The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-06-04 00:00:00

LIFE SALVAGE,

Tables on theqabove subject have been issued by the
Board of Trade, showing the different life-saving appa-
ratus stations, with particulars of service rendered by
the riacket apparatns, on the coasts of the United King-
dom during the year ended June 80, 1880. The total
number of lives saved by the apparatus in that year
was 95, as compared with 162 in the previous year.
The Board of Trade now grant an extra reward of
£1 for each life saved by the apparatus, to be divided
among the Coastguard and volunteers.
The number of life-saving apparatus stations upon
the coast of the United Kingdom is now 289.
The apparatus and the method of working it are
thus dewribed :—" A rocket is fired which carries a
line over a ship; the crew haul on the rocket line, and
this brings an endless rope (called a whip), rove
through a block, with a tail attached to it, which they
make fast to a mast or some other portion of the wreck
high above the water. Those on shore then haul off
to the ship a hawser attached to the whip, which is
made fast to tile mast or other portion of the
wreck about 18 inches above the whip. Those on
shore then set the hawser up and send off to
the ship the sling life-buoy. When the buoy
reaches the ship one of the shipwrecked persons gets
into it, and it is hauled back with its occupant. This
process is repeated till all, or as many as possible, are
saved. On low coasts without rocks it is sometimes
found better not to use the hawser, but the whip and
sling life-buoy alone. When the vessel is close in
shore, a heaving cane is used instead of a rocket."
Waggons and carts on improved models are now
supplied for the conveyance of the life-saving
apparatus, and an improved method of stowing the
life-saving gear has been introduced, which, it is
hoped, will add to the efficiency of the service.

CUTTINGS FROM AMERICAN PAPERS.

Josh Billings thus explains the difference between
the words mistake"" and "blunder.' If a man puts down
a poor umbrella and picks up a good one, it is a mistake: if
he puts aown a good umbrella and picks up a poor one, it is
blunder.

Some one wrote to Horace Greeley inquiring if
guano was good to put on potatoes. Ife said it rufgh) do for
those whose tastes had become vitiated with tobacco and
rum, but he preferred gravy and butter.
The faculty of an Ohio female seminary have
issued orders that no pupils shall have more than one male
visitor per week. The smart girls invite their young men to
call on Sunday, so that when their fathers come on Monday,
the old men find themselves barred out.
- - -

--
An Indian chief, after the romantic manner of his
14tion, calls his musket " Book-agent," because it is an old
smooth Lou,
"What are the wild waves saying, John?" sung out
Young America to a Chinaman on the beach. " Washee,
washee," calmly replied the Celestial, with a grin.
Said little Edith to her doll :—" There, don't
answer me back. You mustn't be saucy, no matter how
hateful I am. You must remember I am your mother !"
Strange what curioup ideas children Get into their heads
sometimes.

A Galveston father wanted to test the affection of
his son, so he said to him—" You have been a very good boy,
and now I'll give you your choice. Which would you prefer,
my esteem or five dollars?" The boy took the five dollars as if
it had been the measles, remarking that it was impossible
for his fatlicr to have much esteem for a boy who failed to
take advantage Of his opportunities.
A gentleman in New York Swamp met e rather
" uncertain" acquaintance the other day, when the latter
said :—" I'm a little short and would like to ask you a
conundrum in mental arithmetic." " Proceed" observed
the gentleman. "Well" said the " short" man, "suppose
you had ten dollars in your pocket, and I should aslc you for
five, how much would remain ? " "Ten dollars," was the
prompt answer.
This is the way in which a Louisville girl disposes
of a lover :—" You have asked me pointedly if I can marry
you, and I have answered you pointedly that I can. I can
marry a man who makes love to another girl every month.
I can marry a man whose main occupation seems to be to
loin in gauntlet in front of the churches and theatres and
comment andpqy on the people who are compelled to pass
through it. 1 can marry a an whose only rneanS bf support
is an aged father. I cad Marry a man wigi'boasts.thavany
girl can be won with The help of a gOod tailor 'and an e*pert
tongue. I can marry such a man, but I won't I"
"Every izirl in America wants a sealskin," and a
shrewd Boston photographer owes his remarkable success to
the fact that he keeps a sealskin for his sitters. flundreds of
young ladies, who do not posseEs a sealskin of their own,
have been taken in it.