The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-01-05 00:00:00

istelTantrats 4rlttilicstna,

IUOIIIE, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAI.k

Tam Want OF TrrE " LIVELT."—The afterpart of
her Majesty's ship Lively, wrecked on the Chickens
Rock when conveying the Crofters Commission in the
past summer, floated ashore during the recent gales,
and has been broken up and sold, the wood being in
request for the manufacture of snuff-boxes, walking.
sticks, spinning-wheels, &c. The forepart of the
vessel was carried away into the Minch, and was cap-
tured by fishermen, but being too bulky for them, was
cast off, and drifted away to the north.
TEE VALUE OF THE LAND IN FRANIE.—The French
Minister of Agriculture publishes, from information
specially prepared under his direction, an account of
the proportion of land under different kinds of culti-
vation in France, together with their estimated money
value. The land under tillage, according to this re-
port, is worth between 57 and 58 milliards of francs
(the milliard equal to 1,000 millions) ; grass and
meadow lands between 14 and 15 milliards ; the vine-
yards nearly 7 milliards ; timber forests over 6 mil-
liards ; land of " superior " quality nearly 4 milliards;
pasture lands over 1 milliard, and various kinds not
specified nearly 1 milliard. The total money value is
set down at rather more than 916 milliards, or about
£3, 660,000, 000.

JUST LIKE MAMMA,—(Rather a startler for fond
parent, who is ,taking small child out to tea.)—Small
Girl: "Oh, you haven't got my pinafore."—Pa: "I
can't help that, dear ; we're late Wreaely."—Small
Girl: "Oh, dear me, it's sickening! You never can
wait a minute."—Judy.
A SMOCKING DISCOVERY.—On Monday information
was forwarded to Mr. William Carter, coroner for
East Surrey, of the finding of the body of a newly.
born male child minu,i the head. It appears that on
Sunday morning about half past nine, while one of
the keepers at Kennington Park was waiking along
one of the pathways he noticed a parcel in the shrub-
bery close to the railings which separate the park from
the high road. Having secured and opened it he
found it to contain the headless body of a male child
wrapped up in a number of newspapers. He at once
communicated with the police' who conveyed it to
the station, where it was seen by the divisional our.
geon, who expressed an opinion that the head had
been severed from the body by some sharp instrument
during life.
A LONG RIDE.—A small cavalcade of soldiers have
recently arrived at St. Petersburg, after eleven days'
ride from Nijni Novgorod. The party consisted of
four officers and fifteen men of the Orenburg Cossacks,
with their horses and three pack-horses. In Moscow
they were detained for a day by the kindness of the
Grand Duke Nicholas and his friends. Another day
was lost through the inclemency of the weather, and
it may therefore be said that the distance of nearly
1,000 miles was made in nine days. On being exa-
mined on their arrival, the condition of both men and
horses was found to be highly satisfactory.
THE RUSSIAN CIXTON.—Tbe third centenary festival
of the introduction of the printing press into Russia
was celebrated a few days ago at Moscow, St. Peters.
burg, and Lemberg. It was agreed that a monument
should be erected at Moscow to the memory of the first
Russian printer, the monk Ivan Fedoroff. The body
of the monk, which nearly a century ago was interred
at Lemberg, is also to be brought to Moscow as soon as
pring sets in.

WELCOMING THE NEW YEAR IN DIJELIN.—In
Dublin, at midnight, when the bells were ringing in
the New Year, following a custom for some years in
vogue, all the organ grinders in the City assembled in
Chancery-lane and welcomed the New Year by a com-
bined performance. , Over a dozen organs were
wheeled into the thoroughfare, and as twelve o'clock
struck the men began to grind as many different airs.
Other performers joined in. A score of concertinas,
an equal number of fiddle, and a variety of other
instruments being used. A most hideous concert was
kept was kept up for over an hour, the street being
blocked with people, but beyond mueh laughter and
amusement there was no disorder.

RESCUE FROM DROWNING.—EarIy in Monday
morning, as a police.constable, nomed William David.
son, was walking along the banks of the Union Canal,
near Edinburgh, he heard a splash in the water, and
turning round saw a man struggling in the canal.
This happening to be near a barge lying Erma distance
from the bank, Davidson leaped into the barge, arid,
holding on to it with one hand, he with the other
seized the hair of the head of the drowning man, and
held him in that position for about twenty minutes.
until the arrival of the sergeant of the hat, who wise
attracted by the cries for assistance. The man, who
gave the name of Richard Aitken, a lallonrer, wad
brought before the City Police court and charged with
attempting to commit suicide. He pleaded not guilty,
and the case was adjourned.

FORCING POTATOES.—A fortnight or so before there
are planted the seed tubers 'should be prepared (says
Land and Water). Only the earliest varieties should
be dealt with now, and the tubers ehould be of a fsirly
good size. Those to be planted first should be selected
at once, and they should be put in single layers in
shallow boxes with a little mushroom manure, or leaf
soil, underneath and above them. The boxes must
than be placed near to the glass in a cool frame or
pit, where they can have a temperature of 55 deg.,
and time they will aeon begin to produce short,
robust growth, and a few roots, and it is when this
has been accomplished that they should be trans.
ferred to the fiimes. In growing them in frames a
good hot•bed is made, frames are placed on the top
of this, and soil is added to about the depth of
one foot. In this the potatoes ase planted three,ifiches
below the surface, 18 inches between the tiows, and
nine inches apart. Where there are pern3taent frames
they
for forcing are generally from fo r feet to six
feet deep, and hotbed manure is p,tt 15 firmly until it
is two beet from the top, when sge foot of soil is
placed on, and the tubers planted , I in the other case.
A few dishes of early potatoes may also be had from
pots or boxes; 10. inch or 12 inch '
pots are the m,st
suitable. They should be well drained, balf-fiNed with
good soil, three seed potatoes placed in each, and then
more soil, until the surface is two Ir.
-Iches from the rim
of the pot. Boxes of various sizes rxay be filled in the
same way, and they may all be
Placed in an early
vinery, peach house, or pit to grow. i When first they
begin growing potatoes should haveyve Ur little water,
ae they are not benetitted by rough until they have
luxuriant stems and are forming' tubers, No good
produce will ever be forthcoming ulna they are grown
near the glass and in abundance I light.
f
,
/

So VERY COMMON.—[The New Bankruptcy Act
comes into operation on the let of Janutry,j—Pater.
"No, sir, I shall not pay your debts thie time. I am
tired of assisting yon."—Bertie (desperately). " Very
well, dad, then you will drive me to tare advantage,
of the New Bankruptcy Act."—Mwer. "My dear
Bertie, pray do not do anything so vtlgar. I'm told.
that now anybody can be bankrupt I "—Funny lofka.
THE LAST or A FAMOUS TREE.-7he most famcree
tree in Paris is about to disappear viz , the F6vrier
or Gleditschia, of the National Libra•y. It was plantedi
about a century ago, on the mot tem occupied by the,
reading-room, and Robinson Cruse being then ip full
vogue a legend sprang up that Ole was the tree on
which Selkirk passed his first night on his island. It
is believed to have been planted as a tree of liberty ies.
1789, and was the gift of the English botanist Catesbyz
In 1859, on the erectile' of ths reading-room, it had
to be moved 50 yards to the court of the library, a
difficult task, for it was 60 feet high, and the expense
came to B,ooof. The court, after the enlargement of
the library, is about to be paved, and the tree is to be
felled. A like fate has very unnecessarily attended
the elms in the adjoining Place Luvois, and chestnuts
are to be substituted.
THE TRADE or SHEFFIELD WITH AMERICA IN 1883.—
The exports of Sheffield goods to the United States
during the year have declined £450,000 as compared
with previous year. This is chiefly owing to the fall-
ing off in steel rails, which were exported last year to
the value of £500,000. and this yeas to not one-thirell
of that amount. Steel has declined £lOO,OOO, and
cutlery £20,000. The Government contract for flea
has been given to Messrs. Sanderson Brothers,
Sheffield, for three years. The quantity required is
12,000 dozen per year. This is the larost tile con
--
tract ever given to a single firm.
NATIONAL SKATING ASSOCIATION.—The general
secretary of the National Skating Association ins
had the honour of submitting to the inspection of 1210
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales at Sandringham::
the prize which has been presented to this association
by the Prince of Orange to be offered at the next inter-
national skating contest. The prize is a crystal vas' ik
mounted in silver, and on each side is a shield, upon re
which can be engraved the name of the donor and the ,
name of the winner. The vase was manufactured by N, -
Messrs. J. M. Van Kempen and Zonen, of The Hague. ."
It is intended that the prize shall, in addition to £5O, •
become the absolute property of the winner of the con-
test, which will take place when the weather permits.
THE MANUFACTURES OF CANADA..—It is stated that
the capital invested in cotton manufacture in Canada,
on Jane 30, 1879, was 2,100,000 dole. In 1883 the
quantity of cotton had increased from 12,800,000 lbs.
to 38,400,000 lbs. The production of cloth increased
from 38,000,000 yards to 115,000,000 yards. The
woollen trade increased during the same period from
1,614,000 dole. to 2,388,000 dole.; the cloth products
from 3,212,000 yards to 4,079,500 yards—in value from
1,571,300 dole. to 2,042,740 dole. The large increase
in the quantity of coal imported in the face of the
greatly increased output from the Nova Scotia mines
is also strikingly significant of increased manufactures.

THE Gins or DA.LECAELIA.—Before the extensive
use of steamboats on the waterways around Stockholm
the Dalecarlian girls were accustomed to come to the
capital in great numbers each season to row the
passenger boats from point to point in the neighbour-
hood of the city. This custom still exists to some
extent, and the visitor may be rowed by a buxom
peasant girl to an island restaurant, or across an arm
of the lake. The girls have lost none of the moral
independence and the remarkable physical strength
which have since the beginning of Swedish history
distinguished their ancestors. In the large cities they
are found to•day mixing mortar, carrying burdens,
and rowing boats quite as easily as the men, and quite
as acceptably to the employers. The most famous
boatwomen are the girls of the parish of Rattvik,
whither we had rambled in the search of the mythical
midsummer dance.—Harper's Magazine.

UNIFORMITY OF TIME.—A change of great practical
convenience has been successfully intro luced into the
Eastern United States and part of Canada. A uni-
versal standard of time will in future be observed in
that part of the American Union and Canada between
the St. Croix river on the east and a line runnin.g
north and south through Detroit on the south. Al!
the public clocks have been set to an intermeciiate
time reckoned from the seventy-fifth meridian of west
longitude.
AVERAGE PRICES or BErrisH CORN.—The following
are the average prices of British corn for last week, ea
received from the inspectors and officers of Excise :
Wheat, 39a.; barley, 31s. 7d.: oats, 19s, id. per
imperial qr. Corresponding week last year :—Wheat,
40s, 11d. ; barley, 325. Bd. ; oats, 20s. sd.

METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATORIES IN SWITZERLAND.
—The Geneva Correspondent of the Daily News says
that the Committee of the Central Meteorological
Society, Switzerland, has resolved to establish im-
mediately throughout the country a great number of
observatories, which will be known as pluviometric
stations. Great attention is to be given to all kinds of
atmospheric disturbances, and the law of storms is to
be carefully studied. The phenomenon of hail will be
made a special branch of observation, which will seek
to determine how hailstones are formed. Falling stars
and meteors are also to be the subject of specific in-
vestigation.
A HORNED MAN.—The following letter from
INshihai was recently received by the authorities at
the Calcutta Exhibition :—"Sir,—l have the honour
to inform you that I have a man from whose forehead
has sprung a regular horn. I intend taking down this
man to the Calcutta Exhibition; please let me know .
what remuneration can I expect from you if I hand
the man over to you."—Mr. Joubert has decided that
this gentleman comes under the head of " hornedi
cattle," so cannot be exhibited; the Exiiibii,iou being. - -
intended for the display of works of art and manu-
factures, specimens of luaus naturce cannot be received.
CONSIDERATE.—Jack. "I say, George, how could
you pull that lady about in the way you did last
night? Why, you couldn't waltz any more than a
bear."—George. "Oh, she was my sister. I'm only
learning on her. When lam up to the mark I may
try with somebody else I"—Moonskine.
THE GROWTH or LONDON. The Registrar.
General's report on the census points out that the
population of London has almost exactly doubled it-
self in the course of 41. years, whereas the population
of the rest of England has taken 57 years to multiply
in an equal degree. At the beginning of the present
century out of every nine inhabitants of England and
Wales one only lived in London. Now the proportion
has risen to one out of seven. In the outer ring of
suburbs and environs, not included within the limits
of inner London, yet only separated from it by an
arbitrary line, the growth has been still more rapid—
its population having increased 50i in the last decen-
nial period, and even a fraction more than that in the
preceding one.

THE DRAPERY TRADE.—The Warehousemen and
Drapers' Trade Journal says that the business year
has been a somewhat difficult and uneven one In
many branches of textile production, though others
have enjoyed a fair share of prosperity, every division
having been relatively affected by the restricted state
of trade unfortunately prevalent throughout the
country for the last few years. Summing up the pre-
vailing impression among wholesale men generally,
the idea appears to be that the past season has been
one of cutting prices and small profits, with an all
round disproportionate stock to the amount of business
done.
AFRICAN EXPLORATION.—By the last Zanzibar
mail news has arrived that Lieutenant Storms is now
in the very heart of Central Africa. After leaving
Karema on the 27th of last April be crossed the
Tanganyika, and landed at Longoa, whence he pushed
forward into the interior. He has founded an Ina.
portant station in the territory of Mommpara, the
Sultan of which has become his frient The harvest
at the station at Karema has been excellent, and the
colony, which lost at the outset 50,000 francs a year,
now meets its expenses and provides for the 300
negroes employed. It is believed that Mr. Stanley is
now near the falls of the High Congo, far beyond
Stanley Pool.
CHARGE OF MIIRDER.—In London, Jn Tuesday,
James Harris, a carman, was brought up at the West..
minister Police•court, charged on suspicion with caus-
ing the death of Emily Novell, with whom he had
been living. The medical evidence showed that death
had been caused by strangulation, and that great via'
lance had been used. The prisoner said that on his
return to his lodgings be had found the deceased on the
bed covered with blood. He had called in a girl who
lived next door, and had gone himself for a policeman.
—He was remanded.
A NEW VIEW OF TENNYSON.—" Mamma," said s
fashionable New York young lady to her mother,
"The papers are making a great fuss over a Mr:
Tennyson, of England." "Yes," responded the
mother, " he has been raised to the dear, delightful
peerage." "He hai been made a baron I see," said
the daughter. "Yes, and his wife will be a baronial,
I suppose," reflected the old lady. "How exquisitely
beautiful it must be to be a baroness." " Wrist has
he been a-doing of to be a baron ? " asked the cultured
young lady. ' What has he been a-doing of ? " re-
mitted the mother, " Why he is the sole survivor of
the noble six hundred who made the famous charge at
Balaklava."—The Philadelphia Call.
AN ANCIENT CHRISTIAN COFFIN.—There has lately
-I discovered in Trier the coffin containing the
mins of Bishop Paulinns. The sarcophagus is hewn
out of a single stone. Within it was found a coffin
made of some foreign wood, and in a wonderful state
of preservation. The workmanship is excellent, and
it is adorned with one gold and two silver plates, on
each of which are engraved the initials of our Saviour
with the Alpha and Omega. On another silver plate
are two plastic representations. The coffin was
evidently originally suspended, for it is provided with
four rings and four hooks. All the parts of the coffin
are of the fourth century, as also is the costly silk
found both within and without.

TFIE COST OF PARLIAMENTARY BILLS, —A return
has just been issued of expenses incurred by each
cans', tramway, and dock company, and by each
harbour, navigation, pier and port authority in the
United Kingdom in promoting and opposing local
and personal Bills in Parliament in eacl2, year fxom
1872 to 1882 inclusive. The canal companies spent
£19,7'8 in promoting, and £21,597 in opposing Bills;
tramway companies in the United Kingdom spent
£337,539 in promoting, and £374,666 in opposing Bills.
There were 39 companies which failed to make an:
return. The total Anent in promoting an(
these Bills came to £416,043 Os. 11. d.

DEATH ON A DOOR SrEP.—ln Lon,
Mr. S. F. Langhaan held an inque•
ems frOspital aR to the death oti
who was found dying on a door
Christaate oight.—John Allen/
that at half past ten o'clock
he Paw the woman leaninz
.
appeared very and, callit
her to the hospital, where ol
to be dead.—Mr. Dodeon,
that death was due to fAtt(
The body, although ve
nourished, A dozen box
of bread were found upr
to be about 70 years of I
log existences—The Pt/
knee with the medical

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r could
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.egistrar.
that the
)übled it-
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multiply
he present
gland and
proportion
iter ring of
the limits
a it by an
lore rapid—
last decen-
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msemen and
minus year
neven one in
;hough others
3very division
astricted state
3roughout the
ng up the pre-
nen generally,
:ason has been
ts, with an all
ount of business
) last Zanzibar
at Storms is now
After leaving
he crossed the
whence he pushed
I founded an Ina.
Mommpara, the
nA. The harvest
3xcellent, and the
000 francs a year,
vides for the 300
that Mr. Stanley is
Congo, far beyond
ndon, Jn Tuesday,
ight up at the West..
suspicion with cans-
with whom he had
cc showed that death
3, and that great via-
oner said that on his
nd the deceased on the
d called in a girl who
,mself for a policeman.
.—" Mamma," said
; lady to her mothers
great fuss over a Mr.
Yes," responded the
to the dear, delightful
de a baron I see," said
wife will be a baronial,
Jady. "How exquisitely
baroness." " Wtaat has
.on ? " asked the cultured
le been a•doing of ? " re.
ie is the sole survivor of
lade the famous charge at
hia Call.
COFFIN.—There has lately
the coffin containing the
. The sarcophagus is hewn
thin it was found a coffin
and in a wonderful state
kmanship is excellent, and
I and two silver plates, on
I the initials of our Samar
a. On another silver plate
:ntations. The coffin was
nded, for it is provided with
• All the parts of the cofiin
ry, as also is the costly silk '
ithout.
A 1
IMENTARY BLLLS,—A return
I expenses incurred by each
lock company, and by each
ter and port authority in the
Promoting and opposing local '
Parliament in each year fsorn
. The canal companies spent
4nd £21,597 in opposing Bills; ,
n the United Kingdom spent
, and £374,666 in opposing Bills.
anies which failed to make any
ient in promoting an
16,043 Os. 1.1. d.
. STEP.—In Lor
held an inquF
the death
g on a doc
ohn Alier
o'clock
eaninc•
call
Where
Dodeon,
to fat,
3gh v
en box
ad up
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