The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-05-10 00:00:00

glisailantous

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

VERY PARTICI:MLR INDIED !—Many good
stories are told of the extraordinary pitch to which the
Deitch carry their passion for cleanliness, but few better
than the following : —lt was formerly considered at
Amsterdam the height of impropriety to expectorate
in the street, and the stranger who was guilty of each
indiscretion was at once "sent to Coventry" by the
best society in the town. A recently-arrived Yankee
discovered this to his coat. Convicted of the offence in
broad daylight while passing in front of the Guildhall,
he found every house closed against hbn, and his
"quarantine" so closely observed that he determined
to leave the country, although he would have much
preferred to stay there. Twenty years passed before
he dared to show his face again in Amsterdam, but at
last he returned, so changed and aged as to be unrecog-
nisable. While promenading the streets, a fine concert
hall which he did not remember to have seen on his
previous visit caught his Aeration. "Can you inform
me," he asked of a passer-17, "how long this esta-
blishment has been built?" ' Certainly," replied the
Dutchmen, frowning, as though something unpleasant
had been recalled to his mind, "it is very eagy to re-
member. It was built twenty years ago, the year of
the Yankee's breach of good manners."
. _

A WOMAN'S IDEA OP CRICKET (AND OF ARCM
SIENT).—Tbe Same thing Over and over again.—Punch-
FEARFUL AMERICAN TRAGEDY. —Dttails of a
horrible tragedy are given in the New York papers.
A man named Hennessy, upon returnin* to his house
after some bours' absence, con}d not obtain admittance
to his apartments After some time the door was
opened, and his wife, pointing to a tub, said, in an
unearthly voice, that the children were all right—
they were " harpy now." The room was pervaded by
a sickening odour, and upon going near the tub, which
was close to the fire place, the man saw that it con.
tamed the bodies of his two sons, aged respectively
three years and five months. They were completely
naked, and so mutilated that the features were not
recognisable. The flesh had been burned from their
faces and shoulders, the eyes from their sockets and
their lips were awfully disfigured and swollen to an
unnatural size. A daughter, aged seven years, was in
the attitude of sleeping peacefully. Mrs. Hennessey
Huffering from puerperal mania, and, it would
appear, murdered the children by .trangulation. She
is a native of Dublin, and aged 26 years. When in
health, she is said to have been remarkably beautiful.
_ _ . _ _

HARD CAM—Our old friend Jolliboyse, who
is eti 1 forbidden by Ins Doctor to touch oven • single
glaos of his favourite wine, speaks of himself, quoting
Cowper--for Joliboyse haa more tastes than oue—u
" Always from port withheld."—Punch.

THE'GIOLDE; 1.12.113.—fihe true Tom Tiddler's
Ground must clearly, one would sky, be near the Bank
of England. And what a lot of gold and silver must
be constantly picked op there, when we find the land
is purchased at the price which we here quote :
" Tux Vacua OF CITY LAND.—Premlees In Colemanetreet
(once • leading thoroaglitare of the City, but sinos the open-
ing of tioorgateetreet not so much used), with an area of
about 2 000 feet, were yesterday sold at • suru of L 12,000,
being at a rate of a per foot, the largest sum, we believe,
yet obtained at this spot."
Six pounds per foot! This well-nigh beats the
diamond beide. Fancy owning a few acres of land
which may be valued at six pounds for a foot! Well,
in spite of all one hears about the decadence of Erg-
land, there is certainly small fear of her prosperity dee
creasing while her soil is thought worth purchasing at
ten shillings an inch. —Punch.

VALIII OF LAND IN 1688 AND 1873,—The
annual value of land in England and Walasi s estsraated
to have risen six times since 1688 (remarks Land and
Water). Mr. John Macionnell, in his recently-pub.
lished book on the land question, tells us so, and that
this rise has been going on of late is proved by •glance
at the property tax returns, which show that between
1853 and 070 the annual value of the rent-bearing area
of the I, nited Kingdom increased from £47,559,000
to £56,540,000. At the same time, even during the
present century there have been great fluctuations in
rents. During the French wars they roes enormously,
After the peace they fell 10 to 33 per cent. Under the
influence of the Corn Laws they again rose, to &Able
shortly after those measures had been repealed. From
1852 Sr the present time they have steadily risen. .As
to urban land, a square foot in Victoria-street lets for
El sterlinz. A piece of ground in Holborn bought in
1552 for £l6O now yields £5,000 a year. A wharf in
Castle lievnard bought for £2,000 in 1670 lately
realized £llO,OOO. An acre of laud in South Kensing-
ton, which was sold for £3,200 in 1852, fetched £23,350
in 1860. We are told that the price of an acre of the
most valuable uncovered land in the city of London
after the Great Fire in 1660 was £30,000, or about one-
third of the value when built upon. At the present
time the highest rate for such unbuilt land may be
taken at £1.000,000 an acre, and such value constitutes
fully three-fourths of the value of the property after it
has buildings upon it.—Land and Water.
EXTRAORDINARY LONGIVITY.—The obituary
of The Timm of Monday contained some remarkable
illustrations of prolonged existence in seven persons,
whose nnited ages amounted to 608 years, giving an
average of 86 years and more than ten months to each.
The oldest was a gentleman who had reached the great
age of 91, the youngest of the same six being 80 years
of ages there was only one lady, who had, however,
reached hbe groat age f 89 yeass. The ages were re-
spectively as follows: 80, 84, two at 87, 89, 90, and 91
years. In arliition to th, above there were four gen.
tlemen and two ladies at ages varying from 70 to 79
years, or an average of rather more than 74 years to
-exch. One of the octogenarians was a madicAl gent.e-
man who bad practised as a surgeon at Amex-sham,
Bucks, upwards of 60 years.

t

MYSTEMOVi OCCRRRINCP. - - Mr. Carttar,
coroner, held an inquiry on Saturday at the "Half
Moon" Inn, Charlwood, into the circumstances at•
tending the death of Louis Bralic a Franco-American,
under the following circumstances :
"

It appeared that the deceased, who was on his way from
New York to Paris, wee a paesemger by the bat trail] which
leaves Victoria for Newhaven at 7.45 p.m., and passes through
honey. A luggage labeller put him leto • third-class c
pertinent at Victoria, and at Croydon he was seen to be flat
asleep and alone in the compartment. At Newhaven the
done, en butt sides of the coirdsartment were found to le
properly fastened, thongh the window. were down, No one
11611 In the carriage, and two rugs and an overcoat belonging
to the deceased were lying on the cat. The body of the de-
ceased, tearfully mutilated, was afterwards piked up on the
line near honey Station. A watch, SOMe Rohl studs, and
about IS.. In English money, besides Dome American 5-cert.
pieces, were upon him. Ile became conscious for • lois
moments, and gave Drs Farwell and Chem], who attended
him, his name and addrem. The jury returned • verdict ta
the effect that deceased died from injuries reoeived on the
London and Brighton hallway.
THE POETS IN A PCZZLZ.— The following
amusing incident is related in the" Life of Coleridge :"
" I led the hots, to the stable, when a fresh
perplerity arose. I removed the harness with,
out difficulty; but, after many strenuous attempts,
I could not remove the collar. In despair, I cal-
led for assistance, when aid soon drew near, Mr.
Wordsworth brought his ingenuity into exercke
but, after several unsuccesaful efforts, he re'
lingnished the achievement, as a thing altogether im-
practicable. Mr. Coleridge now tried his hand, but
showed no more grooming skill than his credecessore ;
for, after twisting the poor horee'd neck to almost Aran.
gulation and the great danger of his eyes, he gave up the
useless task, pronouncing t bat the horse's head mtuithava
grown (gout or dr. ?) mince the c oiler was put en; for
he maid 'it was a downright impossibility for such 'huge
on frontii to pass through so narrow a collar !' Just at
this instant, • servant girl earn, near, and, under.
standing the cause of our consternation, ' La! nester,
said she. 'you don't go ab ,ut the work in the right
way. You should do like thiß,' when, turning the
moment,llar.comt.
to our completely upside h
e down,
each satisfied afresh that there were heights of
knowled th
ge ba e world to which we had not yet
attained," humiliation clipped and ermen in