The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-09-05 00:00:00

j.: istittantous 4nititigenal

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL

LADY Doc-rons.—The number of female doctors in

the United States is nearly 2500.
AN AGED KING.—The death is reported of Stall°
Abdul Munin, the ruler of the kingdom of Bruncil,
the island of Borneo. He is said to have attained the
age of 114 years, during 30 of which he had occupied
his throne, being probably the oldest sovereign in the

world.
Suss SPOTS.—Some groups of spots have latelia
developed themselves on the upper portion of the swill
surface. The largest of them measures superfici.a,all9
about 20,000 geographical miles in length by from Mu',
to 7000 miles in width. This spot is towards the rigu
of the upper surface, and can be easily made ou
through a darkened glass.
THE POET LAUREA.TF.—A new volume of poems hY
Lord Tennyson is expected to appear presently.
GOLD ON THE COLUMBIA.—From all accounts the
appears to have been lately discovered on M'Cullueb
Creek, on the Selkirk range of mountains in British
Columbia, near the big bend of the Columbia river,
the Canadian Pacific Railway, a vein or lode of exceeu:
ingly rich gold-bearing quartz.
SHOCKING Muneen.—A Dublin correspondent tel,
graphs some particulars of a shocking murder, reporW
to have been committed at the village of BlaCkhill,,°°'
Wexford. A small farmer named Hanley has been
some “-ee bordering on insanity, and owing te -
violent conduct his wife sought refuge in a neighboul '
house, leaving two little girls of seven and foureaed
home. Subsequently Hanley threw the eldest es•'-:t
out through the window, and then killed the younge'
with a band which she wore round her neck. This he
forced down her throat with a stick and choked her,
finally throwing her dead body through the windoW•
The eldest child escaped unhurt.
TERRIBLE ACCIDENT.—A terrible accident occurred
near Brighton on Monday evening to a party of London
excursionists, returning in a brake from a resort kneWea
by the name of the Devil's Dyke. In order to pses,„"
number of vehicles at a narrow part of the road,
coachman pulled his horses on to a bank, when iraln!:
diately the brake turned over and the passengers were'
violently hurled into the roadway. Fortunately no 00°
was killed ; but about a dozen ef the passengers Were
more or less injured.
VENICE UNDER THE ELECTRIC LIGIIT.—OIIe of
the
most recent innovations of modern science is the in'
troduction of the electric light into the old primitive
city of Venice. It was considered a sacrilege wile°
boats propelled by steam were a few years ago intro.
duced upon the canals of that quaint city, but the
people became accustomed to them, and they will 00
get used to the electric light, which will add brilliassi
to the city if not picturesqueness to a gliding
gondola.
PREHISTORIC SIDON.—Ati interesting discovery hag
lately been made at Sidon. Some natives who were
excavating for stone, after penetrating through the
alluvial soil, dug through a deposit of blown sand si%,
metres in depth, below which they found a stratum 01.
earth containing flint implements, fragments of coat°
red pottery, and other objects, ammo- which a elal
whistle may be noted. It is clear, therefore, that ths
Phcenician city of Sidon was preceded by an older
settlement whose inhabitants were still in the stole ,
age.
THE INCOME AND EXPENDITITRE OF THE CORP°rti!.;
TION OF LONDON.—From the Corporation accounts
appears the produce of the City's estate druSeg the
year amounted to £655,760 ss. 9d., including a beeko°l
in hand at the commencement of the year °
£15,866 Os. nd. The total expenditure during the Yee«
was £681,609 Os. id., thus leaving a balance in hand a'
the end of 1884 of £4151 ss. Bd.—" City Press."
THE LONDON LYCEUM. Report has it that the
Lyceum Theatre is being decked with hangings of OW
rose colour, and to give it a light and airy appearal
the interior of the building will be decorated in
brighter tones than heretofore. Aueeher adaptatici
of "gold colour " will be a show of Mr. Whistler's rect.°
work, Harmonies and Symphonies in water colours!,
pastels, and pigments that is presently to be arrangeln
on a" field of cloth of gold" in Messrs. Dowdesul
and Dowdeswell's galleries. The collection, vve„gt,,
told, will boast of more than one portrait of Mr. Wu"
ler's patrons, in the Pablo Sarasate manner.
SHAKESPEARIANA.—The new "Shakespeare Societife
which at first intended to reprint the best Shakespea,ar,
quartos has given up its scheme in favour of
Furnivsa's proposal, that is, to issue a series of ploUrt
lithographic facsimiles of all the most imports°s
Shakespeare quartos, to be executed by Mr. Char%
Prmtorms, whose long experience at the Brit.
Museum is sufficient to guarantee the entire faithf e .
ness of their reproductions. The Duke of Devonshir
Mr. A. H. Huth, the trustees of the British Muse°,ll:l3
Trinity College, Cambridge the curators
Bodleian Library, Oxford; and the Senate of the ut'e
versity, Edinburgh, have allowed their treasures to
qr.
reproduced. The series will be published by to
Quaritch. Among the quartos now ready are the try,
Hamlets," 1603 and 1601; The Rape of Luerec.S:
1594; the two "Midsummer Night's Dreams," 161-)v;
"The Merry Wives,"" Richard 111.;' &c.
'
ARTISTIC DRESS.—The painters, sculptors, and - elss
gravers of Dresden and Dusseldorf have decided by 13
great majority to discard the inelegant costume whi_c,
characterises the civilisation of the present centUE
and to return to the picturesque garments that tui;
German artists wore in the seventeenth century. lit et
about the same costume that Rubens wore: black veiv
breeches, marine-blue stockirgs, a velvet vest triretqa
with red silk, and a large felt hat, a costume that tas
late Count Lalance, of Brussels, persistently wore. 0 -
"FIOODMAN BLIND."—The new play at the LOW°,
Princess's Theatre, has turned out a complete succe!',
A little careful pruning and a few judicious alteiread
tions have removed most of the faults, and ad°„o
greatly to the general smoothness and dramatic fsS„,
to the piece, which now draws nightly crowds of eO5
siastic admirers. The acting too has ga'.ned gr!ls. t
scene, in which "Jack Yeulett " accuses his innoctbs
and unsuspecting wife of treachery, is one ef itcr,
strongest in the roll of modern drama • and here ,
Barrett's acting is masterly; it is a whirlwind Of Pstes
sion, which carries everything before it, and holds es
spectator breathless to the end. The American e„di -
Australian rights of " Hoodman Blind" have alre'd
been disposed of: the former to Messrs. French 6,0
Son, and the latter to Mr. J. C. Williamson, who be
lost no time in securing a play which bids fair to belog
universally popular. The visitors on the °Pe 0 a
nights to the Princess's were considerably in eaq.so
those who attended the first performances Of
Silver King."
131.101‘'
AN HISTORIC Hosin.—Ankerwyke House,
inghamshire, the ancient home of the Harcourt falti4ce
including" Magna Charta Island," on or near sole, s
King John signed "the bulwark of British lib%
in 1215, is announced for sale early next month. ,t,ti°
estate comprises nearly 700 acres, with a rental of e. of
over £2OOO a year. Ankerwyke is in the putis'"eir
Wraysbury, between Staines and Datchet, and is tab
brated for the picturesque beauty of its trees, W.Wver
form a conspicuous feature when seen from the qed,
side. Ankerwyke was once a Benedictine Falbeet
founded in honour of St. Mary Magdalen by Sit Lf.altare
Montfichet, in the reign of Henry 11. It was u'aeo
wards given by Edward VI. to Sir Thomas Smith, " ta
resided there. Of the monastic buildings, accordl,3gso
Murray, only the hall remains. In the grounds local
immense yew-tree, beneath which, according t°' all •
svi
tradition, Henry VIII. made an appointment
Anne Boleyn. the
Tun ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS.—The additions rde
Zoological Gardens during the past week We."'" Os
Rhesus monkey from India, presented by
Pelditch ; a Beaman potto from West Africa, PreWee
by Mr. C. R. Williams; two gerbilles from Sc4l
presented by Surgeon Major J. A. Shaw; two W Ark
faced tree ducks from West Africa, presented blifeSi
Cecil Dudley; three green turtles from the poi
Indies, presented by M. C. Angel, F.Z.S.; a
monkey from India, presented by Mr. J. ea O'llau°6oeo
two narrow-barred finches from Java, an Indian ete
bill from India, an Amaduvade finch, from IntliVeo
seated by Mr. Horace Sanders; a short toed
from Southern Europe, presented by Mr, P. or
Sotheran ; a Mons monkey from South Afriee'er
sented by Mr. White; a white-necked crow from
Africa, deposited; nine gold pheasants, receiver,are4:
the Right Hon. George Sclater•Booth,
shoulder dove, a Coquerel's lemur, a collared IPUit
bred in the gardens. ecefiwnr
COAL IN AMERICA.—In a lecture on coal,
delivered at at Philadelphia, it was stated by tbe tore,
that the United States.have an area of 440,00° 7,ies'A
miles of coalfields; 100,000,000 tons of coal we &Cost-
in the country last year, enough to run a rusgribioe,l
the earth at the equator 5j feet wide and 5i fee"l
and there is enough coal in the United StateS_nto -vesrr
the whole world for a period of 1500 to 2vvv_, ANT
The question of the exhaustion of the rrer trw
therefore, is not immediately important. eele,sot
cite coal in Pennsylvania, it is stated, will solo
years, while the bituminous coal in the satne ver
will supply the world for 57 years, and the tl
States for 350 years. The same lecturer state" fatnii
took a prodigious amount of vegetable matter t° resell
layer of coal; that it was estimated that the Tv ose;
growth of the world would make a layer eil3€oo
eighth of an inch thick,, and that it WOUl",ticicr
million of years to form a coal bed 100 fest "
"Iron." filv"
n boaS .
ESSAYS ON THE POETS.—The prizes give
Crawshay for essays on Byron, Shelley, and IC•Ta; 0,1,
fallen as follows: "For essay on " Childe Frurnald
prize, Miss Ella D'Arcy •, second prize, Alley tu:a
White. For essay on Shelley's "PrometheniLeesas
prize, Miss Greenfield ; second prize, divided wicesto4
Miss Melley and Miss Tayler. For essay en, sesoej
" Endymion," first prize, Miss F. LlewelleYnieoolo
prize, Miss Portal. The advice of a PrA° orilf,„01
examiner has in each case been acted en, reoir-
the case of one of the smallest prizes has the 4 r'
been in any degree known to the donor. ;APO op
A PLANT PROTECTION SOCIETL—An assoes'aeoeto,
the protection or plants has been started tit She Def
The object is to preserve Alpine rarities fr0.ma,000,4
termination with which the annually increaslrtieeevie.
of botanists, mercenary collectors, and men° The Piiig
tourists .generally is said to menace them. ge gesto
Sectors of the association announce that thfoli
to cultivate the flowers of the Alps in 1ig71,0
sell them at such low rates that it will
any one's while to dig up the wild plants. whieli delJ
BEDSTEADS.—There are no shapes into the 0,014
can be twisted which are not to be seen aUesffø
for spring beds. The first one was patente_slffeas
years ago. It consists simply of thin and 7,f the 014
of metal running lengthwise and crossvvise feer
oftsao:
and riveted at the intersections. For 4,0 enb wool
thereafter the rage seemed to be for ean'io thew (7'
tures for bedsteads then came the wire 6ea rargtstie4
strips. Some bed 'frames were consl)°,Blriallyl.4
rubber, and these must have been deligi eaper7ot iej
Humanity went through a long course ° a to riftiee;
however, before it found the easiest WA", corerjo
weary bones, and the sybarite who bitte_s,aoed OS
because one of the rose leaves which ceVonlelobl;
had become crumpled, would have fnun•te nop' tegao
contrivances invented for his comfort grileave OTet..e 0 I
The oldest model for a bedstead that wegrind
st:r`t
is dated June 11, 1829. Only en° r4ntien '3l thert;e4
bar appear in the model, and the inclein toad
been either of a new way of putting rtinon
of a reversible post which would stsn"
with equal ease.

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