The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-02-28 00:00:00

Mistritancous 41ttelligenct.

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

THE DECREASE OF BUFFALOES.—The extinction of
thp buffalo in North America seems to be rapidly
progreseing, and this important and useful animal
will probably in a few years become a thing of the
past. Comparatively few buffaloes have, according to
a Canadian paper, the Montana Herald, ranged during
the past year north of the international boundary.
Forts Walsh and Macleod have for some years been
important centres for the collection of buffalo robes,
the market value of which to the Indian hunter may
be estimated at 2 dole, each. In 1877 some 30,000
robes were gathered at Fort Macleod, and a large
number at Fort Walsh. In 1878 the number was
12,797 at the former and 16,897 at the latter place;
while last year only 5,764 came in at Fort Macleod
and 8,277 to Fort Walsh. This steady decrease in the
number of buffaloes slain by the Indians and half-
breeds of the North-Went affords a ready explanation
of the suffering prevalent among them.
COAL AND GAS FOR HEATING AND COOKING.—It may
be very seriously doubted whether so Lunch as one-
sixth of the 85 per cent, of heat produced from a given
weight of coal is actually utilized for domestic pur-
poses, On that showing, out of the 33 millions of
units of heat which the coal can yield us, we actually
utilise leas than 5 millions of units. If we take the
price of best coal in the fireplace at 255. a ton, the cost
of warming will thus be Se. per million British units
of heat obtained. A ton of coal will yield an average
of nearly 10,000 cubic feet of coal gas, The calorofic
power of good gas is about 1,000 units per cubic
foot, or ten million units for 10,000 cubic feet,
At 3s, 41 per. thousand, we thus have a cost of 40
pence per million units of heating power, as. against
60 pence for open fires. It is true that we have to
make a correction here for heat to be conducted away
from the gas burner. But the correction in a well.
arranged system need not be very considerable. It is,
indeed, an essential condition of the healthy use of gas
as a calorific source that the whole of the product of
combustion should be conveyed away from the apart-
ments by a special closed system of pipes. The great
heat of the flame renders this perfectly manageable.
But these Pipes themselves may be made the sources of
heat in other apartments than those in which the gas
is burnt. They may be jacketed with water. In
many ways the heat may be so attracted from the
issuing air that only that vortion which is necessary for
the efficiency of ventilation shall be lost. In fact it
cannot be called lost if so employed. But if we lose
10 or even 20 per cent: of the heat obtained, the
balance it still very heavily in favour of gas.—Builder.
AUSTRALIAN MEAT TRADE.—The Sydney Morning
Herald of December 31 says :—" In connexion with
the proposal to prepare and export meat to England a
i
meeting was held n Sydney on the 26th of December,
at which a large number of gentlemen interested in
stock breeding and pastoral pursuits attended. Most
of the speakers conaidered that it would be necessary,
in the first instance, to induce the City Corporation to
establish a centril meast-ifiarket, and that-then the
promoters of this scheme should take steps for pro-
viding suitable buildings for the reception, storage,
and preparation by freezing process of meat for expor.t.
The meat supply in Australia, and particularly in
New South Wales, is so far in excess of the demand,
and the stock-owners of the colony so strongly feel the
necessity of finding a fresh outlet for their stock, that
it is very probable that a regular trade will shortly
be established with England by regular exportation
from the colonies of meat preserved by the freezing
process."
KEEPING EGGS FROM ROTTING.—" Is there 110
way," writes an agricultural correspondent, 'ld keep-
ing eggs from turning bad ? " Well, no really infallible
means have been discovered, we believe, but a hound
pup, about six momths old, will come about as near it as
any thing else, if you leave the hennery door open.
About one pup is sufficient for a farm of 280 acres.

DEATH OF - AN INTERESTING OLD LADY.—The
Basellandsche Zeitung says that an old lady died lest
week at Anwil, in her ninety-ninth year, who leaves
behind her three children, eighteen grandchildren, and
fifty great-grandchildren. In 1827 she and her husband
celebrated their silver wedding, and in 1852 their
golden wedding. If he had lived as long as his wife
they would have celebrated that exceedingly rare
festival—the diamond wecliang. From her earliest
youth to the day of her death she never hai occasion
to call for the help of a doctor. No special illness
preceded her -death, and she had the full retention of
her mental powers to the very last. In earlier years
she was obliged to wear spectacles; but, f!,rarige to
say, for the last ten years her sight had go improved
that she could read without the help of glasses' Only
last summer she went out daily into the fields, where
she helped stoutly with the hay harvest. Her
obituarist says that she was quite a depositary of
legends and memories, and that he had learned from
her many interesting recollections of the stirring years,
1790-1815.
HEADS AND TALES, —Fria d • "Have you heard
those extraordinary tales that
isnoaprhyer h: ead "sY thaao%° •
t),.t are waggink about the
secret societies in Russia? 'e—Philosopher
but haw) you thought what
fellows must have who wag such tales 7 "—Pun.
T ALe-reevai DING FEATURE OF FRENCH LIFE,
eut h. .
—An Atu „erio gives t is opinion ef the French :
.. siV'hat is the strongest trait, the most
Were I asked,
and the all-prevailing feature of French
constant habit,
life ? " I should promptly reply, "Economy.". It is, at
the same time, the basis of 911 the great wealth of the
wetion. Where else can you find so many
French
in second hand clothing as in Paris? Where
dealers find the h
else ur.„, you undredth part of the dealers in
„unconsidered trifles," old jewellry, cast aside baubles,
old tePestrY men ied till it seems a mass of rage
6. darned " together; old bits of earthenware and
crockery ; old wood carvings, fit only for kindling
wood; old watches that never "go," that never have
"gone," and for ever shall refuse to "go." Then
observe the many collections, especially on fête days,
of old kitchen utehsils, old tools, and even of rust
netts, broken screws, crooked tacks, &e,, &c. Some-
body—or rather very many somebodies—buy this old
flotsam and jetsam, saved from many a domestic wreck
we wot not of, driftage from many a heppily launched
bark now gone down by reason of collision with some
social, iceberg, or by ktmning on some society broakers,
or mayhap drawn down-by the great everhungry all
devouring maelstrom Death.

A UMW. INSTBIIMICHT.—A telemeter, which, if it
answers the description given to it, will for many
purposes far surpass any range-finder yet suggested,
has been invented by a professor of mechanic:, at the
high school at Belgrade. The instrument, it is stated„
will show with unvarying precision the exact distance
of the enemy. The rapidity with which sound travels
is the basis of the measurement of distances; the
distance required to be known being shown upon the
face of the instrument in less than a minute. The
telemeter itself is only of about the size of a watcb,
and can therefore be easily carried in the pocket,
while the error in the measurement of any range from
500 up to 20,000 yards does not exceed A yards, and
does not increase, as it does in any optical range-
finder, with the distance. Finally, the cost of the
telemeter is only about £2. In a word, it is claimed
for the new instrument that it is portable, cheap, easy
to use, and exceedingly accurate.—Pall Mall Gazette.
SUB ROBA,—How the Captain gets his clothes .';.to
sit so nicely. " Well, Jinks, what is it ? " " Your
new morning suit, sir, I've worn it every evening for
the last fortnight." "All right, Jinks I Just put on
my blue frock coat and the check trousers for acouple
of hours. I shall want them after lunch. And then
you can get yourself into my dress togs—l'm going
out tq dine at eight. "Yes, sir."—Punch.

THE CZAR'S PRECAUTIONS.—The Whitehall Review
says :—" In consequence of the recent attempts made
upon his life the Czar finds himself forced to take every
possible precaution. His carriage and sledge are lined
with sheets of steel • he himself endeavoured for some
time to wear a small chain armour cuirass under his
shirt; but, notwithstanding at it was a marvel of
workmanship and as flexible as a piece of linen, the
weight was so great that it only increased the nervous
disorder from which His Majesty is suffering, and had
therefore to be abandoned. The following substitute,
however, has been invented. A certain kind of wadding
Is firmly pressed between heavy cylinders, and then
dipped in a preparation of iron-glue, which gives it a
reassuring and satisfactory consistency, The uniform
of the Czir is lined with thbk wadding, which would
effectually prevent an ordinary bullet from doing muck
damage. The agents of the Secret Police who accom-
pany the Czar when he leaves the Palace have no idea
whither His Majesty is going until half-an-hour before
they start, and they are especially forbidden to make
known when the Czar goes out or where he is to go."
" A PREDESTINATE RA. "--Mam Ma (entering.
"Now, I'm sure you children are in mischief, you are
so quiet !" Ethel (in a rapturous whisper). "Hush,
ma I Tommy 's been paintin' a spider's web on
gran'pa's head while he's asleep, to keep the flies off!"
—Punch.

THE LAND LAWS.—The Edinburgh Chamber of
Commerce have resolved to petition both Houses of
Parliament to the effect that, in the opinion of the
Chamber, the law regarding the tenure of land is
Scotland snd the relation of landlord and tenant is irs
an unsatisfactory condition; and that there may
be passed into law such measures as shall abolish the
law of primogeniture, prohibit the future creation of
entails, abolish the laws of hypothec, secure compen•
nation to tenants for unexhausted improvements, and
repeal all existing unequal legislation bearing on the
relations of landlords and tenants of land.

THE GOTHARD TUNNEL MEDAL.-011 the Gothard
Tunnel boring being co,npleted, a medal will be pre-
sented to every one of the mcn engaged in the work.
Tbe medal is being struck at Geneva, and is highly
spoken of as a work of art. It bears on one side the
arms of Germania, Helvetia, and Italia, with the
words Viribus unitis, and on the obverse, in German
and Italian, "To the men of the Gothard Tunnel."
The total length of the tunnel will be 14,920 metres, of
which rather over 100 mhtres were yet unfinished on
the 16th inst.

PACKING AND PACKING.—When a bee brings pollen
into the hive, he advances to the cell in which it is to
be deposited and kicks it off; another bee, one of the
indoor hands, comes along and rams it down with his
head and packs it into the cell as the dairy maid packs
butter into a larking. —Job n Burroughs. We would prefer
not to have any dairy maid pack our butter that way.
—Traveller's Record. If our butter must be packed
in that way, let it be done by a bald-headed dairy maid.
—Rome Sentinel.

PROPOSED MONUMENT TO VICTOR EMANUKL.—A
project has been laid before the Italian Parliament
according to which a monument to the late King
Victor Emanuel is to be erected in Rome, the cost
being fixed at nine million lire. The Commissica
which has been entrusted with the preparatory
measures for the undertaking has issued its report, and
has decided that the competition for the work shall be
international. The competitors, without troubling
themselves as to the place on which the monument
shall be erected, are to be left entirely free In their
suggestions as to its best form and character. The
producers of the three best sketches are to receive
50,000, 30,000, and 20,000 lire. The jury will be com-
posed of delegates of the Italian Government, repre-
sentatives of the principal Italian artistic institutions,
and additional judges selected from amongst them-
selves by the artists who compete for the prize.

THE BRITISH MIISRUH.-0a Monday the first in-
stalment of antiquities from the Indian Museum
presented to the trustees of the British Museum, was
exhibited to the public. This consists of five large
cases containing Buddhist sculptures dated 500 yeare
before Christ, and come principally from the neigh-
bourhood of Peshawar. At present no description of
these wonderful sculptures has been given, but the
Museum authorities have engaged some of the most
learned professors to enlighten the public upon the
subjects represented on the ancient stone and stucco.
Amongst these are numerous gods and goddesses—
some very grotesque in character and some jovial and
happy. There are also rural scenes—horses and mulee
labouring under burdens and carrying human beings
on their backs; drawing water from the well; great
gatherings of people, evidently listening to the words
of their priest. Then there are scenes characteristic
of the doctrine of Buddha, in which the false gods are
evidently combating against the good teaching of
Vishnu, and the water-lily is exhibited as a sign of
the true faith.

THE PITCAIRN ISLANDS.—The ship Lammerrnoor,
Captain Duncan, which arrived in the Mersey on
Tuesday, from San Francisco. after a rapid passage of
122 days, reports that she passed Pitcairn Island on
the 20th November. A boat, with twelve natives in,
pulled from the shore, bringing fruit, flowers, and
vegetables. Captain Duncan gave them some salt
pork and a bag of bread, and some newspapers and
magazines. He also effered them some novels, but
they declined them. They asked various particulars
about the Zulu war, and were especially anxious to
know if Cetewayo had been captured.
A FALSE ALARM—He was about leaving her. The
ormolu (or something) clock on the Parian marble
mantel had just rung eleven upon its silver bell The
fire crackled in the burning grate. It was a very im-
pressive scene. "My darling," said he, "when shall
I look again into the blue depths of your eyes ?" and
he put both arms around her. "Come at the earliest
possible moment, my king," said she. Then be drew
her toward him, hugged her just a little, and a kiss
broke softly on the air. The sumptuous apartment
was just flooded with bliss, when on the quiet scene,
as he clasped her to his heart, there rang out the
sound like the crack of a rifle, and he felt something
under his right arm. "Oh, je-whittaker ?" he yelled,
as be rushed out of doors. '' I've broke her rib, by
jingo," and he streaked it down the street, while there
floated after him a pleading voice, "Oh, my heart's
Idol, come back! It was only a corset bone 1' But he
was gone.
A RED DY ANSWER —Very red-haired Passenger:
"I say, Guard, why on earth don't the train go on ? "
—Guard: " Good gracious, sir I put your head in; how
can you expect it to go on while that danger
signal is out."—Fun.
. REFUSE SALT As A FERTILISER.—A good deal of
correspondence on this question has been carried on in
our American contemporary, the Country Gentlem4n,
on this question (says Land and Water). Writing on
the subject, one contributor thus relates his ex-
perience :—" For the last three years I have used salt
witli good success, and I also find that where I have
sown 200 pounds per acre the previous year my crops
are much better than where I sowed salt in the spring
of the same year. We have better crops in this min-
try than in any other country in the State of Wiscon•
sin, and produced by the use of salt. I sow the refuse
salt from the packing houses. It costs only 50 cents
per ton, which made it a cheap fertilisre. It is used
very liberally in England, where I come from. Many
people have a wrong impression about salt. They
think when they salt cattle and sheep that the salt
kills the grass, but this is not so- The stock kills it
by eating the ground where the salt was put down. I
will admit that salt will kill most plants, but would
like to find some one who would pay for enough for
me to try the experiment. The first time L tried it
was on a twentracre lot sowed with spring wheat.
In two weeks I could see the difference between what
I sowed with salt and that which had received no
salt, and I could also see the difference when har-
vested. I have sowed salt when the grain was coming
out in head, and with good resulte, but would prefer"
to sow it earlier."

A DONvNY UP•ERATION I—Swansdown is just now
in such special demand for making caps that its price
has increased. In fact swansdown is up I To get a
right "down" bargain in fact is impossible. Nor can
one get credit. It is all money "down."—Fun.
ARKANSAS EnQUETTE.—The other night two men
from Pniladelphia engaged in a quarrel at a hotel in
that city. After using all kinds of epithets, one of the
men thrust his hand behind him as though about to
draw a pistol, and then took it away. The quarrel
terminated without damage to either party. An old
man from South Arkansas shook back his long hair,
and advancing to the man who had made the hip.
pocket !Notion, remarked: "Both of you men are
sTrangers here, I reckon?" "Yes." "Not acquainted
with our little rules,of politeness?" " How ? ' "Why,
yon put your hand behind you just -now." "Yes."
.
"You lidn't pull a gun." 'I haven't got a gun."
"Now, young man, let me give you a piece of. advice.
While you are in this country don't put your hand
behind you unless you intend to shoot; don't ever run
your hand into your pocket, for if you do your
pirdiner, if he's an Arkansas man, will shoot you,
You must learn these little rules of politeness. You
may know how to conduct yourself at church, but
you've got a good many rules of etiquette to learn."
DIVISION OF LABOUR Aunt Mary. "Well,
Tommy, shall I carry your bat and stumps for you?'
—Tommy: "No, Aunty, tanks! Me tarry bat and
'Lumps. 'Oa tarry me I "—Punch,
THE DAIRY PRODUCE OF AMERicA,—Farmers will
do well to ponder over some of the American plans of
utilizing dairy proince. In a recant paper read before
the American AgriculturallSociety, Professor Willard
stated that the co-operative or factory system in the
dairy had made great progress in the United States,
there being 1,139 establishments acting on this basis
in the year 1874, while since that period very many
others had given in their adhesion. It is estimated
that fully 30,000 persons are interested in this particu-
lar branch of agriculture, either as employers or em-
ployed. At Little Falls alone the annual make of
cheese is not less than 25,000,0001b5., while that at
Utica is believed to be still larger. An enormous and
yearly•increasing amount of cheese is sent over for
English consumption, and during 178 no lees than
134 COO,OOO lbs. were despatched from America on
English account. In the same year Canada supplied
us with 42,000,000ib5., and the dimensions of the
Translantio cheese and dairy trade are rapidly in.
creasing,