The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-08-07 00:00:00

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HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

A BALLOON IN HYDE PARK.—An exciting
scene took place on Monday evening in Hyde Park, in
consequence of the sudden descent of a ballon, which,
it is understood, had started from the Alexandra
Palace. It was observed travelling from the direction
of the Marble Arch, and ft soon became apparent that
the occupants intended to descend. At this time
Rotten-row was fairly filled with equestrians, and the
park generally by holiday folks. As the grapnels were
thrown from the car to smile trees near the statue of
Achilles, a sudden rush vms made towards the spot.
The balloon came down without any damage, and the
occupants alighted hom the car. The gas was then
expelled, and in about half an hour the apparatus was
packed up and carried away in a cab.
MR. MOODY IN NORTH WALES.—Mr. D. L.
Moody,. the American evangelist preacher, laid the
foundation stone of a new Presbyterian chapel at
Rossett, near Wrexham, on Monday. The ceremony
was witnessed by many thousand persons, who arrived
by train and rode from the surrounding district, and
subsequently Mr. Moody addressed the people from a
carriage. On Sunday last Mr. Moody delivered a
sermon at 'Wrexham, at which there WAS an immense
concourse of people, there being at least 30,000, and
the places of worship within the radius of several
miles were almost without exception closed. A depu-
tation of gentlemen from Chester, Mold, Dolgelly,
and other Welsh towns waited upon Mr. Moody for
,the purpose of asking him to deliver a series of dis-
courses in North Wales. He informed them that he
was unable to accede to their request, as he was en-
gaged in Liverpool the following day, and was to leave
the country on Wednesday.
A FORTUNATE DISTRICT.-Mr. William Slater
writes to us (The Times) from Park Farm, Dalton-in-
Furness, Lancashire :—" It may be interesting to some
of your readers to know that, after all the floods and
storms that have occurred during the last few weeks in
almost all parts of England and Scotland, some dis-
tricts have almost, if not entirely, escaped. In this
part of the country—viz., that of Lonsdale, north of
the Sands, in North Lancashire, we have had one of
the finest seasons on record, and taking the produce of
the land as a whole it is most abundant. The hay crop
—a very heavy one—has been secured in good condi-
tion; and should the weather continue fine a few
weeks longer, a bountiful corn harvest, also, will be
the result. Harvest has already partially commenced.
I was in the neighbourhood of Lake Windermere to-
day, and noticed reapers at work in a field of oats;
but harvest will not be general for a fortnight or so."

MUSICAL FAMILIES. —Heredity shows itself
more markedly, it would seem, in the arts than in the
sciences. Taking music, we find some remarkable
instances. The Bach family, which took its rise in
1550 and became extinct in 1800, presents an unbroken
series of musicians for nearly two centuries of that
interval. The head of the family was Veit Bach, a baker
of Presburg, and his two sons were the first of the family
who were musicians by profession. The descendants
literally" overran Thuringia, Saxony, and Franconia,"
says They were all organists, church
singers, or what is called in Germany 'city musi-
cians.' When they became too numerous to live all
together, and the members of this family were
scattered abroad, they resolved to meet once a year,
on a stated day, with a view to keep up a sort of
patriarchial bond of union. This custom was kept up
till nearly the middle of the eighteenth century, and
oftentimes more than 100 persons bearing the name of
Bach, men, women, and children, were to be seen
assembled. In the family are reckoned twenty-nine
eminent musicians, and twenty-eight of a lower grade."
Rossini's family played music at fairs ; Beethoven's
father and grandfather were musicians; Mozart's
father was Second Capellmeister to the Prince-Bishop
of Salzburg.—Cornhilt Magazine.

WAR MEDALS. —The authorities at the War
Office have given notice that a number of war medals
of deceased soldiers have accumulated from time to
time and remain unclaimed, and claimants for them
are requested to forward their applications to the
adjutant general, Horse Guards, War Office, by the
31st October next, if at home, and by the 31st January,
1876, if abroad. Applicants are to state the
name of the soldier originally entitled to the
medal ; corps, regiment, or service to which the claim-
ant belonged; in what war engaged; the name of
the present applicant, what relation to original
claimant; the signature of applicant, which is to be
authenticated as signed in the presence of the clergy-
man or churchwarden of the parish ; and the name of
the post town. No personal application can receive
attention.

"A MYSTERY."—The following is from Mon-
day's Times :
The clergyman who was found lying insensible at the We-
verley Station, Edinburgh, on Friday, and died in the Royal
Infirmary on the same evening, has been identified as the
Rev. Dr. Richards, of the Presbyterian Church, Charleston,
Virginia. The deceased, who was on a tour in this country,
was subject to attacks of illness caused-by blood rushing to
his head, and it is supposed that he had been seized with one
of these when he fell, his head coming in contact with such
force on a stone buttress that his skull was fractured. lie
was 61 years of age, and has a son, Mr. John Morgan
Richards, of the firm of Vanduzer and Richards, 114 and
116, Southampton-row, London. Mr. J. M. Bichards arrived
in Edinburgh yesterday morning, the first intimation which
he had received of his father's death being the paragraph
published in The Times, on Saturday. The body of the de-
ceased is to be removed to America.

"A VARIEGATED Boy."—A curiosity is on
exhibition at the Melbourne Waxworks, says the Mel-
bourne Argus, in the shape of a variegated boy. He is
of Kafir paryatage, and of the undoubted African
type; but his skin is mottled. The white portions are
exactly like the skin of a European, and the dark por-
tions are of a rich brown hue. The hair, too, is partly
black and partly white, and the mottling extends even
to the irides of the eyes, upnn each of which there is a
white speck, which, however, do not in the least affect his
power of vision. He is strong, well-made, healthy,
and intelligent. He is believed to be about 13 years
old, and was for some time exhibited by Barnum in
America.

"FOREWARNED, FOREARMED."— Our Reporter
(before Public Dinner). "Beg Pardon, my Lord! But
could your _Lordship kindly oblige me by giving me a
Hint as to what your Lordsliti jo going to Say, in
Reply to the Duke, when his 0.5..ce proposes your
Lordship's Health I "—His Lordship. "How can I
tell you what I'm going to Say until I've heard what
the Duke Bays ?"—Our Reporter. "0, /can oblige your
Lordship with what his Grace is going to Say. I've
got it all in my Pocket! "—Produces Manuscript.—
PUNCH.
Nat:ulna-LNG TrEE SlCK.—When preparing food
offer it in small quantities at a time, so as to tempt the
invalid, and make him think he could take more.
Make it look as appetising as possible, serving it on
clean napery, with bright crockery and silver, and do
not consult the patient beforehand about what you are
going to bring up to him. The difference between a good
and an inefficient nurse is shown in nothing so much
as in the way they go to work about the food. An
inefficient nurse will be talking about it all day, beg-
ging the invalid to say if he could not fancy this, that,
and the other, suggesting various delicacies, and beg-
ging him above all things to speak if he wants any-
thing, until he loathes the thought of the food before
he sees it • or when, feeling faint, he asks for some
refreshments, he finds there is nothing ready, and that
it has to be prepared.—Cassdl's Family Magazine.

STREET -STALLS FOR THE PEOPLE.—The Com-
mittee of the Church of England Temperance Society
propose to establish in the crowded and poor iistricts
of London, wherever suitable accommodation can be
obtained, street-stalls for the supply at a low rate, of
light but substantial refreshments, together with tea,
coffee, cocoa, and other drinks suited to the varying
seasons. Visitors to Munich will remember the tem-
perance stalls in that city. It is intended to establish
the stalls in London through the agency of the par o-
chlal branch societies, and the object of the movement
is to provide for the working classes counter attrac-
tions to the publichou-es. An experimental stall was
submitted to inspection on Wednesday afternoon in
last week, in the grounds of Lambeth Palace. The
sttucture is meat in appearance, compact in its details,
and can be easily wheeled from place to place
as the exigencies of trade or the state of the weather
may require. It was stated that the cost of each
stall, together with the necessary fittings, will not ex-
ceed £2O.

BREAKING THE NEWS !—Ho broke the news
gently. He entered the ladies' sitting-room at the rail-
way station depot, walked up to a woman whose
husband had lefttheroom about ten minutes previously,
and calmly inquired, "Madam, your husband went out
to see the river, didn't he? ' , " Yee—why ? " she
asked, turning pale in an instant. "He was a tall
man, wasn't he ? " "He was," she replied, rising up
and turning still paler. "Mad red hair ? " 'He
had—oh! what has happened ? " "Weighed about
one hundred and eighty pounds ? " "Yes—
yes—where is he—where is my husband?" she
exclaimed. "Couldn't swim, could, he ? " "He's
drowned—my husband is drowned 1" she
"Had a silver watch chain ? ' continued the
stranger. "Where is my husband -where is the
body?" she gasped. "Do not get ex,:ited, madam.
Did your husband have on a grey suit?" " Yes —oh,
my Thomas! my Thomas ! " "And ['toga boots ?
"Let me see him—let me see him ? " she cried. "Come
this way, madam, but do not get excited. There, is
that your husband across the street at that peanut
stand ? " "Why, yes, that's him; that's my hus-
band 1" she exclaimed joyfully. "I thought you said
he was drowned." "No, madam I did not. I saw
him buying peanuts, and I believed it my duty to say
to you that peanuts are not healthy at this season of
the year 1"