The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-08-26 00:00:00

SELECTED ANECDOTES.

A B&D PUPIL—" Can you see anything in my !ye
—it feels very sore?" asked a lazy, good-for nothing
student of Oliver Wendell Holmes.—" I can see a very
bad pupil," was the reply of the professor, who never
likes to be funny when he has his professional garments
on.

A DISTINCTION.—" No, Amy, you're wrong; I
never was refused in all my life."— Oh, Tom, how
can you say so; why there was Louie Simpson."—" I
tell you again you're wrong. It's true I was 'declined
with thanks' once; but I never was refused."
FAMILY PlECE.—Charles James Fox, canvassing for
an election, asked the vote of an honest mechanic, who
was bitterly opposed to his interests. The fellow re-
fused it, but presented him with a halter.—" Pray,
r. keep it," said the wit, "for I presume it must be a
f imay piece."

SECOND LovE —"Da you believe in second love,
Mi.ither McQuader ? " "Do I believe in second love?
Humph 1 if a man buys a pound of sugar, isn't it
s west ?—and when it has gone, don't he want another
onund ?—and isn't that sweet, too? Troth, Murphy,
I believe in second love."
MANY OF THAT OrnnoN.—A poetaster, reading
some of his verses to a friend, who sneered at them,
said, "There are only fools who do not like my
verses." Whereupon the other replied, in the language
of Solomon, "Stultorum infinitus est numerus' (the
number of fools is infinite).
AN APOLOGY.—When Lieutenant O'Brien called
Sky-rocket Jack," was blown up at Spithead in the
Edgar, he was saved on the carriage of a gun; and
when brought to the admiral all black and wet, he
said "I hope, sir, you will excuse my appearance in
tt,is dishabille, as I came away in such a hurry."

EVERYTHING TO Hat.—A man who had been quaffing
porter till he was completely drunk, hiccuped out that
porter was both meat and drink. Son after, going
home, he tumbled into a ditch; on which a companion,
who was leading him, observed, that it was not
only moat and drink to him, but washing and lodging,
ton.

_
THE FIRST DISCOVERER.—A gentleman praising the
nes-8012,d cuarms of a very plain woman, his friend
asked him, "Why don't you lay claim to such an
.ccomplished beauty?"—" What right have I to her ?"
a,ked the former.—" Every right by the laws of
nations," replied the other, "you being the first dis•
covertr."

SIMPLICITY ITnELF.—At the marriage of the Comte
d'Artots, the city of Paris agreed to distribute mar-
riage portions. A smart little girl of sixteen, having
presented herself to inscribe her name on the list, was
asked who was her liver? "Oh I" said she with great
" I have no lover; I thought the city was
to furnish everything." This answer created much
mirth, and a husband was soon found for her.

GOOD LECTURE.—" If I could come across a good
temperance lecture," said a wine-bibber to his expostu-
lating clergyman, "I would give it due consideration;
but the trouble is, all you temperance lecturers are so
dull."—" There comes as good a lecture as could pos-
sibly be made," responded the clergyman, pointing to a
drunkard who WAI3 staggering along the street.

CHEAP TO KEEP.—A gentleman writing from Africa,
and describing a lot of ostriches which he had on hand,
says: "They are cheap birds to keep. They live on
gun-flints and rusty nails. A fresh spike is a delicious
morsel, while an old hinge, with a little oil on it, is
fought for with as much eagerness as a pair of alder-
men would exhibit over a bowl of green turtle."
"His HONOUR "IN NEVEDA.—The judge stood at
the door of his court-room with his hands in his
pockets and his felt hat drawn down over his eyes.
He was chewing tobacco gloomily. In answer to a sym-
pathetic inquiry in regard to the cause of his evident de-
pression, his nonour replied, "This is the tarnationest
town I ever see. I ain't taken in a cent since day
afore yesterday. I wish I could get a job of some kind
or 'nother."

How TO GET RID or FRIENDS —A good-natured
fellow, who was nearly eaten out of house and home
by the constant visits of his friends, was one day com-
plaining bitterly of his numerous visitors. "Shure,
and I'll tell ye bow to get rid of 'em," said an Irishman.
—" Pray how ?"—Lind money to the poor ones, and
borrow money of the rich ones, and nather sort will
ever trouble ye ag'in."

A FAST COLOUR.—A party of young ladies having
been caught in a shower, took refuge in a shop, the
proprietor of which was a woman-hating old bachelor,
who drank so deeply that his countenance wore a
perennial peach-brandy bloom. This lonely old cynic
at once began to rally the dripping ladies on their
forlorn appearance, and among other things remarked
that the rain had washed the co'our from their cheeks.
"There is no danger that water will ever wash the
colour from your face 1" was the stinging retort of one
of the ladies.

THE BT THING TO Do.—The wife of a gentleman
in a fashionable part of London was in the habit of
assembling, in the course of every season, an immense
party of people together, much to her husband's dis-
content. On one of these occasions he was leaning
against the chimney-piece, very forlorn and silent,
when one of the guests, who had not been introduced
to him, came up, and said, "Well, I think, sir, as
neither of us seems to know anybody here, the best
thing we can do is to go home."
THE NORTH POLE.—George Colman, the younver,
wi.,3 dining at Lord Mulgrave's, when, jast before
joining the ladies, he was loitering about the picture
of Lord lolulgrave's brother blocked up in the ice, in
the Arctic expedition in which Nelson sailed as a
middy. Lord Mulgrave, holding the lamp, said,
"What is that my brother has got hold of? Is it a
boat hook ?" "No, my lord," said Colman, in his
half-throttled, witty voice, "It's the North Pole,"

. -
WIGGINS LOSING CONFIDENCE.—Wiggins, junior,
head his father say at breakfast that "imitation is the
sincerest flattery." So, when he was on his way to
school, he imitated a squinting policeman he met by
the way. The insulted guardian of the peace arree,si
little Wiggins, but let him off with a sound shakit,A,
and the exaction of a promise that he would not rnock
him any more. Wiggy has lost a considerable amount
of confidence in the wisdom of age.
A HOME QUESTION.-" Pa, are you in favour of the
Bible in public schools?" asked a West S'de youngster
at the breakfast table the other morning (says a
Philadelphia paper). "Why, of course, I am,"
responded the father, pleased that such an important
subject should engage the attention of his youthful
offspring. "What makes you :!sk such a question, my
son? ' 'Oh, nothing," rejoined young hopeful;
"only I thought 'nay be you wasn't, as you never
have one at home." The urchin dodged, but he wasn't
quick enough.
AN EDITORIAL ERUTUS.—An American editor in
one of the Western States indulges in the following
talk to his subscribers and patrons. The famous speech
of Brutus on the death of Cesar, as rendered by Shake-
speare, is made to do service in this amusing travesty—
" Hear U 8 for our debts, and get ready, that you may
pay; trust us, we have need, as you have long been
trusted; acknowledge your indebtedness, and dive into
your pockets that you may promptly fork over. If
there be any among you—one single patron—that don't
owe us something, then to him we say, step aside, con-
sider yourself a gentleman. If the nst wish to know
why we dun them, this is our answer: not that we
care about ourselves, but ourcreditors do. Would you
rather that we went to gaol and you go free, than you
pay your debts and keep us moving? As we agreed,
we have worked for you; as we contracted, we have
furnished the paper to you; but as you don't pay we
dun you. Here are agi eemeats for job work, contracts
for subscription, promises for long credit, and duns for
&fared payment. Who js thereon., ignorsint Oat he,
don't take a paper? If any, he need not speak, for we
don't mean him. Who is there so green that he don't
advertise? If any, let him slide; he ain't the chap
either. Who is there so mean that he don't pay the
printers? If any, let him speak, for he's the man
we're after."

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.

In the last financial year the Excise duty on
refreshments houses realized £7,656 31. lid.
The stamp duty on legacies and successions in the
last financial year was as much as £3,548,966 153. Bid.

A fine pnrpoi3e has been added to the collection at
the Aquarium, Brighton.

Mr. Moody's Gospel addresses have been tranelated
for the benefit of ths inhaottutts of Madagascar.
_

Toe Prince of Wales has consented tl lay the
foundation stone of the new Glasgow Post office in October.
The Excise duty on medicine vendors last year pro-
duced £3,797 15s.
The Times learns by letters from Fiji that the
Governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, has found it necessary to exe-
cute 30 natives in Val Levuku, on account of recent dis-
turbaoces.
Five hundred miners employed by the Bridgewater
trustees at lamworth, near Balton, struck on Tuesday against
a reduction of 15 per cent. Eight hundred men are now
out

News has reached England of the safe arrival at
Auckland, New Zealand, of the emigrant ship Bobington,
which a short time ago had to put into Algoa Bay on account
of sickness on board.

Thousands of toads are found in New Jersey,
where great drought has prevailed, dried luta mummies, and
partially covered in holes dug by themselves in the search
for moisture.

Vassar, Mich., has a living curiosity in the shape of
a baby, two weeks old, which weighs but one pound and a
half. , Its mother's wedding ring will pass easily over the
child'is hand.
A monument of red granite, thirty fee high, has
been erected to the memory of the late Lord Colonsay, on an
eminenee near Coloneay.

The higheet class of Yorkshire iron has been re-
duced in price 203. per ton. There is, however, no change in
the prices of common iron.

Dr. Jex-Blake, the head master of Rugby School,
has constructed a swimminc bath at a coat of £3,000, and
made a gift of it to the school.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges (as
"conscience Money ") the receipt of 18s. In stamps from
11.," for Income Tax

The Gobs says that the Russian land array can now
be brought up to 2,500,000 men, without counting the Opolt-
chenie or national militia.

ProbatA to the will of the late Mr. C. Bravo was
granted on Wednesday to Mrs. Bravo, the relict. The pro-
perty, all left to her, was sworn under £14,000.

M. Bertrand, the celebrated Paris fencing-master,
died suddenly on Sunday, August 20, having survived by only
a few months his most succelsful pupil, Robert, whose death
also occurred suddenly.

The Prime Minister has been gazetted a peer of the
United Kingdom by the titles of Viscount Hughenden and
Earl of Beacons fiald, in the county of Bucks.
The dispute at Messrs. J. Brown and Company's
Iron Works, at Swinton, near Sheffield, is practically at an
end, many of the men having consented to resume work at
the reduction proposed by the directors.

Verviers, on the Prnsso-Belgian frontier, has been
ravaged by a succession of fires during the last few days. A.
number of troops from the garrison of Liege bad to be sum-
moned to the aid of the local firemen and ibh%nitants.

Arrangements are being made in the United States
for further exportation for dead meat from that country to
England, and an attempt is to be made to carry carcases of
pork and mutton across the Atlantic in the same manner as
beef has been carried.

There was an increase in the declared value of beef
imported this year compared with the preceding like period
—of salted beef this year, £308,265, against £20,356, and of
fresh or slightly salted £141,335, as against £69,804 last
year. _ _ _

A society is being organised for the purpose of
stockibg uninhabited islands with pigs and rabbits, so that
shipwrecked sailors who happen to reach such spots ma) find
an abundance of food awaiting them.
The convicts at Chatham, or as many of them as can
be spared from the construction of the land defences, on
which they are new engaged, are to be employed in breaking
up the useless vessels of war now lying rotting at Chatham,
all of which have, after survey, been condemned as unfit for
retention in the Royal Navy.

The other evening at Crewe a tradesman left his
horse and dog-cart standing for a few moments, when the
hone backed down a flight of stone steps leading to the
railway platform. Two ladies were in the dogcart at the
time, and the vehicle was turned completely over on them,
inflicting serious injuries.

On Tuesday Miss Emily Guest, accompanied by Dr.
Castello and by Mr. Sumner, of St. Bartholomew's Hos-
pital. left for Belgrade to join the ambulance, at Schabats,
of the League in Aid of the Christians of Turkey. They have
taken with them a good supply of surgical instruments and
hospital stores.

The Times, commenting upon a paragraph taken
from a French journal which asserts that the p3pulatlon of
France is steaally declining, attributes the cause of the
decrease to the exhausting wars of the First Napoleon, the
miserly habits of the peasantry, and the law of inheritance,
the ultimate effect of which is to make marriages late and
eildren few.

A meeting was held at Keighley on Tuesday night
In connection with the vaccination question and the im-
prisonment of the guardians in York Castle. A resolution,
protesting strongly against the imprisonment of the seven
guardians, and calling upon the Horne Secretary, to procure
their release, was unanimously carried.

Mrs. Wilhelmioa Giles, widow of the late Quarter.
master Serjeant Ge,rge Giles, Royal Horse Artillery, died at
Dantec Villa, East Wickham, Kent, on the 16th inst. in the
82nd year of her age. She was at the siege of Dantzic when
a child, and was present with her husband at the battle of
Waterloo.
The deleterious influence of the moon upon the insane
is merely a popular superstition, unsustained by any satis-
factory evidence. Mr. When affirmed that "in the course
of a long medical practice he was never able to discover the
slightest trace of any connection between the phenomena of
disease end the phases of the moon."—English Mechanic.
A discovery of rich hinmatite ore has been made in the
Furness district by the proprietors of the Park slde Mines. The
vein communicates, in all probability, with the rich and ex-
tensive vein at Lindal Moor, which has been suc:essfully
worked fer BO or 90 years.
A young French Canadian is said to have accom-
plished the feat of walking on the'water. He his a pair of
very large, canoe shaped shoes, which bear him up and enable
him to keep his balance. He recently walked about a mile
on the Ottawa river.

"Jones, if there were burglars in my hoose, and I
knew it, by jingo, I'd—" "Well, Smith, what aooid you
do ?'' "I'd do whatever they required of me. I never had
my way in that Mouse yet, and it's too late to commence
now—yes, too late 1'

The British Medical Journal states that P u cide in
England is far more prevalent among the educated than the
ignorant classes Its frequency appears to be one of the
penalties resulting from the so•called civillzltion, leading to
intense competition
On the day of the prorogation an Act was passed to
enable the Treasury to hold and use the shares purchased in
the Suez Canal on behalf of Her Majesty "on trust for public
purposes," all money received on account of the same La be
cayried to the Consolidated Fund account. There is a pro-
vision that the accounts be laid before Parliament.

The Admiralty have directed that the armonr-
plated ship Alexandra is to be armed with two twentptive
ton guns and ten eightePn-ton guns, thus making her one of
the most formidable vessels in the navy. Several hundred
men are now engaged in completing her, and as she is in
a very firward state she will shortly be ready for sea.

Colonel Loyd Lindsay, accompanied by Mr. W.
MacCormac, surgeon of St. Thomas's ilospitil, and Dr.
Charles, left London on Monday for the seat of war in the
East, taking surgical and medical appliances for the wounded
Turks and Serviana. Colonel Lindsay proceeds as chief com-
missioner of the National Society for Aid to the Sick and
Wounded in War.

Blacircock shooting opened on Monday on the Scotch
moors under the most favourable circumstances, being all that
could be desired for traversing ire moors. The birds are
reported to be healthy and fairly numerous in most districts,
but owing to the cold stormy spring yourig birds are still
small in she, especially on the higher ranges of the Gram-
pians.
According to a newspaper published in 1806, they
used to have nice times seventy years ago. Upon the 14th of
October in that year a big African lion was put in Captain
Hendrickson's large field, and six bears and twelve bull dogs
were set udon him The admission to the scene was 41. for
grown persons and is. for children. The lion destroyed the
bears and the bull dogs.
In the course of a sermon preached at the Salford
Roman Catholic Cathedral on Sunday, Cardinal Manning
spoke strongly in favour of religious •education, and re-
marked that the men who should deprive the education of
England of Christianity would have to answer an account in
eternity which he dare not utter in words.
The Select Committee of the House of Commons,
appointed to inquire how tar it is practicable that soldiers,
tailors, and marines, who have meritoriously served their
country, should be employed in such civil departments of
the public service as they may be found Sited for, have not
made any recommendations. As it was not in their power to
conclude their investigation last session, they recommend
that the committee be reappointed next session.

The Gazette of India notifies that the assumption by
the Queen of the title "Ind!te Imperatrlx" will be pro-
claimed at Delhi on the let of January ntxt, before an Im-
perial assemblage of all the governors, lieutenant-governors,
beads of Government, princes, chiefs, and nobles If circum-
stances permit. 15.000 British and native troops will be
present The Viceroy will make his entry into Delhi on the
28'h of December. The week will be observed as a general
holiday.

The famous annual gatherirg of the dans and games
of the Braemar Royal Highland Society have been appointed
to be held this season at Mar Castle, as usual, ou Thursday
tne 31st August. The gathering is expected to be a great
success. The Earl of Fife's Highlanders are to be present in
full force, and, as previously stated, the Invercauld men are
expected to tutu out in much gceater numbers than for many
years past

- The- directors of the Great Western Railway have
issued orders that in future the train known as 'The Flying
Dutcumat "shall not be driven over what may be considered
the more dangerous parts of the line et a speed exceeding 40
miles an hour. In consequence of the evidence given at the
inquest in the Long Ashton accident, and from what came
under his own observation, Captain Tyler intends, it is said,
to walk over the whole of the Great Western line from
Bristol to Exeter.

Charavari (the French Punch) has a caricature in
which a furious-looking Bashi-Bev:ink is represented in the
act of cleaving a child in twain with an uplifted sword.
Another child Ilea fiat upon the ground just beneath. In the
distance a pole, or lance, is being driven through the breast
of some one else on the ground by another Bashi.Bas uk.
s
Europe is looking on quite calmly, and has a spectacle
pair of
In her right hand, which she holds behind her. Beneath are
the words dear madam, it is really time for you to
put on you glasses."
A fine parcel of well grown and c
a ready rale for
Messrs. W. H. and H. Le'alay, who found
arrived in London on Saturday morning (19°1b°)rYconnsergnhedoptoe
tYhe l's the trade -were
mends a fancy price—those Interested thepe
r first cwt.
pocket—which,Thiebeinte,d
eanxpxelocutesdtothkenamowowuttatretahlisisedpafrocrel
thisswould et fetch,
would a e it
t aboutw a
the average price of tho seasonforWetaoldLmanadlanSd hrs
usiex.
Choice East and Mid Kent are expected
h
rater.
Mr. Gladstone, in reply to one
e of his
right hisconstituents
who expressed anxiety to know we
dress them during the recess writti
Id the desire extensively entertained,
mmunicatio to
nmake en the subject at
t thatlem ahne ihn tuehn
nduoet dde to e a
fici ,
present. S o
•however, he would consult those without whose concurrence
he could not take any step, as the matter is, he says, far
Ire
being
a statedpurelythat
nai n o:
acloonseelii quence of her Majesty being
a good deal fatlgued after her journey from E inburial she
did sot pv her usual round of visits among her tenantty on
Saturday. Her M. 4 esty w.s not present at Crathie parish
church on Sunday, nor were any members of the Court.
Srrvice was conducted within the castle. The weather at
Balmoral has been intensely hot. According to presets; ar-
rangements, the Prince and Princess of Wales, wills the royal
children, will arrive at Abergeldie Castle on Monday next.
The death is announced at Bale, in his fifty-sixth
year, of M. Nattzer, the founder of the Temps. M Neffrzer,
who was a ktuodent at the Protestant faculty of Strasburg,
commenced his career as a journalist on the Preset, at that
time the property of M. Emile de Girardin. After being-a'
contributor to that journal for sixteen years he started the
Temps in 1861, but resigned the editorship a few years ago on
account of failing health, and has since lived in retirement
at 13Itle, only contributing occasionally to the paper, in
which, however, he retained a pecuniary interest. M.
Nefftzer's death is mentioned with regret by all the Paris
papers without distinctleu of political creed.

' Ls Petit Journal, of Paris, now returns its dranla-
tlon as 400,000 a day, "the largest circulation in the world.'
Eight mPlignant cases of small-pox broke out at
Blackburn n Saturday, and one of them terminated fatally.
A man with two wooden legs is said to be one of the
most Indefatlgable dancers at Saratoga.
The your g lady who called at a bookseller's shop for
Drake on Attachments was disappointed to find it a mere law
book.

Toe unprecedented heat of the past week has been
oartictilirly f.td to the labourers eng9ge.d in g-tting the
harvest, and several cases of annstroke have been reported.
The Scotsman states that the inventory of the
personal eff,cts of the late Mr. James Blird has been regis-
tered, and gives a personalty of £1,190,000.

In a garden at Alexandria, Scotland, this season, a
root of corn, to which 19 stems were attached, produced the
extraordinary number of 3,631 grains,

A Brooklyn inventor is experimenting with a new
motor, by means of which he proposes to propel street cars
at a c )st of not over 25 cents a day.

Mail coach picnics, given by ownersof four-in-hands,
are popular in Paris this season. A cosy retreat somewhere
near the city is selected, and a rural dejeaner is the feature
of the day.

It is said that La Spelterina, the adventurous
damsel who has been crossing Niagara on a tight rope, is
somewhat of a blue stocking, inasmuch as she speaks five
languages and reads Latin and Greek.

A Californian has succeeded, after several experi-
ments, in raising roses as black as ink, His plan was to in-
graft a slip of a dark rose into an oak tree, where it grew
Jurished, and blossomed, the dark sap of the oak effectually
colouring the rose black.

On Tuesday notices were circulated in the Metro-
politan and other poultry markets by the Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals announcing theft intention
of prosecuting all persons detected plucking the feathers of
live poultry.

The law relating to certain returns from convict -
prisons has been amended by the statute n and 40 Tic., cap.
42. Just issued. By the statute 5 Geo. IV, cap 84, on trans-
portation, the superintendents had annually to make returns
to the Secretary of State of the persons in charge. It is now
provided that there shall be sent to the Secretary of State
such returns respecting the prisoners in every place of
confinement to which the recited act applies, as such Becre- •
..#3
tary of State may from time to time direct."

A couple of fishes brought from Sherman, Colorado 4,
(says an American paper) have received the name ot walking
nehes. net, have four legs, which they use on land, and
double up when in the water

The Windsor magistrates have refused to grant -•
Letaces fur the refreshment rOom at the Great Western ter-
minus and for the newl3-erected bar at the Windsor terminus
of the Lcndcn and South-Western Railway.
There are reported to bs only four establishments
in Europe in which aluminium is the staple product. Of
these works three are in France and one in England. The 1.
averagn yearly production is 35 cwt., 20 cwt, of which are pro-
duced in France and 15 cwt. here. The average market
value of the metal is 60s per lb.Et
Here are the details of a suit of clothes advertised ,aask
in P.lris for three francs, from a morning Paris paper : ~•WE
Trousers 50 cents, paletot 90, shoes 75, cap 40, cravat. 15, •
chemise (exchanged) 30 With regard to the exchanged •
chemise, the purchaser steps behind a screen and exchanges
his linen for a cleaner article.

A sanguinary massacre has been perpetrated by an
insurgent chief in Abyssinia, who, after an engagement, in
which he defeated the Abyssinian general, put to death 1,500
men, women, and children belonging to the surrounding vil-
lages. Fifteen of the villages were burned. One of the
victims is a S 'edish milestone?), and another is an itnglish
subject.

The American Correspondent of The Times tele-
graphs :—The personntl of the United States Navy is being
reduced, under the operation of the law recently passed,
from 8,600 to 7,100 men. This is being accomplished by re-
placing large vessels at sea by smaller ones, so as to keep the
usual number of vetsels in commission.

The Maidstone Journal says that rain having fallen
in abundance, the ground in that district has had a good
soaking. The hot weather had had the tendency of ripening
the flowers too rapidly, and in many places picking was on
the point of commencing, but after these copious showers
the hops will keep longer, and the gathering in of the crop
will be postponed a short time. • ,142
Accounts of storms (says Galignani) arrive from all '
directions At Nogent-sur-Seine the lightning fell upon
some farm-buildings and the cowhoase and sheepfold were
burned. Three cows and thirty sheep perished. At Romilly
eight telegraph posts were broken down Between Saint-
Just and Sauvages (RhBne) the electric fluid killed a horse.
In the Aube the hailstones have caused a great amount of
damage. In some places the injury to the vine crop is esti-
mated at one-third. The journals of Alsace report several
storms which have occurred at various points within two or . •
three days.
The Calcutta Correspondent of The Times telegraphs 3.1111
that Lord Lytton had a narrow escape the other day. While
riding to Mushobra his horse shied and fell over a preeipice.
The Viceroyrolled about 100 feet down, but escaped unhurt.
The statement that he intends to resign early next year is zsof
authoritatively contradicted. lip
At a fair in the neighbourhood of Lyons a few days
ago, loud cries were heard issuing from the booth of Mdile. 4111
Laurnet, a serpent charmer. On some people hastening to „He
the spot, they found that the alarm arose from Vie brother rer.
of the proprietress, a young man of twenty-three, having
been seised by an enormous boa-constrictor. The reptile„had
got his right hand in his jaws, and was enveloping him I its
folds in a way to crush him. The sister, seeing what was ari
going on, seized a bucket of cold water, and threw it over the
engaged arm. As the liquid entered the snake's throat, it
relinquished its victim, who was then freed from its folds,
and the serpent was afterwards easily returned to its box.
-

In London, on Monday, the -dead body of a well-
dressed woman was discovered near Charing-cross pier, float-
ing in the River Thames Pierman Kavanah recdvered the
deceased, and as she had only been in the water a short time
he conveyed her to the Royal Humane Society's receiving-
house at the Waterloo pier, but Dr. Mills pronounced life ex-
tinct. The following is a description given by the Thames
Police :—Found, in the Thames, the body of a woman; age,
83 ; length Mt. Sin. ; complexion and hair dark; dress black
silk, velvet Jacket trimmed with black silk lace, blue serge
ditto, dark grey linsey skirt trimmed with braid, white ribbed
petticoat, white underclothing,and sidespring boots.