The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-09-30 00:00:00

SATURDAY, SEPT. 30, 18764

EIGHT AFTER ALL.- Some learned professors
have discovered that soap is a source of disease—
typhoid fever, diphtheria, and all sorts of ailthents
being distributed through its ageny. This explains the
wonderful objection to its use manifested by so many
people—an objection which centuries of talk have not
succeeded in removing. Truly, instinct is a marvellous
endowment I—juctg.
BABY FAnmiNo.—Under the Infant Life
Protection Act of 1872, no person is to receive for hire
more than one child under a year old, for the purpose
of nursing it apart from its parents; except in a house
registered by the local authority, the applicant being
a person of good character; the registration to remain
in force for a year only. The MPtropolitan Board of
Works, the local authority for the metropol s, report
that during the year 1875, in their whole elistrict, the
total number of houses registered was only five and
they were only authorized to receive 11 infautfe The
superintending architect observes in his report that
until this Act shall be amended, it seems impracticable
to obtain any satiefactory observance of its provisions
regarding registration of nurses.
MCrSHROOMS ScALLorzn. This mode Of
cooking mushrooms answers admirably when there is
' a large supply and a mushroom feast is called for. All
the comple mushrooms are selected, the root cut off,
and the skin taken off the cap. The broken ones are
picked over roughly, and if they are gritty they must
be washed—but as a rule mushrooms should not be
washed, because water removes the goodness from
them. The broken are beaten into a kind of paste
with a liberal allowance of butter, pepper, and salt,
and the mixture is pressed into the gills of the selected
ones, which are then placed head downwards in a tin
dish with a few lumps of butter amongst them, and
shut up in a hot oven for about ten minutes. The
result is a remarkably rich and nice-looking entremet,
which rarely disagrees with any one, for the only
dangerous element is the butter, which of course can
be regulated by the judgment of the cook, to ensure
the needful effect without overdoing it.—The Gardener's
Magazine.

USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL.—The long pigtails
upon which the Chinese pride themselves so much are,
it appears, useful under some circumstanoes as well as
ornamental (says the Evening Standard). When a
danger menaces "the world "—that is to say, China—
it is their much•ridiculed pigtails which are often used
to convey the intelligence to patriotic Chinamen.
According to a recent correspondence from the Celestial
Empire, the secret society known as the " Cninese
Tail-cutters" has lately shown renewed activity.
When the affairs of the nation are prospering, and the
horizon is free from clouds, the members of the society dis-
appear and give no sign of life : but if any public disaster
is imminent, if an ugly-looking comet threatens to con-
sume China, then the conspirators reappear suddenly,
like sea birds which mariners see but on the eve of a
tempest. The mission of the society under such'cir-
cumstances is to cut off swiftly and silently the silky
pigtails from as many celestial heads as come within
reach of their scissors. nib- Is not a light matter,
under ordinary circumstance?' for a native of China
resents as strongly any Undue interference with his
tail as a Mussulman does with his beard, Nothing
but the fact that the country is in urgent danger, can
justify this extreme measure; but when such is the
ease, no patriotic Chinaman can murmur at being shorn
of his glossy and eharished appendage. It is the recog-
nised manner of reminding those who arc too engrossed
with their private business or pleasure that they must
be on their guard, and keep a sharp look-out, for the
State is in danger.
ABSTRACT AND CONCRETE.—Schoolmaster (to
Class which has failed in an addition sum). "Sup-
pose a gentleman were to gi*e you six apples, and then
seven apples, and then eleven more—how many apples
would you have altogether? Twenty•four, wouldn't
you? "—Objection felt and expressed by small boy
"Please, Eir, he never gi'ed I a One I "—Punch.

_
A NV/LEERY:Md.—I-Whenever any one happens
to remark during the autumn that "London is quite
empty," some facile satirist is almost [inn to respond,
" Yes ; there are only some three millions of people
left behind." This may be true enough, but, all the
same for that, London is really empty in the sense of its
most important element, and that which gives it a dis-
tinctly metropolitan charaoter, being absent. Few people
are aware of the real extent of this autumnal exodus.
The fact is accepted in a general way that such a migra-
tion occurs regularly every year, and there our knew-
ledge rests. A gentleman of an enqniring turn of
mind lately undertook to investigate the question a
little further for his own information. With this end
In view he set forth cn a pilgrimage through the South
Hensingten district, comprising, among. other places,
Cromwell. gardens, Queen's-gate, Q ate n s- gate-terrace,
Elvaston-place, lietersha=-terraee, Stanhope-gardens,
Queen's-gate gardens Prince's-gete, and Hyde Parka
gate. During this tour he carefully noted in his
pocket-book every inhabited house that was teita,
porararily closed, as well as those that remained open,
the total number being 747. The result astoniehetV
hitni Only 21 dwellings out of the aggregate showed
signs of being still occupied by their regular inmates,'
no less thau 726 being closed, As the district in ques-
tion Is fairly representative of the wealthiest quarter of
London, it follows that the autumnal exodus tems
porarily carries away 97 per cent. of our affluent
population.— Globe.
THE SOURCE OF TIEPOT7PIR OF WORDSWORTH'S
POETRY.—It speaks to our strongest iteclinge because his
speculation rests upon our deepest thoughts. His
singular capacity for investing all objects with a gloss
detived from early associations ; his keen sympathy with
natural and simple erections; his sense of the sanctifying
influences which can be extracted from sorrow, are of
equal value to his power over our ittellects and our
imaginations. His psychology, stated systematically,
is rational; and, when expressed passionately, turns
intc poetry. To be sensitive to the most important
phenomena is the first step equally toward a poetical or
a scientific exposition. To see these truly is the con-
dition of making the poetry haritionions and the
philosophy logical. And it is often difficult to say
which power is most remarkable in Wordsworth. It
would be easy to illustrate the truth by other than
rroral topics. His sonnet, noticed by Da Quincey, in
which he spsaks of the abstracting power of darkness,
and observes that as the hills passes into twilight we see
the same sight as the ancient Britons, is impassive as
it stands, but would he equally good as an illustration
In a metaphysical treatise. Again the sonnet be-
ginning 2
" With ships the sea was sprinkled far and wide,"
is at once, as he has shown in a commentary of his own
an illustration of a curious psychological law—of our
tendency, that is, to introduce an arbiteary principle
of order into a random collection of objects—and, for
the same reason, a striking embodiment of the corres-
ponding mode of feeling. The little poem called
"Stepping Westward" is in the same way at once a
delicate expression of a specific sentiment and an.
acute critical analysis of the subtle associations sug-
gested by a single phrase. But such illustrations
might be multiplied indefinitely. Ae he has himself
said, there is scarcely one of his poems which does not
call attention to some moral sentiment, or to a general
principle or law of thought, of our intellectual consti-
tution. It was his aim, he tells us, "to console the
afflicted; to add sunshine to daylight by making the
happy happier; to teach the young and the gracious of
every age to see, to think, and therefore to become
more actively and securely virtuous," and, high as was
the aim, he did much toward its accomplishment.—
Cornitill Magazine.
A PSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENON.—A curious
psychological phenomenon has been reported by a
medical man in Bordeaux. A woman, Felida X., has
for sixteen years been undergoing an alteration of
memory, which has all the appearance of a doubling
of life. There is amnesia, or loss of memory, with re-
gard to periods of variable duration which have gra-
dually been enlarging. The memory, passing over
these second states, connects together all the periods of
the normal state, so that Felida has, as it were two
existences—the one ordinary, cmapesecl of all
the periods of the normal state connected by
memory; the other secondary, comprising all
the periods of the two states—that is, the
whole life. The forgetfulness is complete and abso-
lute, but refers only to what has happened during the
second condition; it aff _cts neither anterior notions
nor general ideas. Besides amnesia, Felida manifests,
in the periods of attack of the malady, changes in cha-
racter and sentiments. The alteration of memory and
accompanying phenomena have for cause (the author
says) a diminution in the quantity of blood conveyed
to the part of the brain, still unknown, where memory
is localised. The momentary contraction of vessels,
which is the instrument of this diminution, is caused
by the state of hysteria.
THE FATHER OF THE HOVER OF LORDS.—
Although the late Earl of Leven and Melville may
have been correctly described as the oldest man among
the peers, he was not "Father" of the House of Lords,
(remarks The Tillte.3). In both Houses the " Father "
is that member who has sat longest, and Viscount
Gage succeeded to this position in the Lords on the
death of the late Duke of Leinster in 1874, having
been there for 60 years a member of that House in
which (as our notice recorded) Lord Leven first took
his seat in 1865,
THE SUPPLY OF INDIARUBBER.—ConsuI Green,
reporting on the trade of the Brazilian provinces of
Para and Amazonas, states that the crop of india-
rubber, which was little over 2,000 tons in 1861, has
been steadily increasing ever since, and reached 6,763
tons in the year 1875. He is able to add that there are
vast rubber-yielding districts which have never yet
been touched, and that if the rumours that the old
districts -are becoming exhausted should be correct,
there is no reason why the yearly collection should not,
in ordinary seasons, continue the steady increase it
has shown for some years past, BO long as there is an
outlet for the produce in European markets. The in-
crease in 1875 was less than usual, but he observes that
this was owing to an exceptionally long rainy season
and much sickness, and must not be taken as a criterion
of a diminution of population or an unwillingness of
the inhabitants to work.

A POLYGLOT TOWN.—The eifficulties experi-
enced by foreigners in speaking or writing our language
are often commented on. Our Scandinavian neighbours
seem quite as much at sea in writing English as ale
strangers further afield, and, some curious instances of
their eccentric sr.elling have just come under our notice
(remarks The Times). Mr. C. T. Townsend, the
Danish and Norwegian, Consul at Ipswich, has for the
last three or four years received letters from Northern
Europe, on the envelopes of which are some extraordin-
ary variations of the Suffolk capital. Subjoined
are'no fewer than 57 of these incorrect orthographies :
Epshoics, Epshvidt,, Epsids, Epsig, Ep3vet,
.Bpsvidts, Epwicti, Evswig, Exwig, Hoiepis, livisopys,
Ibivithse, Ebwitzth, lepsich,
le yls Wich, Ittwield; Igswig, Igswjigh, Ipesvivk,
'pis Wl:lg4 Ins Witis,, Ipaiwiach, Ipsovicb, Ipsveten,
Ipavick, Ipavics, Ipavids, Ipavidts, Ipsvig,
Ipavits, Ipsvitx, Ipawcb, Ipsweich, Ipswge,
Ipswiche, Ipswick, Ipswiot, Ipswiech, Ipswig, Ips-
wigh, Ipswight, Ipswisb, Ipswith, Ipswitz, Ispich,
Ispovich, Ipswich, Ixvig, Iysnich, Uibsvicb, and
Vittspits, It is only due to the deciphering powers of
the Postal authorities to say that these letters gene.
rally come to Mr. Townsend without delay. Occa-
sionally a North Europe communication goes to Win-
heath instead of Ipswich, or vice versa, but not often.
It may also be stated that he transmission of such
missives are sometimes helped by the northern version
of the counts "§uffolg," following the word intended
foe Ipswich,

THE POST OFFICE SURPLUS. The Post
Office, as a branch and means of taxation, becomes
more and more prodnctive. The Report issued this
Year shows that in 1815 the net revenue derived from
from it—that is to say; from carrying letters, news-
papers, post-cards, ad beok-packets, and from the
issue of money-orders (after dedneting the cast of tke
service)—reached the large amotint tif 21,8414.1.
This is much more than the sum raised by the Hottse
Tax. Very nearly one-third of the gros-, postal ravened
is profit.. The telegraph service, savings banks, an-
nuities, and life insrailices are quite distinct depart-
ments, and not included in thij ittio•se figures, though
the work happens to be conducted at OA PastOlje.
A &IV " Mi,PaRTIJNE."—The FiinarteitY
says :—" CAlling upon a banker of our acquaintance
the other day, he appealed to our Sympathy by ex-
claiming, I have just had a great notirortnner:
'indeed,' we asked; • what has happened!' 4 Well,-
he replied, •an old customer has just called and }eft
with me £lOO 300 on deposit,' So much for a banker d
misfortune. 'Our friend could tilt refuse to take money
which was offered by an old and valued customer, A.
little incident of this kind portrays the state of do]
Money Market as well a,, anything that could be said.'
CHURCH R&TES.—The official returns for tho
year ending at Easter, 1875, recently published amotsg
Local Taxation Returns, show about 200 parishes in
England and Wales in which loans made on the
security of Church-rates were still not wholly paid off,
and in which, therefore, Church-rates had still to be
made. The Church-rates levied in the year produced
£14,216, and, besides paying interest on the loans
£8,087 of principal was repaid in the year, leaving
£53,982 in the whole still outstanding at the end of the
year.
POST HASTE.—"A Grumbler" writes to The
Times :—"On Friday morning I re:lei-red a post card
from a friend, making an appointment for this evening,
With a view to inducing the postal authorities not
to delay the delivery (as has so often been the cam witli
post card). he put above the address immediate,' for'
which word I was charged a penny, it being contrary
to regulations,' as disclosed by a formidable stamp.
Surely it requires some effort of the imagination to
construe the word immediate' into a contravention of
rules."

Mn. BRIGHT AND THE PEACE QUESTION.—Tho
inaugural debate for the season of the Liverpool Peace
Society took place on Friday night in last week. Mr.
W. Pollard, the secretary of the Intern ational League far
Manchester, said he was once staying at the house of
Mr. John Bright, and a question closely connected
with the one under discussion o%nae up. There was a
young man present who had not thought this question
carefully over, and who took that vie* of it which
great many other people did, and he made a remark te
this effect "I wonder, if the country were invaded,
what the Peace Society would do?" John Bright re-
plied that "Lord Palmerston used to say they (the
Peace Society) would go with their hands full of money
and say to the invaders 'how mush will you take to
go away 7' But," Mr. Bright concluded, "I never
doubted that when there was a nation that accepted
the laws of Christ, and sought to act them out, and
sought to live consistently among these other nations,
end carried out the influence of the Christian spirit in
its relation with others—l never doubted in my life
that the Eternal would take care of that nation."
(Spplause.)
- •

CARD FOR CARD. The following anecdote
about Sub-Lieut. de M`Mahon' son of the President;
of the Republic, was lately related by one of his corns
rades (Rays the Court Journal). Almost immediatelf
after leaving Saint Cyr he was passing through Vele
sallies, proud of his officer's uniform, of which, hoe('
ever, a false collar of not very regimental appearance
diminished the severity. The young officer passed a
colonel, who, after having returned the salute, stopped
and reprimanded him for his unmilitary appearance,
and asked his name. But scarcely had he glanced at
the card presented by the young man than he expressed
his surprise at not having recognized the son of the
Marshal, and was profuse in his politeness. "Ver3s
well, colonel, card for card," said the young man, "I
mnst ask for yours because I have not the honour of
knowing your name." The colonel at once handed his
card, and the other at once went to the Elyse to make
a complaint to his father. An hour after the colonel
and the sub-lieutenant were both ordered to confine
themselves to barracks for four days—one for his non
-
regimental costume, and the other for not having
punished the offence.
HOME-MADE KETCHUP.—As a rule VO3 muSt
use for the purpose whatever we can get, and nortir'
nately almost anything will do. If a few pecks a
bushels of mushrooms come in, sort out all the buts
tons and the fat young mushrooms for cooking, and
all the old ones, the broken, and the gr. 3y, for
ketchup. The large "horse mushroom" is brat-rate
for ketchup, and is often plentiful in meadows. Hav-
ing thrown the raw material, which should not be
',lolled, fags pan, add one-fourth its bulk of salt and
stir three times a day, taking care to break up the fibre
, and promote liqpefaction. After three days put the
whole into an iron pot, and put over the fire until
quite hot, and then attain 'through a hair sieve, Pub
the remn mats from the sieve lathe pot, and add a little
water and salt and makivery hot, and again strain,
and then throw away the remnants. Now add all-
spice, whole black pepper, ginger, and shalots, in equal
proportions, about a table-spoonful of the whole to
evety half-gallon of the liquid, and simmer for half-an-
hour,,atrain through a cloth and a bottle for Use, tak-
ing care to cork the bottles firmly as soon as the
ketchttp is cold. It will keep good six months and
then should be boiled up with a stick of horse-r;disbs
and bottled again.—The Gardener's Magazine.
AN ENTHUSIAST. Professor Peters, the
American astronomer, will go on discovering asteroids
to such an extent that the New York Times is groiving
alarmed (remarks the Evening Standard). Twenty.five
years ago astronomical text-books only mentioned four
of these cob stial bodies, and now there are, according
to the Professor, no fewer than one hundred and sixty-
seven, while, having abandoned his old " muzzle-
loading reflecting telescope" in favour of a new and
powerful achromatic glasses, more asteroids are being
constantly added to the list. Professor Peters seeroe
to be as ardent in hid pursuit of asteroids as a hound
which his just snentad it fox. According to the .Nci°
York 2'imeB he passes all lils nights with "his eyee
glued to the telescope, and his We and coat collar erect
and rigid with intense expectation, .If spoken to while
thus employed/ he gives no sign of hear:Seg, though if
cup of weak black tea, with three lumps eg sugar An r
a little milk, is placed in his right hand, thl..t Intralror
is sure to make a slow and vacillating I":" the
some appropriate orifice in which to empty
contents of the cup, and in most cases to fines.
deposit them in the professional shirt-collar. Fro.
time to time n shout of triumph announces that its,
new asteroid has yielded to the unerring aim
the telescopic veteran, and at such moments
hi
weapon is temporarily abandoned while he seizes *
piece of chalk and calculates the orbit of the new'
planet on the leg of his broadcloth trousers." The
names of all the classic goddesses have been used lie,
and one of the unfortunate circumstances about tlile4
constant addition to the list of asteroids is that 000'
nomers have to fall back upon the pet names of oval:"
day life: and it is impossible to feel a properreePeck
for a planet called "Fannie or "Mamie." The
journal, however, is assured that nothing will prevent
[Abe professor from following scientific pursuits. Eve°
i" if his physician were to forcibly take away hi ti tele'
scope to-morrow and ts forbid him to look at an rate;
roid, he would probably borrow an opera glass n"
take observations of the right ascension and declinly
tion of the tom-cats on the back fence, with a vieW
calculating the elements ef their orbits." Maps shots'
ing the position of the heavenly bodies sae beconsia
far too complicated for the engravers, and if nothin,g
will stop the extraordinary planet-hunter, :ale "I
thing the New York Times can suggest is that as b 103„,
apace should be left in future charts, li‘sstues.
generally, "Professor Peters' Astronomical Preserfit
THE COLORADO BEETLE. A TUIDOUF
reached the Imperial Foreign Office, Berlin, that the
Colorado potato beetle has already appeared in pots&
fields in Great Blitain, the German Government haTe
promptly made inquiries in this country. The Chaffibel;
of Agriculture Journal believes that the report has brs,
founded upon some statement in a London tweeg,';,
paper to the effect that the dreaded beetles are
among us, but in the form of captive specimens tormit;
have come over from America duly packed in iitslo,
boxes for entomologists in England to study.
intelligence has yet reached our contemporary of 1
Colorado beetles being found loose in garden on fie'
in this country.
How TO UNDERSTAND POZTRY.— Som e titlif
a boy or girl says, "I should like to understand poeirl;'
,
I do like to read it and repeat it, but I cannot alwaY°
tell what it means." Dear children, some thin g,
under the title of poetry which are incomprehensible ta
young and old, to wise and foolias alike. But the WI
to understand true poetry—that of isature, at lesBt--1
to love the beauty of which it is the picture and Pfes
song. The best poetry is simple and natural as Of;
itself; and by listening to the sweet voices willchs6,t
always floating unheeded on the air, you will feel rfr-1
it is, through all your being. Only keep eye rnd bePi
open, and never let it be possible for you to secris
or neglect the least thing that God has made. ~
Is°°s,":
for poetry, and you will find it everywhere—ill -al
fairy cuponoss under your feet in the woodlol'
footpaths, in the song of the robin at your windoW
the morning, in the patter of the rain on the roof, sl,
the first rosy cloud on the horizon at dawn, and tP.O
last that fades out in the west at sunset. For poeirl 4
wiitten all over the earth by a Divine hand, before.iii
can get into books. The Creator is the great poet.
that is boautiftil to eye or ear or heart is his
writing. Weerever a bud opens, a rivulet slips alails,
its pebbly path, or a leaf shadow dances in the
shine, there He has written a poem which Jie nl.„eti-31
should be read with delight by every passer-by.--""
"Midsummer and the Poets," by Lucy Larfcrat.
Df
THE PROMISE OF YOUTH.—Tho midu.“; 4,0
story is not quite the place to ask and answei
question how it is and why it is that a man's own
come so often to agree that he is a Solon when bc
none, or an idiot when he is wiser than any of 0074..
What a terrible mistake we do make in this matter
be sure! Is there a family in the land where
genius has not grown up into a very poor creaturev
whose cygnet has put on no swan's plumage I°,ool
swam down the stream of years? If the despised to
has not as often developed into a genius, it DJ tsn,
geniuses are rare birds that do not roost on every Pers-si
If we were quite wise ourselves, of course we lio
wake make these mistakes lees often; but are they ~
almost impossible to avoid? How can we look 00 st
bright child, quick in thought, ready in speech, :111,is
full of childish wit and fun, and refrain from dniqo of
little rule of three sum about it? If the nbli;
eight is so clever, what will the man of thirty not tossteci
again, how can we guess that the dull, thick-vqevion
child, sleepy and listless, who has never seen agi told
of the other's wit, who has none of the cberiji
brightness of the other, dull in perception and alowcis,
speech, how can we guess that he is a genius in son
guise? How can we tell that the quick early gectss,
of the one will be arrested, that his wit will erystal,it`tio
into flippancy, and his cleverness into dieputati;to
dogmatism—that the future Lord Chancellor will 11105 t
a briefiess barrister, the future bishop n crl so
playing curate, the general a half-pay captain,
forth—and what is to make us guess that the het' ot
nese and cloudiness of the other is but the fernseas„ 1,1
great mental powers, the mysterious development °
grand Intoned Quoleriv lifogae*.