The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-10-23 00:00:00

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A STANDING MATCH ON THE TURY.—SLOWMAN
against Fast man.—Punch.
Two SIDES TO A STORY !—The London Corre-
spondent of the Manchester Guardian mentions some
facts that have been communicated to him. When
describing the condition of certain estates in the valley
of the Stair, The Times' correspondent, in one of has
recent letters, dwelt with laudatory emphasis on the
comfort and content of a district the property of the
late momber for Nottingham, whose wife's grandfather,
Sir William Osborne, had let it on lease at moderate
~ •

rents to the industrious peasants, who had by their own
industry reclaimed it from the mountain wage. as
mentioned in ha travels by Arthur Young. The st-ry
is picturesque, the social moral admirable; and the
first and the last mentioned facts are stated accurately.
But the chain of cause and effect is sadly broken by a
circumstance wholly omitted in the narrative, namely
that during the famine of 1847, the multiplied progeny
of the original tenants were reduced to a state of
poverty and suffering so desperate that, as the onlyex-
pedient for their effectual rescue, Mr. Bernal Osborne
undertook to furnish them with the means of emigra-
.

Hon to America, compensating them at the same time
in money for the surrender of their holdings. These
were subsequently somewhat consolidated, and let to
small farmers haviag capital enough to cultivate them.
DEATH FROM COLOROFORM.—Last week an actor
of some repute, named Verner, died under singularly
painful circumstar ces, at Charing Cross Hospital, Lon-
don. Verner suffered from a malignant disease of
the upper jawbone, and as death was certain to take
place in a few weeks, an operation was suggested, with
the very faint hope of a Are. Deceased and his wife
were informed of the dang-ir that would attend the
operation, but they insisted that it should take place,
and at the inquest a paper was handed to the coroner
on which had been written by the deceased—

I, Charles Verner, give my free consent to the operation
being performed by Mr. Canton, ami will hear all risks."
Chloroform was administered with the greatest pos-
sible care, but the patient was scarcely under its Mo-
en., when he fell back and died. The jury returned
a vs rdict that the deceased lost his life by the adminis-
tration of chloroform, but that the chloroform had
been skilfully and properly administered.
A SINGULAR R tsm Dr.—Whenever Burke found
himself indisposed, he ordered a kettle of water to be
kept boiling, of which he drank large quantities, some-
times so much as four or even five quarts in a morning,
without any mixture or infusion, and as hot as he
could bear. Ilia manner was to pour about a pint at a
time into a basin, and to drink it with a spoon as if it
had been soup. Warm water he said, would relax and
nauseate, but hot water was the finest stimulant and
most powerful restorative in the world. He certainly
thought it a sovereign cure for,every complaint, and not
only took it himself, but prescribed it, with the con-
fidence of a Sangrado, to every patient that came in
his way.
AN IMPUTATION OF UNFAIRNESS " When-
ever I find a real hamlsum woman engaged in the
wimmin's rights finless,' then Tans going to take m's
bat under mi arm and jine the procession." Josh
THE RAPACITY OF PIKE —The only well-accre-
dited fact of a pike devouring a salmon of large size
occurred to a correspondent of the Fold at Ballina.
He says :
A short time gaze, when returning from fishing, we saw
a large ja,k floating apparently helpless on the top of the
water. As we had a gaff in the boat, we rowed very quickly
till nearly within reach of the fish, chess, with a swish of his
tail, down he went. Whilst we were waiting and wondering
we saw the fish come up again. and il casing on the water
about fifty yards oil; and then, although perhaps not very
sportsmanlike, t niade them row nie ashore for a gun, and
giving the fish a charge in the back of his neck, we soon got
him into the boat, riming landed, we weighed the fish,
hich was just 'Cox short of 201 h., the length 31t Sin., and in
heavAttat c,ardition, and with the stomach evidently gorged.
We afterwards opened the fish, and found the air bladder
enormously distended, which fully aecounled for its being
on the surface, and on cutting open the stomach we found
, the remains of a salmon; the head and stoulders were
, digested, and the fork of the tail also. The remains of the
salmon weighed just :Alb., and the length was liii,. ; and
judging from the shape and size, the fish must have been
' at least 71b. when alive,
PEent OF Two CONVICTS.—An inquest has
becn held at the Convict Prison, Portland, on the
bodies of two convicts who had been crushed to death
by the falling of a wall while at work. The names of
the unfortunate men are Henry Clifton, 21, and
William Rysborough, 40, the formor undergoing a Men-
tenen of five years' per 7,1 servitude, and the latter
seven. From the evidence adduced, it appears that
the dece7,sed, with other convicts, were erauaed
in eacavating a wall under the Admiralty tank.
and replacing it with clay and stone dressiogs,
and after they had excavated about five feet
from the level of the copiets, the wall, without the
slightest warning, sell with an awful crash, com-
pletely hwying Clifton and By-borough in the ruins.
:a.oe of the other convicts were aleo working in the
name trench with the deceased, but they most mires,.
Mushy escaped injury. With the aasietanz,e of other
convicts, aided by several wardera, the deceased were
dug out from the mow of ruins, when it was found
that both were dead. The officer in charge of the
gang of convicta of which the deceased I °ruled a por-
tion was formerly a quarryman working on the island
for a number of years, and is a moat careful man. He
had spoken to the deceased only about a minute be-
fore the wall fell, and then there was nothing the
matter with the walL The only way in which the
accident can be accounted for is that tile wind at tne
tittle was blowing almost o gale, and that it was a
sudden gutt thot blew the wall down. The unfor-
tunate men were very much bruised and mangled.
The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death."
A SERIOUS DIFFICULTY.—An inhabitant of
Provence who waa attacked with cholera, commended
himself to the protection of the Virgin, and after
several doses of laudanum recovered his health. His
first thought, when restored to cont.lesenoe, was to
show his gratitude to the holy protectress to whom he
attributed his cure, -Unfortunately, there was in the
neighbourhood in which he resided, two Virgins, one
called "Notre Dame de Toutesoituroree," and the
other "Notre Dame de Romiger," for each of whom
her admirers claim the exclusive power to cure cholera,
and consequently the sole right to all gifts and off cringe
made in respect of recovery from that disorder; and
our good provencal cannot make up his mind as to
which of the two Madonnas it was to whom he owed
his cure. In this state if dubiety it is believed that
he made no offering to either.
" THE COURAGE or HER Itsms,"—We find the
following in the Liberte ;
The Pzincess fioyal of Prussia, daughter, as everybody
knows, of queen Victoria, is the idol of the Prussian army.
111 the recent manieuvres at Stargaril she covered herself with
glory in charging, on horseback, at the head of a regiment of
dragoons, of which she is colonel, the famous !Inseam de la
Mott, who were beaten in that mimic encounter. The
officers of the regiment, desiring to bestow some military
honour upon the intrepid Amazon. are about to present her
Roy al Highness with a sword of honour, the work of the
most skilful manufacturer in Berlin. On the blade these
words will be engraved, in letters of gold, "The Bragocus
of the Princess Royal, to their Colonel."
A SOLO:NOS.—The following jumble of letters
appeared in the sensation column of The Times :
'• Skapejjy. Bcyp Dyllw, kccr winsp bgqrpyarcb
dpgclh zelcyrf rfc ugjjnau zw rfc jyic. Pmu slbcp rfc
ry pg. Amkknil qcy zpccion. Dcyrfepucgef r.
Woatpq Zgawajc." Puzzling as this app ears, the trans-
lation is easy enough when the key is found to be the
substitution of letters which precede by two in the
alphabet those which ought to be used. It than reads
—"Umbrella. Dear _Fanny, meet your distracted
friend beneath the willow at the lake. Row under the
stars. Common sea breezes. Featherwight. Yours,
Bicycle."
WOMEN'S RIGHTS IN PARAGUAY.—The following
paragraph, from the Buenos Ayres Standard of S,p-
tember 4th, may induce Mr. John Mill to look to his
laurels :
" Our contemporary, the Courrier la Plata, states that
among the recent civil appointments of the Provisional
Government of Paraguay is that .1 a Nitallial to the justice.
ship of the peace iu Caa;:upe. We presume the scarcity of
' lords of the creiwion • must have dictated this 'Angular step
if it has really been taken, for it is unlikely that the fair sea
Is that unhappy country can as yet have acquired such
advanced notions as to the 'rights of women,' though their
devotion and sufferings during the war entitle them to the
admiration and gratitude of their countrymen."
SUNKEN TREASURE Sair.—lntelligenoe has
been received at Lloyo's of the I.s of the ship Hantilla
Mitchell, 1 290 tons register, bound for Shanghai. Her
cargo of merchandise was valued at £140,000, and she
carried besides £50,000 in specie. The ship was wrecked
on Leuconna Island, in the Chinese Sea. The oper-
ations necessary for recovering the treasure lost in the
ship Lutine, off the coast of Holland, are postponed
until next summer. The kutias, it is stated, had specie
on board variously estimated from £1,000,000 to
£2,000,000 sterling. It is anticipated that the £49,000
in specie kat in the Peninsular and Oriental Company's
steamer Carnatie will be recovered during thecourse of
a week or two.

A CONGRESS OF WINE GRoWERS.—A congress of
wine-growers is to take place at Beaune, France, on
the Bth, 9th, and 10th November. The following ques-
tions will be discussed.-1. On the means of interest-
ing the labourer, by association or otherwise, in the
success of the culture; 2. On the system of tnetatiage,
or a division of the crop between the landlord and the
tenant, applied to vineyards; 3. The necessity of a
school for instruction in the cultivation of the vine; 4.
The intervention of the authorities in fixing the date
of the vintage, &c. ; and 5. Oa the use of machinery to
meet the insufficiency of labour, as well as ploughing,
vine props, /tc.
SUICIDAL POI. TRT.—In Lonaon, last week, an
old man, named Martin, drowned himself in his house
cistern. De had written letters to hie friends, intl.
mating his intention to destroy himself. Some rhymes
were attached to one letter, apparently composed by
the deceased, which concluded thus:
"Oh, my poor head, how worse I feel,
And 1 have pot my shoulder to the wheel,
I now must go at double quick,
For I fl .d it is time to cut my itick.
I have not lived a Hie .4 chives,
A few strugules and all is over.
(Anything for a change.)—A. T. TI."
THE TEA SHIP RACE FHOII —lntelligeree
was received by the ownerin Greenock on Wednesday,
in last week, that the celebrated Clyde-built ship Sir
Lancelot, Captain Robinson, had arrived in the Downs
at two p.m. that day from FoosChow•Foo, after a
passage of 88 days to the Downs—the fastest passage
on record. 4, The Sir Lancelot left China at noon on the
17th of July, and reached St. Helena on the 11th of
September-56-days out, The new Aberdeen clipper

Thernsapytm, which arriied on the 4th instant. rerehed
tne Lizard from Foo-Chow-Foo this sea.son in s ivo.
but the sAiling distance from the Lizard to 1 onion
docks occupied upwards of two days; while the tine
occupied from the Downs to the dock being only one
day, the Sir Lan eil st thus beats the Thermo/Ida by
fully 24 hours. The latter ship was 90 days from Foo-
chow to London docks. Under these circumstances
the "blue ribband " of this justly eelebrated race is yet
retained by a Clyde-built ship, and that after the per.
fornaance of the moat remarkable voyage that has ever
taken place in the history of the China clippers. In
1867 the Sir Lanced 1 arrived in the Downs from
Shanghai after a very rapid passage of 96 days. The
slum feat was performed this year by the Clyde-built
ship Titania, which also arrived in 96 days. Last year
he Arid and Sir Lanee'at left Foo-Chow Fm on the
. , . . _

28th Msy, and the Spindrift (winner) on the 29th.
The three ships arrived together in the Channel, and
their respective paiwages occupied.—
Days. Holds.

Spendrift..
riel ..... . .
Sir Lancelot
THE EDUCATION OF PAUPER CHILDREN.—The
guardians of the Warwick Union, which comprises
thirty-two parishes, at a special meeting on Saturday
decided t hard out the whole of the orphan unto
ile.eetti children. instead of maintaining them in the
Union. They agreed to pay the cost of schooling and
medical atteedauee, and :is. per week with each child,
with an outfit, and 6e. 6d, per gnarter for repairing
and renewing etching. Ihe proposal was introduced
by the Hon. and Rev. J. W. Leigh, and wan warmly
supported by Lord Leigh, the Lord-Lieutenant of the
county. A few guardians ohjected to the boarding out
system, which is of Scotch origin, and Mr. Peel, the
Poor Law inspector of the district, did not altogether
approve of it. It was, he said, a fupdamented principle
of the Poor Law that the pauper was not to be placed
in a better position than the honest laborer ; but
whilst the guardians proposed to pay equivalent to 4s.
a is,ek with each child, many a labourer had to main-
tain himself, his wife, and live or six children on 14,i.

a we-k. Tl:e poorer .ratepayertrmig-ht-., therefore-, have
some grounds for complaint, and he feared the pro.
posed arrangement would have a tendency to induce
parents to desert their children, which was even now
very much on the increase in his district.
RELIGIOUS CLUBS—On Thursday evening in
last week, the first meeting for the season of the
Christian Union Institute was held at its rooms,
22, Berners-street, Oxford-street, London. A paper
was read by Mr. Fortescue, on "Charity towards
those who differ on non-essentials." After a rapid
and comprehensive review of the various sects, con-
troversies, and churches which had
_arisen since
. . . .

the days of Athatiasius and Arius, Mr. Fortescue
endeavoured to point out that want of charity and con-
sideration for the opinions of others had been the chief
cause of all the heartburnings and strifes which had
done so much injury to the cause of true religion, lie
hoped that in these days there was a greater disposi-
tion in Christians 'to prefer one another in love," ac-
cording to the apostolic maxim. By way of softening
present differences and removing sectarian prejudices
he concluded by suggesting" the formation in every
town of some central house of meeting or club where
Christians may be known to resort, where religious
topics are frequently and judiciously considered, and
, where divergencies of opinion and belief are discussed
in a friendly manner." A spirited discussion followed.
On the whole the proposition was well received, the
kind-hearted friendly intention of the paper highly ap-
plauded, and a vote of thanks to the reader terminated
toe proceedings.

SALMON Fienuro. The Invernas Couri,r
says :

The salmon fishing season closed on the 14th Met., and, on
the whole, way he described as one of the most unsatisfactory
on record. The summer months and the early autumn were
unnseally dry, rivers were at their lowest level, and salmon
hung about the mouths of rivers, reluctant to ascend, sod
falling an easy prey to net fishers in estuaries Nearly all
the rod fishing that has been had was subsequent to the 14th
September, when previous to 1861 the close season began.
Very many at the fish taken since have been fresh run front
the sea, hut so far as we have seen of them, they were much
fitter for the spawning bells than for the table. Subject to
this detractt u, the sport has been excellent.
DUELLING lINDER AN UMBRELLA !—The PrCSSC
tells the following story of the only duel in whirls
the celebrated French critic just deceased was ever
engaged. While Sainte-Beuve was a contributor to
the Globe, he had a quarrel with aM. Dubois. Sharp
words were exchanged between the dianutants, and
ultimately a meeting woo arranged. Ssinte-Beuve
arrived upen the ground with an old flint-lock pistol.
manufactured some time in the sixteenth century, and
an umbrella. It began to ram sharply, and the future
senator at once unfurled his "gingham," His adver-
sary and the seconds on both sides vehemently pro-
tested against a proceeding so irregular, but Sainte.
Beuve would yield nothing to their remonstrances.
He had, he observed, no objection to be killed, but he
did not intend to get wet. There was no alternative
but to let like have his own way, and the duel went
on, Sainte-Beuve holding up his umbrella all the tines.
Four shots were exchanged, but neither of the combats
ants sustained any injury.
THE VERY PLACE FOR HlM.—The Office of
Master of the Mint is vacant. There can be but one
opinion as to who should have the appointment—Mr
Lowe. He will then be able to do what be pleases
with his sovereign, and having both the Exchequer and
the Mint under his control, his hanpiness will be com-
plete, unmixed—without alloy. —Punch.
OFFENBACIL—Jacques Offenbach first saw the
light of day at Cologne on the 20th of July, 1822.
Some of his biographers make him three years older,
bet the date we have aessigned in the most correct.
He was a musician from his birth. At five years of
age he played the violin. At six he composed rouge.
Then, all unknown to his father, who was a band-
master, he taught himself the violoncello. There is a
pretty idory how, at the age of ten, he was taken by
his father to hear a quartet of Haydn's executed by
himself and some friends, but the violoncellist not
being to the fore the youthful Jacques volunteered to
play the bass part. The idea was laughed at, hut he
soon showed his capability to do no, and was allowed
to join in the quartet, which he did with perfect suc-
cess. Three years afterwards his fath•rr sent him to
Paris, with letters of introduction to eherubini, then
director of the Conservatoire. The rules of that insti-
tution then prevented any but French students from
enjoying the benefits, but on hearing him play Cheru-
hini eucceeded in procuring a special exception in his
favour. We next hear of hiin playing the violoncello
in the orchestra of the Opera Comique. There he
shared the desk of a well-known player, Seligmann.
These two artietes had a habit of amusing themselves
by playin.yinly alternate notes, instead of each play-
ing the entree part, Which almost drove the conductor
into a lunatic asylum.—Theatrical and Musigal Reticw.
A FLIGHT OF LOCCEiTs.—On the 30th July a
flight of locusts, two and a half miles long by one and
a half broad. going from west to east, passed over
newarree Tehseel in the Goorgaon district. They de-
posited some eggs which were destroyed by the
ploughing up of the land, and but slight damage was
done to the crops. On the 2nd August, the same era
smaller flight appeared in the same locality, moving
in the same direction ;it did no damage. On the 3rd
Augusta flight extending six miles by two and a half,
but moving from east to went, was observed in Tr hseel
Gooreaon, and on the following day a smaller flight
moving sourh was seen in the same locality. In
I Teheeel Loodianah on the oth August a very large
I flight appeared, but were not suffered to settle on the
crops, shoutieg and tom-tomming having driven them
I away, though not before they had injured a lumber
of trees.
PRINCE ARTHUR IN CANADA.—The Journal
Officiel, after giving some details respecting the Prince's
1 arrival in Canada, publishes the following
"He was received by the authorities at Quebec with all the
hot ours due to a son ot the Queen, and on the part of the
poidtlation with enthusiasm. His Royal Highness left the
town on the morning of the 20th of September to meet the
G verlior-General of the Dominion of Canada, Sir John
Young, who was to accompany him to the little town of
' London, in the proviriee of Ontario, to be present at the
opening of all Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition.
During the live days the Prince spent In Qnebec he
visited all the educational estahlishments, whether Roman
Catholic or rrotestant, and ha all places, and to all persons
has exhildted a kindly and gracious manner. He has more
, espedially gained the affections of the French vanadians it
constantly addressing sheen In French, a language lie speaks
with great facility. After visiting Upper Clued& he took up
his abode in Montreal for the 'impose of doing duty as a
lieutenaut in the Rifle Brigade, under the command of lord
Alexander Russell, brother of Lord itlesell, the former head
of the Foreign. Mee. The arrival of Prince Arthur in
Caruida, and the long stay he is to make there, shows
that the British Goverement does not lose sight of its present
nor its prospective situation, and that, far from divesting
Itself of all interest in its affairs, it watches them with soli-
citude. queen Victoria could not have given us a stronger
proof of this than by sending one of her sons among us, a
proceeding which has given satisfaction to the whole of the
Inhabitants of the Dominion."
FATAL COPIDITY.—A cattle dealer of Drain,
France, perceived last week that one on his finest oxen
was affected with anthrax or carbuncle, and having
consulted a veterinary practitioner, was by him recom-
mended, to destroy the animal. Being, however,
reluctant to lose the value of the beast, he first
slaughtered it, and then offered to give the skin to the
sons of two butchers of Drain, named Benoit and
Marceau, as a recompense for their trouble of skinning
it. The bargain was accepted, and at the same time
he entered into an agreement with a butcher of
Ancenis, and sold him, im cheap terms, the body of the
animal, divided into eight pieces, the meat weighing
about 7501 b., averring that he had killed the on be-
cause it wits dying of a plethora of blood. These pieces
were sent to Nantes and sold with a profit to the salter,
who would naturally depose of them in his turn. But
the consequences to the young men whin had taken off
the hide were fatal, as both were a few days after
seized with fever, shivering, and abscesses under the
armpits, and one of them died on the Saturday follow-
ing and the other the next day.
THE I.ll,lllChli GIRL OF THE PERIOD.—The
characteristic feature of the place (Saratoga) is the
American young lady. This in the country where
women first asAtated for their rights, although what
right an American young lady does not already possess
I am at a loss to conceive. When she marries she Com-
mits a species of social suicide, but, before that' happy
despatch," site has everything pretty much her own
way. Her father pays for her Parisian toilettes with-
out repining, her mother is her humble servant. From
the age of ten to the day of her marriage she indulges
in one long flirtation, although the object of it fre-
quently changes. She neither rear's, nor works, nor
walks; her whole existence is pained in flirting. dress-
ing, driving, and dancing. Her life at a waterieg.
place is, I should ima.,ine, somewhat a monotonous
one, although she seems thoroughly to enjoy it. She
gets up at about ten o'clock, and after a breakfast
which would give a London drayman an indigestion,
she flirts on a verandah until two o'clock. then she
dresses, at three she dines, after dinner she
goes out driving with some favoured swain ; when the
returns she dresses again for tea, and from eight to
twelve o'clock she dancers. To all intents and purpcces
she is without a chaperone, but she is well able to take
care of herself. Occasionally, but rarely, she marries
for love, but as a general rule, she knows to a dollar
what every admirer has, and aspires to a house in
Fiflt Avenue, a corkage, and to be arrayed in silks
aril fine linen. '1 had an offer from a man with
£20,000 a year, and a growing business," said an
ethereal being of sixteen to me, but I shall fill out
more irj a year or two, when I thing that I can do
better."—Carreeponden4 of tht Daily News.

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