been received from many of
the farmers and others who accompanied Mr. Bridger
on previous occasions, and it is very probable that
further parties in addition to that mentioned above,
will be pent out under careful superintendence during
the coming season.
THE BANKRUPTCY BILL.—The Sunderland Chamber
of Commerce met on Monday to stonsider the new
Bankruptcy Bill, The Chamber considered that the
Bill in its leading features was capable of being
administered by the existing Courts of Bankruptcy,
if sufficient powers were given to them for that pur
pose. They had no objection to the appointment of
a public official having the power of intervention in
special cases by being allowed to put his views before
the court, and to appear at the examination of the
debtor by counsel or otherwise. The report was sent
to the Committee of the Associated Chambers of
Commerce now considering the Bill in London.
TALL MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS —Mr.
Brewster, who on Monday took his seat in the House
of Commons for Portarlington, is one of the tallest
members of that assembly. His stature is 6ft. On.
He was introduced by Mr. Tottenham, who measures
6ft. 3in., and by Colonel King-Harman, who is the
same height. All three Irish members sit on the
Conservative benches. The two tallest members in the
House—Mr. Cotes and Mr. Whitbread, who are 6ft.
bin, each—sit on the Liberal side. As the three
stalwart Irish representatives walked up the floor of
the House they were received with loud cheers and
some good-humoured laughter.

LOCAL RATES PAID BY RAILWAYS.-Mr. W. P.
Payne, rating surveyor to the Midland Railway Com-
pany, has compiled an interesting statement t-howing
the amount of local rates paid by twelve of the leading
railways for the year 1881. The total amount thus
paid stands at £1,279,611, or at the rate of £ll5 per
mile constructed, is. Oil per pound of net receipts,
074 per cent, of ordinary capital, or 14a. 90. per £lOO
of ordinary capital. The London and North Western
Company pays the highest amount—namely, £206,621;
the Midland next, £180,916; the North Eastern,
£164 959. Mr. Payne states the amount of loaal rates
levied in 1881 at £26,808,225—equal to El Cs. 7d. per
head of population. The amount paid by these com-
panies is equal to £1 Os. 7d. per head upon a popula-
tion of 1,243,347, being 478 per cent, of the whole
population of England and Wales.

ROUGH ON RISING TALENT.—Brown "Don't think
you are doing as well as you were last year, old man."
—Robinson; "But I was not painting at alllast year."
—Brown: "Exactly so! That is just it ! "—Judy.
A TRAIN RUNNING INTO A SAND-DEM.—The
travellers' fears of being stopped by a sand-drift were
soon realized (says the Detroit Free Press). After leav-
ing Sumner, which is about 314 miles from San Fran-
cisco, the train moved cautiously for ten miles through
the shifting waste, and then stopped with a crash.
The alarmed passengers hardly dared to facci the
driving storm to learn the cause of the unpleasant
halt. The few intrepid persons who ventured
into the blinding simoon found that their express
train had run into a freight train which had
stopped in an impassible sand. drift. The
slow rate at which the express was moving
enabled the engineer to stop the train in time to pre-
vent a sarious aczident, ad the coilisicn was only
sufficient to cast the locomotive from the track. The
passenger cars remained on the rails. It was then ten
o'clock, so slowly had the express proceeded through
the blinding storm after leaving Sumner. The dark-
ness of the night had only increased, and nothing was
visible except within the focus of the train's lights.
For five weary hours the passengers were compelled
to wait on the detached train while relief was being
obtained from Sumner. Assistance having arrived,
the track was cleared of sand sufficiently to enable a
relief engine to pull the express back to Sumner.
A SUBMERGED TORTOISE,—" H. S." writes to Lani
and Water :—During the recent floods at Eton, a
garden, in which a favourite tortoise was hibernating,
was completely submerged for more than a week. At
the subsidence of the flood the tortoise was found
alive and in good health, having come forth from his
subterranean quarters earlier than usual, probably on
account of the audien increase of damp in his winter
habitation,

Gomorra NESTING PLACES.—Land and Water gives
the following :—A robin built a nest last year in the
parish church, in a corner of the clerk's pew, just
under the reading desk, for the edifice Is a very
ancient one, and there have not been any alterations
or restorations made in it during the last hundred
years or more. The clerk kindly gave up possession
for a time to Mrs. Redbreast, and she hatched out
and reared up her family in peaoe. Another "pious
bird, with scarlet breaQt," actually chose, a very few
years ago, one of the recesses in the Abbey Church at
Bath for her nesting•place, and another robin built her
nursery in a pair of old leather breeches at Winston.
They had been hung in the garden of a cottage near
the village to frighten away the birds.-11. B. W.----
In a small yew tree, standing in the grounds of a
country gentleman's house, a young lady discovered
four nests in the course of building—one a blackbird's,
a linnet, a hedge sparrow, and what looks like a wren's.
There are a great many birds of prey abaut the neigh.
bourhood, so perhaps the little songs.:-_,L3 selected thi3
tree for safety—its foliaze being so coroplot would
afford them protection.—H.

T-4-E J4c4DAw.—The.o 414 Cow Li:eo thi.t have
more frequently bean made pets than the jackdaw.
Possibly, from having been accustomed to the sight of
man, much of the fear inseparably connected with his
presence seems to be eliminated from the mind of the
jackdaw, and if brought up from the nest (and they
are very hardy), they will become exceedingly attached
to their keepers, In confinement their favourite food
is meat, but they are easily plea2.ed, •,nd in return are
most amusing. The droll expression of the half.
turned head and the watchful white eye is a marked
characteristic; added to this, " Jack" is something of
a mimic, and will even learn to talk. He has, however,
the failing belonging to the rest of the tribe, and is
much addicted to hiding uneatable objects; as oar
readers ina.y remember is hamoroneiy portrayed in the
Ingoldsby Legend of "The Jackdaw of Rheims."-
-From "familiar Wild Birds" for March.
" ENFANT TERRIBLE. "—Grandmamma (maternal) :
"What a fidget you are, George! What are you
looking about for now ? " Grandson: " Gran'ma,
where's that—l was looking for that 'miserable tablet'
Pa, say; you 7aeop

DEMOLITION OF THE TOILERIES.—The work of re-
moving what remains of the famous palace on the
banks of the Seine does not proceed very rapidly.
The persons who purchased the ruins have been very
much disappointed at finding how wretchedly poor the
materials are. Except the façade, they are simply
rubbish. the interior columns, which were supposed
to be solid, turn out to have been simply mouldings
ever rough blocks. Nothing has been found asyet of
any interest or importqlee araonq the ruins;tine eild
bunch of 100 keys is all.
AN AWKWARD EPISODE.—III the Indian Confer-
ence was a minister of small proportions, but whose
confidence in himself was quite sufficient. He was
called upon to baptize a large, heavy woman by im-
mersion. An officious member ventured to offer his
assistance, which was declined. In the small man
and the large woman cautiously waded, but the small
man slipped on a treacherous atone, and drew the
large woman down with Linn. The large woman was
recovered by the stewards, while the sm*ll man made
for the ether side of the river. As he grasped on an
over-hanging bush to draw himeelf out of the water,
he turned to the other shore, and, clearing his mouth
from water, exclaimed, " Brethren, sing amething
appropriate."—" Editor's Drawer" in Harper's Maga-
zine.

LEPROSY IN NORWAY.—It is remarkable that a die.
ease like leprosy should flourish in Norway (says
Nature), From the returns just published this
appears however to be the case, although the number
of afflicted Is decreasing. At the end of 1875 there
were 2,008 patients reported in the country. At the
end of 1880 the number had fallen to 1,582. The
disease is stated to be due to the corisumption of food
in an unwholegome cionditlop, partieulady fish; and
also to uncleanliness.

THE WOOL-SORTERS DISEASE. —ln London, on
Saturday, at Guy's Hospital, Mr. Payne held an in-
quest on the body of W. T. Sheppard, aged 33, who
di:od in the hospital from the effects ef Nood poisoni:w.
Tho wifo of tbedeC..eakd stated that 4 few weeks ago he
complained of feeling ill, and. as he gradually got
worse, he went to the hospital. Mr. Stevens, house
surgeon at Guy's, said the deceased was found to be
sufferieg from what was known as the " wool-sorter's
disease." It was a malignant pustule, and was con-
tracted by, handling hides. He died on Tuesday
from blood-poisoning. There were evidences of poison
all over the body, but had deceased sought medical
aid sooner he would probably hayo recoyered. The
illness wag caused, not by the materials with which the
hides were cured, but by some disease in the hide
itself, whieh beeame inoculated into the system of the
person handling it if he chanced to have an abrasion
of the skin. Dr. Stel, medical superintendent at
Guy's Hospital, informed the corner that there had
recently been treated in the institution na less than
20 similar cases, but not one had proved fatal, Mr.
Stevens suggested that in future as soon as a man
employed in this work felt ill he should seek medical
assistance immediately and the spread of the disease
would be arrested. The coroner remarked that he
thought this was a very valuable suggestion, and he
hoped it would be acted upon.—The jury returned a
verdict in accordance-With the nacdiat testimony.

POISONOUS FuNGL—That the Romans were well
aware of the poisonous character of mushrooms, and
of various other fungi, there is not the least doubt.
The story of the poisoning of Claudius by a dish of
mushrooms is at least as authentic as that of the death
of Henry I. at Rouen from an ovei dose of lampreys.
Those who are curious on the subject will find in the
twenty-first epigram of the First Book of Martial an
imprecation on a gentleman named Ccecilianus. This
gourmand had, it seems, ordered an immense dish of
tag:4 and loked himself up to devouT them
gluttonous solitu4e. Mktial prays. fervently that
there may have been among these fungoid dainties
some of the kind that were last served up to Claudius.
In the fifth satire of Juvenal (1. 148), and in the sixth
satire (/. 621), will be found allusions to the same
tradition. It is doubtful, however, whether it was
the simple mushroom that killed Claudius, or the
simple lamprey Henry. Both mushroom:: and lani-
preys need an abundance of rich and highly-flavoured
sauce. It is more than probable in that case the sub-
stance of the dish was less to blame than were the con
diluents. The Romans were also extremely addicted
to truffles, which they used to procure from the north
coast of Africa. Juvenal tells us of an epicure called
Alledius, who, in an ecstasy of enllymeq,,
.og.7.r.pd
that, pp far as hp cared, every in' Africa might ba
unyoked, if only the supply of truffles remained con-
stant. This was very unpatriotic, as Rome was ab-
solutely dependent upon Africa for the bulk of her
wheat.—" R. W.," in Pictorial World,

A CURIOUS ADVENTURE.—A Shields pilot, named
Jeweils, who has arrived at Plymouth from Madeira
by the Cape mail, has had a curious adventure. On
Jan. 8 Jeweils left Shields in charge of the barque
Thomas Hamblyn, bound to Valparaiso, with coal.
He intended leaving the vessel in the Downs, but c
trary winds drove tee barque round the coat ot Scot-
land. Heavy weather prevented a landing on the
onset, and the vessel proceeded. After a long passage
of thirty-five days the bargee sighted Madeira, anel a
boat was lowered to put Jeweils ashore. Owing to
adverse influences twelve hours were occupied by four
men and the second officer in reaching Funchal. The
wind had, in the meantime, changed, and the vessel
disappeared from view, and down to Feb. 24 she had
not hove in sight of the island.
BURIAL FEES.—A Bill has been issued the object of
which is to enable persons having a right of interment
in the burial-grounds of their respective parishes in
England to be buried therein without any extra charge
beyond the secular expenses of burial. The interests
of existing incumbents and other officials are guarded
by the Act not coming into operation with respect to
them till after the death or removal of each existing
incumbent or official. The Bill does not interfere
with private rights, nor with the existing powers of
burial.boards as regares their secular charges or their
control over parochial cemeteries.
CALIFORNIAN WHEAT—Last year 18,529,152 centals
of wheat passed through the Golden Gate, represent-
ing a value of 31,000,200 dole., or upwards of
i"6,000,000. Wheat is the leading article exported
from the State. The above export, large as it was,
fell short of that of 1881 by 1,500,000 centale, though
the total money value was slightly greater in 1882. In
January of last year, shipping wheat averaged 1.66
dole, per cental ; it fell to 1.61 dole. in April, and
fluctuated from 1 66 dole. in May to 1-70 dole. in
August, closing the yew with a firm quotation at 1-73
dole. Although a few cargoes shipped at southern
ports might be included, they would not materially
affect the foregoing statement.
THE New PARCELS POST.—The City Press says :
The postal authoritits are using every endeavour to
introduce the new parcels post at the earliest possible
moment but it is no secret that the undertaking is
one which is beset with greater difficulties than were
anticipated at the outset, and will involve a more ex-
tensive outlay of public money than its projectors
contemplated. Several dates have been mentioned by
our contemporaries for the commencement of this new
enterprise, but we have every reason to believe that
the new system will not be in working order until the
month of July,
"SPEED THE PARTING GUEST."—(Things one would
rather have left unsaid.) "We've had such a pleasant
evening, Mr. Jones! May I beg of you to ask one of
your servants to call a hansom? "—" With pleasure,
Mrs. Smith I "—Punch.
THE MULBERRY.TREE IN FRANCE —Some oalcula.
tions that have recently been made at the Conserva-
toire des Arts et Mdtiere in Paris, show, that to
produce one kilogrameue—that is, about two one-fifth
pounds—of cocoons from the silkworm, twenty kilo-
grammes of mulberry-leaves have to be eaten; and to
produce one kilogramme of silk, thirteen kilogrammes
of cocoons are required. Taking the annual produc-
tion of silk at two million two hundred and eighty
thousaed kilogrammes, it is fonnd that the weight of
leaves required for the fond of the silkworms from
which this quantity is obtained, amounts to five hun-
dred and ninety-two million of kilogrammes, or five
hundred and eighty one thousand two hundred and
fifty tons of leaves.

A DOG STORY.—The other day some Wißeallsin
people were astonished to see their dog come into the•
house with a piece of paper tied to his tail. They
paia no further attention to it, except to laugh at his
comical appearance, until he began going around to
different members of the family, always tail first, and
sticking it at them. This ludicrous action at last
made them see that there was writing on the paper,
which proved to be as follows : "My legs are broken.
Please help me." They carefully examined his legs,
but found them all right, when somebody recognised
the writing of a woman who lived half a mile away.
They went to her house and found her helpless from a
fall which broke her legs, She could not stir, nor
attract anybody's attention, and she might have
starved or frozen to death, but luckily the dog came
in, and crawling to a table she managed to write the
note and fasten it to his tail.

A NEW SPECIES OF POTATO,—The Journal cl'Agri•
culture Pratique of 18th January, 1883, has a note and
woodcut of a new species of potato, named Solanum
Ohrondii, after its finder, Dr. Ohrond, i medical
officer of the French Marine, by whom it was found a
solitary wilding gn the small sandy (inhabited) island
Coritti, in the River Plate, opposite the port of
Maldonado. Ic has now been cultivated for a few
seasons in the garden of the Naval Hospital at Brest,
with results which are thought to indicate exceptional
capabilities of resisting disease and repaying improve-
ment. The habit is very dwarf, close, and bushy;
the growth very rapid and almost perpetual; cropping
twice a year under favourable circumstances. The
flowers are purplish lilac; the tubers large, with a
rough yellow skin, and extraordinarily dense flesh,
which, however, is very well flavoured when boiled,
roasted, or baked, and of a very pale yellow colour.
AGRICULTURAL PROSVECTEi.—The weather haa again
(says the iliggnet) been fairly settled. Little or no
rain has fallen, and the ground is gradually getting
into better condition. A long spell of dry weather
is, however, still required in order to enable Spring
sowing to be carried out under anything approaching
to favourable auspices. But every day's absence of
rain is an item of encouragement, and if we have the
proverbial dry March apprehensions as to future
results must be appreciably verified,

A NEW CAR,TRIDGR.—An entir.sly novel cartridge
has rpcently 'been tried in America (says Iron).
According to the inventor, the cartridge will not heat
the gun, it is self-ejecting, has twice the propelling
force of the powder, and is much cheaper. It will
also coat very much less than metallic cartridges c,f
gunpowder, and will not be injured bff water. Its
materials and mode of prepar4tion sae tieoreto, but in
appearance it is like paper pulp soaked in some explo-
sive material, and pressed into a hard roll. The ball is
attached to the end of the roll, and the whole thing
leaves the gun together, on the sky-rocket principle.
It may be adapted to any gun, and it is to revolu-
tionise the ordnance departments of the world, At
the trial, the inventor fired coo of the ball cartridges
into a spruce log inches thick. The ball passed
entirely through the log and a 2-inch plank behind it,
and flattened against a stone wall. After firing twelve
rounds out of the same gun, there was no apparent
heat and no fouling.
AN INTERESTING DiscovEuv.—On the subject of
visits of the living to the dead, "F. G." writes to
Notes and Queries IBM while a passage was
being constructed under the choir of St. George's
Chapel, Windsor, an aperture was accidentally made
in one of the walls of Menry VIII.'s vault. Three
coffins were seen, and it was supposed that one of
them might hold the remains of Charles I. The vault
was examined in the presence of George IV. and other
distinguished persons. On opening the coffin supposed
to contain the remains of the unfortunate monarch,
the body was found wrapped in cere-cloth, and the
damp folds about the face adhered op closely that on
being detached it was found to ietain an impress of
the Royal countenance—a circumstance which to
ardent loyalists would doubtless recall the legend of
Santa Veronica. The head was found to be separate
from the body, and the black hair of the head was cut
short at the neck, to facilitate the headsman's task.
But no circumstantial evidence was required to prove
that the remains of Charles I. had at last been found.
The long oval face, and the brown pointed beard,
which the pencil of Vandyck has rendered so familiar
to a?, were at once recognised. When the face was
first seen, the left eye was full and open, hut it
vanished almost immediately on exposure to the air.
After a short time, when the identity of the remains
was place 4 beyond a doubt, the coffin was clocd and
the vault was fastened up."