The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-01-04 00:00:00

alistrilantotts

GONE, FOREIGN, AND CCLONIAL:

ARTILLERY.—It is contemplated to arm the
Royal Horse Artillery with a 9- pounder muzzle-load•
ing field gun, weighing only Il cwt., but capable of
using ammunition of preoisely the same weight as that
now supplied for the 9-pounder of 8 cwt. The 9-
pounder will then probably fire Ea elongated projectile
of 1.21 he., with 21b. of powder, by which its effective-
ness will be largely increased.
COAL BEDS IN THE FAROE ISLANDB.—EarIy
this autumn a Danish company sent out an expedition
to the Faroe Islands, in order to examine the coat beds
I there. The expedition, which was accompanied by
Professor Johnstrup and a mining engineer from
Silesia, has now returned to Copenhagen, with a report
favourable to an extended working of the mine. The
inhabitants have used thew, coals for a century. They
are free from sulphur and other things which could be
injurious to the fabrication of iron and steeL They are
well suited for the production of cinder and coke. The
situation of the coal-bed is very favonrable.
ACCIDENT TO • CRICIEETER.—A serious miss
hap has befallen Alfred Shaw, the well-known Notting-
hamshire cricketer. He was out shooting in the vicinity
of Burton Joyce, where he resides, and by some means
or other his powder-flask exploded in his coat pocket,
very badly tearing his arm and hand. Medical as.
sistance was soon forthcoming, and the sufferer is doing
as well as can be expected.
LITERARY FIRE-EATERS ! A violent con-
troversy has recently arisen between M. Paul de
Cassagnac, the well-known Imperialist journalist, and
M. Ranc, a prominent member of the extreme Re-
publican party. The following telegram appears in
yesterday's Figaro :—" Charing-Cross Hotel, Dec.
28, 10 a in. I learn from the Figaro that Citizen Haws
has made a violent reply to me. He has taken time to
Elwin. Please to announce he. shall lose nothing by
waiting."

A HAPPY THORGHT FOR CHRISTMAS. It is
consoln g to reflect that when a Sortle turkey falls
ill of the pip, it is never sent to table until it is
s-kewered.—Punch.

A CANDID EPITAPH.—III a churchyard near
Ayr is the following
Is life was ane wl many a flaw.
An wealha kent it befure he went aws'."

USING CORN FOR F um.. —A correspondent
writes to the Standard :

Your paper of the 27th Inst. amuses the inhabitants 0 the
state of lowa, United States, of using wheat as fuel, I must
beg to inform you that you are labouring under a mistake.
"rhe term corn as used In America never means wheat, but
muted. alone called corn. Diner producta 44f the soil, itch as
w leek barley, and oats, are tinned grab], and not corn. I
have mrself seen the articles used send in the state of lowa,
and capital fuel it

GREAT INCR EASE OF SONG END FIELD
Bins.—Since the passing of an Act for the preser-
vation of small birds and the protection afforded
them by the Gun Licenae Act, the increase of small
birds in the southern counties is marvellous. The
finch tribes had become almost extinct, but this au-
tumn clouds of go dfiinches may he seen feeding off
thistles, thereby showing their utility by preventing
the seed of this objectionable weed scattering over
the land; blackbirds, thrushes, and starlings also
well repay for protecti,n, and are clearing the
ground of slugs and snails; and the "despicable "
rook is remunerating the farmer by annihilating the
grub and wire-worm, which had made much havoc
among the young wheat this wet season. Linnets,
larks, dtc., have largely increased. The irrepressible
sparrow may possib y find protection, but not hem
the farmers, as a flock of sparrows in the corn-fields
commit Tore damage than winged game on a thickly
stocked manor; but it is pleasurable to again find thii
fields awl woods stocked with song and other birds.

AFFIRMATMIS NEGATIO/C—Giles : Did e'er a
man sver see Bitch wet weather in all hie barn days
afore ?—Hodge: Noah I—Punch.
Nowa Or NaBILITY.—A Man of Birth is
commonly one whose remote ancestor did something,
and hie interme hate predecessors, for many centuries,
nothing at all.—Punch.

FATAL CHRISTMAS KEEPING. —An inquest was
held at Jersey on Friday afteroon, touching the death
of Julien Belbct, a Frenchman, who Was (frowned in
a large pond about one o'clock on Thursday morning.
It appeared from the evidenze that the deceased, who
was a small farmer reeiding in Sr. John's parish, left
St. Helier for home about midnight on We inesday,
in his apring-cart, accompanied by Francois Roussel,
also a Frenchman, who lodged with him, both being
well supplied with drink. They took a wrong turn off
St. Aubm'a.road and proceeded up St. Laurence Valley
as far as Vicort Mill, where the public road terminates,
and a private road belonging to the Jersey Waterworks
Company commences. They removed a barrier placed
across the road, and were proceeding along It when
Reueael s hat blew off, and betook the cart lamn to go in
search of it. Whilst he did RO Belhot drove away ra-
pidly, and the jingling of his horse's hells was heard in
the vicinity of a large bye! flow pond, by the eogine•
man in attendance at the work,. He at once called out
for the deceased to stop, aid he would bring him a
Fght. By the time that he ieactied the spot whence
the sounds pro.xecled be cool I see nothing, but heard
a atrugeling in the pond for a few seconds, and then
all was quiet. Arousing a neighbouring farmer, the
two made a search, and eventually found the body of
the deceased in the water, and got it out. In the course
of the day the pond was drained, and the horse and
cart were taken out, the latter not in the least in.
pried. A verdict of Accidental Death was returnel

THE SPENNYMOOR MORDERERS.—A petition
for the reprieve of the four condemned criminals,
Slane, Ha a, Rice, and Realty, who were sentenced to
death by Mr. Justice Denman, at the late Durham
Assizes, for the murdes of a small shopkeeper, named
William Waine, at Spennymoor, on 9,1 September last,
was forwarded fr, m Duiham to the Home Secretary
by Mr. Brifrnall, jun., the solicitor for the prison« rr in
the case. rhe document sets forth various rounds
for an amelioration oi their punishment, and attached
to it are the affidavits of witnesaes whr,e testimony, it
is alleged, would have materially altered tne corn.
'legion of matte,.; hut whom counsel tor the defence,
in hia discretion, did not deem it necessary to call.
With reference to the men themselves, they have had
the constant ministrations of the Rev. Canon Consett
and the Rev. Joseph Watson, of Tuelhoe, Roman
Catholic clergymen, and all four appear to entertain a
conviction that some, if not all, of them will be re-
placed. The execution is fixed to take place at eight
o'clock on Monday morning next.

SINOULAR CAITSF, OF DEATH.—CM Friday,
an inquest was held at Leamington, which revesled
a singular cause of an infant's death. The deceased,
who was found dead in bed on Thursday, was the
daughter of a Mr. Ham., grocer, Victoria.terraces
A post-mortem examination ehowel that death was
due to the presence in the stomach of a compact and
hard ball of chetsy matter nearly the size of • man's
fis;. Two medical men gave it a, their opinion that
the ball had been accumulating for some time, and was
caused by the in lk baying become changed to cheese
in the stomach. Verdict—" Natural Cane,&"

A DEFINITION AT • DANCE.—WOMA• 18 •
creature endowed with a self ornamental instinct.—
Pasch.

GusLey's Liar WORDS.—" The country is
gone; the Tribune is gone; and Tam gone," are said
to be the last rational words of Horace Greeley. One
of hie laat letters wan addressed to Maeon NV. Tappan.
of New Hampshire, dated Nov. 3 :—"I have," he
wrote, "been so bitterly assailed that I hardly knew
whether I was running for the Presidency or for the
penitentiary."
NOT • CHEERFUL YEAR.—The Timcs in their
Retrespect for 1872, says—

. -
The extraordinary rainfall which has now lasted seven
months has been a grave drawbaok to the general proverity.
l'he electrical disturbance, indicated by a constant nieces-
sion of thunderstorms, began towards the latter part of •
cold and backward Spring ; aid they have continued to th•
present time. In the month of Jane there were heavy
floods in many parts of the country, and the harvest wu
deficient both in quantity and quality. The consequent loss
will he greatly aggravated by the unprecedented wetness of
the Autumn, which has rendered it imposaible to sow wheat
except in the lighter soils The potato crop was the wont for
anand-twenty year.; but some compensation has been
found in the ample produce of ether root crop, and in an
unusual abundance of grass. Within the last month gala
of extreme violence have done much damage on land, and
have covered the sea with wrecks. Between bad weather
and Labourers' Unions, farmers have not enjoyed a cheerful
year.

ONE OF THE BEST COMPLIMENTS OF THB
SEASON. —The Zoological Society have, with great
propriety, awarded a Medal to Mr. Bartlett, the able
Superintendent of their Gardens. Remembering a
recent interestieg event in the Regent's Park, we
should not have been surprised to hear that Mr.
Bartlett had been made a Companion of the (Hippo.
potamus's) Bath.—Punch.
Two SIDES TO • QUESTION.—An instance Of
a somewhat amusing nature occurred,a short time since
in one of the Midland counties. A tuag.tratn, whose
zeal in all reformatory and philanthropic matters hen
been conspicuously developed, was congratulating
some of his brother justices on the great diminution of
crime effected by recent legislation. In confirmation
of his opinion he appealed to the clerk. "Do you not
think. Mr. —, there has been • great diminution of
committals during the last twelvemonths ? " " Thank
God, no, sir " devoutly exclaimed the clerk, who, iti.
needles* to add, was paid by fees.
A SENSIBLE CHRISTMAS Box !—The working
men of Wolverhampton and the surrounding district of
South Staffordshire determined some time ago to raise
£1,500 towards the South Staffordshire Hospital in
that town, which had just been et larged They eould
not, however, collect more than £6OO. But the work
was resumed at Christmas under the happy idea of a,
" Chrisqroutobox." So ready and liberal had been Use
response, and so desirous have been tte employers and
merchants to assist in the work, that on Saturday, at
a meeting held in Wolverhampton for the purpose.
two checks of the united value of £1.500 were handed
to the weekly board of the hospital, and there Is yet
more to come. By this handsome Christmas-box the
hospital is now free of all debt, in connexion with it.
recent considerable enlargement, which includes
fever department.

THE GENEVA AWARD—Our (The Times)
Berlin correspondent writes, under date Dec. 28 :

" A curious circumstance In connexion with the A /fawns
Arbitration has Just come to light in our rresa. The verdict
of the arbitrators was published in the Journal de Com mord°
at Rio de Janeiro several days before it transpired In
Europe, no that, had there been a telegraph between Brasil
mid England, it would have actually reached you earlier
from South America than from Switzerland. Brion the
Journal glorying in this notable achievement of their Swims
correspondent, the Rio Republica begv tut to observe that the
fact of the verdict having been communicated by the Bras
vilest Arbitrator. Baron de Unpin& to M de Villeneuve--
who happens to be Brazilian Envoy in Switzerland aid pre-
prietor of the Journal de Comme rce—redoundod neither to
the honour of Brazilian I lipl.,msay nor journalism."
THE NATIOR'S NET PROFIT.—Thgt of
British Fisheries.—Putich.

WkR PREPARATIONS IN Ay--
.STItIA.- One of
the moat widely circulated of ....pa Russian papers, the
Colon, referring to BOW:, 'unfavourable remarks made
by other journals ^.• the publication of a military work
in Austria relative to the preparations made by that
Power, in a view of •a po-sible war wit
,Russie,
say,:—' Does it follow that Au-tria wishes seeks
for a war with Russia ? To answer such a questiosin
the affirmative is as much ail to say that a man who
does all ho can to preserve his house from fire is seek.
ing to burn it. The military literature of • country is
the work of its soldiers, and if chase do their dal?
honestly they should discuss questions relating to the
defence of their country, and hence all the probable
requirements of war. .. . This is what Prussia did—
with what success all the world knows."
_

A POACHER'S CARZER. —At the LeAmster
Quarter Sessions, some startling facts were eoade public
with respect to the career of an old p,aehae, named
Nightingale, who was charged with. iteing upon land
in Elle]. belonging to Mr. Preston, cef Liverpool, during
the night time, for the purpe'ae of taking game. He
was also charged with ir..ving been twice previously
oolartictoel o ay. H..... It 00.. from
statement handed 'de by the police, that Nightingale
had, since the yoar 1857, been seven times IR prison
for periods varying from three to eighteen months for
poaching offences, that he has paid in the same period
ihe in flues, toed that altogether there were 21. oonvie-
tions against him. A few months ago he was caught
daring the bight upon the Aehton Hall estate, peach.
tog, and handed over to the etuetody of the police, but he
managed tn make his escape, and the police were enable
to ascertain his whereabouts until he was again found
at his old tricks, poaching upon Mr. Preston's land, in
ElleL When apprehended he made a violent assault
upon one of the keepers. The jury found the prisoner
guilty, and he was sentenced to eighteen months' im-
prisonment, with hard labour, in Lancaster Castle.
A M &RICAN MURDER JOH E. —The man who
tells pretty stories for the Savannah News sharpened
his pencil the other day, di-hevelled his hair, and wrote
as follows —'ln: the twilight of a beautiful day in the
ides of 0 'Veber an Appling county man net his son and
heir to watch a favourite corn-patch. Returning a
little later to see if the infant was at his poet, the
jocund father happened to create a little commotion
among the dry stalks. There was a flash and a report,
and the aet.nished parent toe down two panels of
fence in getting away. To his neighbour., who called
to see him in his bed-ridden condition, he extols the
vigilance of his son and his accuracy with a shot gun,
COAL PROSPECTS. —The Nets-castle C7irmicle
remarks that prices in the coal trade are agaio stiffen-
ing, and that there is no prospect of rites falling
below the percent quotations for some :One to come.
Contracts have been made for gas coal at tolerably
high pricee, and there seems every likelihood that a
considerable amount of household coal will be un-
ecresned during next year, and the coslovrners will sell
them to the factories or for domestic consumption se
they please. All kin Is of manufacturing wale are ad-
vancing, and the Northumberland steam coal-owners
state that with the turn of next year they will put on
the 2s. per ton and make the official quotation 20s. per
ton for best acute of steam. The coal trade of this
country seems to be now thoroughly bound up with the
iron trade, so that as the latter rises and falls do the
prices uf coals fluctuate.

Tee DEAR OLD LADY !—Some gentlemen of
an Aberdeen Bible association calling upon an old
woman to nee if she had a Bible, were severely reproved
with the spiritual reply, " Do you think, gentlemen,
that I am a heathen, that you should ask me such a
question?" Then addressing a little girl, she said,
Run and fetch the Biole out of my drawer, that I
may show it to the gentlemen." The gentlemen de-
clined giving ber the trouble, but she insisted on giving
them ocular demonstration. Accordingly the Bible
was brought, nicely covered, and on opening it, the old
Aberdeen lady exclaimed, "Well, how glad I am you
have come! Here are my spectacles that I have been
looking for these three years, and didn't know where
to find 'em "

A SAFEGITARD.—A question is asked in
Notes and Queries respecting the word "Safeguard,'
which occurs in an old letter, dated 1746. The querigt
asks, "What was a Safeguard in the days of George
the Second?" Phillips. in hie Nets World of Words,
twentieth edition, MDCCXX., under the word "Safe-
guard," says, 'There is also a kind of Dust.gown, or
upper garment, worn by women, oommorily called a
Safeguard; also a coloured apron, and a sort of
swathing-band for a young child." Ilailey gives the
same explanation; and Perey, in him Dictionary, 1805,
gives " Safeguard—a kind of petticoat, worn by
women on horseback, to preserve their other clothes."
The meaning of " Safeguard " appears to have been
pretty much the same from 1706, in Queen Anne's
time, to 1805, "When George the Third was King."
The term "Safeguard " does not appear in the above
sense in the older dictionaries of Barrett and Minahaw.
Halliwell quotes from " Nonemclator," 1585. "A
kind of aray or attire reaching down to the feet, like a
woman's safeguard or a baker's."
Teams TA_LK.— -Mr.. Malaprop, when dining
out lately, was heard to ask for some Vinegar, and to
admire the beautiful order in which her friends Electrio-
Plate.—Punck.

PREMATURE OLD AGE.—A New York fashion.
writer says :—"The number of our prematurely grey
young women on the streets dressed in the height of
faction, and stylish, attracts attention. The hair is
not powdered or frosted, but is really grey. One would
hardly credit the fact, but • fact it is, that a chemical
process is resorted to to bleach the hair white. The
reign of the blonde is over, and the old term ' tow-
head' Nimes horn room to room. Golden locks are at
a discount. Raven tremies are vulgar, and snowy hair
is the style. The Lagheet.priced wigs are grey, and
nit black or auburn. Such is the tyranny of fashion
that young tine with black and auburn hair are many
to have a bleached head."

PAM:MEM IN CHINA AND JAPAN.—The Chinese
and Japanese are not slow in applying to their own
affairs the lessons they learnt during their intercourse
with western nations. A telegram from Hong-Kong,
announces that three native Chinese steam companies
are being formed, and a mail despatch from Japan an-
nounces that next month an elective Parliament is to
be established in that country. This is to consist of
600 members, and there are to be two Houses, bat
whether both will be elective was not at the time of
the departure of the mail clearly understood. The
Japan Oasette thus conclude,' an editorial on the an-
wounoemeut of this introduction of the Parliamentary
system —"it: is an experiment of the deepest In-
terest; and nothing that has yet been done by the
Government Is 0 big with mighty conseqoence as is
this. Surely all praise is due to the Government
wbich has led the people, step by step, to freedom,
and who now place so large an amount of power in
their hands." The Mikado of Japan intends shortly
to celebrate in a public manner the completion of
telegraphic communication between that country an 4
Europe,

Vettnnsry Snriew

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