The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-01-12 00:00:00

itlisteltancous

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

MODERN CONVERSATION.—Young Green. Hot,
isn't it? Young Lady (tired of the subject). So
you said just now. Y. G-. (nervously). Yes, but
don't you think it has got hotter? [Young Lady
gives Young Green up as a bad job.—Judy.

DOG LICENCES.—The Commissioners of Inland
Revenue have just issued a general order to every
collector in England, Scotland, and Wales, calling
upon them to recommend .for each district a respect-
able person whose veracity and character can be relied
upon to ascertain and report on all cases in which
persons are keeping dogs without licences. Pre-
feren,3e is to be given to superannuated police officers.
They are to receive no salary, hut in lieu thereof one-
half of the amount of the fines recovered. The state-
ment recently made that dogs under six months of
age are liable for a licence is incorrect; they are still
exempt.

A WO3IAN AT WHIST.—AII women play cards
alike (says an American paper). Watch a woman at
a game of whist and you'll get a pretty correct idea of
how all women play whist: "Dear me, Henry, is it
my play? Let me see—second hand low—that s the
first time around of that suite, I think. Well, 11l
play—no, I hardly think I will—now you stop looking
at my hand—did you see anything—of course lam
going to play, but I must have time to think—what's
trumps—spades—l thought it was clubs, I'll—no—yes
- -well there ! " Then she will slap an ace on her
partner's Ling and insist upon keeping the trick for
fear she will be cheated out of it in the final count.

THE WRONG TIME. —The promoters of the Burials
Bill are not to be daunted from agitating their pet
grievance even by the critical state of the Eastern
Question. When will they learn that, especially under
present political circumstances, the very worst grounds
upon which a man can argue are burial grounds ?
Judy.

A REMARKABLE HUNT.—Lord Coventry's pack of
foxhounds had a remarkable run one day last week.
The meet was at the village of Powyke, about three
miles from Worcester, where, a fox bsing found, made
first for Worcester, and swam across the river Teme,
which was high and rapid from melted snow. Then
being headed, he crossed the Severn. which also was
in flood, at a point about a mile from Worcester. The
field, a large one, being thrown out, crossed the rivet
at Worcester, and raced through the streets. The
hounds swam the river after the fox, which was in
view, and a run of some six or seven miles further
brought Reynard almost to his lordship's kennels at
Croorne, where tihe fox went to earth.

A GERMAN OPINION ON THE CRIMEAN WAR.—The
Cologne Gazetie says, in reference to the opinion of
Lord Carnarvon, that few persons would remember
the Ciimean war with satisfaction :—" Let it be
imagined that the Western powers had not then had
the courage to resist, and abandoned Turkey to the
Emperor Nicholas, as they abandon it now to the
Emperor Alexander: what would have been the con-
sequence? The Emperor Nicholas would perhaps be
still living, of German aspirations after unity and
liberty there could have been no question, but the
whole of Europe would be under the pressure of a,
despotic overpowering Russia. But it was a comfort-
able paradox to speak of the uselessness of the Crimean
war."

A CONNOISSEUR.—Farmer's wife (to old groom,
who has called with a message). Now, John, that's a
glass of good beer, isn't it? Home brewed that;
nothing in it but good malt and
.hops. John.—Yes,
mum, and the watter. Farmer's wife.—Well, yes,- of
course, the water. I'd forgotten that. John
(tasting). Nay, mum, a'll be blessed if ye heve.—
Judy.
A FIRST ARRIVAL.—The Globe announces that a
number of Japanese and Chine-se, on their way to
Paris, arrived at Marseilles on Thursday in last week
by the Anadyr. The Chinese, eighteen in number,
are architects, sculptors, and painters, who have come
to erect their palace at the Trocadero. One of them,
Sun-Hsing-Keng, is one of the first architects and
sculptors of the Celestial Empire. With them has
arrived the Attaché of the Chinese Legation at Ber-
lin, Ts'ien-Tchpei, and they were accompanied by M.
Ifflaud, German interpreter. The Japanese are youths
of from twelve to fifteen years of age, who have come
to complete their education in France. They have
been confided to the care of M. Dury, formerly Con-
sul. General of the latter country in Japan, who, in
1867, accompanied to France Mimbou-Tayou, the
young brother of the Taikon of that period.
A SAD MATTER.—" Russian politicians are so over-
bearing," said a Turcophile the other day, "that they
would like to wipe their feet on the diplo-mats of
Europe! "—Funny Folks.
Two RELIGIONS TOO MANY !—A lett=r from Con-
st.mtinople, in Vanity Fair, says : "A large propor-
tion of the shopkeepers of the Bazaar are not Osmanlis,
but Arm nian Christians and Jews. One of these
having asked me fiftyf rano; a piece for Broussa silk
which I knew was worth twenty, I said t 6 him, 'Why
are you all such fools as to ask three times the value
of everything? The only effect of it is to prevent
people trombuying, or even from coming to the bazaar
at all, since they know they will be robbed.' The
man shrugged his shoulders and replied, Que voulez-
vous ? We have three Sundays here. Friday the
Mussulmans go to Mosque; Saturday Jews go to
Synagogue; Sunday Christians go to church. Three
days lost in the week. Mon Dieu, we are obliged to
make all our profit on the ether four days! It is a
great abuse. We hare two religions too many. "

A SAGACIOUS DOG.—A correspondent, writing upon
instinct in animals, states that Some year ago,
while I was sitting in a confectioner's shop iu Princes-
street, Edinburgh, eating a piece of gingerbread, a
Newfoundland dog, which I had never seen before,
came and stood beside me in a very friendly way. It
seemed so earnestly interested in what I was about,
that I offered it a part of the gingerbread, thinking
that it was what it wanted, but it refused it. When I
put my hand in my pocket to pay for what I had got,
seeing that his tail wagged, and its look became more
animated, it occurred to me that it was the money in
which it was taking so much interest; so, for amuse-
ment, I offered it a half-penny. That it accepted wil-
lingly, and handed it over the counter, receiving a
biscuit in return. I asked what that meant, if it was
their own dog, and if it was in the habit of doing that.
The dog was not theirs was the reply. It belonged to
a shoemaker in another part of the town, but was a
regular customer ; for, if it received a halfpenny or
penny anywhere, it brought it to their shop to
make its purchases. I had often before heard of
dogs and elephants buying rolls and biscuits, but I
never before had seen a dog that could inform a
stranger that it wanted a halfpenny for the purpose."
A NEW WAY or "SAVING YOUR BACON."—Take
one pound of the best breakfast bacon—as streaky as
possible; two dozen new-laid eggs ; a nice Westphalia
ham; six pounds of the best Cambridge sausages; a
brace of partridges; one sirloin (cold) of roast beef;
and two pots of marmalade (Scotch). Then put your
pound of bacon away carefully in a separate safe in a
corner of your larder; lock that safe securely and lose
the key. Then proceed to make your forthcoming
breakfastvff the new-laid eggs, the Westphalia ham,
the Cambridge sausages, and the other comestibles
above mentioned. This will be found to be a most
effectual recipe for the result desired.—Jody.

OUR DIGESTIONS—When proper, natural, simple
food is taken into the healthy stomach no more is felt
of it. If it be of the nature of soup or beef tea it is
absorbed, as if were, by the coats and veins of the
stomach. If it be meat, it is by the movements of the
stomach carried round and round its cavity, anc?
mixed up with the gastric juice, which oozes into the
stomach whenever food is put into it. This gastric
juice is a clear, colourless, acid fluid, which flows
freely into the stomach, as we have said, whenever
food is taken into it. The free acid present in the
gastric juice (of the dog) is lactic acid. The gastric
juice has very slight tendency to putrefaction, and
may be kept for an infinite length of time in a com-
mon glass bottle without developing any putrescent
odour. The peculiar property of this fluid is that it
dissolves meat, boiled white of egg, and such like sub-
stances. It does so even outside the body, but it does
so best inside the body, assisted by the high tempera-
ture of the stomach and by its peculiar movements.
Gastric juice does not dissolve all kinds of food; it
does not dissolve fat, nor starch, nor oil. Its proper
duty is to dissolve meat, gluten (the most nutritious
part of bread), cascine (the most nutritious part of
milk), albumen (white of egg), etc.—Canada Globe.
AT LAST ! A Going Concern. Temple-Mr.--
Punch. •

RECOGNITION OF BRAVERY.—On the 31st of March,
1876; John Chiddy, a quarryman, employed on the
the Great Western Railway, at Conharn, between
Bath and Bristol, saw that a large stone had fallen
upon the metals along which the Flying Dutchman,
then in sight, was rushing at the rate of fifty miles an
hour. Without a thought of the risk he ran, Ofiiddy
rushed to the spot and lifted the stone off the line,
and a terrible catastrophe was thus averted ; but the
poor man lost his life, for the buffer catching him he
was killed in an instant. He left a widow and seven
children, and his case being a peculiarly shocking one,
some gentlemen in Bristol took it up, and a public
appeal was made, resulting in the raising of between
£OO and £5OO. With part of this a neat six-roomed
cottage has been built near the scene of the accident,
and this, with half an acre of garden land, was on
Tuesday formally and publicly presented to the
widow.

ENORMOUS ARRIVALS OF AMERICAN REM—The
largest quantity, both of fresh I,eef and mutton, that
has ever arrived at Liverpool from America in a single
week came to hand last week. It consisted of 9,112
quarters of beef and 1,461 carcases of mutton, the
whole clming from 'New York and Philadelphia.
There also arrived 50 dead pigs and 70 live ones, the
latter being the only live stock landed.

GOOD MOTTO FOR AN ORGANlST.—Supported by
voluntary contributions.—Fun.

How TO CLEAR NyOODS.-A very simple process is
employed in America for freeing woodland newly
brought into cultivation from the stumps of..trees. A
hole some two inches in diameter, and eightem inches
in depth, is bored in the stump about,autumn, filled
with a concentrated solution of saltpetre, and closed
with a plug. In the following spring a pint or so of
petroleum is poured into the same hole, and set on
fire. During ' the course of the winter the saltpetre
solution has penetrated every portion of the stump, so
that not only this, but also the roots are thoroughly
burnt out. 'rile ash is left in situ, and forms a valu
able manure.

AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CoßN.—The following
are the average prices of Bi itish corn for the week
ending January 5, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 51s. Bd.; barley, 435. Id.;
oats, 245. sd. per imperial quarter. Corresponding
week last year—Wheat, 51s. 2d.; barley, 3-83.
oats, 245. 7d.
GOLD IN INDIA.—The discovery of gold in South
India, so long asserted by some Australian specula-
tors, turns out to be a fact (says Mayfair). In the
coffee-growing district of Wynaad, 62 tons of the
auriferous quartz, described as "Alpha stone from
'Wright's level," has produced above 30 ounces of rich
gold, or an average of nine pennyweights per ton. The
gold has been bought by a Madras firm, and specimens
of the quartz have been submitted to the Governor,
the Duke of Beckingliam and Chan los. The CO
missioner of the district has visited the works, and the
result is that a company is projected to work the
Alpha rock, with a capital of En 0,00.). A steadY
out-turn of gold, secured by capital and honest in-
dustry, would solve many of our most difficult Indian
questions of finance and ourrency.
A CHARITABLE SOClETY.—Mayfair says :—" There
e
exists in Berlin a society for collecting the points cur'
from cigars, and it celebrated on the 27th of December
its Christmas fl,te at the residence of the President,
Privy Councillor Buszler. Many members of the
society were present, and they were highly satisfied •
with the very favourable results of last year's conetion, the large amount gained having enabled them
to distribute various presents to forty-six poor °rill-ul°a!
on the occasion of the Christmas festivities. Each
child received a pair of good leather boots, woollen
stockings, a shirt, an I a dress, besides ginger-bread.
apples, and nuts. The children were highly gratified,
and expressed their thanks by singing Christmas;
songs. Considering the enormous number of smokers
in England, a great deal might be done if the matter
were taken up here in earnest."
ALARM IN A THEA.TRE.—A large audience was
gathered in the Alexandra Theatre, Liverpool, on
Monday night, to witness the performance of gr.
Saker'e pantomime, The Babes in the Wood. While
the entertainment was in progress, a strip of plaster,
a few inches in breadth, and about six feet long,
fell from the under side of the gallery into the uPPer
boxes and lower parts of the house. A good deal of
dust arose from the falling mass, and the audience
not understanding the cause of it were in a state of
great alarm. At this juncture, and while the people
were very nervous, some senseless persons raised 5
Cry of " Fire." Of course, this incident intensified
the dread, and for a time there was imminent danger
of a grave panic. However, the means of egress were
abundant, and the managers in a few minutes sue'
ceeded in convincing the audience that there was
fire, and no cause for alarm. A dangerous rush evae
thus averted, no harm was sustained by the
People or
the house, and when calm was restored the perforue.
ance proceeded to the end without further interruP'
tion.
HOME-BREWED BEER FOR JAPAN.—About four Year°
ago M. Aoki, the Japanese Envoy at Berlin, requested.
in the name of his Government, a firm of brewers
that city to take a young Japanese named Nakanav,e
as an apprentice, in order that he might be thoroughl
instructed in the art of making lager-beer. They CO
sented, and when the young lael was considered sun'
ciently skilled in brewing they passed him on t°
another house, where he was taught everything C°l3'
nected with the preparation of malt. The whole
apprenticeship lasted about three years. Meantine°
the Japanese Government had built and fitted up 51'
Tokio a laree brewery, according to the plans sent out
from Germany, and on Nakanava's return home he
was placed in charge of it. The intention of the
Government is that it shall serve as a school for the
practical training of young Japanese in the mysteriee
of brewing. It remains to be seen whether the intro,:
duction of this new branch of industrial learning wiLlee
tend to promote the moral development of 4'
Japanese.
"ONE TOUCH OF NATURE— ".—Lodging 110118°
Slavey :—" Missus see she 'opes you'll mend theni
holes in the attic roof to-day, Mr. Potties; she 'ice
bin so incommoded by the rain a-coming in
Mr. P. :—" Tell yer missus I've seen the holes are"
I've seen yer attic lodger, and it's him as 'axe bin iltlh--
commoded through the rain a-drippin' into his naou
I of a night and a-spillin' the good sperrete he takes of a
I day. As a workin' than I feels for him, an' so I'll do
the. jawrb at onst."—Fun.
I MEDICAL CHARGES.—The Times publishes the foil
lowing letter :
feel
eir,—l have a bone to pick with my doctor, but I
some delicacy in speaking to him direct, because Ile
very good fellow and occupies much the same social posio_
as myself. Will you let me ask him, then, through
why he never condescends to give me any items or datee,';
his bill, but fleeces me unler the simple and compreheueir
heading, "Medical attendance?" If my tailor were °
send in his account merely "To clothes," I should have..%
scruple in having it out with him, should the alig'n
exceed what I had anticipated ; but for the reasons above,.
cannot so treat my d-,ctor, and lie has, therefore,
a tint?.
advantage over me. If he would give me some defai'''
YoUll
were they only dates, he would greatly soothe --
truly, • AN OvERIVItuTJOBT PATIENT.
EL DoeADo.—Yes, it is A wonderful country—S,l
Francisco—says a local authority. Country parole
and dry as a brickbat in summer—no sod, no gran
and hot ! Cook an egg out of doors anywhere. Coo
in San Francisco? Yes • too cool half the time for
comfort—and fog every 'day, morning and night—kl
n
thick, damp, nasty and clammy. Scorpions in,tuf
country—sting with their tails—feels like a yard °t
red-hot knitting-needle run through you—they gee,
into your boots at night, and start you out of the
double quick in the morning. Yes, delightit
country; so much that is new to see, feel, end thl.rB
about all the time—especially feel. There's
yellow-jacket, a cross between the wasp and hunev'f,
bee—settles on the table while you're eating-101;e,
holes in a beef-steak, and ca. ries off half an ounce a"
load, and stings like fury if interrupted. Stocky;
mining stocks? Yes. People are frequently bite,
by them awfully—half the cases are fatal.
variety of the works of nature in California ! lee e,
quitoes? Yes. Going by river to Stockton or Seer;
mento clouds on clouds of them. Verdure intea
country? Yrs. Poison-oak—touch it and your hel'eo
swells to the size of a peck measure, with piiiiP
and the itch. Great country.
'tee
AT THE PANTOMIME.—" Ma, dear" said 3
girl at a matinee the other day, "what' does this neo:
at the foot of my programme—p.T.o.?"—" That, la
darling," replied Mamma, "means, Please tw;
over."-e" Whv," returned little Miss, after a PON
during which the harlequin threw a double sornersa_ig
into a grocer's window—" I thought only chi'
could do that! "—Judy.
A LA RUSSE.—There is no country which has so
old maids as Russia. The great ridicule attached b_y_
the title when not borne by a nun has possibly sciee7
thing to do with the unwillingness of ladies to sporVir,
When a girl has reached the age of twenty-five wi„
out finding a mate, she generally sets out on what see
calls a pilgrimage if poor—on a round of travele
_J!
rich; and in eitlaer case she turns up some years let;
as a widow. Widows are a S plentiful as old spiwte f
are scarce, and widows whose husbands were nelet;
seen are more numerous than the rest. Etiquee'o.
forbids any allusion to a lady's dead husband
presence, and this is sometimes convenient.
et
THE WINTER IN CANADA.—A correspondent
London, Ontario, writes under date December V....-
" The weather here has lately been remarkably werin.et
and damp, and thrashing has consequently been
at a stand. still. lam writing now at a open win°
with my coat off— a state of things rather contrail
the accepted ideas of a Canadian winter."
110
, AN ARTISTIC CABINET. —ln the Honenzo tio
Museum of Berlin there is exhibited a very artis
cabinet of the time of Frederick William 11. (sis'ii
Mayfair). It is upwards of three metres high en"
metres wide. The inlaid work of mythological figiirbeue
landscapes, and emblems is exceedingly beautiful ;
its chief value lies in the very ingenious and astolePht
ing internal arrangements. By means of a ehgd
pressure, secret drawers and receptacles are opener:,
the cabinet having about a hundred such, whicliAo
all adorned in artistic manner with gold bronze. .1-e•e,
attempt to open some of these secret receptaclee;,
strangers causes two musical boxes to play, which the
only be silenced by one thoroughly conversant with 0.
mechanism. The cabinet is perfectly new in aPPere
11
ance, notwithstanding the fact that it has nee'
attained centennial age.
eeeer
PRACTICAL JOKES AT THE UNIvERSITIES.—E[°
-1,--00
or practical joking, used to be very much practise
Jo
our public Universities (says the Court Jo urnal). ay.
Oxford, hoaxing the superior authorities was alfiter,
enjoyed with a peculiar zest. Hoaxing the proco,
and sending him after an imaginary tandem, ore
thought one of the best, but could not be done °lter
than once in two or three years. Screwing the tuo,,e
into his own room, and petsueding him something eo
the matter with the lock, was always considered
eo
e;e
piece of wit, especially as some lesson or ceeeo
was shirked thereby. A great reputation hee.eiete
gained by abstracting from the crown of the
Chancellor's cap the Latin speech which " 0
snugly concealed within it, and substituting4,-
comic song or an oration of a Very different,e'oe
racter. Another joke was to drive the stue'ekee
of* a neighbouring college half wild every few week):
Their bell would persist in tolling at irregfos
intervals, without any apparent reason. Th,e,e, hie
was that one of the students was firing at it evi"eillet
air-gun, and as only a small angle of his window c1;00f
be seen, it wa,s not discenaedf or sometime. Anotherrthe
was to send false invitations to meet the heads.% er
college, which, if successful, were not long in helnrecel
taliated to by a false advertisement in the ;ty
papers' which made the rooms of the other P 3 &c.
focus of all the most disreputable dog-stealereeo the
about Oxford. Another was to get admission hi' leo
rooms of the head tutor during his absence, ancl.,ePstecl
a parcel of tobacco on the hearth with the -doff
poker across it; the windows were then very o
hig tutor the atmosphere was unbearable and
shut and and secured, and on the return of the anti-eecay
Peri
stifling.
„Ale POI
TIT FOR TAT.—Coquette (to whom Elieees:
has just unsuccessfully proposed).-011, I d r.. 1;
this is not the first time you have been r
Eligible Party (nettled).—At all events it obvioelf
the first time you have had a chance of refuei"
Funny Folks.
tifsl
AN EDUCATIONAL DIFFICULTY. For 50..-- es O.
past eleven young deaf Siamese, sons of per3oo9t.Ao,
the highest rank in Siam, have been residing atoceen-
the well-known "deaf town" in the circle of tee
berg, in Lower Silesia. They have been placed lieo.a
private estabhshment of the evangelical paspr,tto
have already made considerable progress
studies, showing ingenuity and diligence in over
certain linguistic difficulties which were notale for
into account when arrangements were being r,ll-weeely
settling them at LAhn. It seems there is no , hove
Siamese dictionary or grammar; there are bole! hoe
ever, for English and Siamese. Hence the 1.,(1s
had to use English as a stepping-stone for. ;Mateo
German. Independently of the reputation of 'Aypee.
_eg.
a piece of training for deaf youths, there were
tions to sending these Siamese lads to resideorTativeitir
land. The climate is not considered healthy f e the
of Siam; it is too moist; it was also feared th_ae
physical development would be interferedeee'is
whereas the dry, bracing atmosphere of the,
mountains was likely to be beneficial. Theer !reed
naent at seeing the first snow is described
amusing.