biglam/hmd_newspapers huggingface dataset:
The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-12-12

PERSONAL LUGGAGE.

The New York TUILCII gives the following statement, taken
from the annual report recently presented to the Treasury
by the trailed States' Commtrsioner of Customs
- -

_
'lt is estimated that the American tourists return-
ing from Europe during the year ending the 30th of
June, 1873. numbered 30,830, and each person brought
on the average seven trunks filled with dutiable goods,
claimed to be personal baggage, nnt dutiable. We
have thus an average of 257,810 trunks filled with
articles claimed as duty free, representing, on a valua-
tion of WO for each trunk, the enormous sum of
$128,905,000. It is well known that much of this bag-
gage is in reality intended to be put upon the market
as merchandise, and still other portions of it ate
brought over for third parties who have remained at
home. Most of those engaged in this kind of importa-
tion are people of wealth who should cheerfully bear
their just proportion of the national indebtedness, and
when they fail to do so, by this incipient form of
smuggling, the burden falls more heavily on others,
and discourages the honest merchant who is willing to
carry on a legitimate trade and observe the laws and
Customs regulatif no. The present practice of allowing
free entry of the personal elf ecta of passengers, the in-
spectors using their discretion and judgment as to
whether the amount of baggage is or is not in excess of
what is a suitable wardrobe, according to the pas-
senger's station in life, furnishes an inducement to the
rich and those in easy circumstances to take pleasure
trips abroad, which are made pecuniarily profitable by
this fashionable infraction of the revenue As a large
proportion of the baggage of passengers is passed and
delivered by our officials without a proper examina-
tion, more stringent regulations should be adopted to
s?cure the collection of lawful duties on goods thus
imported. Many of the difficulties with respect to
paaaengeta' baggage might be avoided by the passage
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-12-12

HOLLOWAY S-OINTMENT

BroneLilis, i,
liel.eingenients of' ilw 7 / I. I I ',et s.,

In any of the above dinette., immediate and permanent
relief in obtained by effectually rubbing this detergent
Ointment juice a day upon the neck, cheat, and buck, and
beck, and in 8,1 oit3ges of influenza, ee-ttled cough,, tine
wheezing at the ch,bt, the title treatment may be fol-
lowed wild ellici:ney and safety,

Bad .t,gs, Bad &mitt, Old 'ores, ll'oundx,
Ulcers.

By rubbing this Ointment perseveringly upon and
around tbe affected parts twice a day, it will penstrate to
the tissues beneath, and ex rt the meat beneficial influ-
ence; the inflammation so.,n d the pain
becomes leas intolerable, in, matter thiek.•na, and •
care is soon effected. In Al long s•anditc c%ses I %din-
way's Pills should also b. taken. we they gr. idly al in
expelling all depraved lantuouta Item ti, nes).
Skirt Ifigenties ali

In this clam of complaints, no matter the age, the sex
the place, or under what name the disease may be classi-
fied, immediate ease, and ultimate care, may with eel -
tainty be procured, if this Ointment be plentifuiti
rubbed upon the part affected, while if ollowsy's Pole
are taken in appropriate dimes night and morning, to
purify the blood.
. _ _
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-12-12

INDIAN TEAS.

Fine ASSAM &mono, very strong
Finest AssAg PKKOK Soucnono.very choice Ss 84
Finest Asssg PFAU*, eery rich flavour .. ds Od

COFFEE.

Good CF.YLON COFFER .. • • .. la 44
Finest PLANTATION CEYLON •• • . ••is 61
The Finest Eisler bun.) COFFEE (Reieg fully
ripe, picked quality. awl of the Mountain
growth—highly recommended) .. ls 114
The Finest MOUNTAIN JAMAICA COFFEE.. is lid

London Banker.: National Provincial Bank of
England.
_ . . . _

Liverpool Bankere-7-C-o-Mmereial Banking
Company.
THOMAS JONES & COMPY.
TEA AND COFFEE DEALERS,
3, BARNET? STREET, LIVERPOOL.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-12-12

MISADVENTURES OF A SAVANT.

The Paris Correspondent of the Pall
_Mall Gazette writes

"In alluding to the transit of Venus, H. Henri de
Parville, relates the misadventures which betel the
French savant, M. le Geutil de la Galaisiere, on the
occasion of the last transits. Le Geutil set out from
Paris in March, 1760, in order to observe the transit at
Pondicherry, and reached the Mauritius in July.
Having learnt that war had broken out between
France and England, and deeming it dangerous to
try and reach Pondicherry, he determined to go
elsewhere; but a frigate being hound for the coast
of Coromandel, he sailed in March, 1761. When
they had nearly anived they learnt that Pondicherry
had fallen into the hands of the English, so the
frigate was obliged to return t the Isle of France. The
6th of June, the slay of the transit, came; the sky was
clear, the sun splendid, but bow could the astronomer
take observations with the vessel rolling about? lie
had gone to India to see the transit of Venue; there
would be another in eight years, and he made up his
mind to stay. He managed to get back to Pondi-
cherry, where he built a small observatory, and waited
patiently, but without communicating with any one in
France, for he was ashamed of his first failure. At
last, the 3rd of June, 1760, arrived, and the morning
was lovely; but just as the planet began to touch the
disc of the sun, the sky became overcast, and Le Genii!
PIM nothing. For some time he was almost crray ;
but at last he recovered strength enough to return to
France, where he found that the person to whom he
had entrusted his property had run away; and that,
considered dead, he had been replaced in the Academy.
lie did not long survive these misfortunes."
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-12-12

"MIND READING."

A new Parlour Game, suitable for Christmas and
other evening parties, is now making its way in cer-
tain circles of American society, and will doubtless in
course of time become naturalised in this country.
It is called "Mind Reading," and is understood to be
bared upon a theory of unconscious muscular action.
It is played in this manner: A member of the party
goes out of the room, and during his absence an object
is hidden. On his return two others of the party
stand upbeside him in the middle of the room, placing
both their hands upon his body, one hand on his chest
and the other on his back, in the meantime keeping
their minds intensely concentrated on the locality
where the object is hidden. In a few moments the
party operated upon will move in the direction of the
hidden object, and in nine cases out of ten finds it.
Of course it will be said that there is nothing new in
this, and that it stands in much the sante relation to
Hide-and-seek as Base-ball does to Rounders. But
as a matter of fact, its introduction has created
quite a thrill in New York, where a gentleman
named Brown had been drawing large audiences
by his manifestations of power in this direction.
Mr. Brown, being an expert, is able to do more
than find hidden thimbles or scissors, for by means
of placing the back of the hand of the person ope-
rated cn against the back of his own head, "hold-
ing it there permanently," the other hapd of the
operator being touched lightly against the tips of the
fingers of the hand of the pers 41 operated on, he has
been known to tell what the latter was thinking about.
In this position, we are assured, the slightest tremour
' or agitation a the mind may be communicated
thron ;It the tips of the fingers from one person to
another. It has been objected to Spiritualism that,
even conceding the unaccountable motion of tables
and hats, no practical good has been known to
become of it. "Mind Reading" is an offshoot of
Spiritualism, but it obviously has the advantage
in the matter of usefulness. The position de-
scribed as an essential preliminary is not a very
convenient one, and in cases where the person
operated upon thought slowly it would become
physically tedious. But the advantage occasionally to
be derived from obtaining authentic information
touching what is passing through the minds of per
sons with whom we converse is so great that a little
stiffness in the arms and a tenderness about the finger
tips would weigh as nothing in the balance. True, it
would be difficult to perform this operation upon an
ingigntary subject; and, in ordinary cases, the easier
plaTwould be that the person about whose mental
operations we are curious should adhere to the old
custom of saying what heis thinking of.—Daily items.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-12-12

DANIEL DE FOE.

The Times (Wednesday) published the following letter :
Sir,—A paragraph in The Times of to day calls at-
tention to the fact of a youthful descendant r,f Daniel
De Foe being an applicant for admission to an Asylum
for Idiots, at Essex-hall, Colchester. Is it possible
that no appeal will be made to the nation on behalf of
this unfortunate child lo This poor boy, although bear-
ing no titled name, in the last male scion of him who,
in the noble words of Walter Savage Lannor, written
to you 20 years ago when pleading for another member
of the same luckless stock, "stimulated to enter-
prise those colonies of England which extend over
every sea, and which carry with them, from him, the
spirit and the language that will predominate through-
out the world." :Air, if there be any patriotism left
in these utilitarian days, every Englishman who
knows the name of De Yes—and what Englishman does
not ?—will cheerfully contribute his mite towards
securing a haven of rest for this pour child, and every
inenafer of our literary brothrhciod would, or should,
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-12-12

PRESIDENT GRANT'S MESSAGE TO

CONGRESS.

President Grant delivered his Message to Con-
gress! on Monday. After speaking of some un-
settled claims against Venezuela, he referred to
Spain. The offences she had committed against
the United States, especially in connection with
the Virginius and Cuba, had not been reduced in
magnitude, he raid, since his previous Message.
The unsettled state nf affairs could sot continue.
It would become necessary for other nations, in
conjunction with the United States, to terminate
the insurrection which had so long prevailed,
and which Spain had unsuccessfully attempted to
suppress. Turning to domestic matters, the Presi-
dent strongly recommends the resumption of spe is
payments at the earliest possible date, but 6,es
not think it can take place before 11476. He then
alludes to the measures that will be required to carry
out this object, and says that if necessary the Customs
and Excise laws must be altered in order to secure a
larger revenue. With the return of specie payments
banking would be free. There should be no limita-
tion of the volume of the currency, as the community
determines the amount required for business purposes.
The rest of the Message mainly concerns the disputes
In Arkansas, with which President Grant refuses to
interfere unless under the control of Congress.