The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-08-07 00:00:00

ITJ;

, THE RISK OF ACCEPT/NG INVITATIONS • —The
Calcutta Correspondent of The Times says--." A case
which came-up on appeal before the Calcutta High
Court the other -d4 is an amusing illustration of the
extraordinary ideas of law and justice which are still to
F' found among some of the subor4inate jndidal officers .
'
the Provinces. A native gentleman asked a number 1
f friends to a dinner partr—Trnuests accepted the
invitation; but when the day came they for some reason
best known to themselves did not attend, nor did they
send any apologies. Thereupon the host promptly
sued them for the price of the food which he had
provided for the banquet, and which, through their
want of courtesy, had been wasted. The Moonsiff
who heard the case thought the cause of action a good
one, and gave the insulted host a decree for the amount
claimed. The High Court, I need hardly say, took a
more rational, if less sentimental, view of the matter,
The Moonsiff's decision was reversed, the presiding
Judge remarking with grim humour that if the law
laid down by the lower Court were correct, then ' the
risk of accepting invitations would be very serious
indeed.'

A HLNT ABOUT SCHOOLROOMS.—MT. W. Jolly,
one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools in Scotland,
in his general report this year pleads for schoolrooms
which shall themselves be good teachers. There is, he
observes, a passive education of taste carried on by the
surroundings of the child in school—by the school-
room, the furniture, thearranpments, the decorations,
the teacher, and the insensible effect of the whole
teaching and work, all which influences permeate the
child's life and elevate or depress his nature. Hence
the importance of making our schoolrooms sweet and
tasteful places, educators of the higher part of the
children's nature, and the privilege and duty of using
this influence to raise the general taste of the nation.
Mr. Jolly states that beautiful and artistic examples
of works of high art can be obtained at very small
prices for the adornment of schoolrooms through the
aid offered by the Science and Art Department, and
he expresses his hope that, as new buildings are erecte 1,
School Boards will make the schoolrooms in this way
centres of bright and high influence. He maintains
that the most effective field of mmthetic culture and re-
finement at our command lies in the common schools;
and that no national improvement in manner, bearing,
habit, and taste will be possible except through the
common schools.

THE QUEEN AND THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.-'—
The profession ought to be, as we have no doubt it is,
, highly gratified by the kindly feeling which her
I Majesty invariably manifests towards those members
of it upon whom has devolved the honourable and
responsible duty of guarding her Majesty's health
(remarks the Lancet). A few years ago, when Sir
James Clark died, the notice of his death, which ap-
peared in the "Court Circular," was accompanied by
most gracious expressions of regard on the part of the
Queen; and now, again, Sir Charles Locock's memory
has been honoured by the expression of her Majesty's
, genuine regard for the deceased baronet. Such sym-
pathy between the Sovereign and the physicians of
her oourt shows that the profession to which they
' belong must hold an honourable place in the estima-
tion of one who is looked upon as the sole fountain of
honour, and it further shows how highly her Majesty
appreciates those who, amidst the anxieties of exten-
sive practice, have shown themselves loyal and zealous
in her service. It is but too often the case that
doctors fail in obtaining from their patients any ex-
pression of gratitude even for services which have in-
volved much hard work and abnegation of self, but it
will never be said that her Majesty forgot to render to
her servants that which alone makes labour sweet, and
which is always highly prized by those who are fortu-
nate enough to earn such noble expressions of goodwill
and affectionate gratitude.

„ .
SAGACITY OF PIGEON s. —The following instance
of saga,.;ity in a pigeon may be interesting to some of
your numerous readers (says a correspondent of the
Live Stock Journal and Fancier's Gazette) :—"A friend
who had lived at Limehouse, upon changing his resi-
dence, gave me a half-bred Antwerp and Dragoon,
which I took home last Wednesday, 21st inst., and
placed in a pen, and the next day put with my other
flying birds in their house. On Saturday afternoon
this bird escaped through the drop-hole of the trap,
and after sitting on the house for not more than a
minute, away it went straight for home, and as I
thought for good, but to my surprise late this Sunday
afternoon the bird returned, and seems to have taken
up its quarters now with me for good. It is evident
that upon going to its old house, which it found
deserted and house-gone, it made up its mind not to
stay; but what astonishes me is that, with so short a
knowledge of my house, the bird should be able to
dentify the place and return.”