The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-10-12 00:00:00

ji isallantous 4ntrlligtita.

ROME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

THE FRENCH ARMY.—Acenrding to the Budget for
the Ministry of War for 1879. which the Corps 'Ale-
latif will be asked to vote at the commencement of the
next Session, the effective strength of the whole
French Army is composed of 496,442 men and 124,279
horses; but the Gendarmerie and the Garde Rept*.
licaine are included in these figures, and they amouLt
together to 27,132 men and 13,480 horses. The Army
properly so called is, therefore, made up of 469,310
men and 95,043 horses. Of these, 52,424 men and
15,756 horses are assigned to Algiers; the remaining
416,886 men and 93,043 horses are quartered in France
and the few colonial stations. The maintenance of
this force, including Gendarmerie and Garde Repub.
licaine, is estimated to cost 553,043,150 f.

EGGSTRAORDINARY.—Squire.—" Now, boys, what's
the gender of egg ? " Sharp Lad (whose mother keeps
chickens). —" Please, sir, you can't tell till it's
hatched."—Fun.

THE SWALLOW'S DEPARTURE.—AIthough the main
flock of swallows left this part of the country not much
behind their usual time of migrating, in consequence
of very late nesting, a considerable number were with
us late in the season, and only on the 26th ult, did
these take their departure. As has often been
observed, a few days before leaving their commotion
had been great, and the number seen skimming in the
air on this occasion very much exceded what it was
considered had been frequenting this locality. In all
probability other late lingerers from other places had
joined those here preparatory to a friendly far•off
journey being overtaken.—T. N. (Fifeshire) in Land
and Water.

A PHENOMENON.—The Soleure Tagblatt announces
that "in the Zooplastic Museum, which is located in
the Bishop's Palace, in Soleure, there is now to be seen a
singular rarity. This is a white chamois, with red eyes,
white horns and hoofs, and a snow-white fleece. It
seemed to be about two years old, and was shot in the
Savienthal, in the Grisons. It is the second specimen
of the same kind which has been forthcoming in our
Alpine world within the last 30 years." Tschudi re-
fers to the first specimen in his "Sketches of Nature
in the Alps" thus :—" About the end of the year 1853
a chamois was shot which was milk-white even to its
feet, with red eyes. It was about a year and a half
old. In proportion to the size of the animal, the
fleece was very thick and warm, especially about its
beautiful, muscular neck. Its little horns were as
smooth as if made by a turner, very little bent, and
little more than an inch long."
AN AFFECTING SCENE !—"A Russian lady tells me
that an affecting scene was witnessed at St. Petersburg
during the entry of the Guards last week. As the
Paulovsky regiment was passing across the Champs
de Mars, three little children, two girls and a boy, ran
out from amidst the crowd, and clutching at the coat-
tails of one of the soldiers, cried—' Papa, papa! Mama
is dead, and we have been waiting for you ever so long
to come home and look after us.' The poor soldier,
who had not heard of his wife's decease, was com-
pletely broken-hearted. The children told him their
mother had died from grief a few days after he left
for Turkey, and they had since been kept by a neigh-
bour. The officers were so affected by the incident
that they told the man to fall out and go home with
his children, and the crowd, sympathising with the
poor fellow, collected quite a handsome sum on behalf
of the orphans."—Mayfair.

DEAN STANLEY IN AMERICA.—A Newport despatch
in the New York Tribune, dated September 24, Bays :
"Dean Stanley, who is the guest of George Bancroft,
visited Fort Adams this afternoon, and witnessed a
review of the troops, in company with his host. A
grand dinner was given this afternoon, in honour of
the Dean, by Mr. Bancroft, and an informal tea-party
took place in the evening. A few personal friends
were present." The same paper says :—" Because
Dean Stanley visited Boston first, the citizens of that
town are extremely pleased. Bishop Clark, of Rhode
Island, and the Rev. Dr. Storrs, of Brooklyn, were
among the guests at the breakfast given to the Dean
by the Rev. Phillips Brooks the other morning. The
Dean made one of the most charming and cordial of
little speeches. It is said in reference to his interest
in America, that he spent most of his voyage hither in
asking questions in regard co American life and society.
He was entertained in Boston by Mr. Winthrop."
A TERRIBLE WEAPON.—A gun, which promises to
be the most terrible agent of destruction of modern
times, is on exhibition at the office of tne patentees
and inventors in New York. The "rifle battery," as
it is called, is so constructed as to deliver its fire
either in a right line or in horizontal radiating lines.
The barrels, ranging in number from six to twenty,
are sufficiently far apart to prevent heating from
continuous firing, and are fired successively instead
of simultaneously, at the rate of 10,000 shots an hour.
A steel cover in front of the gunners protects them
from the enemy's lire. These guns may be fired con-
tinually in one fixed direction, or from side to side, or
the battery may be made to vibrate laterally of itself,
at the discharge of each gun, thus sweeping the field
in front. The barrels are about an inch apart, and
at intervals, where the guns are held by clasps, they
are inclosed within asbestos, or some non-conductor
of heat. With a toy model of the battery, a ball was
fired though an oak plank an inch in thickness at
fifteen hundred yards.
AMERICANS RETURNING FROM PARlS.—Monday's
Liverpool papers state that there is still a great stream
of people travelling westward across the Atlantic.
For some time the French capital has been very
American in tone. The stream of passengers has been
rolling westward for some time, to the great profit of
the steamship companies, and especially of the Cunard
Company, who have twice been compelled to despatch
two boats in one day. On the 31st August the Scythia,
Captain Hains, and the Parthia, Captain Mackay,
sailed from this port from America with nearly 500
cabin passengers, and they arrived out on the mornings
of the 10th and 11th ult. respectively. The Scythia
reached the Mersey on her return voyage on the 28th
ult., and the Parthia on the 30th, and both vessels
again sailed last Saturday, taking with them 450
cabin passengers, many of whose berths were booked
before the vessels sailed thence on their previous voyage.

THE RECEIPTS AT THE PARIS EXHIBITION.—The
total amount received for admissions to the Paris Ex-
hibition during September was £108,424, or about
£3,614 a day, as against £58,929, or £1,964 a day, for
the corresponding month at the Exhibition of 1867.
The total receipts for the first six months at the Ex-
hibition of 1867 were £311,744; whereas the receipts
for the first five months this year amount to £,390,638,
or nearly £79,000 more than was taken op to the end
of September in 1867, when the Exhibition opened a
month earlier than the present one.

- --
NEW AMERICAN FIRE ESCAPE.—At Chicago recently,
an exhibition was given of the Copland Fire Escape.
It consists of an endless wire rope and wire-rope
ladder attached to a carriage running on a track
attached to the building under the cornice, and can
be moved to any window instantly. A fireman
ascended the ladder to the fourth storey and attached
a person to the endless rope with a strap and clamp,
and while he was being lowered the escape was moved
to another window about fifteen feet, and another was
put on and lowered to the ground, all being done in
one minute and thirty seconds. This seems to be a
very practical esoape, and meets with general approval,
especially among the firemen.
STORM FORECAST.—The following cable message has
been received at the London office of the New York
Herald :—" A depression, preceded and attended by
rains, with heavy winds and gales from the south-east
to the north-west, will probably arrive on the British
and Norwegian coasts about the Bth inst., from the
north-west."

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT.—Monday, the 7th, was
the tenth day of the 7th month (Tisri), that is, the
seventh month of the ecclesiastical) ear, is the Hebrew
Day of Atonement, a great religious festival of the
Jews, of which the rule and order are given in different
passages—the Books of Leviticus and Numbers, it is
held as a day of entire rest from all labour (a Sabbath
of Sabbaths, as the Septuagint has it), a day of holy
convocation, the only day in the year when the entire
congregation of Israel fasted. The fast commenced
at sunset on Sunday evening, and lasted for twenty-
four hours, and under the Mosaic law was imperative
on every member of the community, under pain of
being cut off from his people in case of neglect. The
services under the old law were very elaborate and
typical, the fasting being observed, not as a sign of
grief, but simply as expressive of humiliation before
God, as the proper state of those who appeared before
him to confess their sins and make atonement for
them. Service in the Synagogue on the Day of Atone-
ment commences as early as six in the morning and
extends to noon, the whole of the time being occupied
in prayer. Owing to the great length of this service,
it is divided into two portions, known as Shacrith and
Musaph, respectively conducted by the two officiating
ministers usually attached to the larger houses of
worship. In the first-named service the scrolls of the
Law are brought out and read
.to the congregation,
and, in addition to these, a selection from the Prophets
is also recited. During the second portion of the
morning service, the Shofar, or ram's horn, is sounded
at frequent intervals.

SUICIDE OF A GUARDSMAN.—An inquest has been
held at Windsor on the body of James Croxford, a
private in the Ist Battalion of Grenadier Guards.
nom the evidence adduced, it appeared that the
deceased had been in the battalion just twenty-one
years, and that his time would have expired at the
end of the present month. He had borne a good cha-
racter until May last, and had two good conduct
stripes, when, being reported drunk on duty, he lost
one. Since then he had lost his other stripe and had
given way to intemperance. Recently he had been in a
continuously muddled state, and on Wednesday evening
in last week he was again reported drunk on duty, and
was confined in the cells. According to rule, he was
seen every two hours. On Friday morning he was
warned to get ready to see the doctor, and at twenty
minutes to eight his kit was taken to him, containing
his razor. At eight o'clock Sergeant Masters again
went to him and found hits lying on the ground, with
his throat cut, and quite dead. He had tied his hand-
kerchief round his razor to give him a better hold, and
had broken a piece out of it in the act of cutting hia
throat. The Sergeant-Major believed that the loss of
a portion of his pension, which went with his good
conduct stripes, preyed upon his mind.—Mr. Myers,
the surgeon of the battalion, said the wound was not a
large one, but it was in a mortal part, and had divided
the carotid artery and the windpipe.--The Jury re-
turned a verdict of "Suicide while in a state of tem-
porary insanity,"

NM.l.lo.l"lisn_,
, -.,.—.--...---

-
TILE COST Or FEEDING ENGLAND.-.4V.r.Qaird, the
authority on agricultural subjects, in a worl" rittee
fo
at the request of the Royal Agricultural Socieo" r
the International Agricultural Congress of Paris in the
present year, has dealt with the proportion betwa.'e
the value of home agricultural products and the.'
similar products which we obtain from abroad. The
result is astonishing in many respects. The sum whicb
Mr. Caird arrives at as the value of agricultural pro-
ducts, both home and imported, consumed in the
United Kingdom amounts to no less a total than
£371,445,000. Mr. Caird points out that by out
having two crops of wheat in succession, instead of one
crop of wheat and then another corn crop, we should
double our present yield of wheat; and that there is a
vast amount of permanent pasture which could he
broken up.
FEARFUL SUFFERINGS AND Loss OF LIFE AT SEA.
—From Michican, United States, news has reached
Liverpool of a terrible shipwreck on that coast, and
the loss of several lives. The schooner Mary, laden
with a c,trgo of cordwood, left Chicago. A few daye
afterwards she was caught by a terrific hurricane
which swept over that part of the American coast, and
was so seriously damaged that she sprang a leak, and
became completely waterlogged. The heavy weather
continuing the crew suffered great hardships, and
on the night of the 10th instant their sufferinge
were increased by the vessel being driven on shore.
The men tried in every way to remain on the vessel,
over which continuous seas were washing. The crevi
consisted of six hands, three of whom were carried
overboard by the waves and drowned, while a fourth,
a man named Michael Donovan, was subsequent',"
found lashed to one of the vessel's masts, quite dead.
Captain Bartlett and a seaman named Wheeler were
the only survivors of the wreck. The names of the
other three men could not be ascertained. The
schooner was driven ashore about fifteen miles irons
Michigan.
AVERAGE PRICE OF BRITISH CORN.—The following'
are the average prices of British corn for the week
ending Oct. 5, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 40s. 4d.; barley, 40s. 6d.i!
oats, 225. 3d. per imperial qr. Corresponding wee.'
last year :—Wheat, 555. lid.; barley, 445. 2d.; ntbtst
245. 6d.
"NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS ! "—The editor of
every newsoaper has a great mass of correspondeng.o
to attend to, and, apart from all legitimate communi•
cations, every subscriber who is agrieved at the delaY
in the reception of his newspaper feels he has a per
feet right to write to the "Editor" for redress, for
getting that that official does not perform everY
function connected with the production of the journal*
At least so thinks the Calcutta Statesman, which pub'
fishes the following "Notice to Correspondents:
"Many correspondents will, we know, be surprised ta
hear—(l) That the editor of this journal does not turn
the crank and print the sheets • (2) does not keep the
subscribers' registry book: (3) does not address t. 138
papers; (4) nor pack them; (5) nor stick the labels on
them: (6) nor make the paste for sticking the label°
on; (7) that he does not carry the sacks to the pO4
office; and (8) is not able to accompany each paper tAi
its destination, to ensure its safe delivery. Strange aa
it may seem, this is nevertheless all true. Will cor-
respondents make a note of it, and when they have
anything to say under these heads, remember t°
address the publisher ? '
EMIGRATION TO QUEENSLAND. The ship Fritz
Reuter, of 1,475 tons, Captain Walters, sailed iron',
Hamburg on the sth inst., and had on board the fe
lowing number of emigrants for Brisbane, viz.,
married men, 60 married women, 239 single men. *),,
single women, 92 children between the ages of 12 sou
1, and 12 infants, making a total of 506 souls, equal to
448 statute adults. The passengers are under the eare
of Dr. Heinemann. _ _

-- -- • ---------•
YOUTHFUL ECONo3lY.—Seven-year-old Amy to hern
brother }'red: Fwed, how much do you pay to g"
into the City every day ?—Fred, who goes in by q;
press 'bus and comes back by an ordinary: Well ! 1'
you must know, I pay fivepence to go there, and W.;
pence to come back.—Amy, after a pause: Fwed, a '
was you I should always come bask ! !—Judy.

THE GAnrs or THE YEAR.—There is a gain of
small account to be added to the gains of the sre''"
already secured, and to make a further balal
against the year's losses. In places where a seccol
crop of hay is usually looked for they have this Yell
cut and secured a better second crop than the °ides
inhabitant can remember. And almost everywhere,
else, in places where a second crop is considered en;
of all expectation, the fields that have not been fel
have yielded a heavy crop, and thus the talk
sue
"rowan," like the rumour of a war, has spread
over the land as a thing borne on the wanton breezes.
The old spelling of the word is rowen, and the Old
meaning and indeed the proper meaning is to be
found in the old practice of raising a crop of CO
from self-sown seeds. Instead of ploughing the
stubble, it is left untouched, and the grain shed in the
process of harvesting sprouts and forms a plal
which can be utilized as autumn feed or be allowe
to stand for a crop the next year. When a self-600
or rowan crop turns out well, it is profitable both be;
cause of the small expenditure of labour on it apt°
its very early ripening, for if the season is fair
favourable, it will be off the ground in July in awe
for late turnips. Amongst the losses of the Yeer
must now be counted large breadths of potatoes,
which in many instances have been thinned d9vil!
to nothing, or nearly so, by the disease. All thing°
considered, however, this must be regarded as a
ductive season, and market prices indicate that thelv
is no anticipation of a scarcity of any kind.—"l4/14
and Garden," in Pictorial World.
FIGHT BETWEEN OCTOPODS.—Mr. Francis Frallei°'
the Naturalist Director of the Brighton Aquariuln,•
writes :--1` The other day I saw a grand fight between
two of the octopuses. After a tremendous cornball
one killed the other, and set to work to eat him.
never saw such a savage; he shook and tore at his dew_
foe, and gradually enveloped him in his mantle, in 02,
process of absorption; efforts were made to get P;"t
prey away from him agian and again, but wohoo, '
avail; and it was not until he was caught in a net alle
hauled up to the surface that he allowed the dead 011
to be taken from him. Seeing this, I really felt
after all, Victor lingo's account of the devil fish W,r,
not so greatly exaggerated; for this one was perfecl
demoniac in its savagery, and, given one of the lark%
ones such as we know to exist in foreign seas,_ le
were to attack a man in the water he would be VI b
capable of killing and eating him aftez wards, thoug
not perhaps at one meal." -

7 •
THE BATTLE OF LEPANTO.—On October , , the ln a
year 1571 (307 years ago) was fought the celebrates,
naval engagens,mt between the Venetians and Ter? b
near Lepanto, Livadia, Turkey in Europe, on veh,lcso
occasion the latter were utterly defeated with the ic)„
of 30,000 men. The Venetians were commanded i'olf
Don John of Austria, one of the greatest captains
the 16th century. He was the illegitimate son of
Emperor Charles V., and was born at RatisbooS,
1547. At the age of twenty.nine he was 1:13r.,s
Governor of the Low Counties and after
many battles, and taking severaCtowns, he died u`
camp at Namur, in 1578, in the thir-second year,,
his age. Cervantes, the author of "Don Quixote,
his youthful days followed the profession of a so
and was present at the Battle of Lepanto, in which;;e
either lost his left hand or had it so maimed that „t
never recovered the use of it again. This acclcl_,,e'ci
obliged him to renounce the military profession,
return towards his own country; but on his fAes3,,„ecl
homewards his ship was taken by the Algerines, a";,,f
he was detained in slavery for nearly nine yeare'
• r
which period of his life many particulars are tote
woven in his novel called "The Captive."
ri 106
MORE FREE THAN WELCOME.—A gentlema— oe
written to the papers complaining of the crowding.„t
the free days at the Tower, and states that he 01;
two hours in a fruitless attempt to gain admlttanc'e3
Under the circumstances, it is hardly to be wonder
at that he is in a Towering rage. —Fun.
, 0
FUNERAL AND MOURNING REFORM.—On Frias;te
meeting of those members of the Church Congress Woe
rested in funeral and mourning reform was held 10
Church Institute at Sheffield, with the object of f°''—of
ing an association under the auspices of the Choeloci,
England. The Bishop of Sodor and Man presi
and said he was disgusted to see the lavish ()011ie
tura often incurred in the obsequies of the rich. tbr
poor, taking the rich as their example, were fre.:olsy
plunged into great difficulties in order to show te;rl
regard for their deceased relatives and friends.
Nelson proposed the following resolution :—"
association be formed called the Church of Eog
Funeral and and Mourning Reform Association, the
bers of which shall encourage the adoption of rte.
observances only as are consistent with a hope °at
surrection to eternal life through Jesus Chrintdsi
Lord, and disoourage feasting aud treating on
of burial, and.all useless or extravagant expendgitail's
on the coffin and its furniture on the occasion oliore
funeral and in the wearing of mourning; the inereor
adopting the broad ground that funerals should hog
ducted and mourning worn without the untnerh-ot•
pomp, vain ostentation, and dismal pageantry cta,rl
bands, scarves, plumes, mourning coaches, I'o
crape trimmings, and the like, which involve unP.Loos
able expenditure, inflict severe hardship upon Pr pOr
of limited means, and neither mitigate Vie wia
manifest respect for the dead." The resolution
carried unanimously.
„e•etil
SUNDAY ART EXHIBITIONS.—The Sunday
Gallery of 'Watercolour Drawings, at the old
Board offices, New Bridge-street, London, wastleve,
for the first time on Sunday afternoon from two ore
Up to three o'clock not more than 100 visitors Ivo
present, but from that hour until five the Gallerionii'
inconveniently crowded. Many of the more Pisa°
neat officers of the society were present, and the soth
majority of the visitors had provided thernselveecietY•
the descriptive catalogue published by the o°,ool
Much interest was evinced in the collection of
which consist of 110 finished drawings and sket°'-;„3
Swiss life and scenery, by Mr. W. L. Thotoaf! 10
they gained the warm admiration of all presol% ittea
reply to inquiries it was stated that the cornf
intend to open a much larger gallery earlY tlie
ensuing year, towards which purpose they 10".08
assistance of all, either by pecuniary contributly
the loan of works of art.
anotber

EATER LONDON.--To place the matter in ,—.,eotst
point of view, we may state that the size of " u"raing
London," with its population of 3* millions (ace°, tke
to the last census returns), may be inferred Ire'poiP
fact, that if the metropolis was surrounded bY itna
having a north gate, a south gate, an east gaffe, 'IA
west gate, each of the gates being of sufficient r
to allow a column of persons to pass out free4isn'
abreast, and a peremptory necessity required,wnt be
mediate evacuation of the city, the task of:A% er
accomplished under four and twenty hours, bY w—foof
piration of which time the head of each of thetoo
columns would have advanced a no less distanceie
jj
seventy-five miles from its gates, all the Pe°Ptioo :
close file, six deep. Or, to take another illusto
if all the Londoners of to day, men, woo3,e,%the
children, were to stand joined shoulder to shonweva of
line formed by them would stretch from one er,lo of
England to the other. Again, if the entire P_,eefr tato
marching capital were drawn up in marchin orcle"
and two, and each couple to be two feet fre of
next, the aggr*Tato length of the great er`nong
Londonets would be not 1, Ed than WO mil°, °bile
enough to reach from London to Inverness; AO
sup) o3in;.; the fle to move at the rate of three ";lici
an hour, it woull take more thqn nine deOlitsi3
nights for the aggregate troop of the
etroPe
populatiou to pa by...oid and miw liondoh

RUSSIA AND AFGHANISTAN.

The Ti 71148 of Wednesday publishes the following, from
their Correspondent at Berlin, under date Oct. 8 :—"A
letter in the GoZos, dated from Orenburg, the city forming
the base for Russian military operations in Central Asia,
lays :

" ' The inhabitants of British India at this moment
impatiently await the arrival of their Russian libera-
tors. The hope of imminent emancipation from foreign
yoke is uni% ersal in the country. The English, fearing
that the Russian host, bent upon freeing the Hindoo
race, will thread their way through Afghanistan, are
determined to anticipate their adversary and to
occupy the passes in advance. Not many years ago
the despatch of British agents to the then independent
Khanates of Central Asia was intended to secure the
like object. But Captain Conolly, expelled by the
Khan of Kliva, who had no wish to offend Russia,
fled to Bokhara, where he was decapitated with
Colonel Stoddart, another agent who had been des-
patched to the Khanates. The like fate would have
befallen Captain Abbot in Khiva had he not been
saved by Russian officers. After these events, in
November 1841, the Afghans rose, killed the British
agents, Burnes and Macnaughten, and des-
troyed an English force of 20,000 men, carrying
off 28,000 horses and camels. Since then the Afghans
have ever been hostile to England. To-day British
policy deems it all important to withdraw the Afghans
from the sphere of Russian influence and to place
them under the control of a socalled Resident Ambas-
sador. The Russian outposts being only 700 miles
distance from the Indian frontier, the possibility of a
Russian invasion is constantly apprehended by the
frightened Englishmen.'
"An editorial in the same paper says England
is intent upon attacking Afghanistan, imitating
Reynard, the fox, when charging the innocent rabbit
with beginning the feud- but the world knows the
right of the case, and will not be deceived by these
fraudulent tactics.'
"The statement that the German Government have
shown a disposition to intervene in the Afghan-Euro-
pean complications is erroneous."

The Times of Wednesday also says :—" Orders have
been issued by the India Office directing all officers on
furlough belonging to regiments in Scinde and the
Punjab, together with those whose corps are detailed
for the Afghan Expeditionary Force, to rejoin their
posts by the first mail. Those who are at home on
medical certificate have been directed to present them-
selves for examination, in order that, should their
health permit it, they may be pushed on to the front.
Many anxious for the chance of distinguishing them-
selves have requested permission to proceed out to India.
Lord Lytton seems to be satisfied with the Medical
Staff, for no instructions have been issued for surgeons
to rejoin, although all Commissariat officers in the
Bengal Presidency have been directed to sail this
week; in fact, there is every indication that extra-
ordinary exertions are being made to meet the storm
which the Ameer has raised. The reinforcements of
the All Musjid Fort does away with all hope of his
coming to terms, and if rumour is correct that it has
been garrisoned with six battalions and 18 guns, there
is small hope of its being taken by a coup de main from
Peshawur ; indeed, the reports as to the intended
assaults were altogether premature." . . .