The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-08-26 00:00:00

EPITOME OF NEWS,

ERITISII AND FOUIGN.

The Famine s Burdett (matts has given CA to the
fund iv hieh is being raised for preserving Epping Forest.
It is stated that the men in what is railed the
stiched Ow trade have I •blained a general advance of tkl.
andatt per pair.

Th• t indig says that coal beas are bottot,l
to exist in the Entire district the Madras presidet.t y.
Madras Ims yielded natal hitherto. ton lit'. Oldham advises
a Clolic SearCll.

The witty man of the 'Middle Temple students said
at a 1,1111011 eboplwnse the other week, I won't pay for
steaks as tough as these; us law can compel me to : they're
ant legal tender."

•
The Swiss Ti me* bean, from Samaden, in the Grisoto,
that the construction of the English church there ñsproceed-
ind rapiglly. This daunt is placed in a lovely situation, imi
it is hoped that its beauty will soon he enhanced loy the sur-
otiniliiiu grounds being tastefully laid at and pleasant
:as formed iii the vicinity.

There o ere 117 public Act.. 4 paa,ed in the late Se,
local and 11 private statutes. The numbers in the
preceding your were—public 112, local 177, and private 4.
The late Seasion commenced on the 9th of February, and
on the 21st of August.
_

A shocking accident occnnasl on Monday evening at
...ad le, el in th- Rhondda %alley. near Pontypridd. An
OW mull named Pm.- John and his son, who acre working
near a fault, were about leaving off work to rrtorn home
whorl] a huge of stone fell, and killed kith father and
Si.!! MI the spot.

A Spanish Radical newspaper recommends a reduc-
tion of at least iine-half is the endownnitaits the univer-
sities, which it ihscribes s nut series of parasite plants, and
as annually vomiting !cub ass of literary men, win.. having no
other occupation. apply themselves to the vain arts of poli-
ties aud the devouring of the national budget.

The ;Wife, in si waking of the income-tax as existing
in Berlin, gives the following statistics The city counts
!KAM) inhabitants. and the iminher •if those whose income
exceeds 1,000 tinders (3,500 fr. is just 15,72.2. tin the other
hand, the figure of those who have not 300 !haters (1,050)fr )
to live upon is 17%),798.

Advice,: from llalifax state that the natal State
Government proposes that if the colonies will agree not to
enforce the Treaty of belt they will refund all the duties
that may be imposed on colonial fish before the meeting of
Congress, when the duties will be repealed, isa provided for
by the Treaty of Washington.
In the course of Monday afternoon, a than residing
In Birkenhead, hired a small boat, and he and his family,
numbering live persons, entered it for a row on the Dee.
They had scarcely left the landing-place when the bmit
capsized, and hour old of the live occupants of the b.. 51 ere
drowned, the fifth being rescued in a state of great ex-
haustion.

lly the Aet to enable her Majesty to proviae for the
support and maintenance of his Royal flighness
Arthur. the annuity of t 15.0001 k to take enact from the Ist
May last. and to be payable I luarterly. The tirst payment
will be due 011 the loth October. when the proportionate
taut of the annuity will be paid. The annuity is chargeable
on the Consolidated Fund.

At a meeting of the Home Rule Association, in
Dublin, on Tuesdaynight, Mr. Maguire, M.P., said he I wlieved
English members Were daily coining mond, and would declare
for home rule. Ireland could nothing loy physical force,
awl be recommended no blustering of nay kind. hut at the
nest general elections the object they had at heart must
'triumph.

The New York papers just received state that the
Mormon community has Ileen scandalized by the filing id a
suit by a wife against her husband bd adultery. This in the
first instance in which the peculiar institution if Utah has
tel to legal proceedings before an American cart by an
aggrieved wife, and great interest it felt in the result of the
case. It is believed that if the plaintiff is successful others
Will folbm her example.

A few nights aeo, at a late hour; the speaking tube
was partially awakened by a halloo through the tube, when
the following dialoirne took llO: " Well, what do you
want?' s lir. ---- Hee here F"' Yes, what is pus
wain !', " Ate !p•f, Hr. .Yea."' Or. saltine'
ken—ye, " what do you want ','"• Why, bow lag have you
lived het e •• si AA e twenty years : why •• Why I why
slant you too, Atetwer up the tube.

•
A number of the men id the lloyal Marines Light
Infantry have been employed in reaping operations on some
of the farms in the neighbourhood of Chatham, application
having been made to the authorities for their services ill
eolls4,lnellee of the difficulty experienced In obtaining WIDOW
to secure the crops. While employed on this work the
Royal Marilol4 were to receive the wages usually given to
harvest labourers in addition to their ordinary pay.
At a mass meeting if i•ngineers on strike, held on
Town Nloor, Newcastle, on Sunday, 5,000 present, addresses
were chiefly directed against a resolution passed by ens.
plovers in various industries appealing for 4:21,000, where-
with to bring over foreign workmen ti enable the engineer-
ing trade to stand out against the demand for nine hours.
The men pledge themselves to use their utmost resources to
inform every operative engineer of the probable conflict be-
tween capital and Isle air.

At an itonwrt held in London last week, Dr. Lan-
gester remarked that within the previous three weeks 300
persons hail died in London alone from dianinea, the
majority being children. He believed this grent loss id in-
fant life arose from feeding with sour or turned milk, which
brought in. the complaint. Ile teem 1111 l ended during the hot
weather, the use of Swiss condensed milk. w hich, being the
very essence of milk, would keep any length oi tnne perfectly
sweet.

Many Englishmen have lately vbeiterl Strasburg, on
their way it the Gentian watering places, for the purpose of
viewing the city and its ruins. They fl)/110 to,, late if they
wish to form an adequate idea of the devastation wrought by
the siege. for truly hwises have been rebuilt, others are in
the mune of re-ereetb on, and as here this is not the case, the
rubbish has at least been removed. Many vacant spots are
still to be tern, but few heaps of Atins.—Drufselde Atlge
arcing Zeitung.

The French deputation to Ireland had an enthusi-
astic reception on its arrival at cork, on Tuesday, The
Mayor RIO I orporatlon tact fiteni at Illarlley station, and
presented them with an address. They were then eoil.
dueled into the city by a procession. consisting of the mem-
bers of the eorponition, and by representative italics If the
trades, with their bawls, banners, atril sashes. The 11011.41
arid sidewalks were covered with sightseers. over .20,n00
pe took part ill the demonstration.
-

it is prolia-hle ((he Gerona,' Correspowb nt says) that
In the next few years many foreign officers will visit Germany
for the purpose of studying our military erste.. As we
mentioned some time ago, the Japanese Government took an
early opportunity of examining the ininciples on which or
army is organised ; and representatives of that State visited
the German camp before Paris. We nut bear that .lapan
intends to establish regular Mations with Germany for the
purpose of obtaining information in military matters, and it
Is considered probable that several other Asiatic States will
follow her example.

The Invalide fluent annininces that attelupta have
lwen made in Russia to heat the loco ~,,, lives with Naptlia.
and that these attempts have I teen perfectly successful. The
engineer Poviecki went Pio kilitmetr“ in a steamboat heated
in this manlier. The engine worked very regularly, though
the weather was stormy. The quantity of naphtha nezet-
sary Is per vent, less than that if coal, Mill the engineer
estimates that this difference may, by perfecting the mast.
pulati'tu, be brought up to hi per cent. On the other band,
the pond (40 lb.) of Naptha cost one copeck (4 centimes) ill
the Uaticimus.

A Dutch correspondent writes —The last nutil
brought very batl news front Banda, the isle of spires. The
prospect of a tine mop has totally disappeare.l. lhol weather
with-h lasted nix weeks, has damaged (Inc nutmeg trees en-
ormously. The whole crop fell in all unripe state off the
trees. The damage implants to more than half a million of
goilder4. The trees are Sn injured that they w-ill want more
than a year to recover, so that there is but a very small chance
that the inext crop will be satisfactory.

The Ca'oak Eeglishonan bays:— The vicious prac-
tice of betrothing a girl to more than out person at the
same time for the sake if unlawful gain is commented upon
by the Nolvi-o tee. An installer recently happened lii K hen-
pore (MOoitall) where tWO marriage PrOeeSSiollB came at the
same tiniest a Kjiattfl,en house to marry tale and the same
girl. The fart was that the father id the girl had received
Immhy trolll perBollB, sild lled promised her hand to
both. Fortnnately the police interfered. atel the equaled
quarrel between the rival suitors was ilVOided. I Ole of them
sneeeeded in l•blatilling the girl's hand by pay ing to the other
out if his own pocket an additional 1551 entail to that tlie
girl's father bad received from him. The unsuccessful suitor
died in iliSflppOilltMellt.

- -
An interesting question (says the China Moil) has
been argued in the Supreme Court, Shanghai :—Are the
Miles° as other foreigners, with respect to the lurisdiction
of the Supreme Court, or have they special pritqleges under
clnuse XVI. of the Tientsin treaty? The ease none Old an
act" which is pending against the Norms, for collision with
a junk :nail took the form of am application that the plain-
tiffs be required to deposit security forests, it being argued
on the other side that this was it ontriction not permissilde
under the clause quoted. The acting chief judge decided
that they are foreigners, in the same sense as members of
other nationalities, and must deposit the seeurity. So a
chinaman is declared to be a foreigner rut his native soil `

A curious fact in Zoology has lately come to light.
It appears that the ants in l'anama are not merely mining
engineers. They bad tubular bridges A corresponding
member if the Glasgow- Natural History Society, Who has
lately been in that country, describes the curious covered
ways constructed by these ingenious insects. In tracing one
of the,e covered ways lo• found itied Ol•er a pretty us ic
fracture in the rocks, and WM carried across in the air in
the form od is tubular bridge of half an inch in diameter. It
was the scene af busy traffic. There was nearly a foot of
misupmated tube from one edge of the OW to the other.
The deaths in London last week were 1.717 and the
births 1,9..12. The deaths were 173 in execss the average.
Only eighty persons stied smallims, which is the smalle,t
mortality from that disease recorded since the t4mt
week of the year. The heat, however, has caused a great
increase in the deaths from diarrhea. The number was
which exceeds the average of the last ten years 1.5222. Die
deaths referred to cholera and eholerai, .liarrhea, which in
the three previous weeks had been 17, Is, mud lb. rose bed
week to 4,5, of whirls 3:1 were infants not exceeding one Ica,
The mean temperature 11 the air luring the wrek was 1i7.1
deg., or s deg. MM.,' the mean temperature of the corre-
sponding week in fifty years.

- •
Professor M. S. Davis, of Chicago, h made numerous
and repeated experiments to show the effects of alcohol on the
human ardent. Among those stated are its dindflilillill2 the
atomic changes in the tissues of the leafy and the sensibility
of the nervous system, and also di 11l Wishing the tempera-
ture, the strength and the power of endurance. In. Davis
designates alcoholic drinks as arnesthetic and sedative—
amesthetic tll2 nervous system. and sedative to the pro-
perties of the tissues. As such they are capable of being
used to fill a limited number of indications In the treatment
of diseases, and yet there are other well.known agents in the
materia medics that will answer the mine purpose equally
well or even better. So true does he deem this assertion that
for twenty years he has rod prescribed for internal use the
amount of one pint if alcoholic skinks annually, including
both hospital and private practice.

The Rh/Wit/Mid Lawr states that a gentleman
near Nashville iISS for the last three years been engaged in
raising the poppy for the manufacture if opium. Owing to
the lateness of the planting, the inferior nature oi" the soil,
the crop of 1870 failed, and to obviate this difticuily reed
was obtained from Calcutta and Smyrna at a cost in gold of
4 dole., Soc. an ounce. The crop of this year, it is announced,
will yield from fifty to seventy-live pounds of opium per enc.
Another gentleman in Tennessee. Wan extensively engaged in
the cultivation of the peppy, reports a similar success. The
best opium poppy seeda were obtained from Smyrna, planted
in good Intel and cultivated like cotton. When the capsules
of the poppy are ready to scanty, an incision is made on one
side, and in twenty-four hours the Juice, which has the ap-
pearance and consistency of thick cream, Is scraped off The
opposite sides of the capsules are then scarilicd, and the ope-
ration is repeated. The juice of the poppy, a few hours after
It Is gathered, turns a dark purple colour, which grows
gradually darker until the peculiar opium colour is reached.

The in6itsh Gevernmentt it is stated, have ititlmat,l
that they regard the Commuting refugees as political often-
dere, and decline to give them up under the extradition lass
- - - - -

•
•
It is said that a large number itif Frenchmen both
trent Paris and the provinces are cowing to England with the
object of paying visits to the Emperor Napoleon M., the
Empress Engfnie, and the Prince Imperial
The Paris papers announce the death at Lyons of the
musical puhlisher, Remise/li. NI. Benaschfs fortun, wee
made when }Alden David sold him the Mn. of the "
&Iles in 1,44 for 15 fran,,,

A new sect, called Soul Sleeprm, b: said to be making
vonsiderahle progr,s a south-western Virginia. Their er,ed
is that of .the annilitiatiou of tke and the sleep of the
righteous uhtil Ito remit rection.

The Emperor of Itruil expresies himself as highly
gratitted with his isit to England. snit says he has possessed
himself of mm.llllB-fill information which he intends make
use of oil his return home.

The ilond, states that 4ince the French Revolution
—that is, eighty ye-imago—there have been MO laws starl-
ing the pre,. one every As months on an average, and tho
writ, does not appear t, !lave ectne to an cud yet
-•-• _ . _

At Charleit.o.arn, New Hampshire, tt. short time
since, Dr. Howe and %Ole out 3.1 n.. Tilton.. of Boston, while
taking a plcasme drive. were ran Into by a train on the
Vermont Central ItAitroAd and instantly killed. Miie Wad.
eolit was in the vehS•le with them, lett escaped with severe
Manses.

I.i, reported to hold fit,illent confemwe,
with the r f Star, and it is statist that vet only Is it
intended to revise tin n aiming rani. in the Pridich army, but
that a project in entertained of creating twenty tive new regi-
ments, and several regiments of cavalry and artillery.

A mains' Look place iin board the American barque
Scat,. on her passage train Boston to Rio de Janeiro,
13 of the crew taking part in it. One of them was killed,
and on the arrival. 4' the vessel at Rio the remaining tael.•
were brought on shore and lodged in prison.
. . . . .

A Scotch minister recently t. 4.1 his neighbour that
he spoke two hours alni a half the solidity previous •• Why,
minister, were you nut tired to death r asked the neighbour.
At, oar,- said he, ••I was as fresh as a rose but it would
lime done your heart good to see how tired the congregation

A man nho had been affect.' V. a vagrant, protested
that he had a regolar trade or calling to Wit, smoking glania
for total eclipses it the sun ; and, as these occur only a now
times lit a century, he was lit to Manic fur tieing out of
employment a good deal.

`• Steadu," aaid a popular lecturer !latently, "anal
hilates time and spaee. via, old todtioucti rhapsodioal re-
mark was rather put out of joint ly thia trite remark of •
gentleman present,autidst nruelt laughter: " hes, and tha
annihilator of multitudes of pashengers, too
The Postmaster-I eneral announeete In MX la-it annual
report that he has tnuminted medical °theeru to to ~,ty At,
additional post others ill the provinees, a hose duties sill
thL Poi,iit :Mending all sick employ6s in the post Aka
whose incomes do not exceed £l5OB year.
A return prepared in the United Statea' Cename
°Mee shows 1m,n07 mate Citizens id New N',.rk t'ity over 21
years of age. Indy 71,342 of them are American-horn. 55.447
were horn in and 41,7:,2 ii. Germany, these two
numbers being together Itire than half the tom].

A singular ease of imposture and idolatry is reported
in India. A Lund seholar in l'arnatie has set himself up an a
god. Ile promised to his w omhippers the resurrection of
their Matives and departisl friends. Thousands of people
throng daily to his shrine.
"Your whiskers remind me very much of old Cameral
l'—," salt a smart young lady the other day to a young gent
who was cultivating a very unpromising and sandy env of
hair on his fare. 'Why ao eagerly asked the ambitious
younswiter, with a gratified •tone and hair. •' Because they
are rorrgh and reds," WAS the reply.

• - -.-
A Parisian lash- called on her milliner the other Alit),
to "take up" the character of a servant. The respectable
appearance of the latter was beyond qUeetioning. hut is
vile honest t" asked the lady. ''l am not so certain Mend
that," replied the milliner ''l have sent her to y 011 with my
bill a dozen times, and elle has never yet given um the
money:,

Prince Arthur presentei new 1,14111nt on Saturday
afternoon t4k the 103td ttOyai Bombay at Parkhurst,
ihcie tilt reunnent is now quartered The reren 1111 l y was
performed iu the presence if the Prince and trineess ,of
iiermatty, and was witnessed by an hamense number of
spectators Tlw '•consecration " if the colours was per-
formed by the Itish4 op 41( Winchester.

It ia said that ahont fifty Japanese are now pur-
suing their studies in London. Some are At .4lying
timed law, and nth,* methane or equally gliflicult branches
of science. The extraordinary aptitude Mr the acquisiti tttt
of knowledge which many 44 these poling men display
renders the task of teaching them a pleasure to the in,
tenors, while their personal eondutt emnmands general
respeet.

It is stated that during the Put week the blight haa
spread to such an extent in Irehool that it is feared tho
potato crop will lie almost ruined. In some fields ill
Tipperary fully nine-tenths have rotted already, and the re-
mainder is despaired of. In fact, there has not been such a
heavy visitat" shave the great hinditc twenty-As..e years ago.
In the neighbourhood of the pi dab t Inuit the :dr N most dis-
agreeable from the oppresive odour CANSO by the Ilight.
- - - - - - - -

• - -
Under the head of "Lueenw, the Siri4ot
says :—" on Wednesday last a young lady staying at kW-
Kii.sterli,having somewhat rashly gone in search of Alpino
11 deo n yr. dyke loan} 1111.11,d feet the', ea to
to her weight causing a pier, of rock on which she was stand.
lug to hevoine ha.sened. tier friend, becoming alarmed at
lose Viol i ahbeare, proceeded to search for her, and
were horrified by finding her dead body shockingly moll •
fated at the foot of the precipice."
_

On Saturday evening a- child, about four yearn of
age, fell oil the Victoria Embankment Wl° the river Tunnies,
midway between Waterloo and Eungerconl bridges. A
police constable hplipeneil to be passing at the time, and
intsinsi hastais Mined oft las emit. trousers, and boots, he
pluinas I Into the water after the shad, wholu he brought
safeb to lam!. .1114,11i1d WaS as nein Is drad as junsilute Nut
on being taken to the Viiariliti-eross revised, and in
the course of illl hour seemed little the nia-se.

To give So an, ilea of the magnitude of the opera-
tions in which the Genoa' Post Office is concerned the Post-
master-General observes in his repot just issued that in
London alone during the past year alsad i0,:,n;.,000 Jarvis lot
string were used for tying uP the letters tor the country,
and Jibout 17,na7 lb. od sealing was fm• securing the hags
in whirls the letters were contained, the hags in Use tieing
about 700,000 in number. In England and wales the
quantity of ink supplied for impressing postmarks on letters
Lid for °Miter:sting postage stumps was about fonr
tons, and the number of forms employed, exclusive of any-
thing in the nature of a Issok, amonntorto 20,692,000.

The New York papers report that a lady residing in
bong Island city, committed suicide beoause she had become
jealous of her husband. The husband states that a little
before midnight she arose from the bed, where she had heron
lying with her clothes on, poured the contents of the kero-
sene can over herself, completely saturating her clothes with
the oil, and deliberately set tire to her clothes, taking her
baby in her arms. The husband instantly grasped the child
and wrapped it in the bedclothes, and threw a blanket over
his wife, smothering the names. tin the arrival Id the phy-
ahe was f I Standilla in the " bile if the room,
entirely denuded of clothing, awl burned in the most slim-k-
-ing manner. She died after great metering.

It is stated that a company is tieing formed for the
purpose of lighting the cities and towns of the United
Kingdom with the 'implication of oxygen gas, as a consider-
able portion of New tort has been for sortie time, and as
Paris, Vienna, and Brussels are about to lie. When common
highly .ttrliuretted hydrogen is properly burnt with oxygen,
it gives a white light no pure that it ;nay lie seen for twenty
or thirty miles : and by stip/dying OM; snstainer I.f (.4.111111114-
0m direct to the name, the present vitiation of the nir will
be entirely done away with. The value and importance of
oxygen Is indeed, generally know., but hitherto the cost
has been prohibitory. The Jr Stators of the Company are in
possession of a discovery by which oxygen can be obtained at
one-third the cost of oolinary coal gas, all a muplete slot
very desirable revolution is on the verge of being made baths
Illumination of our streets and houses.