The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-06-19 00:00:00

SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 1880.

• - -
OFF Ills PERCH.—Master (who has been carefulli
explaining the use of the " hyphen ") : "Now. bort,
here I have written the compound word 'Bird's-nest-
What is the use of this bar in the middle? "—Clever
Boy: "Please, Sir, for the bird to rooght on, Sir 1"---
Fun.
A PRACTICAL &TIDY OF NATURAL HISTORY.--
The
birds'-nest hunting tendencies of small boys has beM
ingeniously turned to account by a French provin°w,,_.
schoolmaster, who has formed his pupils into a "
ciety for the Protection of Small Birds and to'
Destruction of Hurtful Insects." The Association .01
divided into five classes, and a certain portion
ground is allotted to each class whose members T.
bound to report the number of nests and their inhably
ants in their section, and to watch that they are 11°1
molested, or in winter time that the birds do 117,
starve. Any member who removes a nest is repgl
manded on the first offence, and on a second is at o. ~nc°
expelled from the Society, and so well have the P'
discharged their duty this bitter winter that Wu;
five nests have been taken under their protection, an'
large quantities of cockchafers' and caterpillars eq.,
destroyed. The lads are thus led to study practicOje
natural history, and to practise kindness to t"
feathered race.

10 '
EXPERIMENTS ON LIVING ANIMALS.—A arll6
mentary paper has been issued containing the copty
a report from the inspectors showing the names o
persons who held licences and certificates under the
Act 39 and 40 Viet., cap. 77, during any part of
year 1879, together with the registered places at whicP
the experiments -were performed • also the total nura;
ber of experiments performed under the provisions 01
the Act during the same period, and the number c'
experiments in which there is reason to believe thsJ
any appreciable suffering was caused.
nf
HIGH PRICES FOR SILVER PLATE.—A collection -
silver plate which was sold last week, fetched vrlee6
which may well make the mouths of modern silsTrci
smiths to water (says the Court Journal). A fin°
porringer was sold at the rate of 30s. an ounce; 311'
other of silver gilt, and of the time of the Merl"'
Monarch, fetched half as much again; a plain Vl6;
bethan cup brought 385.; a teapot, out of which gret"
Anna may have sometimes taken tea in the inter/...5t I
of Council, 465. ; and a sugar basin of William ll+.
reign 525. per ounce. Now as bar silver was selling
the same day in the bullion market at less than 4s. eglj
an ounce it does not require a very elaborate arithmeticel
operation to adjust the difference paid for age sou
workmanship. The cheapest of the objects which we_
have just enumerated went for nearly seven times
brute value; the dearest for almost twelve times.
IN A LITTLE DIFFICULTY !—The Court Jaw—,
says :—" The latest achievement of the new membetr,
very nearly resulted in including a lady among
supporters in a division of Her Majesty's Grovernmen"
Members have the privilege of taking a lady past the
outer portals of the House where the jealous dce.,r:'
keepers sit, and leading her up to the very gate of to°
sanctuary. Here in a recess to the left of the door
way is a bench on which a lady may stand and ge
upon the House. On Tuesday night, whilst the en°,
cussion on the appointment of the Merchant Shippig
Committee was in progress, a new member had led o"
wife to this spot, and was pointing out to her the
11- be
celebrities of the House. Suddenly the division
rang, and the customary scene of confusion follow
Members came rushing from the lobby, and swarrneu
like bees at all the other approaches to the Honegi
The new member was in a frenzy of despair, 0°
knowing which way to turn. The lady was for solvine
the difficulty by staying where she was, but the
member felt that would be high treason at least.
happy thought occurred to him. To the right was,
doorway leading somewhere, and through it he don.'"
with the lady on his arm—to find himself in the cliv,v
sion lobby, into the far end of which the 'Ayes' we'
already pouring. There was a moment of wild excite',
ment, and then the new member and his wife, who heuh
probably often been present at a coursing rdar
doubled, and were out of sight and into the outer lohl
before the astounded pack of raembers at the far co
of the lobby had time to shout."

SUNDAY SCHOOL CENTENARY.—The Church of 11,14:
land Sunday School Institute has received from tr
Archbishop of Canterbury an intimation that "
Prince and Princess of Wales have accepted 151
invitation to be present at the Sunday Scholars
Gathering at Lambeth Palace, on the 3id of JulY,'
About 25,000 children and teachers will be presee_,"
the admission being limited to those of eleven Yew;
old and upwards. Contributions of not more thao,
penny each has been opened to present the Pr's..
cesses Louise and Victoria, who will accompany the,,Royal parents, with a Bible and Prayer-book ea.°?'
The Archbishop has issued a large number of invr/
tions, and there will be a distinguished partY 0f
visitors. The programme will include the singing °
a number of hymns and the Te Deum ; an address
will be presented to the Archbishop with a suitable
memorial of the Centenary; an inspection of tt:
scholars by the Archbishop, accompanied by t"'"
Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, who will attend in state
the presentation to the Princess by a deputation ef
scholars; and a march-past the Prince and Princess "
Wales of all the schools. '
THE GERMAN COAL INDUSTRY.—The mining CO
pa.nies of the Lower Rhenish and Westphalian clisr;
tricts have held a meeting at Dortmund to decide °f
regulations for the purpose of keeping up the price.
coal. A resolution was agreed to on behalf of sr%"
of the one hundred and seven undertakings concerne
for
including nearly all the more important, to renesv
ss,
1881 the Convention in force for the present year,
scribing the maseinium quantity of coal to be raised
sold daily, independently of what is required flui:
transmarine exportation and for their own
sumption. For every ton drawn or disposed of 9,13°'
the_ weight fixed, a fine of one mark is to be paid.
CHAMPAGNE STATISTICS.—The Chamber of Cafe
merce of Rheims has lately issued a report oe tst
statistics of sparkling wines in the Departlneq,
of the Marne for the year between April
ro
1879, and April 1, 1880. On the Ist of A,F
of the present year there were stored in ceile'of
in the Department the respectable number to
68,540,668 bottles of sparkling wine. This represeei
12,571,300 gallons. During the year 16,524,593 bottl_
have been sent out of the Department, of which onqo
2,666,561 had been purchased for consumption le
France itself. The amount of money received for tll.f
sale of champagne during the year was °ll
30,709,493 f., or little more than an average price °
if. 85c. per bottle
tb
AMUSING ECONOMY.—Splitting your sides - .si
laughter.—Judy. 418
EARLY WHEAT.—Mr. M. Jackson writes to
Times from The Vale, Ramsgate, June 11 :—" I /1?_Ii
the pleasure to enclose the first ears of wheat whio„t
have been able to find in this part. The first ab°l
equally developed I sent you last year on the 26th i/v
June. In Thanet the wheat crop looks uncominc%
well, thanks to the dry autumn and spring. In
first five months of 1879 rain fell here on 74 days to ra'n
amount of 11.5 in. In the same five months of lPrg
rain fell 0n.38 days and to the amount of 3•BBin.
in this country a dry year is always the best Wl3e:s
year, we have now the prospect of more than "-
average wheat crop, and if we have warm weather Per
the next few weeks the harvest will be an aversg
early one."
rria e
THE TORPEDO NOT A RECENT INVENTION.--"",
European Magazine for October, 1813, contains 0
statement, under the head of "Foreign IntelligenceL,
to the effect that a "Mr. Mix, an American, lates
attempted to destroy the Plantsgent man-of"
whilst at anchor in Lynnhaven Bay, by a combustib
machine called a torpedo. An immense colurant_.,et
flame and smoke was thrown up •by its explosion, yl;s
fortunately too distant from the vessel to effect
horrid purpose. One of these internals was picked I.lr
by the Victorious, and described as fully equal -
accomplish its object, if not timely discovered."
THE AMERICAN AND CANADIAN FOOD SUPPLTC,
There was a large increase in the supply of both 11071
stock and fresh meat from the United States a
Canada during the past week. The steamers convel;
ing live stock were the Massachusetts with 518 eet,the
and 859 sheep; the Bulgarian, with 430 cattle; .
Toronto, with 369 cattle; the Ontario, with 309 cattle;
the Palestine, with 287 cattle and 778 sheep;
City of New York with 1,100 sheep ; the Malta, W 1
112 cattle; the Minnesota, with 415 cattle and I
sheep; and the Aleppo, with 101 cattle. The steareasii
with fresh meat were: The Wyoming, with is
quarters of beef and 700 carcases of mutton ; ".
Bulgarian, with 1,532 quarters of beef; the Britis
Crown, with 907 quarters of beef and 109 carcases Qf
mutton, the City of Chester, with 872 quartersL
beef, 170 carcases of mutton, and 150 Digs' the CD's
of New York, with 720 quarters of beef, 189 care%
of mutton, and 150 pigs; the City of Chester,
872 quarters of beef, 171 carcases of mutton, and
pigs; the Celtic, with 620 quarters of beef and '4
carcases of mutton; the Egypt, with 542 quarter,
beef and 250 carcases of mutton' and the Minnese""
with 1,189 quarters of beef,
THE ,ZIALT Country Gentleman I
marks :—" While we would express our satisfactl(„',
at the disappearance ofa mposl which was alikell),-0
popular and unjust in its incidence, we must warn ,
farmers that its removal is not unattended with ce:
tarn depreciating results. Among the staple prode, vc,
tions of the British agriculturalist high-class ba„.,fl,jB
has always held a deserVedly prominent place. -"-
demand for it has been great, for the reason that e
1.°47
long as the malt tax continued brewers did not find
worth their while to use the comparatively
saacharine classes of barley for their malt; and the.;
foreign barley, for various reasons, so deteriorated 4
the voyage to this country as to hold a very inft,ll°.,
position when compared with the best English.
demand cannot now, however, be expected to contine_
to the extent, at any rate, which it has hitherty
obtained, and herein lies a somewhat serious considej3;
tion. Nor is it at all certain that this very
barley will be specially required for fattening PY;A;
poses, or that if it were the farmers can expect f
realise a sufficient price for their meal, in the face °
an ever-increasing competition, to remunerate there
for its use. Still the malt tax is g
to make the most of the boon; the 'gift and it
horse' Of Vuria'l'
Gladstone must not be looked at too closely ill t
mouth."
AVERAGE PRICES OF BRITISH CORN.—The followieif
are the average prices of British corn for the Nyeea
ending June 12, as received from the inspectorse,;',
officers of Excise :—Wheat, 445. 11d. ' • barley, 3-'; •
Od. : oats, 265. sd. per imperial qr. Correspondieg:
week last year :—Wheat, 41s. 4d. ; barley, 28s. 2cl'
oats, 225. 3d.
SKIN-GRAFTING.—The Scientific American is I
sponsible for the following account of the
remarkable case of skin-grafting ever attempted,
Danielsonville, Conn. The patient, Jesse Slorgailli,
eleven years old, fell into a vat of caustic potasbl°(ll
the last day of the year 1878. Both legs were munell,,,
nearly to the hips, and the skin was so coraplB, ,tetei
destroyed that a new growth was impossible. 2.1-isse
same months of hopeless and excruciating agony,
older physicians of the place giving up the case lc,
hopeless, a young man, Dr. George J. Ross, undertooo
to save the boy's life by skin-grafting. Over the
thousand grafts were used, the boy's mother,,
family coachman, and many neighbours and friell
contributing thereto. The process was begun in APS4
1879, and though the work is not yet complete,
'
legs are nearly restored to their natural functioece
The boy is still weak, but can walk a short disto,tot
without a crutch. The grafts are said to grow low'
in thgeprwg mouthos