The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-09-25 00:00:00

OVERLOADED."I 11)

POWDER! what folly! why, you're fair enough;
Your face speaks for itself and needs no—puff I—Punch.

Ilcdtnneiiu4ittelligenrt,
HOME, FOREIGN, AND -COLtiNIA.L.

IN PROPRIA PERSONA. —First Medical Student.
"The British Medical Association appears to coun-
tenance Vivisection.l "—Second Dttto. I should think
so, after the way they cut•tne up' at the College 1"-;
Punch.

INTERZTATIONAL ETIQUETTE. —We stated some
time since that an international code of etiquette was
in preparation for the guidance of those of all civilized
nations whose duties and position brought them in
contact with "foreigners of distinction, and We now
learn that it has been proposed by more than one
Power to abolish all personal salutes, even including
royalty, the flag of a nation only being entitled to
salute.—Globe.
NINEVEH. Mr. Smith has been directed by
the Trustees of the British Museum to resume his ex-
cavations at Nineveh, and he expects to start for the
East early next month. His new book on the
"Chaldean Account of Genesis," which contains bis
recent discoveries, is now in the press, and will Shortly
be published.---
lAthen mum.

JEWS IN ABYSSINIA. —A society has been
formed at Berlin for the purpose of opening up com-
mercial relations with Abyssinia, especially with the
kingdom of Sohoa (says the Jewish World). For many
centuries a large number of Jews have been settled in
that country, and, from the 10th to the 13th centuries,
it was governed by Jewish Kings. The present num-
ber of Jews is said to be 200,000, but up to this day
only some incoherent intelligence concerning this most
interesting Jewish body has come to our knowledge.
MELLOW PHILOSOPHY. —" I have ceased,"
remarked a blase cynic, "to care enough about my
species to take any pleasure in saying disagreeable
things. —Punch."

A SINGULAR PROFESSION.—A profession which
is unknown in London, but is extensively carried on in
Paris, is that of the cigar picker. The duties inherent
to this singular pursuit consist in picking up the ends
of cigars dropped about the streets during the day.
At night the gentlemen who follow this career convey
their spoil to the borders of the Seine where they sort
the bits of cigars according to quality, and mince
them into tobacco which they then retail to street-
sweepers, to chiffoniers, and other street labourers, at
the rate of about two francs and a-half per pound.
Cigar-picking is the vocation of about two hundred
Parisians, who manage to earn a livelihood about equal
to that of an average workman, namely, from 3f. 50c.
to sf. per day.
A REIIINISCENOE.—WhiIe General Sherman
was recently in Omaha a Lieutenant in the Second
lowa Infantry introduced himself to the General as
one of his old sldiertr. " Oh, oh! General Curtis's
old regiment. Tm glad to meet you," said the
General, heartily. " Then you were with us down in
Georgia, where the soldiers starved on 'a turkey a
piece a day,' as one of my old command, whom I met
on the rear platform of a railway car in Ohio recently,
expressed it." - - '

A UNIVERS= FOR SlBBitiA. A university is
to be founded at Tomsk, 'one of the chief towns of
Siberia. The new establishment will have only two
facultieg, one of law and the other of medicine. The
want of doctors in Siberia may be inferred from the
fact that there are only fifty-five of them in a country
which is as large as the whole of Europe, and whose
population amounts to more than 6,0.00,000 inhabitants.
The Russian Minister of Finance has granted a credit
of £40,000 on the revenue of the State for the new
establishment, which will raise the number of the
Russian universities to eight, seven others being
already in existence—viz., St. Petersburg, Moscow,
Kiew, Katan. Kharkow, Odessa, Varsovie, besides
two foreign universities— a German on in Dorpat and
a Swedish one in Helsingfors. A new university is
also to be established in Vilna.

THREE LADIES DROWNED. —A sad bathing
accident has just occurred at Flayosc, in France. Five
married ladies went to the River Tombereau to enjoy
the freshness of the water, and the place selected was
a sandy hollow in the stream. After they had been
disporting for half an hour, two had gone to the bank,
and the three others were about to follow, but re-
mained for an instant's more amusement. They were
immersed up to the waist, and holding each others'
hands, were singing and dancing, when suddenly one
of them Blipped, and, dragging her companions with
her, they were carried into deep water. The horrified
ladies on the bank hastened to render what assistance
they could, but in spite of the most daring efforts they
had the inexpressible grief of seeing their friends
perish.

AN AFFECTIONATE OAT. —A Mississippian has
a cat of which he tells the following story :—I was sick
a short time ago, and the cat would come from the
table to the bed frequently. She finally caught a
mouse and brought it to the bed, laying it down beside
me. I threw it off, but as soon as I did sa the cat
would bring it back, until I thought she wanted me to
eat it; so I made believe I ate it, and the cat went
away apparently satisfied. And before night the same
day she brought me a striped squirrel, and each day
for three days I was in bed she brought game, with
the same result; she would never leave me until I had
pretended to eat it, and at last before I was well she
had brought me quite a catalogue of things."

THE WILL OF THE LAST OF THE CAVOURS.—
The testament of the Marquis Aimard de Cavour,
nephew of the celebrated Italian statesman, and the
last member of the family, has just been published.
The heritage of Count de Cavour, the uncle, joined to
that of his brother the marquis, did not exceed six
millions of francs. The property of Len, situated in
the midst of rice fields, and which the late count had
much improved, is let for a rental of 125,000 f. per
annum, which in Italy represents a capital of five
millions. This magnificeut property has been be-
queathed to the Hospital of Charity at Turin. The
Château of Santena, where are the tombs of the states-
man and his brother, has been left to a cousin of the
testator, who resides at Chambery. To each of the
two daughters of the Marquise Alfieri, his sister, he
has left a sum of 200,000 f. ; and to the latter all the
jewels' decorations, and valuables which had belonged
to the late count. The deceased has left to M. Borroni,
his secretary, all his personal property, valued at a
million. The city of Turin inherits the library, which
is large, and contains a number of rare books.
A SAD PICTURE OF CHICAGO. —A correz-
pondent of the Louisville Journal, writing from
Chicago, gives a sad and somewhat alarming picture of
the condition of business affairs in that city. He says
that 20,000 people have been out of employment there
during the last two years, and that "beneath the porn-
posity of rebuilt Chicago, notwithstanding her marble
4palaces, splendid hotels, magnificent theatres, brilliant
duty-free plate glass, dazzling chandeliers and unique
candelabra, she hides more pinched gentility, exquisite
misery, and intense suffering than any city in
America." In the shops the salesmen get very poor
wages—often only 6 dole. (243.) a week; but so great is
the number of the unemployed that an advertisement
offering a situation at even "lees than starvation
wages" is answered by hundreds of anxious applicants.
THE DISCOVERY OF GALVANISM. —lt was owing
to a frog (says a writer in that capital children's serial,
Little Folks) that a great discovery was made. The
wife of a learned man, named Dr. Galvani, was
astonished at seeing a frog's leg twitch which had been
skinned to be cooked for her husband's dinner. She
called his attention to it. He did more than wonder,
being a clever man—ha made experiments upon the
frog. It would take too long to tell about it now, but
he ended in making the wonderful and usefuldiscovery
which was named after him. Galvanism.

HOME-GROWN TOBACCO. —To prepare the
tobacco-leaves (remarks the Gardener's Magazine) for
fumigating purposes is not difficult. They should be
gathered on a dry day, and spread out thinly on the
stage of a greenhouse or one of the fruit houses, or they
may be laid singly on the floor and shelves of sheds and
storehouses. They must be turned over frequently,
and when partly dry pack them together in shallow
baskets and boxes, and still continue to turn them. If
in doing this it is found they show signs of mildew or
decay, spread them out again for a week or 80, and
then return them to the baskets. When dry enough
to admit of their being stored without their decaying,
pack them in hampers and place in a dry room. It is.
a very common practice to spread the leaves out as
mentioned above, and to leave them until perfectly
dry, but the leaves become 'o brittle atat they crumble
into a powder when handled, and moreover lose much
of their strength. But by the plan here recommended
the full strength is preserved, and any additional
labour is amply repaid by the superiority of the
produce.
ANIMAL FOOD. —During the pastyear 1.068,166
animals of all kinds have been brought to the United
Kingdom, representing a decrease 51 percent. as com-
pared with the number s:--.:eived in 1873. Of this total
number 675,103 animals were landed in London, and
153,161 at Harwich. The animals are epitomised as
follows :-119,808 oxen and bulls, 38,013 cow, 36,041
calves, 758,915 sheep and lambs and 115,389 swine.
A total of 478,506 cwt. of dead meat was imported
into London, consisting of 41,686 cwt. salted and
33,338 fresh or slightly salted beef, 127,198 cwt. salted
and 29,566 cwt. fresh pork. 13,289 cwt. of other kinds,
salted or fresh, and 233,329 cwt. of meat preserved
otherwise than by salting. The total quantity of dead
meat imported into the tTnited Kingdom was 968,921
cwt., as compared with 890,839 cwt. in 1873, and
853,255 cwt. in 1872. • •
MR. JOHNSON AND THE WHIRLWIND !—A
farmer named Samuel Johnson, who lives about five
miles from Fairbault; Minnesota, was walking along
the highway recently, when suddenly a little whirl-
win& which described a circle apparently not more
than three feet in diameter, appeared in the road in
front of him. It took up the dust pretty lively and
buzzed like a swarm of bees, but. Mr. Johnson kept
on his way directly towards it, thinking it had no
great amount of power. In fact, he did not think it
worth his while to step one side and let it whirl past,
but kept straight on and met it square in the road.
When they came together the whirlwind Feemed to
drop i everything else and took hold of Mr. Johnson,
and in lee Owe than it takes to tell it, Mr. Johnson
had lost his bat and his shirt, and was pitched about
twenty feet, into, the gutter, feeling as though he had
been ehockell by a battery. Mr. Johnson will never
fool with a 3414. wind again.
THE NEW. EMPLOYERS A_ND WORKMEN ACT.
—The new rules and forms for carrying into effect the
In jurisdiction given to Courts of Summary Jurisdiction
England by:the:Employers and Workmen Act (38
and 39 Victoria, cap. 90) have been issued, and the
seatute is now in force, and acted upon at the Metro-
politan Police-courts. The Master' and Servant Act
is now changed into the Employers and Workmen Act.
The rules were signed by the Lord Chancellor. The
mode of procedure is simplified by the rules. The par-
ticulars are to be annexed to the s.ummons, and a fpe
of only is. is to be charged for the entry of a plaint,
including the summons thereon. No notice is require'
to be given. by a defendant of any set-off or counter
-claim. The summons is not to be served on a +de-
fendant less than one "clear day" before the hearing.
Costs incurred in the employment of a solicitor may
be allowed; not exceeding 10s. where the sum exceeds
405., and not exceeding 15s. where it exceeds £5. There
are 21 rulea and 18 forms, with a schedule of fees', in
the document.
FOUL WATER CISTERNS. Major Frank
Bolton, the water examiner, in his last monthly
report, states that many of the causes of complaints as
to the quality of the water delivered for domestic
purposes are found on inquiry to be solely attributable 1
to the dirty and imperfectly covered cisterns on the
premises• of the complainants (remarks the Sanitary
Record). He advises that all cisterns should be fre-
quently cleaned out, and every care should be taken
by the consumers to prevent the contaminination of
the domestic water supply. We much fear that
the advice given will fail on deaf ears, as far as the
majority of London householders are concerned, who,
as a rule, will allow their cisterns to become and
remain in a filthy state for want of the commonest
carei whilst, oddly enough, these are the very people
who cry out against the shortcomings of the water
companies. A very little time and trouble would
suffice to rinse out a water cistern, and yet how seldom'
is this very necessary trouble talon. As to the qUality
of the water supplied during August, all the com-
panies effectually filtered the water supplied by them
to the metropolis, and it was delivered into their mains
perfectly clear' and bright, although they were unable
to remove the slight colouring matter with which the
water fipm the Thames was stained, owing to the
floods which prevailed during the early part of the
month.

lanai°
SHOCKING ACCIDENT.—The Belgian jo
publish details of a frightful accident at Rbves, a villag°
between Fleurus and Nivelles. A railway is in cou_rg
of construction there, and during a fête a few days by'l
about twenty children and young persons got on ,
flat ballast truck for a ride. The vehicle being Btartea
commenced to run rapidly down a steep decline.
anotha,
fore, however, it had reached the bottom,
truck was seen coming towards the first on the 0,13:011
line. It was laden with ten tons of iron rails, Ivwd
projected four or five feet beyond the front. S°rneeie
the party threw themselves to the ground on seeing A
danger. A moment later and the two cars met. an!
the iron bars of the one ploughed into the bodies of th°
unfortunate occupants of the other. One young. n3,35:1j
and five children from six to fourteen years were
on the spot, and several others were seriously injury".
f 0
THE CLENIAX !—This climax in the WaY
wedding-notices recently appeared in a Continentalue
paper (remarks the Court Journal). "The large 14tb
eyes of the bride seemed-brighter than ever, and,
her light hair, formed a suitable contrast to her IA!
band's extremely black hair and eyes. This
monial alliance has not been entered into unadvM
it has been in oontemplation for about two year°,l-.14
meets with the most cordial approval of all the 'Aar , •
and friends of the newly-married couple. The bride s
mother regards her new son-in-law as if he were her oveil
son. He will continue, as heretofore, to be emPloY
in the vegetable-ivory button factory."
of
"BABES IN THE WOOD !"—A modern Pa]
"babes in the wood", who §trayed from home a 184
days ago, near Lower Lake;;Cal., were more fortu6
than their prototypes in the fairy tale. These
ones, a boy of twelve and a' girl of seven, inste9iO,
losing courage when they found themselves surrouu
On every side by huge forest trees, and with the eh,
of night fast falling round them, betook themiel
to a tree, where they sought shelter. Arrived th? 7
the boy left his sister and shot several quail, niiitlo
they managed to cook and. eat. During the nigu'L.A
gallant youth shot a huge Californian lion,
which
approached his bister. In the early morn'
babes in the wood" were found soiand asleep
distressed parents and taken home. bi*
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