The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-12-13 00:00:00

in ti southern counties slice the Wiid Bird, pr
A GreinuLtariralseet:crAll•reasele of s
!dbaCs ha been
vaticn Act ..ame into operation, had the GunBIB him Lice,en.
thee
bide have congregated, anti during the Let seek the
Surrey all"hilisactole!inUalgOldhfiird:OhatZgliver°t4ctiu,ta, ,
Loudon birdcatchers netted many hun,reds
warblers and coneigned thew to m.trket. Fcmtrs,
ever, have unanimously deterruintd to !invent a,
system of small bird poaching, end leUly r,f trvise
professional birdcatchers have been warned off theism
s.nd threstentd with iruptinontntrat if a.!ain found t„...
pawing.

A TItAOIO OBITIJARY. -- The daily regietere of
the Paris Morgue, in which the " sensational ' lafor.
mation obtained ala ut the bodies expnsed there fac4No
ally written, are being coil, cted and boned voad.e.'
and they will ba placed for the benefit of the loetre
tragedy in the National Library. This new apo,ii.pb,
of um-ern bfe will no doubt fin I many rea lers, some
with the objects of literary craft, and m
done fro tho,
serious and philosophic mativts.

MILITARY DIACIPLII4R IN RUeSia.—A remark.
able iimtance of discipline in the Ilu,sien army haajug
urred at a•tire in the small town ,if Bardoack, wk.?,
192 hvuses were burned. A seidinel who FRO on duty
having heen forgotten, remained at hie mat. Rae
warm,- box was consumed, and hia clothes were already
on fire, when a corporal arrived to relieve inc. The
Emperor, upon hearing of the circumstance sent it,
man 50 roubles, decorated hint with the Order of St,
Anne, and gave instructions for him to be made a son.
commissioned officer.

SIDNEY SMITH ON SCOTCH SHEEP IN ENG.
LAND.—Wieet.livutg in Yorkshire, Sydney Smith la.
ported BOMA biacklaced sheep from Scotland, in ads
that he might enj.7 the finer flavour of So:ltchiness.,
H. gives a ludicrous picture of the activity o' the
" Ten times a day," he says, "my men w,re calln
from their work to hunt the Scorch sheep out of
own or my neighbours' wheat. They crawled
hedges where I should have thought a rabbit
hardly have found admission, and where seem',
wt uld not do they had recourse to leaping. Five
mix times they all asvembled in a body, and teton
on their return to the north. My bail if took a phis
In the mail, pursued them, and overtook them heltvir
to Newcastle. 'I hen it was quite impotodble to m
them fat ; they amounted my hunt; s in winter sada"
clover in the summer, without any apparent &deka
to their weight. Ten or twelve per cant. alwoyo fat
of the rot, and more would have perished in ths
manner, if they had not been prematurely eaten odd
the way."

SINGULAR SUICIDR.—The death of Marian
F. Ply ffsr, a young nurse at the Boston City Hoop*
ou toe 19th ult., wee immedia•ely followed by th,
ui ilie Of Arthur Foster, a medical Levies and hos*
officer of the institution. It appears that Fostoria
called in the night to prescribe hr Miss Plffer, sad
mistook her symptoms for those of hysteria, and op%
her death he W 143 so chagrined at his tailors ts
recognise the indicationsof opium that he immediately
went to a bath-room and killed himself bye pening.
femoral artery. He was highly esteemed.

CONSUMPTION or Sri air B. In the first three
quarters of the year 1873, the quantity of home-made
wpirits OD which duty was paid for consumption in the
Uoited Kingdom as beverage reached 202'4,
gallons, being an increase of no lee. than 1,394,509
gallons over the corresponding period of 1872, which,
in its turn, had shown a will larger increase over kr
predecessor. The return for 1873 chow. 11 02972
gallons in England, being au increase of 920 687 gel.
lons over 1872 ; 4708680 gallons for Kvitiand, at I.
crease of 213 949 gallon,. ; and 4.515 812 gelloas
Ireland, an increase of 259,913 gadone, Tee e,rmd
foreign epirits import.-r 1 in the tint three quarto' ar
1873 shows 7,171,592 proof gallons entered for cots
Nnteption In the United Kingdom, an incense ot
974,109 gallons over the corresponding period of 1372.

A C LASSICA L A su. —The nativea (if Sou hat
Italy, even of the lowest c eee, make f .miliar raud
c's. Flea' names, although they at times mis&pply figg
in • curious manner. A story is mated ot • peasili
wham ass bad been stolen, and who, while complain-
Mg of his I.s to the police, and at the same time expa-
tiating on the merits of the animal, concluvi ite praises
by sayiiig that 'him ass, when decorsted with
pack-saddle, looked quite like a Cicero."

RAILWAY UNPUNCIUALITY.—The Tribunal de
Premiere 'Daewoo. of Bruseele has recently pi:pummel
• decision which will be interetting to railssy lax
sellers in England. The railways in Belgium are the
property of the State, and it wee against the State
that a travel er sought damages for delev in the pea
tormance oi a j ttuney. On the let of February the
1 complainant t,ok a ticket at 13rupsels for Merettentee
The Iran started at the time fixed, but was detained
for three quarters of an hour near Charleroi in come
Timms' of the hue bring blocked by good, trains, The
traveller suusht 300 f. damages for the cbley to winch
he had been exposed. The cauneel for the Stakeiet
meted the demand, contending that the delay to which
the plaintiff had been eubjected wan the result of inert.
table accident, and further, that, according to the
terms of the contract upon which a railway ticket nu
granted, no compensation greater than the amount of
the fare paid could be demanded. The Court owe
ruled that Objection, and decided the blocking up of
the line by an accumulation of trathe " omen:Mee
fault on the part of the administration. since it isnot
to be crntrated that it is bound to assure a free tee
sage and the punctual arrival of the trains which ere
under ite control." The Court made an order spirt
the State to pay to the plaintiff the sum of MI. s
damages.