The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-07-18 00:00:00

Krtisallantzus Znitiligetut,

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

INTERNATIONAL INVENTIONS EXHIBITION. a"— A.
number of visitors to this Exhibition for the week C. 13".
lug 11th July was 158,974. Total since the openll3sl

,
142256.
LECTURESHIP AT SOUTH KENSINGTON.-4t SCeØ
likely that the professorship at South Sell/4'100,e
vacant by Professor Huxley's retirement will rot
filled up, and that instead of it two lectureships of E3l"
a year each will be created.—" Athenmurn."
A CYCLING NOVELTY.—Cyclists anxious for a novellr,
in " wheels" will like to hear of a curious " unicycle
being made on tho other side of the Atlantic.
machine is twelve feet in diameter, and is expected

work at the rate of nearly a mile a minute. ~
AN" INVENTORIES" FOR PARIS.—A new Exhioibion
will shortly be opened in Paris; it will be called the
Exhibition of Industry, and will present some analog,'
to the Inventories. It will be opened to the public on
the 23rd of this month, and will be closed on the 23rd
November. It is to be held at the Palais

l'lndustrie.
A NEW DICTIONARY.—The committee appoin
some time ago to draw up a code for the transliteratio?
of the Japanese characters into the Roman letter 10
reported to have concluded its task, and to have cera"
menced the publication of a dictionary and variotio
school books in the newly adopted alphabet.
ENGLISH ART EXHIBITION IN AMERICA.—An En&
Water-colour Exhibition will be held at Boston, in the
United States, next October. Although chiefly 0111
posed of works by living artists, the collection wl'
include a few examples of those prominent wa,_:,„
te",
colour painters lately deceased. Black and w°"-
drawinfri will also be shown.
AMUSING CO3IPARISON.—Bismarck gets 300 dole. 11
day for keeping all Europe in a state of fighting 105
pense about what he is going to do next. Genet,"
Komaroff gets 10,000 roubles for killing a few Afgkace
and standing all India up on end. A good cannoa
costs 11,000 dols., and a city missionary wears out hi°
life fot 600 dole. a year, and you can get a Bible of the
Tract Society for nothing.—" Brooklyn Eagle."
A BALLOON RAILWAY.—An air balloon railway 1'
about to be constructed on the Gaisberg, near Salzba.rg,
a mountain of no great height, but offering a magnne
cent view over the beautiful environs of the town'
The balloon, which will have grooved wheels on 0,1,10
side of its car, will ascend a perpendicular line of rail°,
constructed on the principle of the wire rope railwol
invented years ago for the Righi, but never realised. ,
HANDSOME DoNanoNs.—Professor Tyndall desire°
that the receipts from his lectures in Ameries
in 1872 should be devoted to maintaining science
fellowships. Some difficulty having arisen in satisfying
the conditions of the deed of gift, the money has been
allowed to accumulate, and it aroounts to 32,400 dollars.
Professor T3ndall now directs thst the money shall be
equally divided between the Universities of Columbia,
Havard, and Pennsylvania.
A NATIVE Eiceveeopx.DlA.—The firzt part of an el?
cyclopmdic dictionary in Bengalee, edited by two native
scholars, has been published in India. It contain°
descriptive derivations of aanskrit and Ber4,-tiee worci°F
with Sutras quoted from Panini the grammarian%
Arabic, Persian, and Hindee words introduced into the
Bengalee language; notes on the ancient and moderll
religious beliefs of India, the Vedans, Puthns, Tantrah
and other sacred books; besides short articles embracing
the whole range of modern science.
BLAST FURNACES.—The total number of blast fur:
naces built in England, Wales, and Scotland to Jun,.
30th, 1885, was 899; total number of furnaces in bias'
June 30th, 1885, 428; decrease in the number of Plc'
naces built since March 31st, 1885, 9; decrease in title!
number of furnaces in blast s'nce March 31st, 1885,;
the furnaces blown out since /larch 31st, 1885, 13; , "
naces pulled down since March 31st, 1885, ; furnace:
being built at present time, 13; furnaces being rebuil
at present time, 4.
MERITED REWARDS.—The Manchester and Sanwa,.
Humane Society have decided to have six gold medt°
struck,and to present them to six of the rescuing per:l
who descended the Clifton Hall Colliery after the all
astrous explosion on the 18th June. The selection ei
the recipients of the medals is to be left to Mr. Pickar",
secretary of the Miners' National Association.
subscription in aid of the widows and children of thcsi
victims of the explosion have amounted to .ElB,ooor 611
money is still coming in freely.
IMPURE COPPER.—A German patent, taken out bY
Braun, of Hamburg, proposes to refine impure MI%
by passing gaseous hydrochloric acid through it in It
molten state with as little access of air as possible. r
is said that the cuprous oxide contained in the coPP.es
is volatilised as chloride. Also all other irnpuritieb
which may be prese7:.t as oxides, or as metals whil
decompose vapour of hydrochloric acid at high tem4
ture, are removed by this treatment. The resulb,',„
stated to be a copper of very great purity and toug'
ness, free from bubbles, and of high conductll
—" Engineering." th
ANOTHER Marini—A Mandi is now claimed by SO%
Africa as well as by the northern portion of the &I"'
tinent. A Kaffir Prophet has appeared in Cape Coll
who sees wondrous visions of departed heroes, ant,
visits the kraals to narrate the revelations he receivL
from the spirits. So far his doctrines are eminentl
practical. His chief prophecy warns the Kaffirs thiLt
unless they abstain from brandy-drinking and 0101)0
Christian customs they will gradually die out, and oos,
chief was so impressed by the Prophet that he inira
diately knocked in the head of his brandy cask
wasted the contents.
A SENSIBLE Gil-T.—Me Hon. William Macleay,
of the the members of the Senate of sydney Universitlt
has undertaken to give four fellowships, of £lOO a year
each, for natural science, and to bequeath a sum sil6:.
dent to endow them permanently. In order to preven"
any sleepy Fellows from being quartered on this fotin!
dation, he stipulates that they must all have taken tr
degree of B.A. in the 'University, must be actlvels;
engaged in original study and research, and must 1,
hold any other lucrative appointment, and the Wei%
ments are to be renewed every year, so as to give a
opportunity for correcting any abuse. ofi,a7",
INTERESTING DISCOVERY.—An interesting
was made a few days ago by the workmen engsgio
on the railway line Bellegarde-Evian-Bouveret
Canton Valais. While excavating the soil at the bs ;
of the church of St. Gingolph, they opened a grave
which two small silver coins wert found, which Prn:hu
upon inspection to be oboli of Louis le Debonnaire,
son and successor of Charles the Great. They bear,,
ou;
one side a cross, and the words "Ludovicus lIPI3
the other side an altar with the words "X
lielig'o." The discovery has settled the vexed VOW,'
as to the age of the so-called "Burgundian gra,°,s,
proving thatbthoy are not older than the ninth cell'.
—r Academy." trll4
Nov-Er, FIANOFORTE.—The " Zcitschrift fiir 111,5
mentenbau " gives an account of a pianoforte roa3e of
Paris, in which paper was made to take the place_.r
wood, the whole case being manufactured from VT,:
so compressed that it was able to receive a bard sa
face, which took a perfect polish. The colour 'go
cream-white. The tone of the instrument is reeoe
not to be loud, but very sweet. The short, breht..,
character of the sounds emitted by ordinary pianofor ue°,
is replaced by a soft, full, quasi-continuous sound, ,30
sembling somewhat that o: the organ. It has
suggested that the evenness of texture of the ee,TO
pressed paper may have some influence in effecting
modification of sound.
THE JEWS IN FRANCE.—It appears from
recently published in the " Judische Press -1 tkat,ely
1789 the total number of Jews in Paris sc,e,,,r;';eo
reached 500. By the year 1806 the number bad
to 3000, in 1842 to 12,00', and in 1872 to 40,000.
~ce
the present time the Jewish population in the Fre"of
capital is believed to exceed 502000. As an exaMll.„'„,7o
the increase, "pani passu," in the number of
employed in various branches of the public service, 10
following figures relative to the army will suffice.
1821 the army had in its ranks one Jewish Gene.' 0,
Baron Wolff, one chief of battalion, and three captalico
In 1883 there were serving under the French flag .40
Jewish generals, five colonels, nine majors, 25 ell'„"b,
of battalions, 90 captains, 89 lieutenants, and 104 5"
lieutenants.
n fi6
THE RATS AIM THE Egos.—Mr. Samuel Jen-ifoti
writes from Westbury House, Denmark.hill, to arrest
how rats remove eggs without breaking them, the 0
having been accomplished under the observation 'Dv
friend, who described it. Mr. Jennings sari' ill
friend was in the habit of placing his new-laid egg.
the tea caddy along with the tea, but night after nristr,
they were mysteriously removed, and very natg Tal
the servants got the blame. One night, bowe' tao
friend was reading at a late hour when he he.ar,,
scuffling of rats ascending the sideboard on whic-ptii
the tea-caddy contz*inieg eggs. The thought insta
flashed across his mind that he had been perhaP°
justly severe towards his servants, and silentlit to
watched the proceedings. It was a simple mat tae
remove the lid; two or three rats descended int.°ooo
tea-caddy, some remained on the top, and in a 0100
the mystery was solved. One rat clasping the efitech
being hauled along by his companions, gentlY la still
and lowered to the floor, whence, on his back an .„g. it
clasping the egg, they succeeded in safely carrY_llo;
away, and the whole were removed without bre'
one.
GAMBLING IN RAILWAY TRAINS.—Bef are ,fter;
Northampton county magistrates, on SaturdaY ae"
noon, a Birmingham commission agent,. jo 0
Frederick Marriott, was charged with gambling iiiag
North-Western Railway carriage, while tral JO'
between Bletchley and Northampton, and note!
charged on a point of law over which the wee WO,'
disagreed. Prisoner, who was travelling in ted v'
compartment as two Oxford undergraduates, ()nestle
explain a new game to one of them, who sv°s,,,io
wards invited by one of Marriott's confreres to J"„fues;
a bet on a card. It was in consequence of his CC no"
that two of the magistrates considered the offene 0111
completed, and the chairman advised Mr. Nint°%t
represented the railway company, to have the
to whether there had been gaming clearly settle° ore
Hinton said the company were determined t°
their lines of gaming. 4 fel
DEATH OF AN AUTHORESS.—The death wrocio;
recently announced, at St. John's Wood, of ' rte
8141"
Elizabeth Lynch, known in the literary world a Cl
Henry Lynch. She was the widow of a barrister,;fl6
tising in Jamaica, who was nominated one ofetihisewleFei
of that island, but his sudden death from y
prevented his taking his seat upon the beriel%ved
_ gen
her husband's death Mrs. Henry Lynchef r
England and wrote several works of fiction, 04%04
of some of them being laid in the West Indies;.:/,ifn,r
her books are the " Cotton Tree; or Emily moo
West Indian," "Millie Howatd," and !„„." luaie44
She also wrote "The Wonders of the
She was a poet of considerable merit, " "r"volew
Sea," songs of the Evening Land," and othe
of poetry being from her pen.
THE ZOOLOGICA.I, GARDENS The additionf 1,0,4
Zoological Gardens during the past Week l'lch4P
tea
collared peccary from South America, presenivaia.,sos
R. Forrester Daly; a common peafowl from
~tron,6
sented by Mrs. Courage; two black-bellied
two Bonham's partridges from Asia, present; sistoi
W. E. R. Dickson; a Siamese blue Pie fceo, Olifrfr
bunting crow from India, presented by Mr• or, 0-44
F .Z.S. ; two rooks, British, presented hY 1700 fryd
Blarriott ; a lion from Africa ; a great Nang': red I:
Australia; a grand eclectns from Moluccas ; %jot .0
yellow macaw from South America, all/744
striated coly from South Africa, Porch"; its
deer, a Mesopotamiam fallow deer, bor
gardens.