The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-04-12 00:00:00

•
Distetiantotts flitilxgract.
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

—thAe rteottuarnl
Cost
toveedf
the
that
five complete years
il tbtyaThi 11%11 THE RAILWAY
in
lAo•YlHermon
existence,eimo: 1
is 82
includingli° -
misai o n e r s and clerks, offices, stationery, and all other
expenses, and deducting receipts from fee stamps,
amounts to £46,866. The number of cases submitted
for decision during the same period was 152; and
Mr. Hermon's return seems to be intended to ern-
phasize the fact that the decision of each case by the
Commissioners has cost the country about £3OB.
Mn. GLADSTONE AND POLITICAL HISTORY. —ln
reply to a letter from a gentleman in Glasgow, asking
information as to the best sources of political history,
Mr. Gladstone writes :—'Much the best book known
to me for the purpose is Sir Erskine May's 'Constitu-
tional History of England.' Much is also to be learned
from Mr. Bagehot on the Constitution, the histories
by Mr Molesworth and Mr. Justin McCarthy, and
the work of the Duke of Argyll on the Eastern and
Afghan Questions."
AN INCREASING TASTE FOR A WOELD•FA3IED
DELICACY.—Some interesting statistics in reference to
the production of the world-famed pates de foie gras
e nmho
are: does
for
taste
have just been supplied by a foreign contemporary
(says the Evening Standard). There are at present in
Strasbourg about 250 persons who make, a living by
fattening geese for this trade, and some of Ann have
as many as 200 or 300 birds in hand at the Same time.
There are however, only 23 actual makers of the noted
pies, but are,
sales in the year amount Collectively
to about 1,500,000 marks, or £75,000 of our nibney. The
goose, when destined for the pdte, is a large ealtsumer
of food, for on an average 30 litres of corn are reqliired
to so affect a bird's liver that' he is fit , for
killing. An addition of antimony to the grain atid of
sand and charcoal to the water is fcund to stimurate
the growth of the liver materially. A good fat goose
will weigh from 161 b. to 201 b., and have a liver
r
weighing from 21b. to 31b. From five to ten marks (0.
shillings) is the price paid for a pound of liver, accord
lug to quality, and from sixpence to ninepence. lb.Prth
for the meat. The change of nationality, which
no:good people of Strasbourg have experiencee.,
taffheercetesedetrauthyethawmoresdeiethteispprearepeticentelaerf
the delicacy diminishing. (..)n the contrary, th
for it, both in this country and elsewhere among
civilised nations, shows a definite advance year 153?
year. trthaeded

per
Itainissioners
0f
respeet
. IV., 030.
trustees
411 e vsliti
v—
show'
1818'
'to if°l
i
/5, 'a
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are 4 ee,
tiO
,A I
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during or
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i honotreti
amons
331 Oa'
the

SAVINGS BANKS.—A Parliamentary pat
forth the assets and liabilities of the Comm
the Reduction of the National Debt, in
savings banks establiched under Act 9 Geo,
92, shows that the total amount due to
November 20, 1878, was £44,667,352, and
of the securities held by the Con
£41,355,572. A return as to naval saving.s
that the number of accounts open on bite(
was 10,-r 59. The amount of the assets on th.
£126,730. There was due to depositors £l'
deposits of deserters unclaimed amounted t
there remained a surplus of £BO6.
Too TRUE.—Scene.—An eating-house.,
man. "Waiter, how's this? These pots
hard !"—Waiter (with presence of mind). "
icial

that tilt.
Commissioners
banks

•ch 31,
AL,Nt datk
2120,275,
1 to i

..--Old
Itatoes •

Hard

you know, sir."—Judy.
THE ORDER OF FORESTERS.—The offit.
relating to the progress of the Foresters
past year show that on the Ist of Janus
Order numbered 531,176 benefit and 1231,
members, an increase of 9,760 benefit and 77'
members during the year. The court fund
to £2,349,828, and the district funds to I
tional—an increase during the year of £140,590
court and of £11,490 in the district funds. The
members admitted numbered 40,449, and the deArr
had been 5,533 members and 3,554 wives and widow;
The average sickness had been 865 days per. meoaboe99
In Middlesex alone there arefi32 courts, having 92,
.members, with £383,333 court and £81,215 dist°
funds.
COAST DEFErwits.—A return has been preset°
of
showing that up to March 30, 1878, the expediturt
fortifications under the Act of 1860 has been £7,425, 7
of which lands (including legal and other expeOvi;
have cost £1,078,818, and providing and fixing
shields, £402,200. The Portsmouth defences, sea
.de
land, including the defences of the Needles pao",°„t
and the Isle of Wight coast defences, have
£2,600,000, of which £1,243,000 has been swallowea
by the "outer line" of defences—Horse Sand foll
Spit Bank Fort, No Man's Land Fort, and Porkls
and St. Helen's Batteries. At Plymouth the defeS,d.
cost £1,189,000: at Pembroke, £279,000; at Portlah.;
£415 000; the Med way and Sheerness, £392,956
Thames, £334,246; Dover, £292,500; and Oslo
£187,000. A considerable sum has been spent (272,7;
at Portsmouth alone) in excess of the sums assigned
the Act.
How THEN ?—lt is well, we are told, to put a eau
face upon everything. But supposing one is so 11,5
that he cannot for the life of him 2--Judy.
ROYAL BOUNTY.—The Premier has sent £l5O IV°
the Royal Bounty Fund to Lord Houghton for
Llanos, the sister of Keats.—Athenceum.

inary,
,155 ha
-61-

£299,.

1

FIRST ImrnEssroNs IN JAPAN.—In no other 1
said Professor Morse, in a lecture, will the tra
find so many things as in Japan, and he was kept
busy recording his first impressions. One of the
things that struck him were the wooden sandals
by these thirty.five millions of people. The 7 ha)
separate compartment for the great toe, and
clacking noise on the street. Straw slippers are
worn, and a traveller setting out on a journey,
strap a supply of them on his back that he may put'
a new pair when the old.is worn out. They cost
cent and a half a pair. They are not rights and
and leave the foot free to the air—we never see

deformities of the foot in Japan which are so freq
in this country. They are never worn in the he
being left outside the door; passing down a street
see long rows of them at the doors, old and new, 1
and small. It is surprising to see how rapidly the
step oat of them, and pick them up again with
feet, without stopping when leaving the house.
A UszFuL MACHINE.—A machine for _
granite and other hard stones has been brought
that promises, says Scribuer, to prove of value in
ducing the cost of preparing building stones. It
sista of an oblong frame of iron, supported at
corners, and carrying a movable platen, some‘
after the manner of iron planing machines. On
is placed a strong head-niece or tool holder, and
means of a system of long pulleys and corres,
belts, power may be brought to the tool whatever
position during the work. The block of granite
planed is placed on a hand-truck and rolled under
machine and raised by means of jack-screws to
proper level for work. The revolution of the cuti
tool planes down the stone at about the pace of '
iron planers, and performs the work in a manner fo
equal to hand labour. The tool is fed to the work
hand, one man being sufficient for all the work.

PROTESTING THE BlLL—Ohio claims the .
of having brought in the biggest Bill in its 'Aegis.
Assembly ever heard of. It is a sew code, and
tame 3,200 sheets, to say nothing of the wet bl
which it must inevitably prove to most of the
lators who have to discuss it. Willing as the Asse
may be to read it a second and a third time, it
probably be a physical impossibility to get any of
to read it through even once. It is a Bill, in fact,
should pre-eminently be "taken as read."—Fun.

THE Fox.—The question as to whether the nt
of foxes in the country is or is not declining frequ(
causes discussion. Some years ago it was prophe
that with the extension of railways in all direct/o,i
foxes would become extinct; but much as railolo
have increased in number and length of mileage WA
are very large tracts of the country still out of re:a
of the line. Packs of hounds are more numerous tb';
they were also' yet neither railways nor more Ow
merous hunts have made any appreciable difference el
the number of foxes. In certain years foxes are fell
than in others and when some seasons ago, for se.veZh,
consecutive years, the numbers seemed to be
ing in various parts of the country, not a little
was felt amongst hunting men, who dreaded the
termination of their favourite enemy. But since tin
there have been several good years in succession, 11124
the general verdict seems to be that there are as inn
foxes in the country now as there were half a ceatu'c'y
ago. The fox is not such a wild creature as many Ciro
pose, and it is by no means averse from establishiegd
comfortable home very near indeed to the border a,
civilisation. Within a hundred yards of the 134,0
minton Kennels, for example, foxes have been knor,"o
to take up their abode which rather detracts fil;a,
their reputation for wiliness. On the whole, ace°,
ing to the best authorities, fox-hunting will in all
bability continue in the land for an indefinite perioa.
Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News.
BLESSING OF BELLs.—The Bishop of Dover has eici
secrated a new peal of bells in the parish church r
Folkestone, and blessing of bells has also been Pe
formed at Lyneham, Wilts; and Stratford St.
Essex.
„ _
COMING TO THE POINT.—It has lately nee.„
-0
matter of discussion whether it had not been wiser
have sent out to .Zululand a regiment of Hn
instead of Lancers. Of course, any preference Ttif
played for either branch of the service casts no IPat
upon the other; both are equally courageous, bt,bi
there is this difference between them—that while
Hussars stick at nothing the Lancers .stick at eve
thing.--Fun.
A STRANGER'S LIBERAum—The French provrtiitY
that "Nothing is sacred from a fireman" applies
equal truth to the American paragrapher. The
ett'
lowing appears in a recent number of the Oil -
Derrick :—A rednosed stranger shuffled into a 810°
yesterday evening where a crowd of loungers were
cussing the political situation, and waiting for a carl,„e
date to drop in and say "something."
a low obeisance to the man behind the bar,„in
stranger turned to the loungers and said:
you're on deck, gents; was afraid I would be obligebo
to drink ale, and if there's anything I despise it'o_,„`
play a game of solitaire at a public drinking f°,l"o
tam. Come up and join me.' The boys rallie° a
the call, and half-a-dozen glasses were filled 05j
emptied with "my regards, stranger." "In the 1051,,
of the Latin poet," said the strange man, whirling
empty glass across the counter, "Fit lint up agaislo
The order was obeyed, and the beverage drunk to tb,,
health of the genial stranger. "What's the penaltllj,
he asked, wiping, his lips on the back of his
"Dollar-forty." 'Only a dollar-forty! " heexclaino°
"it's worth twice that if it's worth a cent. Why, -
dear sir," he continued, unearthing a greasy pocket. bet
" I've travelled Main to Californy, from Terre Hauteo
Kalamazoo, and dog my cats if lever heard tell of
cheap entertainment." "We try to do the fair WI
by our customers," said the bar-keeper visibly toucti,l7;
by the compliment. "I have slaked my thirst at who
Fifth Avenue, at the Palmer, at the Southern,
Grand, at the Gibson, at the Galt, and I ".,s
truthfully assert that never before have my 4%
touched juice of the cork that could hold a can
poo
to that with which you have just regaled us.
liar forty, indeed!" "I won't have any but
otn
beet," said the barman, blushing slightly. 14
I go up and down through life," continued t'ior,
stranger with enthusiasm, "I will take it a pleasur,e4
call every man's attention to the fact that at your poi"
—and I will note the street and number as I go otlt;
that at your place, sir, sign of Gambrinus sitting oø
beer-keg, is dispensed a balm in Gilead at ten cents
glass that can be had nowhere else on the footstool ft.);
less than twenty-five." "I will be much obliged i'tg‘
you." "Don't mention it. I will go miles out of my cie
to call a traveller's attention to the fact that benee_„_,_
your counter is a black bottle with a corn cob stoPP
which contains the identical nectar that Jupiter (001
In addition to this full-page advertisement, embellish..,
with original cuts, I would gladly hand you the pal
cents," dollar and forty nts," and he unclasped the pocke_:,
book and helped himself to a chew of fine-cut ther:,
from, "but the fact is, sir, the failure of the Bank bl-a
left me without a cent in the world; ta-ta—come
see us often !"—and he was gone.
14
"No ACCOUNTING FOR TASTE."—" You don't 10
well, Aunt; let me get out that bottle of ' port
squire sent you."—" Do 'ee, my love, and be careful
to give it a good 'ard shake to stir up all the sesing
ment I then I'll be sartin sure to get the real flavioar'
—Fun.

1

- --
THE STINGING TREE.—Though the tropical scrohl!,
of Queensland are very luxuriant and beautiful, the/i,
are not without their dangerous drawbacks, for thero
is one plant growing in them that is'really deadlk4
its effects—that is to say, deadly in the same way o',
one would apply the term to fire; as, if a certain Pr,
portion of one's body is burnt by the , stinging
death will be the result. It would be as safe tor-,,
through fire as to fall into one of ;these trees. Toe;
are found growing from two or three inches high to te
and fifteen feet; in the old ones the stem is whitish:
and red berries usually grow on the top. It omits
peculiar and disagreeable smell, but is best known
.%
its leaf, which is nearly round, having a point on sP.,
top, and is jagged all round the edge, like the nettle'
All the leaves are large—some larger than a saucer,'
"Sometimes," says a traveller, "while shoot/lie.
turkeys in the scrubs, I have entirely forgotten r
stinging tree, till warned of its close proximity
its smell, and have then found myself in a little fore°
of them. I was only once stung, and .that was cerit
Its effects are curious ; it leaves no mark, "
the pain is maddening; and for months afterwards the
part, when touched, is tender in rainy weather, er
when it gets wet in washing, &c.. I have seen a ixo'ri,
who treats ordinary pain lightly, roll on the ground IL'
agony after being stung; and I have known a horse ee
completely mad after getting into &grove of the tree,"
that he rushed open-mouthed at every one voi°
approached him, and had to be shot in the Battu'
Dogs, when stung, will rush about, whining piteousile
biting pieces from the affected part. The small sting"
ing trees, a few inches high, are as dangerous :As
being so hard to see, and seriously imperilling clle g
ankles. The scrub is usually found growing &snag
palm trees.

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