The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-03-13 00:00:00

isallanezits

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

'TN MEET IT SHOULD ss So.—The St. Gothard
Tunnel is finished. Commencing at each end, the
problem to be solved was how the two tunnels were
to avoid missing each other in the centre. The feat
has been successfully accomplished, and expensive as
the undertaking must have been, there need not be any
fear on the score of finance, for the engineers have
somehow contrived to make both ends meet.—Funny
Folks.

WEEKLY REVIEW OF THE CORN TRADE.—Bell's
Weekly Messenger says :—" Owing to the favourable
and spring-like weather, and to larger shipments from
the United States, the trade for wheat during the
week has been eomewhat quieter, and in some instances
prices have slightly declined. The relapse has not,
however, been more than is. per qr., and there seems
to be no strong downward movement, as the visible
supply in the United States continues to diminish,
while, at the same time there has been a material
falling off in the exports of flour. Quietness is re-
ported in the trade not only in this country, but also
on the Continent and in the United Slates; bat there
is no pressure to sell, as foreign growers are well
aware that Great Britain, at all events, will require
large supplies during the remainder of the season,
while the Continent will continue to absorb a con-
siderable quantity of foreign-grown produce. Any
important decline in prices is not likely, therefore, to
take place."
A DEAD CERTAINTY.—Nothing can be more erroneous
than the report that "the Czar goes in fear of his life."
On the contrary, he goes in fear of his &Wt.—Funny
bike.
A SINGULAR CASE.—A singular case has come
under the notice of Mr. Humphreys, the coroner for
Middlesex. John Carter, 13 years of age' of Barking,
had been in excellent health until the Saturday pre-
vious, when he was suddenly seized with convulsive
fits, and became so much worse that the local surgeon
advised his removal to the London Hospital. Tam
Dr. Hoskey found that he was suffering from tetanus.
He died on Monday following. All efforts te ascertain
the cause of the disease were fruitless. At the inquest
the doctor said that the case was probably unique, for
no injuries whatever were found to account for the
tetanus. The case was a complete mystery. A ver-
dict of" Death from tetanus" was recorded.
SOBER Sarrs.—The first of the line of Temperance
Ship' has just been launched on the Clyde. This
vessel is warranted to draw water only, and is very
different from a drinking vesscl.—Funny Folks.
SUICIDES IN DENSfARIL.—From official statistics re-
cently published in Copenhagen, it appears that in ten
years, from 1869 to 1878, there were 4,770 cases of
suicide ascertained to have been committed in the
kingdom of Denmark. Of this number of persons
3,709 were males and 1,061 females. As regards age,
58 were those of persons under 15 years; 2OB between
15 and 20 years; 549 between 20 and 30 years; 617
between SO and 40 years; 888 between 40 and 50
years 1,153 between 50 and 6) years; 818 between 60
and 70 years; and 465 above 70 years. The mode of
death was in 3,714 cases by hanging; in 754 cases by
drowning ; in 154 ca4es by shooting ; in 80 by stabbing;
and in 43, of whom 25 were women, by poison; while
in the remaining 20 cases, various methods were
adopted. In respect to the seasons of the year,
, suicides were most frequent in winter and spring,
showing a continuous increase from Deceillber, when
they numbered 255, all through the succeeding months
to May, when they numbered 567, after which they
rapidly declined in the summer and autumn months.

1F You WOULD BE SO OBLIGING, "Weather
Authorties prophesy that the coming Spring will be
mild, and not characterised by the periodic gales we
are at present experiencing."—American papers,
please copy.—Punch,

DISASTERS AT SEA.—There were 39 British and
foreign wrecks reported during the put week, making
the total for the present year 270, or a decrease of 120
as compared with the corresponding period of last
year. The approximate value of property lost was
£510,000, including British £420,000.

A DYNAMITE ExrLoiaorr.—Oa Friday morning in
last week a fatal accident occurred at the Craig
cutting of the Arbroath and Montrose Railway, near
Montrose. The cutting being mainly through the
rock, dynamite had to be used for blasting purposes.
About seven o'clock several workmen had assembled
round a fire, on which a large kettle had been placed
to heat water for softening the dynamite cartridges.
One of the men, William Fraser, who had charge
of the dynamite, was in the act of lifting the
kettle, when a loud report was heard, and several
of those who had been round the fire were seen
to be thrown some distance. The fireman, who
was a short distance off, ran to the spot and found
that three .of the men had been killed outright
and that three others were more or less seriously
injured. The names of the killed were William
Fraser, aged about forty, married, and leaving one
child; Angus Mackay, about thirty-eight, unmarried;
and John Campbell, fifty-two, married. The bodies
of the killed were terribly disfigured, and were con-
veyed to the dead-house at the Infirmary. It is thought
that some nitro-glycerine or other explosive had got
Into the water. Another theory is that Fraser had had
some dynamite cartridges in his pockets, and that the
heat from the fire had caused them to explode. A boy
named M'Comesky, who WM in the act of lighting
his pipe at the fire, and a man standing by were both
blown across the high line of rails, but escaped without
injury.
THE WHEAT SUPPLY FROM AMERICA AND ACE
TRALIA.—The shipments of wheat from America to
Europe during the past week amounted to 254,000
quarters, of which 174,000 quartcrs (including 100,000
from California) were for the United Kingdom, and
80 000 quarters for the Continent; and of maize to
328,400 quarters, of which 80,000 were for the Conti-
nent and 248,000 for the United Kingdom. To the
latter destination were also shipped KM sacks flour.
Tne visible supply of wheat in the United States is
now 28,000,600 bushels, and of maize 15,6.?5,000
bushels. The shipments of wheat and fteur from Aus-
tralia are now assuming importance, titan total during
the past month of February being 199,000 quarters
wheat 55,000 sacks flour.
A LAST Pnaroonarm—On Saturday the Empress
Eue4nie, attended by the Duo de Bataan° and
Madame d'Arcos, honoured with a visit the studio of
Messrs. W. and D. Downey, at Ebm:x-street, Eaton-
square, London. Daring the sitting Memo. Downey
were informed that it WAS the intention of the Empress
never to be photographed again. and about thirty
plates were therefore taken of the Empress in different
positions.—Monday's Times.

_
ANIMALS SSNBITIVE TO RIDICULE. —Mr. Sydney Buz.
ton, in one of tie amusing papers on animals, in the
Animal World, says and dogs that horses are, as far
as h 3 knows, the only animals sensitive to ridicule,

while cats an birth are wholly unaware that they are
being laughed at. He tells of a pony of hi a own
which gets very cross when disparaging remarks are
made upon him, and "becomes furious, and stamps
about his stall, putting back his ears, and attempting
to bite," if he is only laughed at, while praise greatly
pleases him. The truth is that it is only those crea-
tures which can feel sympathy with men which can
also appreciate ridicule. The horse sympathises evi-
dently with many of his riders' feelings and amuse-
ments, while the dog can enter into no small proportion
of his feelings. But birds and ego, though often
exceedingly affectionate, and full of attachment to
individuals, hardly ever attempt to enter into human
feelings—as Cowper's dog, Beau, for instance entered
into the poet's desire to possess himself of the water
lily, The hatred of ridicule always accompanirs a
capacity for sympathy, Certainly dog; and probably
horses, know the difference between being laughed at
in derision, as we laugh at a fool, and being laughed
at in admiration, as we laugh at a good comic actor,
and enjoy the latter es much as they resent the former,
It is questionable, however, whether some parrots do
not understand and enjoy the practice of making fun
of their human acquaintances—do not appreciate the
art of duping, and taking pleasure in it.
AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORR.—The
ing are the average prices ot British corn for the week
ending March 6, as received from the inspectors snd
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 41e. 7d ; barley, 345. 23. ;
oats, 22a. 41. per imperial qr. Corresponding
last year : —Wheat, 39, ; barley, 345. 4j; oats,
20s. sd. week
BRAVERY REWARDED.—In London, last Friday, at
the weekly meeting of the Shipwrecked Mariners
Society, held at its offices, Hibernia-chambers, London
Bridge, Captein the Hon. Francis Mande, R.N., in
the chair, the secretary, Mr. Elward C. Loan, drew
the attention of the committee to the gallant conduct
of Captain the Hon, E. N. Freemantle, C.M.G.,
of the Invincible (as already noticed in The rinses 121,t
01
when she
w
other papers), who, during the recent Plosa,ge that
ship from Alexandria to Aboukir Bayennn
was steaming along at about six knots all hour,
jumped overboard as he stood to the reeclle. in
a man
who had fallen from the vessel, and succeeded n reach.
ing him and keeping his bead above water until Sub-
Lieutenant C. H. H. Moore and Blacksmith's Mate
Cunningham also jumped overboard and swam to the
assistance of both, The boats arriving, all were taken
safely on board. It was pr ad from the chair
seconded by Admiral Sir Clanocr e Buckle, 11.0.13.$ And
unanimously carried, that, subject to the approval of
the Lordis of the Admiralty, the gold medal of the
society should be presented to Captain Freemmitie,
and silver medals to Sub-Lientenant Moore and Cull..

HEAT WAVES.—The heat waves arrived in 1826, in
84,4, in 1846, in 1856, and in 1868, These years are
not equal distances apart; but the sun-spot periods
are equally irregular, and the minimum of sun-spots
has occurred, in each case, from one to two years
before the coming of the hot wave, which is, in fact,
due to the reawakening of the tomes which make sun.
spots. If, therefore, something like the same order in
these phenomena takes place this year, we are on the
verge of a heat wave which will reach its maximum
in the middle of next October. This will give us a
fine summer, a hot and dry harvest time, and a warm
winter.

WOMAN'S HAND.—An authority on the subject of
hands makes the following remarks on woman's hand:
—" The female thumb is said to be an important
index of the female character. Women with large
thumbs are held to be more than ordinarily intelli-
gent, while women with small thumbs are regarded as
romantic. According to certain authors, who profesis
to ke observers, a woman's hand is more indicative of
a woman's character than her face, as the latter is to
a certain extent under the control of temporary
emotions, or of the will, whereas the former is a fact
which exists for any one who understands it to profit
by.
SHOOTING NEAR DRUMM—Germany has ever been
the E cane of "big bags" of game, and although the
bag of 39,000 head of game, principally hares and
partridges, made now nearly one hundred years ago
by Prince Lichtenstein and eleven others in one day
has, and we hope never will be emulated, yet a pretty
long list of game is generally accounted for by most
Germati sportsmen who own land and preserve. On
an estate of 10,000 acres near Dresden last year, 683
hares and 757 partridges; this year 287 hares and 425
partridges, A great deal of game was killed in Ger-
many last year, as In England, by the unfavourable
spring and summer.—Land and Water.
- -

MR. BUSKIN'S MUSEUM AT SHEFFIELD. This
museum has become Bo crowded with art treasures and
the number of students visiting it from Sheffield and
elsewhere has Bo increased that a public subscription
has been started to defray the cost of adding a wing to
the building. The subscription ha% been opened by
working men, about 20 of whom have contributed Is.
each. Mr. Ruskin has written to thank them, and
says that if any man has a shilling to spare, and
thinks the object a good one, he will be glad to receive
it.
NATIONAL EDUCATION.—Lord Norton has given
notice that on the hrit Monday after the Bsater recess
he will call attention in the House of Lords
_to the

present condition of national education, and move
"that it is inexpedient to provide at public expense
middle-class instruction in elementary schools."

HEAVY INSURANCE CLADie.—By an unfortunate
coincidence the life insurance companies of the Maffei
Kingdom have within a year had claims made upon
them of no less a sum than a million and a quarter
sterling by the "falling in" of three lives on which
the largest insurances in the country had been effected
—namely, those of the Duke of Newcastle, the
Marquis of Angloses, and the Earl of Fife, The
decease of two other noblemen within the same
period brings up the total on five lives to the good
round sum of a million and a half.—lnsurance
&cord.

TRYING IT FIEBT.—In Berlin one day recently a
soldier bet another a large sum of money that he
couldn't empty a quart bottle of champagne at one
draught. He asked for half an hour to think it over
which was granted. When he returned he took the
champagne, drank it down, and claimed his money.
He was asked why it took him so long to accept the
bet. "Well," he said, "I was not quite sure that I
could do it, so I went home first and tried it and found I
could do it, and then came back."

AT LAST.—Brown (brill(ant conversationalist, hi his
own estimation) : "The idea of that Smith setting up
for a dinner•table wit! It's sickening! Let the
cobbler stick to his last, I say."—Jones: "Well, old
boy, you practise what you preach, anyhow 1
Brown: "How d'you mean?" Jones: "Why,
you've stuck to your last so long that I don't remember
when I heard it first ! "—Fun.

A FATAL GUN ACOIDIENT.—An inquest has been
held at North Elinksey, on the body of Mr. F. Adams,
farmer, who was killed, while getting through a hedge,
by the accidental discharge of. his gun. The jury,
having viewed the body, examined the place where
the accident occurred. E. Cripps, shepherd to Mr.
Adams, was called and said that he saw deceased on
the previous morning carrying a double•barrelled gun.
Police-constable Heath, stationed at Botley, said he
was called the previous day, and went to the spot
where the body was found shortly after one o'clock.
There was a gap in the orchard hedge, and the body
was lying in the gap with the head on the orchard side.
The gun was on the ground with the muzzle pointing
upwards. Deceased's hat was found riddled with shot
in the tree above. One barrel of the gun had been
discharged. There was a stick projecting from the
hedge just above the hammer of the gun. There could
be no donbt that the gun went off AS he was getting
through the gap. The jury returned a verdict of
" Accidental Deatb." Deceased, who was 43 years of
age, leaves a widow and a large family,

DISSOLUTION TELEG/tAILS. - Altogether 720 tele-
grams were despatched from the House of Commons
telegraph office from members and others on Monday
evening after the Chancellor of the Exchequer an-
nounced the impending dissolution. The business was
got through in perfect order, and without appreciable
delay.

THE PRIOR OF MEAT IN AIISTRALIA.—The Sydney
Morning Herald, of 19th January, says :—The mar-
kets for fat stock still continue depressed, and stock-
owners are anxiously waiting for the change which
the safe arrival of the Strathleven, with thirty tons of
fresh meat, in England, is confidently expected to
bring about. At present, prime beef is not worth
more than 13i. per 1001bs., and the average price of
meat does not exceed lit per lb. in the wholesale
markets. The Sydney Meat Preserving Company's
factory, which has been in full operation for several
months, preserving at the rate of 40 bollocks and
300 sheep a day, has done good service. Without its
aid the market would be blocked, and boiling down
should speedily commence.
A PRE•WATERLOO PENSIONER.— The Dutch Elan-
delsblad makes mention of an old soldier who is still
living on a pension from the Dutch Government which
WAS first granted him in January, 1815. This man,
after having served under the first Empire, entered the
Dutch service. He was wounded in the right hand,
and obtained the soldier's pension of 91 guildars
annually, of which be recently claimed the 260th
Kinarterly amount. This pre-Waterloo pensioner WAX
baptised in May, 1787.
CREMATION IN HOLLAND.—The Dutch Cremation
Society has again petitioned the Government to intro-
duce a Bill for the amendment of the existing burial
laws. The society, although having now branches in
11 of the principal towns of the country, regrets to have
to announce a decrease in the number of its members
from nearly 1,100 to 950. Contributions for the ulti-
mate construction of furnaces have not, however, fallen
off.

A POSTAL BALL—A postal ball has been given at
Berlin by Herr Stephan, the Director of the Posts
and Telegraphs, which displayed some amusing novel
features. The ballroom was decorated with emblems
of the host's profession, and all the servants were re-
placed by fully-equipped postilions armed wish their
long whips. During the cotillon a gaily-harnessed
post-chaise made the tour of the room, while one of
the figures consisted in dancing round a telegraph-post
decked with coloured ribbons and in another figure
the dancers drew telegrams holding bonbons from a
real letter-box. Electricity, too, was introduced, for
the various couples danced up to a certain wire, which
gave no sign till the proper couple arrived, when a
brilliant electric light illuminated the roam while the
pair waltzed. Supper was announced by the postilions
with a flourish of post-horns.
"TRAIN UP A WIFE," &C.—"l presume the lady
is aware this is a smoking compartment? "—The lady
is well aware of the tact; and, being my wife. she
_

knows better then to objeci,"—Punch.- -
THE FASHIONS.—Under the head of "Parisian On
Dits," the Court Journal ages 4 a
are beginning to loom in
yet the weather has been too cold to admit of many
Theat future, new
though eta
h"
a sa
pnrchases of spring bonnets or dresses. Tne reaction
from the cashmere patterns and colours of the past Bea-
son is shown in the marked favour now accorded to
plain materials and neutral tints. The newest favour
at p !mot shown for the coaling season, is a satin-finished
surah, resembling in effect the cashmere satins of
Lyons that were worn some years ago. It is thick,
soft, and rich-looking, and promises to wear welL It
is of course exp,nsivs, a costume of it at a first-class
house costing from 500 to 600 francs. It is known by
the name of • La Parisienne."
PROTECTION Op THE VINES IN SOUTH AFRIOA,—The
London Gazette of Friday (sth) contains a proclama-
tion, dated January 26, by Sir Bartle Frees, Governor
of the Cape Colony, under a Colonial Act for pre-
venting the introduction of "articles or things which,
by reason of disease or otherwise, might be injurious
to the interetts thereof." Toe proclamation absolutely
prohibits the importation into the colony "of all
grapes, vines, or cuttings, or portions of vines, plants,
tubers, roots, bulbs, or any plrtion or portions thereof
respectively, from any places beyond the limits of
the colony whatever."
BLINDER THAN A BAT. A brick-bat. —Funny
Folks.

A NIIMEROI7B FAMlLY.—Michigan has a journal pub.
Retied in Dutch. It is called De Grondwa (Constitu-
tion), and owes its existence to a singular concurrence
of circumstance.. In the year 16i0 one Jakob
Burhuis emigrated from Holland to Long Island,
thence ho " trekked " to Kingston city, where he par-
chased some acres of land. Shortly after Janus
Burhuis, one of Jakob's sons, likewise came to
America in his own vessel, the Dun Cow. Father
and ton became the founders of a family now number.
jug 12,000 persons, and believed to be the most
numerous in America. Samuel Barhuis (aos B
haus), of New York city, is said to be engaged in
drawing up a genealogical table of his family.
"AND THEREBY HANGS," &C.— According to the
latest reports Afghanistan is to be politically divided,
and the greater part will form a kind of pendant to
our Indian Empire. Thris it will still, in one sense,
occupy an Indy pendant position.—Funny
A NEW DEPENDENCY OF THE BRITISH CROWN.—
The Island of Ruturnah which has been provisionally
annexed to the British Empire by Sir Arthur Gordon
at the request of a deputation of the chiefs of two
hostile factions who inhabit it, lies in latitude 12 S.
and longitude 177 W., or a little to the north and east
of the Fiji Archipelago, and was discovered by Captain
Edwards during his search for the mutineers of the
Bounty in 1791 (says the Pa// Mall Gazette). The
island is only about five miles in extent from north to
south, and about half that distance in width from east
to -vest, the land narrowing at one point to a mere
neck. This narrow tongue, in fact, now unites what
not long ago were two islands, But though the whole
island is but very small, its population is compara-
tively numerous, the shore being covered with villages,
which touch and join on to one another. The soil is
very fertile, and the small vessels which trade among
the islands of this section of the South Pacific Ocean
Frequently call at Rotumah for supplies of vegetables
and other provisions. The inhabitants of the island
are also noted as making good sailors, and large num-
bers of the younger men adopt, at all events tempo-
rarily, a seafaring life. _ _

Roincsoic esusox's lowa).British boys and
girls, as well as "children of a larger growth," will
be interested in the tidings that Robinson Crnsoe's
island has recently been rented of the Chili=
Government by one Herr von Rodt, the son of
aa
Protestant pastor at Berne (says the Daily Telegraph).
Von Rodt's career has been a somewhat adventurous
one and he would appear to be in every respect
worthy successor of Juan Fernandez, the original
castaway rechristened by Defoe in his immortal fiction.
In his twenty•first year Von Rodt entered the
Austrian service as a lieutenant of cuirassiers, fought
gallantly in the 1866 campaign, was so severely
wounded at Naohod that he was compelled to quit
the army, and settled down on a small pension
In Paris after the peace of Nickolsburg. When
the Franco-Prussian war broke out he volunteered
Into a French line regiment and distinguished himself
by conspicuous valour during the fierce fight at
Champigny. In 1871 he emigrated to Chili, where he
engaged in business so successfully that he was enabled,
a short time ago, to purchase a steamer and carry over
a small colony of agriculturists and stockmen to his
Island, of which he had obtained a long lease from the
Republic. There he raises cattle and vegetables
wherewith to supply the whaling ships with fresh
provisions, and governs his subjects in a truly
Orasontan manner, serving out their rations in person,
and exercising a patriarchal control over their morals
and manners. By all accounts he is prospering
exceedingly, and has ahead), succeeded in putting
more than a moiety of the Wand under cultivati m.
Coorantsa in THE Houn or DANGEE,—" When I
WM once in- danger from a tiger," mid an old nest
India veteran, "I tried sitting down and staring at
him, as I had no weapon." How did it work?"
eagerly asked a bystander. " Perfectly ; the tiger
didn't even offer to touch me." "Strange I very
strange! How do you account for it?" "
sometimee I've thought that it was because I sat down
on a high branch of a very tall tree."
EN-CORK 1 EN-CORIC I—lt is rumoured that one of
the six vacant seats will go to Gork ootuity. This loolas
like a grateful concession to the " Bang ' interest.—
Funny 1 olks.
' Dominions FIRE IN GLASOOW.—A. disastrous fire,
attended with loss of life, occurred in Glasgow last
Saturday morning. The fire occurred at the Oekbank
Cotton Spinning and Weaving Mills, belonging to
Messrs. Galbraith. The mills are the oldest of the
kind in Glasgow, and covered several acres of ground.
Just before the work of the day was entered upon it
was found that the spinning department was on fire.
This department was 4001 t. in length by 50ft.. in
width, and was four stories high. There were in all
50,000 spindles in operation in the department, and in
the whole mills 900 hands were employed. The fire
spread with great rapidity. In about an hoar the
whole block was enveloped in flames, and though the
fire brigade, with the assistance of several steamers
and hand engines, were pouring great quantities of
water, no real impression was made on the fire, which
raged until the whole interior was gutted. A strong
wind prevailed, and the weaving mill was for a time
placed in great danger; but the firemen succeeded in
preventing the flames from extending to it. The
damage is estimated at between £30,000 and £40,010.
Unfortunately two of 'the workpeople lost their lives.
They were assisting to drown out the fire in its earlier
stages, and were last seen to go towards the burning
building carrying cans of water. It is believed they
had been caught in the rapidly-advancing flames and
burnt to death. One was a girl named Ramsay, 17 or
18 years of age, and the other an overman named Peter
Wlntyre, who leaves a widow and family. Several
other workpeople had difficulty in making their
escape.
THE COST OF A GENERAL ELECtTION.—The fol-
lowing is an extract from an article under the
above title, in the Pall Meal Gazette "The'
cost of obtaining a seat in Parliament depends
of course almost entirely upon whether the eleo-
tion is contested or not. At the last general election
there was no lack of competition, since 1,081 midi.
dates were nominated for the 652 seats. In fact, of
the 652 members returned only 187, or considerably
less than one-third, were elected without opposi-
tion. . . According to the return of election expenses
made to the House of Commons after the last
general election in 1874, it appears that the
aggregate expenses incurred by candidates in
the United Kingdom amounted to over one
million sterling. This return, however, is imperfect,
as in several instances candidates neglected to furnish
any particulars of their expenses as required by law.
If allowance is made for those omissions that are ap-
parent, the total expenditure may be fairly placed at
£1,47,000. But this amount is considerably short of
the actual sum expended, since it is notorious that the
figures given in the parliamentary return by no means
embrace all the items of outlay. A careful analysis
of the return shows that of the total expenditure of
6E512, 0 42 7u,cocOesso
unsuccessful ones."
faulsucmandoidfafe6s3,9an,oodo
2w4ao9B.ecox
opeabdyedthbey
4thae
Paurzne IN Hotnerm.—For many years (says The
Times) it has been usual in Holland to forward native
paupers to the beggars' colony of Frederiksoord, an
institution named after Prince Frederic of the Nether-
lands, who acquired by purchase the waste acne which
are now being cultivated by the colonists. Foreign
paupers in Holland are regularly every month con-
ducted over the boundaries of the country, and of such
during the past year there were 403 German subjects.
Measures of a retaliative nature, it is said, have been
adopted by the German Government, but the Dutch
journals are net unanimous in their description of the
precise character of such measures.
ATTACK BY A SHARK.—The Sydney Morning Herald
ofJanuary 19:1a says :—An extraordinary adventure
with a shark has taken place at Couranbong. A little
girl, aged 13, was bathing in a small bay near Does
Creek, Lake Maequarie, in comparatively shallow
water, when a large [shark suddenly seized her by one
of the legs, dragging her under the water. A younger
sister of the child happening to be close at hand,
attacked the brute, compelling it to release its hold,
and she then assisted her sister to shore. The nature
of injury the child received indicated a narrow escape.
Toe back tendon of one leg was completely severed,
and three deep teeth wounds were marked in her in.

step.
SOCIAL REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND.—If any One had
said thirty or forty years ago, that in our large towns
great numbers of the artisan and labouring clam*
would ever become their own landlords, living in
houses owned by themselves, the probability is that
he would have been laughed at, and characterised as
an enthusiastic dreamer. Yet the success of building
societies during that period, especially in the maniac:-
taring towns, has been so marked and steady, that
whole streets or districts can be pointed out where
each Beware house is owned by the mechanic or
labourer residing in it; and it is well known that
large numbers of substantial suburban villas and
houses are owned by clerks and assistants in
shops or warehouses, all erected through the aid
afforded by building societies. Now it is not
unreasonable to expect that what a mechanic has
done in the way of getting a house which he can call
his own may also be accomplished by a steady and
industrious farm labourer in the way of obtaining a
small faro as his own property. What I would mg.
gest, then, is, that associations, based on the leading
features of Building Societies and Freehold Land
Societies, be established for the purpose of enabling
small farmers and others to acquire land, which, by
means of easy payments, would, in a term of years,
become their own property. In various parts of
England, and also in Scotland and Ireland, there would
be no difficulty in purchasing estates of from one
hundred acres to two or three thousand acres, of good
arable land, or of land capable of producing excellent
crops, but at present unproductive. Such estates
could be divided into vatious sized farms, say of five,
ten, twenty, or even fifty acres and upwards; or
Indeed of any convenient size so as to suit the wants
of all classes. —Macmillan's heagazine.
SUPPLEMENTARY ESTIMATES. A parliamentary
paper has been issued containing an "estimate of the
farther amount which will be required, beyond the
ordinary grants of Parliament for army services, to
defray the charges which will come in curse of pay.
ment during the year ending March 31, 1880, in con.
nection with the
is
v2thooesTeelrxi‘A.dviant,io7h),
estimate erTphea againstp
er amountte
contains oClhtiallenei
"Estimate of the further amount required b, rond
the ordinary grants of Parliament to defray the ex.
penditute which will come in course of payment
during the year ending March 31, 1880, in consequence
of the war in South Africa." The amount recoired is
£1,225,200,