The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-02-15 00:00:00

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HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

THE RILED OLD LADY !—Thel following outburst
from an old lady who keeps poultry was called forth
by the intelligence of the manufacture of artificial
eggs in America being conveyed to her:—" 'Well, yes,
Sir! these 'Mericans may be clever but they do rile
folks' stomachs. First of all they rile the parsons wi'
their organs ; then they rile the fishmongers wi' their
cheap oysters—to say nothing of potted salmon and
lobsters. Next come the farmers, who is awful riled
about the beef and corn; and them ladies as haven't
got one is riled about the sewing_ machines. But
them egg!' as they're making now, we their hand, and
wi' blowpipes, instead of laying them like Christian
cocks and hens, is enough to rile the stomachs of all
creation in general, and poultrykeepere in particular,"
—Mark Lane Express.
THE HABITS oF PLAINTS.—It is well known that
plants sleep at night, but their hours of sleeping are a
matter of habit, and may be disturbed artificially, just
as a cock may be waked up to crow at untimely hours
by the light of a lantern. A French chemist subjected
a sensitive plant to an exceedingly trying course of
discipline, by completely changing its hours—ex-
posing it to a bright light all night, so as to prevent i
sleep, and putting t in a dark room during the (lay.
The plant appeared to be much puzzled and disturbed
at first. It opened and closed its leaves irregularly,
sometimes nodding, in spite of the artificial sun that
shed its beams at midnight and s metimes waking up,
from the habit, to find the chamber dark in spite of
the time of day. Such are the trammels of use and
wont. But after an obvious struggle, the plant sub.
nutted to the change, and turned day into night, with-
out any apparent ill effects.

- - _
HINT TO BEGGARS.—It is a fact not universally
known that upholsterers are generally chair-or-table
people.—Judy.
OLD SURVEYS.—Many of the Oxford colleges possess
splendid old vellum plans of their landed property.
We are aware of one college in particular which pos-
sesses such plans (executed about 1600) of the whole of
their then landed estates, comprising some few thou-
sands of acres. It is somewhat interesting to observe
how frequently the iine of fence and boundary is•
exactly the same as over 250 years ago, and the insetts
and offsetts are shown well-nigh as clearly and cor-
rectly as on the Ordnance Survey of 1878, &c. We
think it would be impossible to find better specimens
of survey work of this date. Only a few days since,
in a question of right of way to a detached meadow in
Hants Which had been recently sold by the College,
the right was determined by reference to one of these
plans. The meadow was sold with existing rights, but
no right of way was shown on the more recent plan of the
estate, nor was there any mention of it in the benefi-
cial lease by which it had been held. The way now
used was claimed as private property by the owner of
the adjoining lands, who had till the time of sale also
held the lease of the meadow. In the course of inquiry
and investigation into the matter the plan of 1600
showed that the very road existed at that date, and
that it was then a right of road to the college estate.—
Land Agent! Record. GI
DEAR SNOW.—The usual number of men employed
upon the scavenging of the streets of Berlin is 700.
But during almost the whole month of January it was
necessary to supplement the regular staff by a corps of
about 1,400 assistants in ordtrheeraettocnouctamlenlabreenracweoanafyesntthrteeeostfnsothw
During January, over 100,000 cartloads of snow were
e
*
an
d y
omet ag
re-
mained carried w
a a y ,
impassible.
snowfall (about December 11) to the end of January
over 140,000 loads of snow had been carted away, and
about 250,000 marks (212,500) expended on the
scavenging of the streets.

A STEEPLECH43E Ilecipmyr.—The officers of an
Indian regiment, on the march from a station far
down the country, wished to have a day's fun at
steeplechasing; so, at the first halt they made, they
got every native officer mounted, and extemporised
hurdles, hedges, and ditches. The "mounts" were of
all kinds, from the grass-cutter's ragged pony to the
subaltern's Waler. When the signal was given, 'a fair
,stellt was made; but there was one sower who could
not be induced to take the first jump. 14y shoutings,
by beatings, 4nd terrile " was at last
forced to take his steed over, 411 attention was then
directed towards the field, and he was never thought
of. Suddenly, however, somebody called attention
to the fact that the recalcitrant sower was • riding
like a demon, taking every jump in splendid
style. Wonder culminated when this sower actually
passed the winning-post first, with his mouth open,
and his eyes starting out of their sockets. When core-
plimented on his riding, he only groaned. an,:i looked
fearfully behind laim, his te3;ll chattering the 'while.
When the' other `riders, came up, this extraordinary
conduct was explained. It appears that, after his
horse had taken tha first, jump, he came up with a
brother sowar who had been "spilled." He next
made the acquaintance of the brother so war's horse.
which charged for him ferociously with yawning
mouth. Inspired with the deenereti=
terror, he
spurred hl,B horse to the quick, hit 'the "riderless steed
was equal to the occasion, and followed him remorse-
lessly. Jump aftei jump he took' with the open
mouthed brute close'behind.him ; and it veaa pot pnti.
he had been chased elOse py to the winning-post, and
chased literally into 'winning the race, that his irre-
ftPopthle but sivage pimttier VMS
iffri eaptured.--7Court

A HEALTHY PAEIFSH.—Mr. F. E. Jessett, Medical
Officer of Health, Erith, writes to The Times :—" The
parish of Ella' has proved itself one of the healthiest
districts that can be found, as the accompanying
figures will amply verify. The death-rate in the year
1876 was 1335 per 1,000; 1877, 13 5 per I,COU ; 1878,

118 per 1,000."
THE ARTISANS' DWELLINGS ACT.—It is understood
(says the •heffield Telegraph) that Mr. Cross contem-
plates the extension of this Act to the smaller towns.
"At present the measure can only be put in force in
towns possessing a considerable population, and it is
felt that in many of the country towns its provisions
are as much required as in the great cities. Its exten-
sion will be generally supported by all parties in the
House of Commons, and will give great satisfaction to
the smaller municipalities. The measure' in all pro-
bability, will form a prominent feature in the Govern-
ment programme for the year."
VELOCITY OF ELECTRIC SIGNALLING.—According to
the Monde de la Science, the time necessary for the
transmission of an elementary signal through an over- „
land wire 525 miles in length, between Paris and
Marseilles, is *024 second, while the transmission of the
signal through the 574 miles of submarine wire
between Marseilles and Algiers takes nearly ten times
this period, or .233 sec.—Electrician.

,
NOT TO BE OUT-DONE.—" How many vaientines
have you had, darling? "—" Oh, such lots—just
twenty-seven."—" I've had twenty-eight at least."--
" Oh, I forgot, so have I—twenty-nine, really; two
came the night before."—" Oh, that's nothing, dear;
I've had so many, papa has been obliged to tie up the
knocker."—Fun.
,
EXTRAODINABY VITALITY OF A HERRING.—Ort gomg
round the harbour here to-day at one p.m. I witnessed
the very rare phenomenon of seeing landed from the boat
B.F. 209 a live herring, as active and nimble as a
trout newly caught. The fish had lain unmolested la
a dark recess. upon the aide planking of the boat, but
out of reach of water, and as it seemed to be little the
worse for its terrene experiences, the herring was re-
turned to its own element again. Eor two or three
minutes it appeared bewildered, and, apparently from
excess of air in the air-bladder and body, it could not
manage to get much below the surface of the water;
but it quickly recovered-its powers, and swam down
to deep water. The crew of the B.F. 209 had finished
hauling their nets at eight a.m. this morning, so that
this tenacious herring survived after having been five
hours aboard the boat. Several rare instances have
lately occurred here in which live herrings were found
in the water below the boat's "limbers," but the our-
viva! of so delicate a fish as the herring for so long a
period is unprecedented in this quarter.—J. MURRAY
(Burghead), in Land and Water.

• _
How THE SNOW IS DEALT WITH IN PAEIS.—Iit
Paris they have had a greater fall of snow than has
occurred for a dozen years past, and here is the way ID
which the consequent block of the streets has been
dealt with :—ln ordinary weather the services of 2,500
sweepers are required, who receive full wages, besides
2,000 auxiliary hands on half wages. In exceptional
weather, like that experienced of late, any further
number of men may be taken on as the administration
may think fit. No fewer than 7,000 men are, there-
fore, ready at a given moment to ply their brooms in
every thoroughfare of the French capital, besides the
chiefs of brigades and the inspectors, each brigade
including 115 men. The ordinary full day's work
begins at three in the morning and ends at four in the
afternoon; the half day's labour begins at ten in the
morning. In urgent cases many of these men are
called upon to work for twenty consecutive hours at
time with no other rest than that afforded when they
take their meals. During the late fall of snow no lest;
than 60,000 days' work was needed to clear the main
streets, and it has been reckoned that 300,000 days'
work would be required 4o sweep away from evenY
thoroughfare the snow accumulated in them by twelve
hours' fall.

ARCHITECHNICAL.—A difficulty has again arisen, we
understand, as to the rating of some railway archee
used as stores, in one of the transpontine parishes.
Why not refer the whole question to the Dean of
Arches, and let him settle it once for all ?—Fun.
CURIOSITIES OF A LIQUIDATION.—Mr. W. Tut'
quand, of Tokenhouse-yard, London, and Mr. E. G.
Clarke (Tribe, Clarke and Co.), of Albion-chambers,
Bristol, the joint official liquidators of the West of
England Bank, have, it is stated, received over 0 '
thousand letters each week, from all parts of the
country, from shareholders, depositors, creditora
debtors, "parties to bills," and others, and it appease
that many of the envelopes are addressed in a some-
what eccentric style, the writers being evidentli
sorely puzzled as to the exact names, &c., of the twe
gentlemen appointed to wind up the company, as the
following specimens, sent to the Western Mail, will
show :—Turquand Clarke, Esq., London and Bristol;
Mr. Turkey Bank, Bristol; Messrs. Tokenhouse, Yard.
and Co. bankers, Bristol; Mr. E. G. Liquidator,
Turquand•street, Bristol; W. E. Bank Clarke Esq.,
Bristol ; Messrs. AlbioaChambers and Tribe, darke's-
yard, near Bristol; the Liquid Officials, Bristol Bank;
Tokenclarke Chambers, Esq., Turquand•yard, Bristol;
Turquid Bank, Esq., West of England.
A LIGHT,MEAL.—A feast of lanterns.—Judy.
THE DISTRESS AT SHEFFIELD.—A circular letter sysi
read in all the churches and chapels in Sheffield on
Sunday. The Mayor makes an earnest appeal for
fresh efforts to meet the distress still prevailing. The
relief fund amounts to £10,500, but the Mayor alr
nounces that the fund will be practically exhausted l°
the course of a fortnight, and that much distress still '
prevails. It is believed that an appeal will be mad° ,
beyond Sheffield.
PALEONTOLOGICAL DISCOVERY.—LateIy, when diF
ging out a cellar at Schonegg, near Salmhausen, 111
Suable, the workmen came, at a depth of 15 &Arai
upon the petrified remains of a huge monster embedslecal
in the sandstone. Intelligence of the discovery reache,
' Munich, and one of the curators of the Geologic.,°'
Museum went down to the spot and secured the fogui
Professor Dr. Zittel pronounces the remains to belea
to a colossal mammal of the middle tertiary period--_,,
the dinotherium, or walrufaelephant. This animal see'
distinguished by extremely stout and strong tusllli
having an outward direction, in the lower jaw, a specl;
men of one of which is preserved in the fossil. It be'
also large back teeth, each of which was furnished witicii
two or three square protuberances, admirably suite
for masticatory purposes. Three splendid specie:lo°4
of these formidable grinders are in the fossil. Is
belonged to the proboscis order of pachydermata, 110;
was probably, like the Nile-horse, an amphibiall
animal.
"A LIKELY SzostY."—lmpudent Young Brother.--
" Like your valentine? Ah I thought it would OW°
you! Coat me sixpence! But there, I don't grudg°
la!! "—Fun.
HIRING FAIRS.—Mr. Gladstone has written as fol"
lows to Mr. R. C. Cunninghame Grahame, in repla! t°
a letter from that gentleman on the subject of ha' ilig
fairs and their abuses :
"Sir,—The subject to which you invite my attention wat
I know, one that presented a very grave aspect when I knel
more of it than I do now. For nearly thirty years I have
no practical means of cot sidering it, and I am ef opiniq
that it would be prosecuted with much more hope of use!'
results by a resident in Scotland than by one residing I" t
distance as well as very fully occupied. At the same thne ,
should at any time give it such attention, as I could, bla'
without any idea of taking the initiative.— Yours very WO
W: E. GLADSToNE —February 7, 1879.
LION HUNTING.—A fine lion has just been shot l°
Algeria. A forester at Bouira was informed by am°
Kabyles that one of these animals had killed an oir.
He went to the spot and found the remains half de'
voured in a ravine densely covered with brushwood -:
a place not adapted, therefore, for It shot from a nigh'
ambush. He had them drawn to a position on one.
side of the ravine and fastened with a rope, whilst I/1
nightfall, becompany with an Arab, he stationed hilli'
self on the opposite side at about ten yards distant'',
Towards ten they heard the lions—there were severe
of them—settle down to their feast, The night wee
dark, and the forester could only be guided in his ail
by the sound. He fired, but missed his mark, ao°.,
with some dissatisfied growls the beast made off. The;
returned, however, after a short interval; btit 0:
forester determined to wait for the moan in aisle',
that his shot might be llamas sure of its effect!
and the lions after another meal seemed to halo,
settled down to sleep, for all sounds from tb)!
quarter ceased. After about two hours the Areb
aroused his drowsy companion, telling him thet
the animals had again attacked the remains of the e*
The desire not to miss his chance prevailed over tbe
• risk caused by the darkness of the night, for the mooo
had not appeared; taking aim as best he could, tile
forester fired a second time, but again without resul
The brutes made off hastily, but the hunter determine
to wait. Towards five in the morning the lions aglo
returned for another meal: by this time there wag,'
glimmering of light and they were visible. A wel''
directed shot with an explosive ball told on one of the
animals, which, with a fearful roar, responded to bt
its flying companions, sprang towards the thicke'
where the men were concealed. But the latter re'
mained perfectly motionless, and the animal, draggil
itself a few paces, gave another roar and then die,
with horrible convulsions. The ball had penetrate°,
behind the shoulder and traversed the lungs, whIP
were also much injured by splinters of shattered bone'
a l
THE CONTENTS OF A SADDLE•BAG.—The BisaoPo „
Grahamstown has been presented with a mitre, pa,
toral staff, cross, and a white cope of Japanese silll',
very suitable for the climate, and rich white clanallse
silk stole to match, all of which can be carried in?
saddle - bag. Dr, Merriman is not a Ritualt
In the address presenting him with it tPsy
donors say :—" The moue for fastening the cog'
across the breast is a copy from an old pattesa etiltl
like the cope itself, is very cheste aad ahapla, 01
suitable for a poor see and humble ecclesiastic':
surroundings. The n3orse is of silver, chased with tilt
vine-leaf in a cruciform arrangement of the leaves. a,
is set with four knobs or bosses, each with a yellow
topaz, a fine amethyst being set in the middle."
AUTOMATIC Courausele.—Seotch marriageo.—jaessli.
THE LATE PRINCESS AIIICE —The following is fro'
the Sydney Morning Herald of December 23 :—" Oil/
Excedency'e invitation to the people of New Seat°
Wales, to express their sympathy with her Majesty'
her treat affliction by going into mourning yestero4;
met with that response which none but loyal Subjee'l
can give. It was with unfeignes eorroW that the corLy,
munity herd of the'eieath Of 'the Princeas Alice el
Hesse. since the Melancholy tidings rgached tll°
colony the flags on the vessels in harbour; and ova
the consular and other offices in the city, have bee?,
kept at half-mast. Both Houses of Parlianlo"
adoptedthe g uee
na
:1
anddr es stehsi
this morning
sym pa
theth y
leinudja
17i.e
aepl
is 'cl 0
14 n
co 0 i
--eience svitll,
Sydney will do the same. AC4'
the metropolis - • -. ..ee vaeloas cisnrchec.l_,ll
the services had spec'
eltrc
h- 'whl : . oi f 7 ep: onri cli let eshYf if
torn one
w:VAeto s ehu minute
the t
rhdb Yaera :l
tip4tagO:en:er
withyinsrdsciOuWwYt feDdl ireaon
awnfieoe.i:drllpntbio.nyi
gn t
thei i
a 0
Aranrdtee
rtr
amowfaiednudettahit.
one were also fired from H. H.S. Wolverine, the flag'
EMIGRATION FROM LIVERN,q.—The official return
of the Ernieretion from the port of Liverpool during
January chow that in the month 66 vessels sailed from
the Mersey, having on boardt2,462 paesengers, of whona
1,436 were English, 45 Scotch,-247 Irish, 550 toreigners.
and 183 not distinguished. Their destination and
litiinbess were 1 896 to the -United States, 341 to British
N n•th America, 23 t..) Australil 68 to South America,
91 to the East Indies five to the West In'clies, four to
China, and 34 to the West Coast of Africa. These
fiks ,e, show an *ream of 23 Over thote for December,
anU oix over We rein= tor January, 1878,

*MOM