The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-05-11 00:00:00

rlisttilareotts •fntrtligentr,

LOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL,
MEDICAL Mam.—Wine "laid down" too long
may "lay up" its imbiber.—Judy.
Tow NATIONAL FINANCES—The revenue re-
turn issued on Tuesday shows that the revalue between
the Ist April and thoWth inst. amounted to £7,233,591
as compared with £6,008,920 last year. It was derived
from the following sources :—Customs, £1.821,000;
Excise, £2,285,000; stamps, £990,000; taxes, £191,000;
income tax, £984,000; Post Office, £50,000; telegraph
service, £50,000; Crownlands, 225,000 ; miscellaneous,
£857,59L In the same period the expenditure
amounted to £8,447,940. The balance in the Bank of
England last Saturday was £6,660,275, and in that of
Leland, £1,529.41L
A RIVAL TO TEA AND COFFEE.--It is stated
tea and coffee are threatened with a Brazilian rival,
called guarani'. Guarana consists of the seeds of a
tree known to botanists as the paulinos awbitia, which
is very abundant. The tree produces a fruit about the
size of a walnut, containing live or six seeds. The
seeds are roasted, mixed with water and dried. Before
being used they require grinding, when they fall into a
kind of powder. The active principle is an alkaloid,
identical with that found in tea or coffee, but there is
twice as much of it in guarana as there is in tea. The
effects are similar to those of tea and coffee.
THE CORN LAWS IN JAPAN.—lnformation
from Yokohama announces that this year the rice crop
has been so abundant in Japan that the Government
has published an exceptional anthorisation for the ex-
portation of that article, such permission being generally
refused. The produce destined for sale is that which
will remain in the Government depots, the amount of
which is estimated at 500,000 pikus of 60 kilos. each.
The export will be in a great part to China, where the
harvest has been scanty, the difference in the prices
offering a considerable pr. ,fit. Some portion will prob-
ably be sent to the United States of America, but the
European markets are not likely to be much affected
by the Japanese contributions.
THE NEW FORTIFICATIONS Or STRASBURG.—
Stmsburg, according to German journals, is to be sur-
rounded by a girdle of eighteen forts, at an average
distance of about one German mile from the enctilite of
the town. Five of those forts to the north-west of the
city will be first built. Their construction has been
undertaken by various companiesof contractors, and are
to be completed by the Ist April, 1875. A commence-
ment has been made by erecting a number of
temporary dwellings, sufficient to accommodate from
800 to 1,000 IMAMS at each of the sites, These men
will chiefly come from other parts of Germany, as
the A lsatians are disinclined to accept employment
on the works. The remaining thirteen forts will not
be begun until the first five are completed. The total
expense is estimated at from, thirty to forty millions of
thalers. When all are finished, and not till then, the
old fortifications will be demolished.
MONASTIC AND CONVENTUAL COMMISSION.—
Mr. Newdegate's bill for appointing Conninissioners to
inquire respecting monastic and conventual institutions
in Great Britain proposes that the inquiry should be
rnade into (a) the numbers, at the passing of this 4.ct
and from time to time since the beginning of the pre-
sent century, and the respective situations and cha-
racter, of monastic and conventual institutions in
Great Britain, whether having, wholly or in part, edu-
cational objects are not; (5) the property or income
held by or for such institutions' and the conditions on
which the same is held; and whether the mode of
acquisition and the holding thsreof, or the purposes for
which the same is held, are in contravention of the
principle of the law against superstitious uses, or of the
law of mortruain, or of the law relating to charities;
(c) what regulations are needed with respect to con-
vents ; (d) under what circumstances and securities it
may be desirable to promote the emigration of women.
EmionATloN FROM IHELAND.—The number of
emigrants who left the Irish ports in 1871 was 72,004,
being 3,476 fewerfthan 1870 ; 28,066 were from Ulster,
15,850 f corn Leinater, 13,199 from Munster, 9,049 from
Connaught ; 764 were persons belonging to other coun-
tries; 5,076 are not in this respect described, 41,924
were males and 30,080 females. 477 per cent of the
whole nnuler were 15 but under 25 years of age, and
237 per cent. were 25 but under 35 ; so that rather
more than three-fourths of the emigrants were 15 and
under 35 years of age. 12 per cent were under 15; 11
per Cent. were 35 years old or upwards. 22,569 em-
barked at Queenstown, 18,959 at Itelfast, 10,499 at
Londonderry and Muville, 9,592 at Dublin, 3,246 at
Dundalk, 2,259 at. Drogheda, 2,154 at Cork, 952 at
Wexford.
THE VIENNA EXHIBITION OF 183.—The
Gazette contains a Royal commission, appointing as
commissioners to represent British and colonial ex-
hibitors at the International Exhibiton to be held at
Vienna in 1873—His Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales, Sir Andrew Buchanan, the Marquis of Ripon,
Earl Cowper. Lord Henry Gordon Lennox Baron
Acton, and Henry Arthur Massey, E,1., Francis
Philip Cunliffe Owen, Esq., is to be secretary to the
commission.
Tug CzAn's Cometzas.—The Emperor Ni-
cholas was exceedingly exacting in the demands he
made upon his military couriers. They were required
to travel about tWelve miles an hour, and could never
stop during the whole journey for more than three
minutes at a time for the purpose of changing horses.
, The distance was nothing, the rule was inflexible. It
was only a few men who Gould stand this sort of work,
and one of them was our general. When holding that
humble military rank, he one day, as courier dashed up
Pi , to the Winter alace n St. Petersbtirg. He reported
, himself to the aide-de-ramp on duty as the bearer of
r despatches from the Caucasus. 'The Side-de-camp
, immediately reported his afirival to the Emperor, who
, always received these important documents with his
own hands. The Emperor returned quickly to the
, room, where be f mid the Dallier lying on the floor,
, either fast asle•-p or insensible. The unfOrMinate
fellow was pulled and shaken, but without any effect;
overcome by the fatigue of the journey, he seemed to
have sunk into a helpless lethargy. What could be
done! No man ought to sleep before the Czar, even
under such circumstances ; but the Czar himself was
• equal to the emergency. Ho went up to the mes-
senger, stooped down, and whispered in his ear, in the
language of the post.house starosta, "The horses are
ready, Excellency !" "All right," shouted the now
awakened courier, believing he VMS still on the road.
• The man's promotion was rapid from that day.—" frau
at Hone; or, Pictures of Russian Life." By Herbert
Burry.

A GENTLEMAN KILLED BY A BOLL.—A de-
plorable accident, resulting in death, occurred on
Tuesday morning on a farm near Dysart, tenanted by
Mr. Thomson. A bull broke loose from its stall, and
was pursued by Mr. Thomson Mr. Thomson led the
party. holding out a spread naptin, wht n the infuriated
animal turned round and t,ssed him fti the air. On
alighting the bull pitched him up a second time, about
ten feet high, suutfed at hint, and then made off. Air.
Thomson had been gored twice in the heart, and died
immediately. The bull was afterwards shot by one of
the keepers on the estate.
RELIGION IN THE AltllY.—A return has been
published showing the number of non-commissioned
officers end men in the army Ile, ording to their religious
denominations, stating-1. Episcopalian Protestants ;
2. RoMAII Catholics ; 3. Preetyterians; 4. Other re-
ligious denominations. It appear@ that Episcopalian
Protestants number 111,160; Roman Catholics, 44,392;
Presbyttelaus, 16,904; other religious denentinetions,
7,56 g ; total, 183.204.
B.uiiisu Commuee.—The Board of Trade ro-
turn3 issued on Tue,day, for the month of April,
show a further expansion of our foreign trade, the
exports being £21,033,516, BA compared with
£16.846,442 in April, 1871, and £17,335,470 in April,
1870. The imports were 228,367,787 as compared
with £29,105,367 in 1871 and £28,199,545 in 1870. The
accounts show that our imports during the present
year have amounted to £114,525,203, being an increase
of £10,173,859 as compared with the corresponding
four mouths of last year. Our exports during the past
four months have amounted to £78,203,880, being an
increase of nearly £12,000,000 as compared with the
corresponding period of last year.
Two MEN SUFFOCATED BY GAS.—A serious
accident has just occurred at the gas works at Dieppe,
France. A well into which the refuse- water of the
factory is drained off, was being clewed out, when a
workman, named Dubroe, who was below, became
overcome by the mephitic vapour and fell insensible.
The I ,reman, M. Bouteiller, descended and succeeded
in attaching ropes to Dubroc who was drawn up and
soon recovered. His rescuer, however, was not so
fortunate, as he succumbed in his turn to the noxious
gas. His brother immediately went down to his as-
sistance, but shared the same fate, agel M. Allard, the
director, seeiug what had occurred, hastened to aid
them. lie was also overpowered, but a man, named
Delepine, followed him, and succeeded in tying rcpes
•to his body and he was got up. He was insensible for
a long time, but eventually recovered consciousness.
Unfortunately the two brothers Bouteiffer were quite
dead when brought to the surface.
- •

SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS AT Sr. PAUL'S.
On Monday evening a special service for Sunday-school
teachers was held at St. Paul's Cathedral, London, and
the space under the dome was crowded. The gathering
was one of unusual interest, for it appeared to include
laymen and women of every position and condition in
life. There were rich and poor, "young men and
maidens," grey beards long past the meridian of life,
and aged women, all devoted to the great work of in-
stilling religious principles and knowledge into the
minds of the rising generation. There was an unmis-
takeable expression of earnestness about most of the
faces, which showed how deeply those present felt the
reality and the importance of their work. A most
eloquent sermon was preached by the Bishop of Car-
lisle from Col. ii., 8,9, and 10, on the dangers of the
" philosophy and vain conceits "of the present day. A ,
collection was made in aid of the Church of England
Sunday-school Institute. The Bishop then dismissed
the vast congregation with the Apostolic Benediction.
VITALITY OF small fish imbedded
_ • "

in ice, was by some workmen engaged in taking
ice from the Humboldt to fill an ice-house. The little
fellow was solidly encased in ice as clear as crystal,
and when placed in water and the ice gradually melted
from about it, its rigidity left, the tail quivered, and,
after turning over a few ttmes, it swam away as if
nothing had happened. How long his minnow-ship
hail been thus housed is not known, but probably not
less than two mouths.
THE REOPOSED RAILWAY AMAIAIAMATION.—
On Monday the joint Select Committee on this ques-
tion was engaged in examining Sir Edward Watkin,
the chairman of the Sheffield and Lincolnshire and the
South-Eastern Railways. While saying that he deemed
amalgamation almost a necessity in the present state
of the railway system, amalgamation which would
destroy competition would be an unmitigated evil to
the public, and an injury to the smaller companies.
His suggestion was that a universal system of sunning
powers should be devised, and he, also, on the part of
the forty millions of capital he represented, advocated
the adoption of the principle by which the public
should have the right of sending their traffic by any
route they pleased. In cases of misuse of power
by the company having running powers, the owning
company should have power to appeal to an arbitra-
tion hoard, and vice versa. He objected to government
control, and he instanced the state of the French rail-
ways in support of his Lbjections. The French rail-
ways were amalgamated on the principle that the
government protected them against competition, and
the result had been that for years they were non-pro-
gressive, while in England great progress had been
made. The arbitration board should consist of five
members, three to be appointed by the government,
and two by the railway companies, at regular intervals.
The decision of the board should be final. All the
amalgamations which had hitherto taken place had
been advantageous to the public, but what was to be
avoided was the destruction of competition. This was
the danger parliament must avoid.
AICOLO-AMERICAN COPYRIGHT.—A memorial
of British authors on the subject of copyright in the
United States was sent to Lord Granville on the 19th
ult., in which hopes are expressed that the American
Government would reconsider the policy in virtue of
which they as authors enjoy no rights which American
citizens ame bound to respect. The memos Lands further
state that they understand that the demands of pub-
lishers in this country have hitherto been the most
formidable obstacles to the negotiations of a Copyright
Convention ; they are of opinion that the interests of
our publishers in American copyrights are quite in-
dependent of the just claims of British authors; and that
the latter may be fully admitted without recogni-
tion of the former. Americans admit the claim
of the British author to be paid by them for hie
brain work, while they do not admit the claim
of the British book manufacturer to a monopoly
of their book market. To give the author a
copyright is simply to agree that the American pub-
lisher shall pay him for work done; to give the British
publisher a copyright, is to open the American market
to him on terms which prevent the American publisher
from competing. The memorial duly appreciates the
force of this distinction, and suggests that further
negociations should be opened with a view of securing
a copyright to British authors under such comlitions.
Among the numerous signatures appended to the docu-
ment are those of Sir John Lubbock, M.P., Mr. Hux-
ley, Mr. T. Hughes, M.P., Miss Martineau, Mr. Her-
bert Spencer, Mr. G. H. Lewes, Mr. John Stuart
Mill, Mr. Fronde, Mr. Carlisle, Mr. Ruskin, Mr. John
Motley Mr. Charles Darwin Dr. Tyndall Mr. Shit--

ley Bioke, Mr. Edwardbi;i: n (lki7.:Ralz: • Lord

Enfield has acknowledged the 14ceirt of the memorial
on behaif of Lord Granville, and has prombied the
careful attention of the Government.