The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1869-03-27 00:00:00

Nistalawns nteiligtnit,

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

SIAMETIC JUNCTION OF TWIN CHICKENS —Ser-
geant Hunt, a member of our (Field) poultry show
committee, had a hen in his yard which hatched out
a brood of Dorking chickens, leaving in the nest one
egg (not much larger than the rest) still unhatched,
but evidently fertile, as the chirp of the chick inside
could be distinctly heard. This egg was kept warm for
about fortyieight hours, at the end of which time it was
opened, and found to contain two perfectly formed and
fully developed dead chickens, tied together by a fleshy
ligament, one end of which was fastened to the abdomen
of each bird by a cord of network of veins; and this
umbilical cord was so strong, that when placed across
the finger it would suspend the two dead chicks without

- - -
breaking.
AN ANCIENT FAMILY.—A negro woman, who
lived in the Bergen family at Brushville, Long Island,
V. S., died recently, aged, according to the belief of
those who knew her best, 115 years, leaving a daughter
living in the same house aged eighty. Her death, it
is supposed, was hastened by grief at the death of Mr.
Luke Bergen (with whom she resided), who was buried
on Friday last, having lived a bachelor to the age of
seventy. Luke's brother, Mr. Schenck Bergen, was
buried on Monday, having lived to the age of eighty,
and his death is also supposed to have been hastened by
grief. A sister remains in the house at Brushville,
aged sixty-five, and another sister resides in Brooklyn,
' who has reached the age of ninety.
I A VERY HUMBLE PRAYER !—A hymn in a
church hymn-book recently forced upon certain Pro-
testant congregations in the old provinces of Prussia,
C memci as follows :
" almighty God. I am content to remain the dog I am
lam a dog, a despicable dog. lam conscious of re-
velling in sin, and there is no infamy in which I do not in-
dulge. My anger and quarrelling are like a dog's. My envy
and hatred are like a dog's. My abuse and snappishness are
like a dog's. My rot-inc and devouring are like a dog's
Nay, when I come to reflect upon it, I cannot but own that
in very many things I behave worse than the dogs them-
selves."
THE LATE 66 FACTORY Ktwo."—The Oastler
memorial, which consists of a colossal figure in bronze
of the late Mr. Richard Oastler and two factory chil-
dren, is to be inaugurated at Bradford, on Saturday,
the 15th of May. Various representative bodies of
working men had suggested Whitsun-eve, and on Lord
Shaftesbury, who is to uncover the memorial, being
asked, on behalf of working men, to fix this date' he
sent the following reply :—" The conveniences and the
feelings of the great mass of the Yorkshire operatives
people must be considered before my own. I will,
therefore, comply with their wish, and be present.
God willing, at the ceremony, on Saturday, May 15."
A GAMBLER'S RARE LUCK !—The following
episode of Parisian life is recorded :
A young man, who was an inveterate gambler, and who in
a few years had lost 500,000 fr., hail nothing left of a large
fortune on the lot of January but a few loins, after having
sold everything, and was almost mad with despair, He de-
termined to try again, and in three days gained 30,000 fr.
with this sum in his pocket he left for Nice, where on the
first evening of his arrival he won 80,000 fr. at the Cercle
Massena. On the 10th he returned to Paris with 600,000 fr.
in his pocket. On the loth he was worth over a million,
which he has invested in real estate.
PRESIDENT G <ANT AT CMURCH.—At the Metro-
politan 'Methodist Church in Washington, on Sunday,
March 7th, President Grant, accompanied by his wife
and children, entered, and, the church being excessively
crowded, moved immediately to the pew usually re-
served for the President It was, however, occupied,
and the party, after looking in vain for seats, (the
occupants of the President's pew being apparently too
bewildered to rise.) turned and left the church. They
then repaired to Dr. Sunderland's Presbyterian Church,
which was near at hand, and here they occupied a pew
which the Presidert had rented some time bef are his
election.
• •

POLITE TO THE LAST ! At a meeting in
London, a few days ago, Lord Shaftesbury spoke in
flattering terms of the scientific attainments of some of
the professional thieves. It was an omission on his
lordship's part not to have borne a graceful tribute to
the extreme politeness of sonic of the profession, and
a case recently occurred which handsomely illustrates
this. A few days ago, a young gentleman was prac-
tising athletics in Regent's.park. Being about to run
a short distance, he hung his boots on the branches of
a tree, and put on a pair of shoes. On his return he
found that his boots were gone; but there was a neatly
folded note hi their place. This billet contained a
single line—" Taken, with thanks"
AN UNLUCKY GAMESTER.--Another disgrace-
ful scene has been enacted in the Homburg gambling
rooms, which are happily doomed by the Prussian
Government. On Friday evening a I renchman who
had for some time been watched by the police was de-
tected in the act of endeavouring to cheat at the
rouge et noir table, by slipping his stake on the table
after first cards had been turned. He was imme-
diately seized by the police, and so roughly handled as
to be rendered almost insensible, amid cries of "Shame!"
film a party of Englishmen, These were quickly
silenced by a threat from the chef de police to have
the room cleared at the pointdof the bayonet; and with
the help of six waiters the unlucky chevalier d'industrie
was expelled from the Kursaal. Before he had even
passed the front door the voice of the croupier renewed
its cry—" Le jeu est fait," " then ne va plus." To
the credit of the Prussian Government be it said, at
midnight on the list of December, 1872, when M.
Blanc's lease will expire, that incantation will be
heard in Homburg for the last time.
THE FENIAN COSTELLO.—The correspondent of
the Laid ia Express writes :
Augustine E Costello, known as one of the Fenian convicts,
visited Ballinasloe on Thursday, on his way back to Dublin,
from a visit to his native village. From Hayden's Hotel he
addressed a large number of persons who assembled in the
street, cheering lustily. Ills speech was a tissue of abuse of
the English Government, and of the subordinate authorities.
He declared himself to be a Fenian, as he had ever been and
that so long as lie had breath he would conspire and plot to
overthrow the British Government.
A NOBLEMAN WITHoUT PROPERTY. —Strange
as it may seem, it is a fact that the late Lord Brougham
died without any assets. The explanation is that,
long before his death, lie had by deed of gift made over
everything—ex-Chancellor a pension, house and land,
books, plate, furniture—to his brother William, the
present peer, who in return provided for all expenses.
Aversion to trouble about money matters is said to
have suggested this arrangement. The Inland Revenue
authorities, at ffist incredulous, satisfied themselves by
private inquiry as to the Gana fides and validity of the
deed of gift. But it is a curious fact (remarks the Pall
Mall (dazette), that an ex• Lord Chancellor, who for up-
wards of thirty years received a pension of £5,000 a
year, has died without paying a shilling of probate or
legacy duty.
E, GLAND PROSTRATE. The Paris Etendard
publishes an article to prove that England is at present
in such a difficult position that sha ought, with a due
regaed to her own interests, to remain firmly united. to
France. "In America," it says, "we find the British
lion prostrate at the feet of the settlers of that country,
and in so hnmble an attitude that it does not dare to
raise its vo:ce in defence of its dearest interests.
Chained down by the Alabama difference, and by the
geographical position of Canada, England has not suffi-
cient strength to intervene in the question of the
Isthmus of Darien, the concession of which will give a
mortal blow to her commerce on the Pacific. The
British etatesmen have well comprehended all the im-
portance of the case, but they dare not say sword in the
Matter, as Frigi Anti cannot resist the United Statea" Ins
Asia, the Etendard)leclares, the situation of England is no
better. Twenty years ago she did not allow a Rus-stan
agent to establish himseb at Khiva, whereas at present
nothing but Affghanistan separates Ruesia from India.
"Persia has also," says the article, "become Russian,
and on that point also Great Britain has been obliged
to yield up her influence before the Colossus of the
North, now exteuding her ramifications to the Persian
Gulf. In fine, the disorganisation of the Ottoman
Empire, and particularly in its Asiatic provinces, will
permit Raissia to advance, on the first breath of war,
as far as the lelediterranean before even going to Con-
stantinople. On that day India is lost, for the Suez
route will be intercepted.
MILLFINCHES VERSUS FRUIT MIDS.—The pre-
cise motive which actuates the bullfinch in its attack
on the buds of fruit trees has long been a subject of
dispute. One party has stoutly maintained that the
bird feeds on the healthy boils, and thus does damage
ti °lir orchards and fruit gardens; the other as firmly
maintaining that the only buds destroyed by the bird
are those which are being destroyed by lame, on
which the bullfinch really feeds. Mr. W. B. Teget-
melee gives in the Fald the result of his examination of
the crop of a bullfinch shot in the act of feeding on the
buds of an apple tree, and placed in his hands
for careful microscopic examination —"On placing
small portions of the contents of the crop under a
linch object-glass, with the lowest eyepiece, the
nature of the coatents was immediately seen. They
consisted of numerous grains of quartz, and of the
partly-developed stamens and petals of the flower-buds
of the apple. No trace of any insect structure was
evident, although searched for with higher powers,
and viewed under every mode of illumination--viz.,
with a dark ground, with transmitted light, and as an
opaque object As one who is much more of a ZOo-
logigt than a botanist, I regret to state that I think the
cue is clear against my little friend. I would much
rather have found evidence for the defendant; but I
am compelled to speak the truth, though it grates
harshly against my sympathies."
A PHYSIOLOGICAL EXPERIMENT.—A most extra-
ordinary experiment was recently made by Professor
Dickson, a young but very distinguished physiologist.
A few grains of barley were placed before a hungry
pigeon, who at once began pecking. During this
operation the brain of the pigeon was frozen by means
of a spray of ether, and, the bind being thus suddenly
deprived of conciousnese, ceased pecking, and remained
for a while as if deprived of life. At this moment the
grains of barley were all cleared away, and, the ether.
spray. having ceased, the brain was allowed to thaw'
the bird returned in a short time, as it were, to life,
and the first thing it did was to continue pecking for
a while, though no grains were present
A CHANCERY SUlT.—Within the last fortnight
(says the Law Journal) a suit in the Court of Chan-
cery of a most venerable age has been killed by a
compromise. The suit was born in 1805, and Was
rear eel anti nurtured through infancy, youth, and ma 1-
hood by 31 couusel and eight firms ot solicitors. Of