The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-06-07 00:00:00

Dxsallantous itttlix
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL

ABSIT OMEN.—According to newspapers, " the' 07
something between England and France." Bat, po
there always was—the Channel, for instance; YeAr
one finds any difficulty in "getting over it," whate"
it is.—Judy. 5,00
THE " LIVE " RAILWAY MATEBIAL
curious figures have been compiled from the exper',7ol
of American railways illustrative of the lengt"
service, or the " life, 'of some of the materialo
machines used. The Illinois Railroad Commissio ,
seem to have obtained returns from twenty-six
companies, which show that the " life " of a loco's°
engine varied on these railways from eight yeall,
twenty-four. and that the general average duration'
151 years. Passenger "cars " endured from eight Yell
to twenty years—the aversge being 15i years;
average life of stock cars being ten years, and that
freight cars 1l years; and the railway bridges,
so largely of wood in the United States, endure
five to twenty years. As to the life of rails,
eatistics seem to indicate that those of iron last
three to twelve years—the mean being seven;
steel rails are credited with from nine to twent•
service —and an average of fourteen years is o
from the returns.

MAT WEATHER. —The Times, in their weather
remarks :—"The treacherous nature of the wem
May has been well known for many generation,
piercing nights (even after warm days) and its s.
changes from warmth to cold when the wind
into the northward, making the sage advice

'Till May be out
Ne'er cast a clout'
of much more value than many of the other old sa,
which have been handed down to us. Most of us
remember one or more occasions when insufficient
caution against cold winds has caused the most se
personal discomfort, if not positive sickness. We
only refer to the Derby-day of 1867, when many A
was made rheumatic for life, or the sudden eh
:-
a year or two later, when the 'Derby' wee run on
of the most delightful spring days ever expe-
whereas the Oaks found us again in complete
in order to substantiate this statement."
A PROTRACTED STATEMENT.—It is stated that
were three miles of bicyclists at the recent h
Court meet. To what further lengths will this
be carried in the future 2—Fun.
Ormsf v. ALCOHOL.—The Lancet remarks:
statement, on good authority, has recently been
to the effect that during the last two years the
sumptiou of opium by the working classes has
siderably increased, and an explanation has been
vanced that this increased consumption has been
duced by the restriction of the sale of intoxic'
liquors by the early closing of public-houses under
late Act. That the sale of narcotic drugs has of
greatly increased we fear there is but little reason
doubt, but that the explanation offered is the
one we feel bound to demur to, It is rather to
hardness of the times than to any restraint in the
of drink that the increased consumption of opium
the working classes is to be attributed. Opium
cheaper than alcc'Aol, and 2d. expended on the forst
will give more present ease than sixpenny worth of
latter. Nor when first commenced does it use prodt
such unpleasant after effects as an intoxicating dose
alcohol. It is sad to learn that the sate of opium is
tending among the lower classes, and we hope, if
evil be found to be gaining ground with the rapii
stated—and from facts before us we cannot doubt
accuracy of the report in the main—that Goy(
will take action in the matter and place severe
strictious on the sale of all narcotic drugs. The f
employment of narcotic drugs has wrought individute,
evil enough among the upper and middle d el,
,
society, but it would be a national disaster.
..11
their use continued to extend among our workio
classes.
LARGE LIBRARIES.—The largest library in the wort('
is stated to be the National Library at Paris whiclh
in 1874, contained 2,000,000 printed books and 150,0'
manuscripts. The British Museum and the Imperin
Library at St. Petersburg both contained oboe'
1,100,000 volumes in 1874, and the relation is probabli
the same now. The Royal Library of Munich con'
tains 900,000 books. The Vatican Library at Rome Le
sometimes erroneously supposed to be among tbli
largest, while in point of fact it is surpassed, so
as the number of volumes goes, by more than Dui
European collections. It centains 105.000 printe°
books and 25,000 manuscripts. In the Ueited Statee,
the largest is the Library of Congress at Washington'
which in 1874 contained 231,000 volumes. The Bostoo
Putthe followed very closely after it with 206 500, and
the Harvard University collection came next, witil
200,000.
FIRES IN RUSSIA.—In Russia conflagrations Beet
to have become epidemic (says the Correspondent of
The Times). From Woronesh it is announced thsC
the town of Walnike is laid in ashes, and that a large
village of more than 2,000 inhabitants has been burn
to the ground In the Government of Warsaw the
town of Gbej.z has been destroyed by an enormous
fire, nor could the inhabitants save any of their pro'
perty. From the Government of Penes, on the othet
hand, intelligence comes that three large villages have
been annihilated by fire and thousands of peasants
reduced to beggary. Similar news is daily reported
from various parts of the Empire. In the year 1878,
according to an official statement, no fewer than
33,319 confia rations in Ruseia have caused damage to
the extent of upwards of 62,472,000 roubles.
AGRICULTURAL MEM.—Sowing seed is, no doubt, so
active exercise ; at the same time, may it not be coo.
sidered a sedentary (seed-entry) occupation 7—Judy.

RACING CENTENANIES.—Many of our readers are not
aware that this year is the centennial of the Derby, or
that during the past few years our three great classical
races have each completed their respective hundretb
years. The Doncaster St. Lever is the oldest of the three,
having been instituted in 1776, when the first race wag
run on Cantley-common, Lord Rockingham's Alla-
baculia being the victor. Strictly speaking, however,
the race can only be said to have dated from 1778,
when its venue was changed to Doncaster Town
Moor, and the race received its name in compliment
to Colonel St. Leger, better known as "Handsome
Jack." The Oaks was contested for the hundreth
time last year, the twelfth Earl of Derby having
established it in 1779. It was named after his rural
retreat, "The Oaks," in the pariah of Woodmanstone,
near Epsom. The Earl won the first race with his
filly Bridget. in the following year the same Earl
established the Derby, which was called by his name.
He tried hard to win the first race, as at the Oaks,
but could not succeed, Sir Charles Banbury's Diomed
being the winner. It is a curious fact that the race
has only once been won by an Earl of Derby, the late
Earl trying very hard for it, and in 1858 only lost by
half a head—his Toxophilite being beaten by Sir
Joseph Hawley's Beadsman by that length. In 1787
Lord Derby won with Sir Peter Teazle. —Globe.
THE CHEESE SHALL BE CUT !—Ezekiel Hanes!
the great-grandfather of the President of the United
States, was a successful mechanic in Connecticut, and
kept a number of apprentices. It is said that, some.
times, like apprentices in all ages, they felt hat they
bad Lng work and short rations. At one time a neW
cheese was put on the table whole. It stood uncut
for a day or two, Hayes, saying at each meal, "That
is a nice-looking cheese. It is a pity to cut it " The
boys thought this was growing rather monotonous,
and planned to show their sentiments. The black-
smith had one day got a bar of iron nicely heated, and
laid it across the iron anvil to be cut the proper
lengths. The boys, with chisels and sledges, were to
cut it off. But no hand was raised. Hayes asked why
they did not "strike." One of them replied :—" That
is such a nice bar of iron; it would be a pity to cut
it." Hayes quickly saw the point, and shouted, with
a- laugh, 'Strike, boys, strike! the cheese shall be
_ _
cut!"

"ALL IN THE DRESSING."—The oAptain :—" How
well Mrs. looks to-night; at least ten years
younger than when I saw her last."—Hostess
:-
"Oh, yes, that is easily accounted for: when you saw
her last she wore a moire antique dress."—Fgn.

THE PERILS OF BALLOONING.—One of the most ex-
traordinary escapes from death ever recorded occurred
on Easter Monday to an aeronaut named L'Eatrange
(says the Melbourne Argus) In the presence of
thousands of spectators he made an asoent from the
Agricultural Grounds, on the St. KiDa road, in the
balloon Aurora—the same, it is said, which was used
to convey despatches during the Franco-Prussian
war. When the balloon had attained the great
altitude of a mile and three•quarters it cud-
d nly collapsed, the gas bursting through its
side, but the parachute came into play, and,
instead of the wreck falling like a stone, it came
down in a zigzag course, and finally struck a tree in
the Government Domain, thus breaking the fall, and 2
L'Estrange reached the ground half stunned, but
alive. The excitement when the balloon came down '
was intense. Women screamed and fainted, some t'•
fell on their knees with their hands clasped in prayer,
while hundreds of men rushed into the Government 0
Domain expecting
pecttinnegytodifisnendvaerad ,Est
man ledbroadngy,a alivebutto and
their
almost unhurt.

COUNTY RATES.—A Parliamentary return of 1831
estimates the annual value of property than weaned
t.l the county rate in England and Wales at
irit,ooo,ooo, and the average rate of 3d. in the pound.
The cost of lunatic asylums is set down at £12,000,
and of constables, "high and special," at £!3,000. In -
the last ftnaiiCLat year, 1878, the valuation for county
aese-54unent 14 returnei at 2112,000,000, and the average
county rate (exclusrve of the police r.ze) at 2id. in the
Pound. The police rate averages lfd. The cot ofluL .
aau asylums Dow amunta to 23.2,000 anmuillYs
and Of tile Polka Imo to upwards of kl,OOOlOOO,

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