The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-10-25 00:00:00

Lever six
Diner dix
Soups'. six
Concher a dix
Felt vivre l'homme cilx fois dlr.

Then it became the practice to dine at two p.m., (as
in some of the provinces still), then at five p.m., and
now it is seven.thirty p.m. At the same time the
supper hour has changed in the same direction, becom.
ing at length so late as to be dispensed with; and in
the morning new meals have appeared, the dejeuner
now replacing the old diner, There seems no reason
why the movement should not go on, and as the day
cannot be prolonged indefinitely, it is probable (the
writer thinks) that people will go to theatre before
dinner. The fashion of matino,es dramatiques is a first
symptom of this transformation of habits. When
these commence at four or five p.m.. instead of two
p.m., the diner will have quite replaced the old souper,
and there will be a return to the usages of the
eighteenth century, the names alone being changed.
MORTALITY IN THE TROPICS.—The average annual
mortality of Para, Brazil, is about 60 per 1,000; in St.
Kitts, West Indies, the annual mortality rises as high
some years as 74 per 1,000. Throughout the West
Indies the autumn is the most unhealthy season, and
dysentery and yellow Sever the most fatal epidemics.
A correspondent of the Southern Clinic attributes the
short lives of Europeans in the West Indies chiefly to
exposure to cold and dampness and to alcoholic
beverages.—London Medical Record.

-
A POSER.—Master Torn. "Stand in the corner?
What for ? "—His Mamma. "Because you are a bad
boy."—Maater Tom. "Can't I be a bad boy here net
as well?"—Fun.

THE NEXT Gzardert CENSUS—At the Congress of
Municipal Statisticians, which has just been held in
Berlin, it was determined te present to the German
Imperial Council a resolution in favour of the next
Imperial Census of Germany taking place on the Ist
of December, 1880. It was also resolved that there
should be an enumeration of the cattle, and a return
of the dize of each separate farm taken at the same
time.
THE SWEDISH NORTH-EAST PASSAGE EXPEDITION.
—A telegram received at Lloyd's, dated Kobe, October
17, states that the Vega (Swedish exploring steamer)
arrived at that port on October 14.
COPYRIGHT IN JAPAN.—Authors in Japan are for.
tunate beings in the matter of copyright. By applica-
tion they can obtain the exclusive right to sell their
writings for thirty years, or, if the work be very im-
portant, for forty-five years, each book bearing the
name and address of author or publisher, and the date
of its registration. If the copyright is violated, the
offender is fined, obliged to hand over the product of
his piracy, as well as the plates from which the work
was printed, while the publication or sale of books put
forth anonymously, or under a pseudonym, and with.
out note of the place of publication, is punished by
imprisoLment of from ten days to six months, and
confiscation of the work.

THE FIRST SNOW.—The Allgemdne Zeitung of
Augsburg says that the announcement of the first
snowfall in Germany (not reckoning the higher
Bavarian Alps, which have been covered for some
weeks past) came on the 14th inst. from Dresden, and
from the two ranges of the Giant Mountains and
the Fichtelgebirge, which divide Bohemia from Silesia
and Bavaria respectively, and from the Taunus on the
15th and 16th. Snow fell also lightly in Augsburg
and Nurnberg on the latter date. At Graz, in Styria,
it began to snow heavily at midnight on the 16th inst.,
and great mischief was done to the vineyards and
woods. In the city park some of the largest trees had
been broken down by the weight.
WHITE SWALLOwS.—Prague papers state that Herr
Hoffmann of Podebrad, in Bohemia, a well-known
naturalist, has presented to the Crown Prince Rudolph
a nest-fall of swallows, differing from other swallows
only in colour, being quite white. The parent birds
which reared them, and which he has forwarded to the
Prince together with their exceptional offspring, have
the usual colour of ordinary swallows.
AMERICAN AND CANADIAN FOOD.—The supply of
live stock and fresh meat at Liverpool last week from
the United States and Canada was again much bele N
the average of recent periods, though not quite so
small as the previous weeks as regards live stock.
The steamers with live stock were :—The Iberian,
with 180 cattle and 217 pigs; the Illinois, with 218
sheep: the Lake Champlain, 68 cattle and 24 sheep;
the Victoria, with 245 cattle; the Nestorian, with 150
cattle and 1,190 sheep ; and the Espanol, with 114
cattle; making the totals 1,019 cattle, 1,442 sheep, and
217 pigs. The following steamers arrived with fresh
meat :—lberian, 686 qrs. of beef; the City of Brussels,
with 1,077 qrs. of beef, 175 carcases of mutton, and
150 pigs; and the Britannic, with 620 qrs. of beef and
250 carcases of mutton; being 1,383 qrs. of beef, 425
careens of mutton, and 150 pigs.

A GIANT PALM.—The King of the Belgians has
purchased a large horticultural collection at Enghien,
and among the trees is a giant palm, a Babel umbracu-
lifera, which is 421 t. in height, and the crown of which
is abaut 271 t. in diameter, the base of the trunk mea-
suring 61t. This great tree has been safely transported
to the King's new winter garden at Laeken, a work of
no small difficulty. The weight, which had to be
carried, was more than 26i tons, and the truck upon
which the huge tree was laid was drawn from Enghien
to Brussels by seventeen horses, twenty-one being used
from Brussels to Laeken. This has been, in all pro-
bability, the largest tree which has ever been conveyed
to such a distance and transplanted. The palm has
acquired a European reputation, being known as the
largest in these latitudes, and the difficulties of its
transport were increased by the necessity for avoiding
the bridges over the canals, none of which were strong
enough to bear so great a weight with safety. The
King is forming in this building a remarkable and
valuable collection of exotic trees, and the building is
expected to be thrown open during the jubilee gees of
the Belgian Independence in 1880.
A TABULAR STATEMENT.—" Tide tables" are those
which are lashed to the deck of a cabin on board ship.
—Fun.
HIGH IiRRLED BOOTS.—Treating on the subject-of
health, a French doctor directs attentim to the per-
nicious effects of high-beeled diminutive boots (says
the Echo). As early as 1490 the poet Ccquillard good-
humouredly chaffs the ladies of his time for wearing
"shoes with twenty-four soles ; " and in 1665 Colletet
complained that his female friends would insist on
adding six inches to their height through the aid of
the shoemaker. It is no longer open to us to smile at
the singular customs of the Chinese in this matter.
When will ladies have shoes made for their feet, in-
stead of attempting to make their feet fit unnaturally
-
shaped shoes?
HINT FOR THE WINTER (in advance) —How to keep
your rooms warm—keep your grates coal'd.—Punch.
IN PRAISE OF RED HAIR.—An admirer of red hair,
who has it himself, glorifies that style thus
Throughout creation, nature appears to delight in
re]. It predominates in the pleasure of the imagina-
tion, for whatever is beautiful, agreeable or sublime,
partakes of red. The rainbow, the rose, and the
charming lip and cheek of beauty's self, the sun, the
source of heat and light, all are red ; as is also the
fire, the mighty autocrat of the universe. The most
brilliant flowers' the most delicious fruits, the orange,
the apple, and the peach, are red Through the
animal kingdom red predominates, as in the king of
beasts, the lion. But go further: Adam, the first
mankind, was red. The greatest of Grecians, Jupiter,
Apollo and Jove, were crimson. Samson, whose
strength was gigantic, derived his power from his red
hair, and the destiny of the empire of Athena depended
on the red hair of Nisus. Queen Elizabeth had red
hair—so bad Spenser and Shakspeare. Milton is
another instance of the proof of my proposition. Also
Defoe, the author of that world-renowned story, Robin-
son Crusoe. Lafayette had red hair; Bonaparte'e hair
was of this c3lour. Artemus Ward has red hair; BO
have the lt,d Indians, or else why so named ?" &c.
SALT PRODUCTION IN GERMANY.—Some interesting
particulars as to the salt trade are given in the August
number of the Government statistics published at
Berlin. The production of rock salt has been rather
on the increase, while that of salt obtained from
salines has somewhat decreased. It is as follows
(1 centner. 110113.) :—Rock salt, 1876. 3,106,325 cent-
ners ; 1877-78, 3,220,992 centners ; 1878-79, 3,757,186
centners. Salines, 1876, 8,31.1,081 centners ; 1877-78,
8,317,886 centners; 1878-79, 8,205,531 centners. Russia
takes by far the largest amount of salt from Germany.
as regards the exports, her requirements in 1878-79
(775,258 centners) having more than doubled those of
1873 (338,655 centners). Austria, the Netherlands,
and Norway are the next largest customers. The total
exports of German salt in 1878-79 were 2,089,785
centners. The applications of salt to the various
industries daring the past year were—in the prepara-
tion and preservation of fodder, 1,815,251 centnera ;
artificial manure, 59,227; soda and Klauber salt manu-
factories, 1,783,816; chemical and dyeing works,
208,660; soap and candle works, 104,870 ; leather and
tanning trades, 103381; metal trades, 64,254; glass
and pottery, 50,616 ; sundry technical uses, 31,256;
total, 4,221,333.