The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-03-25 00:00:00

niistellantrats

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

FOR RINKER& —lt iS best, in this variable
world, always to have something to fall back upon;
but the back of one's head is apt lo get worn out—after
whilA.—Judy.

A HAPPY- MARRIAGE.—In rambling by a
drive the other day, I came upon an old and stately
Scotch fir, with a long wreath of honeysuckle growing
round its stem to a height of 8 feet or so. The plant
looked vigorous enough, though growing so near the
hungry giant, and reminded one of a spaniel couched
in a tiger's lap in some zoological garden.—The
Garden.
TERRIBLE RAILWAY ACCIDENT IN ALBACIE.—
The Progrole de r Est, a paper published in Alsace, re-
ports that a dreadful railway accident took place on
the morning of the 13th instant to a slow train leaving
Mulhouse for Strasburg at five o'clock. As the train
coming from Strasburg was approaching Lutterbach
and crossing the river Ili, which had overflowed its
banks, one of the arches of the bridge gave way, carry-
ing with it a great portion of the structure. The
engine had reached the opposite aide of the river when
the catastrophe took place, but the whole of the re-
mainder of the train was plunged into the current
beneath. A terrible scene ensued. The carriages
were thrown one upon another, and smashed to pieces
in their descent, ultimately disappearing under the
waters. Those of the unfortunate travellers who were
not immediately killed by the shock and the fall of the
train were unable to escape from the carriages, and
were drowned or dashed against the roeks. Upwards
of thirty bodies have already been recovered from the
river, but a considerable number of passengers still
remain unaccounted for. The catastrophe, which is
stated to he the most terrible that has ever occurred
on the Alsatian lines, has caused profound desolation
throughout the who'. district. _ _

Fab CY PitICES The following " fancy
prices" are being paid for " concesAions for privileges '
at tbe Philadelphia Exhibition ;-50,000 dole, for
sweeping out ti,e hnildings, the man daitning all vAu-
ables found. This offer, however, has not been
definitely accepted. 12,000 dole, for the exclusive pri-
vilege of hiring out bath chairs' 40 dole. additional to
he raid on each chair over 300 which is employed
30,000 dole, for the right to dispense soda water, with a
rovalty also of twenty cents. on every gallon sold. The
Centennial Catalogue Company have paid 100,000 dole.
1c the privilege of printing and selling the Official
Catalogue. A shrewd tobacconist VIM' paid 18,00 dole.
for the right to sell cigars and tobacco. 20,000 dols, for the
right of controlling the "Public Comfort "Department
—to carry messages, take care of parcels, to provide
writing and waiting rooms, &c.; 6,000 dol4, each is
paid for six restaurants, none of them to cost lees than
10,060 dole., and one reaching 50,000 dole. A Jewish
restaurant will be conducted according to the liebrew
dietary laws; 3,000 dole, for photographing pictures of
grounds and buildings, ten per cent. on gross receipts
to be paid to the authorities of the exhibition; 5,000
dole, for sale of guide books, 3,000 dols, for sale of iw
cream, 3,000 dole. for right of erecting tobacco factories,
and to sell the product, 3,000 dole. for supplying glass,
5,000 dole. for selling confectionery, 5,000 dole, fer
banking privileges, 5,000 dole, each for eight cafes,
5,000 dols, for right to keep valuables on deposit.

ELIMINTART EDUCATION.—The Elements of
late have been unusually uniuly. Meetings to promote
Elementary Education have had not the slightest effect
in restraining their violence, so as to keep them hum
tearing telegraphic wires, and throwing tiles and
chimney-pots. There are Elements which nobody as
yet has been able to master • hence the late tempestuous
weather. Better luck to this efforts or philanthropists
to educate ti.e people. —Punch.

- TRAGEDY AT - SEA. The ship Grsta has
landed at Liverpool the captain and ten of the crew
of the ship Great Britain, which was abandoned
waterlogged in the Atlantic. For nine days the
captain and hands numbering 13 were in an exposed
and helpless condition on the ocean, nod for a portion
of the tline were without food. The Greta fell in
with them about 500 miles from the Irish coast. They
reported that after the seventh day of exposure the
cook and another man died, and some of die survivors,
it is stated, ate the livers and other portions of the
dead bodies. On the eighth day another man died.
The survivors are, almost without exception, in a very
low state. Captain Chicott, of the Great Britain,
reports that on the3rd inst. the vessel almost capsized,
and that eight men were lost overboard. The vessel
afterwards partly righted, but remained deep in the
water, the weather during the time being tempestuous.
AN INTERESTING SIGHT.—On Monday the port
of Liverpool presented one of the most stirring and
remarkable sights recorded in its history. For a num-
ber of weeks the weather has been such as to deter any
except the most powerful steamers and vessels of the
largest build from going to sea, while small coasters
took safe harbour wherever they could. On Monday a
favourable breeze from the north-north-east invited the
delayed fleet to leave the Mersey, and more than 400
vessels of all sizes and rigs set sail. Of ships cleared
for foreip ports were 193 in dock, some of which had
been waiting for favourable weather from the 7th of
February. The sight was as stirring and interesting
as it was unusual. Although the vessels were in some
cases going as many as ten abreast, only two slight
casualties have been reported, the grounding of a
schooner and the sinking of a fiat.

ADVICE TO ASPIRANTS. —lf you go in for a
Spelling Bee, and are brought down at the first shot
mind not to be waspish,—Punch.

GUANO IN THE BAHAMAS.—The Governor of
the Bahamas stqes in his report on 1874, recently
issued, that the trade in cave earth, or guano, which
is found throughout these islands, has materially in-
creased, large vessels arriving in ballast for this valua-
ble fertilizer, which is sold in American markets at
prices varying from 35 dols. to 60 dols. per ton. Un-
fortunately, while its value was not known, a monopoly
for seven years was granted to an American firm on
payment of the ridiculously small sum of £lOO a year
and 2s per ton royalty. It is roughly calculated that
there are at least 200,000 tons of this valuable deposit
in the Bahamas, but the Governor states that there
may be double that quantity, and, as about 30,000 tons
were being taken away annually, he has suggested that
it would be wise to impose an export duty; 2s. a ton,
he says, would yield a revenue of £3,000 a year, and
would be scarcely, if at all; felt.

EN PASSAIM —" Rather remarkable, ain't it,
Sir? But 'ave you hever noticed as mostly all the
Places on this Line begins with a 'H ' ?"—" Aw—
'heg your Pardon ? "—" Look at 'em !—'Ampstead,
'lghgate, 'Ackney, 'Omerton, 'Endon, 'Arrow, 'ollo-
way, and 'Ornsey "—Punch.

POTATO PLANTING.—It may be well, about
this time, to remind amateurs that after experiments
innumerable have been tried with potatoes to enable
them to withstand disease, or with a view tos.ssist their
escaping its attacks, little or nothing has been effected
except by showing clearly that no dependence can be
placed upon any method but growing early and second
early kinds with the seed properly prepared by being
wintered cool with as much light as possible to pro-
duce strong tough sprouts, which will render them less
liable to get injured or broken off in planting; by the
avoidance of rank stimulating manures; and by plant-
ing sufficiently early to admit of the crop being ready
for lifting before the time that the disease usually
becomes virulent. With this view I should advise
that all garden ground intended to be cropped with
potatoes—as soon as it is dry enough to be prepared
for planting—should immediately be got ready. In
early planting there is undoubtedly some danger from
spring frosts after the plants appear above ground, but
by keeping them earthed up, the danger may be miti-
gated, and far less mischief will occur from the young
leaves being slightly injured by frost than by the crop
being late and exposed to entire destruction by disease.
—Garden.

AN EXTRAORDINARY PIECE OF FURNITURE.
There's a shop in Broadway where a harmless young
man is employed to exhibit a newly-devised chair, in
a window, to the well-known crowd that wanders up
and down the street, from morn to dewy eve, with
nothing to do but to look at other people working for
a living. This young man, who certainly earns his
living, goes through an immense deal of exercise in
showing off his chair. He shoots it out into a bed,
makes it up with imaginary bed clothes, and goes into
a badly. designed nap on the fancied mattress. Then
he has a nightmare dream, and springs up as if he
were shot, and gives the cogs another wrench, and
makes the bed into a table, which he set out with
china and eatables, regardless of cheapness. The in-
ventor having forgotten to provide chairs for the com-
pany, the eating of the banquet has to be dispensed
with, and the young man, joyful at his escape from an
indigestion, dances about, turns more cogs, and applies
himself, by means of his tongue and a lead pencil, to
doing up a great deal of correspondence, with still no
chair to sit on, at a writing desk that has been made by
upsetting the dinner table, and turning the bed
inside out. There is, in fact, nothing that can't be
made out of that piece of furniture; but although
the young man comes up smiling after every gymnastic
feat, the spectators seem impressed with the fact that
the advantages of the chair are dearly bought at such Et
sacrifice of time and muscle, and they pass on reflec-
tively on the next window show.
THE DEPRECIATION OF SILVER. —TO COIN
COLLECTORS. —Wanted by geveral gentlemen, Victoria
half-crowns. Two shillings each will be given for any
quantity. Apply all day long to auyone, everywhere.
—Fun.

ACCIDENT AT A MENAGERIE.—An exciting in-
cident occurred late on Friday evening at the exhibi-
tion of Edmonds' (late Womball's) Menagerie at
GaMiele (says the Scotsman). A great crowd of
people were pressing in front of the cage of the male
lion Wallace when a boy named John Gray, thirteen,
was pushed dangerously close to the adjoining den,
where a large female lion was caged. The horizontal
bar was loose or open, and the lioness, pushing out her
paw unexpectedly and as quick as lightning, fixed her
claws in the shoulder of the boy's jacket. He screamed
with fright, and those nearest seized him and tried to
draw him out of danger. The animal lost her first
hold, but struck out again, this time fixing her claws
deep in the flesh above the elbow, tearing the arm
open to the bone for an inch and a half. Lower down
the arm, above the waist, another wound was inflicted
with the other paw. The lad was soon pulled by
sheer force out of the claws of the infuriated brute.
He was taken home and attended by a surgeon, and
was able on Saturday to be out with his arm in a
sling.
To RAISE CHICKENS.—The following is from
'Farm and Garden" in the Pict°, ial World :—" It is
advisable always to establish the nests in places re-
moved from the house in which the stock are kept.
Different people have different ways. Our way is to
prepare a lot of snug places, dark and warm, amongst
the outhouses and sheds, and as fast as birds become
broody remove them to these places, and. there let
them incubate in perfect quiet. The nest 13 ina(le on.
a brick floor, and a slip of wood, or two or three bricks,
laid in front to prevent the eggs rolling forwr,ls. The
eggs are then put into the nest, and a board or some-
thing of the kind is pat in front to hide it. The bird
is then lifted gently and put into the shed, and shut
in. It is the rule never to put her on the nest, or even'
to show it her. She is left to find it, and the plan
never fails, for in the course of a few hours she is
found to be comfortably settled, and then a pan of
water may be put within her reach. The next morning
corn as well as water will be required ; but neither
should be put quite close to the bird, and she should
never be taken off to be fed—never, in fact, disturbed
at all. She will manage her affairs in her own way,
and that is the best way ; the more you meddle and
fuss, the more do you increase the risk of the eggs
being addled."

GREATFUL.—Englishmen, who used to be so
proud of their Great Eastern, must pardon the natural
pride shown by Americans in their Great Weston.—
Fyn.

THE ALBERT MEMORIAL—The Times of Mon-
day says—" An Octogenarian" calls our attention to the
very eccentric principle on which the selection has been
made of the worthies whose life-size effigies adorn the
base on which the sarcophagus rests. "An Octoge-
narian" says :—" A slight investigation will show that
musicians form no insignificant proportion of the cele-
brities represented on the MemoriaL My information
is derived from the' Hand-book of the Prince Consort
National Memorial,' published by Murray, in which I
find the poets and musicians grouped together on the
south front podium. They consist of 39 personages, of
whom 28 are musicians and 11 poets. The naturarin-
ference to be drawn from this classification appears to
me to be this—that the number of eminent musicians
whom the world has produced exceeds that of the poets
in the proportion of rather more than 2i to I—or, to
put the case more concisely, that the world is more in-
debted to the art of music than of poetry. I doubt if
the verdict of mankind would bear out this inference,
and least BO when applied to our own country, which
in no age hag been distinguished for its production of
musiciaris of the highest class. Yet on the Albert
Memorial place is given to only three English poets—
Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton—in juxtaposition
with seven Lunsicians Tanis, Gibbons, Lewes, Pur-
cell, Arne, and Bishop, as if these names were more
worthy of a national monument on the score of pre-
eminent genius than those of Spenser, Dryden, Pope,
Gray, Goldsmith, Burns, Byron, Shelley, scat,
Wordsworth, Coleridge, Campbell, to say nothing of
such dramatists as '0 rare Ben Jonson,' Otway, and
others of that school."
OPENING OF THE NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE.
—ln London, on Saturday, under the auspices of the
Metropolitan Board of Works, Northumberland-
avenue, the streetl,oiaefuwktlnhies nt,st r
ewf
era
sto mifuover
:are r ine t othergr"h.ee
demolition of Northumberland House,
,:•riihinnasgultricttihit.:n2Lndl
one of th--;se architectural links which bound u.
with the past century. This mansion occupied the site
of Northampton Hou,,e, which was built early in the
Bret: Oafi:J.prac:ieosnls.. for the noble family of the Howard&
Between the years 1766 and 1780 it underwent
as entitled it to be called a new
luildiE4, the only trace remaining of the older structure
hang thft4cinitarbton e gateway surmounted by a lion
Passant—long a familiar object—and inscribed with
the f Irntly motto of the House of Northumberland,
"Esperance en Dieu." Northumberland House was
principally noted for its ma.gnihoent state gallery and
double staircase with marble steps. But it had associa-
tions of an histcric character. Here the leading men
of the nation proposed and planned the restoration of
.Charles 11. Behind the house was an extensive plot
of ground, forming a garden, but now no trace of either
house or garden remaine. They have now merged into
a smooth, prosaic London thoroughfare.