The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-05-01 00:00:00

Pisctitantoits 4ntriligetict,

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL. •

DEATHS BY DROWNING IN 1878.—A Parliamentary
return at to deaths by drowning in the inland waters
of the United Kingdom during,the year 1878 shows
that the number of persons drowned upon whom in-
quests were held in,England and Wales was 3,203, of
whom 2,389 were males and 814 females. In Scotland
the number was 482, 399 being males and 83 females.
In Ireland inquests were held upon 369 bodies, of
which 285 were those of males and 84 females. Thus
the total number of persons drowned in the United
Kingdom in 1878 was 4,054.
STOPPED HIS PAPER.—A certain American got mad
at the editor and stopped his paper. The next week
he sold all his corn at four cents, below the market
price. Then his property was sold for taxes because
he didn't read the sheriff's sales; he lost 10 dols.
betting on Mollie McCarthy ten days after Ten
Broeck won the race; he was arrested and fined 8
dols. for going hunting on Sunday, simply because he
didn't know it was SundayS and he paid 300 dols. for
a lot of forged notes that had been advertised two
weeks and the public cautioned not to negotiate
them. He Then paid a big Irishman with a foot like a
derrick to kick him all the way to the newspaper
office, where he paid four years subscription in ad-
vance, and made the editor sign an agreement to
knock him down and rob him if he ever ordered his
paper to be stopped again.
BY ROYAL INVITATION.—AtIas has once more taken
the world on his shoulders; Gladstone is himself
again—Prime Minister of England !—Purtch.

SHIPMENTS OF GRAlN.—According to telegraphic
advices received from New York, the shipments of
grain from the United States to Europe for the week
ending the 24th inst., include 300,500 quarters of
wheat. Of this total 210,500 quarters were forwarded
to the United Kingdom, and 90,000 quarters to the.'
Continent. The aggregate quantity pf maize exported
is 257;500 quarters, comprising 132,500 quarters to this
country and 125,000 quarters to the Continent;
71,000 bags of flour are also en route for England. The
visible supply now stands at 23,000,000 bushels wheat,
and 14,000,000 bushels maize. The total of wheat
transmitted shows an increase of 100,000 quarters as
compared with the previous weekly statement, the
visible supply at the same time being materially
reduced.
MEAT FROM AUSTRALIA.—A Reuter's telegram from
Melbourne, dated April 22, says :—"The question of
the export of frozen meat is seriously occupying
public attention in the Australian Colonies. An
official statement just issued shows that there are
6,000,000 sheep and 3,000,000 head of cattle in
Queensland. This, after deducting the home con-
sumption of meat, admits of a weekly exportation of
2,000 tons, provided the necessary shipping facilities
were available. Refrigerating works are to be imme-
diately erected, and arrangements made to obtain the
shipping necessary for the requirements of the trade.
A thousand sheep have been recently boiled down for
tallow at Rockhampton, and cattle are almost un-
saleable." _ _

TIIE AMERICAN AND CANADIAN FOOD SUPPLY.—The
supply of live stock and fresh meat from the United
States and Canada last week was about the same as
the previous week. The steamers conveying live stock
were as follows :—The Massachusetts, with 513 cattle
and 217 pigs; the Victoria, with 268 cattle and 567
sheep; the Istrian, with 406 cattle; the Persian, with
140 cattle; the Helvetia, with 58 cattle, and the Lake
Champlain 280 cattle. The steamers with fresh meat
were the 'Arian with 1,631 qrs. ()fled and 28 carcases
of mutton; the Wisconsin, with 2,016 qrs. of beef and
650 carcases of mutton • the Germanic, with 640 qrs. of
beef and 250 carcases a mutton; :the Helvetia, with
472 qrs. of beef and 425 carcases of mutton ; the City
of Montreal, with 776 qrs. of beef and 175 carcases of
mutton ; the Lord Clive, with 724 qrs. of beef and 350
carcases of mutton; the Ohio, with 914 qrs of beef and
567 carcases of mutton ; and the British Empire, with
692 qrs. of beef and 153 carcases of mutton.
PRESENTATION OF A LIFEBOAT.—A lifeboat was pre-
sented to the authorities of Dunkirk on Monday by
the Corporation of -Margate. In 1874 the boat was
given to the Corporation by the late Mr. Gray, of
Birchington ; but in consequence of the number
of lifeboats at Margate being sufficient it was
decided, with the consent of Mrs. Gray, to pre-
sent it to the town of Dunkirk, with which place her
husband was asqociated in early life. The Mayor and
Corporation of Margate left the town early on Monday
morning with the boat, and on arriving at Dunkirk
met with a cordial reception. Tlo Municipality and
Chamber of Commerce of Dunkirk entertained their
visitors at a banquet, at which a number of influential
French an &English residents were present.

THE POPE AND THE FRENCH
.Paurays.—The Pope,
on receiving the French pilgrims, said :—" We love
France, who possesses every right to our affection.
Your presence fills my heart with consolation. We
have need of it, for we are saddened by the attacks
in Europe upon religion. With regard to France, we
are not without disquietude from the point of view of
religion. It is with our soul full of woe and our eyes
filled witla tears that we pray God to calm the threaten-
ing storm and restore peace and tranquillity. But in
the struggle, with God's ai.d, we will not flinch from
our duty as Pontiff; we will perform our. mission .to
society without weakness. Like our predecessors, "kve
will clef end the interests of religion, which are the
interests of peoples. The annals of centuries show
that the period when France had the greatest glory
and internal peace was when the mission of the
Church was most freely exercised upon souls."
FRUIT GROWING AT THE CAPE.—Of native fruits
little need be said—useful and luscious fruits are the
products of civilization. The early emigrants took
the matured tiees and shrubs to the colonies with
them. In about 18,000 varieties of plants in Cape
Colony there are few of them agreelahetaot European
palates palates. The European fruits
growing
cannot be surpassed by the best growing i▪ n England,
France, or Italy. Every sort flourishes well. With
7,000 cases in orchard and garden good results may be
expected. Dutch 'Boers like to have thei▪ r houses sur-
rounded by fruit trees; the old villages of the colony,
therefore, have a beautiful appearance. The Paarl
district, not far from Cape Town, had 687 acres in
orchard during 1878; Tulbagh had 460; Oudshorn
449; Calvinia, 448; Stellenbosch, 367; and Cradock,
349. Among such fruits the orange took a foremost
i
rank. The vine, n spite of the spread of modern
disease, still occupies a prominent place, especially in
the neighbourhood of Cape Town. Last year there
were 8,588 acres bearing. As to the wines, there is a
very large consumption in the colony itself, at a retail
price of 3s. a gallon—much too easy a rate to be with-
stood, by the coloured races in particular. Brandy
made directly from the grape is in extensive request
also among Kaffirs and Hottentots.—Gardeners'
Chronicle.

PLAYFUL PETS.—Among the pets which are newly.
coming into fashion are, it would seem, playful, young
te one
tigers (says the Daily Telegraph). At any rate,
k i and
which is described as a " beautifully-
splendidly-striped tigre-s," and whose
iu-siras sold a
and docility were especially dwelt P
u- °"tiineas. It is
few days ago in London for fifty-two g to do with
not stated what the new owner proposesmairrthfulness
this very interesting acquisition; bbuet trusted that he
his neighbours it is sincerely tu„ tor the sake of
in a strong cage.
will keep the "elegant creature
f 1 tigers ever known
It was one of the most 013741 on a fine summer's
in India which, getting I?'
evening in the walled Yof jeypore, devoured
emluore than twenty of 'the
or otherwise disposed of
robefore its jocularity was
Rajah's loyal subjects
a delightfully docile speci-
satisfied, and not ong h its keeper in the vicinity of
men that walked t F,6
off Wit
ething, no doubt, exceedingly
Baroda. There
' ids in the idea of controlling
fascinating to er
nl 2is p taa no
the same person who could take
ci,d
the immense, 1:1,1 a Royal Bengal would be equally
pleasure in cus;ll`j play with a thunderbolt. But,
delighted coui
r a pecies of amusement would only con-
r
while the lavidual himself, the experiment of keeping
cern the n
ui 11: tiger may affect the neighbourhood. The
oeu
a " P'atra- tifully striped tigress, if once loose, might
vn ea
most
the population of a parish with startling
rapidity.
EAN POSTAL STATISTICS. —lt has been lately
estimated EnnoP - -
ted by a German writer that should the Euro-
' postal traffic increase in future at the same rate
iiN
pean
as during the five years 1873-78, it would at the end
of the century exceed 20 milliards of articles sent by
post (letters, post-cards, papers, samples, &c.) In 1873
the number of these is calculated to have been
3,937,850,639, and in 1878 5,602;633,527, the increase
being thus 415 per cent. This Tate would give, for
1898, 22,460,141,670 articles, and for 1900,
26,053,764,337. A doubt is expressed as to whether
such a rate of increase can be maintained, though it is
to be remembered that in most European countries
the advantages of cheap postage have only been en-
joyed a short time and the great facilities of inter-
national correspondence are quite recent. Ohyiously
: the telegraph system must attract an ever-increlsing
share of correspondence to itself ; hitherto, however,
its influence has been perceptible in an increase and
not in a decrease of postal trafac, for with nearly
every telegram sent a letter is associated, and the more
telegram tin more lettero,

SCOTCH COCHTSHIP.—SureIy never was a declara-
tion made in quainter fashion, saving perhaps by a
Scotch beadle who led the manse housemaid to the
churchyard, and pointing with his finger, stammered;
"My folk lie there, Mary ; wad ye like to lie there?
It'is plain the notion did not scare her, any more than
it did, the Galloway girl, who, when Jack, coming
into the kitchen while she was preparing. breakfast,
said, " I think I'll marry ye, Jean!' answered,
"I would be muckle obliged, to ye if ye would ! " and
so concluded the bargain; not even stipulating, like
another ready lassie on accepting 'as sudden an offert
"But ye maun give me my dues o' courtin' for W
that' J anaie.'—Chanzbers's Journal,

A REMARKABLE &r.—The Correspondent of the
Standard, writing from Rome, says :—A scene in ac-
cordance with long-established usage, but not the less
strikingly remarkable, has been enacted at the Vatican.
The pupils of the Propaganda went thither in a body
to present their homage to the Pontiff. It is well
known that the original scope and most salient feature
of Urban VIII.'s celebrated. College is the assemblaso
and training for missionary purposes of young melt
from all parts of the world. Last Sunday forty-nine
youths addressed complimentary disccurses to Leo
xlii.in.,,forty-nine different tongues! Not the least
striking part of the performance was the intermingling
of the addresses with songs by the youthful pupils,
each in the language and peculiar melodies of his far-
off home. A very large number of Cardinals and dis-
tinguished personages, both lay and clerical, were
present at the highly interesting ceremonial,
_ _ .

UNRECOGNISED LUGGAGE.—A few days age, a Ger-
man piper says) a gentleman crossed the frontier into
Holland, to place his daughter in a school. Ats he
recrossed driving to the nearest station, a Custom-
house official, opening the hand bag carried by the'
traveller, found in it a travelling alarum clock. Such
an article, the official declared, was not mentioned in
his list of the articles a traveller might carry as per-
sonal luggage, and consequently duty must be paid
upon it. Moreover, he had no instructions as to the
duty chargeable upon an alarum, nor was he autho-
rized to receive payment, and consequently he must
take the traveller to the nearest Custom-house, which
was some seven or eight miles away. Arrived at the
Custom-house, the traveller found himself charged
with attempting to smuggle an alarum across the
frontier; and though he protested that the clock was .
as much an article of personal baggage as his razors,
for instance, or his brushes' he was obliged to pay a
fine and duty amounting to 20 marks, or £l, and fill
up a paper with details of his profession, age number
of children, amount of income, and so forth,. before -
he was allowed to depart. Released at length, he
drove to his station only to find that his train had
gone, and that he must pass the night in the frontier
village.

"THE LAST MAN."—The Parliament is now com-
plete. Orkney and -Shetland have returned their
Member. It will now be apparent, even to the
meanest capacity, why these islands are called Ultima
Thuie.—Punch

A CALCULATION.—In the Standard of the 3rd inst.
an advertisement appeared from the Controller of her
Majesty's Stationery Office inviting tenders for the
year's wastepaper, and which was estimated at 1,500
tons. Now, as there are only about 300 working dayg
in the year it follows that the daily amount of waste
is five tons. Our legal readers will more readily be
able to grasp the idea as to quantity if we reduce it
into reams of 1411 t. each (the average weight), the re-
sult showing that 800 reams of paper are per day con-
signed to the waste paper basket. If a saving of one
.-
fourth of this daily waste could be effected it is cal-
culated that such an addition could be made to the

judicial bench ;Tio-iia-1;"ii;;J-u-dges to clear off the
existing arrears and render a repetition of the accumu-
lation almost an impossibility.—Cox's Legal Circular.

THE DISAPPOINTED YOUNG MAN.—One may
possibly be so very sharp that he becomes dull, and
so fearfully shrewd at a bargain that he succeeds only
in cheating himself. A young man belonging to the
Teutonic race fell in love, or at least thought he did,
with the daughter of a banker. When, however, he
seriously thought of the subject of matrimony he con-
cluded that love, though very beautiful in its way'f
needs a little money behind it to make it permanent,
a conclusion to which other than Teuionic youths
sometimes arrive. He wanted to marry the beautiful
girl, but he wanted also to have the marriage certifi-
cate to cover at leasta small portion of the old gentle-
man's substance. A proper combination of affection
and cash made a delightful house. He went, there-
fore, to the paternal parent to talk the matter over,
and, as though he were bestowing an everlasting
blessing on the family by bestowing his conceited
self, he said—" I can't possibly marry your daughter,
my dear sir, unless she has a dowry of 10,000
gulden." The old gentleman, with great dignity, re-
plied, "Then, sir, you can't marry her at all, for she
happens to have a dowry of 50,000 gulden. I wish you
good morning."—New York Herald.

A CURIOUS FESTIVAL—A curious festival was cele-
brated on the Brighton beach on Saturday, in con-
nection with the commencement of the regular fishing
season. The fishing fleet being on the eve of starting
in search of mackerel, the fishermen observed their
annual custom of holding what is called the "bend-
ing in," the chief feature of which is to hold "open
house " on the beach around the boats, when bread
and cheese is distributed to all who choose to ask
•for it. So far as the adults are concerned the
custom has practically fallen into disuetude,
but amongst the younger members of the fishing popelation—the " aborigines "of Brighton—it is regarded
as a most solemn occasion. Accordingly on Saturday!
from early in the morning till the afternoon was well
advanced, crowds of children flocked to the beach, a
fluctuating group of between 100 and 200 being con-
stantly present to partake of the hospitality of the
elders. The origin of the ceremony, which seems to
have been lost, may perhaps be found in a mixture of
the Pagan superstition of propitiating Neptune grafteti
on to the promised return of bread "cast upOn tile
waters."

SOMETHING LIRE A RIDDLE.—Why ought your
crockery to know when its going to be broken.?—Be-
cause, don't you see, it must be a-ware. A-ha !
Judy
A DOG STORY.—A. Paris paper is responsible forth'
following remarkable instance of canine sagacity
"A blind beggar was in the habit, some years since,
of frequenting the Ponte des Sts. Peres, where he used
to station himself with a clarionet and a very intelli-
gent poodle. The place was well chosen, and chari-
table contributions poured into the little wooden bowl
which the dog held in his mouth. One day the blind
man, who had reached an advanced age, was not to be
seen. He had fallen ill, in fact, and was unable to
pursue his avocation: His faithful companion, how-
ever, continued to frequent the accustomed spot, and
the passers by, to whom he was familiar, understood'
that his master was unwell, touched by his fidelity, I
dropped their pence into his bowl in increased num-
bers. After a time the beggar went the way of all
flesh, an event which the wily poodle carefully kept
to himself until he also became an absentee from the %

Ponte des Sts. Pres. His disappearance produced
great sensation among his numerous clientele, and a
search was prosecuted, when the poor animal was
found lying dead in a cellar near his former mastet's
abode, a sum of 20,000 fr. in Bonds of the Orleans
Rallway being discovered under the litter on Which
he was stretched."

A USEFUL IIiveNTION.---Among the wonderful and
useful inventions of the times is rthe common sand-
blast. If raised letters, a flower, or other emblem, are
required on stone, cut the letters, flowers, &c., in wax, and
stick them upon the stone ; then pass the stone under
the blast, and the sand will cut it away. Remove the
wax, and you have the raised letters. Take a piece of
:French plate glass, say two feet by six, and cover it
with fine lace, pass it under the blast, and not a thread
of lace will be injured but the sand will cut deep into
the glass wherever it is not covered by the lace. Now
remove the lace, and you have every delicate and
beautiful figure raised upon the glass. In this way
beautiful figures of all kinds are cut in glass, and ara
small expense. The workmen can hold their hands
under the blast without harm, even it is rapidly cut-
ting away the hardest glass, iron, or stone, but they
must look out for finger nails, for they will be cut off
right hastily. If they put on steel thimbles to protect
the nails it will do little good, for the sand will soon
cut them away; but if they wrap apiece of soft cottop
around them they are safe. The philosophy of this is
that the sand cuts away and destroys any hard sub-
stance
soft t n
and yielding,ga
s but does not affect substances that
a
like the head, the hand, wax,
rseven
cotton, or fine laces.
WHEAT PROpUCTION.—It is satisfactory to
at increase in the Indian wheat trade and
in the area under wheat cultivation. Some '1.9 rail-
iionsof acres yielding 26 million quarters are now
re-
turned in the wheat producing tracts in the different
evitre great
provinces. According. to the Indian Herald for April
the area under wheat in India is about six times as
great as that in England, for in 1878 there were in
Great Britain 3,218,417 acres under this crop. Dr.
Forbes Watson ranks India fourth in the list of wkeat-
producing countries, placing the United States, France,
and Russia before her. In the Punjab, North-Western
Provinces, and Oude, and in the Central Provinces the
average yield per acre stands at 13k, 111 and 8 bushels
respectively. Irrigation, the use of manures, and
higher cultivation have, however, more to do with the
extra out-turn of the acreage in these districts than the
degrees of latitude; and as the improved system of
cultivationbecomes more generally known and more
widely practised among the ryots the greater advances
may be expected in the Indian wheat trade.
ELEPHANTIASIS.—The disease known as elephanti-
asis, in which, chiefly, the legs and feet are affected,
becoming rough, scaly, and swollen to great size bY
serious infiltration, the skin growing thick and
insensible, is frequent in Brazil. it is common to
resort to a remedial treatment of it by compression,
but this is found to give but slight relief ;
nor do certain surgical processes, as ligature of
the principal artery of the
_limb, appear to have
been successful. M. Moncorvo a short time a,."s
conceived the idea of tryiw electricity on the
disease. He at first used only induced currents, and
obtained, in several patients, a considerable diminu-
tion of the leg and thigh, but not complete cure. The
method was, however, on consideration by Mt.
Moncorvo and Aranjo, changed to a combined use of
induced and continuous currents, and this is said to
have entirely removed the infirmity in a number of
cases. The continuous currents appear to hare the
effect of softening and to a certain extent liquefying
the indurated tissues, while the intermittent currents
cause a reabsorption of the tissies thus prepared.
THE EARL OF SIIAFTESBURY.—On Wednesday the
Right. Hon. the Earl of Shaftesbury, K. G., attained the
age of 79gyears, having been born in Grovesnor-square,
'London, on April 28, 1801. His lordship (Anthony
Ashley Cooper) is the eldest son of Cropley, sixth
Earl, by his marriage with the Lady Anne Spacer
Churchill, daughter of George, fourth Duke of Marl-
borough. The Earl of Shaftesbury has been Lord-
' Lieutenant of the county of Dorset since 1856, and is
chairman of the Iffnacy Commission. All the bro-
thers of the Earl of Shaftesbury have been named
"Anthony," and his six sons have the same Christian
name. The first peer in this familSr was Lord Chan-
cellor in the time of Charles 11., and as Baron Ashley
lse. ilia§ a member of the well-kat:mai " Cabal" Cabihet
his grandson, the third earl, was the author of "The
Characteristics," a celebrated philosophical work; and
the sixth Earl, the father of the present peer, was for
many years Chairman of C;ommittees of the House of
Lords. Lord Shaftesbury succeeded to the title on
, June 23 181,

I.