The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-03-01 00:00:00

Mistellanerms

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

IT WAS LIKE THAT.—Wiltshire Farmer (who has
.been asked how it was that his daughters had not got
married). Well, 'de zee, zur, zum yars agone them as
wud ha' they, the wudn't have; and now, them as
they wud have won't ha' they."—Judy.
THE SALE OF ADVOWSONS.--A return of the pro-
ceedings under the Lord Chancellor's Augmentation
Act shows that since the act came into operation on
the let of November, 1863, up to and inclusive of the
31st of January, 1879, the number of advowsons sold
in the first schedule was 101, and under the 23rd sec-
tion 14. The total amount of purchase money of ad-
vowsons sold was £225,759. The amount paid into the
Bank of England Was £220,309, and the amount re-
ceived by rent charges, or for which laud, &c., were
accepted, £5,450.
THE BAPTIST DENOMINATON.—It may be interest-
ing to mention that from 77 in the year 1770. the
churches of the denomination have grown to 24,000 in
the past century. The number of ministers have also
increased from 424 to 14,000 and the members from
35,000 to 2,500,000. Of Baptist educational institu-
tions in the United States there are 10 of a theological
character, with 454 students, and 31 colleges and
universities with 4,793 students and 573 ministers;
while the most recent statistics give the total number
of Baptist churches throughout the world at 28.505 •
about 18,000 pastors or missionaries and 2,F00,004
members. To the latter, Europe contributes 316,000;
Asia, 34,000 ; Africa, 1,100; Americ% and West
Indies, 2113,720; and Australia the remainder.
CHINESE RICE-PAPER.—Chinese rice-paper, so called
familiar to English eyes as the material on which the
Japanese pictures are painted, is not made from rice at
all, but from the pith of a tree, Fatsia papyrzfera,
which grows about twenty feet high, and furnishes
pith for toy and flower-making. The." rice paper" is
cut in thin sheets from the stem of the tree, and after
the sheets have been pressed dry and any little hole
filled up, the best are given to the artist to work upon.
Smaller sheets are dyed for the flower-makers, and the
refuse and scraps stuff pillows.

THE TROUSSEAU OF TEIE PRINCESS MAROIIERITE.—
The trousseau of the Princess Louise Marguerite of
Prussia, the future Duchess of Connaught, has been
on view at the Royal Palace at Berlin. The public
were admitted the first day, after obtaining cards at
the Marshal's office. All the dresses and other articles
exhibited are said to he plain in style, but excellent in
ri,)int of workmanship and material, good but not
showy, as is the long established custom of the Court
of Berlin. The bridal dress is of heavy white satin, a
band of lace, ten centimetres wide, encircling the
waist. The skirt is sewn with lace thirty centimetres
wide, and decorated with a bunch of myrtle-leaves,
the emblem in Germany of the bridal state. The
train is four metres lopg, and surmounted by a lace
flounce one metre in width, in which a sprig of myrtle
is fixed. The bridal veil is about three metres square,
made of point d'Aleneon lace, the design representing
orange blossoms, roses, and myrtle leaves intertwined.
The handkerchief is made of the same material as the
veil, and shows the same design, one corner being
embellished with the Princess's monogram, the other
with a Prussian eagle, The bridal wreath is to be
supplied in England. There are a variety of gowns
and dresses exhibited along with the one described,
most of them being black or grey in colour owing to
the mourning prevailing at both Royal Courts. One
evening dress of heavy black velvet, embroidered with
pearl lace, is attracting particular notice.
.There is
also a black satin dress with black lace, and an e•fen-
ing dress of Bengaline, with marabout fringe. The
Princess's travelling dress is of grey material sewn
with soutache. In addition to the dresses ready made
up the trousseau comprises an assortment of different
material/ for other dream,

WITHIN AND WITHOUT. —Lady "Can you oblige
me with a school prospectus, or are the principals
within !"—Servant: "The perspectisers as is geneely
hers, mum, is habsent at present, and I'm bory to say
that just now we're quite without principles. —Fun.

A WOIKAN'S CELIIRCH.—A woman's church, con-
ducted entirely by the fair sex, has been established
in New York. The promoters belong to a female
organisation, the Psychometric Society, and issue a
prospectus stating that the object of the Woman's
Church is "to embody religion instead of theology, to
put an end to war and discord, and unite all under
the Divine law of love." The Church has no creed,
but professes as its law of life, "Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself." Women, indeed, more and
more are encroaching on all kinds of masculine em-
ployment in the United States, and the Philadelphia
Progress enumerates the women of business in that
city. Thus, Philadelphia contains forty lady
physicians, ten painters, and one sculptor, a number
of lecturers, preachers, and ministers, fair scientists,
historians, novelists, and editors enough for an army,
and clerks, printers, school and music teachers without
end.

BEATI POSSIDENTES." - Canvasser (to Thrifty
Rustic, who has recently taken a little farm),—" Well,
Thomas, you'll give your vote to Squire Shoddy at
the next election—" Thomas.—" No, I shan't.—l
ha' got 'an, and I mean to keep 'un myself—l bean't a
goin to gi"un to nobody! ! "—Punch. _ ___

GROWTH OF NEW YORK.—The number of dwelling.
houses of the better class have greatly increased in
the city of New York and its neighbourhood within
the last few years, chiefly, it is believed, owing to the
great improvements in railroad and other methods of
communication. Most of those houses rent at from
400 dole. to 700 dole. a year. A want is felt of
residences within the reach of persons of more
moderate means, at from 300 dols. to 500 dol., suitable
for clerks tradesmen, and the higher classes of arti-
sans. The coat of transit on, railways, added to the
higher prices for provisions and other articles of con-
sumPtion, isfelt by such persons to more than -
balance the rents of city residences. During last year
175 first class dwelling-houses were built in New York,
about 400 houses of the second class, 30 houses to be
let in "apartments," and over 500 tenement houses.
The following is a computation of tRe number of
new houses erected in each of the last eleven years,
and will afford a glimpse of the improvement dozing this
period :-1868, 2,(14; 1869, 2,342; 1870, 2,3 n ; 1871,
,782; 1872, 1,782; 1873, 1,311; 1874, 1,388; 1875,
1,640; 1876, 1,379; 1877, 1,432; 1878, 1,672._ _ _

.
THE DINAS COLLIERY ACCIDENT.—The Mansion-
house fund started by the Lord Mayor of London for •
the relief of the deplorable suffering causs4 by the
accident at the Dinas Colliery, near Poietaridd in
January last, in which 63 men and boys were killed,
amounts to the small sum of between £7OO and £BOO.
Over 180 widows and children are left destitute by the
disaster. The Queen has sent the Lord Mayor £5O,
and various city firms and others have forwarded dona-
tions. Two benevolent ladies have contributed £5O
and £B5 respectively under the nom, de plume "Sigma"
and "Anonyma." A large additional sum is needed,
and the Lord Mayor is making a further appeal to the
bankers and merchants of the city for help. The
bodies of the unfortunate miners have not yet been
reached, owing to the extensive falls in the pit occa-
sioned by the accident and the prevalence of poisonous
gas,
'DM SCOTCH DEER FORESTS. Although great
efforts have been made to preserve the deer in Scot-
land, the stocks in the forests in the Braemar districts
are, it is feared, now in a critical condition. Game-
keepers and others are, it is stated, doing all they can
to save the deer from starvation. The animals are re-
duced to skin and bane, and defy the attempts of the
men and dogs to drive them from the farmyards to
which they have descended for food and shelter. In
the Mar Lodge, Invercauld, Balmoral, and neighbour-
ing forests, hay, straw, and turnips are laid down, and
beans and corn have been supplied in troughs at
various feeding stations. Grouse are is no better
plight than deer. Immense flocks of these birds may
be seen following the deer herds along the hill-
sides.

CHEAP FOWL—A London Vicar writes to the Daily
Teleraph :
" During the recent severe weather a tierce of American
pork and bacon was given to me for the relief of the poor of
my parish. With the permission of the donor I tried some
of it at my own table, and fcrund it quite equal to English
pork and bacon for which I was paying 10d. and is. per lb.
The poor also were delighted with it. Struck with the
quality, I asked the price, and found from my friend—a
wholesale provision merchant—that, allowing 20 per cent.
to the retail dealer, the very finest parts (the streaky) of
pickled pork and the middle pa* of smoked bacon could
both be sold retail at 4il. per lb. In the present state of
incomes and reduced wages this information may be worth
having. It is mere prejudice to slight this wonderful
American supply. The middle classes would do themselves
and their humbler neighbours a real service by asking for
this cheap and sbundant wholesome food."

SHE MEANT WELL.—New and energetic Curate:
Do you know what to-morrow isl—Old Woman: In-
deed, yes, sir, and I oilers eats 'ashed mutton on Ash
Wednesday, as I likes to keep the Festivals of the
Chu/vb.—Judy.
THE ENGINEERS' STRIKE.—On Saturday the Engi-
neers' Society and non-society men who are out on
strike from the eleven London shops theproprietors-of
which insist upon a reduction of wages were given
their scrike pay. The society men received their pay
at the various district lodges, and were given sums up
to 225. each, according to the number of children sr
man had. The non-society men Were paid by the
central strike committee sums ranging from Bs. to 210.'
each, with is. additional for each child, the smaller
sums of Bs.' Bs. 4d., 94., and 10a. being paid only-to
lads just out of their apprenticeship and to hammer.
men. Over 800 parsons in all were paid, and this en-
tailed an expenditure of over £5OO. As a rule; the
engineers in employment are contributing Is, a week ,
each to the strike fund.
AVERAGE PRICES OF Burin! Com.—The following
are the average prices of British corn for the week
ending Feb. 22, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 375. 7d.; barley, 345. 10d. ;
oats, 20s. 3d. per imperial qr. Corresponding week
last rar :—Wheat, 51e. 3d.; barley, 445. Od. ; oats,
245. id.

THE PARIS EXHIBITION LOTTERY.—The process of
claiming the prizes by the fortunate winners in the
Paris Lottery is as follows :—The ticket-holder pre-
gents his number at the office in the Pavilion de Flora
of the Tuileries, and after it has been duly verified by
the officials, he receives a second ticket, and this he
carries to another room, where the lottery ticket itself
is compared with the counterfoil, and otherwise care-
fully tested, and when found to be genuine, stamped
and returned to the holder. After these preliminaries
the winner cans by presenting the two tickets, -claim
and carry off his prize.—The undrawn tickets, how-
ever, are even now not quite useless, and nou-prize
winners may yet get something for their money. ..A
Paris shop-keeper offers to take tickets at their
original value for goods bought at his shop, accepting
one ticket for every sum of 20 francs spent.

PLANTING TELEGRAPH POLES IN AUERICA.—A new
and improved mode of planting telegraph poles has
recently been &covered and tried with stiocessin
Titusville, Pa. The ground being staked off at dis-
tances of about 200 feet apart, a man starts off with a
pocketful of four-ounce cartridges containing a won•
derful new explosive known as "electric powder," and
with a crowbar in his hand. A hole is punched from
four to five feet with the bar in a few minutes,
and a cartridge dropped to the bottom with a fuse
lighted with a match. The operator then walks to
the next stake, before reaching which a low dull thud
is heard behind, a hole about the diameter of a flour
barrel has been blown in the ground to the elepth of
four or five feet, and the work is followed up by a
gang of men who plant the poles in the boles thus
made, fill in with gravel and earth, and the job is com-
plete. It matters not what soil is perforated with the
bar, wet or dry, loam, clay, gravel, slate, or boulders
(provided the bar can be inserted), the effect is the
same. A gang of four men, with poles delivered on
the ground—one man to blast and three to erect the
poles and tamp them—will put up from 100 to 150
poles a day of ten hours each. The cost, therefore,
of this new and improved process is about two-thirds
less than the ordinary method of planting telegraph
poles, as now practised.
SHERE ALI'S HEALTH.—The Pall Mall Gazette re-
marks :--" The truth about Shere Al's condition is
hard to get at. One day we are informed that his
leg has mortified, and that the unfortunate man is
either dead or in a hopeless condition, while twenty-
four hours later it is discovered that the skill of .the
Russian surgeon who bad attended him has pulled him
r through. '1 hat he has been very ill seems certain, for
the news of his bad health has reached our troops in
Afghanistan as well as the Russian Governor-General.
Probably his death, if it should happen, would make
very little difference under existing circumstances.
No ruler can maintain himself long in Cabul without
British recognition. If Share Ali lives, and is again
recognized as supreme, he will have to make terms
with the Indian Government; if he retreated across
the Oxus, leaving the choice of his successor to the
Afghan sirdars, there would merely be a disorowned
potentate the more under Russian protection,"
DEATH BY DROWNING.—We are asked to publish the
following corrected account of an accident which
occurred near Ardrishaig, Argyleshire, on Thursday
evening, February 13 (says Tuesday's Times). "Mr.
Kingston and Mr. Dillon were re-crossing Loch
Killiaport from Ormsary to Ellary-house, Ardrishaig,
the residence of Mr. D. Fox Tarratt, when the small
rowing boat was swamped in a sudden squall and sank
under them. They managed to get rid of their coats
and boots and swam towards the Ormsary shore. Mr.
Dillon supported his companion for some distance till
he succumbed to the excessive cold and sank; he
himself only reached the rocks with great difficulty
and in a terribly exhausted condition, and made his
way towards a cottage close by, when he was seen and
help afforded him. Mr. William Kingston was the
third son of Mr. W. H. G. Kingston, the well-known
author. Notwithstanding much careful dragging
and a diver working for three days, the body has not
yet been found."
THE GREAT LOAN LAND.—Tuxkey.—Purtch,
BOTTLX.NOSED WHALES IN THE ORKNEYS.-4.
correspondent of Lanct and Water says :—Tba Ork-
neys have been visited by immense herds or senools of
bottle-nosed whales. On Tuesday last a large num-
ber were observed off Scapa Bay, and from sixty to
eighty boats started in pursuit of them. After several
hours' hard pulling they succeeded in turning them in
for the head of the bay, and after an exciting chase up
to the beach they turned and broke through the line of
boats, nearly capsizing several of them, and stood out
to sea again, blowing and splashing in fine style. A
number of boats followed and chased them most of the
were again seen close in shore in much greater
day, but could not succeed in capturing any. Yester-
day they
numbers ; indeed, there must have been several
thousands of them, as the sea for miles seemed alive,
and, seen from the cliffs, with the sea as smooth as a
mirror and a bright sun, it was a most interesting and
exciting scene, and one worth travelling many miles
to see. This (Thursday) morning not one was to be
seen. A fisherman told me that when coming ashore
about midnight he had some difficulty in pulling for
the shore ; the whales seemed to be lying in the top of
the water asleep, and the oars struck several of them
on the back, which sent them splashing, often throw-
ing a quantity of water in the boat. He says he saw
a large number of baby whales, little larger than a
good cod, and that he supposed the whales lead coins
1 into smooth water for the purpose of calving.

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