The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-07-09 00:00:00

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HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

A NEW VARIETY OF GAME ANlMAL.—Squirrels are
game in America, and although it would seem but
tame sport in England to go out for a day's squirrel
shooting, it is a recognised pastime in America, where
a "game dinner," which is an invariable accompani-
ment at the meetings of the numberless sportsmen's
associations which flourish in the United States, is
considered incomplete without squirrel served in some
form or other What will Englishmen however, say
to frogs as game? We learn, navertlieless, that in
certain parts of New Jersey the shooting of frogs for
market is practised with considerable profit, The
frogs are shipped to Gotham and other large cities, as
delicacies for epicures.—Land and Water.

THE LITTLE WESTERN.—A correspondent writes to
the Daily Telegraph :—" Captain Petterson, of the
ship Laugen, of Havanger, who arrived in the Thames
on July 4 from Charleston, S.C., reports having
spoken the Little Western on Thursday last, eighty
miles W.S.W. of Scilly. All well on board.'
MARRIAGE WITH A DECFASED WIFE'S SISTER.—A.
memorial from the convention of the royal and parlia-
mentary burghs of Scotland asking the Government
to introduce a Bill for legalizing marriage with the
deceased wife's sister, or to give facilities for the pass-
ing of a similar measure during the present session,
has been presented to Sir William Harcourt and is now
under consideration. A larger number of persons
than usual are said to be going abroad this year to
take advantage of the facilities which the laws of Con-
tinental nations afford for such marriages.

RIGHTS.—Every woman has a right to be any age
she pleases, for if she were to state her real age, no
one would believe her. Every woman who makes
puddings has a perfect right to believe that she can
make a better pudding than any other woman in the
world. Every man who carves has a decided right to
think of himself, by putting a few of the best tits
aside. Every woman has a right to think her child
the " prettiest little baby in the world," and it would
be the greatest folly to deny her this right, for she
would be sure to take it. Every young lady has a
right to faint when she pleases, if her lover is by her
side to catch her.

SAVINGS BANKS IN SCHOOLS. - The Lords of the
Education Department have issued an appeal to
members of School Committees and boards and those
interested in elementary schools to aid in the formation
of savings banks in connection with these schools.
The returns for the past year show that savincs banks
have been established in 1,087 schools in England and
Wales, and in 62 schools in Scotland.

THE WORK OF THE SESSION.—The number of
public Bills, including Local Government provisional
orders, introduced in the House of Commons in the
course of the present Session up to Monday was 187.
Of these 37 have already received the Royal assent,
19 have been withdrawn, 3 have been "dropped," 13
have passed all their stages and only await the Royal
assent to become law, 2 have been put off for six
months, and 133 remain to be dealt with.
A DUKE'S AIIIIIMON EXCITED.—The Duke of Man-
chester told the following story against himself at a
banquet recently held in his honour in Queensland (says
the Court Journal). He admired the country to such an
extent that he had determined, if possible, to become
one of themselves—(great applause)—in fact, to be a
squatter. By the bye, talking of squatters reminded
him of an incident that occurred whilst he was riding
between Jimbour and Clunkillenbah. He stopped for
a drink of water at the house of a riTm named M`Fie,
who asked if the duke was not coming by with Bell.
On being assured that he was the duke, M`Fie shook
his head dubiously and said, "Go on, you're only
joking;" and despitg all his (the duke's) protestations,
Al`Fie would not be convinced until Mr. Bell arrived
and certified to hii identity; whereupon M`Fie walked
round him, and said ill despair, "Blest if you couldn't
,a9hll,,ii&Aa_,y to Barcoo and they would take you for
nothing else but a darned bushman." This excited his
ambition, and he felt that though he could not hope to
be a bushman, he would like to be a squatter. (Great
laughter and cheers.)

SIR S. NORTHCOTE AND MR. BRADLAUGH.—Mr.
Bradlaugh, M.P., has written a long letter to Sir
Stafford Northoote upon the course which the latter
has taken in opposing his admission to the House of
Commons. The following is the reply :—" Sir,—l
regret I must confine myself to a simple acknowledg-
ment of your letter of this day's date. I cannot
admit that there is any foundation for the charge of
illegality which you make against the House of
Commons ; but I must decline to enter into con-
troversy with you upon the general subject of your
case. I can only say that I have acted from a sense
of public duty and from no personal motive, and that
I can see no reason for doubting the propriety of the
course which I have pursued. I have the honour to
be, Sir, your obedient servant, Stafford H. Northcote,
C. Bradlaugh, Esq, M.P."
TELEPHONES AT THEATRES.—The two telephonic
halls which are to form part of the International
Exposition of Electricity in the Palais de l'lndustrie,
Paris, will be great points of attraction. According
to La Scmaine des.Constructeurs, the telephonic arrange-
ments in these apartments will enable visitors to hear
the performances at the Comedie Francaise and at
the Opera House. Not only will they hear the voices
of the singers and actors and the music of the orchestra,
—but the minutest details will be audible, even to the
footsteps of the dancers. Ten visitors are to be admit-
ted at a time, and while they are listening for say, a
quarter of an hour, ten others will take their places in
the neighbouring chamber, to whom the current of
sound will be turned on at the expiration of the stipu-
lated time; and this is to 'go on all the evening.

A PAPER DOME.—A paper dome, thirty feet is
diameter and weighing about two tons, is being made
for the new observatory at West Point. It will weigh
only one-tenth as much as a copper dome of equal
size. _ _

PRINCE BISMARCK'S D 0 G. —Prince Bismarck's famous .
dog has again got his master in trouble, according to '
the Brussels National. Recently the Chancellor,
when going out and not able to take his dog with him,
stuck his cane into the ground of his garden, and bade
the animal stay there. Soon after up came one of the
private detectives who watch over the Prince's resi-
dence, and wishing to pass he tried to persuade the
dog to go indoors. The creature growled and showed
his teeth, and was immoveable. Presently the Prince
returned, and the dog, freed from its watch, sprang
upon the detective, and tore his clothes almost to
atoms. Prince Bismarck could only make his fierce
protector lose hold by thrashing him soundly, and had
to pay the detective £2 for damages.
HARD LlNES.—Cooking classes are very good in
their way, but it isn't pleasant to come home, hungry
and tired, and hear that your enthusiastic wife has
gone out, taking the cook with her, to have a cookery
lesson, and that there is no dinner.—Fun.
Hor PROSPECTS. —The Canterbury Correspondent
of the Daily Telegraph writes :—Hop plantations,
which are very numerous in this district, afford evi-
dence that the prospect of planters is a very hopeful
one. Almost ever since the bine commenced grow-
ing it has done well, and in many cases it has
run up the full length of the poles and looks clean
and healthy. The mid-summer shoot has made its
appearance, and is growing very fast. It is seldom
that the grounds have been so free from insects as •
at present.
SMOKE ABATEMENT. —The Board of Trade has
officially declared the exhibition of smoke-consuming
apparatus, fuel, &c., to be held at South Kensington,
October 20, till November 26, to be calculated to pro-
mote British industry, and prove beneficial to the in-
dustrial classes, thus conferring protection on all in-
ventions exhibited during the time of exhibition and
for six months afterwards (in virtue of the Protection
of Inventions Act, 1870). The Secretary of the
Admiralty, Mr. Trevelyan, has also forwarded a com-
munication promising that the Admiralty will favour-
ably consider application for trials of apparatus, at one
or other of the dockyards, in case the size and cha-
racter of the appliances should in particular cases
exceed the capabilities of the testing places already
provided. These communications were read at a
special meeting of the committee.
BURNT AT SEA.—lntelligence from Ceara, of June
9th gives the following further particulars of the burn-
ing of the Glenloyan steamer. The Glenlogan, British
steamer, Captain Rains, from New York for Pernam-
buco, &c., calling at Para, Maranham, and Natal, left
Maranham on the 31st of May, with a cargo of
kerosene, resin spirits, boards, &c. On the 3rd June
at 10 a.m., she was found to be on fire. The fire
gained so rapidly that the steamer had to be aban-
doned the same afternoon. She was left about 100
miles to the east of Ceara, and on the morning of the
sth, still a mass of flames, she drifted past Ceara, at a
distance of three leagues from the coast. The boat
in which the captain and passengers were was cap- •
sized while beaching, and all the ship's papers, &c.,
were washed out of her and lost.

THE WOODEN HEADS OF OLD ENGLAND.—The
Old Women of England will have enough to occupy
their attention for the next ten years in the tunnel
being constructed to unite England and France. All
the good old Bogie arguments will be trotted out from
day to day, and the French and Italians will be pitied
for allowing the existence of the Mont Cenis subway,
and Europe for cultivating a through system of rail-
ways.—Punch.
A HALE OLD MAN.—One evening last week
(writes a correspondent of Notes and Queries) I met an
old man and a boy retui ning from their day's work;
i the man, aged 86, s great-grandfather to the boy aged
fourteen. I could not let them pass without remind-
ing the old man that few people live to see their great
grandchildren—fewer still live to see them old enough
to go to work for their living—but rarely indeed are
they spared in strength to go to work beside them. In -
further conversation my old friend told me that he
well remembered his great-grandmother, who was
buried in 1802 at the age of 93, when he followed her to
the grave, the funeral being impressed on his recollec-
tion by the fact that the service was read by the light
of a lantern on a dark winter's afternoon. This hale
old workman has thus seen seven generations.
FALSE PREDICTIONS.—Prophecies of the end of the
world in 1881 are certainly not confined to oiir own
Mother Shipton (says the Graphic). An Italian
Fourteenth Century writer, Leonard Aretino, in his
"Aquila Volante," according to some Italian journals,
fixes the beginning of the end for November 35th
next. The destruction of the world will occupy
fifteen days. Transatlantic predictions of the same
character are equally plentiful, and have been so
generally credited that in Carleton County, Canada,
many farmers have neglected to sow seeds, or to work
at all, believing that the end of the world would come
on June 19.

THE MORGUE.—The Municipal Council of Paris has
recently made a great improvement in the arrange-
ments of the Morgue by adopting the refrigerating
apparatus of M. Mignon and Rouart at a cost of
53,000 f. The bodies on view will thus be enabled to
be preserved for any length of time within reason, and
the sanitary conditions of the Morgue will be altered
for the better, while the long period of exposure will
frequently further the ends of justice and give more
frequent opportunities to identification.

How IT CAME ABOUT.—She.—And so, Mr. Jeffer-
son, you go back to your own country next week. And
pray, now, what would you like to take with you ?
(Upon which he pluokod up courage, and told her
right off; and now she's Mrs. Jefferson, and has gone
with him).—Judy.
CHARITABLE HELP FROM LADIES.—At the annual
distribution of prizes by the Countess of Dartmouth at
Wolverhampton Orphan Asylum, on Friday, Mr. W.
H. Rodgers, the chairman, stated that no less than
£45,000 had been contributed to the funds of the
institution by ladies alone.
AMERICAN FINANCES.-It is estimated at the Wash-
ing Treasury department that the receipts for June
are sufficient to make a reduction in the public debt
for that month of eleven million dollars. That makes
the reduction of the public debt for the fiscal year
ending with June one hundred millions of dollars.
The revenue from Customs for the fiscal year exceeds
that of any year in the history of the country except
those ending June, 1871 and 1872. The amount of the
internal revenue exceeds that of any year since 1871,
after which the reduction in the internal revenue taxes
began. The interest charge on the public debt has
been reduced to 84i millions, or an annual saving of
591 millions as compared with the maximum charge
reached in 1867.
A HINT TO CYPRUS, —A novel mode for destroying
locusts has been discovered by thg proprietor of a
tchiflik at Kapakli, near Ghemlek. It had been
observed that the storks and various kinds of small
birds showed great partiality for pursuing and eating
the locusts who were infecting the whole district.
Accorlingly, the owner of the tchiflik in question,
who possesses an immense number of fowls, bethought
him of sending them on the hunt after the pestiferous
insect. Dividing them into four distinct groups under ,
the guidance of some of his labourers, the chase com-
menced, and was so highly successful that before long
not a locust could be seen in the whole ne%hbour-
hood.