The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-01-16 00:00:00

AGE. -

_,-JAN. 16, 1875.

To LIMES OF A CERTAIN to
prevent the Hair from becoming Grey.—Cut it off, do it
up neatly in tissue paper, and put it away in a drawer.
It will not become grey as long as you live. —Punch.
A HINT TO FAST YOUNG ENGLISH LADIES.—
If you want to climb a tree, do as the South American
young ladies do, make a hoop with any twig or rope
round a tree, and get inside, jerk it up the trunk with
your hands, a little at the time, drawing your legs
up after it. The Tahitian boys tie their feet together,
four or five inches apart, with a piece of palm bark,
and with the aid of this fetter go up the cocoa-palms to
gather nuts. The native young ladies in Australia
climb the gum trees after opossums ; where the bark
is rough they chop holes with a hatchet, then one
throws about the tree a rope twice as long as will go
around it, puts her hatchet on her head, and placing
her feet against the tree and grasping the rope with
her hands, she hitches it up by jerks, and jerks herself
up the enormous trunk almost as fast as a man will
climb a ladder.

LIQUIDATION BY ARRAN GEM EN T. —TIIO Soli-
citors' Journal prints the following judicial statistics
for 1873: Under the separate headily, of liquidation
by arrangement, it appears that there were 7,673.
petitions. and that 4,152 resolutions were regis-
tered; and the gross amount of debts was £11,019,375,
and the gross amount of the estates £4,034,553.
Under the heading of compositions with creditors,
it appears that 2,422 resolutions were registered
and that the gross amount of debts was
£4,120,310, and the gross value of the estates
was £1,228,541. Of the whole • number of com-
positions, it appears that in 2,257 estates the composi-
tion was less than 10s. in the pound, and in 165 cases
it was over that amount; in only 40 cases was the
composition 20s. in the pound. According to the sum-
mary of liabilities and assets in.bankruptcies, liquida-
tions, and compositions, it appears that in 1873 the
total liabilities were £19,184,812, and.the total assets
to £5,038,117; in 1872 under the same heading the
total liabilities amounted to £14,287,418, and the total
assets to £4,314,597.
A SINGULAR TRADITION. —Among the Semi-
nole Indians there is a singular tradition regarding the
white man's origin and superiority. 'They say that
when the Great Spirit made the earth, he also made
three men, all of whom were fair-complexioned ;and
that after making them he led them to tfie margin of
a small lake, and bade them leap in aturwash. One
obeyed, and came out of the water pu?er and fairer
than before; the second hesitated a moment, during
which time the water, agitated by the first, had be-
come muddled, and when he bathed he came up cop-
per-coloured; the third did not leap till the water
became black with mud, and he came out with
his own colour. Then the Great Spirit laid before
them three packages, and out of pity for his -misfor-
tune in colour, gave the black man the first choice.
He took hold of each of the packages, and having felt
the weight, chose the heaviest; the copper-coloured
man then chose the next heaviest, leaving the white
man the lightest. When the packages were opened,
the first was found to contain spades, hoes, and all the
implements of labour; the second enwrapped hunting,
fishing, and warlike apparatus; the third gave the
white man pens, ink, and paper, the engines of the
mind—the means of mutual mental improvement, the
social link of humanity, the foundation of the white
man's superiority.
A NATURAL INTERPRETATION. —Sunday School
Teacher. "What do you understand by Suffering fur
righteousness' sake ' ? "—Boy (promptly). "Practising
Hymns in the morning, teacher, and Sunday School in
the afternoon, and Bible-class in the evenin' 11"—
Punch.

CHINESE GAMBLING.—The Chinese areterrible
gamblers, and it seems that they are a great nuisance ,
to the authorities at San Francisco, who cannot root
out their establishments. Their favourite game is
"tan." The principle of tan is very simple, and it is
what would be technically styled an entirely square
game and not open to the same opportunities of
deception as some of those played by non-celestial
gamesters. The banker has a bowl full of beans used
as counters. He seizes a full handful of these and
deposits them on the mat which covers the table. The
gamblers then stake their wagers on what the remainder
will be after the pile has been divided by four—whether
one, two, three, or nought—the wagers all being
recorded by a clerk to avoid disputes. The banker or
dealer then carefully divides the counters into fours
with a little hooked stick, the operations being care-
fully watched by the gamesters. • On the result, those
who have their money on the lucky chance receive
double the amount of their wagers, and the remainder
of the coin is raked in for the benefit of the bank. In
addition to the game of tan the Chinese have numerous
other gambling devices with dice, dominoes and card.
The latter are smaller and of different shape from ordi-
nary cards, a pack containing about one hundred, the
various suits and denominations being indicated by
characters. .
THE "LA PLATA."—The Times has published
the following letter :
"I take the liberty of writing to you to ask you if you
would be kind enough to spare splgee in l'he Times to mention
the matter of Lamont anfalpoper, the survivors of the La
Plata, who up to the present time hap • suffered, and are
still suffering, the most excruciatim agony. :The doctor who
is attending them says that it will be moLoths before they
'possibly can do 'anything for themselves. fhb* Old -
friend of Mr. Lamont I have been attending thipm their
arrival in London, so I can certify to It; and, as there he 3
not been any appeal made in the papas for them, I take the
liberty of asking you to use your influence in this matter for
them. Trusting that you will excuse my intruding on 3'oo
IXIIZTT, 15, cottage-m. 14, lirekti4ourne-square,
-

since

thhi matter 1.
ending on you.