The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-23 00:00:00

Alistrilaneolls -3 lit CI tigene,

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

INFLAMMABILITY OF CELLULOID. —New York
papers give an account.of a destructive explosion re-
cently at celluloid works at Newark, New Jersey.
CellubSd is described as a mixture of guncotton and
camphor, constituting, when pressed and dried, a
hard elastic substance, susceptible of high polish, and
HO clo.ely resembling ivory as to deceive skilful experts
by its appearance. But it has this dangerous quality,
that it will ignite instantly from the fire or even an
ordinary match, andrburn more rapidly and with more
flame than a piece of sealing-wax. The Journal of
Commerce reminds its readers that it mentioned
some time ago the ladies' jewelry will sometimes be
found to be made of Celluloid, in imitation of coral,
and that they ought to be informed of its ready in-
flammability.

- ,
THE HORSE AND ITS HABITS. —Every farmer
knows that a horse generally sleeps standing (says the
Court Journal). Old campaigners, who have often
camped out near their horses and observed their noc-
turnal habits, say they generally lie down not above an
hour during the night; and that hour is somewhat
between ten o'clock and midnight. Every farmer also
knows that the average man will outwalk the average
horse; or if he does not know it, old campaigners will
tell him so. Now, a man takes his sleep on the hori-
zontal, and consequently rests the muscles of his legs ;
when he gets on his legs in the morning he is fresh and
elastic; but the horse starts off on muscles which have
been in more or less tension all night, and the result is
that the man covers his forty miles before sunset,
while the horse fags out at thirty-five or even less. If
Nature had taught him to lie down all night, could he
not do better If here is not a mistake of Nature,
th.n will some one explain what benefit it is to the
horse to sleep on his legs.

THE SNAKE AND THE DUCK.—Some time ago
Mr. R. Williams heard one of his wife's ducks making
a noise as it something was after it. He got out of
bed and went to where she was, but could not see or
hear anything. He went the second time, but with
the same result. He told his wife he guessed the ducks
had gone crazy. Next morning he went to where the
old duck was sitting upon her eggs, under a brush
pile, and, imagine his astonishment, he saw a large
black snake coiled up under the duck. His snakeship
having swallowed twelve eggs, Mr. Williams cut his
head off, cut it open, took the eggs out, and placed
them under the duck, and eleven of that dozen eggs
hatched. Mr. Williams' word is as good as his bond.

A NEW PROPELLER. —The New Iliewen, Palla-
dium says that a mechanic in that city has invented a
new method of propelling boats, by which he can
obtain a speed of five miles an hour without any
" wash " from the propeller. The boat has two keels
parallel to each other, and between them an air-tight
box, built in the bottom of the boat, into which air is
forced by means of a small steem-engine. The com-
pressed air is conveyed to the top of the water under
the boat, and allowed to e,cape on the surface of the
water, the resistance it meets being relied upon for the
propulsion of the boat. The two keels are intended to
keep the compressed sir from' being distributed over
too great a surface. The Palladium says that severa
satisfactory trips.have been made in the boat (probably
without load), and that the invention can probably be
used to advantage on canals.

•
THE PEINCE: OE WLiS'S
VISIT
TO'INDIA.
The Saturday Review says thatat is one of the advan-
tages of monarchy that everything done by the Sove-
reign or the heir to the Crown awakens a strong feeling
of personal interest in the public. Personal ties and
attachments are the strongest felt by man, and are the
real basis of society. Persons cling to persons, and
immemorial custom has inspired the feeling that the
Royal Family has a family relation to every family in
the kingdom. It is to be hoped that the Prince will
enjoy himself, and it is certain that he will see
much and learn something. In a rapid tour lasting
a few months even the most intelligent visitor could
not master the more difficult problems of
Indian administratiot,-or see much below the surface
which the dusky millions would present to him. But
experience teaches us how very different a country is to
us that we have seen from a country that we have not
seen. Remote places like Hungary, for example, are
no longer like dreams to us after we have spent even a
few weeks there in an autumn trip. We have caught
something of the spirit of the place, and this is the
key both to understanding what we read subsequently
and to anything like a just appreciation of the current
political history of the country. The visit of the
Prince may do little, but it will do something to pro-
mote friendliness between England and its subject
Indian States. If we do not expect too much Ore are
not likely to be disappointed.