The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-05-21 00:00:00

TITE CO3EseERCIAL RELATIONS BETWEEN ENGLAND.
FEANCE.—The Daily Telegraph (in a leader) fears;
it is necez,4earY t 6 use very plain language in dmlingr
with the jealails spirit and the hostile policy which,
seem to dominate in France at present upon ail
matters in which England is'eoncerned. The English
people, witnessing an almost general conspiracy abroad
to starve their industry by prohibitory tariffs, are be-
ginning to discuss with ominous earnestness ideas of
retaliation, with a view simply to safeguard their own.
interests, and the new fiscal policy of the French may
be the ttrning-point of their future action. We may
regret that the isffte has been raised, but it is corning;
before the great popular donstituences in a way to de-
mand notice, and the most careful treatment from'
statesmen and politicians. The French may justly
think retaliation unlikely; but they wf,suld do well not

to treat it as impossible.-
IYEvoTioNAL GExsE.—" T. N." writes to Zoned and
Water= i—The attachment that geese form towards
persons whd n about them, feeding them or other-
wise, is remarkable. I have often had occasion to
note this, and a very striking case has just come
under my notice. A milio, whose mill is on the
banks of the Water of Leven, and not far from a
villagt; has often been followed to the village—about
a mile distan:;—,:by a flock of his geese, which invari-
ably returned home 77'..,th him, On Sunday, when on
his way to church, the gothlers in like manner went
after him, and he was just abotili; to enter the sacred
lane when he was made aware Of the fact. The
foVrls bad to be put up in an outhoUgs until public
worship vnts conducted, when they were let loose end
went home with their owner."
AN OLD TREE.—One of the oldest trees standing fr
England is the " Tortworth " chesnut, which as far
back as the reign of Stephen, in 1135, was so remark-
able, says the Gardener's Magazine, for its size and
antiquity, that it was recognised as the terminal;
boundary of the manor of Tortworth, in Gloucester-
shire. This wondrously old tree was cited by Dr..
Ducard, in his controversy with Daines Barrington, as,
a convincing proof of the chesnut being indigenous to.
Great Britain. It is supposed to have attained its
maturity in the reign of Egbert. In 1766 the Tort-
worth chesnut was fifty feet in circumference and
-nfty-two feet high, and many more centuries of
tranquil existence were predicted for it,
MORE PAIN t !,—Parasols and gloves are now painted
by hand, some of the sunflowers and other objects
depicted, on the former being quite shade-oeuvres.—

Funny Folks.
WOMAN'S SUFFRAGE.—In I.o2lClonf on Tuesday
evening, a meeting in support of the movement for
conferring the Parliamentary franchise oil women
householders was held in the Grosvenoi Hall, Buck-
ingham Palace-road, Mims Edith Simcox, membt,r of.
the London School Board, presiding. Miss Simcoxj,.
in opening the proceedings, said she believed the
time was not far distant when the Parliamentary
franchise would be granted to women householders.
She hoped the time would come when the chief
duty of men and women would be to help each
other in society, and when that period arrived
the whole race would be much benefitted, and their
ears Would cease to be pierced with the complaints of
the ladies. Miss Biggs moved, "That in the opinion
of this meeting the Parliamentary franchise should be
extended to women who possess the qualifications
which entitle men to vote." Mrs. Chant, in seconding
the proposition, said that when the movement for
granting the suffrage to women was first started,
abuse was heaped upon its promoters; bot up to the
present, the result had been a great educational gain.
The motion was carried. Several other ladies having
addressed those present, it was resolved, on behalf of
the meeting, to present a petition to the House of
Commons in favour of Mr. Hugh Mason's resolution
for conferring the Parliamentary franchise on women
householders.
THE MARRIAGE LAW.—Mr. Blennerhassett will on
the 14th June call attention to the report of the Royal
Commission on the Law of Marriage, dated 1868, and
in accordance with the recommendations therein con-
tained moved the following resolution :—" That, as it
is desirable that the law relating to the constitution
and -proof of marriage should, as far as possible, be
made simple, certain, and uniform, it should be em-
bodied in a single statute applicable to every portion
of the United Kingdom, and such statute should pro-
vide that legal marriage naust for the future in Scot-
land, as well as in the other portions of the United
Kingdom, always take place in the presence of a duly
authorized minister of religion or civil officer."
THE IRISH FISHERIES. The report of the In-
spectors of Fisheries in Ireland presents many indica-
tions of the growing importance of this branch of the
national industry. No fewer than 6,459 vessels be-
longing to the country, with a total crew of 23,679 men
and 869 boys, were last year engaged in the trade.
The facts regarding the oyster fisheries are especially
interesting. Both on the east and west coasts, where
young oysters from Auray, in Brittany, are laid down,
they are reported to have thriven most satisfactorily;
and the inspectors express a hope that this system of
importation will be more extensively carried on.
APROPOS CONUNDRUM.—If the ruler of Tunis;
evacuates his capital at the approach of the French
army, what vegetable product will he resemble--
Bey-leaves, of course. —Funny Folks.
COLOUR-BLINDNESS.—On Monday evening, at the
Society of Arts, London, the first of a series of three
Cantor lectures on colour-blindness was delivered by
Mr. Brudenell Carter, F.R.C.S. In this first or
preliminar3, lecture. Mr. Carter described and
illustrated by experiments the nature of colour-vision
and the constitution of light; and referred the
occurrence of colour-blindness to the insensibility of
the retina, either partial or complete, to one of the
three velocities of wave-movement of which white
light is composed. it follows that colour-blindness;
presents three varieties of kind, as well as many of
degree, and that it may be either blindness to red,
blindness to green, or blindness to violet. The two,
first-named forms are not only much more common
than violet blindness, but are also of much greater
practical importance, inasmuch as they interfere
with the recognition of the coloured lights which are
employed for naval and railroad signalling, and which,
according to the unanimous opinion of practical
men, cannot be replaced for these purposes by any
others.

" OPTlCS."—Lecturer : "Now let anyone gaze stead-
fastly on any object—say, for, instance, his wife's
eye—and he 'll see himself looking so exceedingly
small, that—"— Strong-minded Lady (in front row) :
" Hear 1 hear! hear ! "—Punch. _

INDIAN OPINION OR LORD BEACONSFIELD.--The
Indian Mirror, the leading native journal of Bengal,
says :—" A great disaster has befallen England in the
death of Lord Beaconsfield. However strongly we
always opposed his policy, we must unhesitatingly say
that England has lost in him one of her greatest states-
men and chief pillars of the State. It will be impos-
sible to till the gap caused by his death. The magni-
tude of the loss, we are afraid, cannot be properly
estimated at the present moment. The Conservatives
will not find another leader like him, find the Queen
will miss her constant and trusty counsellor. Probably
her Majesty will feel the loss more keenly than any
one else. The death of Lord Beaconsfield following so
closely that of the late Czar, is a fact as curious as it
ominous, we fear, for Old England."
"A WET BLANKET."—The Young Ladies (about
the new Curate). "Isn't he good-looking? Such an
amiable expression, and such a nice voice! Hope pa
'll ask him to stay to dinner, &c., &c." Aunt Pen
(who had bided her time). "Yes, my dears, and I
hear from his friend the doctor that he's engaged to a
girl in the North, and musn't play at lawn-tennis ! !"
[Confusion.]—Punch.
ELECTRICITY ON THE STAGE.—The electric light is
now used at the New York theatres to produce
various new and startling effects. It is applied to the
incantation scene in the Black Crook at Niblo's, for
instance, with curious results. It flames from the
eyeless sockets of the necromancer's skull; crackles
along the dead branches of skeleton trees, and floods
the whole stage with unearthly brilliancy. In the
duel scene electric wires run through the handles of
the swords of the combatants, and when the blades
meet a circuit is completed and flashes of lightning
play around the weapons in most diabolical fashion.
This is probably the first time that electricity has
been so systematically applied to stage purposes.
FRENCH TRIBUTE TO LORD BEACONSFIELD.—The
Paris correspondent of the Standard telegraphs :--
"Most Englishmen abroad feel proud of Lord Beacons-
field, but they also feel a legitimate pride in the noble
tribute paid to him by another great Englishman, and
even Frenchmen, who are not as a rule more than
superficially acquainted with our manners and customs,
are all the more deeply impressed with Mr. Gladstone'a
speech that the counterpart is hopeless in their own
country. The Monde has an admirable article on this
episode of English political life. Happy are the
nations,' it exclaims, where party arimosity ceases
at the grave,' and it adds It is not the English
alone that are ready to honour this faithful servant of
the Crown. Foreigners, however they may have been
opposed to his views, cannot help admiring his daunt-
less intrepidity even above his talents as a writer cr a
public leader. He was redoubtable in Opposition;
his heart never quailed; he never despaired of his
cause; his character will be appreciated at St. Peters-
burg as well as on the banks of the Thames; be was
a valiant man."
.AGRITJLTURAL..—How to get an early crop.—Have
your hair cut at 5 a.m.—Judy.
THE. AMERICAN PORK TRADE.—A telegram from
Washington says that the conclusions arrived at by
the State Department, after investigating the reports
circulated concerning the prevalence of hog cholera,
have now been officially published. The report de-
clares that American swine belong to the purest
breeds, and are fed principally on corn, and that the
Percentage of deaths from disease among them is no
greater than in Europe. The system of inspection of
hog products is so nearly perfect that it is impossible
for diseased hogs to pass into the provision markets:
It is further declared that the reports circulated in
Europe concerning the prevalence of cholera among
American hogs are gross exaggeration's, and trichinosis
is almost an unknown disease at Chicago and Cin-
cinnati, the two greatest pork-consuming centres in
the world.

A RARE BIBLE.—At the recent sale in New York
of the Brinley Library, a copy of the Gutenburg (or
so-called Mazarin) Bible, which was stated to have
been bought in England in 1873, fetched 8,000 dols.
(k 1,600. The purchaser was Mr. Hamilton Cole a
lawyer of New York, who has devoted himself for the
last ten years to the collection of scarce books and
editions. Among the rarities which he has already
acquired are several M.S. copies of the Bible, dating
between the eleventh and fourteenth centuries, and
many illuminated breviaries and books of hours.—
Academy.
PRINCE BISMARCK'S PREVISION.—A bet of twenty-
five bottles of champagne is said to have been made
so long ago as 1833 with an American by Prince
Bismarck, that Germany would become a united
country in his time. If Bismarck laid, he has
certainly won, a wager which instances his far-
sight. and attests his foresight, not only of his
country's future, but likewise of his own, and that
of the other party also; the destiny of both him-
self and that other to live, the former to win, the
the latter to lose, the five-and-twenty bottles of cham-
pagne. Five-and-twenty, by the way; not two dozen,
the ordinary bet of bottles, but two dozen and one.
There is said to be "luck in odd numbers." Tile Great
Chancellor is credited with a belief in luck. Does this
sxplain his miter ?—Piusek,