The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-07-03 00:00:00

SATURDAY, JULY 3, 1875.

to toss their heads and scatter flakes of foam about;
but they little know that these movements are fre-
quently caused not by the inherent breeding and spirit
of the beast, but by the unutterable anguish he is
undergoing. It is quite true, as the military gentle-
man candidly owned in cross-examination at Marl-
borough-street, that horses may carry their heads high
and toes them about proudly without being cruelly
bitted or reined. This is obviously the case with
spirited thoroughbreds, and the characteristic has a
very pretty effect in a carriage, although experienoed
riders object to "star-gazing" horses and maintain
that the most graeeful feature in equitition is that of
the steed carrying his head low, and on a bias, as the
Spanish "amblers" do. Instead of a bearing-rein the
well-informed " Stonehenge " has proposed to substi-
tute the passing of the driving-rein itself through a
low hanging loop or earring so as to prevent the horse
from getting the reins under the point of the shaft, as
he is apt to do when standing at ease." The pur-
pose and effect of the gag bearing-rein are to give to
a low-spirited horse the actic.ea of a highly-bred one.
The animal's head is tightly strapped up, and he must
bear it high whether he likes or not. The bearing-
rein may, indeed, be compared with the old
military stock, which half choked the unhappy
soldier, but gave him, it is undeniable, a lofty
and imposing appearance. His eyes might
be starting out of his head, but still his euperiors heid
that these organs were as "the eyeof Mars to threaten
or command ." and the pillorystock made the rawest
recruit—if it not suffocate him—look as stuck-up
as the adjutant. Thus a good, tight, uncompromising
bearing-rein will give the weediest "screw" the port
and mien of the Godolphin Arabian • but it is a
curious fact, which more curiously 12.4.8 escaped the
notice of all the philanthropists and all the country
squires who have written on the subject. that high-
stepping loftiness of head carrying and "Park" action
generally depend in theirnatural conditions on a single
point in the anatomical structure of the horse. If the
animal has an obliquely angular shoulder-blade, he will
lift his true-arm high; and as he steps out there will
be a corresponding elevation of the head. The most
perfect horses have the greatest obliquity of shoulder.
But, if the shoulder be straight or upright—that is to
say, if it be nearly in a vertical line with the true-arm,
the capacity for "stepping out" will be diminished;
the power of speed will be lessened; but, on the
other hand, the ability for draught and endurance will
be very much increased. The early English black
cart-horse, wonderfully improved within recent years,
had an almost entirely straight shoulder; and his
"fiddle-case," or clumsily developed head, be-
came typical in process of time from his hanging
it down as low as he could while employed in dragging
heavy weights. He was a most unlovely brute to
look at, and his appearance between the shafts of a
Victoria would have been shocking; but he was a
wonderfully useful animal on ill-made roads and with
ill-made carriages. It seems undeniable that for horses
to step naturally high and forward they must have
obliquity of shoulder and that in the absence
of this peculiarity of conformation their action
will be low and mean. Fashionable people, coach-
men, and even horsedealers, cannot be expected
to have studied Stubbs or Lupton or Mayhew; but
every veterinary surgeon is aware of the secret of
"Park action" and "high stepping." It remains to
be decided by tardily aroused and more tardily in-
structed public opinion whether the torturing of horses
in order to make them hold their heads up and throw
out their forelegs, amounts to cruelty, which, without
any undue "sentimentality," should be prohibited and
punished by the law.

GOVERNMENT LIFE INSURANCES.

A parliamentary paper recently issued states that the
Aft
lowing regulations are made under the authority of the to
of Picrliament 27 and 28 Vict. C. 43, intituled An ACS .
grant additional Facilities for the Purchase of small Govern
ment Annuities, and for assuring Payments of DioneY
Death."

1. If any contractor for an insurance on his life'
after having paid for five years or upwards the Ple.
miums due under his contract, shall desire to surrella.Aer
his contract, or shall make default in the paYnleu.
stipulated to be made according to the contract, the
Postmaster-General, on behalf of the Commissionere
for the Reduction of the National Debt, on applic7l
of the person beneficially interested in the coutract,:i •
a form to be obtained by application at the Gene s
, Post Office, shall
_pay to such person such sum
money as may be certified by the actuary of t
National Debt Office to be the surrender value of the
contract, calculated according to the table of mortelit_,/
and the rate of interest under which the contract
entered into; unless such value shall be les than ooe.
third of r! .o premiums paid, in which case the said one'
third shad be the amount payable. • hell
2. If any contractor for an insurance of his life ,
die by his own hand or by the hands of justice,t°4
Commissioners fur the Reduction of the National Pe'
may authorize the Postmaster-General to make plc,' •
ment to the representatives or assignee of the deces6
person of such sum not exceeding the total tolcsull
assured as may appear to the said Commissioners to be
j not and reasonable.

MisallalTColls iittitigente,
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.
got
A COOL CHANGE OF RESIDENCE (for the A--
Weather).—Lord Northbrook's (since the deposition
the Guicowar) from Simla to Behring's Straits. —Pun'
AUSTRALIAN COINAGE.—At the end of the
el
year 1874 there had been issued from the SYcln,i,
branch of the Royal Mint since the opening
branch in May, 1855, as many as 33,923 500 sovereie'
, tint-
and 3,867,000 half-sovereigns, the total value atno h
ing to £35,857,000; and from the Melbourne brit°,
since its opening in June, 1872, 2873,000 sovereigili
165,000 half-sovereigns, together of the
£2,955,500. The gold coins issued by the branch Num_
are now of the same design as those struck at the
in London.
the

CAPTAIN BOTTON. Captain Boy ton,
American swimmer, has received from his frienl:l6.7.:
Dublin, a gold medal, the inscription on which ect's.,,
memorates his remarkable landing on the Irish c_ordi
during the storm of October 20 last. At the tiPe_rl
request of the Commissioners of the Internation
Maritime Exhibition in Paris Captain Boyton
go over to France with the Lord Mayor's par -
August 12. Subsequently he will swim in fis
up the Rhine and Danube' and later on will Ina'
Lord Byron and, without his dress, swim across
Hellespont.
EVERY MAN'S FIRST ESSAY IN VivisEorlop.„
Cutting his teeth. —Punch..
A GREAT CLAImIx T.—The ITew York Times Plly.
lishes the following despatch received from Ottava,
W. Witcher, of the Marine and Fisheries Depertrav:iig
has. gone to Montreal for the purpose of conferrike
with Sir A. T. Galt, the British Commissioner on itle`j
Fisheries Claim Commission. Mr. Witcher cella
with him full statistics of the value of earns
fisheries, and it is said that the sum which could.t.
legitimately claimed from the United States under 5,11,15
treaty would amount in the aggregate to 80,000,vv
dollars.
_A

ARMY PRIZE MONEY.—A return just presen7
to the House of Commons shows that from Jann%l,
1809, to December, 1874, the total receipts paid
to the Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital pursusn!4;
Act of Parliament were as follows :—From red
money awarded to the army, including unclaup_
shares, ecc., £1,588.329125. sd. From dividends,
on investments to be afterwards realised wheF_lL
quired to meet current demands, £276,936 is.
paid to claimants, £1,121,443 Bs. 4d., so that
£750,000 (including interest) is due to the represeel-
- of deceased members.
SCHOOL BOARD LOANS. —ln continuataoll of
the parliamentary return of loans effected bY 1°".71..
authorities published some time ago, a return iss_':4/
on Tuesday gives the particulars of the 5ch001...L:37;f
n,
loans. These amount to a total of £3,151,2644 "
, which £3,040,969 has been obtained from the 0
Works Loan Commissioners, £15,916 from insurf,
and trading companies, and £91,399 from other souriii;
chiefly from private persons. The return stateS wehe
including these loans, the total indebtedness of ''',"lo
local authorities of England in respect of loans
1873-74-75, or thereabouts, is £83,062,000. aent
A PROVERB EXPLAINED. —A Correspon
mit
of The Times writes:—" The old Romans, IV toot
maxim, In vino veritas,' certainly did not mean 140
a man might be more relied on for truthfulness svl,
he was drunk than when he was sober. All thelLt
tended to convey was simply that out of a fuu bra
the tongue speaks;' that intoxication, like anY °NI 03.
strong emotion, moral or physical, exaggeratedM,
man's propensities, and under the influence of wi
as well as of any passion, good or bad, the man sh°)
his character whatever it was, only on a larger 0,730.
that, consequently, a liar, when tipsy, would lie
dred times more abominably than when he was 'ties
senses, so far as the condition of his muddled faety.:4
allowed. It is not from his veracity, but sin:lo9l;3s
his incoherence, that a drunkard's mind can be
out."
h
SCIENTIFIC ACCURACY .—A da. What hOl
' Kit4be Things Black-Beetles are, Miss Grimmlagr ihee.ewithi,7ol:.
is full of them !"—The governess. ~I
Ada! But as they are not Beetles, and not -•°`
perhaps .you will call them Cock-Roaches for p
future !"—Ada. "Certainly, Miss Grimm; althc
they are not Roaches, and not Cocks !"—PUNCH. The
RECOVERY OF SUNKEN TREASURE.
skipper of an American schooner, a man named 33....r° blo
arrived at Norfolk, Virginia recently, having w
possession the iron safe of the United States tol . .
war Cumberland, which was run into and sun /A. I
Hampton Roads by the Confederate ram Viral:11"o. ,
1862. , Divers had been at work. on the wreck
years, having in view the recovery of this safe.
_""ff.;
lucky man, Brown, had only been at the wreck f°iSe
eight hours when he found the safe buried in threeti,
four feet of mud. The water at that place is sevellije
eight feet deep. By the explosion of a torpedo the %of
was cracked, and, as it was hoisted on deck, 1.1,fr
pieces of gold coin dropped out. It is generallY,;',4
lieved that the safe contains between $60,000
,nn
$lOO,OOO in gold. It is estimated that more 1•"'--
$lOO,OOO have been lost by different parties in
to recover this treasure. While Captain Browa 1:;ti
searching the wreck he came across a petrified
body in a perfect state of preservation. It was
by crabs or fish, and the-flesh was extremelY
The captain supposes the body to be that of an OW'
THE EAST END OF THE WORLD. —lt iS St.a
that Sir Douglas Forsyth in his audience of the
of Burmah "took his shoes off." This concession
Eastern dignity may pass unquestioned, if it
prove that Sir Douglas has not gone on a bee'
errand.—Punch.
AP"
RIDING MATCH. —The San Francisco
gives an an account of a 50-mile riding match in that
on the 29th of May, each man having ten horses.,
being required to change horses, or mount and
mount, in each mile. J. P. Smith, one of the et"
petitors, is a farmer; the other, Nell MowreY,
vaquero of endurance and agility, who in -
and dismounting gained about a couple of
every change. His style was that of throwing hur
from the saddle by a spring from his seat, ?1 (1
mounting to spring from the ground, assisted by"
horn of the saddle, and catch his seat while the hor,,,
was frequently under full headway. He was easily.
assisted by having a helper on horseback, wn° 0
variably accompanied him on the start and outceEnj
checking and starting his horse, while MowreX
only to jump on and off. On the other hand,
had little or no assistance,. except the equipage 0'
saddle, which was brought into requisition in a man
that showed conclusively his appreciation of.._
desirable assistance. Notwithstanding a loss of We;
by misbehaviour of two of his horses, MowreY won Lib
more than a quarter of a mile. He got over the
miles in two hours two minutes and 36i seconds,
quickest mile, as taken by the timers, being 104 16
the slowest 3.01 i, Smith crossing under the string
seconds later.
•
MORE PLANETS.—NOW York Papers pul--.13
a communication from Dr. Peters of the Lite/2144p
Observatory, stating that on the Peters,
of June he d
covered two planets, one of the tenth magnitude
one between the eleventh and twelfth • one in 1713,,.°'
16 minutes of right of ascension, and 23deg.
of south declination, and both not far from elio
souther. In honour of tho roooption Oven hittl
Utica, Dr. Peters styles these the jubilee plane*
and names them respectively " Vibilia" and "Ai.
• "ADVANCE NOTES " (Mi/itary).—Theßllo.olll
arPunch.
1,14,
DIR. GEORGE CRUIKSHANK. Conlint
has been formed with a view to purchasing f,
nation a very interesting collection of Mr.
shank's works, remaining in the possession of th
The committee find that the collection, which has be!,
produced during the long period of 76 years, and Whi''
embraces upwards of 1,100 specimens, may be Pr"„'
cured for £3,000. Contributions to the Cruiksht
Art Collection Fund should be made payable to
treasurer, Mr. George William •Reid, of the Brit'!"
Museum, London at the London and County BV
New Oxford-street. and addressed to him or the
secretary, Mr. W. E. Poole, at the oommi** •roo..
JAELNPA.r7.
11, Chandos-street, Cavendish•square, W "me
The
ceawral::::a,tofhjet * •
..or Alpine alb
gliexalolv,uedx_inara:r perhaps, men.—A Climb-Axe.—Part 4
words
theonrdomt oe,sv,tevsni o Jena memorable
s eni,
idi,
vici:rat modern times can proay,..
was
~evet the war of 1866-0 f
No such complete concin
.ought about in so short a space of
The rrros. Sian monarchy tumbled, as it was ext.
like It hOuse of cards. The causes are not far to
J. he social system of the nation was such that the
of-the people, still in a kind of feudal inferiority,
little in common with those who preserved the SI
and directed the armies. Their military system 01'' „
was based on the maxims of the wars of Frederick, n"
attempt being made to imitate the rapidity of move'
ment, elasticity of organisation originality of concert
tion, which the French had learnt in their vaar
thirteen years. Lastly, the Prussians had no sin_
general who could be compared for experience or ski-P
to the weakest of the marshals of Napoleon. Fro(
strategical point-of view the campaign may be -
pared with that of Salamanca, and in a more
sense with that of Austerlitz. It is the best exalni
that military history supplies of a collision between ta
armies each of which begins by meditating a WOW ,th;
the communications of its rival, the victory nattuld_l(
remaining with that which is readiest to strike the 61'17
blow; and of an enc9tinter consequently brought aberi
in which both armies front one another in a line 11"
facing, but parallel with, their line of communicatil,
,-
Incidental lessons, moreover, may be drawn from
campaign as to the danger of divided command, sac' °
armies unduly separated which are sipposed tO AC°I
co-operation.—" rho Ocarkpaigni of Napo/eon."

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