The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-10-05 00:00:00

Mistellan ens Itt,elligentr.

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

NEW DISEASE AMONG HORSES.—An Australian
contemporary states that a disease among horses, the
exact nature of which is not understood, i reported as
having been very prevalent lately in the Kyneton,
Carlsruhe, Woodend, Romsey, and other districts of
that neighbourhood. Several cases are reported in and
around Kyneton, but it seems to be most prevalent at
Woodend, nearly every farmer in that locality having
suffered by the disease. One informant, who has
noted the symptom of the disease, states that the
animals when walking appear all right, but if they go
any faster stumble and trip up the hind feet, appa-
rently losing control of the hack sinews of their legs.
Swelling sets in and extends up the leg, and the
animal sometimes dies, sometimes recovers. Another,
who has five horses ill and a foal dead, states also that
the disease is not very apparent when the horses are
walking, but when they start to run their legs twist,
and they fall. —Land and Water.

THE PARIS THEATRES.—Theatre-going in Paris has
certainly not diminished under the Republic. In the
palmy days of the Empire the receipts of the theatres
during the year 1868 were only £640,600, in 1874 they
had risen to £920,000, and this year the incomings are
estimated to reach some £1,200,000. Paris now con-
tains forty-eight principal theatres, of which the
Chatelet, the Grand Opera, and the Ambigu-Comique
are the largest houses, while the Thattre Francais
annually presents the most varied programme.
Twenty-six of theatres employ 5,069 persons, the Opera
staff alone amounting to 596. Music-loving Parisians,
also, have 56 cafes-concerts, and 210 musical societies,
to say nothing of other varied styles of entertainments,
such as circuses, skating-rinks, Stc.
A Nzw DISEASE.—A peculiar form of disease of a
very terrible character seems to have been manifesting
itself recently in Italy. At the lunatic asylum of
Mantua the expenses have during the last eight years
more than doubled, and the cause of the increase is
said to be the spread of a malady called "pellagra,"
which accounts for 60 per cent. of the patients. "The
first symptoms of the pellagra," says the correspondent
of the Daily News, from whom we take our information,
"are manifest on the skin and in the mouth. Then
the intestines become affected, the muscular and
nervous functions, and finally the brain. A constant
and obstinate diarrhcea is one of the principal signs;
then utter loss of strength, so that the patient attempt-
ing to walk falls forward. Sight and hearing fail, and
in the post-mortem examinations the heart is found to
be extremely small. Extreme melancholy and a desire
for death invariably accompany the malady; sometimes
the patient becomes idiotic, but generally madness
assumes the more violent forms." The origin of
pellagra is attributed to the use of Indian corn as the
sole article of food.

WICKED OLD MAN I—Pastor. "You know, William,
what a deal you have to be thankful for; you are
blessed with health and strength, plenty of good things
to eat, warm clothes, and a comfortable home to live
in."—Blithesome peasant. " Werry true, sir; but do
you know sometimes I can't 'elp thinkin' as 'ow I 'as
it all took out ag'in in corns I "—Judy.
LOCUSTS IN CENTRAL AMERICA. —A plague of grass-
hoppers, or locusts, has appeared in the Central
American States, and the crops in Salvador, Hon-
duras, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua have been almost
entirely destroyed. The land has been turned into a
complete wilderness. The exportation of cereals and
vegetable produce has been prohibited, and the whole
population has been engaged in destroying the insects,
men, women, and children alike turning out into the
fields for the purpose. The Government of Costa
Rica has recommended the planting of potatoes,
which are said to be proof against the attacks of the
locust.

RUSSIA'S (ALT) ALLY.—Sheer necessity may compel
England to shear the wool of Sheer Ali ; a mere
apology from Ameer Afghan would be useless in the
present case, so we hope the Government will be
firm, and take Cabul by the horns,—Fun.

DISASTER AT SEA.—Particulars have been received
of the foundering at sea on the 11th ult, of the Spanish
frigate Pizarro. It appears that on the night of the
10th ult., in long. 57, lat. 37 30, the Italian barque
Carlo Frugoni observed signals of distress. She hove-
to and waited until daylight, when she found that the
Spanish man-of-war was in a sinking condition. The
crew of the latter came off in boats at seven a.m., but
did not reach the barque until four in the evening.
They were then in such an exhausted condition that
they had to be hoisted on board the latter vessel. The
steamer sank soon afterwards, and her crew saved
nothing but what they stood in. The Pizarro, which
had been three years in the West Indies, was home-
ward-bound. She left St. George's, Bermuda, on the
sth ult. for Fayal, and sprung a leak during a hurri-
cane on the 9th. Her crew threw overboard 11 guns
and baled with buckets, but the water rose rapidly and
put out the fires. The vessel was kept afloat for two
days by baling out, and when she was sighted by the
Frugoni her crew were completely exhausted. The
Pizarro was a vessel of 1,100 tons register, carrying 12
guns, and was commanded by Captain Aguado. Her
crew consisted of 153 persons, including officers,
marines, two doctors, and a priest, all of whom were
saved.

EARLY AND LATE BLOSSOMS.—" A.," writing from
Sidmouth, Sept. 29, to The Times, says :—" it is a
curious fact that rhododendrons have been in full bloom
in my garden for the last ten days. I have never seen
them blossom here before the middle of November, and
even that time was considered very early." The Rev.
E. Leaton Blenkinsopp writes from Springthorpe
Rectory on Sept. 30 :—" Not only are the laburnums
in my garden in bloom, but a laurel and a climbing
Devoniensis are flowering, lilacs are bursting their
buds, a plum tree is showing a second crop of plums,
and a pear tree a second crop of pears."
THE YELLOW PUNIC.—The Pekin Official Gazette
lA:dishes a decree of the Emperor Kwang-su conferring
the Yellow Tunic as_' special mark of Imperial appro-
bation upon the Chinese banker Wu-ti-tu-lu, of
Shanghai, who upon the occasion of the expedition to
Kashgar assisted the Imperial Government with a few
millions of dollars at moderate interest. This gar-
ment is made of yellow silk, and has on the back a
dragon, the arms of the Chinese Empire, embroidered
in gold and black silk-. It is the oldest decoration re-
corded in history and is the most distinguished in
China, being conferared only on most extraordinary
occasions. Two Europeans only have over received it.
One was Colonel Gordon, the present Governor of
Soudan for the Khedive, who rendered great services
to the Chinese Government during the Taeping re-
bellion. The other was the French engineer Giguel,
who built the military arsenal at Ma-moi, in Northern
China,

Mn. GLADSTONE ON PUBLIC SPEAKLMG.—Mr. Glad-
stone, in acknowledging a copy of a recently-published
work on "Clergyman's Sore Throat" has addressed a.
letter to the author (Dr. E. B. Shuldham) on the sub-
ject of the management of the voice in public speaking.
"No part of the work," writes Mr. Gladstone,
" surprised me more than your account of the various
expedients resorted to by eminent singers. There, if
anywhere, we might have anticipated something like a
fixed tradition. But it seems we have learnt nothing
from experience • and I can myself testify that even
in this matter fashion prevails. Within my recol-
lection an orange, or more than one, was alone, as a
rule, resorted to by members of Parliament requiring
aid. Now it is never used. When I have had very
lengthened statements to make, I have used what is
called egg-flip—.a glass of sherry beaten up with an
egg. I think it excellent, but I have much more faith
in the egg than in the alcohol. I never think of em-
ploying it unless on the rare occasions when I have
expected to go much beyond an hour. One strong
reason for using something of the kind is the great
exhaustion often consequent on protracted expectation
and attention before speaking.
ALUM AND DYSENTERY.—Dounon's observations go
to show that dysentery caused by the introduction of
Anguillula stercoralis and dysenterica Anklystonta
dyseittrica, gto., into the intestinal canal by means of
polluted water may be avoided by dissolving alum in
the water, although this is, of course, a less desirable
method than that of boiling the water. The treatment
with alum has, it is said, been successfully used by the
natives of Annam front early times; while for several
years it has completely protected the French troops in
Cochin China from this dreadful scourge.—Academy.
AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.—The follow-
ing are the average prices of British corn for the week
ending Sept. 28, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 419. sd. ; barley, 41s, id. ;
oats, 225. 10d. ner imperial qr. Corresponding week
last year :—Wheat, 565 d.; barley, 435. 11d. ; oats,
255. 3d.

A PRIMITIVE GUIISMITH.—Anyone paying a visit to
a gunsmith's factory in Monghyr, in India, will look
in vain for any of the modern appliances invented for
the destruction of life (says Land and Water). Mr.
Lockwood, in his narrative of natural history, sport,
etc., in this region of India, gives a sketch of the
manner in whil the gun-making art is followed there.
Instead of steam-hammers, tall chimneys, boring and
other machines, the visitors will most probably see a
little old man squatting with his nor resting on his
knees, hammering a piece of Swedish iron into shape,
whilst his still smaller son wil lbe seen working the
bellows to bring the scanty stock of charcoal into the
required glow. Another man in the corner of the hut
is filing up the gun locks which are firmly grasped
between the manufacturer's toes, or he is chiseling out
the stock from a rough block of sissoo wood. When
the gun is ready it appears to European eyes a
treacherous weapon, more dangerous to friends than
foes, and inclined to burst on the slightest provocation,
In reality it is stated to be a serviceable weapon,
and certainly cheap at the modest price of twenty
rupees, or two English pounds.
THE QUEEN AND THE QUAKERS.—At their recent
yearly meeting in London, the female members of the
Society of Friends adopted a memorial to the Queen
on the peace question, urging her Majesty to bring
her powerful influence to bear, on every occasion, in
favour of such measures of wise conciliation and for-
bearance as may, under the blessing of Almighty God,
not only now prevent war, but tend to place the peace
of the nations upon an enduring basis. To this
memorial an answer wee sent, first through Mr.
Secretary Cross, formally acknowledging the receipt
of the memorial, and in response to a personal letter
enclosing a duplicate of the address, an acknowledg-
ment was returned from Balmoral, by the Queen's
desire, to a leading.inerr:bsr of the body. No expres-
sion of opinion isgiven An either reply, but the Queen's
thanks are tendered for certain technical explanations
sent with the cluphoate copy.