The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-09-27 00:00:00

risatianams

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

Mn. DONALD MACKENZIE'S AFRICAN EXPEDITION.—
Tidings of this explorer reached Liverpool a short
time ago, bearinz date July 14, from Cape Juby (says
Land and Water). The welcome accorded by the
Moors who were in waiting to receive the party seems
to have been a gracious one, especially as news of the '
wreck of an English ship had reached them and ex-
cited fears on their behalf. As the brig Amazonia,
which was taken as a residence for the members of the
party engaged at that station, was brought into
harbour, an immense crowd of natives assembled wit-
nessing with delight the operation, the Amazonia
being probably the first vessel ever brought into
the harbour. Anxious to make acquaintance with,
to them, the monster vessel, many of the natives swam
out towards it, and, but for the Enfilish party, would
have been drowned. On representing the danger of
the attempt, the Shiek Mahommed, who had also
welcomed the travellers, assembled the natives, pro-
hibiting any further attempt, under pain of being
fined, calling upon God and Mahomed to witness the
new regulation. Anxious inquiries seem to have been
made from many sources as to trading, and evidently
a honest desire for bond fide commerce prevails there,
a large supply of animals being at command to convey
the fruits of a very fertile country.

VERY FISHE.—When people say of a man that "he
drinks like a fish," do they mean to say that he is in
the habit of imitating the example of a frail herring
—Judy. _ - -

- -
FOWLS' EGIGS.—An American observer has com-
piled the following list of fowls' breeds, together with
the number of eggs laid by each in a year, and the
average weight to the pound (says the Graphic).
Patridge cochins 130, average seven to the pound;
light brahmas 120, eight to the pound; black and
whits cochins 125, eight to the pound; Plymouth
rocks, 150, same weight; Houdans, same number and
weight; La EThche 130, seven to the pound; black
Spanish 140, seven to the pound; Leghorns, 160, at
nine to the pound; Hamburghs 150, same weight;
Polish 125 a year, same weight ; and bantams 90 a
year, at sixteen to the pound. Thus the black Spanish
would seem to be the most profitable layers, while the
bantams are not only much smaller but also much leas
fecund than other breeds. The great number of small
eggs laid by the Leghorn breed would probably make
that sort
_tk favourite with all persons breeding fowls

for the sake of selling their eggs.
FOLLOWING EXPERIENCED ADVICE.—The Times, in
a leader, remarks ;--`' _Ube power of England, whether
for defence or offence, is mainly concentrated in the
British navy. All political parties in this country ar
agreed that the naval strength of England ought to be
maintained at least upon a level with any possible
combination of the navies of other countries. But
there is no recognized agreement as to the means by
which this policy ought to be carried out. The ad
ministration of the Admiralty changes not only
with every change of Ministry, but with every
change in the Cabinet office of First Lord. If there
is not a breach of continuity whenever there is a
new appointment, we have to thank the common
sense of the politicians who, suddenly elevated to
power, have been usually docile in following expe-
rienced advice. Nothing could be more appalling than
the prospect of revolutions in naval policy following
inevitably upon party victories or defeats at West.
minster. It is to the credit of Mr. Smith, as, indeed,
of other First Lords before him, that he has been
honourably careful to respect his predecessors' work
while asserting the principles on which his own was
founded. The visit of 'My Lords' to Portsmouth
discloses a state of things which is, on the whole, satis-
factory, and which represents, for good or ill, the
naval policy of the Admiralty, under Conservative and
Liberal Governments, during the past ten years." . . .

STATISTICAL.—It is stated that the fixed population
of Paris is now 1,988,806. This is the largest number
of persons we have ever known to be in " a fix."—Fun.
ENGLAND'S WHEAT CROP.—The Pall Mall Gazette,
in their article on "Trade and Finance," remarks :
Although last week's weather was so fine, and farmers
are concentrating their whole energies npon harvesting
operations. there is still much wheat in the fields,
even in the south of England; elsewhere there is not
a little uncut. The condition of the crop, therefore,
is likely to prove very unsatisfactory. The samples of
new wheat in Mark Lane yesterday (Monday) were of
disappointing quality. There is in consequence a
general disposition to expect a considerable rise of
prices before the year runs out. We have had, it is
said, seven defective harvests out of nine, and the
present is far the worst of all; our stock of home-
grown wheat is nearly exhausted, both because recent
crops have been so bed and because the present one is
so late; moreover, the quality of the present crop
makes mixing with foreign supplies necessary, and
aggravates very seriously the shortness of quantity;.
lastly, the whole of western and central Europe will
compete with us in the markets of the exporting coun-
tries. Accordingly, we find an advance in prices of
about 23. per quarter on the week in the case of old home-
grown wheat and of between two and three shillings in
the case of foreign. But those who argue thus leave out
of consideration the fact that the very lateness of the
present harvest, which has cleared away old supplies,
also reduces the new agricultural year to little more
than ten months. If next Beason is favourable, and
on the doctrine of probabilities it ought to be highly
so, we shall have new wheat on sale in the beginning
of August, possibly even sooner.
FACT NOT SO GENERALLY KNOWN AS IT OUGHT TO
BE.—Those who sow wild oats sometimes reap hemp.
—Judy.
PLAN FOR SECURING CORN IN WET WEATHER.—
The Rector of Chigwell proposes a plan for securing
dry corn in wet weather, which is worth noting. He
says he has seen the operaii in carried out, and that it
was effectual. It is a, follows :—The corn should be
cut on a dry day, then tied up in sheaves, and at once
built up on the field into a number of small-sized
circular ricks, say six or seven to the acre, taking care
to keep the butt ends of the bundles on the outside,
and the ears turned inside, also seeing that these little
rounded corn-towers are not too high, and are well.
fastened and roofed in at the top, securing the roof with
a strong band or two, otherwise the wind and wet
united will produce green growing sheaves the
farmers' horror, Of course on the ground, as a found°,
ation on which these little stacks rest, some dry straw
should be placed, or, better still some bushy faggots
cut from an adjoining hedge, to prevent the damp
ascending, and so injuring the corn. And on any day
between this and Christmas, after a week or tee° in
the field, Ltiode circular corn stacks may be carted to
the barns

A DIFICLAIMIL-Mr. Richard A. Proctor, the
astronomer, writes as follows to an American paper
in reference to an announcement published in Boston,
in which he was mentioned as a lecturer now dead :
" As to my being dead, I cannot but think this is a
mistake. The study of science suggests extreme
caution about matters of fact. But so far as my own
observations extend I find reason to believe that I am
alive. My friends seem also to think so. You must
'iot think me dogmatic if—failing stronger evidence
than I yet possess to the contrary—l decline to accept
unhesitatingly the theory that I am no longer living."

•
ZSTIIETIC PEIDE.—Fond Mother: "You live too
much alone, Algernon ! " Young Genius (poet,
painter, sculptor, Sm.) : "'Tis better so, mother!
Besides I onlycare for the society of my
i civals, and—
a—such being the case—a—my circle s necessarily
rather limited," Fond Mother: "But surely the
society of your superiors—" Young Genius: My
what, Mother? My superiors .1 WHERE ARE THEY ! I I"
—Punch.

THE EXPRESSION or Mum. This has recently
been a subject of investigation by an Italian physio-
logist, M. Paolo Mentegazza, who has studied with
great care all the contractions which suffering pro-
duces in the human face, and endeavoured to arrive
at an exact distinction of the phenomena of real from
those of simulated sorrow. All the forms of dolorous
hypocrisy he exposes mercilessly. The following, ac-
cording to M. Mentegazzs, are signs of feigned grief:
—l, The expression is nearly always exaggerated rela-
tively to the cause of the grief; 2, the visage is not
pale, and the muscular disturbance is intermittent;
3, the skin has its normal heat; 4, there is not har-
mony in the mimicry of grief, and one sees certain
contractions, certain relaxations, which are wholly
wanting in real grief; 5, the pulse is frequent in
consequence of the exaggerated muscular movement;
6, a surprise, or any object which vividly attracts the
attention suffices to make the tragic mask immediately
fall off; 7, sometimes one succeeds in discovering
among the tears, the sobs, and the most heartrending
lamentations, the presence of a chuckle, which ex-
presnes, perhaps, the malignant pleasure of practising
a deception; 8, the expression is very eccentric, or is
wholly wanting in concentric forms.
ELEVATION OF RAILWAkYL—The elevation above
the level of the sea of some of the chief railways of
the world out of the British Islands is as follows:—
The Apennine line at its highest point is 617 metres
above the sea level, the Black Forest line 850 metres,
the Semmering, 890, and the railway over the
Caucasus 975 metres. The tunnel of the St. Gothard
line attains an elevation of 1,154 metres, the Bremner
line 1,367, and the Mont Cenis line 1,338. In America
the highest lines are the North Pacific, which at its
most elevated point is 1,652 metres above the level of
the ocean. the Central Pacific 2,140, and the Union
Pacific 2,513 metres. The highest point of the rail-
way over the Andes is 4,769 metres above the sea
level.

Zoommem, SOCIETY'S GABDENS.—The Zoological
Society's new lion-house has just received an addition
in the shape of a tigress and two leopards, presented
to the collection by Lord Lytton. The tigress, which
is a fine large animal, is one of the notorious man-
eaters, and was recently caught in a pit-fall in the
Hazaribagh district of Bengal by a native—Babu
Rameswari Prasliad Narain Singh who devoted
himself to the capture and destruction of the man-
eater's family in consequence of their having stopped
all traffic along one of the public roads of the
district. Among the other recent additions to the
Zoological Society's collection is a specimen of a bush
dog (Icticyon venaticu4) from British Guiana, presented
by Mr. J. Ernest Tinne, The bash dog of South
America is a rare and little known species of car-
nivorous animal belonging to the dog family.

EDUCATED POLIOEMEN.—The Sktncittrd has published
the following letter :—"Sir,—l think it is due to the
Metropolitan Police that the following incident should
be made known: A leading surgeon at St. Mary's
Hospital has reported to me that a few days ago a lad
was brought in with his brachial artery completely
severed, he having fallen through a glass roof. A
policeman on duty had extemporised a tourniquet so
successfully that the bleeding was completely arrested;
and when the temporary appliance was removed at
the hospital, it recurred with such violence that the
surgeon felt that he could say neither more nor less
than that probably the skill and promptitude of the
policeman had saved the lad's life. On inquiry it was
found that he had been a.pupil in erre of the ambulance
classes which have been m progress for more than a
year among the Metropolitan Police, and in which the
members of the force have taken the warmest interest.
—I am, Sir, your obedient servant, F. DUNCAN,
Major It. Director St. John Ambulance Associa-
tion." _ _

MISIIIMERSTOOD,—An old commodore was spinning
a yarn for the benefit of an old .lady of serious views,
and arousing her sympathies by telling how the sea
ran mountains high and tasked the utmost endeavours
of the crew to manage the ship. "Ah ! but you see,
sir," said the old dame, laying her hand softly on his,
" there was One at the helm "—" Lor' bless you,
ma'am," he exclaimed, energetically slapping his knee,
"sometimes there were five or six I"—Fun.

SWISS DAIRY FARMING —The Swiss are turning
their attention to dairy farming. The falling off in
the exportation of Swiss cheese to America and the
demand for condensed milk have led to this change in
Swiss agriculture, and has also led to the formation
of a Dairy Farm Association and the preparation of
a herd-book. It has been proposed to cross the
native cattle with English shorthorns, but it is held
that in a mountainous country the cattle should be
light and active. Incidental to this movement at-
tention has been directed to the system of repeated
milkings, and experiments go to show that three
milkings a day are better than two with Swiss and
nut, h cows.

AVERAGES OF CROPS.—The Biirsen Zeitung gives a
table of the harvests of 1878 and 1879 throughout
Europe and America, the average being represented
by the number 100 :-
1878. 1879
___ .

Atutria-Hungary
Germany
France
Switzerland ..
Italy .. .
England
Russia .. .
Roumania ..

.. 109 ..
.. 104 ..
- 80 ..
80 ..
.. 102 ..
105
.. 100
.. 112 ..

.. ..

.. 108

America
The United States, it appears, alone shows a good
harvest in the two successive years; France and
Switzerland show two successive bad ones, while
England has the melancholy honour of producing the
worst harvest in 1879 of all the countries. America
stands in the proud position of being able to feed the
world.

THE INDIANS IN THE Dom/um—The Toronto Globe
publishes a despatch, dated "Winnipeg, Sept. 2,"
which says that, according to news from Qa'Appelle,
there has been difficulty with the Indians. The
starving savages became furious and three of the
chiefs were arrested by the mounted police as hostages
for their good behaviour. This made the trouble
worse, and the Indians informed the police that if any
attempts were made to remove the prisoners they
would take prompt revenge on them. All the chiefs
were subsequently released. Trouble is also reported
from Fort Ellice, but it will probably have blown over
now.

INGENUITY AMONG BIIIDS.—A curious illustration
of the practical good sense and ingenuity of some
among our British birds is reported by a railway
engine-driver on one of the northern lines. He has
noticed that certain hawks of the merlin or "stone
falcon" species make use of the passing of the trains
for predatory purposes. These creatures are not
larger than blackbirds' but are very bold, swift, and
powerful, and in the days of falconry were famous
hunters of wood-pigeons and partridges, which they
would kill by a single stroke on the neck. It appears
that, having laid their whits little heads together, they
came to the conclusion that the railway trains might
be made available for them as well as for the
tyrant man ; so they hit upon the following
device. They fly close behind a train, near the greund,
partly hidden by the smoke, but carefully watching
for the small birds which, trightened by the train as it
rushes roaring past, fly up in bewildered shoals. The
merlins then, while the little birds are thinking
more of the train than of lurking foes, swoop on them
from the ambush of the smoke, and strike them down
with ease. If they miss, they return to the wake of
the carriages, and resume their flight and their hunt.
They can, it seems, easily keep pace with an express
train, and outstrip it when they please. Who put the
merlins up to this clever little plan for making the
"Flying Scotchman " a mechanical pointer for starting
their game, no one can tell; but the fact that these
birds utter a very harsh scream doubtless formed a
point of attraction between them and the engine.—
Daily Telegraph.
THE FIRE AT IRKIITBK.—The Official Ga.sette of the
Government of Irkutsk gives the following particulars
concerning the great fire two months ago ;—" During
the great conflagrations of the 22nd and 24th of
July there were burnt down in the city of Irkutsk 75
blocks with 86 stone and 1,648 wooden dwelling-
houses, and 19 stone and 1,790 wooden magazines and
shops. Among the buildings destroyed were six stone
Orthodox churches and one wooden one, two domestic
chapels, one Lutheran and one Catholic church, two
spiagogues, five merchonts' markets, the meat
markets, and the tax offices. The number of inhabi
tants who lived in the burnt-down portions of the
city was about 17,000. The entire amount of damage
is estimated at about 30 millions of roubles (about
£4,500,000). Of this sum about 4,549,700 roubles
(about £681,100) will have to be met by the insurance
companies."
THE LATEST INVENTION.—The Daily Telegraph
says :—Among the latest products of the teeming in-
ventiveness of Americans is a "lover's alarm clock,"
It seems to have been introduced in New Orleans hy a
relative of the same genius who patented alarm bed-
steads, automatic room-sweepers and window-cleaners,
and self-acting mechanical dogs, warranted to bark
from the instant that a burglar's thoughts are directed
upon the premises where they are kept. The lover's
alarm clock is meant to gratify the very natural desire
of papas and mammas that respectable hours should
be kept during courtship. Juliet exclaims "Parting
is such sweet sorrow, That I shall say goodnight till it
be morrow," and entreats Romeo not to be gone, as
"it is not yet near day ; " but it is obvious that such
procrastination would never do in well-regulated
families, where "reluctant, amorous delay" on
the part of the lovers means keeping the ser-
vants up and preventing the gas from bseng turned
off at the meter. So the New Orltens genius gets
over the difficulty in this wise. His alarm clock
strikes loudlN, at the reasonable hour of ten p.m. As
it sounds, two little doors open and a man with dress'
rug gown sr:A cap on glides out, holding in his hand a
card iuscrihed "Good night." As he bows and
smilingly retires back into the clock, the suitor takes
the hint, says "Good night" to the young lady, andf
departs. It is an admirably simple arrangement,
only the ardent and impatient lover can be preventesg
from tampering with the mechan w
ism hie h
t
cruelly abbreviates his bliss; and it is a pity a
let- tha h
variation of the clock cannot be introduced or en
A figure stepping out of the clock and exhibiting
me.
,alploawrteicdulaafrtleyr
ten,"
card
en,wowuiltdhbtehseuffiwocriecinst
b y"Nowf:!ll,or
herient
if lus re irernent were followed by the clamorous
I jan,;le of a pe,.l of bolls loud enough to atop all further
' conversation.

A. LISEIteI. Bizquzer.—The Board of managenpat
of the Wolverhampton Orphan Asylum have received
the munificent legacy of £3,000 bequeathed to the
charity by the late Mre. Bennett, of Dudley.

A CAGED BLACHBIRD.—The battle of Ulundi,
putting Cetewayo to flight, ix truly said to have
driven him into the bush. Now having been caught,
he may be regarded as a bird in the hand worth many
more than two birds in the bush.—Punch.
THE DESCENDANTS or ISHHAEL.—:The Jewish World
quotes from a German Jewish periodical a series of
arguments in favour of the theory that the Zulus are
the descendants of Ishmael. Their.high considera-
tions for their chiefs, their pastoral life, the purchase
of wives, their peculiar ornaments, their observanoe
of a sort of Feast of First Fruits, many of their tradi-
tions which appear to be perversions of Old Testament
stories, all seem to point to Hebrew descent. The
chief of one of their most influential tribes is called
Moschesch, and Abram is a common name. All the
animals declared impure by the Mosaic Law are
impure for Kaffirs, who detest pork. The same laws
respecting individual purity prevail as those pre-
scri i
ned in Leviticus, and circumcision s generally
practised, if not obligatory.
AN INSECT PLAGUE.—Swarms of caterpillars are
reported in the French papers to have recently de-
scended upon Bordeaux and covered the alleys of
Boutaut in such multitudes as to form a species of
curtain across them to a certain height. The insects,
from one to two centimetres in length, appeared to be
enveloped in a sort of spider-web, from which it was
most difficult, not to say impossible, to get free when
once entangled in it. One courageous woman who re-
solved to traverse this -living hedge was literally
covered with the small pests, and would never have
succeeded in disengaging herself from the mingled
mass of web and caterpillars had not assistance been
given by others. At least a dozen trees in the alley
have been stripped of their leaves, and there is strong
reason to fear that if the insect plague extends the
scene of its ravages all the gardens of the neighbour-
hood will suffer enormously.—Gardener's Chronicle.
BUTTER FINGERS.—Lady : "Why did you leave
your last place ?"—Servant : "Well yer see, mum, I
had to pay for all my breakages, and as they come to
more than my wages, yer see, mum, it was a kind of
impogission that I couldn't stand."—Pun.

THE LONGEST RAILWAY BRIDGE ON THE CONTI.
marr.—According to the Wessel. Zeitung, the bridge
over the Rhine at Wesel eomprises 107 arches or
openings. Of these there are four in the oentre of the
stream 3131 t. wide, the less considerable including 35 of
60ft. each, six of 611 t., 14 of 401 t., 18 of 12ft., 10 of
201 t., and 20 of 301 t. The total length of the bridge
or viaduct, including the part on piles, is therefore,
6,220 ft., or 1,952 mhtres.
Brans AND Faurr ni CANADA,—Never was there a
better year for fruit in the gardens about Montreal
and never was there a better year for birds. The wax-
wings and robins made war on the cherries, and still
more on any daring person who claimed any of them.
The sparrows' accustomed to repression in their own
country, but brought here by benevolent volunteer
immigration agents, and cared for throughout the
winter by our whole population, have grown saucy.
Never a pear with amellow cheek but bears the marks
of their bills, more dainty when fruit is in question
than in their ordinary foraging. Many apple bees
have been broken down by the excessive amount of
fruit upon them—Montreal Witness,

YOUTHFUL HEROISM. —Mr. C. R. Bowling, Inspec-
tor of Factories for the Birmingham district, in a letter
to the local papers, narrates a touching instance of boy
heroism. Very recently a lad employed at Messrs.
Wilkes, Mspplebeck and Co.'s works had his apron
caught by some mill-banding, was drawn into the ma-
chinery, and was so crushed and mangled that he died
very soon afterwards. Mr. Bowling says the father of
the boy worked in the same factory, and the only
words the poor lad said, as he was being taken away,
crushed and dying, from the wheels, were "Don't let
my father see me."
A MESSAGE FROM THE SEL—We learn from
Lloyd's that a bottle was picked up on the 16th July
off the coast of New Zealand containing a small scrap
of paper, on which the following was written :
" Strathnaver on fire off Pollybeach, 29th April, 1876,
W. Waller, chief officer."—The Strathnaver, of Aber-
deen, from Sydney, with wool, was posted as a
missing vessel on 3rd November, 1675. Samuel
Waller is said to have been mate on board this vessel.
POPULATION OF THE COLONY OP VIGTORIA.—The
population of Victoria on the 30th of June last was
estimated by the Government statist at 887,434—
wales, 482,769; females, 404,965.

SHIPBUILDING IN SIBERIA..—A letter from Moscow
in the Cologne Gazette says that it is probable that a
Russian commercial`fieet will be formed in dibera.
The principal harbours of Russia, such as Cronstacit,
St. Petersburg, and even Archaokel, have, strange to
say, not hitherto possessed any native fleets; and
Russian products are conveyed from them °his* in
foreign ships. Siberia has many resorces for the deve-
lopment of a shipping trade by the Karian Sea : there
is abundance of wood for shipbuilding, and its broad
rivers affords ample facilities for trade. The
Siberian merchants say that foreign ships will not be
able to compete with Siberan ones, as they will have
to overcome climatic difficulties to which Siberian ships
would not be exposed. It is even believed that
Russia will ultimately not require to buy any ships
abroad, as her wants will be supplied by the ship-
building establishments of Siberia.
OuR YOUNG Alm—Remember, son, that the
world is older than you are by several years; that
for thousands of years it has been so full of smarter
and better young men than yourself, that their feet
stuck out of the dormer windows; and when they died
the old globe went whirling on, and not one man in
10,000,000 went to the funeral, or even heard of the
death. Be as smart as you can, of course. Know as
much as you can without blowing the packing out
of your cylinder heads; shed the light of your
wisdom abroad in the world, but don't dazzle people
with it. And don't imagine a thing Is BO simple
because you say it is. Don't be too sorry
for your father because he knows so much leas than
you do. Remember the reply of Dr. Wayland to the
student of Brown's University, who said it was an easy
enough thing to make proverbs such as Solomon wrote.
"Make a few," tersely replied the old man. And we
never heard that the young man made any. Not more
than two or three anyhow. The world has great need of
young men, but no greater need than the young men
need of it. Your clothes fit you better than your
father's fit him; they coat more money, they
are more stylish. Your moustache is neater, the
cut of your hair is better, and you are prettier,
oh, far prettier than "pa." But, young man, the
old gentleman gets the biggest salary, and his homely,
scrambling signature on the business end of a cheque
will drain more money out of the bank in five minutes
than you could get out with a ream of paper and a copper-
plate signature in six months. Young men are useful,
and they are ornamental, and we all love them, and
we couldn't engineer a picnic successfully without
them. But they are no novelties, son. Oh, no
nothing of the kind. They have been here before.
Don't be so modest as to shut yourself clear out; but
don't be so fresh, you will have to be put away in the
cool to keep from spoiling. Don't be afraid that your
merit will not be discovered. People all over the
world are hunting for you, and if you are worth find-
ing, they will find you. A diamond is not so easily
found as a quartz pebble, but people search for it all
the more intently.—Burlington Hawkeye.