The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-08-10 00:00:00

nlisrellanunts Ihitettigenct.

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

THE IMPORTATION OF MEAT.—A return has been
made to the House of Commons of the quantity of
meat and number of live stock imported in the year
1877, and of the quantity or meat imported in the first
half of the present year. The aggregate importation
of fresh and salted meat in 1877 was 1,41,420 cwt.,
the value being £4.117,808. In the six months euded
on the :oth of June last the aggregate importation
was 928,712 cwt., showing a decrease upon the corre-
sponding six months of last year of 5,603 cwt. During
the first six months of ,878, too, the agv,regate number
of cattle, sheep, and swine imported into th United
Kingdom was ',21,97,0, whereas in the first six mouths
of 1877 the return was 533,216.

IMPENITENT.—Jack (who has been put in the corner
for misbehaviour).—" Mamma!" Mamma_—"
Sir, what is it ? " Jack.—" What remarkably nice
corners there are in this house ! "—Punch.

THE FIRST STEAMER TO CYPRUS. - The steamer
Napoli, the first of a line from London to Larnaca,
was despatched by Messrs. !Diller and Co., of Great St.
Helens, on the 3rd int., with a number of passengers
and a lull cargo of miscellaneous goods, Previous to
the steamer's departure from Gravesend the passengers
forwarded the followirig telegram ;—" To Her Majesty
Queen Victoria, Osborne, Isle of Wight.—A few loyal
subjects, passengers on board the Napoli, being the
first steamer sailing from the river Thames to your
newly-acquired island of Cyprus, beg leave to tender
their respectful homage before leaving."

HAPPY THOUGHT. The Marquis of Lorne for
Governor-General of the Dominion, and with more
power to his elbow in the fair shape of the Princess
Louise. A capital idea of Lord Beaconsfield's. It
shows he was determined not to put a duffer in to
Dufferin's place.—Punch.
SNUFFING HIM OUT.—Brown came home late the
other night from a public dinner, disguised in the
argumentative state of liquor. . . . 'lt's not any
good your talking," wound up Brown, as he made un-
steady shots with the extinguisher at the chamber
candle. "You're all wrong; women always are, and
always were from the very beginning. Why, talkin'
of my goin' to this dinner, why you seem to forget that
it was woman who first tempted man to eat. A—ha,
Mrs. B. !"—" Yes," said Mrs. 8., cuttingly, as she
snuffed out the candle with a steady hand, "but man
took to drink on his own account afterwards. A—ha.
Mr. B. !"—lt was no good Brown pretending to be
asleep. —Jud y.
A PROGRESSIVE SENTIMENT.—A little girl was re-
proved for playing out doors with boys, and informed
that, being seven years old, she was "too big for that
now." But, with all imaginable innocence, she replied,
"Why, the bigger we grow the better we like 'em."

ANOTHER CIVILISED NIIISANCE.—The inhabitants
of the City of New York are being subjected to yet
another form of nuisance. Elevated railroads are now
open from one end of the city to the other, which in
many cases run close to, under, or above the counting
houses, warehouses, and offices of many of the chief
establishments in the business quarter. Complaints
are being continually made to the municipal authori-
ties that the dirt and noise caused by these trains
(which run about every three minutes during the
working hours of the day) interfere very seriously with
office work, and will speedily cause much depreciation
of property in consequence. The evil is so pronounced
that a petition setting forth the risks to health' mental
vigour, &c., has been signed and presented to the
authorities by nearly all the leading physicians in the
city. These elevated railroads run immediately above
the chief tram car lines, and in consequence of their
superior speed threaten to injure the tramway traffic
very considerably. —Lancet.
EDUCATlON.—lnspector of Schools. "It strikes me
that Teacher of yours retains little or no Grasp upon
the attention of the Children,—not Hold enough you
know, —not Hold enough.' —Lancashire Magnate
(who takes great interest in the Educational Move-
ment). "Not Hold enough! Lor' bless yer—if she
ever sees Forty again, I'll eat my 'at ! !"—Punch.
AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.—The follow-
ing are the average prices of British corn for the week
ending Aug. 3, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 445. 10d. ; barley, 335. 3d. *
oats, 275., per imperial qr. Corresponding weei
last year :—Wheat, 655. 6d.; barley, 355. 5d.; oats,
28s. 7d.
FROM BAD TO WORSE.—Young Gent (who has been
away from home some time) : "Well, cook, and how
are you ?"—Cook : "Only moderate, sir, only mo-
derate; the fact is I often wish I was dead."—Y. G.
"I'm sorry to hear that; but you should mind what
you say, cook: you know it might be 'out of the
frying-pan into the fire.' "—Pun.

A FOUR - FOOTED VALET. I was standing one
pleasant evening in the early spring outside the door
of the house, enjoying the fresh breeze I was quite
content to stand there inhaling the fresh' breath of the
spring, but Victor, my retriever, was not equally con-
tent. It seemed to him that I was wasting the golden
hours by not immediately starting off for a walk, and
he capered about and barked and endeavoured by all
the means in his power to make known his wishes.
At last he stood still for a minute and watched we
with an air of calm reflection. It then seemed to
occur to him that it must be the want of somethinK
which prevented me from starting out for a walk, an
he ran into my room to see if he could supply the
deficiency.. In a minute's time he appeared agar'
with the air of one who had solved a knotty question.
In his mouth he carried my hat, which he thrust into
my hand, and then sat up and begged. Finding how-
ever, that I did not comply with his wishes'he again
disappeared, and reappeared a moment or two after-
wards, dragging my greatcoat. I need hardly sa7
that for obvious reasons I have never taught him to
fetch either the one or the other.—F. 0. MOBBIS—"
Land and Water.
THE NATIONAL DEBT.—According to a return itißt
issued the National Debt now amounts to £777,781,596'
Since 1857-8 the sum of £41,281,738 has been added to
the debt, but within the same period £103,019,468 was
paid off. The amount of debt created durinz the year
1877-8 was £7,973,891, but of this sum £6,066,008 was
paid off.

Fuom WOOD GREEN.—Our little boy says he knows
where the green wood tree is that his sister is always
singing about; it is in his Noah's ark.—Fun.

THE NILE.—The rising of the Nile in Egypt is new
going on favourably (says the Statist). On the 30th
the height marked at Cairo was 10.5 pics, as compared
with 111 at the corresponding date a year ago; on the
31st the height was 11.5, and on Auo. 1, 12. In the
comparison with last year it is stated that there is
difference of II metres to be made good in consequence
of the dryness of the banks through the low rise of last
year, but this difference is being made up, and alto-
gether the rise though late, is satisfactory for eve**
crop except cotton. If the rise had come a fortnight
earlier the cotton crop would have been one of the
most remarkable ever raised in Egypt, but as the rise
is late there is a loss which cannot be afterwards re-
covered. For next year's crops the rise is fully saes"
factory.
LIVE AND LEARN.—Mr. Stubbs: "Well, Mrs.
Miles, I don't think we can object to it, since thei
says it's for the advance of science."—Mrs. Miles:
"Well, I would not object to vivisection in the least,
you know, if the animals were dead."—Futi,

A "MUSTARD JURY."—The marked superiority of
women over men is on few points more remarkahlo
than in their superior powers of smelling and tasting
(says the Pall Mall Gazette). A woman will detect
the faintest odour of tobacco when a man, even though,
a non-smoker, often fails to discover any symptom 01
it. As with smell so with taste. Women are mar-
vellously acute and faztidious in the matter of sauces
and all flavouring ingredients. This faculty has beer
recognized in a most pleasing manner by the composl-
- of the jury who are to decide in Paris on the
merits of the mustards of various nations. Th°,
mustard congress is to consist of twelve gentlemen any'
an equal number of ladies. This arrangement, it
stated, is owing to the suggestion that the palates 01
men are vitiated by smoking; whereas women, who
do not as a rule indulge in that pernicious habit,
likely to be better qualified to form a correct °ping°
on the merits of condiments.

THE BLACK BEETLE SPOTTED WITH RED Alll3
WHITE !—SO far as we are aware we can lay our
hands on our hearts and disclaim all personal know'
ledge of the carpet beetle, which, according to the
New York Times, has been sent over from England
and threatens to become as great a pest in houses
his Colorado brother is in potatoes. All our entoraio
enemies—except the Colorado beetle—have come from
abroad," the journal says, "and we may frankly sel
that they are a very poor return for the good thior
we are constantly sending to Europe;" but we have ?0
sort of acquaintance with a black beetle spotted witb
red and white, of the character and habits described in
the American papers. To clothes-eating motile vie
plead guilty, but of fur and feather devouring beetles:
which apparently cut holes in carpets with pairs or
scissors, we know nothing. Such creatures have sot:
we believe, arrived in England, and it is to be hope"
that they will not do so, for their artful habits render
their discovery exceedingly difficult, and when thet
are caught •it is difficult to know how to tre"
them effectually, seeing that they regard pePPe4
snuff, kerosene, and various insect powders as atC;
able and nutritious diet. In the matter of
beetles, spotted with red and white, our Transatlow
cousins are unjust to us.—Eventing Standard.
SHOOTING MATCH FOR £l,ooo.—On Tuesday, at the
grounds of the International Gun and Polo Club'
Preston, near Brighton, there was a contest hetve °
Captain Bogardus, the American champion, and Xr,,_•
Aubrey Coventry, of the Gun Club, the winner of to!:
Champion Cup on Monday, for £5OO a side, at thirt7
yards rise, the conditions being similar te the
can's other contests. Betting was even on each. '-t r,„
first four birds were all killed. Mr. Coventry, h°"a
ever, missed his third bird, and at the tenth roe,
was two behind, having lost three to Capt. Bogardulk
one, but at the 25th round the Englishman had caugu:
up one, his score being 16 against 17. In the next te.,_„l"
the shooting greatly improved, and at half time Ow
50th round) the scores were 37 each. After a short i 5
terval Captain Bogardus missed a couple. In the oe
ten the Englishman went ahead, but at the 75th rour's
there was only a difference of one, and at the next sbc't
the scores were level again. Amidst some exciteme%
Mr. Coventry regained the lead once more, but lost I
finally at the 95th round, and as he missed the
well, the match was all over, as Captain Boger °4O
never lost another. Still the interest was kept UP
the last shot. The captain won by one bird, the 00'"
standing-79 Bogardus to 78 Coventry.
ilkni
A BAD EXAMPLE.—Dr. Punch. "What's all Vma
You, the two head boys of the school. throwing Jull
You ought tote ashamed of yourselves I"—Punch.
SAGACITY OF A BULLOCK.--At a station in S°,llo
Australia, close to Nairne Township, a very ea, „
incident took place many years ago on a farm he2°-of
ing to a Mr. Spencer, an acquaintance sal a couge
mine who was an eye-witness of the occurrence. to
very large bullock injured its eye when unyoked frla
the dray, by a chain, the ,hook of which lacerated
eye. After a few days had passed the eye beee';';e
seriously inflamed, and it was thought advisable
Lim into the stock-yard and cast him for the purr', iag
of dressing the wound. This was done by ropes if oea
attached to his legs, but was found of no avail, 'rata
the strength of the animal, for as soon as theY, the
tempted to throw him he lifted his log and pullet' Mt
ut
men on the ground. :As a last resource, they P o:at
head in the bail, a contrivance frequently used ie Ara
country for securing animals by getting their r1:70
between two upright bars of wood one of jo
moveable at pleasure. Having • thus suexeedeo
securing him, they dressed his eye wit i blue ettw
The men then unbailed the bullock and imniedhp
rushed out of the stock-yard, t'ainking the ell
at-
would be infuriated with pain, and expecting to bed
00
tacked, instead of which, the poor sufferer Nvelke tge
quietly to the shade of a large gum tree, alecl°,l hie
following morning, much ta the astonishmee_,,'"e;a
owner and all who witnesaad it, the bullock ive"''A los
to the stock-yard el his own accord, and placer he
head in the bail to have the eye dressed ; ndthlt
repeated every day until the eya was quite restoreLe
H, M. WEBB in Land and Water. Of
QUEENSLAND GoI,DPIELDs.—A private IN.—, time
prospectors have been exploring the country °limed
Coleman and to the northward of that river.
met with much hostility from the blacks, who attsitrar
them frequently, not only by night, but in the
time, spearing their horses and inflicting other claUlee
l
The party, however, after being out four e.:ared
months, found gold on the Cowan, a newly-dise°4tO
river, north of the Coleman, and have brongu4al,
Cooktown a parcel of 120 oz. of the precioue 15:e61-
The gold is said to be patchy, and probably 110er
able, but it is thought it may be traced up to 13:0-104
leads. These prospectors have exhausted their rat7aoo
but the Queensland Government are disposed t?
thdadf
_
a grant in aid to an expedition (the party to
Mr. Kayser, Governmont surveyor) to explere_aas
map York Peninsula from the Coleman river ne`—
ward in, §eP4O.ll of 401d.—Ertis5ane courier.

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