The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-04-26 00:00:00

TBE CITY OF GLASGOW BANK.

The Standard of Tuesday says :—A proposal is on
foot to induce the Scotch members to give their sanction
•to a new proposal in connection with the City of
Glasgow Bank. The proposalis to ask the Government
to pass an Act suggesting a tax of twopence in the
pound for three years on Scotland in order to relieve
the shareholders, Up wards of a million, it is calculated,
would be realised from this scheme, and, if the Govern-
ment advanced the money on loan on the security of
the rates, it is thought that the assets of the share-
holders might net have to be realised at a ruinous
depreciation. Should the idea meet with favour from
the Scotch members the present intention is to organise
a deputation to Lord Beaconsfield and the Chancellor
of the Exchequer on the subject. The scheme, however,
is only in its tentative stage.

CUTTINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS.
A certain resident of North Adams, Mass., recently
buried his wife, a woman of unusual size, and a few days
after the sad event a neighbour attempted a little in the
consolatory line by remarking: "Well, Mr. -, you have
met with a heavy loss." The sufferer was silent. The
speaker added significantly a "weighty loss." The sufferer
kicked the speaker out for his wits sake.

"There are three things," said a Yankee the other
day, "which you people have got to learn—to get up earlier,
to work longer, and to live more upon hermetically sealed
goods."

A Chicago woman is going to try to keep her month
shut three thousand quarter hours. If this new departure
should become epidemic a mighty peace would goon settle
downover tots troubled land.

By an old bachelor: " You may break, you may
shatter the vase, if you will, but the frightful keramica
pasted on by the women-folks will stick to it still."

The Eastern dramatic critics will have to look to
their laurels. A budding Hazlitt at Deadwood says:
"When she should swell out like a mountain, she sinks in
like a gulch. That ain't right in this country. She ought
to know the audience here is not the fine-spun crowd that
she would encounter back East, and when she bad worked
their feelings up to a scalping hurrah she ought not to give
up to her lover. She presented only a fighting front when
her lover's back was turned. This won't do for a frontier
audience."

--------
A New York shopkeeper describes himself as a
"manufacturer of the beat imported gloves." A photo-
grapher's unpunctuated sign reads: "This style 3 pictures
finished in fifteen minutes while you wait for twenty-five
cents beautifully coloured." A cheap restaurant advertises
also with an unpunctuated sign: "Oyster pies open all
night" and "Coffee and cakes off the griddle."
-

A Detroit lawyer, famous for his wise and candid
opinions, was the other day visited by a young lawyer, who
explained, "I was admitted two years ago, and I think I
know something about law, yet the minute I arise to address
a jury I forget all my points and can do nothing. Now, I
want to ask if this doesn't show lack of confidence In my-
self, and how can I overcome it ? " The wise attorney shut
his eyes and studied the case for a moment before answer-
ing, "My ming friend, if it is lack of confidence in yourself
it will some day vanish but if it is lack of brains you had
better sell out your office effects and buy a pick-axe and a
long-handled shovel." "But how am I to determine?"
, anxiously asked the young mall. "I'd buy the pick-axe any. bow and run my chances I" whispered the aged adviser, sit-
he moved over to the peg for his overcoat.--Detroie Free-
Press.

Mistellantrats
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.
ONE WAY OF PUTTING IT.—Grandmamma
"Now, Nellie, spell ice." —Nellie :—'`
Grandmamma :—" Do you know what ice is ?
—Nellie :—" Yes, Grandmamma, it's water fast
asleep. "—Fun.
WEEKLY REVIEW OF TEE CORN TRADE.—Bell's
Weekly Messenger says :—" The trade for wheat re-
mains in a very dull and inanimate state' and former
prices are maintained with difficulty. Supplies are
ample; America shows no signs of exhaustion, and
larger quantities of produce are expected at an early date
from Russia. These facts are alone sufficient to make
buyers cautious, and they are therefore, only buying
to meet their more pressing wants. Good dry wheats
are naturally the most easy of sale hut even these sell
slowly. The position of the trade is certainly by no
means encouraging, and there seems to be no indica-
tion of any immediate improvement."
How Is IT?—lf snow is the emblem of purity, as
*Mr. Tennyson would have us believe, how does it
come about that during the winter nothing you can
think of has been lying so persistently and so long in
the London streets and elsewhere ?—Judy.
A POSTAL MONUMENT—The Berlin correspondent
of the Standard writes :—The Germans have a
learned Postmaster-General and his erudition has just
led to the discovery of the oldest postal monument re-
corded and probably in existence. Last year the Ger-
man postal authories addressed a request to Professor
Curtin; referring to a passage in Pausanias's History
of Greece, and asking him in connection with the
Olympian excavations, to look for a statue erected to
Philomides of Crete a postal courier of Alexander the
Great. This statue had been seen by Pausanias
during his visit to the Altis. According to a com-
munication reaching me from Olympia from Dr. Tren,
the pedestal of this statue, which Is of saildatone, has
been actually found, and bears a well-preserved
inscription, to the following effect: "King
Alexander's courier and messenger Philomides' the
son of Jotos, of Crete dedicates this statue to the
Olympian God." A plaster cast of the pedestal will
be executed for the historical collection in the German
Postal Museuna.

A DELICATE OPERATION I—Cutting a tiger's claws
is not an easy operation, but a Bengal tiger at the
Piladelphia Zoological Gardens has been subjected to
the process with great success. "Jim's" claws, for
lack of some rough substance to wear them down, had
become long and had grown into the flesh, exposing
their owner to the danger of lockjaw. Accordingly
Jim was one day lassooed, and a noose being flung
over his head, he was dragged to the front of his cage,
where his paws were severally lassooed and drawn
through the bars, the creature being pulled down on
his side. " Jim " roared and struggled fiercely, and
in order to prevent him from biting either the ropes or
the operator, the keeper stood by with a hard wooden
club, which he thrust into the tiger's mouth for him
to bite, and which, at the end of the operation, was
chewed into a perfect pulp. "Jim," hgwever, sub.
witted quite quietly after the first struggle, and when
released sat and licked his paws with great satisfac-
tion. showing evident signs of relief. .
_ _ _

- _
ioA,,MamarTrTyEeanodr
" sett
el) the rY
.t—halnt is easier
"settle"
manodstmpeaople.
settle" than
cannot be effected without property. feu _
The firet may be done by a proper tie,
nu.t e other
presidential election in America pears
cam-
paign for the presi
d. The New York Times of
THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION. . The cam-
to have already
all the States with the
correspondents representing_enny
April 10, just received, publishes reports from 170
of public opinion
view of showing the tend
pH an and Democratic parties
o 18810. The results
tothrboeugmhaoduet
bthyetblienßeionpuubon, the f choice of candidates
point to the nominactaimonpaoigfnGenera Grant by the
for the presidential
Republicans, and of Mr. Tilden by the Democrats. which advices had been Out of 157 Points from .
d Messrs. Washburne, Garfield, Sherman,
re-
ceived General Grant is the choice of 130, Senator
Blaine 10, an
Conkling, Edmunds, and Chandler follow in the
imed. The Democrats in 98 of the 157 districts
Tilden. Thurman comes next, with 23 districts;
order
rr named.
ldwith 11; and Hendricks and Hanoock bring
up the rear.
BOTANICAL FANCY.—At the "Working Men's
College," Great Ormond-street, the other evening, a
free lecture was delivered by Mr. Francis Darwin on
"Self-Defence among Plants." As plants peculiarly
distinguished for this self-defending power, may be
mentioned the thorns, the thistles, and the stinging
nettle. But, perhaps, the beat emblem of self-defence
in the vegetable kingdom would be Box. —P unch.
PNEUMATIC TUBES.—The Economist says that the
use of telegraph wires in Paris for messages from one
part of the capital to another will cease from the Ist
of May, the net work of pneumatic tubes being now
almost complete. Blank forms for messages will then
be sold to the public, and may contain any number of
words, the original being forwarded to destination.
, The charge for these forms, of which there will be two
kinds, will be 50c, for open messages, 75c, for closed.
THE MAN NVno ADvEnnsED.—A London corres-
pondent of the Cincinnati Inquirer writes :—ln Paris
last summer I saw a friend of mine, who had just come
over, using a pen of peculiar construction, designed
with special reference to those untidy persons who,
like myself, ink their fingers when they write. Now,
my friend is a man whose hands are as white as lilies,
with finger-nails like rosebuds in tint—noticeable
hands. Catch him inking his fingers. "Why, where
did you get that nice pen?" I asked him, a vista of
blissful exemption from an inked -middle finger open-
ing on my joyous expectant mind. "In Omaha," he
answered. " It's the nicest thing • I used to ink my
fingers-before I got it I" He did! He inked his fingers!
That was enough for me. I got The name of the
merchant from whom he bought the pen, the price of it,
and, enclosing the money, I sent from Paris to Omaha
for the pen. By the last steamer it came to me. The
stationer at Omaha was out of them, but he sent to
Sioux City to the man that advertises them, ter
another lot. And now here in where the laugh comes
in. The pens are an English invention, and tons of
them can be bought in London, if desired. At the
stationer's next door I could have got what I had sent
after to Sioux City. But how could I know that? I
dealt with the man that advertised, This may be
sensational, but it is suggestive.

Row GIFT.—A beautiful heraldic stained gilts
window, designed by Mr. J. Clarke, F.S.A., architec
and executed by Messrs. Clayton and Bell, has jus
been placed in the Edmund de Langley Chapel
attached to All Saints' Church, King's Langley. It
hi the gift of Her Majesty the Queen, in memory of
Prince Edmund de Langley, the fifth son of Edward
111. the first Duke of York. The Prince was the
direct ancestor of the Queen, and his remains lie by
the side of those of his wife, Isabel of Castile, under
a magnificent altar tomb within the chapel.

STORM WARYING.—The following cable message has
been received at the London office of the New York
Herald, from New York :—" Storm centre will reach
the British and Norwegian coasts, possibly affecting
the French coasts between the 23rd and 25th. South,
veering to north-west gales; heavy rains, possibly
snow, in northern districts; lightning. Low tem-
perature will follow." ,

A CLEVER YOUNG LADY.—Miss Baker, a young
lady only sixteen years old, has been appointed a
tutor iu Greek in Simpson College at Indianola. She
reads and writes Greek fluently, and at fourteen had
made a complete lexicon of one of Sophocles' tragedies.
She has been instructed almost entirely by her father.
She reads and writes Latin as well as she does Greek,
and has gone likewise into French, German, and
mathematics.

SIR WALTER TREVELYAN'S WINE CELLAR.—The
Temperance Record says :—We learn from Dr.
Richardson that the statement of the late Sir Walter
Trevelyan having bequeathed to him the wines which
are laid up in the cellars at Wallington is quite
correct. Dr. Richardson begs us at the same time to
add that the estimate that has been published as to
the value of the wines is hypothetical, no valuation
having as yet been made. He begs us further to state
that, although he has been waiting for many yearn for
the opportunity of building a small model hospital, on
his own plans, .he has given no authority whatever for
the conjecture that it is his intention to dispose of the
bequest, be it worth much or little, for that or any
other purpose. His first care will be to satisfy him-
self, according to his best judgment, as to the most
probable wishes of the testator, and to any them out
faithfully.

CRICKET IN AFGHANISTAN—The Court Journal
says: The first cricket matches in Afghanistan were
played on February 19, 20, and 21, at Rabat, near
Candahar, on the Rabat cricket-ground, in presence of
a large force of the enemy, which may in some
measure account for the somewhat loose nature of the
fielding, those at long-leg and out in the field having
often to traverse large tracts of the enemy's country in
pursuit of the leather. These duties were, however,
unflinchingly performed. The list of wounded, owing
to the absence of pads and gloves, is so large that there
would hardly be space for it in yeur columns. The
players were, however, despite bumps and bruises,
wrought up to the highest pitch of daring and excite-
ment by immense applause from large supporting
bodies of the 15th Hussars and 60th Rifles.

THE Loss OF THE EURYDICE.— Although 110 steps
have as yet been taken to place a memorial over the
graves of the men of the Eurydice who were interred
at Haslar the people of Sandown, in the Isle of Wight,
have just erected a pedestal over the remains of those
wiLo were washed on shore and buried there. The
panels on the sides bear inscriptions. On the north
side are the words :—" Sacred to the memory of seven
brave seamen of Her Majesty's Navy, who lie buried
here, after having first found a watery grave on Sun-
day, March 24,1878, when H.M.S. Eurydice foundered
in a terrific squall off Sandown Bay ; ' while on the
south aide the names of such as are known are inscribed
—viz., D. Harvey, J. T. Smith, W. Shaker, and H.
Vests. "The names of the others buried here are
unknown."

•
AN AMERICAN JUDGE'S CHARGE.—A long case,
"Oliver v. Cameron," has been tried recently before
the Circuit Court at Washington (says The Times).
On the thirteenth day, the let of April, the last
speech of counsel was concluded Plat before noon.
What followed we quote :—" The Judge then said,—
Gentlemen of the jury,—Take this case and dispose of
it. Mr. Clerk, pass the papers to the foreman.' There
was considerable laughter at the brevity of the Judge's
charge, and in two minutes after the argument had
closed the- jury were in their flown. At 1.30 p.m. a
note was sent to Judge Cartter from the jury-room.
He came into court and said that the jury had made
a request for the reporter's notes of the trial. He
thought it improper to grant it, and it certainly could
not be permitted without the consent of the counsel
upon both sides. Neither of the two attorneys indi-
cated their willinFness or disapproval, and the Judge,
turning to the bailiff, said, ' Tell them no; they cannot
have it." It took the jury three hours to agree upon
their verdict.

• A GOOD JOKE.—Rather an extraordinary joke is at
present current on the north-west frontier of India.
The dirtiness of the Afghan is proverbial, and it is
!said that upon one occasion General Roberts captured
!a Mongul, who was so preternaturally dirty that it
was thought necessary, for the safety of the whole
camp, that he (the Afghan) should be molted. Two
Igenuine Tommy Atkinses was told off for this pur-
pose. They stripped him, and scrubbed at him with
formidable brushes and a large quantity of black soap
for two hours, at the end of which they threw down
their brushes in disgust and went to their colonel.
"What is it, men?" "Well, air, we've washed that
Afghan for two hours, but it wasn't no good. After
scrubbing him, sir, till our arms were like to break,
bleat if we didn't come upon another suit of clothes.'
A DOG bTORY.—An American sportsman tells a
story of a railroad in a northern part of the States.
He says he went there gunning, and came to a short '•
line of road on which was run a single car, the forward
end of which was partitioned off for baggage. He took
his dog into the car with him, and put him under the
seat. Presently, the conductor came along, and
insisted that the dog should go into the baggage-room,
which, after some altercation, was agreed to; but here
.Ihe baggage-master demanded a fee of fifty cents,
which was denounced by the sportsman as a
"swindle," between the conductor and the baggage-
master; he added that sooner than pay it he would
tie the dog to the train and let him " work his
passage." The conductor assented, and the dog
was hitched to the rear of the train. The dog—so
the narrator says—kept along easily with the train,
but the conductor began to get ueeasy, making
frequent trips to the engineer, urging him to increase
the speed of the train, and back again to watch the
effect upon the dog. The latter began to show signs
of fatigue, but after a while caught his "second wind,"
and was keeping along as before. The conductor now
ordered the engineer to heave on all the coal into the
furnace and stir up the fire, which being done, the
speed was perceptibly increased. The conductor again
went to the rear of the car to observe the effect, but
the dog had suddenly disappeared, whereupon he im-
mediately, and with a most triumphant air, called the
sportsman's attention to the fact. The latter, after
taking a glance at the situation, quietly pointed to a
crack in the floor of the car, "And there," said he,
"was the dog comfortably trotting along under the car,
and licking the grease from one of the axle-boxes!"
AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN —The following
are the average prices of British corn for the week end.
ing April 18, as received from the inspectors and
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 41s. 2d,; barley, 308,11 d.;
oats, 20s. 7d. per imperial qr. Corresponding week
last year :—Wheat, 51s. lid.; barley, 41s. 7d.; oats,
255. 6d.

A WALK OVER THE FARM.—Before breakfast, 6.30
a.m., April 12, brilliant sunshine, hard frost, ice thick.
It makes our heavy land work well, and is especially
useful where the powerful steam plough mixed so much
of our glutinous clay with the seed bed four years
ago. On the whole I feel satisfied with the appear-
ance of my crops. Fifty acres of wheat not forward,
but a sufficient plant and beginning to branch. Nearly
40 acres of peas for picking, some up and others
coming through. Clover a full plant. Tares sufficient;
although nipped by the severe winter, they are brealr
ing out again. Barley not up, and some 13 acres of
oats and barley still to put in. Mangel land will be
shortly son. Drains discharging the recent surplus
rains. How can people farm heavy land without
drainage The loss must be considerable. Lambs
vigorous, judging by their rotundity and high leaps.
Ewes and lambs on Italian rye grass, having in addi-
tion supplementary food. All within iron hurdles on.
wheels, moved morning and evening. The rain fall-
ing on the folded land is like sewage irrigation, for it
washes in the cake, corn, mangel, &c:, consumed by
the sheep and lambs. I never cart any farmyard
manure to the folded side of the farm, and yet it pro-
duces abundant straw crops, although it receives little
or none from the eheepfold. Fifteen cattle doing
well; will be ready for the butcher end of May or
beginning of June. We now and then sewage the
Italian rye grass intended for hay. Two p.m., a heavy
snowstorm.—J, J. Milan in Mark Lane Express.

THE GREAT CONVENT AT KIEV.—The correspond-
ent, writing about the Russian convent at Kiev, says:
--I cannot close a letter from Kiev without referring
to the great monastery here. This is the richest and
most holy of the Rwsian shrines. The tombs of the
saints are in catacombs cut in the rocks overhanging
the Dnieper, on which the monastery stands. Over
100,000 pilgrims, chiefly from the provinces of Great
Russia arrive here during the course of the year, and
their donations are a• great source of wealth. At the
time of the great wars with Napoleon Alexander I. .
worked sufficiently on the patriotism Of the monks to
induce them to make a loan of 1,000,000 roubles to the
Government, for which the Emperor gave his per-
sonal bond, When Nicholas, shortly after his acces-
sion, visited Kiev, the monks presented this bond to
him. Nicholas was affected to tears, congratulated
them on the possession of so valuable a souvenir of
his revered father, and earnestly begged them to
preserve it with the greatest care,
THICK SOWING.—A farmer writes in the Borth
British Agriculturist of April 1, that he gets a better
crop of oats from sowing 12 bush. of oats per Scotch
acre( i imperial acre) than from 8 bushels. Now as I
only sow 2 bush, of oats per English acre and as an
average get forty for one, and sometimes more than
that, our Scotch friend ought to get 480 bush. per
Scotch acre! From the sublime to the ridiculous
there seems to be but one step. I presume that the
12 bush. per Scotch acre are sown broadcast and pro-
bably in a high late district which requires early
maturity, but it is an astounding quantity and a very
costly addition to the other charges on the farm. He
also sows 4 bush, of wheat per Scotch acre—three times
as much as I sow.—T. J. MECHI.
EASTER DIIES.—A man very much in doubt on the
subject of Easter dues, writes (says the Court Journal):
—On one side of me I have a High Church incum-
bent, on the other a very Low Churchman, I am not
quite clear which I belong to; but in order to avoid
any mistake on their aide they both send me a request
for Easter dues. One—l will not say which—asserts
that he has a legal claim, though he waives it, and
asks for an Easter " offering." The other makes no
claim at all, but leaves it to me. On looking up the
matter I find the word Easter Dues thus explained "Small sums commonly paid to the clergyman by each
person when he receives the Lord's Supper at Easter.
They are generally twopence from every communi-
cant, and are due of common right and not by custom
only. If that sum be correct, I think the clergyman
who leaves the matter to the generosity of his
parishioners is the wiser of the two. The rubric in
the prayer.book puts the matter plainly enough, ex-
cept that no sum is named. It says :—"At Easter
every parishioner shall reckon with the parson, vicar,
or curate, or his or their deputy or deputies, and pay
to them or him all eccleaiastical duties accustomably
due.' But there is not a word about the twopence.