The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-05-28 00:00:00

SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1881.

FRANK.—"This letter I am writing to my dear,
noble, handsome Frank might truly be called Frank-
incense," said a young lady, who was very far gone
indeed !—Fun.
INTOXICANTS IN RAILWAY CARRIAGES.—The Church
of England Temperance Society has forwarded a
memorial to the Prime Minister against the proposed
clause in the Inland Revenue Bill empowering the
issue of licences fer the sale of intoxicating liquors in
railway carriages. The memorialists state that their
efforts have recently been specially directed towards the
encouragement of habits of temperance among railway
servants; to the development of the sale of tea, coffee,
and other non-alcoholic beverages at railway refresh-
ment bars, and at cheaper rates; and they, therefore,
feel most strongly that the proposed granting of licences
for the sale of intoxicating liquors in travelling saloons
is calculated materially to retard the progress of the
temperance reform.
EXTRAORDINARY SlGHT.—Seeing a man turn into a
public-house.—Funny Folks.
INTERESTING DISCOVERY.—In the course of last
winter the remains of a Roman cemetery were found
in Mayence. The excavations, the Frankfurter
Zeitunq states, have yielded a number of interesting
objects, mostly found at a depth of from Bft. to 10ft.
During the last few days 100 different well-preserved
objects have been brought to light in a space of about
fifteen square yards: drinking vessels, vases, urns
containing bone ash, lamps, among them an exqui-
sitely-preserved little suspension lamp, &c. On several
of the articles the names of the workers are easily dis-
cernible—viz., Fortis, Attilus, Simonius, and Scottius ;
there are besides the above a number of pearls, coins,
and medals.

CHEESE MADE FROM POTATOES.—A cheese is said
to be made from potatoes in Thuringia and Saxony.
Potatoes of good quality are boiled in a cauldron,
and, after becoming cool, they are reduced to a pulp,
by means of a grater or mortar. To five pounds of
this pulp is added one pound of sour milk and the
necessary quantity (.f salt. The whole is kneaded
together and the mixture covered up and allowed to
lie for three or four days, according to the season.
iAt the end of this time it s kneaded anew, and the
cheeses are placed in little baskets, when the super-
fluous moisture escapes. They are then allowed to
dry in the shade, and placed in layers in large vessels,
where they must remain for fifteen days. The older
these cheeses are the more their quality improves.
Three kinds are made. The first and most common
is made as detailed above; the second with four parts
of potatoes and two parts of curded milk ; the third
with two parts of potatoes and four parts of cow or
ewe milk. These cheeses are said not to engender
worms, and to keep fresh for a number of years, pro-
vided they are placed in a dry situation and in well-
closed vessels.

A HINT TO FRENCH AGRICULTURISTS.-At an agri-
cultural show at Grignon, M. Lon Say remarked that
protective duties had been claimed on behalf of agri-
culturists, though less vehemently than by manufac-
turers; but in a Democratic country food ought not
to be taxed. Agriculture had been of late suffering
from American competition, but the proper course was
to seek means of facing the competition, such as a re-
modelling of the land tax. Land was formerly a
monopoly, and the State had naturally wished to get a
share of it; but land had now lost this character, and
farmers would be benefited by a reduction of the tax
as regarded rural property. Agriculturists should
first press for a demarcation between house property
and land as a preliminary to reducing the taxation
borne by the latter.
ATTACK ON THE "SALVATION ARM?" IN LIVERPOOL.
—The "Salvation Army," while marching in Liver-
pool on Sunday afternoon, was attacked by a mob of
young persons, and..the assault was so persistent that
the "Army" deemed it prudent to retreat. The
mob, however, kept up a fire cf missiles, and the
" Army " was forced to break up and disperse. Two
young women took shelter in a house, and forthwith
a shower of missiles was directed towards the win-
dows, the result being that nearly all the glass was
broken. The disturbance lasted fully half an hour.

A fumons VOCATION.—Among curious vocations in
life very few have been more curious than that of an in-
dividual now said to be living near Baden (says the Court
Journal). He was bootstretcher to the late Archduke
Franz Carl; the father of the present Emperor of
Austria. For many years it was his only duty to
wear his royal master's new boots, before they were
adopted by the owner : and for the comfort which his
self-sacrifice secured for tlo Archduke, he is now, we
are told, in the enjoyment' of a perpetual pension.

A COLOURABLE CONCEIT.—Poets have described the
Mediterranean as dark blue. Politicians are afraid
that the occupation of Tunis will ponvert the "dark
blue sea " into a French lake.—Punch.
THE SALE OF THE BALE COLLECTION.—The snuff-
boxes and bij outerie of the Bale Collection were sold
in London on Tuesday at Christie's. One of the prin,
cipal specimens was a beautiful oval locket of the
finest Cinquecento period, which was purchased by
Mr. Frederick f Pall Mall, for the sum of
2,335 guineas. This Davis,is said to be finer specimen
than the well-known one in the Louvre Museum.

A HINT TO SCHOOL TEACHERS—Mr. T. Wilkinson,
head-master of the Board School, Harrow, has
published, through Mr. Overhead of that town, a
sensible little pamphlet, entitled "The School
Garden," in which he advocates a scheme for teach-
ing the rudiments of horticulture and apiculture,
both theoretically and practically, in rural schools.
This subject has, in view of the sharp competition to
which our native agriculture is now exposed, recently
engaged the attention of the Council of the Royal
Agricultural Society. At the recent Educational
Conference it was also discussed with special refer-

ence to School Gardens.
AN ANCIENT HonN Boom—A correspondent of
Notes anol Queries thinks that the following account
of a horn book recently found when pulling down an
old house at Newbury, Berks, may interest some
readers. It consists of a page of letter-press, which
n measures by 2 inches, mounted on a piece of oak
of slightly larger size, the lower end of which is
shaped as a handle. It is covered with a sheet of
transparent horn, which is kept in its place by means
of narrow strips of thin brass, fastened with small
nails. The letter-press, which is surrounded by an.
ornamental border, consists of the alphabet, pre-
ceded by a +, first in small letters and then in Roman,
capitals. Next are, on one side of the middle line, thee
vowles alone, followed by the vowels with the con-
sonants b, c, d • on the other side the same reversed.
Following is, first, "In the name of the Father," &c.l
and, lastly, the Lord's Prayer. At the same time anei
place there was found one of George I.'s lead Borejay
pieces. This may help to fix the date of the horr:book.
SUPERSTITIONS OF WHALE-FISHERS.— At, 'the pre-
sent day it is the commonest thing in the' world for
whale-fishers to burn an eff gy in orde'e to "bring
luck." If a ship has fallen in with a ff.' w whales, the
crew attribute their bad fortune to tbeir having some
unlucky individual on board, and by 'burning his effigy
they believe that his malign inewence is got rid of.
The most unpopular man in the ship is generally
pitched upon as the offending party. Sometimes two
or three " pictures" are burnt, one after the other, if
luck is very bad, and on an average one is burnt in
each whale-ship every season. The practice is a very
old one, and is said to have taken its rise from a similar
custom which prevailed among the herring-fishers of
Banffshire, by whom it was introduced on board the
Peterhead whalers. A century or two ago not merely
effigies, but living men and women, were burnt on sus-
picion of casting a blight upon the herring-fishery.—
Land and Water.

STAMPED HALFPENNY NEWSPAPER WRAPPERS.—
Stamped halfpenny newspaper wrappers of a better
quality than those hitherto in use, which will be dis-
continued when the present stocks are sold off, will
be issued for sale to the public on June 1. They may
be purchased singly or in any number, according to
the undermentioned scale of prices, viz. :—One for
id., two for lid„ three for lid., four for 20., five
for 3d., six for 30., and so on. The public can also
obtain these wrappers uncut in quarter-reams, con-
taining 120 sheets of 14 wrappers on each sheet, by
making special application for them at the post-office
at which they wish to obtain them, The price for
the quarter-ream is £3 14

A WHALE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.—ThO Leghorn
papers relate that a few days ago a whale was seen
from the pier floating on the top of the water out at
sea, and was afterwards caught by some fishermen, who
succeeded in throwing over it a lasso, and dragging it
In there. The papers describe it as a monster about
six feet long, without a tail, and extremely thick,
especially the head, which, they say, "resembles that
of a lion, the nose was all bone and gristle, and SO
hard as a stone. Probably it is a spermaceti whale.
It is thought that the Museum of Natural History at
Pisaa will purchase the animal, which weighs about
200 kilogrammes.

PERHAPS THOUGHT HE LOOKED " GrCEEN."
Visitor: Is Mr. Brown at home ?—Servant (recentlY
from the country) : No, Sir; just gone out. Visitor:
Well, when he returns, tell him his father called.--
Servant ; Yes, sir. What name /—Funny Folks.
A PALACE FOR THE CHILDREN OF NEW YORK.—*
The Sanitary Record says that Mr. A. B. Stone, of
New York, has just purchased for 20,000 dollars a
handsome site at .Bath, Long Islaul, called Bath-park,
for the Children's Aid Society. it contains 4i acres,
with trees, pavilions, bathhouses, and many con-
veniences for a sanitarium, and has a frontage of about
450 ft. on the sea, at a point where the bathing ill
peculiarly safe. The new summer home will be the
resort of the poor children of the tenement houses
during the hot weather.

SEA-WATER FOR LONDON.-All opposition has been
withdrawn to the Bill authorising the construction by
a company of conduits from Lancing, on the Sussex
coast, to London, for supplying the metropolis and the
intervening districts with sea water. It may be pre-
sumed, therefore, that the project will be carried into
effect. The period allowed by the Bill for the complt
tion of the undertaking is seven years. The principrg,
metropolitan termini of the pipes will be at St. John's
-
hill, Batt@r4Sa aaclise-road, Hammersmith; and
Viotoriastreet, Westminster. The maximum rate to
be charged for sea water to the owners or occupiers of
private houses connecting with the company's mainS
will bobs, per thousand gallons,