The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-12-09 00:00:00

Mutlimns Intelligtact.
ROME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

I And

• . ,
THE CHATELA/NE MOVEMENT.—An authority
on the subject of ball costumes has announced that
ladies will wear very long dresses of cardinal red and
pearl white this year, with gold chatelaines and a chain
holding a fan, a smelling bottle, and an eye-glass.
Why not add, a parcel of three-volume novels from
Mudie's, and a camp-stool for crowded places? Then
the fair one's costume would enable her to provide foi
all contingencies.—Judy. **.
THE LATE LONDON SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION.?
—The total number of votes given at the London
'School Board election last week to the thirty-one
successful candidates who supported the past policy of
the Board Was, in round numbers, 456,000. The total
number of votes given to the denominationalist ancin
" independent " candidates was 303,000, showing eg
majority of 1.53,000 in favour of the School Board
policy. The rtineteen' denominationalists who were
.returned to the Board .obtained 197,000 votes. The
average, number of Votei given to each of the thirty.
one Schdol Board candidates was 14,000; to the nine.
teen denominational candidates elected, 10,000; and to,
the twenty-eight unsuccessful candidates, 3,0L0. • •!.
MORAL NOTES.—When the wine is in the whiff
out, for when the wit's at home he generally drinks'
beer.—Short reckonings make long friends, but you
generally find your friends short when you begin to
reckon.—A man who hegitates is lost, but a man who
never hesitates is rarely found.—Tun.
PonIILA,TION STATISTICS.—venmark, Witl
area of 700 geographical square miles, contains a
population of 2,000,000 inhabitants, equal to about 2,857
inhabitants to each square mile, while Greece with an
area of 950 geographical square miles, has a population
of 1,400,000 sculs, equal to 1,474 to each square mile.
Norway, with an area of 5,800 geographical square
miles, has a population of 2,000,000, or only 350 to the
square mile; Sweden, with 8,000 geographical square
miles and a population of 4,500,000 equal to 562 to the
square mile; Russia with about 350,000 geographical
square miles and some 80,000,000 inhabitants, equal to
230 to :the square -mile; Portugal, 1,725 geographical
square miles and 3,500,000 inhabitants or 2,030 to the
square mile, all are much more thinly peopled than
Denmark. Spain with 9,200 geographical square miles
and 17,000,000 inhabitants, shows 1,850 inhabitants to
,each square mile; France, with 10,000, geographical
square miles and 37,000,000 inhabitants, gives 3,700;
and England, with 5,500 geographical square miles and
30,000,010 inhabitants, shows 5,454 to each geographical
square mile. The population of Denmark is every'
,
year increasing in large proportion. ;akar
A HINT FOR THE CONFERENCE.—What
mans were made for,—To be sat npon.—Punch.
SAVINGS•BAXICS Laws.—The laws relating to
savings-banks and Post-office savings-banks appear
greatly to need consolidation and amendment. The
Chief Registrar. of Friendly Societies notices in his
report that both classes of savings banks reproduce in
a great,degree in their constitution an obsolete pattern
of friendly society, the Improvements in legislative
machinery which experience bas suggested f'cii• fibig
latter class of bodies nut having been made available.
The inivilege of...nomination for small sums; for in-
stance, now granteel to members of friendly socittiee,
industrial and provident societies, and trade unions, is
one entirely adapted to savings-banks, and it would
probably remove the great majority of the difficulties
which now arise-in cases of the intestacy of depositors.
As between trustee saviogs-banks and Post-, ffice
savingeabanks, again, the law of forfeiture of double
' deposits, whether in the same or different banks, justi-
fiable as to the former, so long as a comparatively high
rate of interest is allowed, becomes one of extreme
hardship as to the latter, the State deriving a profit
from all investments in it. The Chief Registrar is of
opinion also that the Post-office regulations as to
savings-banks require amendation in several respects.
His suggestions deserve attention, especially at this
time, when the Bills to be submitted to Parliament
next Session must be prepared.

with an

A SALMON FIGHT.—With reference to those
peculiar frays between male fish of the salmon kind
that so frequently occur, but are not frequently
seen, on the spawning beds in upland streams
at this season of the year, a correspondent
says—" The other day, as I was passing along
the banks of the Aven, near the wild regions of
Delavorar, six miles from Inchrory, I was struck with
an extraordinary battle in progress in a pool sixty or
seventy feet below the point on which I stood. In
most streams the water is too dark and opaque just
now with the heavy rains for the eye to penetrate its
depth. But as the proverb says—

'The water o' A'au, it tins sae clear.
It wad cheat a man o' a hunder year.'
. that day, when all other streams were thick and
muddy, it was no darker that the amber mouth-
piece of my meerschaum. Tie ,pool was deep towards
the foot of the rock on which I stood, but shoaled
away to the other ride, and I saw in the shallow
part no fewer than ten fish of from Blbs.
to 18 or 20 lb., six Or seven of which—the males, of
course—were engaged in a pitched battle,-.; How many
more there might have been in the pool !could not say.
Some of them bit and worried each other like bnll dogs.
Some lashed with their tails and some darted against
their rivals, striking them with the horns on their
snout—strmag spurs in the present unseasonable state
of the fish. One curious thing about the fight was the
way in which every now, and then the lighter fish when
pursued by a heavy fellow rushed to the shallower
parts towards the side—the fugitive obviously knowing
his antagonist would ground before getting after him,
which he invariably did. It is often that these battles
end in fatal results. Fish are found floating near the
spawn beds mangled and torn by their stronger and
successful rivals."

LEAD IN CHEESE.—Lead is seldom or mover
used for suicidal or homicidal purposes, and yet slow
poisoning by this metal is more common than is
generally supposed. Not to speak of painters and
others whose profession places them in daily contact
with the various preparations of lead, we are all more
or less exposed to the absorption of this poison with
our food and drink. This is so well known, that there
is a law in France_ prohibiting the use of leaden sheets
for enveloping conGetionerY, chocolate, &c. It
might, however, have been usefully extended to all
edible substances, as instances have occurred in which
lead poisoning has been produced by the ingestion of
other meats not included in the above law. Among
the substances not named in the prohibitory list is
cheese, and a case is reported from Paris, in the
British Medical Journal, in which a gentleman was
suddenly seized with symptoms of lead colic, which
were soon recognised as such by the physician who
attended him, and which were relieved by appropriate
treatment. No lead could be found in the cooking
utensils or in the food and drink of the patient. Lead
was discovered,- however, in a piece of Roquefort
cheese, which was enveloped in a metallic sheet com-
posed of twelves parts of tin, eight-five of lead, and
three of undefined matter. The conclusion drawn
was thatlhe leak contained in the cheese was imparted
to it,by:the envelope. The report has been submitted
to the Council of Hygiene in Paris, with the view that
the law already referred to be made to apply to all
edibles without exception.— The Sanitary Record.
LAMENTS OVER TEMPLE-BAR. Childish.—
Punch.

THE QUEEN AND THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY.
—At a recent Meeting o debenture holders of
the Royal Horticultural Society a letter from
the Queen was read, but has not been pub-
lished. It acquires some interest,- as being written
by the Queen's command almost immediately after the
death of the Prince Consort. It was addressed to Mr.
(afterwards Sir) Wentworth Mike, and was in the
following terms :—" Osborne, Dec. 24, 1861.—My dear
Dllke,—The Queen has directed me to inform you that
it is her Majesty's wish that the Horticultural Gardens
should be considered as under her peculiar and per-
sonal patronage and protection. The only consolation
that her Majesty can hope to find for the rest of her
life under her bitter and hopeless bereavement, is to
endeavour to carry out wishes and intentions of her
beloved husband. The Queen well knows the deep
interest that he took in this undertaking, and would
wish to have periodical reports sent to her Majesty of
the progress and proceedings of the society.—Sincerely
yours, C. B. Films."
INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS. -A doctor named
Burg, having obtained pelmission from the Com-
mandant of the Military Gymnastic School at Vin-
cennes to weigh a certain number of pupils, and to test'
their pulmonary and muscular powers by means of a
dynamometer, found that in the course of a few
months muscular force was increased 23 per cent., and
in some cases as high as 38 per cent. The pulmonary
capacity also shows an increase of about a sixth, and
the weight of the body 15 per cent. At the same time
that bulk diminishes weight increases. The doctor
experimented upon 1,000 men, and his observations
prove the utility of the Vincennes School. It may be
added to the above, which may otherwise mislead, that
gymnastic exercises develop the system in this remark-
able degree for a certain time only, afterwards gym-
nastics must be practised with great moderation, or an
equally rapid physical deterioration sets in.
Us raltrOaranssE ABSENCE.—Getting home on
a cold foggy night, and finding that your fire has
"gone out."—Punch.
FRIENDLY SOC/ETIES.—The Chief Registrar of
Friendly Societies has found it necessary, in bringing
the Act of 1875 into operation, to make a new register
for England and Wales, confined to existing societies.
It fills no less than 74 folio volumes, being made up of
detached half-sheets, one to each society, so that as
soon as one becomes extinct its half sheet may be taken
out and consigned to a register of extinct societies.
The compilation of this new register has shown that
the number.of existing societies has been under-estima-
ted. In England and Wales there are at least 24,000,
to which may be added about 2,000 more for Scotland
and Ireland.
THE ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT,-
At a meetit:g of the committee of the Howard
Association in London a few days ago, the subject of
the abolition of capital punishment was discussed, and
it wallkneluded by the ccmmittee on the motion of Mr.
.Tamaellendereon, seconded by Mr. Lightly Simpson.
"That it is desirable that the present parliament shall
have an opportunity of espreesieg a judgment upon
the question of abolishing capital punishment, or at
least that some further discussion upon it shall be brought
about in the Houee of Commons." The secretary of
this association was, therefore requested to invite Mr.
J. W. Pease', M.P. for South Durham, to introduce
the subject next session, either in the form of a resolu-
tion for the abolition of captial punishment, or in such
other way as yght seem deetrable. In, reply to this
request Mr. Pease has writteti tO the Iltivifirld Associa-
tion stating that he is willtng to undertake the matter,
and that he intends tgith,notke on the first day of
the session either of a resolution or for permission to
bring in i bill for the abolition of capital punishment.
"A LITTLE KNOWLEDGE," ETC.— School
master: What is the weaning of Equinox ?—Pupil
(who knows Something of Latin .derivations). Please,
Sir, it's Latin for nightmare.—Funch.
A USEFUL HINT.-- Those who are troubled
with neighbours who keep fowls should follow the
example of a Yankee statesman who was very much
annoyed at the havoc his next door neighbour's poultry
committed in his garden. He put some old hats and
hay under his steps and in the stable' and when the
fowls came to scratch they remained to lay. He has
had all the fresh eggs he wanted this summer, and has
even sold some dollars' worth to the owner of the
_ _
hens.
. A MONDAY CHRISTMAS. Christmas Day falls,
on a Monday this year. It fell on a Monday also in ..
1865, and on that occasion the following was unearthed
from, it was stated, the Harleian MSS., No. 2,252,
folio 1534 :
"If Christmas-day on Monday be,
A great winter that year you'll see, .„
And full of winds-both loud and shrill:
But in summer, tenth to tell, '
High winds shall there be anti strong*
• Fall of tempests lasting long;
While battles they shall multiply,
And great plenty of beasts shall die.
They that be born that day, I ween,
They shall be strong each one and keen •
He shall be found that stealeth aught ;
Tho' thou.be sick, thou diest not"
The year 1866 was the year of the Austro-Prusaian
War, a year of disastrous gales and a year of cattts
plagne. Again in 1871 Christmas:day fell on a Monday.
The twelvemonth following that day ma* us with cattle
plague in the North and some great storms ; brit at to
battles" we must go back a few months in 1871. for
the capitulation of Paris and the conflict with the
Commune. We have now a Monday Christbias for
the third timeOeithin a dozen years.
PIN IC -- The following-inteliigente has
been received by the New York Herald from its
Gibraltar Coriespondent :—" The United States
steamer Gettysburg, on her passage from Fayal to
Gibralter, discovered a coral bank, hitherto unknown,
in latitude 36 30 N., long. 11 38 W. She anchored on
the bank and surveyed it on November 17 and 18. She
was obliged to put into Gibraltar for coal and repairs,
having experienced very severe weather and suffered
mime injury. She returns to continue the search for
dangerous depths as soon as the repairs are completed.
The least depth found was 30 fathoms, but her com-
mander has no doubt that the coral comes to the
Surface at some point near the anchotage.• Tvventy
Wles west of the bank a depth of 165001 t. was found.
'Between this and Cape St. Vincent 12,000 ft. The
bank is rich in valuable coral of light pink shades.
This discovery has created quite restir in British naval
circles in Gibraltar, it being almost incredible that
iwith so great a number of vessels paesieg over or in its
:vicinity it should have remained unknown up to the
!present time. Full details of the discovery have been
sent by the consmandtr of the Gettysburg to the Navy
Department. Washington, by mail."
DE.EADFUL IF TEUE.— These are exciting
times. The following startling announcement has
just been made by the evening pinapasin:g spatch
0
;of PrincsGertechakoff." ..But on inquiries at
, the Ruetilin Embassy, it was found that ttitr -Prince
was alive‘ and. vh,ll. So there is evidently a mistake
somewhere.—Judy.
How .TO EtSMAELISELILOGAI, ,COOKERY SCHOOLS.
—Mr. Buckmaster on Saturday met a number of ladies
at the Mechanics' Institute, Piymoutb„for.sbe purpose.
of _eopkcle4ng the desirability itif forming a:-cookery
sclikiot-ifok, the three towns of Plymouth, Devon.
port, atind .Stonshowie. • Mr. ,Buckmaster -said that
cooking was quite as 10y-like an occupation as (Ireee-
making, and it was Aiiver, silow, dirty occupation,
except in the hands of those who would )De low and
dirty at everything. The first thing to do to establish
a school would be to form-w local committee and to ap-
point a secretary and treasurer. It was., properly, a
lady busineski,. and they ehould prepare a ,oirottiar
tettilag forth' their ot ject and soliciting subscriptions.
They would require a suitable room for demonstra-
tion lessons and practical work. The most important
appointment was that of the teacher, and they could
have one who had passed the necessary examinations
at South Kensington, who should be treated as a lady,
and receive a salary of about £lOO, or they could
themselves send a lady to be trained. In illustration
of his remarki on the utility and importance of a know.
ledge of cooking in every household he said his own
daughter, eight yeers of age, washed the tea things,
laid the cloth, and assisted the servant in the daily
work of the house.