The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-08-30 00:00:00

Mistellantous 4ntilligenct,

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

AMERICAN JOINERY.—A very considerable trade has
been gradually diverted from England of late years,
in the shape of machine-made doors window-sashes,
and other joinery, which are now being furnished to
this country and to our Australian colonies in very
large numbers. The trade first commenced in 1877,
when 2,800 doors were shipped to Great Britain, an
amount which last year was increased to 45,000. The
New York makers, with whom this trade originated,
are complaining that California is taking it away
from them, very much to the detriment of the Eastern
States. In fact, the bulk of the Australian demand
is now supplied by California, which sent last month
over 27,000 doors, while the New Yorkers had only
orders for 5,000. As much of the pine wood used in
England comes from the States, the diversion of a
manufacture of so much importance is a double loss to
this country.

BISMARCK AND BANTING.—A morning contemporary
supplies the following information with respect to
_ _ _ _

• "PRINCE BISmARCIL—It is stated in Berlin that one
result of the stay of Prince Bismarck at Kissengen has been
a considerable reduction of his weight and bulk."
-

Of his bulk, perhaps; and it may be none the worse for
the Great Chancellor that his shadow is less than it
was. But his weight apparently remains, in European
politics, at least, as great as ever.—Punch.

SIR H. BEssEssEn's REAT TELESCOPE.—Sir H.
Bessemer has had constratted a telescope of great
magnitude and extraordinary power. In designing
the instrument it was with him a desideratum that—
unlike the great telescope of Lord Rosee—it should be
placed in a commodious and comfortable observatory,
and not stand in the open air, exposed to the vicissi-
tudes of a climate like ours, and further, that it should
be capable of being directed to any part of the
heavens at will. With this view he designed a per-
fectly novel self-acting telescope, at which the ob-
server can sit or stand in an upright position in the
centre of the floor of the observatory, looking straight
before him into the eye-piece, which is placed five feet
six inches above the floor. There are also two 7. inch
achromatic refracting telescopes attached to and
moving with the larger instrument to serve as
"finders," and having their eye-pieces in close proxi-
mity to the eye-piece of the great telescope. The
observatory at Denmark-hill, Surrey, in which this
large instrument is to be erected, is now approaching
completion, and is admirably situated, commanding an
uninterrupted view nearly down to the horizon on all
sides. It consists of a massive dwarf tower fifty feet
in diameter, with a stone balustrade and promenade
around it.
CARRIER PIGEONS AND THE FISHERIES.—The car.
rier pigeon is being turned to good account by some
of the fisherfolk on the north-east coast of Scotland.
When the herring shoals are far from land and the
weather is calm the fish-curer is usually kept in ignor-
ance as to the success or otherwise of his boats until a
late hour of the day, and is, consequently, unable
to make adequate preparation for dealing with the
fish when they are landed. Profiting by the ex-
perience of the Parisians during the siege, an enter-
prising fish ourer at Wick a year or two ago procured
several carrier pigeons from Antwerp, and placed one in
each of his boats before they took their departure in
the morning for the fishing ground. Early next morn-
ing the birds arrived at his home bearing messages
from the boats, stating the extent of their hauls, their
whereabouts, and probable time of reaching the
harbour. The experiment was so sucessful that some
other fishermen followed the example set them. As a
rule fishermen are not hasty in adopting improve-
meas, even when the object of these is to provide for
their own comfort and convenience; but it is such an
obvious advantage for everybody to have the earliest
information as to the result of the night's toil at sea,
that it is reasonable to hope that in another season or
two the employment of pigeons will have become
general.
RABIES IN DOGS.—The Graphic remarks z—" The
medical opinion appears to be that rabies in dogs has
little or no connection with hot weather, but it cer-
tainly is a curious coincidence that during the past
wet summer we have noted three cases of rabies only
against seven or eight times that number in previous
years. The use of aconite as a cure for distemper
appears to be increasing, but in unskilled hands it is
rather more dangerous than the disease it drives out.
A veterinary surgeon should alone administer this
deadly poison. Even a small overdose of aconite
throws the dog into convulsions, while a large over-
dose drives the poor animal mad, even if it doss not
promptly kill it."
FEVER AND AGUE,—The Wabash (Indiana) country
has always been celebrated for the persistency and
quality of its fever and ague. A local physician thus
describes the genuine Wabash article :—" It comes
creeping up a fellow's back like a ton of wild cats,
goes crawling through his joints like iron spikes, and
is followed by a fever which prohibits the patient
from thinking of anything but Greenland's icy moun-
tains, It isn't the every other day kind, but gets up
with a man at daylight, and sleeps in the small of his
back all night. His teeth feel about six inches long,
his joints wobble like a loose waggon wheel, and the
shakes are so steady that one can't hold conversation
except by putting in dashes,"
EXPLAINING THE RELATIONSHIP !—A telegram was
received in Colorado directing the proper authorities
to arrest a young man who it was alleged had run
away with his aunt. " I have an order for your
arrest," remarked the officer, addressing the supposed
criminal. "For what ? " "You have been running
away with your aunt." "My aunt! Why, she's my
wife I" "But wasn't she your aunt before she became
your wife? You see we don't tolerate those kind of
goings on in Colorado." "I suppose you never were
in Utah?" remarked the young man, after he had
completed his survey of the detective. "No." "Well,
as you don't understand the relations of an aunt and
nephew in that territory, I suppose I ought to explain
them to you, and then, perhaps, you may see your
duty plainer. My father married my mother." " I
suppose so." "then he married her sister," con-
tinued the stranger, without heeding the interruption.
"Then he married the sister of his brother-in-law.
Then the daughter of his uncle, who was a Cousin
to his first two wives, then he married her sister, .ho
was the widow of one of his first wives' husbands;
then he married her daughter; and a son of this
wife married my sister, who was also a widow of one
of the other wives' sons. I suppose you are follow-
ing me," interjected the narrator, "Marry your
aunt or your grandmother either, or both of them."
"And you won't arrest me ? " "No, you might be
your own father !"
THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT IN FRANCE.—The num-
ber of persons killed in the railway accident at Flers
amounts, according to the latest accounts, to nine,
while those who were injured numbered 51. Many of
the latter have received such severe injuries that
further deaths are not unlikely. It is estimated the
West of France Railway Company will have to pay
not less than 2,C00,000f, by way of compensation to
the injured, or to the families and representatives of
the passengers who lost their lives in the disaster.
The Times.

CAUTION AGAINST VIPERS.—Mr. Frank Buckland
cautions grouse shooters against vipers. August and
September are the months in which vipers are most
numerous in the heather. The brutes will not move
out of the way till they are trodden upon, and they,
generally choose warm, sunny, sandy banks. Sports-
men about the New Forest neighbourhood are in the
constant habit of wearing leather gaiters, especially in
the early part of the shooting season. A viper's tooth
is very delicate and needlelike •' it could pierce a wor-
sted sock, but would not go through a leather gaiter.
All sportsmen, when in a viper country, should carry
with them a bottle of equal parts containing lime
water and linseed oil, and also a bottle containing
strong ammonia, in the form of eau de lace, obtainable
at any chemist's. This must be taken instantly after
the bite, in water. If dogs are bitten by vipers, which
they fi equently are, the same treatment should be
adopted.—Court Journal.
TRAMWAYS BY STEAM,—" I suppose there is no
chance of our adopting the tramways a vapeur which
have been so successful on the Continent. They are
running in many cities in France at present, not, of
course, in the most crowded thoroughfares, and are
found to be much cheaper and far more expeditious
than those drawn by horses. With a car full of
people, the engine can run a mile in three minutes,
and can at this epeed pull up conveniently in its own
length. There is no smoke and no screaming. A
little horn is blown as the engine approaches, and the
whole affair is as easy to manage as a pair of quiet old
nags. The Rouen Tramway Company have paid a
higher dividend ever since they adopted steam in their
old city, and unlesa English hordes are of a more
nervous temperament than those of other nations, I
see no reason why the quieter parts of the metropolis
should not be served with this rapid mode of locomo-
tion."—Mayfair.

NOBLESSE OBLIGE.—It is not generally known that
the (Topa of Military Balloonists recently instituted
by the War Office is officered by scions of the noblest
families in the kingdom. The object of this arrange-
ment is that no balloon may be sent up without carry.
ing at least one person who is quite certain about his
descent. —Judy.

MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIFE'S SISTER.—At
the Synod of the Diocese of Maritzburg, held on
June 30, the following resolution was passed :—" That,
in view of marriage with a deceased wife's sister in
this colony, this Synod declares emphatically that
such marriage is nrcanonical and contrary to the
Word of God; and that, in accordance with Canon 16
of the Provincial Synod, no clergyman of this diocese
shall join in matrimony persons standing in this re-
lationship. Further, that the Bishop be requested to
direct the clergy to notify to their people from the
altar the matter of this resolution, and that his lord-
ship Iv 3 requested to take such steps os he may deem
advisable numbly to lay before Her Ms.i2sty the
Queen the unanimous voice of this sacred Synod of
clergy." A motion proposed by tbe Archdeacon of
Durban regretting the use of vestments, lights, and
incense in the cathedral was lost by one, several
members not voting.

A BAD ExcusE BETTER THAN NONE.—Gentleman:
"I say, waiter, really, you know, this sole—ah—is not
fresh."—Waiter (blandly). "Not fresh, sir ! Oh, per-
fectly fresh, sir, but perhaps, air—h'm I—you might 'a
spoilt the flavour by a heating of it with yer knife."—
/Pun.
SINGULAR CAPTURE OF A MERLIN HAWIC.—A fine
specimen of the merlin hawk (Falco cesalon) has been
captured in the Ttidhoe Ironworks, in a singular way,
The bird was so eager in its pursuit of a sparrow that
it followed the latter into the coal-office of the above
works, into which the sparrow had flown for protection.
So impetuous was the flight, that the door of the office
was closed before the bird conldrecover its headlong rush
and thus was easily captured. This, the least of our
British hawks, is one of the boldest ;though not much
larger in size than the blackbird it is said to strike down
partridges and even young moor game. It is a most
elegant bird, and was once constantly to be met with on
our upland moors where it breeds' but owing to the ruth-
less gun of the gamekeeper, it is fast disappearing from
the haunts where its graceful flights used frequently to
delight the ornithologist and lover of nature.
SOLD.—Little Boodleby (who is showing his nieces
the lions in Paris). " Ah, my dears, that A. Loo-er
must have a large business. Why, I've noticed his
name everywhere; in fact, it's all over Cie shop."—
"Why, uncle, are you not aware that A Louer means
'To Let ' ?"—[Collapse of L. B.] —Fun.
A MARVELLOUS CURE.—A curious case of "like
cures like" has just occurred at the Children's
Hospital in Paris, A few days ago a girl of 12 was
at school, and during a thunderstorm the electric
fluid fell close to her. For a moment she seemed
to ha suffocating, but this sensation soon passed off
into a fit of hiccoughs. These become so distressing
that after three days her mother took her to the hos-
pital for advice, The surgeon ordered her to be taken
to the operating theatre, where' on seeing the medical
men standing at a table covered with some awful look-
ing instruments, and surrounded by a number of
assistants in white aprons, the child became so terri-
fied that she forgot her hiccoughs, which did not re-
commence, and she was thus cured.
CONSCIENCE MONEY.—The annual item in the publi
accounts showing the "money remitted to the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer by sundry persons for con-
science's sake" amounted to £14,835 in the financial
year 1876-77, but fell to £5,572 in 1877-78, and is but
£6,732 in the accounts for 1878 79 : a mere flea-bite.

A FATAL ACCIDENT.—A sad accident occurred in the
Royal Gun Factories Department, Royal Arsenal,
Woolwich, on Monday afternoon, by which a man
named Samuel Ross, about 60 years of age, residing at
Plumstead, was killed. It appears that the deceased,
who had been employed for some years past in the
Works Department, repairing the furnaces in the
Royal Gun Factories, was about to leave his work for
the day, when he saw two trucks loaded with material
coming in opposite directions on the same line of rails.
He endeavoured to stop one of them, but, being un-
able to do so, was jammed against the other and
thrown backwards. One of the trucks, which was
loaded with slates, then upset, striking the deceased
on the head and breaking his neck, He was frame-
diately removed to the infirmary in the Royal
Arsenal, where he was seen by Surgeon-Major
Stevenson, Army Medical Department, who pro-
uounced life extinct.

REFORMATORY PUNISHMENT—At the meeting of the
British Association, Mr. F. T. Mott read a paper on
"Reformatory Punishment," in which he pointed out
that the reformation of the criminal was the only
basis of social punishment which was consistent with
the highest morality. Upon this principle the follow-
ing system of punishment was suggested :—" That the
criminal, when convicted, should be removed from
those influences under which the crime had been com-
mitted, and treated as a weak and selfish child; that
he should be detained for no definite period, but until
he had given evidence that he was not likely to commit
crime again; that prison discipline should consist in
teaching every one to labour for the benefit of the
others, the principal test of reformation being the
willingness to sacrifice ease and comfort continuously
for the good of others ; and that courts [should be
established, with the best guarantees obtainable for
impartiality and practical wisdom, to determine when
each criminal was fit for freedom. The first result of
this system would be, Mr. Mott contended, to clear the
country of habitual criminals, and to fill the gaols;
but in a few years crime would be much diminished,
and the moral tone of the people greatly elevated.
MASONRY IN FRANCE.—The Paris Globe gives the
following statistics of Masonry in France, declaring
that they are the best that can be ascertained, and are
reliable as far as they go. There are 79 grand lodges,
and 119 provincial grand lodges, having under them
7,900 lodges. Twelve " high councils" direct 350
lodges. There are eight lodges which are signalized as
"independent," "isolated," or "excluded." There
are thus nearly 8,500 lodges altogether. These includ 3
very nearly 500,000 active members. It is said that
the number of members who have withdrawn from
further participation in the brotherhood, or may be
characterized as "indifferent," or inactive, amounts to
between two and three millions.

PETROLEUM —The quantity of petroleum exported
from the United States, which had risen from 800,248
tons in 1875 to 853,444 tons in 1876 and to 1,182,827
tons in 1877, fell to 1,113,354 tons last year. This
decrease is partly due to the general depression of
trade and partly to the fact of the petroleum wells in
Canada being more largely worked, while deposits in
India Russia, and other parts of the world have also
been opened cut. A gallon of the oil can be bought
at Oil City, Pennsylvania, for id., the price in New
York being increased, by the coat of purification
and carriage, to a fraction over 2d, a gallon.
WEATHER FORECAST.—The following cable message
has been received at the London Office of the New
York Herald, from the Herald Weather Bureau, New
York :—" A depression is crossing the Atlantic, pro-
bably developing energy, and will arrive on the British.
and Norwegian coasts between the 28th and 30th in-
stant, preceded and attended by rains, south veering
west strong winds or gales, and lightning."

Pic-Nics. —lf the sun were not broiling, and the
sand didn't get into the salad, and the rocks were soft
and smooth, and there were no hornets, and one hadn't
to go three quarters of a mile for water, what a tame
affair a pie-ale would be.—Punch.

AN ANESTHETIC FOR HYDROPHOBIA. - BUSBititl
papers report that during last month nine persons
were bitten by a rabid wolf in the hamlet of Bogol-
jubow, in the Wladimir district. They were taken to
the hospital, where five of them died in dreadful
agony soon after their admission. The doctors re-
solved to try in the other cases an experiment which a
German physician had employed with success against
hydrophobia. The experiment consists in administer-
ing to the patient a dose of the Indian poison curare.
The Russian Pravda states that this was adminis-
teed at Wladimir to the remaining four persons who
had been bitten by the wolf. They all died, but
without experiencing the preliminary torture of
hydrophobia. _ _

- -
SWIMMING.—Last year Mr. Dunlop, a gentleman
deeply interested in swimming, and who is the in-
venter of the swimming " plates " which bear his
name, offered a splendid cup for competition on the
following conditions :—That the competitors might
use the Dunlop plates or any other mechanical con-
trivance of a similar character, or swim in the ordi-
nary and natural style, the distance of the race being
one mile in still water, Mr. D. Ainsworth, of the
Serpentine Club, proved himself very efficient in the
use of the plates, and gained the right to hold the
challenge cup for a year. The second contest Was
fixed for Saturday last, and was to have been com-
peted in the Serpentine. No one, however, appeared
to oppose Mr. Ainsworth, who swam over the course.
He thus retains possession of the cup, and should he
be successful on the next occasion, the prize will
became his absolute property.
FUN'S FALLACIES —A walrus is a sea-horse; there.
fore a bay-horse must be a walrus,—Fun.
"THERE IS A REAPER WHOSE NAME."—One day
just before harvest, an Ohio farmer went to Cincinnati
to buy a reaper. A delighted agent collared the
Granger and dragged him into his warehouse. As they
walked down the well-stocked room, the farmer, in a
meditative mood, quoted the line, "There is a reaper
whose name is death," but before he could start the
next line, the agent broke in: ``. Ah yes I know it,
sir; I know it like a book, We handled that reaper
one season, sir, and I'd take £5,000 doh, out of
my pocket this minute if it would undo the
i
damage that reaper did our business n that one
year. You don't want it, sir. You don't want to look
at it. The machinery is complicated; it gets out of
order easily ; you have to send clear toAkron for a new
piece of gearing; it does not cut clean, and it nearly
kills the horses. Jams their shoulders all to pieces,
sir. I know that reaper, sir. It's an old, old style,
sir, and you don't want it. Now here, sir, I can show
you a reaper that "—But the astonished farmer just
interrupted him to say he knew that the reaper he
mentioned was an old style, but he was certain that it
did its work well, though, all the same, it wasn't the
kind he wanted, and he had no idea of buying it to
work on his farm. He bought another reaper, blood-
thirsty as a Cossack, and red as an autumn sunset, and
the agent told how he sold a reaper to an old fellow
who came in here jw t dead set for some old machine
that he had never heard of before.—Western Farmer.

As OTHERS SEE US.—The report of the United
States Consuls on the condition of labour in Europe are
not favourable to the moral character of the working
classes in England. It is the opinion of the writers
that the French people, with far less wages, are happier
than the operatives of Great Britain, who receive the
highest wages in Europe, on account of the steadiness
and economical habits of the former, and the strikes,
drinking habits, and recklessness of the latter; and
that more misery results from strikes, socialism, and
communism in England and Germany than from all
other. causes combined, hard times included.—The
Times.

TAKING IT EABY,—Mainma (in hope). Aro yo
good LOW, Mabol ? Mabel (in trouble). Ye-e•es.
ltio,Lnrco4. (in con.tiocuitio)). And why nre you not
always good ? Mat-Jol (in explanation). It's so
much easier to he naughty.—Judy.

THE WHISTLING NUISANCE.—The Daily Telegraph
remarks :—" Among the hideous and unnecessary
noises which have increased of late in London streets,
the shrill shopboy whistle is productive of the greatest
torture, even to accustomed ears; but what it must
he to the stranger within our gates, specially if he be
a wanderer from some land more musical and less
melancholy, Apollo only knows. A treatise might be
written on the rise and progress of whistling in
England, but it would involve an elaborate inquiry.
No doubt it was a common habit in earlier British
history; it was certainly used as a signal by the
boatswain and the falconer. Shakespeare, who was
keenly observant of popular custcms, had noted it.
And Antony,' he says, Enthrou'd i' the market-
place, did sit alone, Whistling to th' air.' C;!. mon is
said by Mr. Dryden to have whistled for want of
thought, a cause pretty generally assignable to the
dreary, witless practice. Whistling, which may have
had its rise in the agricultural districts, is now the
especial plague of towns. The vacant face of an
unconmcious whistler is a model of inanity quaint
encugh to be cam ed on a gargoyle. Hundreds of
such faces may he met in a day's walk, and it is a pity
to think that the 7 come too late for the cunning
stone-workers of old, who would have given any money
for such models. If, as is generally allowed, the face
be oft an index of the mind,' the inmost condition of
a thorough•going and inveterate reveller in this noisy
pastime must frequently be vacant indeed."