The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-09-21 00:00:00

`,4"infeltigotte.

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

STRUGGLE WITH A BEAR.—A few days ago a wood-
cutter and his son were working on Mont Saint-
Eynard, near Grenoble (Isere), when they were sud-
denly attacked by an enormous bear. The animal
sprang upon the younger man, who is of great strength,
and they both fell, rolling over and struggling despe-
rately. The ground at that spot slopes rapidly down-
wards towards a precipice 300 or 400 metres deep. As
they were rolling swiftly down the declivity, they
came with a great shock against the stump of a tree
and were separated by a blow. The young man was
able to clutch hold of the roots and keep his position
until his father came to his assistance. But the bear
went rolling over and over until at last it plunged
from the top of the cliff into a stream below, being, of
course, killed by the fall. Its body was found the
next day and conveyed to the village, where the flesh
was sold at 40 centimes the kilogramme.
A BABY SEA SERPENT.—From Van Diemen's Land
comes news of the capture of a queer fish. It is four-
teen feet long, fifteen inches deep from the neck to the
belly, tapering two inches to the tail, and eight inches
in diameter in the thickest place. There are no scales,
but the skin is like polished silver, with eighteen dark
lines and rows of spots running from the head to
the tail each side. There is a mane on the neck
twenty inches long, and continues from the head to the
tail ; small head, no teeth, protrusive mouth, capable
of being extended four inches like a sucker ' • eyes flat
about the size of half-a-crown' and like silver, with
black pupils. There are two feelers under the chin,
thirty-two inches long. The fish was alive when
captured.
STORM WARNING.—The following cable message has
been received at the London office of the New York
Herald from the Herald Weather Bureau. New York:
—" A storm centre is crossing the Atlantic, and will
probably reach the British and French coasts about
the 18th, preceded and attended by rains. Staa ng,
south-east to north-west winds and gales will prevail."
THE COST OF A STRIKE.—The Bristol Correspon-
dent of the Pall Mall Gazette writes :—Five weeks ago
1,700 men, women, and children engaged at the Great
Western Cotton Works, Bristol, refusing a reduotion
of 5 per cent., came out on strike. They had no
society, and the rate of wages having been none too
high for some time past, they had no resources. -De-
putations kept on sounding the manager, but the only
answer was, "We have an abundant stock in our
Manchester warehouses, and if you iefuse to take 5 per
cent. reduction the mill will be shut for three months."
To-day (Monday) the 1,700 men, women, and children
return to work at the proposes! reduction. The
average weekly wages paid at the mill is £BOO. Five
times £BOO is £4,000. This is what the Bristol cotton
operatives have thrown away within the last five
weeks.

THE BUOYANCY OF THE HUMAN FRAME.-Mr. Joseph
Finnamore, 32, Enaorville-avenue, Dublin, writes :
" I beg to state, from practical experience, that any
person, man or woman, can float without any citfi-
culty. If a man finds himself suddenly immersed, not
knowing how to swim, he will escape drowning pro-
vided he has the presence of mind to lie at full length
flat on his back, clasp his hands across his chest or
behind his back, or they may be placed on his hip,
his face turned towards the zenith, his head well bark
in the water, his feet together and under water, except
his toes, and keep perpetually looking at the sky right
over him. In this position he may float for hours at
ease and in perfect safety; but stir or thrust up one of
his hands, and down he goes. The buoyancy of the
human frame (derived almost entirely from the chest)
is far greater than is generally supposed."

TORPEDOES IN PORTSMOUTH HARBOUR. Whilst
some watermen were fishing in the Portsmouth Har-
bour, they hooked and brought to the surface some
torpedoes, the countermines of which were sunk in
close proximity to the floating bridge which plies
across the harbour between Portsmouth and Gosport.
The Government authorities were communicated with,
and a thorough search of the spot was made, the result
bieng that several torpedoes and other explosive com-
pounds were brought up. They are supposed to
have fallen out of the Bloodhound torpedo-ship,
which was sunk by coming foul of the floating-bridge
chains recently when going out to take part in some
torpedo experiments.

A VICTIM TO SciENcE.—A sad accident occurred
lately az the Gymnasium at Prague. Professor Fischer
was found poisoned in the physical laboratory. He was
only 25 years of age, but a person of the greatest
promise, by reason of his great abilities and industry
and his devotion to chemistry, All the circumstances
connected with him exclude the suspicion of suicide.
All that is known of the catastrophe is that, being in
the laboratory, he sent a servant to the store-keeper
for some sal-ammoniac and some cyanide of potassium.
He mixed them and tasted the mixture, saying to the
servant, "Science has advanced so far as even to be
able to render harmless so dangerous an agent as
cyanide of potassium." But he had scarcely tasted the
mixture when he was seized with violent pains. He
at once told the servant to fetch a physician, but
before he came Dr. Fischer was beyond human aid.
He was known to entertain the persuasion that cyanide
of potassium could be rendered harmless, and the pro-
blem of how to accomplish this was a frequent object
of his meditations. A memorandum on this theme
was found among his papers. Doubtless he fell a
victim to a rash experiment.
FEMININE LOGlC.—Business-like wife "I'm sure
you charge too much for your pictures, my love,
beautiful as they are. If you were to ask a quarter
the price, you would sell twice as many !" —Punch.
SAVING LIFE AT SEA. —The recent calamity in the
Thames, resulting in a lamentable loss of life, has in-
duced many persons to consider how such a loss could
in future be prevented. The question is how to find
immediate and handy support for a large number of
people suddenly immersed in the water. We (The
Times) have received models of two inventions for this
purpose. One is from Mr. J. W. Sutton. He main-
tains that if the seats of pleasure boats were made of
light air-tight vessels, miniature pontoons in fact, sup-
ported on fixed trestles, so as to be easily detached
and thrown into the water in case of emergency, this
object would be attained. The seats would have ropes
or chains fixed to them for people to catch hold of.
The other model is from Mr. V'. W. Applegath, 8,
Dalston-lane, and is called a life-buoy seat. It consists
of an air-tight zinc cylinder enclosed in a three-levged
stool, and is capable of supporting two, or even three,
persons in the water. It appears to be an improve-
ment on the ordinary life-buoy, inasmuch as it would
be always useful as a seat and would be immediately
at hand should any accident occur.
CONVERTS TO MORMONISM.—The steamer Wyoming,
of the Guion Line, sailed for New York on Saturday
from Liverpool, having on board no fewer than six
hundred Mormon converts, who are about to take up
their residence in Utah. They were accompanied by
seventeen elders returning to Salt Lake City, and were
under the charge of a Mormon agent, who has been in
England for two years engaged in proselytising mis-
sions. The emigrants were collected from several
countries of Europe, in addition to the United King-
dom. Two hundred and sixty-five belonged to Sweden,
Norway, Denmark, and adjacent countries, and sixty
were from Switzerland and Germany. The efforts of
the Mormon agent in Ireland were unsuccessful, for
not a single emigrant came from the island, but from
Scotland there were 40, from Wales 50, and from Eng-
land about 200. Information respecting the ages and
sexes of the emigrants was not forthcoming.

DOMESTIC ECONOMY.—It has been suggested that
the way to reduce the butcher's bill lies in managing
to make both ends meet; but for too many poor
Curates, and working-men almost equally poor, that
meeting is incompatible with any meat at all, and
therefore with any butcher's bill whatever.— Punch.
SERICULTURE IN NEW SOUTH WALES.—A meeting
of ladies was held at Sydney on the 17th July to form
an association for promoting the growth of silkworms
and the cultivation of the silk industry, which, it was
considered, could be much better practised by women
than bw men, and even children could engage in it.
Lady Robinson presided, and the meeting was ad-
dressed by Lady Stephen, Mrs. Bladen Neill, Miss
Osborne, and other ladies. It was determined to
establish a branch of the Ladies' Sericultural Society
of Victoria, there being in that colony a statute pro-
tecting the property of married women vested in such a
society. It was hoped that arrangements would be
made with the New South Wales Government, that a
number of children now in orphan asylums may be
placed in a mulberry nursery or in two or three cottages,
under the general superintendence of a committee of
ladies, to be trained in the silk industry, and that
youngemulberry trees may be distributed among farms
throughout the colony. Subscriptions were at once ob-
tained, and a hone was expressed that ladies in Eng-
land will subscribe. It was thought that the amount
might afterwards be returned to them in silk produced
upon a silk farm.
TELEPHONES FOR MINES.— The invention of Mr.
George Stephenson, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, has for its
object improvements in electric telephones or apparatus
for transmitting sounds, and has reference to telephones
wherein a horse-shoe magnet is used in conjunction
with a disc or plate capable of being vibrated, and
hereinafter called the vibrating plate. According to
this invention instead of arranging the magnets with
its two poles on one side of the said disc or plate, he
places the disc or plate between the poles of the
magnet. Between the one pole of the magnet and the
corresponding surface of the vibrating disc or plate is
a piece of soft iron which is surrounded by the coil; at
the opposite side of the vibrating disc or plate is
another piece of soil iron in the form of a tube or ring,
like a lining to the neck of the mouth-piece. The poles
of the magnet and the two pieces of soft iron are
adjustable, so that the vibrating Platte may be brought
Into equilibrium.—lifining journal.

DIFFERENT METHODS OF WEARING THE HAT.—The
following are toe different interpretations by a New
York "hatterist," to be given to the different methods
of wearing the hat adopted by the leading men of New
York :—To wear the hat on the right eyebrow—Please
step to one side—l'm bad. To wear the hat on the
left eyebrow—Are you there. I am; all. To wear
the hat on the bridge of the nose—We are watched—
by the police. To wear the hat on the right ear—You
will find my photograph on sale with all the principal
newsdealers. To wear the hat on the left ear—l love
you. To carry the hat in the hand—Financial Gondi-
don is bad—yet I hope. To place a hat on the back of
the head—l am a lunatic or a philosopher. To wear
a bad hat—A sign of disrespect to your hatter, in par.
ticular, and the universe at large.

GRUMBLING GUBBINS.—OId Woman (showing visitor
over show-place) : "Yes, Miss! Gubbins, he done all
the carviu' in this 'ouse. Grumblin' Gubbins .they
called 'im, Miss. Which grumble well he might,
a-settin' a-carpenterin' in these 'ere draughts all day,
pore feller !"—Fun.
IMPORTATION OF LIVE FISH.—An experiment of
considerable interest in pisciculture is intended to be
tried on one of the estates of the Marquis of Exeter—
the naturalisation of the American black bass. A
large number of this fish has been brought over from
New York in the steamer Spain, of the National Line,
and it is expected that they will take readily to their
new home. They were placed, on the passage, in an
improvised tank, the water of which was kept con-
stantly fresh by the injection of air at intervals of ten
minutes. The passengers and crew had an oppor-
tunity of witnessing an interesting exhibition of in-
stinct on the part of the piscine emigrants. A large
catfish having been caught was placed in the tank,
whereupon the bass immediately combined their forces
and commenced an attack on the intruder. They at
first charged at his head, but, finding themselves be-
coming worsted, changed their tactics and took him in
flank, and soon succeeded in vanquishing him, com-
pleting the victory by devouring him at leisure. It is
stated that the bass is considered by some people as
having the finest flavour of all the freshwater fish of
America.
A MINISTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH.—The want of
such a Minister is universally recognised. It has been
the dream of sanitary reformers, and we hope it may
become a practical realisation. Public preventive
medicine requires a head, the interests of society de-
mand a reconstruction of the present governmental
arrangements for the regulation of sanitary officArs,
and we shall not have an efficient sanitary machinery
until the whole system is placed upon a more solid and
comprehensive basis. The multiplication of medical
officers of health is a mistake. Every little town and
village can now appoint a separate and independent
medical officer of health, whose views of the duties
appertaining to the office may be controlled or biased
by petty elective bodies. This system is fatal to effi-
ciency. There is a tendency at the present time to
bresk up large districts or combined rural and urban
sanitary boards. High-class medical officers of health
will not brook dictation, nor can they be bribed to
overlook sanitary deficiencies. England must ulti-
mately be mapped out, and large districts placed
under the supervision of highly-qualified medical
experts in hygiene, on a somewhat similar principle to
that of local government inspectors. Such appoint-
ments would be independent of local influence. As
we expect an imperial scheme to regulate our water
supply, so we may reasonably hope for an Imperial
system of sanitary inspection.—Medical Press,A and
Circular.

PITCHING IT STRONG.—When may you look for pitch
darkness 2—When the night is (s)tar-ry.—Fun.
WEEKLY REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE. —Bell's
Weekly Messenger says :—" The weather during the
past week has been very favourable for the completion
of harvest work, and considerable progress has been
made in the more northern counties of England and in
Scotland. The crops, however, are not yielding so
satisfactory a result as had been anticipated, not only
on account of quantity, but also quality. The trade
exhibits much depression, as millers will only purchase
supplies adequate to their requirements, and are only
willing to buy on reduced terms. Since last week, in
fact, prices have relapsed 2s. per qr. in all positions,
and at the close of the week the market presented a
very weak appearance. On the Continent the heavy
arrivals of American produce have had a depressing
effect upon the trade for wheat, and although farmers
are offering only moderate supplies, the value of most
qualities has had a drooping tendency. Millers operate
with great caution, and chiefly to supply actual wants."

.

SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION OF HIVES.—A remark-
able instance of spontaneous combustion is afforded
by a correspondent of a scientific contemporary, in
which a house in Caracas narrowly escaped being set
on fire through the sudden outburst of flame from a
large wasps' nest in a closet under the roof. Although
the weather was intensely hot, the position of the
nest, under a roof composed of tiles and thick layers
of earth, was such as to preclude the possibility of the
fire having originated through solar heat. Suddenly*
thick smoke was observed to issue from the
closet; and, had not immediate steps been taken
to arrest ,the spread of the fire, a serious conflagra-
tion might have resulted from the combustible
nature of the wax-cells of the nest Similar occur-
rences are described as being very frequently ob-
served in Veneziula, The temperature of bees' nests
or hives is known to be very Wei-, frequently reaching
38deg. Centigride or 100 deg. Filarenheit, being con-
siderably more than the normal temperature of the
human body. The variety of honey-collecting insect
known as melipone, whose nest resembles that of the
wasp, is common in Central America and the northern
parts of South America, and it is probable that their
nests have frequently been taken for the nest of the
wasp. The phenomenon is probably caused by some
chemical change in the constituents of the nest under
the influence of the high temperature, and it is possible
that the same danger would await the nest of the or-
dinary hive bee under favourable circumstances. The
point is worth further investigation in temperate as
well as torrid climates; and bee-keepers, both at home
and in the colonies, may draw a practical lesson from
the facts related in connexion with the regulation of
the temperature of their hives.— Colonies and India.
THE KINGFISHER IN LONDON.—" A Serpentine
Bather" writes to the Standard:—" Some of your
readers may be interested to hear that that compara-
tively rare and solitary bird the kingfisher is located
in the very heart of London. On swimming quietly
towards the island in the Serpentine this morning,
I was surprised to see a fine specimen of the bird fly
out of the bank, and perch on a bush overhanging the
water within three yards of me. I watched it for
fully four minuten.

AN AWKWARD PREDICAMENT.—There is an old
story of a man having once, to avenge a grudge he
owed his neighbour, fixed him to the wall of the room
he occupied by driving in a nail into the partition
which separated the foes (says the Evening Standard).
A fact analogous to this has just occurred in Prague,
where the house walls, one would think, must be of
unusual thinness, since in the present case the indi-
vidual who drove in the nail, and he into whom it waS
driven, agreed that the nail was of no immoderate
length : therefore, given an ordinary thickness of wall,
could not have entered the person of a naxt room
neighbour. But it did, however, under the following
simple circumstances :—The occupant of the one
chamber, in order to hang some bookshelves, called in
a carpenter, who proceeded to do the work. In the
room adjoining was stretched on some chairs
against the wall an individual in a sound sleep,
which had overtaken him upon his return from a
friend's dinner-table, where he had indulged somewhat
freely in his entertainer's wine. When the carpenter
was on the point of terminating his job, be and his
employer were startled by screams of agony proceeding
from the other side of the wall; to these were speedilY
added the shrill tones of a female voice, the owner of
which presented herself at her fellow-lodger's door in A
state of indescribable excitement. On repairing with
her to her apartment the mystery was explained. The
nail had not only securely fixed up those book-shelves,
but had equally attached the sleeping man on the -
other side to the wall. The awakening was not
pleasant; the flesh wound was rather serious, and the
upshot is an action for damages on the horizon. But
we fancy no tribunal could well condemn the carpenter
or the gentleman who engaged his services, since it iø
clearly not a punishable offence to drive ordinary sized
nails into one's walL
AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.—The follow-
ing are the average prices of British corn for the week
ending Fept. 14, as received hewn the inspectors and
officers of Excise: Wheat, 455.; barley, 418. 11d. ;
oats, 245. 4d., per imperial qr. Correspcnding week
last year :—Wheat, 59&; barley, 40s. id.; oats,
275. 2d.

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BLACKBERRIES.—If the present abundant crop of
acorns offers food only for pigs, at least humanity me"'
rejoice over a truly marvellous crop of the wild black-
berry. Journeyings hither and thither, through country
lane and fields, reveal the blackberry in all its rich
abundance, bushels upon bushels in the parishes; tons
Upon tons in the counties how many throughout the
country no one can tell—but it will be safe to Bay that
for every ton that will become human food, several
will be utterly lost. As long as the blackberry can be
thus had in abundance, for the mere getting, probable
little stimulus will be given to the cultivation of aril
of the finer kinds, but it is at least something in its
favour, that as an indigenous fruit, in a climate in
which other fruits are uncertain, we can usually rell -
upon an abundant crop. Unfortunately the bramble
in its wild state is ever associated with negligence, tio;
tidiness, and a gentral aspect of carelessness. If al'
hedgerows were kept neat and trim there would be a few
blackberries to gladden the hearts of those who love
the homely fruit. Perhaps the neglect of hedgerows
in thus giving us a pleasant wholesome fruit, that is
free as air to the very poorest, is not an entire evil, es,
be 3 ond the first production, few would care for that
eternal monotony in our rural districts, if the trim,
well-kept hedgerows were universal. To our myriads
of town-dwellers in close courts and alleys, whose out'
ings are confined to excursion trains and steamers,
or to van rides to Hampton Court, what a glorious
treat would it be if thesercould be conveyed right int°
our country lanes and fields at this time of the year,
there to gather their baskets full of the ripe bleel
fruit. This would indeed be a boon, and productive
more real pleasure than can be found just now in °that
directious.—Gardener's Chronicle.
• 6
arEEN NECESSITY —l` What a tot Ot shooting 9,eti
have this year, old fellow! Must cost you no end
" Ala! those dogs, you know. I was obliged to take
something for them 1" Punch.
SPOILS FROM BULGARIA. —A friend of mine, a well-
known correspondent during the Russo-Turkish caur
paign, has just shown me a strange collection of wif
curios. At the entry of the Russian army into Dui'
garia' the worthy Bulgarians, knowing the near 01);
proach of the allies, went in for plundering tilk
Turkish population, the still worthier Russians, 100
ing forward of course to a little plundering of tr
Musslemen. However, on their entry into the "v
lages they found there were no Turks left to plunder,
so, mad with disappointment, they immediately set tot
work to plunder the Bulgarians. They didn't go
much trey...3llre trom the poor folks, you may guen
My friend for fun's Balza bought from a Cossack
the treasure he had gleaned from the Bulgarian house'
holds. TI-1( so conalsted of first, a penny looking-gl°sl,
second, a bottle of niedicize ; third, six copies of tk.
Standard, and fourth, a large quantity of French naue
And, truth, and no joke, this was all the spotila 0110
the lucky warrior had got hold of,—Pictortal ir°rg°

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