The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-05-22 00:00:00

Wllisultancous I(nttiligtnte,
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.


Some few amendments in the Sea Birds Preservation
Bill will probably be accepted by the -2ornmons from
the Lords, and then this bill will soon after the recess
become law, much to the satisfaction of the sea birds
if they could only take a human view instead of a
bird's-eye view of things. But why are pigeons merci-
lessly to be shot by a body of sporting noblemen and
gentlemen of the Gun Club and the Hurlingbam Park
Club? A writer sior.lug himself "Poor Pigeon,"
reminds us that the pigeon at this season of the year is
engaged in incubation, and perhaps feels inclined to
sing "Oh, would I were a gull !" for gulls are to be
protected while pigeons are shot by "swells." Just so,
the pigeona have ample cause for complaint. But it is
a very aristocratic sport just now, if sport it can he
called, as anybody can see by glancing at the names of
those who pull the inglorious trigger when "poor
pigeon" rises from his trap. Though the fact be not
chronicled, I am told that thousands of pounds change
hands during one of these shooting matches.
Is Wandsworth Common "no man's land," Crown
property, the property of the people, the lord of the
manor, or what? At any rate it appears to be dis-
appearing gradually, and, as to speak, going into the
pockets of builders. A case brought before a police
magistrate brings out some curious facts. A gentle-
man is summoned for maliciously destroying a fence.
He admits the destruction, but denies the malice, and
Ile urges that a railway company had enclosed about
ten acres, not for the purposes of their Act, and had
then sold it, "in a quiet sort of way," to a builder
About 110 acres of land have been inclosed in this way
during the last fifteen years. In this particular case
the summons was dismissed, the magistrate remarking
that the question of right had been raised. Yes, and
the question of right—a matter that interests the
public at large—has been often raised before, but it
seems never to be settled. The new lark at Fins-
bury has been gradually stolen—really the word is not
too strong—from the people in much the same way,
sad nobody knows who is to blame, who is to remedy
the evil, or how to prevent the continuance of it. To
Sue it appears that our laws about Commons and Waste
Lands are " aw a muddle," as Dickens's hero in "hard
Times" puts it. No less than £128,000 has been voted
this year for keeping up the parks and pleasure-grounds
of London—and quite right say I, as a denizen of the
metropolis, though people living a couple of hundred
miles off may think differently—and yet our suburban
commons are being eaten away, not by inches, but by
aces; and it seems nobody's business to stop it.
"Secretary required to a company of national im-
lmrtance. Salary good; hours 12 to 4; vacation six
weeks. Suitable only to • gentleman of position. £3O
required towards expenses." I think I have seen that
advertlsement before. If I were cross-examined I
might admit I had. seen it a dozen or twenty times
during the last year or so, and almost, if not quite, in
the self-same words. I do not know that l should
much object to such • berth. "Salary good "—yes,
that's it; "hours 12 to 4 "—very good ; not fatiguing,
and just enough to employ your mind; "vacation six
Wei k4"—good again ; with " salary good " one might
lave a nice continental trip during that period.

MR. MoTL&T ON ENOLAND.—In a lecture re-
cently delivered by Mr. Motley, the new Minister to
England, on " Historic Progress and American Demo-
cracy," Mr. Motley condemned the tone of English
society towards America during the recent war, but
bestowed a warm eulogium on Mr. Bright. The object
of the war was to decide "whether the great law of
history was a truth or a lie whether the human
race has been steadily, although slowly, progressing, or
whether we have been fatally drifting back to chaos."
The author trdced the progress of democracy in various
European nations, and spoke of our Reform Bill as
having accomplished a " vast revolution," destined to
place us "side by side," in full friendship and in gene-
rous rivalry of freedom and the arts of peace with that
Republic—both children of the ancient German
mother. "After all," lie added, " the English House-
hold Suffrage Bill is the fruit of the Appomatox apple
tree." He thinks that England is still a landed aristo-
cracy. "20,000,000 of men live in England, 30,000
men own England. The pyramid stands on its apex."
PASSING THE TlME.—Going by a Clock.—Punch.
A DUST STORM.—On the morning of the
3rd March, Melbourne, and in fact the whole of
Victoria, was visited by one of the most severe dust
storms which has ever been experienced in the colony.
Old colonists of thirty years' standing declare that
they never witnessed anything approaching to it.
Shortly alter seven o'clock the full force of the gale
commenced. At that time the city became enveloped
, in an impenetrable cloud of dust, and the wind swept
, along with a velocity and force almost inconceivable.
The sky was darkened by the dense clouds of dust,
mixed with gravel, which were hurried rapidly along;
in the inside of dwelling-houses it became impossible to
distinguish one article from another, and numbers of
persons felt convinced, says the Melbourne Argus, that
some alarming convulsion of nature was at hand. For
nearly two hours the wind maintained its violence.
POLITICAL LARCENY.—A recent mysterious rob-
bery is the subject of much conversation at Bucharest.
Prince Charles on the last night that he passed at Jassy
discovered that some one had stolen his travelling ease.
According to the Moldavian journals, the thief was
his own orderly officer, I.ieutenant Emmanuel Phis.
eanu, who was on intimate terms with a female
relative of Prince Couza. The motive of the act is
said to have been the hope of finding in the box some
confidential letters addressed to the Prince de Bismarck.
Pitisteanu at first tried to break it open with his sabre,
but did not succeed, and wounded himself in the hand.
14e then threw the box into a sink, where it was found
the next day. The delinquent afterwards endeavoured
to abscond, but was arrested. He has since confessed,
aiding that his object was not to steal money but only
papers. The box, moreover, contained only a small
stun in specie.
HORTICULTURAL Nam—For Flower Show Day
read Flower Shower Day.—Punch.
ABOLITION OF IMPRISONMENT FOR DEBT.—This
Bill of the Attorney-General has been amended and
reprinted. The most material alteration is the exten-
sion to all debtors of some provisions which in the
original bill applied only in county court committals.
This is effected by the introduction of anew clause en-
acting that "any person shall be deemed guilty of a
misdemeanour, punishable with imprisonment for a
term not exceeding a year, with or without hard
labour, if he has obtained credit under false pretences,
or by means of fraud or breach of trust ; or if he has
wilfully contracted a debt or liability without a reason.
able expectation of being able to pay ; or if he has,
with intent to defraud his creditors or any of them,
made a transfer of, or charge on, his property; or if
he has, with intent to defraud his creditors, concealed
or removed any part of his property since or within
two months before the date of anyunsatisfied judgment
or order for payment of money obtained against him.
The original bill had a clause providing that on the
prosemtion for an offence under this Act, the accused
should be entitled, if he should think fit, to be sworn
and give evidence as a witness. This clause is now
struck out.
A PERFECT CLOCK.—If the spirit of good
King Alfred, who invented the mode of measuring
time by burning candles of different lengths, could be
permitted, under the auspices of Mr. Home, to view
the wonders of modern civilisation, we doubt if any-
thing would interest the ingenious monarch more than
a clock which has just been completed for the cathe-
dral of Beauvais, and which far sin-passes all the
existing specimens of the clockmaker's art. This
wonderful piece of mechanism contains no less than
90,000 wheels, and indicates, among many other things
too numerous to recite, the days of the week, the
month, the year, the signs of the zodiac, the equation
of time, the course of the planets, the phases of the
moon, the time at every capital in the world, the
moveable feasts for 100 years, the saints' days, 3.:c.
Perhaps the most curious part of the mechanism is
that which gives the additional day in Leap Year, and
which consequently is called into action only once in
four years. The clock is wound up every eight days.
The main dial is twelve feet in diameter, and the total
cost exceeds £B.OOO.
THE LATE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN.—A curious
process, which concerns a heritage of the unfortunate
Emperor Maximilian of Mexico, is pending in Berlin.
When the Emperor was a prisoner in Queretaro,
various attempts were made to free him. Among
others, the ex-Minister of the Emperor, Don Navarra,
brought to the Prussian Ambassador of Mexico, Herr
Von Magnus, 10,000 pesos. not far from £6,500, with the
request that he would use the money for the liberation
of the Emperor. The efforts of Herr Von Magnus
were in vain. Now Don Navarra demands back his
money as his property. Her Von Magnus, however,
has paid the money to the Emperor Francis Joseph of
Austria, and the affair will be dealt with by the Prue.
aian Courts of Justice.
FATAL TERMINATION TO A DRINKING BOUT.—
Two labourers, named Vernon and Lecointre, have
been tried at Caen, France, for the murder of a man
called Emery, a farm servant. The three men had
been drinking together in a barn, and, after a short
dispute as to the share to be paid by each, the accused
attacked Emery with sticks, beating him on the head;
the last-named at first got away and went to a small
inn, but as the house was closed for the night the land-
lord refused to admit him. Emery then started off in
the direction of Lisieux, but his two assailants were
waiting for him on the road, and again fell on hiss,
and, after knocking him down, battered his head with
sticks and stones, and then left him to die in a ditch
half filled with water. Lecointre was now sentenced
to hard labour for life, and Vernon to twenty years of
the same punishment.
CURIOUS CUSTOM.—The Italie, of Florence, has
the following The popular fete of the Cascines
was very animated. The people dined on the grass
under the large trees. The children provided them-
selves with 'singing crickets,' according to custom.
The peasants had brought in some thousands of these
little black insects condemned to die in their wicker
prisons, after having more or less chanted their
melancholy cri-cri. For a sou, or even less, a griVon
and its small cage could be bought. This usage is
curious, and we have not met with it elsewhere. Al-
though the cricket is a favourite in all the countries of
the temperate zone, its sale on Ascension Day much
surprises foreigners. However, the taste for possessing
animals purely for amusement is inveterate in man,
and the fact is curious to notice that the children or
poor people, who cannot procure or feed a dog or
even a bird, content themselves with the purchase of
a cicala."
" LIGHT Durs."— Photographers' Charges.—
Punch.

POOR SULLIVAN ! The weekly " national"
journals have articles on the ex-Mayor of Cork's sur-
render. The Nation regards the occurrence with
regret and mortification, but does justice to Mr. O'Sul-
livan, who desires to disembarrass a Government which
he believed to have good intentions towards Ireland.
In the opinion of- the Nation, however, he should have
held his place until removed by the strong hand id
power. It regards his resignation as a deplorable mis-
take, but does not think it was due to any want of
courage on his part. The Weekly News says "he has
been sacrificed to a wretched combination of political
shufflers." The Irishman is very indignant with the
ex-Mayor for "selling the pass," as it charges him
with doing. It says i—
" This day week he waa the most popular man in Ireland;
to-day there is not a house In Helen L in which he is not
spoken of with contempt. This day week he was the cham-
pion of Irish rights awl municipal independence against the
arbitrary acts of the British Governnient ; to-day he is the
betrayer of both into the bands of the Minister."
These words, it thinks, are a very tame and quali-
fied expression of the feeling with which his conduct is
viewed. This is really treating his ex-Worship too
hardly, and it is not in accordance with the general
views of the Liberal Press, which commends the
Mayor's resignation as the most signal act of &sere-
thin which marked his official career. The Irishman
more accurately expresses the public sentiment in pro-
nouncing the more charitable judgment that "the
Mayor of Cork has made an enormous ass of himself."
It derived consolation from the reflection that the
national cause can survive such exhibitions.
KILLED BF SWALLOWING A SHRIMP.—An in-
quest was held at the Southampton Infirmary, on
Friday afternoon, on the body of Fanny Haynes, aged
ten mouths. It appeared that a day or two previous
the child's mother had partaken of shrimps for tea, and
deceased was given a small portion. She was suddenly
attacked with a tit of coughing, which continued till
she became black in the face. She was taken to the
infirmary in a dying state from suffocation, and the
resident surgeon immediately performed an operation on
the throat, and inserted a silver tube for her to breathe
through. This gave temporary relief, but the child
died the following morning. A postmortem examination
showed that portions of a shrimp covered with shell
had become lodged in the air-pipe of the right lung,
sufficient, the doctor said, to cause death. A verdict
of "Accidental death" was returned.
"ROCK-ti APPARATETS."—A Cradle.—Punch.
SuMSTHING LIKE A WlFE.—Very recently the
ship Chieftain reached this port from Calcutta, having
been safely piloted across two stormy oceans by a
woman. Captain Macguire was prostrated by fever at
Calcutta, and was unable to assume command, and
the mates were inexperienced and incompetent ; but
his wife, who accompanied hint, took his post, and
filled it bravely. She made all the observations her-
self. She kept the log-book. She was on deck at all
hours of the day and night. She watched the barometer.
She noted the shifting clouds and varying breezes.
But in the midst of her multiform duties she was unre-
mitting in her attention to her husband. In the sick
chamber she was soft, soothing, and tender; on deck
she was stern, unyielding, peremptory. The sailor
were well disciplined and obedient, the weather
favourable, the voyage short and prosperons. This
was being strong-minded to some purpose.—New York
Round Table.