The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-09-05 00:00:00

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_ _ AMERICA.
-
Brooklyn Argue says that a mama for
seem to float in the elk,. No dtty • dawns without its
record of murder and Imicides.f But in Brooklyn,
which is at present a national 00m-centre, little heed
is tnken of tk,-_ deadly featureglof the times. An
Italian is motif mysteriously ioralered sh wean*
burgh, with his money and other' effects left upon his
person ; a man commits suicide by chloroform at the
Ashland House, New York; a drunken man blows
out his trrainsin (anal-street a Gertaineshonts hint'
self because a r-1 hpol -jilted h i;. a retired cakpenner
shoots his wife because she h ill cooked his nines,
and then killslimself ;a w an in Elizabeth port;
after trying to-leut her throat, throws Iferself under a
'passing locomotive; me fommerkiße aneither,,en-Yefln.
sylvania, for killing his dog; an old man of Ithaca is
stabbed because be will:not surrender his daughter to
her newly-married husbland ; one Hazel shoots a girl,
mistaking her for his own daughter; and.a man in
Memphis is literally disembowelled in a quarrel over a
-email tight.

THE LOITERY OF MARRIAt:E.—MalTiage in
France is a lottery in a general sense (says the Court
Jourual); to make it tolerably so, a certain youthful
swain, relying upon his personal attractions mainly,
a,:tually put himself up as the one grand prize in a
lottery of ten thousand tickets of ten francs each. The
tickets, we are told, were all sold, and a larking girl,
who " for the fun of the thing took a ticket," on the
honourable youth offering her half without himself, or
the whole with himself, fell sweetly in love with him
on the spot and married him. This is an old story
made new, we think, or else it is getting to be a national
custom. .

MR. RUSKIN ON PUBLIC FOLLY.—There is
nothing really more monstrous in any recorded savagery
or absurdity of mankind than that governments should
be able to get money for any folly they choose to com-
mit, by selling to capitalists the right of taxing future
generations to the end of time. All the cruellest wars
inflicted, alb the basest luxuries grasped by the idle
classes, are thus pail for by the poor a hundred times
over. And yet lam obliged to keep my money in the
funds or the bank, because I know no other mode of
keeping it safe ; and if I refused to take the interest,
I should only throw it into the hands of the very
people who would use it for these evilyurposes, or, at
all events, for less good than I can. Nevertheless it is
daily becoming a more grave question with me what
it may presently be right to do. It may be better to
diminish private charities, and much more, my own
luxury of life, than to comply in any sort with a
national sin. But lam not agitated or anxious in the
matter; content to know my principle, and to work
steadily towards better fulfilment of it. Fors
Clarigera.

WATERLOO VETERANS.—The following Royal
Warrant was issued in February last.—" Victoria
R.—Whereas it has been represented to us that
men who have served in our wars in and prior to
the year 1815 are often living without any settled or
sufficient means of support, and that by reason of
wounds, age, or infirmity they are unable to earn any-
thing towards their support. our will and pleasure is
that our Commissioners of Chelsea Hospital shall have
power (as and if they see tit) to award pension or in-
creased pension to such persons as aforesaid, provided
the nemoon shall not in the total amount awarded ex-
ceed for each man Is. lid. a day. By Her Majesty's
command.—GATHORST HARDY."

A LADY DROWNED.—A fatal bathing accident
is reported by telegram from Stornoway. For some
weeks Mrs. Scott, the wife of Mr. Scott, proprietor of
North Harris, one of the largest islands of the Hebrides,
and a party of friends have been staying at Fincastle,
in Harris, and Miss Anson, who is a daughter of Mr.
Scott's sister, was in the habit of bathing regularly
with other ladies on the beach of a small island half a
mile from the castle. To this place on Thursday Miss
Anson and two other ladies were rowed. Miss Anson
and one of her companions went to bathe, and the
third lady remained on the beach. The boatmen
rowed to the rear of the island, and in a short time
heard loud cries proceeding from the bathing-place.
They instantly rowed 'back, and found Miss Anson
floating on her back, apparently lifeless and the other
lady fast sinking. Both were immediately taken on
board. Mr. Scott, who had heard the cries as far
away as the castle, also reached the spot in a few
minutes in his steam yacht. All efforts to restore
Miss Anson proved fruitless. The other lady re-
covered, but is still very ill. The beach where the
accident occurred was steep, and both ladies were
carried beyond their depth by a heavy swell in the sea.
Miss Anson was only nineteen years of age.
BAZAINE'S HAND-OVER-HAND DESCENT.—His
one feat of arms.—Puiecli.

DEATH BY 13U RNING. —A shocking accident,
resulting in death, occurred on Saturday last at No.
7, Bedford-terrace, Holloway-road, London. About
five o'clock in the afternoon two of the inmatestof the
house, engaged in household work in the upper rooms,
became conscious of a horrible smell, which pervaded
the whole of the apartments. On proceeding to the
basement, from which the smell apparently emanated,
they found their mistress- a Mrs. Smith enveloped in
flames. After several attempts the fire, which had
spread to the hearthrug and adjoining furniture, was
subdued. It was then found that the whole of the
clothing of the unfortunate woman had been reduced
to ashes, not a shred cf her attire being visible, her
body presenting a charred and horrible appearance.
Dr. Hill, of 6, Bedford-terrace, was at once sent for.
On his prompt arrival he found that, although conscious,
there was not the slightest chance of recovery, and
Mrs. Smith, after lingering in great agony for a few
hours, expired. The cause of the accident is unknown.
THE SNAKE AND THE HENS. —At Goorgaon,
says the Bombay Gazette, two hens whit;ll were about
to be killed for the pot were tied up in the kitchen at-
tached to Mr. Borarojee Jeejeehoy's bungalow. The
cook happened to leave the place for a few minutes,
and when he returned the hens were missing.
The males then reported that a large snake, about
eight feet long, was making off. A irmn was brought
and the snake was shot by Mr. .Menockjee F. Paten,
and sure enough it was found to be the thief of the
hens, for they were found bulging out of his sides.
We saw the snake, with the hens peeping through a
hole which had been made in him, and he seemed to
have swallowed them without taking the trouble to
pluck them.
SAMPLE Or "DOUBLE X. "—SAZAINE—ex
Marshal and ex-Prisoner. —Punch.
THE SCOTCH MINERS. —The result of the
dispute between the miners of the counties of Fife and
Cla,ckmannan and their employers is that on Saturday
last 6,000 men were thrown out of employment. Since
the meeting on the previous Thursday, at which Mr.
Macdonald, M.P., advised the workmen to accept the
reduction of wages, district meetings have been held,
and at these warm discussions arose with reference to
one of the points disputed, which is, whether the men
struck work or whether the employers locked them
out. On Saturday the Board of Delegates sat for eight
or nine hours, receiving information regarding the
situation of their constituents. It was reported that
2,909 men had voted for resisting the masters' terms,
while 2,406 voted for accepting the conditions. No
resolution was come to, but there is to be another

conference held to consider rules which the masters
have just issued and have determined to enforce.
These rules insists on their working ten shifts a fort-
night, but allows them to give " warning " any day of
the week instead of only on pay day as formerly. In
the present dispute the masters of the two counties
are unanimous in their revolution to insist on the
reduction of wages and the acceptance of their code of
rules.

WILL BEZIQUE DO ?—For a change, a well-
known 'varsity oar stayed a week after the boat race
with the vicar of a small Irish country town, and,
wanting to keep alive his much-neglected classics, he
begged the loan of Xenophon. Replied his reverence,
"1 sent mine to my nephew, but you'll be sure to meet
with one at our bookseller, Mr. C—'s ; he is a very
intelligent man, and librarian too." Alas, however,
what was his answer? Xenophon, sir? No, sir, I'm
sorry I havn't got that • but"—after a conference with
his wife—" we have bezique, if that will do."
WHAT THE WILD WAVES ARE SAYING.
"Take a bath, Sir ?"--Pitneh.
THE MONT DENIS TUNNEL DESCRIBED BY A
BENDALEE.—An educated Bengalee, who has passed
through the Mont Cenis Tunnel, gives the following
account of it : -"The engine snorted, puffed, gave a
long whistle, and entered into it. The elderly ladies
drew up the carriage blinds, kept a firm possession over
their smelling bottles, shut their eyes one after
another, and leaned back solemnly on their seats. It
seemed as if they were prepared for the worst, and the
pale yellow gleams of the carriage lamps threw upon
their features an attitude of resignation almost =-
earthly. The train whirled on, the iron horse snorting
and panting for breath. It was intensely dark, and
when, in spite of the elderly ladies, we threw downthe
blinds, partly to see what the tunnel looked like, ft
stifling vapour rushed in and we drew them up again.
At places there were lights in the tunnel, and pro-
vision was made to draw down the fresh air from
above, which, here and there through intricate tubes,
came down with great hissing and noise. Thus we
went on for 13,000 metres, amounting to eight English
miles, for the space of nearly an hour, and it seemed at
times as if the darkness would never end. But finally
it did end, and safe on the other side of Mont Cenis
We emerge into pure air and into sunlight again. The
tunnel is 4,245 feet over the level of the sea, 4,023 feet
. . .

below the summit of the mountain itself, which, you
thus see has been bored through the middle. It is 26
feet wide and 19 feet high. The darkness is relieved
here and there by gas lamps (the trains here are all
provided with ''rms lamps), and the apparatus for bring.
mg down fresh air to which I have alluded relieves the
oppressiveness of the atmosphere within this mighty
excavation.

MOSQUITOES IN THE Fagan.—We (British Me-
dical Journal,) have received a practice contribution
towards the settlement of the question whether mos
quitoes have reached London at the close of the
season, in the persons of two undoubted but slightly
damaged specimens which Dr. George Roggen, of
Granville-place, Portman-square, has left at our office.
He writes as follows —" The appearance of the
mosquito in London has already been twice signalled
this week in letters to The Tine, and I beg leave to
send you, as corroborative evidence, two mosquitoes
whose acquaintance I made in Hyde Park on Mon-
day evening. I was sitting quietly reading on one
of the seats in the park, when my attention was
attracted by the peculiar movements about my
person of two individuals whom I at once suspected
of being members of a family with whom I had been
connected with the closest ties of blood for about ten
year,. On gently hying down my book, one of the
pair settled in the wonted gentle manner on the back
of my hand, and, after taking a turn or two in search
of a part soft enough for digging operations, fastened
his proboscis with the usual sharp sting of pain. This
last act, I considered, presumed too much on old so.
quaint•anceship ; so without waiting for him to com-
plete the tragedy by becoming gorged with my blood
I caught him mmindim e ark I
m, and send him to you.
am only sorry that the slight necessary violence used
by me in his capture has so spoiled his personal ap-
pearance that a photograph would ,give no idea of his
living condition. I may say that I also caught the
second one lathe air. They proved to be male and
femalt—P.l3, On second thoughts I send both."