The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-07-19 00:00:00

Mistrtiancous 4attiii;attt,

HOME, FOREIGN, AND

As Impostmo Name.—The Dutch journals
announce that King William has invested the Sultan
of lljocjokata with the dignity of commander of the
order of the Lion of the Netherlands. Th. Sultan's
name is Hamankoewonesenopatiingalogonabgurrach
mansaydinutinotogomode the Fifth. It looks like a
bit of railway line.
THE JEWS AND THZ METROPOLITAN Hos-
£ITAL SUNDAY FUND.—The following IA a compete
ot the collections raised in the London synagogues
under the Chief Rabbi's charge, in aid of the Metro.
politan Hospital Sunday Fund (says the Jewish World.)
Great S,) navel's, £203 19, 9.1. ; Central, £lBl 5, 21. ;
Byyswater. £166 7s. 63. ; New, £69 10s. ltd. ; Wes-
tern, £5B 14, 6d. ; North London. £54 Is. 61 ;
Borotich, £49 2e. ; Hambro, £25 7,6 d. ; Maiden-lane,
£23 12s. 63. ; Sandy's-row, £l5 Os. 10d. ; Polish,
IS Is. 61 ; Fa•hion-street, £5; Little Scarborough-
street, 313 3s. ; Holy Calling Society, £2 12e. ; Old
Castle-street, £2 21. ; Mansell-street, £1 100. The net
total, £867 11, 11, was handed over to the Mansion
House Committee on Thursday, the 31d inst. These
amounts are, of coarse, irrespective of the sums col-
lected at the Portuguese and Berkeley-street syna-
gogues; which would swell the grand total to upwards
0 £1,200.

To INTENDING EMIGRANT& —Tho Melbourne
correspondent of The Times writes :
"It is strange that we, far away, should feel so much as
we do the elLet of the disturbances in your labour.market.
The fall in toe price of wwil Is traced to the price of coal to
England, mid the consequent Interference with the opera-
tion suf manufactures. it Is probihle that the high price of
provisions has amiething to do with it, for the more the
people spend of their w-ges ii ge,ting food the liO3 they
numerously have for clothes. Let the discontented In Engles
itudy well " the Information lot emigrants" to he found to
the New South Wales section of the International Est:Wi-
thin, and then go and see sir Charles Custom in Vlet,ris.
sin et. They may 60011 Mid relied from their distress, and
wig have reason to hlms the (1.1, on which they shifted from
one overcrowded part of the E upire ti another having room
for all Two of the sales of cAtte l hove riferred to—one of
a hull f .e7OO, another of a heifer for £1,500 —were effected
by a man who was an Essex labourer a few years ago, and
who came out here a simple emigrant.

THE SERVANTS.— ItlidreNs : "Jane, remember
you lutist Go for the Children at Nine o'clock, tut the
Party breaks up at that Ilour.—lrcder Norse :
" Ploaße, 'M, I don't think I can get there till my
Botany Class is over, and that's seldom before Half-
past Nino ! ! ! "—[The Mistrcas of course "knew her
place," nod raid no more.j—Punch,
ORE OF Tilts PETS OF BERLIN NO Mon?. !
About a month ago died, of acute entetitis' the chino-
parizeo of the Zoological Gardena (says the Correspout
dent id the &a odurd.) lie was or of the la ts of Perlin,
cud It WW3, it.d- ed, a treat to see the lintle fellow, in
mere baby, peeling his oranges with the slow fasti.
Mous precision of a being surfeited with all the de-
lights of this wend. When he was not eating oranges,
he would from time to time beguile the wearisome
hours by seizing the small bat loudly protesting ring-
tailtd monkey that shared his captivity, and delibe-
rately wind the particolonted tail round his hand, as
a boy does the string round his top. Then he would
leisurely swing his v cam backwards and forwards,
and, when he bad got the right monlimlnin, jerk him
viciously against the iron bars of their common prj-mn.
When the Berliners heard that their favourite WHO no
more they took the matter deeply to heart and rehired
to be comforted. Now, hoe ever, it seems that what
one of the papers calls our "chimpauzeehss condition"
has just been remedied with wary, for the arrival of
two of these interering creatures is announced, one
for the Aquarium, and the other for the Zoological
Gardens, to take the place of the lamented defunct, ,
TRANSMISSION OF MUSIC.— The following
beautiful experiment, described by Professor Tyndall,
shows how ruutic may be transmitted by an ordinary
wooden rod. In a room two floors beneath his lecture
room there was it piano on which an artist was playing,
but the audience couhl not hear it. A rod of deal,
with its lower mid rooting upon the sounding board of
the piano, extending through the two fl rem its upper
end being exposod before the lecture-table, but still no
sound was heard. A violin was then placed upon the
end of the rod, which was thrown in resonance by the
ascending thrills, and instantly the music of the piano
Wag given out ia the lecture-ruom. A guitar and a
harp were substituted for the violin, and with the awn.
remilt. The sihratiuue of the piano strings were corn
muincsted to the soutalin4 boord they travur,ed the
I'' g r-d, were produced by the remnant bodies WHIVe.,
OW air WHO Carved into Waves, and the whole mneical
zomposition WWI delivered to the lists-ping andience.

CUATROVBUBY AND Caissisenev. —Why is 'be
solute Dogma, 'oar Revenues", Me absolute Alcohol?
$o please you, because it le utterly above proof._
Punch.

lAMB LW ENGLAND AND WALIA.
the Act which hae received the Royal
printed to amend the law relating to fairs
and Wales. It has immediate operation, _
the Fairs Act of 1868. By this etatnie the Secretary
of State is empowered, on representations made to
him by Justices, to alter the days of boding fah,
for the convenience and advantage of the public, and
for a lees number of day.. Not': of such repreden-
tation is to be advertised before the proposed Altera.
tion is considered. When the Secretary of State
makes euch an order, the same is to be advertised,
and all rights of the owners as to tolls, dm, are to
remain good and the same remedies to be in force as
if the fwrs were held en the days upon which they
were held previously to the order made.

I repe—sle

PAYMENT OF THE 4' A LABAM•" PANALTY. —The
payment of the Alabama penalty has been managed
with unexpected facility (says the Economist). It ie
not, we believe, altogether concluded, bat still much
the greater part of it is paid. It has, we believe, been
managed somewhat in this way :—A, contract was
made with three principal firms an the City, who con-
tracted to pay the mousy for us in Washington. and
who had the option of doing it in three ways. First,
if the contractors chose to deposit sold on our account
in America, they were to be allowed to draw draughts
on England, which the Bank of England would
honour, and which would he debited in due course to
the Exch. once account. Seconcliy, if the c,ntrnctore
so deposited the money, they were also to have the
right of telegraphing to their agents here a weakly
statement of the amount; and on it, receipt the Go-
vernment would at once pay it here at a fixed rate of
exchange. Thirdly, the contractors here had the option,
which we believe they have largely exercised, of pay-
ing in due five-twenty bonds which the American
Treasury has advertised for payment. Th. contractors
are said to guarantee the payment ef thcve bonds on
presentation ; but this, though formally necessary, is in
practice of no acciunt. Nothing can be better than
paying the American Government in iis own due
acceptances, and nothing more certain than that it will
pay them at maturity. The operation has certainly
en yet been exceedingly succeesful. Indeed, co far
from its having carri-d gold from hence to America,
gold is now coming from America to England.

Boa, AN Ox.—By the capture of Khiva, it
is said. Ru via commarols the Oxus. This looks omin-
One to the canine Latin scholar. Will not the com-
mand of the Oxus lead to that of the Boophorns ?
Punch.

A PROPOSED BALLOON VOYAGE. —A fort-
n'ght ago pet parations were being made in New York
for a balloon voyage &crass the Atlantic. Professor
Wise, who had charge of the undertaking, wrote hope-
fully of the prospect.. "The balloon proper," he says,
" will be a aperuid of 100 feet transverse, and 110 per-
renlicular and diameter. The supplemental balloon
will be a tpheroid of 36 feet diameter. These, with
allowance for expansion of gas, will give a lifting
power of 15,900 pounds. and a net carrying power of
9,500 pounds, and of disposable ballast, 7,500 pouuds.
Our floats will not lose by exosmose of gas over fifteen
pounds per hour, and that will enable tut to keep afloat
twenty days. We shall carry a boat more for the pm,
pose of providing for a contingency that may posatbly
arise fr, an any damage to the main balloon, but one
that we have little cause to apprehend. The boat will
he stored with water and provisions to serve for thirty
days." Professor Wise adds that reliance is mainly
placed on "the great east ward drift of the trade wind.
We do know that the atmosahere above us moves east-
ward; the heavens above attest the fact in its fleecy
meesentiers constantly to be seen in this aerial high-
way. What we don't know is the actual condition of
this force of nature over and above the sea, and, as a
method of exploration, we intend to make this aerial
voyage, audio our humble way endeavour to mark out
an nutrodden path for men and mails."
Ton DELionrs OF Sommart. Flies.—
Frecklen—Thirst—Thnnderatormn —Tight Gloves.—
Dog-days.—Dwity Roade.—Hot Nights.—Milk turned.
—Meat spoiled.—lrritability of Temper.- Liquefac-
tion of Butter.—Crying Children.—Crowded Balls
(for Chaperones).—Public Dinners. —Black Hate.
Red Faces—Punch.

JAPAN AT THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION.—
Japan, singularly dear in some of the articles she die.
plays, is wooded olly cheap in °thin (remarks the
Standard). A water-pot of metal, with some resem-
blance both to a kettle and a teapot, is marked "Two
shillings," and is, of course, "Bold." The shape is by
no means inelegant, and there is an antique style about
it which would make it sell at a mucu higher price.
Five porcelain cups, each with a metal saucer, are
marked hal a-crown for the set. An elegant-looking
" ten jug" of metal is two shillings, and a good-
looking copper vessel three shillings. There is no.
thing common in tie appearanie of any of these
articles; on the contrary, there is a purity of style
and neatness of workmanship which pleases the eye
at a glance. What may be done with a cheap mate-
rial is shown in the case of an earthenware teapot,
without any paint or gilt, marked at the exceedingly
modest price of sixpence, which is really a little g con
of its kind. Hundreds mwe could have been sold had
they been forthcoming. Excepting the textile fabrics
and the higher priced sod obviously over-dnar articles,
the Japanese goods are nearly all sold. This is espe-
cially true in regard to the porcelain and metal goods.
Some of the lacquered articles are marked at much too
high a figure. Thus we have a lacquerware pisnicap.
pustus, which, although it coitaim two white metal
bottles, possibly of silver, is yet all too dear at £lOO.
A much prettier example appears just underneath it,
In the form of a case containing "lire and smoking
utensils for ladies," the price being £9 4s.

OFNERAL UTILITY."—SCENE—HOW Stabies,
North t,f Ircland.—Captain. "Hullo, Pat What the
Dew:erre you doing to the old Mare ?"—Pat. "Wall,
you see, Copt)* our old Black Hearse Horse went
Lame yesterday that was wanted for Squire ILherty's
Funeral, en I'm Paintiu' up the Ould Grey for the
Service. You see her Body won't Show, by Baron o'
the Housin's, and 111 have to Wash her (lane ag'in
for Mice Meginnety's Weddite on the Morrow ! ! "
Peach.

Romals LoisLosr.—An ibt !resting tuselated
pavement has just been discovered in the City of Lon-
don. It lies seven feet only below the street level, on
the site of some old buildings recently pulled down nil
the north side of Bishopsg ete-street Wi•hin. The
ortiou exposed comprises the red-brick borderingi
guilloche pattern, with conventional trefoils in red,
white, and black, carefully worked in small tessera,,
in the usual mortar of pounded brick and lime. It
originally formed part of an elegant and large design,
and it is impossible to say how far it may still extend
beneath the roadway. Its proximity to the surface
woold indicate a period late in the Roman occupation,
the average depth of such remains in this locality hav-
ing been about 12 or 13ft. It has been seen by several
members of the London and Middlesex Archmulogical
Society, and a record of its existence will thus be pre-
esrved ; but in comcquence of the rapid progre4a of
the works it has had to be covered.

CHURCH ern ORAPEL.—Dr. Wiseman stated
at the late Irish Wesleyan Conference that the no nee
rical position of the various confessions in Engli,h.
speaking lands might be estimated as follows ;—Con-
gregationalist, 7 trillions; Roman Catholics, 10 mu-
lions; Bsptists, 10 millions; Presbysterians,
millions; Protestant Episcopalians, 14 millions;
Methodists, 15 millions, the preponderance of
Methodism over the ,tlivrcreedsin numbers is, no doubt,
caused by the position which the Methodist churcaes
hold in America, where, although younger, they are
numericxlly far in advance of British Methodism. If,
however, the adherents of the various British Metohdist
denominations were computed, their numbers would be
found to be by no means smalL Last year there were
In the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion 581,508 mem-
b,rs ; Primitive Methodist Connexion, 161.,464; United
Methodist Free Churcheil, 66,907; Methodist New
Connexion, 31,900; Bible Christian Connexion, 26,209;
Wesleyan Reform Union Connexion, 7,530 • Primitive
Wesleyan Methodist Connexion (Ireland). 7,443; Free
Gospel Churches' Connexion, 3,390. These would
amount to 886.351, and as the entire number of ad-
herents, young and old, may be estimated at five or six
times the membership, there would probably be about
five million such in connexion with British Methodism,
inclusive, as the above figures are of foreign and colonial
ifiBiollll and conferences. The number of ministers
and local preacher, is estimated at above 42,000.
Amerimm Methodism has, as is well known, in its
various brAnchts a for larger membership and body of
bearers, Sunday scholars, itc.