The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-11-08 00:00:00

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HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL

DEATH OP • CHAMOIS HUNTER.—Jean Hag.
netti, a celebrated Swiss chamois hunter, has just lost
his life while pursuing his avocation. He started
from the Splugen, in comnany with his brother and
two other persons, to hunt in the direction of Silvers.
He walked in advance of his oomrades, when all at
onus the ground gave way under him and he was pre-
cipitated to the bottom of a deep ravine, where his
body was found dreadfully disfigured.
EXPLOSION AT • RAILWAY STATION. —On
Sunday evening, an explosion took pla3e at the Kew
Gardens station of the London and South Western
Railway, doing damage to the extent of about £2OO.
It appears that the head porter had, about ten mieutes
previously, lighted the gas in the waiting.roome on the
up side, and while anoilier porter was standing on a
truck lighting the gas outside an explosion followed,
blowing out the windows and doors of both waiting-
rooms, and destroying the ceilings. Several passenger.
as well as the booking•clerk had a narrow escape.
The cause of the explosion was an accumulation of gas
on the roof.

SHOCKING Occuitanscs.—On Sunday evening,
Edward Buckley and George Maddox, young men,
were brought to the Salop Infirmary, both serionsly
wounded. They were together at a house at Dorring.
ton, about six miles from Shrewsbury, when the one
took down a gun from the top of a cupboard, and,
after some chaffiag between them, Buckley presented
the gun at Maddox and clisabarged the contenta into
him face, not being aware that the gun was loaded.
Buckley ran immediately to a medical man in the
neighbourhood, and, being horrified with the idea that
he had killed Ma idox, be attempted to drown himself,
but, foiling iii flat, he cut hie threat with his pocket
knife, partly separating the wind,ipe. The patieuts
were properly attended to, and there are hopes that
they will recover.
Tits COLL APSZ. Britannia "Then there's
to be co wedding after all, my dear I "—Prance : "At
no, madame! Of comae I should not have accepted
Henri, had he asked me ever so much; bat, in fact, I
was never asked at all I "—Pooch.

A RiIIARKABLE SOOTCHWOMAN. —The Scots-
man announces the death of Mrs. Janet Hamilton, the
Coatbridge poetess, whom it describes as One of the
.osit remarkable Scotch women of the present century,
Janet Hamilton wan the daughter of • working shoe-
maker, and although without education, the mother of
• large family—she married at thirteen—and for many
else Cowards the close of her life totally blind, yet
contrived amid circumstances seemingly an adverse
from find to last not only to store her mind by self-
culture, but to produce poems and various other
writings of no ordinary merit. About two months
ago • number of Mn. Hamilton's admirers, among
Whom were Lord Dalhouge, Lord Home, Sir W.
Stirliag•Maxwell, and Sheriff Bell, proposed to raise
£lOO to present to Mrs. Hamilton, but her death has
rendered fruitless the kind design, except in so far as
It hae shown how many and warm friends she powered.
Mrs. Hamilton was in her seventy-eighth year.
OUR LtrrLi WAIL—It is said, by those who
ought to know, that those who should have known
better let um in for the Ashantee war by mismanaging
their rilociatMna and dealings on our behalf with
King Coffee to such a degree as to amount to prom.
cation, of which they have given Coffee grounds.—
Punch.

HYACINTH CULTURE IN BIDS. All soon u
the summer flowers have been removed frem the beds,
have them deeply dug and well manured for the re-
oeption of the hyacinths. This should take place in
October, and, besides digging the beds, they ought to
be neatly edged if on grass. Proceed next to plant
after this plan : —Pint line the bed regularly into
divisions of nine inches between rows, and dibble holes
on the lines eight inches apart, then plant the roote
tutn the holes so that they are three inches below the
surface. When the bed has become completed it is
advisable to plant close to the margin • line of crocus,
ineerting them three inches apart. The crocus will be
the first to make • feature in the spring, and will con-
tinue to impart • lively effect to the bed up to the
period when the hyacinths bloom. When the flower
stems reach a height which endangers their being
broken by wind or rain they should be supported by
means of short stakes. These should reach no further
than the base of the flower-spike ; and, when the
flowers have withered, lose no Urns in removing the
flaw.r items, but preserve the foliage to the last
moment you can allow them to occupy the bed, which
will in • great measure favour the ripening of the
roots—The Garden.

THE EXPERIENCES OF • SCHOOLMASTER.—
Now, a schoolboy is an animal whose main object in
life is to get into mischief ; and every scrape which
his fertile ingenuity suggests to him may possibly
be the canoe of petty vexation to his master.
A schoolmaster with • large house is • man who
can never call half an hour hie own. He cannot cal-
culate upon finishing a msul or reading • newspaper
without danger of i nts rroption. Except in the holidays,
which are not more than enough to give him a chance
of recovering his strength, he is exposed to one inces-
sant series ot troublesome interruptions. Ifs, boy has is
pain In that vague but perverse organ, his' inside " ;
if he tumbles; into a stream, or has a dispute with
one of his fellows or hurts himself at botball, or runs
Into debt with • confectioner, or breaks windows or gets
Into any of thethonsand and one little troubles for which
the schoolboy has a preternatural facility, he may be
starting a series of annoyances which will worry the
schoolmaster's life out of him. The parent will hold
him rraponlible for anything that happens; as i a
temporary relaxation of watcnfulnes may be punished
with tenfold severity. In short, the very theory of •
rchoolmaater's life is, that you catch the most cultivated
scholar and gentleman whom you can get for the money,
set him down to be worried by thirty or forty lads,
each of whom is too troublesome to be managed at
home, mid require him by perpetual vigilance to keep
them out of any serious mischief—From Co, nnill
Magazine
Tax TERRIBLE RHETORIC OF FACTS—The
Times, In a leader commenting npon the French Budget,
and the cost of the war wiai Germany, remarks :

-
There be no rhetoric about it beyond the ten tble rhstoric of
fact.. What was the public coat of the unhappy war of
070-It We do not speak of private losses not reimbursed
by the Treasury ; we make no account of deviated hom
steads, of ruined hal vests, of Industry sutpended. and
houeehold treasures ranaecked and mattered: We simply
take Into our reckoning the expenses actually incurred,
the Indemnity paid, the commis•lons and charges Incident
to the loans that mete ridged. The total was £371,5 0,000.
The imagination fails to realise the magnitude of
the amount thee waded. Is is not much less than
half our own Notional Debt. It la more than fire times the
revenue received by the Chancellor of Vie Exchequer. It
wos raised and spent In little more then twelve months for
naught, and worse than naught. lf we ask what there
Is to chow for Shia expenditure, we cannot go through the
mischievous negative results It produced. The money
wss spent and I. gone. First there came the loan of
£30.000 oeo negotiated at the comm, ncement of the war,
no then believed a be put. oat to defray its
cost. The Morgan Loon, prod,osng someththe more than
£OOOO,OOO followed. The resources of thc It,. -I Francs
were next attacked, and thic mice proved so producti co
that It was quarried again and again, ustil a total
sum of £6lOOO 0.0 was drawn from it. A debt of thirteen
millions owed by the Eastern Railway Woman, was seems. d
by the State se part of the coneequenee of the surrender of
the Eastern Ptovhcces and the railways they contained.
Loan. of £80,000,000 and £120,000,000 were raised to pay off
the indemnity exacted hy the conquered.. Sales of national
property, of Rectos that had been held as Sinking Funds,
and extraordinary taxes Imposed diaries the continuance of
thetwar, made up the grand total of £371,600 MO, which
was the Floe paid for eying to assure the stellity of the
Empire by ministering to the diseased vanity of It. friends
and tea If Empire and vanity were bee gam fot ever.
inn lib oat might not be 112.0111allYe.

Nommai. Nosanres.—The &maims aooord-
lag to the Noway Gazette, have laid the finr; stone of
of a fortiesu to be erected under the name of Petra
Alexandrovalr, and to harbour a garrison of Cossacks
on the Oxon It may reassure some persona interested
In the Eastern Q ,eation to consider that the Oxus is
vary far Inca &Mai, aa they might sonnies it from
its name to do, into the Bonphorun—Puncla.

" THIBAIS QUILT HALL DABIRTID."—A =HOW
dinner wee given one evening Mat week at one of the
principal restaurants in Paris Thirteen coven
bad been laid, but to the surprise of the waiters a
single guest made his appearance, who, after prising
twelve chairs close to the table, as if they were en-
gaged, quietly eat down and dined alone. The mystery
wee afterwards explained. Twenty years ego thhient
friends—amongst whom were Alfred de Monet, Theophile Gautier Count de Fisher, ter.—met at the no.
tanning in question, and agreed to dine together every
year on the same day, keeping the places of those who
had died, aa it their ghost. were to be present. The
next year they were only eleven In number, two yams
after ten, then seven, audio on. The last but one was
Count de Flavigny, who lately departed this life. The
solitary guest at preeent wag M. Rubella., a painter of
some repute, aged 84.

- -
KILLED BY THI FOCL—ID London, on Mon-
day, an inquest was held at the Westminster
on the body of Thomas Davis, aged 46.—1 t appeased
that the deceased had been a serjeant in t Ul3
Hussars. He left the regiment last Juty, having com-
pleted his full term of service.—Charies Farmer, cab.
man, said that at nine o'clock the previous Thursday
night, he was hailed by the deceased in Buckingham
Palace-road, who ordered him to drive as fast ea pm-
ethic to Churton divot, Pimlico, as his breath wee
affected by the fog. While going along the Vauxhall-
bridge-road the deceased stopped the cab, and said he
felt so 11l he would get out and go into a shop oppositak.
He got oat of the cab and went into the shop, whom
he was driven to the hospital, but died before arriving
there.—The medical testimony showed that the cause
of death wee disease of the heart accelerated by the fog:
—A verdict of "Natural Death" was returned.

Tax CAimrs MYSTIRY. —Recent reveLtions
in Spiritualism have suggested the probability that
the inevitable dog that runs the gauntlet on • ram-
catirse is a supernatung being. Opinions are divided
as to whether he is the same thing as "the Spectre
Hound in Man," or an apparition of the orieaal Dog
In the Mangan—Puede.

FATAL SHIPWRIOS.—At midnight on Frid.ty,
the 31st ult., the Norwegian barque Row, Captain
Hang., with seven hands, of and for Frederickstadt.
from Liverpool. with a cargo of salt, struck on the
south part of the Goodwin Sands. The fore and main
masts were immediately cut away, the vessel rolling
tremendously, and the sea compbgaly sweeping over
her. The crew and captain took to the raison rigging,
where it is supposed they could in no way make known
their distress'', or the Ramagate lifeboat and tug would
have proceeded to render assistance. At about four
am. on the let instant the vessel parted in two, end
the whole crew were thrown into the water. The
captain had a life-buoy with him. The second mate,
Edwin Wang, of Moss, who Ii the only one leftel
managed to clutch • piece of the wreck, and floated
away. He wee picked up by the fishing smack La 4
?lora, of Eamsgate, at noon the SIIIMO day, abmt ifi
miles W. SW. of the North Sand Head. Th. male
was landed at Raffinate on Sunday morning by the
smack. The owner of the vessel was A. H. Kier,
Frederickstadt

SHOCKING AOOIDIENT TO A LAT.—In London,
on Monday, an inquest wee held at St. Thwart'.
Hospital, on the body of Mrs. Isabella Jinks, aged 411,,
the widow of • clerk in the Admiralty, who came by
her death under the following circumstances :—A few
days ago deceased was standing upon an old chair in
the kitchen for the purpose of reaching stone article
from • shelf, when the seat of the chair gave way, end
deceased falling on the back of the chair one of the
back stays entered the abdomen, inflicting dreadful
Internal injuries. Dr. Scott was speedily in attend-
once, and having dressed the wound ordered the re-
moval of the deceased to the hospital, Where she
sank and expired. Dr. Bonlger stated that theartg
of the deceased had resulted actually from pneumonia,
which might or might not have been Induced by the
Injury. The jury came to the conclusion that the
pneumonia had not been induced by the accident, end
returned • verdict accordingly.
COMPATATITALT WILL Orr. You hoar
people saying, "I've half a mind." Lucky folk. to
Lernoeavennataniantasnrtli. I Many
of
us
sag"
to

PRODUCTION OF BUTT= FROM CONDINZAD
MlLL—Last Friday a most interesting and useful ex-
periment was made in the International Exhibition,
South Kensington, butter of a good quality being pro-
duced from Hooker's oondensed milk. The milk his
been made over two years and exposed in an open
vessel to all atmospheric influences. It had also been
In the quadrants of the Exhibition since bat Minch,
where the most varying clianges of temperature take
place. The sum se of Mr. Hooker's process is certainly
a fact, and sufficiently demonstrated by the extreor-
dinary test to which it has been subjected, for while
champagne and other wines have been destroyed in the
same department Mr. Hooker's milk has remained
quite meet and good. The butter from this condensed
milk was made with an ordinary churn in three minutes.
The intrinsic value of this experiment rein the Indic.
tion it gives of becoming one of the means of increming
a wholesome article of our food supply.
AN 'CELL,. DIC WIDDIN O. (From the
Graphic) —These ceremonies are naturally rare in such
• thinly peopled country, and the guests Come f roes
long distances (es much as 60 miles), and all on horse-
back. A hon.e often carries the father, his wife (Ni-
tride), with a baby on her back, and a couple more
youngeten. Some 200 horses were hobbled or tamed
loose round the church. The visitors, after
down Ole the gram to change their wet Mocking',
the house, whence, after imbibing sundry refreshment%
they presently emerged, headed by the bride ami
Lridegromn, and marched to the church, singing a dismal
ditty. The oompaty were dressed, as usual, in a kind of
coarse black woollen cloth, the girls' dresses were very
gay, having the skirts embroidered with ornamental
foliage in blue and green, and the bodies worked with
silver round the neck, wrists, and back. The bride
wore a large white headdress and long veil, studded
with silver stars, and the priest was gorgeous In a
crimson velvet robe and Elizabethan ruff. The °ere.
mony was very long, but the congregation did not find
It tedious, as they went out at intervals to take drinks
and chat, besides which they took an enormous quantity
of snuff. This did not enhance the solemnity of the
scene, and our correspondent's gravity NY completely
upset when the clergyman stopped in the middle of him
blessing to spit thrice with great velocity end accuracy
Into the middle of the nave.

SCICIDI or • FOOTMAN. —An inquest ha
been held in London at the Board.room, Mount-steed
Groevenor.square, on the body of Percy Bayliss, •
footman in the service of Mr. Drummond, of 11,,
Wilton-crescent. From the evidence it Appeared thah
the deceased had been for several months suffering from
severe pains in the head, and had frequently told his
felloweervants that he should some day destroy him-
self. On Wednesday in last week, the deceased having
been absent from the kitchen for some time, the under.
footman went up to his room atthe top of the house, and
on opening the doer found the deceased dead with • gun
lying across him body. The head of the deceased was
shattered to pieces. The gun had recently been di..
charged, but no report of firearms had been heard by
any one in the house. Dr. Hunter, of Wilton-places,
Raid he wee called on Wednesday afternoon, when he
found the deceased lying on his back on the floor of hie
bedroom. His head bad been blown to piecea. Ha
had evidently before discharging the gun plaoed the
muzzle inside his month, which would account for no
report having been heard by the persons in the house.
He had attended the deceased for some months, who
had been suffering from pains in the head and degree.
!eon of spirits. The jury returned a verdict that the
deceased destroyed himself while in • state of tem-
porary insanity.
CERTAIN CORE TOR CORPOLENCZ.—Eat and
drink se much as ever you possibly can of all sorts of
things without any restriction whatsoever, exoept
enly that they ere perfectly insipid, cc the unsavoury.
—Pen ch.

CHINZSE TILEGRAPHS. —M. Virder, Of
Sbanghae, has imagined a very simple system for ths
transmission, by telegraph, of Chineee messages, and
the plfan is at this moment adopted at Shanghae and
Hong. Kong by the Great Northern Telegraph Coca.
pany. the Chinese writing cannot be reproduced by
the ordinary telegraphic apparatus; consequently, to
permit the Celestials to send telegrams In their own
language. M. Viguier has devised the following ex.
pedient :—Of the 41,000 characters which compose
Chinese writing, 7,000 only are employed ordinarily,
and are indispensable for every•cay riqniremen.
It being established that every educated Chinese
ought to know at a glance to which of the two
hundred and fourteen radicals each character
relates M. Vignier has rarged in columns taw
seven thoneand characters under their respective
la limas, and affixed to each n number frm 1 to
1,000. Thus disposed, the characters are printed on
seven large sheets which the Chinese have to procure,
and by means of which they can in a very abort tims
find the signs they want. They wiite figures instead
of letter., and in using certain conventional signs foe
the address and the signature, the wastage may be
transmitted A/ easily as any other. The receiving-office
I. provided with a table bearing the same series of
numbers trom 1 to 1,000, and the corresponding charm-
tees. There is no doubt that the application of IL
Viguier's system wit give a great impulse to the use of
the telegraph amongst the Chinese, and contribute
powerfully to sbread that inode of correepondeace over
the whole empire.

TRADES DEMONSTRATION IN GLASGOW.— OM
Saturday a monsttr trades demonstration took place in
Glasgow, the object of which was the organisation of •
palpable protest asainst the continued operation of the
Criminal Law Amendment Act. Upwards of isixty
trades of the city and neighbouring towns were repre-
sented by au assemblage of over twenty thousand pee-
800A, who met in the forenoon on the green, and
afterwards mars:bed through the principal street& of the
oil,. Each trade was headed by a band, and all dl..
played emblems of their craftie banners and flags. 'llse
length of the procession may be gathered from the fact,
that at • given point it took two hours to peel. Mter
parading the streete, the processionists returned to the
green amid • heavy downpour of rain. There four plat.
forms were erecteil. Speohee—f or fwerin number than
was intended, owing to the inclemency of the weather--
wer, Jelivered, and letters were read f7Olll several mem-
bers of perl isment,regretting their inability to be presoak
but sy rnpathising with the object of the demonstration.
To • . alone proposed and adopted at the different
meetings wrp the same. The rev-al of the Criminal
Law Atbell'lM-LI, Act, for various reasons speciied, wag
demanded. The meeting also protested against the
criminal clauses of the Masters and Servants Act, and
the application of the law of conspiracy to questions of
labour; and resolved only to support those candidairt
for parliament who will support the foregoing resolu-
tions. Copies of the resolutions are to be mint to the
Scotch members of Parliament who have favoured the
movement. One or two secidenb have been reported
se resulting from the crowding which occurred in cer-
tain districts—in one cage an old man, who had bees
labouring under an arthmatic complaint was so severely
crushed that he Waled, and died sow dimmer&

A