The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-09-01 00:00:00

reltarttou lintetliwrute

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL

THE Two CLASSES.—Work-people and out.of-work
people.—Funny Folks.
WASPS AND GRAPES.—A gardener of Strasburg-
Neudorf possesses a large vine, from wh'ch the wasps
met week removed 3000). to 400. b. of grapes. After
trying in yam to get rid of the inFect pest by attaching
to the vine bottles with honey water, which attracta
and drowns the wasps, he took a bucket half tilled with
boiling water, placed it under the grapes, and by beat-
ing the attacked vines he brushed the wasps off into
the boiling water. In two hours he ktlled nearly two
quarts of wasps. The early morning, when the wasps
are stiffeLed with the cool air, at noon, when they are
giddy from the juice which they have absorbed, and
the evening are the best times for this operation.
MARRIED IN THE SURF.—Mies Wiley and MT. Barr
decided to have their nuptial ceremony performed in
the surf at Ocean City. These lovers, both of whom
hail from St. Louis, made up their minds that they
would be married thus, and so on Thursday they
marched into the sea together, standing in water to
the depth of the bride's shoulders. The bathers had
withdrawn and the bridal party had the beach to
themselves. A few friends stood at the edge of the
white sand when the clergyman stepped in and did his
beat to tie a knot in Jack tar style. The sky was
brigh, the breeze was grateful, and the waves were
just frisky enough to lend zest to this undertaking.
Indeed, the whole occasion was pleasant, and nothing
Insured it, rays the Philadelphia Times, save when
Neptune, seeking to kiss the bride, ducked her in as
bouncing a billow as ever buffeted a mermad,
DETERMINED SUIOIDE.—On .Tuesday afternoon a
shocking suicide was committed at the Birmingham
barracks, where a troop of the 11th Hussars is now
stationed. Private Lambert went into his room where
some of his comrades were lying upon the beds. He
was smoking a cigar, and gave no indication that he
was about to do any thing unusual beyond saying good-
bye to a comrade lying on the bed next his own. Im-
mediately afterwards the men were startled by the
report of a gun, when they saw Lambert fall to the
floor. He had shot himself with his carbine, which
was loaded with ball cartridge. The deceased placed
the muzzle in his mouth and pulled the trigger with
the spur on his boot. The discharge blew the unfor-
tunate man's head almost to pieces, and scattered his
brains. Death was of course instantaneous.
"CAPITAL" PUNISHMENT.—Having to remain in
London all through the autumn.—Funny Folks.
POSTAL NOTES IN AMERICA.—Mr. Fawcett'e idea
of postal notes, as distinguished from Post-office
orders, after being adopted in France, has now been
introduced into the United States Post-office. In
form, the new American notes, however, are slightly
different from those issued here. They are bound in
books of 500 each, each one being perforated, so that
when the notes are torn out a margin remains to show
the amount for which they are issued, the postmaster,
hawing to fill up each one ft r any required amount.
not exceeding five dollars.

MARRIAGE WITH A DECEA WIFE'S SISTER.—The
Southern Presbyterian Ohm .112 in the United States by
a vote of its presbyteries hat Aricken from its Confes-
sion of Faith the section which prohibits marriage with
a deceased's wife's sister. It is a somewhat curious
fact, stated by Mr. Carruthers in his recent edition in
England of the Westrninkter Confessions of Faith,
that "the clause in that document forbidding the
marriages in question was struck out of the version
accepted and enacted by Parliament. These mar-
riages, therefore, were lawful under the Puritan
regime." The Southern Presbyterian Church, says an
American Journal, is probably the branch whose
orthodoxy stands highest in the whole Presbyterian
family.
THE POPULATION OF CHINA, European statisti-
cians are gradually reducing their estimates of the
population of China. It used to be put at over four
hundred millions. Behm and Wagner reduce their es-
timate for China and Corea from 434,500,000 to
379,500,000. Peterson reduces his estimate by seventy
five millions, making the present total three hun-
dred and fifty millions. Dr. Happer, missionary, be-
lieves this can safely be reduced another fifty millions.
Mr. Hippisly, acting Commissioner of Customs, thinks
two hundred and fifty millions more nearly correct than
three hundred and fifty millions. The losses by the
Taeping and Mahomtnedan rebellions, and by the
famine and pestilence which swept the provinces
of Chili, Shantung, Shansi, Shensi, and Ronan are
variously estimated at from eixtpone to eighty-one
millions.

ROWING, THE NIAGARA RAPIDS.—A man named
Charles Truesdale has, according to the New York
Journals, recently created something of a sensation at
Niagara Falls by rowing through the rapids from the
American shore, starting from near the head of the
hydraulic canal and landing at the upper end of Goat
Island. The feat, although apparently dangerous and
exciting to witness, is not particularly perilous when
performed by a skilful boatman well acquainted with
the rapids. Joel Robinson, the celebrated navigator
of Niagara, often excelled it by his daring voyages
among the rapids to rescue castaways. That the early
colonial visitors were in the habit of taking this means
to visit the island, probably piloted by the Indians, is
proved by the fact that the first bridge from the main-
land was built in 181.7, and that in a tree on Goat
Island was found carved the date 1765.
PUFFING HIS WEED—Cabby: "Well, will it do,
old man? That's what I call a weed, that is."—Snob-
son : "Is it? Well, it's what 1 call a vegetable,
Tommy, if you must have the straight griffin."
Fun.
THE CULTIVATION OF TOBAOOO IN GERMANY.—The
statistical bulletin of the German Empire reports that
the number of persons who cultivated the tobacco plant
in Germany was 21.5,249, and that the area under cut.
tivation was about 55,000 acres, showing a decrease of
30,000 planters and 13,000 acres on the year 1881. The
largest area of land under tobacco cultivation last year
was in the Grand Du( by of Baden (17,000 acres), and
then came Prussia (8,200 acres) Bavaria (8,000 acres),
Alsace-Lorraine (7,500 acres) and Hesse-Darmstadt
(2,400 acres). The total weight of the tobacco crop
when dried was 38,850 tons as compared with 61,315
tons in 1881, and of this quantity 11,670 tons came
from the Grand Duchy of Baden 9,884 from Prussia,
8,383 from Bavaria, 6,674 from Alsace-Lorraine, and
1,129 from Hesse.
A ROMAN MOROUE.—The municipality of Rome
have decided to establish upon the model of the well-
known establishment in Paris a morgue or dead-house
for the reception of bodies of persons found dead in
public places in order that they may be identified. The
building is already constructed, and will shortly be
opened. As at the Paris morgue the interior is divided
in the centre by a long glass framework reaching from
floor to ceiling, behind which the bodies will be placed
upon eloping ironwork frames.

A TRAGIC) STORY.—On July 28, while a strongly
built old house was being pulled down in the village
of Warm Spring, Buncombe county, North Carolina,
the workmen found a skeleton behind one of the
thick walls. Upon it was an old leathern post bag
containing several letters of the year 1827. In one
of them were two 100 dole. notes of a bank which
disappeared many years ago. The oldest villager
had never heard of any crime which could account
for the presence of those remains of a poor postman;
so the case may be set down as a tragical accident
the cause of which will never be known.
THE TELEPHONE IN RI7IE/A.—The introduction of
the telephone into Russia was only effected a year ago,
but its use has already become almost universal at St.
Petersburg. Telephonic lines connect the most dial.
tant quarters of the t awn with the centre; cables are
laid from the several islands at the mouth of the Neva
to the town. Factories, warehouses, hospitals, even
the Bank of Russia have intreducFd it; and public
stations are being established in different parts of St.
Petersburg at which persons can converse with each
other at a distance for the small charge of 20.

PROSPERITY IN THE WEST Or IRELAND.—A corre-
spondent of the Irish Times, writing from Leenane,
says :—" I have been over 200 miles of the Western
coast, along all the indentations from Sligo to Slyne
Head, and have made careful inquiries about the crops
and the condition of the people, and can confidentally
communicate the welcome tidings that the people
are enthusiastic at the prospect of the most abundant
harvest since 1847. The turf is drying rapidly, and
this, their only fuel and principal consolation during
the long winter nights, will be better in quality and
greater in quantity than for many years past. Not
the slightest sign of blight is yet visible in the potato;
the stalks are showing symptoms of decay, and a few
spotted leaves, in Achill, Clare Island, and Boffin, but
the tubers are still sound and dry. The fishermen
along the ooast say that fish always abound in years
when the harvests are good; and although mackerel
and herring have not come into the harbour er close to
the shores, yet they have passed in shoals along the
coast, and I heard it was reported in Sligo that one of
the steamers plying to that port passed through such
enormous shoals within fifty or sixty miles off the
coast that millions of fish lay dead upon the surface of
the sea from the action of the paddle."
THE GARDEN AND ORCHARD CROPS. —These crops
are reported on in the Gardeners' Magazine as in many
respects more satisfactory than for the past half.
dozen years. There is but one distinct failure—the
plum crop is nil, and the apricot comes near to it in
negative distinctness. Of al else there is enough,
and of apples there is a great abundance. Pears are
not plentiful, but there is a fair sprinkling ; and the
same may be said of peaches, and nectarines, and
cherries. The weak feature of the year is to be found
in the stone fruits, all of which suffered severely from
the frosts that prevailed when the trees were in flower.
Strawberries and bush fruits have been unusually
abundant, and of excellent quality. All vegetables
are plentiful, and of the finest quality, and there is
now in the ground, ready for lifting, the heaviest and
cleanest crop of potatoes that we have had for at least
half-a-dozen years.
AN UNCOMFORTABLE ARRANGENENT.—A Standing
Committee.—Fun.
Tnis GOVERNMENT DUTY ON RAILWAYS.—The change
in the Government duty on railways is now accom-
plished, and the legislative enactment will benefit
some of the railways to a very considerable extent.
But the amounts that are paid by the great railways
to the Government for passenger duty vary very much.
The London and North-Western Railway alma paid
in the first half of the present year £61,900 for Go-
vernment duty, while the amount paid by the Great
Western Railway was about £B,OOO less, though the
number of the upper class passengers on the latter
was much more than on that of the former. The
Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway paid over £16,000
for the half year, rather more than did the North-
Eastern Railway, though the passenger revenue of the
atter is larger than that of the former. In the past
half-year the Great Northern Railway paid 106 per
cent. of its gross receipts for Government duty, while
the percentage was in the case of the Great Western
Railway 151 per cent. on the traffic receipts—a pro-
portion in excess of that of the previous corresponding
half-year. The Midland Railway is a large contri-
butor of Government duty, paying £28,000 in the half-
y year.

A BURGLAR CAUGHT.—At Cabra, a Dublin suburb
on Sunday evening, a burglar entered the house of a
Mr. Crolly, who, with all his family, except his wife
was absent. The lady found the burglar under a sofa
in the drawing-room. She at once locked the door
and went out for a constable, but meeting a man she
sent him for the police and returned herself to the
house, where she presented a revolver at the burglar,
keeping him a prisoner until the police came. The
burglar was on Monday sent to prison for three
months' hard labour.
PEACH GROWING IN THE STATES.—Mr. E. C. Feni-
more was among the first to go into peach culture
extensively in Delaware. At one time he had 11,000
peach trees in bearing, and his total yield one year
was 34,000 baskets. From 1860 to 1870 he shipped
183,650 baskets, from which he received a gross return
of 157,224 dole. In 1868 his orchards only yielcjed
him something over 4,000 baskets, but his crop netted
him just 3 dole. a basket. The crop was almost a
total failure everywhere that year. In 1866 the net
returns received by Mr. Fenimore for his peaches
exceeded 26,000 dole., the average being about 2 dole.
a basket for his entire crop. Mr. Fenimore has
gradually reduced his orchards in acreage and now has
but 2,200 peach trees in bearing.

ALSATIANS IN THE FRENCH ARMY.—The total num-
ber of French officers in active service is at present
nearly 14,000, including 400 generals. Among these
no province is more numerously represented than
Alsace-Lorraine, no less than 2,000 officers being
natives of that now German province, including 26
generals of divisions and 59 of brigades, the best
known among whom are Schneegans, Sumpt,
Schramm, and Wolff. Besides these are about 100
naval officers from Alsace• Lorraine in the French
service, including Admirals Conrad, Krantz, and
figeard. Lpecially during the last ten years the
number of French officers from Alsace-Lorraine has
increased more rapidly than during former periods.

A MOTHER'S DRTOTION.—A touching story of a
mother's devotion comes from Belgium (says the Pall
Mall Gazette). A few days ago the wife of a gateman
on the line between Sottegem and Alost was attending
to her husband's duty, when her little boy strayed in
front of a fast train. Without a moment's hesitation
the mother sprang across the rails, and, seizing her
child, tossed It on to the bank the very second before
she was caught by the locomotive and killed. It is
well to know that this brave woman did not die in
vain; the child escaped with a few bruises.

A MILLIONAIRE'S FAMILY TOMB.—The "mortuary
chapel," as Mr. Jay Gould's family tomb is called, is
to cost 85,000 doll., and will have room for sixteen
persons. In design it is a miniature Greek temple of
polished granite. It is to be 20ft. wide, 30ft. long,
and flanked with columns, eight on each side and four
on the ends. No stone used in the construction is to
be less than 6ft. square in size, and the roof stones are
to be 61t. wide by 15ft. eng, weighing several tons
apiece. The doors of the chapel are to be of bronze,
modelled by Augustus St. Gaudens, whose bill for this
service is to be 2,5C0 dole. Inside the original plan
was to close each of the sixteen compartments with a
slab of polished marble, to be cemented in place. The
latest intention, however, is to finish the inside of the
chapel in bronze, as being more durable than marble.
Facing the door of the chapel is to be a window of
stained glass, probably by Lafarge, representing the
Resurrection.

THE GRAVDEST OBELISK THE WORLD HAS SEER.
—The Washington correspondent of the Cleveland
Leader writes :—" The Washington monument is the
wonder of Washington, and its beauty the admiration
of both Americans and foreigners. Already over 350
feet high, it rises from the banks of the Potomac a
great white marble shaft, piercing the clouds, and
backed against the blue of the sky. It is already the
grandest obelisk the world has ever seen, and in the
wons of the future, should the nations of the day pass
away, leaving no more records of their progress than the
mighty ones of the Egytian past, it will surpass the
Pyramids in the wonder of its construction. It is
already higher than the Third Pyramid, and within
100 ft, of the size of the second. It is taller than St.
Paul's Cathedral, and when finished it will be the
highest structure in the world. Today the Cathedral
of Cologne, 512 ft, high is the tallest work in the
world. Next comes the Great Pyramid, 483 ft high;
then the Strasburg Cathedral, 4731 t.; then the Se-
cond Pyramid, 453; then St. Peter's, 430 ; St.
Stephen's at Vienna, 43; and St. Paul's at London,
381, The moument when completed will be 555 ft,
high-43ft. higher than the Cathedral at Cologne. It
will be far different, however, from the needle-like
shafts of the great European cathedral; each of its
sides at the top will be 35ft. In width, and the whole
massive tower will seem a solid growth of natural rock
rising from the earth and reaching to the sky. The
width at the base of each of its four sides is 55ft., the
monument gradually tapering for over 500 ft. until it be..
comes a cone, each aide of which is 351 t."

ACCIDENT TO A STEEPLE JACIE.—A terrible accident
occurred on Tuesday evening to Peter Wright, a noted
steeple jack, whose home is in Edinburgh, and who was
inspecting chimneys at Sheffield on behalf of the Govern-
ment. He climbed the chimney of the Albion Cutlery
Works, and when lifting some coping stones from the
top of the chimney, which is 701 t. high, he over-
balanced himself and fell to the ground, breaking both
arms and his left leg, sustaining such injuries that his
recovery is very doubtful.

THE POPULATION OF Eurr.—By the recent censugf
It appears that the total population of Egypt is
6,798,200, very equally divided as far as sex, the men
numbering 3,393,928, and the women 3,304,352. The
population of the moet important towns is thno
given : Cairo, 368,108; Alexandria and suburbs,
208,775 • Port Said, 16,560; Suez 10,913; Tantab,
33,725; ilamietta, 34,046; Roeetta, 16,671; Mansourah,
26,784; Zlgazig. 195'46. Although etrict accuracy is
not guaranteed by the authorities, it is believed that
this census is a nearer approach to correctness than
has previously ever been the case.

A MONSTROUS LONG BARD.—The longest beard
that is mentioned in history was that of the celebrated
John Mayo, painter to the Emperor Charles V. It
is said of him, that though he was very tall his beard
was so long that he could tread upon it ; he was very
proud of it, and had it generally tied up with great
care, and fastenel with a ribbon to a button-hole; he
used sometimes to untie it, by direction of the em-
peror, who, making him sit down to table with him,
with all the windows open, took great delight in seeing
the wind blow this long beard in the faces of his cour-
tiers. The reign of Henry IV. of France was the
golden age of beards; then it was that the modes of
cutting them were so various. Beards were clipped
round, square, or ending in a point, and sometimes
shaped like fan, or an artichoke-leaf.

THE LASH AT THE ANTIPODES. —ln Australia
offences against women are punished with much
greater severity than in this country. At the Central
Court in Melbourne recently men guilty of this offence
were sentenced as follows :—John Johnston, two
years' hard labour, the first three months to be in
irons; Frederick Benjamin, two years' hard labour,
two whippings of fifteen lashes each, the first three
months of the second year to be in irons; Patrick
Joseph Dowling, three years' hard labour, two whip-
pings of fifteen lashes each, the first three months of
the second and third years to be in irons.
PRECAUTIONS won TYPE FOUNDERS.—At the in•
stance of the chief of the Berlin police precautions
addressed to operative type founders have been dis-
played in every type foundry there. The operatives
are reminded that a thorough washing with soap
of the hands and face prior to any meal is one of the
most effective methods of preventing the abeorption
into the human system of the lead dust floating in the
air of type foundries. The mouth should also be well
rinsed each time, while eating and drinking in the
workroom are to be avoided. Operatives should brush
their clothes well when leaving work, and should fre-
quently take baths.
WOMEN'S WORK IN AMERICA.—In the United
States there are 320 women authors out of a total of
1,131, and 2,061 female artists to 7,043 males. There
are 75 female lawyers, 165 female preachers, 2,433
female physicians. 2,902 women are barbers, 13,181
musicians, 288 journalists out of an aggesgate of
12,308, and 776 rag-pickers. Of dressmakers there
are 281,928, against 3,473 men. There are 154,375
females teachers, against 73,335 males; and 81,658
tailors, against 52,098 tailoresses, against whom no
fractional imputations can be cast. There are also
3,456 female printers, lithographers, and stereotypers.

A COREAN CONVERT.—Tharing the rebellion in Corea
a year ago a nobleman named Rijntel saved the
Queen's life, and the King offered to reward him with
any rank or honour which he might aspire to. His
reply was: "I only ask to be permitted to gn to
Japan in order that I may see and study the civiliza-
tion of other lands." While in Japan he called upon a
Christian Japanese, for the purpose of acquainting
himself with the claims and objects of Christianity.
He was deeply impressed, his interest ripened into
conviction, and before long he was baptised into the
Christian faith. Rijutel's great desire is now to give
the Bible to his people, and he has zealously began
the work of preparing a Chino•Corean version.

THE DOG TAX IN PARIS.—From a return just issued
by the Direct Contributions Department in Paris it
appears that there are some 200,000 dogs in that
capital, while the tax is paid only in respect of elle.
half that number. As the tax varies from five francs
a year for a house dog to ten francs for poodles and
other pet varieties, the loss to the municipality is very
considerable. It has been decided therefore that as
every dog by law has ti be provided with a metal
collar marked with the name and address of the owner,
in future this collar will, on the tax being paid, be
stamped with an indelible mark as a receipt by an
official appointed for the purpose.
A JUVENILE SUICIDE.—At Boston an inquest has
been held on the body ef a boy named Barnett Jones,
aged fourteen years, who committed suicide by hang-
ing himself in a closet in the house of his father, s
timekeeper on the Great Northern Railway. He had
had a conversation with his father on the subject of
entering some business, and he was disinclined to be
either a clerk or a draper, Nothing mote was seen of
him until he was found dead, hanging by the neck
from a clothes line. The coroner said it was the only
case in his experience of twenty-two years in which so
young a person had committed suicide.
RATHER MIXED —Mother: "Oh, you bad boy
'Os many o' them happles a' you et ? "—Son : "Don'
know They're all in little bits insolde o' me
!"--
.Fun.

SWIMMING AND DIVING.—At the recent inter
national swimming match in Berlin (writes the Corre-
spondent of the Daily News) some results were attained
which deserve attention, as they may be interesting to
English swimmers. In the long distance prize swim-
ming over a course of oLe statute mile, the winner
passed the goal in 41 minutes 3 seconds. In diving
and swimming under water, the greatest distance
covered was 135 feet. The winner in the so•called
Hercules divir, h whereby a number of heavy iron
weights have t be brought up in three attempts,
lifted a total w sight of 83tb. The champion diver re-
tnained under water no less a time than 81 secs. In this
connection I may also mention that the bicycle race
at Madgehourg for the championship in Germany and
Austria was won by Mr. S. Windham, frcm Freiburg,
who covered 6f miles in 22 minutes 13i seconds,
thereby winning the-gold medal worth £lO.
INSULT TO INJURY.—Farmer Wurzle (meeting the
Curate's wife, who is a beekeeper) : "No, mum; I've
no call to find any fault wi' your beekeepin', but I do
with as they 'oodn't light on my clover. I found one
c' my sheep stung in his mouth this morning."--
Curate's Wife (naively): "And pray, Mr. Wurzle,
where would you look for its tongue but in its mouth?"
A VOYAGE ROUND THE WOELD.—The New Zealand
Shipping Company's steamer lonic recently arrived at
Plymouth from New Zealand. She left Lyttleton on
July 10, entered the Straits of Magellan on Jnly 26,
and was clear of the straits on the 28th. She left Rio
de Janeiro on the 6th inst , and Madeira on the 19th
Inst. She brings 191 passengers, nine sacks of mails,
15 boxes of specie to the value of £11,465, and a large
cargo, including 12,885 carcases of fr,zen sheep, in
excellent condition, 1,509 bales of wool, and 10,622
sacks of wheat. Ihe lonic is the first large steamship
which has paved through the Straits of Magellan, and
on this, her tirst voyage, has made the passage round
the world in 86 days, under steam.

THE TRADE OF HAwan.—The sugar exports Of
Hawaii for 1882 were the largest on record, reaching*
total of 50,972 tons, as against 41,870 tons in 1881,
with 221,293 gallons of molasses in 1882, as against
203,587 gallons in 1881. The neat largest item is rice,
of which 12,169,475. b., with 459,6331 h. of paddy, were
exported in 1882, against 7,682,7001 b. of rice and
102,3701 b. of paddy in 1881. Coffee shows a consider-
able decrease, the 1882 export being only 8,1311 b.,
while 18,1921 b, were exported in 1881. Of bananas
28,848 bunches are reported as the export for 1882, se
against 20,776 in 1881. The other exports of this
rising kingdom are hides, tallow, pulu, and wool. The
total value of the exports reached a million and a half
sterling in round numbers. This year's crop of auger
is estimated as at least 60,00 tons, and the maximum
of production has not yet been reached.
THE BOY TO THE MAN AT THE GRINDSTONE.—The
boy ssid : "I have seen the time when a man could
get me to turn a grind tone for him till the cows come
home, by making me believe it was fan, and by telling
we he never saw a boy that seemed to throw so much
soul into turning a grindstone as I did, but I have
found that such men are hypocrites. They inveigle s
boy into their neat, like the spider does the fly, and
at first they don't bear on hard, but just let the blade
of the axe or the scythe touch the grindstone and theY
make a boy believe he is a big man. They bet him be
will get tired, and he bets that he can turn a grind-
stone as long as anybody, and when the boy has got hill
reputation at stake, then they begin to bear on hard,
and the boy gets tired, but he holds out, and when the
tools are ground he says he is as fresh as a daisy, when
he is tired enough to die. Such men do more to teach
boys the hollowness of the world, and its tricky fea-
tures, than anything, and they teach boys to know who
are friends and who are foes. No, air, the best way WO
hire a grown person to turn your grindstone. I reraere'
her I turned a grindstone for hours for a farmer once,
and when I got through he said I could go to the wring
and drink all the water I wanted for nothing, Øe
was the tightest man I ever saw. Why, tight. Tha.t
aian was tight enough to hold kerosene. "—Detroa
Free Press.