The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-06-28 00:00:00

CUTTINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS

Gentlemen of the jury," said a Tecumseh lawyer,
last week, "there .were just thirty-six hogs in the
drove. Please remember the fact—just three times
as many as in the jury box, gentlemen."
A New York woman unostentatiously points to the
fact that the funeral of her late husband cost but
eighty-two dollars, which is fifteen dollars less than
the neighbours thought-she could do it for, and
.yet
• there is not one of them who can say that anything
.was spared to make the .occasion a success, and one
long to be remembered;by all who participated in the
,ceremony.
Some people are born to.ill-luck. An old woman
who has pasted nearly LOOO medical receipts in a
book. during the past forty years, has never been ill a
,day in her life, and she is growing discouraged.
A little boy had gathered :a flower in the Botanical
Gardens in defiance of the 'rifles of the society. His
mother, a stately and somewhat pompous dame,
approathed one of the keepers, leading the culprit
other, and, in solemn tones,
vent." "No, beg your
with.one hand and holding forth the flower in the
said, " This is the delin-
parelon,.ma'am," replied the
civil offle4id, "that there's a polyanthus."
A Yankee editor wishes no 'bodily harm to his
subscribers, but he hopes that some of them in
arrears willbe seized with a remittent fever.
An lowa paper mentions the accidental shooting of
a doctor and lawyer, and has atrong " fears of their
recovery."
"Suicide now within reach of all—kerosene only
fifteen cents a gadlon," is the joyous announcement of
a Milwaukee pana7.
An officer in the United States ariniv laughed at a
timid women because she was alarmed at the noise of
a cannon when a slate was fired. Ire subsequently
married that timid woman, and six months afterwards
he took off his bootsin the hail when came in iltO
at nights.

'l'm glad this coffee ,Elen't owe me anything," .sai(l
~13r"11, a boarder, at breakfast. "Why ?" asked
°flaititl• "Because I dot believe.. it would over
settle."

"That's a beautiful coat you have on," said Onc
gentleman to another, "where does your tailor live? '
"On the .thirts of the town," was tie ready response,
" my wife and I," said a husband, with much
complacency, to his silver-wedding gusts, "who've
been married fiv.e-and-twenty years, and ih all that
time haven't had g, gingle unkind or exciting word with
eagh other." " Thunder ! " exclaimed one of the
"what a etuoi.4 Onie you numb hay.e hul a

A RISKY RIDE. ,

Signor Natalie, the property maxi of Abbey's Opera
Company, is the man who was -carried on a tight-rope
over Niagara River. He was interviewed by a Cin-
cinnati Times-Star reporter, and tells what his feel-
ings were while making this perilous ride: "That
was in the mnmer of Th 61,1 said he. "A tremen-
dons crowd of people gathered that day at the
Falls, and it was a •nice day for our purpose. I was
no performer, but acted, you know, in the capacity
of manager. In this peculiar event, however, Blondin
had to carry something over on his back, and as no-
body else had enough interest in the affair to be
willing to risk his life, or enough faith in Blondin's
strength and skill, to take such desperate chances,
I had to do the riding. Blondin wore tights, the same
as rope-walkers usually do, except that he had on a
sort of harness, so that I could reach around his neck,
and get a good grip without choking him, and so that
I could stick my legs through a pair of things like
slings, and cross them in front of him without inter-
fering with his arms or legs. lie carried an unusually
heavy balance pole. I think it weighed either 75 or
100 pounds. The entire weight he carried was about
250 pounds. The rope was stretched across the river
about where the new suspension bridge now stands—
much closer to the falls than the old bridge. Blondin
was very confident and firm, but of course we both
knew it was a desperate chance to take. He walked
first very slowly and regularly, but feeling more
settled he made occasional stops, stood on one leg,
kissed his hand to the crowd, and did a few other
such things as you have seen other rope-walkers do.
I could see the water a way down under us, and
the crowd on either side, everybody watching us
with faces which looked as if they were suffer-
ing. There was no cheering or applause while
we were out over the water, and the roar of the falls,
which seemed only a few yards away, would have
prevented us from hearing very plainly, even if there
had been. It was a terrible few moments to me;
more so to me than to Blondin, because he was used
to that kind of danger, and I was not. I did not
move a muscle for fear of tripping him, and, I can
assure you, I felt mighty good when we reached solid
ground again, and the people benn to yell and shriek,
and wave their handkerchiefs. You can form some
idea of how large the crowd was when I tell you
Blondin received 2000 dols. for the performance. We
went to Europe, and in a couple of years Blondin
made nearly 100,000 dols. ; and when I left him,
after six years' business, he was a very wealthy
man."