The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-08-23 00:00:00

SATURDAY, AUGUST 2S, 1879

EXPERIMENTS WITH CARRIER
PIGEONS.

Some interesting trials with carrier pigeons have
lately been made in Germany. Since the conclusion
of the war of 1870-71, in which pigeons were frequently employed to carry messages when it was im-
possible to convey information by any other means,
the breeding of these birds has been encouraged in
every way by the military authorities of Ger-
many, and large pigeon-houses have been es-
tablished in all the principal fortresses of
the empire. The experiments lately made were
undertaken in order to ascertain whether the
pigeons, after being confined for some time (as they
often might be if used to carry messages in time of
war) at a point distant from their proper home, would
still return to it when liberated. Accordingly 149 birds
were carried from Aix-la-Chapelle to Metz, and impri-
soned in the latter fortress. After a mouth's confine-
ment they were liberated; and by the morning of the
day following their release 134 had returneti to their cots
in Aix-la-Chapelle, the bird which arrived first having
flown hum Metz to Aix-la-Chapelle, a distance of 112
miles, in four hours and thirty-eight minutes.
Another trial, the result of which shows how
quickly carrier pigeons can travel under favour-
able circumstances, was made a short time ago
also in Germany. A number of birds belonging to
a society in Berlin were taken to Cologne, and set
free there at half-past seven in the morning.
The weather was clear and fine, the wind was fair for
the return voyage, and the first of the birds liberated
in Cologne reached Berlin at one o'clock in the after-
noon, having consequently flown 300 miles in 53/4
hours, On the following day, however, when though
the wind still blew from the same quarter the
weather was in other respects less favourable, the
first of a second flight of birds desnatched from
Cologne took nearly twelve hours to reach Berlin.—
Pall Mall Gazette.

SEASONABLE QUERT.—CAn strawberries and orealn
be called the " lap' of luxury ? "—Judy.
WINE PRODUCING COUNTRIES. According to the
report of the Britist, Vice-Consul Hellmers, of Cologne,
France produces on an average 60 million hectolitres
of wine annually (each hectolitre being equal to 22
gallons); Italy produces 30 million hectolitres; Aus-
tria-Hungary about 23 million; Spain about 20 mil'
lion; and Germany 4,500,000 hectolitres. The annual
production of sparkling wines in Germany does not
exceed three to four million bottles, of which from one
million to a million and a half are consumed in the
country, while from two to two millions and a half are
exported. The importation of French champagne into
Germany amouns to about two millions and a half
bottles a year. Senhor Moraes Soares estimates the
annual wine produce of Portugal at four million hecto-
litres, of which three millions are consumed in the
country, half-a-million exported, and the remainder
distilled or turned into vinegar.
THE MOST TIRESOME OF ALL AGES.—The Lugg-age
—Fun.
THE LAKE OF CONSTANCE.—A Correspondent of The
Times says :—" A painstaking German has made the
following ingenious calculation, which shows at onca
the extent of the Suabian Sea, and the insignificance,
as far as bulk is concerned, of the whole human race
at present alive on our planet. A German mile (about
five English miles) contains 25,886 ft., a square German
mile contains, therefore, 6684 million square feet. The
superficial area of the Lake of Constance. being 81
German square miles, contains, therefore, 5,632 million
square feet. There are living upon the surface of our
globe in round numbers about 1.430 million human
beings. Let every man have four square feet allotted
to him as standing room, and if the lake were frozen
over, the whole human family might be assembled on
its surface. Should the weight prove too great and
collective humanity be submerged, it would only raise
the level of the lake about six inches. This seems
incredible, but it is easily canable of verification or
disproval.'

&BERING !—First Artist (on a Pedestrian Tour);
"Can you tell which is the beat Inn in Baconhurst ?'
—Rustic (bewildered). " Dunno." Second Artist
(tired). "But we can get beds there, I suppose?
Where do travellers generally go ?"—Rustic. "Uo to
the Union moostly I "—Punch.
THE NATIONAL DEBT.—A return has been issued of
the National Debt for each year from 1857-8 to 1878 9
inclusive. The total National Debt, funded (in-
cluding stock held on account of unclaimed dividends),
unfunded, and (capital value of) terminable annuities
was, on April 1, 1879, 2778,078,840. The total debt
created in 1878.9 was £6,288,123; the net estimated
amount of taxation imposed in 1878.9 was £4,339,850;
debt paid off, £803,126,
AMERICAN RAILWATS.—The railway interest cf the
United States is showing a most satisfactory partici-
pation in the general increase of trade and manufac-
turee, and there is a great development of the railway'
system in the extreme western states and territories,
and particularly in those where mining is actively'
carried on. Within the last eight years upwards of
29,000 miles of railway have been constructed, the
majority of this amount being, of course, previous to
the great crisis of 1873. The total mileage of railways
up to the end of last year was 81,841, and this will be
considerably increased by the commencement of the
year 1880, when the new Southern Pacific Railway
across the Continent will be almost completed.
MARKING THEM OFF FOR FATIGUE DUTY.—A mili-
tary chaplain complained to the aojutaut of a cavalry
regiment that no men attended his second service on
a Sunday, although he had spoken to them repeatedly
(says the Court Journal). The adjutant promised to seB
what he could de, so sending for the sergeant-major,
he inquired how it was that no men attended, and
requested him to try and do something. The follow-
ing Sunday about twenty men attended the service,
much to the caaplain's satisfaction, and he mentioned
it to the adjutant the next day. The adjutant was
surprised though pleased, anti he sent tor the ser-
geant-major and asked him how it was the men had
turned so good all of a sudden? Replied the sergeant-
major, "Well, sir, I told off four men per troop to
attend, and I marked them off for fatigue duty."
FOR THE GREAT UNAC I ED.—A goed title for an
original play—`• The New Boot," It would be sure to
draw !—Judi,

UNARMED IRISH VOLUNTEERS.—In consequence of
the rejection of Mr. O'Clery's Irish Volunteers Bill by
the House of Lords, a movement is being set on foot
on the advice of Mr. P. J. Smyth, M.P., and with
the concurrence and assistance of other Irish mem-
bers of Parliament, for the enrolment throughout
Ireland of unarmed Volunteers. It is intended to
form them into duly organized corps as a means of
demonstrating the number of citizens willing and
anxious to claim the right of bearing arms.
SCENT-YIELDING PLANTS.—It may not be generally
known that the extent of land devoted to the cultiva-
tion of scent-yielding plants is far greater than many
suppose it to he. For example, of roses in Bulgaria,
there are 5,000 acres; lavender and peppermints, at
Mitcham, 2-J0 acres; violets, at Nice and Mentone,
300 acres; orrisroot, Italy, 400 acres; geraniums,
Valentia, 250 acres; lemon-grace, Ceylon, 600 acres;
citronella and Patchorily, Singapore, 270 acres; jas-
mine, acacia, and tuberose, Cannes, 400 acres; orange
and lemon, Scilly and Bergamo, 1,500 acres. In
Timour and Malaya farms exist of which no accurate
account can be given.
DECREASE OF FEVER IN GREAT BRITAIN.—Accord•
ing to the Registrar-General's last quarterly report
the rate of mortality from fever (including typhus.
enteric, or typhoid, and simple continued fever) con-
tinnes to show a marked decline, and did not exceed
0.90 por 1,000, where/us in itho second or spring
quarters of the nine years 1870-78 it had averaged
017. The death•rate from fever last quarter was no
than 54 per cent. below that which prevailed in the
corresponding perioa of 1870, since which it has
steadily declined.—Sanitary Record.


JUST THE SAME, OR BETTER.—English Tourist.
Have you got Angus-turn here ?—Scotch Innkeeper.
No ; but Angus McDonald comes in about this time
for his bit dram.—Judy.
A LONG RIDE.—The Daily News publishes the fol
lowing :—Sir,—Will you allow me space in your
columns to allude to a ride performed by a British
officer in the days of the old Napoleonic wars, bear-
ing, in some respects a similarity to the more recent
gallop of Mr. Archibald Forbes, your distinguished
stescial correspondent? The late Sir T. Noal Harris,
K.O.H. then Captain Harris, when attached to the
Staff of Lord Londonderry, rode night and day with
ch spatches from Paris to Ostend, running the gauntlet,
en route, of the French pickets, and thus succeeded in
bringing to England the first intelligence of the occu-
pation of Paris by the Allied Foroes in March, 1814.
For this service he received from the Government a.
pecuniary recompense.—l am, Sir, your obedient ser-
vant, C. HARRlS.—August 18.
LOFTY TELEGRAPH STATIONS.—A telegraph station
has been lately established at the Ryffel Hotel, under
the Ryffelhom, in the Valais. It is about 8,500 feet
above the level of the sea, and is the highest telegraph
station in Europe. A Swiss paper has claimed for it
the preeminence of being the highest in the world.
But this is not the case, for the station on Pike's Peak,
in the Rocky Mountains, in the State of Colorado, is
14,000 feet above the sea level, and therefore some-
thing higher than that at the Rffyel Hotel.
WITH THE CHILL OFT.”—Proprietress of Bathin
Machines :—" Going to bathe this morning, sir?'
Visitor :—" No; I've got such a cold in my head."
P. of B. M. :—Never mind that, sir. Why,
we've 'ad gents a-bathe with such colds in their
'eds they've reg'lar froozed the water, an' still it
done 'em good."—Fun.
ON HORSES LYING DOWN.—The following is from
an American journal, the Southern Planter :—I do not
know why a horse should not be as much rested and
benefitted by lying down as any other four-footed
beast. A horse often sleeps standing up, and so does
an ox. I know that it was claimed for a gray horse
once, as a special merit, that he would not lie down
unless his stall was well littered • consequently
all expense of bedding might be saved, as no doubt
it had been. Horses are peculiar about lying down.
It .seems as if they knew their helplessness
when in this position, and were bound never to
expose themselves to danger. Although many may be
lying down, every horse in a stable is on his feet at
the slightest noise. It is, besides, almost universally
regarded and universally true, as a sign of ill-health,
if a horse is found lying down in the day time. I have
recently come to the oondlusion, however, that if
herses are perfectly easy in their minds, they will
take as much comfort in laying down as cattle do,
and I can point to one stable, not my own, where
spirited, well fed horses may be seen lying down at
almost any hour of the day or night, and it comes from
the perfect confidence thay have in their groom,"
SHOT IN GAME.—This being the season when game
killed by shooting, and probably containing the pellets,
is eaten, it may be worth while to caution those who
consume the flesh of birds with avidity that the pro-
portion of instances in which shot is found is probably
small in comparison with the number of cases in which
the pellets are unwittingly swallowed. It is a matter
of speculation how much mischief a shot may do when
passed into the intestines, but the fact that anomalous
diseases have been set up by the presence of very
small bodies which have become entangled in folds of
the mucous membrane renders it desirable to put the
public on their guard. Occasionally the most dis-
astrous results have followed such small causes. We
have in recollection the case of a physician who died,
after prolonged and unexplained sufferings, from the
impaction of a very small nail which had found its
way into a pudding, and was inadvertently swallowed.
A little care will avoid this contingency, but remem-
bering that the bird had been shot, some pains ought
certainly to be taken to avoid swallowing the missile.
—Lancet.
THE PLEASURES OF AN ARCIDEOLOGIBT.—There is
no pleasanter break in an English working year than f -
the archmological excursioes which usher in the autumn
holiday (remarks The Times, in a leader). They are
the perfection of a holiday for the very reason that the '
holidaymakers set about their pastime with the '
gravest of faces. For the week the meeting lasts the
business of life lies, not in the present, but in the past.
The preservation of a tottering gargoyle is of more
interest than the prospects of the Conservative Govern- F i
ment. The merits and demerits of Sir Bartle Frere,
and King Cetywayo, and M. Jules Ferry are of in- '
finitely less importance than the momentous question ,
whether St. Barbara on the Filby rood-screen be waving
~
a palm-branch or a feather. Other inquirers hold their
congresses in this the one bright quarter of an '
English year. Science holds a festival at the British
Association. Theologians fight a battle, which is
always drawn, at the Church Congress. Reformers
stir up the muddy waters at their Social Congress. To
none of these meetings has an archaeological associa-
tion any resemblance. An archasologist may very
possibly in some other capacity cherish controversial
antipathies. As an archasologist he does not oars - •
whether the relics he is investigating be relics of .
Wycliffe or of Cardinal Beaufort. In his own pulpit ili
he may preach fierce Evangelicalism. That does not
hinder him from deploring the unroofing of an abbey
church or the defacement of a figured screen. Archaeo-
logists have their feues. But they contend like tor-
pedoes under water. A keen taun . may he levelled at
:1 rival theorist on the date of a ‘ ilbge pump-handle.
But the sarcasm flies invisible t, 'ware asological in-
tellects ; and the defence is as delicately veiled as the
offence. . . . As archreologists theyl tok tenderly on
blunders of humanity provided they may be many °ens
traffla old, II • e

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