The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-09-08 00:00:00

Vistritantons •itt,eltioettrte

flOtat, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAI,

SCENE—PHYSIOLOGY CLASS.—Professor (explaining
the renewal of the human frame). "The human body
is entirely renewed every seven years. For instance,
Miss Brown, in seven years' time you will be no
longer Miss Brown."—Miss B. (aged 15, emphatically).
"I hope not, sir ! "—Moonshine.

A NEW DANGER FOR TOURlSM—Travellers in the
Alps are threatened by a new and novel danger. A
few days aince„as two tourists were making the ascent
of the Huudatein, Canton Appenzel, they were at-
tacked by an eagle, which, after circling round them,
tried to swoop down first on one and then the other.
After defending themselves for some time with their
Alpenstocks the tourists beat a hasty retreat. It is
supposed that the eagle's nest was somewhere in the
neighbourhood,

Nov QUITE SATISFIED.—"You say you are from
New York ?" queried an old farmer in Massachusetts
to a New Yorker, who had halted at the faraphouse
to ask for a drink of buttermilk,—" Yes. "—" Do bus.
Mess there ?"—" Yes ; I'm in Wall street.— I am a
broker. "—" Broker, eh ?—Do much breaking ;"
"Well, I'll leave that to my customers to decide. I
do the beet I can, however. —" Well, you look as if
you might be respectable if you had a chance," said
the old farmer; and turning the borner of the house he
called out to his wife, in a voice plainly heard at the
gate :—" Say, Mariar, here's a feller from New York
who wants a glass of buttermilk. He looks all right
and I guess he'll pay cash down, but it won't do any
harm to thin it down pretty well with spring water.
—American Paper.
EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY AT SEA.—It is reported
from Halifax that the wreck of a vessel has just been
discove.:ed which has been missing for more than ten
years. The wreck, too, was found in an extraordinary
manner. Scme months ago the English steamer Cedar
Grove was wrecked near Torbay on the Canadian
coast, several lives being lost. A diver who was carry-
ibg on his operations at the Cedar Grove on the 16th
ult. was surprised to come across another vessel, which
was lying close to the Cedar Grove, but in deep water.
The name New Dominion c mid be distinctly read on
the stern of the stranger. It appeared that the brig
New Dominion sailed from Cow Bay, Cape Breton, in
December, 1C72, with a cargo of coals for Yarmouth,
U.S. Since then nothing had been heard of the vessel
or her crew until the discovery made by the diver. It
is assumed that the New Dominion struck upon the
same rock as the Cedar Grove, afterwards sliding off
into deep water, and taking down with her all on
board.

DIVORCE IN • SWITZERLAND.—The Statistical Office
in Berne publishes an analysis of the marriages and
divorzes during the year 1881. The proportion of
marriages to population is very low as compared witb
other countries. The average was 74 per 1,000 in.
habitants. Out of every 1,000 men and 1,000 women
of marriageable age 49 men and 38 women were
married. These hgures show a falling off. On the
other hand, the number of divorces was greater than
that of any previous year. There were 1,171 suits for
divorce, and 946 decrees of dissolution of matrimony
were granted. Religious differences are one of the
most frequent causes of divorce, a circumstance which
is accounted for by the mixture of races in the Con-
federation.

THE ORIGIN OF THE POSTAGE STAMP—The postage
stamp was born in London, on the 10th January, 1840,
and England employed it alone for ten years. France
adopted it on the let January, 1849, and Germany in
1850. According to M. Alphonse Esquires, it was a
curious incident that gave rise to the idea of postage-
stamps. A traveller wal crossing, about forty years
ago, a district in the north of England. He arrived at
the door of an inn where a postman had stopped to de-
liver a letter. A young girl came out to receive it ' • she
turned it over and over in her hand, and asked the
price of the postage. This was a large sum, and
evidently the young girl was poor; for the postman
demanded a shilling. She sighed sadly, and said that the
letter was from her brother ; hut that she had no money;
and so she returned it to the postman. The travel-
ler was a man who rambled about the eartb for in-
struction and observation. Having a good heart, he
offered to pay the postage of the letter, and, in spite
of the resistance of the girl, he paid the shilling.
This resistance m•tde him reflect. Scarcely had the
postman turned his back, than the young innkeeper's
daughter confessed that it was a trick between her
and her brother. Some signs marked upon the en-
velope had told her all that she wanted to know, but
the letter itself contained no writing.

THE GOOD TIME COMING 1-01 d Pawkins always
bathes from the beach—much jollier than those
beastly damp, draughty machines, says old Pawkins.
Conversation overheard by our Artist not far from
old Pawkins' bathing.place. Aunt: "Why wherever
have you been to, Jack? and where's Sissy?"—
Jack (with much pride): "Oh, we've had such fun!
We went along the sands ever so far' -end saw an old
gentleman bathing; and then we found his clothes
behind a rock, and Sissy filled his hat with sand, and
I put a crab into each of his boots, and as we came out
&say found a jelly-fish, and she's gone back to put it
in his tail-coat pocket ! "—Judy.
A REMINDER OF GARFIELE; AND CIESAR.—When
the traveller is ascending the trail to -Glacier Point,
in the Yosemite Valley, the guide will point out to
him an immense mass of detached granite, which goes
by the appellation of Garfield Rock. Its name is
derived from the fact that on the night before the
inauguration of the lamented President, owing to the
action of the weather and other causes, it separated
itself from the face of the cliff and went thundering down
the steep sides of the mountain, Nine times it crossed
the trail and was finally arrested, being deflected from
its course by striking an immense pine, whieh it nearly
cut in two, as if with an axe. There it lies in plain
eight, a simple explanation of the disintegrating pro.
cesses of nature and is valuable stimulus to the observer
to engage in geological speculation and research. The
Garfield rock has left a picture on the face uf the cliff.
Where it formerly adhered appears a white spot on a
dark ground of granite. Viewed from many points in
the valley, this spot bears a suggestive resemblance to
the head of Otesar, as seen in the busts of the im-
mortal Roman. The profile is not exact, but the
laurel wreath is plainly made out.—Detroit Free Press.