The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-07-04 00:00:00

illistellaneaus

HOME FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

PUTTING A GIRDLE ROT:ND THE EARTH.—
From a report of the Austrian Government on the
Vienna Exhibition we (Awalemy), gather the following
interesting particulars respecting the increase of
means of communication in various parts of the globe,
during the last six years. Lines of telegraph wire
have increased from 57,166 to 77,000 geographical
miles, and a complete line now runs from Francisco
across the continent of America and the Atlantic,
through Europe and Siberia, to the mouth of the
Amur on the eastern confines of Asia ; while branch
lines connect India. Japan, and Australia. The
mileage of railways has increased during the same
period from 24,500 to 37,300 miles; and a calculation
has been arrived at that no less than four millions ef
people are daily conveyed by this species of locomo-
tion. By means of the postal service it is calculated
that 3,300 millions of letters circulate annually, or
about nine-and-a-quarter millions a day, or 100 a
second. In 1860 the value of the exports and imports
over the face 14 the globe amounted, according to an
Austrian statistician, Herr Kolb. to about 15,000
millions of florins, or 1,500 millions sterling; while
ten years later, according to a French calculation, it
had increased to 23,170 millions of florins, or no less
than 54 per cent.
ALL THE CANDOUR OF YOUTH.— Aunt Bella
(who has just read out aloud "The Burial of Sir
John Moore"). "Now, then, which of the Verses do
you like best ?"—Jack (with alaeritg). "0! / know
'Few and short were the Prayers we said.' "—Punch.

WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE.—A memorial has been
presented to Mr. Disraeli, praying that he will give his
support to the Bill to remove the electoral disabilities
of women, signed by upwards of 18,000 women of the
United Kingdom. The list is headed by Florence
Nightingale, followed by Harriet Martineau, Mary
Carpenter, Lady Anna Gore Langton, Miss Frances
Power Cohbe, Miss Thackeray, Miss Anna Swanwick,
and many other ladies eminent for their intellectual
attainments and social position. The Premier, in his
reply, expressed himself as much honoured by such an
offering. A similar memorial has been sent to Mr.
Gladstone

A TIGER Barrun.—The Bombay Gazette states
that this season tigers have been very numerous on
the Gliauts. Ali Shah, the eldest son of Aga Khan,
recently received khubber that a number of tigers were
in the vicinity of Karkalla, the station beyond Lanow-
line, on the Poona line. He sent a canip to the place
where the game was reported, and together with his
son, Aga Shah Noor, made haste for the same
spot. While the sportsmen were preparing to climb
trees a young tiger broke cover, and they had to
stand their ground. A shot from All Shah laid
the tiger dead. Immediately after the shot was fired, a
large tiger broke near Aga Shah Noor, who at once
sent a shell into it and disabled it. It required two
more shots before it was dead. As there were said to
be more tigers in the jungle, the sportsmen got up
trees, and they had hardly done so when two young
tigers broke from the jungle. One fell to each of the
sportsmen. After a few minutes another young tiger
broke near All Shah, who managed to give it its
quiet. The largest tiger was evidently the mother
of the other four, who were youngsters about two year,
old, and very ugly customers. The dam measured 9
feet from tip of tail to tip of moot, and about 4 feet
high. Her family a versged about 5 feet long each.
LOSSES AT SEA.—A German journal pub-
lishes a list of the losses of the three mercantile navies
of Great Britain, France, and Germany during the
twelve months ending July 1, 1873. From this it
appears that the United Kingdom lost 1,373 vessels,
correspondinc. to 5 2.3 per cent of its total mercantile
shipping; Germany has lost 228 vessels, equal to 5 2.5
per cent, ; and France 303 vessels, equal to 7 per cent.
This calculation does not include small fishing craft.
Of the 1,373 British vessels 118 were steamers and
1,225 sailing vessels, the relative proportion of losses
to totals being in the first case, 4 2.3 per cent., in the
latter 5 9.10 per cent. Germany lost 10 steamers, or
5 per cent, of its steam shipping, and 218 sailing
vesa.ls, that is, 5 2.3 percent. of its sailing fleet. France
was foriunath hi losing only nine steamers, represent-
ing If per cent., but fa:ed so much the worse in its
sailing fleet, whose losses amount to 269 vessels, or 7
1.3 per cent of the totaL
A rri...FESRIONAL VIEW OF THMOS.—Not
many hours ago, an eminent Novelist was observed
contemplating the outside of his house with earnest at-
tention. He was thinking, so he told an anxious in-
quirer, that every story had its "tale" of bricks.
Piench. -

- '
Cor erT COURTS. —The Lord Chancellor's
County Courts Bill, which is passing through Parlia-
ment, allows a County Court Judge to summon persons
skilled in the matter to which an action relates to sit
with him as assessors, their remuneration to be costs
in the cause unless otherwise ordered by him. The
Bill also provides that in an action for debt exceeding
£5 the plaintiff may, if the summons (to be personally
served ,0 the defendant) gives notice of intention so
to do, proceed to judgment without giving any proof
of his claim, unless the defendant sends to the court a
notice (a form of which will be annexed to the sum-
mons) of his intention to defend. Power is also given
to frame a new scale of costs. In the year 1873 the
ordinary plaints entered in the English County Courts
were as many as 878,200, and the amounts claimed ex-
ceeded 2t millions sterling. The, were 5,209 imprison-
ments for non-payment.

SOIETHINU LIHR BUSINEBB.—The Govern-
ment having acceeded to the Archbishop of Canter-
bury's request that "Letters of Business " may be
granted to Convocation, let us hope that Convocation
will make it their business to prepare, for the early
consideration of Parliament, the project of an addi-
tional " Act of Uniformity for the regulation, once
for all, of ecclesiastical muforma—Punch.
,

-
CHINESE SILK .-- The North China Herald
publishes a report f the Shanghai Chamber of Corn
merce regarding the deterioration in uuality of Chinese
silk. Attention is called to the warnings issued by
the Chamber in 1872, and to the verification of its
prediction that great reduction lin value would follow
unless more care were taken in reeling and packing.
The warning having been neglected, and the result
having happened. Chinese silk merchants are now
mired to impress further on the producers the necessity
for more careful and honest preparation to enable
Chins silk to recover its position in the market.
THE BURMESE BRIGHTON.— A house in
Mergui, the Burmese Brighton, must be what adver-
tising hoinse.agenta call a " desirable residence" (says
The Times of Indio). A correspondent, dating from
that place, says, "Fancy, no baker, no dhoby, no
butcher, but, ihank God also, we have no undertaker."
Possibly the inhabitants of that happy place are not
addicted to pegging. Amongst other attractions the
following may be mentioned : "The thunder, light
"ling, and rain are something territhe at times. I had
to light candles in the house the other day, at 3 p ru..
while the rooms seemed full of darkness, wind, thunder,
and fire."

A WORD TO THE UNWISE. Mr. Punch is
pained to notice that there exist certain snoblings, in
good clothing, who, when the National Anthem is
performed within their hearing, omit the usual act of
loyalty, and neglect to take their hats off. Possibly
they are fearful lest their long ears should he seen if
they were to stand bareheaded. Mr. Pewh inclines
to think this reason is the right one ; for, clearly, no
one but a donkey gssuld, on any other grounds, allow
a good old English custom to fall into desuetude.- -
Punch.

AN UNLCCICY WEDDING DAY. The Hungarian
papers give the details of an accident, by which a bride
and bridegroom and seven persons were drowned while
taking a trip on the water on their wedding-day. A
storm came on and a thunderbolt sunk the boat in
which the newly-married pair and their nearest rela-
tives were seated. Some forty guests who were near
in other boats escaped.
COBRA POISON ANALYSED.—Cobra poison is
described by a writer in a Calcutta paper as yielding
these resolts on analysis 92 parts of carbon, 48 of
sulphur, 12 of nitrogen, the same of oxygen, 22 of
hydrogen, and a trace of phosphorus. The writer's in-
genious theory is that the poisonous effect is owing to
the union of the elements of ether, in the presence of
an alkali met with in the blood. It is certain, be says,
that there is a remarkable resemblance in the effects
produced by the introduction of bi-sulphuret of carbon
into the circulation, and those produced by snake
poison. Undoubtedly, if the experimenter actually
succeeded in producing symptoms of poisoning by in-
jecting this compound of carbon, his theory concerning
the reaction noticed above would seem very plausible.
The method of cure which he recommends has, be de-
clares, succeeded several times in his own presence.
The patient is to be treated every 15 or 20 minutes to
a tablespoonful of a mixture of tincture of
, aromatic spirits of ammonia and brand,: "When
taken," this dose isi "to be well shaken" in the body
' of the patient, who must be kept awake by every
possible means, and hustled about until, perspiring
copiously, he shows signs of returning vigour.
A LONG NAME—TiIe names and titles of his
Siamese Msjesty, as given in the treaty recently con-
cluded with the Government of India, are : " Somdetch
Phra Parymindr Maha Chulalong Korn Podindthong
Depaya Dilaha Mongkut Partotaya Ratorerayara.
wiwongse Varutmawongse Piibat Warakattrya
Rajanikradom Chaduranta Parom Mahn Chakra-
bantiary Sangkat Poromdbanan Mik Maharaja
Dhiray Poromnat Pobit Phra Chule Chow Klaw
Chow Willa, Supreme King of Siam. fifth of the
present Dynasty, who founded the Great City of
Bangkok Amaratne Kosindr Mohindr Ayuthia.'

PATERNAL PROTECTIONIMM.-It is a truly pa-
ternal legislation that interdicts the robbery of birds'
I nests. Only Paterfamilias would hardly make it a
I criminal offence for little boys. Perhaps he would
I prefer to protect the feathered race by fine and impri-
sonment from the keepers of noble lords and honour-
able gentlemen, who shoot down all the hawks, kites,
buzzards, ravens, crows, magpies, and jays they can,
~under the name of " vermin. '—Puerh.

DREADFUL CONFLAGRATION IN Russia—The
Russia]. papers give details of a terrible fire which broke
out in Benlitchno, the principal residency of the Jews,
n the south-western provinces of Russia. The fire
broke out in the old market quarter of the town,
and destroyed 600 houses, nearly
.all of which were
blazing at once, thousands of Jewish families being
thus left without shelter. On the next day nearly
as many houses, including most .of the Jewish schools,
were destroyed loy a second fire, and on the two
succeeding days fires again broke out in other quarters
of the town, by which whole streets were destroyed.
" EUcALYPTUs GLoiluixs."—ln the House of
Commons, on Tuesday evening, Colonel Egerton
Leigh asked the Under-Secretary for the Colonies
whether any steps had been taken to introduce the
"Eucalyptus Globulus " into the lh,id Coast, the \ Vest
Indies, anti other unwholesome colonies' with a view
to reduce or destroy the malaria, to which Mr. Lowther
replied :—" The Colonial Office has been informed I.
Dr. Hooker that it in doubtful whether this tree, which
is a native 14 the cooler parts of Australia, will thrive
in \Vest Africa or in any thoroughly tropical climate ;
and that its sanitary properties have been much exag-
gerated. It has been for years cultivated, lam sorry
to say, without success, in Mauritius. Seeds have,
however, been sent to Grenada and the Leeward
Islands, as well an to Sierra Leone, and inf.ormati.on
upon the subject has been given to the Administrator
of the Gold Coast."
SCHOOL OF COOKERY. —The cooking at South
Kensington on Saturday was more varied than last
week. There was a soup called a Chantilly soup, be-
cause it was first prepared at the place which gives it
the name. But this soup consists simply of green
peas, onions, lettuce, cucumber, parsley, and mint,
boiled to a pulp and passed through a sieve, and mixed
with a little cream. No stock was used, and the soup
appeared a very good vegetable spring soup. The dis-
tinctive flavour was green pets. A little cold boiled
turbot was warmed up in a sauce, and made into cro-
quets fried in hot fat. This frying-afforded Mr. Buck-
master an opportunity of going into the science of
frying in fats and oils. He urged the importance of
practical w..rk in the kitchen, without which all theore-
tical knowledge of cooking was valueless.
POISONED BY MISTAKE.—EarIy on Sunday
morning Mr. Baker, surgeon, of Junction-road, Upper
Holloway, London, being restless and unable to sleep,
went to his surgery in the dark to obtain a composing
draught, but he unfortunately took a dose of carbolic
acid by mistake instead. Soon afterwards Mrs. Baker
was awoke by the violent retching of her husband.
He said he was very ill and thought he should die.
Dr. Spencer was immediately sent for and was soon
in attendance, but too late to save Mr. Baker's life.
He endeavoured to revive the action of the heart by
the application of the galvanic battery, but without
effect. Dr. Baker had practised many years in
Upper Holloway and was much respected in theneigh-
bc urhood.
THE HORSE AND HIS RIDER.—M. POTTeL, a
French pharmaceutical chemist, has (says the London
Medical Meant) discovered a very simple and econo-
mical method of saving horses, particularly when they
are not in motion, from being torniented by flies. It
consists in merely rubbin; them with a little concen-
trated oil of laurel, which is extremely disliked by the
flies. The oil should be specially applied to the parts
where the flies usually settle. With about three
pennyworth of this oil a horse can be annotated for
three days. There is not the slightest danger in using
it, and, indeed, its slightly stimulating action iR bene-
ficial to horses, and keeps their coat in good order.
This expedient may also be usefully replaced by a solu-
tion of 60 grammes of assafietida mixed with one glass
of vinegar and two of water. The strong odour of the
assafietida drives away the flies, and if horses be well
washed with this, not a fly will settle on them. No
apprehension need be felt in using the assaftetida,
which has no deleterious properties.
A MIDSUMMER Hay's THouGHT.—AceOrding
to the Atliencrum, a work entitled Searchee for Sum-
mer, in various regions, is about to be published. An
investigation of a similarcharacter has been carried on
in this country during the present season with but in-
different success. —Pond,.
A KENTUCKY ORATION.—Dick Lucas, candi-
date for gaoler at Bowling-green, recently made the
following appeal in a speech :—" Fellow-citizens,—
Where are iny opponents? Why, gentlemen, they are
nowhere. I feel myself as much above my opponents
as a possum in a persimmon tree does above the ,emound
he crawls on. I call on you in the name of the shaggy-
headed lion, which whipped the American eagle; I
call on you in the name of the peacock of liberty, which
Hewed over the Rocky Mountings. to come to my
rescue. Come on Monday next, and promote Dick to
the office to which he perspires. When you shall have
been dead, and the green briers shall have entwined
themselves around your graves, then will your sons

come to me and say:Dick°, some years ago our father;
voted for you for the office of jailership of Warren
county; then will I say, Roll on thou silver moon, I will
be with thee till the last day in the evening."

CAMPHOR AS A STIMULANT TO VEGETATION.
- Some curious and all but forgotten experiments, of
much interest to agriculture and gardening, have been
revived by a German soma (says the boil,, Tilegraph).
Very many years ago it was discovered and recorded
that water saturated with camphor had a remarkable
influence upon the germination of sped.. Like many
another useful hint, the stupid world took no notice
of this intimation; but a Berlin professor came across
the record of it, and he appears to have established
the fact that a solution of camphor stimulates vege-
tables, as alcohol does animals. He took seeds in
various sorts of pulse, some of the samples being
three or four years old, and therefore possessing a
very slight degree of vitality. He divided these
parcels, placing one moiety of them between sheets
of blotting-paper simply wetted, and the other under
strictly similar conditions between sheets soaked in
the camphorated water. In many cases, the seeds
did not swell at all under the influence of the
simple moisture, but in every case they germinated
where they were subjected to the camphor solu-
tion. The experiment was extended to different kinds
of garden-seeds, old and new, and always with the Caine
result of showing a singular awakening of dormant
vitalism and a wonderful Quickening of growth. It also
appears from the professor's researches that the young
plants thus set shooting continued to increase with a
vigour and vivacity much beyond that of those which
were not so treated On the other hand, when pounded
camphor was mixed with the soil, it appeared to
exercise 4 rather bad effect upon seeck The dose in
this lattee case was possibly too strong. At all events,
there is here a line Of inquiry well worth following up
by seedsmen and gardeners; and even farmers might
try how far wheat and barley would profit from the
strange property which seems to be possessed by this
drug over the latent life of vegetable germs.

IN BAD Lrcir.—Reeently, near Germantown,
a woman was scooped up by the cow-catcher of a loco-
motive. The train couldn't be stopped until it had
run half a mile. The woman was unhurt. When the
story of her escape woo told to her husband, he said,
"Vs ell, I'll be darned if wimmen ain't hard to kill.
There was my finest Durham. He got on the track
and the locomotive struck him, and there wasn't
enough life left in him to supply animation to a fly.
And my horse ran away with the gig, and the train
came along and hit him and it. and the horse was killed,
and there wasn't a piece of the gig left big enough to
make a plug for the spigot hole of a barrel- Now,
that wife of mine is of no account, and she escapes.
Ito always the same. If von have two eggs in your
hand, and one is lad and the other good, and you let
them drop. its invariably the good one that breaks."
And he looked sad, and turned his tobacco in his
mouth, and cogitated on the strange inconsistencies
accidents.

_
The 'state de ralitt ha, tinished a "History of tie
Civil War in the I tilted States, and the work will be pub-
lished shortl.
A reduction isf a shillinc pr ton in the price of
house coals was quoted upon the London Coal Exchange on
Monday.
The Spaniards of Manilla are said to have recently
destroyed Ins ships, and captured 140 more, belonging to the
Soot,. pirates.
M. }lament, if the Brabant Agricultural Society,
says that if unbeaten and crushed hemp is scattered in a
granary in the mouth of March it will preserve the mills
stored from weevils M Element estimates the annual loss
to Europe from this deleterious insect at more than
X 4040,000.
The monkeys in Ceylon have taken to eating the
bark of the cinchona trees. No doubt their imitative powers
have enabled them to see that their huindu relations make
40 of the bark, and so they have sledded upon trying its
.deets!
To cure the many evils with which his territories
are at present afflicted, the King id Burnish is to have himself
! crowned a second time. Ile is baying diamonds to stud his
own, the queens' and princesses' dresses It is said that the
dress of the Middle Palace Queen's eldest daughter's dress
alone win, when it Is finished, be worth nearly 0-00,000 rs.