The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-16 00:00:00

STOUTIBRIDGE OBSERVER.

The safety of the population of the city is provided for
against density by the character of the houses, which
insure an equal distribution of the population. Tall
houses overshadowing the streets and creating necessity
' for one entrance to several tenements are nowwhere per-
mitted. In streets devoted to business, where the trades-
iw,ple require a place of mart or shop, the houses are
four stories high, and in some of the western streets, where
he hones are separate, three and four storied build-
ings are erected; but on the whole it is found bad to
exceed this range, and as each story is limited to 15ft., no
house is higher than 6011. The substratum of the city is of
two kinds. At its northern and highest part theist/A, clsy
at its southern and south-eastern gravel. tWhaterverlclisaci-
vantages might spring in other places titan] a retention of
water on a clay soil is here met by the plajishichliis
tmjver-
sally followed of building every house dtrf arches of solid
brick.york. So, where in other towns the are areas: and•
kitchens and servants' offices, there are here sttbafays through
which the air flows freely, and down the inclines isf which all
Currents of water are carried away. The acreage of our
model city allows room fer three wide main streets or boule-
vards, which run from east to west, and which are the main
thoroughfares. Beneath eachof these is a subway, a railway
along which the heavy traffic of the city is cirried on. The
streets from north to south which cross the main thorough,
fares at right angles, and the minor steeets which run
parallel are all wide, and, owing to the lowness of the
houses, are thoroughly ventilated, and in the day are filled-
With sunlight. They are -planted otreabh -aide of the path-
ways with trees, and in many places with shrubs and eve*
greens. All the interspaces between the backs oli fiuses art
gardens. The churches, hospitals, theatres; ban a,' lecture-
rooms, and other public buildings, as .ssell-ea--eonse -pritraV"
.buildings, such as warehouses and stables, stand alone, form-
ing parts of streets, and occupying the position of several
houses. They are surrounded with garden space, and add not
only to the beauty but to the healthiness of the city. The
large houses of the wealthy are situated in a similar manner.
The streets of the city are paved throughout in the same
material As yet, wood pavement set in asphalt has been
found the best. It is noiseless, cleanly, and durable. Tram-
ways are Nowhere permitted, the system of underground rail-
ways being found amply sufficient for all purposes. The side
pavements, which are everywhere ten feet wide, are of white
or light gray stone. lhey -have a slight incline to-
wards the streets, and the streets have an incline from
their centres towards the margins of the pavements. From
the circumstances that the houses of our model city are based
on subways, there is no difficulty whatever in cleansing the
streets, no more difficulty than is experienced in Paris. That
disgrace to our modern civilization, the mud cart, is net
known, and even the necessity for Mr. E. H. Bayley's road-
way moveable tanks for mud sweepings—so much wanted in
Loudon and other towns similarly built—does not exist. The
accumulation of mud and dirt in the streets is washed away
every day through side openings into the subways, and is
conveyed, with the sewage, to a destination apart from the
city. Thus the streets everywhere are dry and clean, free
alike of holes and open drains. Gutter children are an Ira-
posibillty in a place where there are no gutters for their in-
nocent delectation. Instead of the gutter, the poorest child
has the garden; for the foul sight and smell of unwholesome
garbage he has flowers and green sward.

It will be seen, from what has been already told, that in
this our model city there are no underground cellars, kitchens,
or other caves, which, worse than those ancient British cave's
that Nottingham still can show the antiquary as the once fast-
nesses of her savage children, are even now the loathsome
residences of many millions of our domestic and industrial
classes. There is not permitted to be one room under
ground. The living part of every house begins on the level
of the street. The houses are built of a brick which has
the following sanitary advantages :—lt is glazed, and quite
impermeable to water, so that during wet seasons the walls
of the houses are not saturated with tons of water, as is
the case with so many of our present residences. The bricks
are perforated transversely, and at the end of each there is
a wedge opening, into which no mortar is inserted, and by
which all the openings are allowed to communicate with
each other. The walls are in this manner honeycombed,
so that there is in them a constant body of common air let
In by side openings in the outer wall, which air can be
changed at pleasure, and, if required, can be heated from
the firegrates of the house. The bricks intended for the in-
side wall of the house, those which form the walls of the
rooms, are glazed in different colours, according to the taste
of the owner, and are laid so neatly that the after adorn-
ment of the walls is considered unnecessary, and, indeed,
objectionable. By this means those most unhealthy parts
of household accommodation, layers of mouldy paste and
size, layers of poisonous paper, or layers of absorbing
colour stuff or distemper, are entirely done away with.
The walls of the rooms can be made clean at any time by
the simple use of water, and the ceilings, which are turned
in light az chss of thinner brick or tile coloured to match the
wall, are open to the same cleansing process. 'The colour
selected for the inner brickwork is gray, as a rule, that
being most agreeable to the sense of sight; but various
tastes prevail, and art so soon administers to taste that
in the houses of the wealthy delightful patterns of work of
Pompeian elegance are soon introduced. As with the hricks,
so with the mortar and the wood employed in building, they
are rendered, as far as possible, free of moisture. Sea sand
containing salt and wood that has been saturated with sea
water, two common commodities in badly-built houses, find
no place in our modern city. The moat radical changes in the
houses of our city are in the chimneys, the roofs, the kitchens,
and their adjoining offices. The chimneys, arranged after
the manner proposed by Mr. Spencer Wells, are all connected
with central shafts, into which the smoke is drawn, and,
after being passed through a gas furnace to destroy the free
carbon, is discharged colourless into the open air. The
city, therefore, at the expense of a small smoke rate,
is free of raised chimneys and of the intolerable
nuisance of smoke. The roofs of the houses are but
slightly arched, and are indeed all but flat. They are
covered either with asphalte, which experience, out of our
supposed city, has proved to last long and to be easily re-
paired, or with flat tile. The roofs, barricaded round with
iron palisade, tastefully painted, make excellent outdoor
grounds for every house In some instances flowers are
cultivated on them. The housewife must not be shocked
•when she hears that the kitchens of our model city, and all
the kitchen offices, are immediately beneath these garden
roofs; are in fact, in the upper floor of the house instead of
the lower. In every point of view, sanitary and economical,
this arrangement succeeds admirably. The kitchen is lighted
to perfection, so that all uncleanliness is at once detected.
The smell which arises from cooking is never dis-
seminated through the rooms of the house. In conveying
the cooked food from the kitchen, in houses where there is
no lift, the heavy-weighted dishes have to be conveyed
down, the emptied and lighter dishes upstairs. The
hot water from the kitchen boiler is distributed easily by
conducting pipes into the lower rooms, so that in every
room and bedroom hot and cold water can at all times be
obtained for washing or cleaning purposes; and, as on every
floor there is a sink for receiving waste water, the carrying
of heavy pails from floor to floor is not required. The scullery,
which is by the side of the kitchen, is provided with a copper
and all the appliances for laundry work; and when that is
done at home the open places on the roof above make an ex-
cellent drying ground. In the wall of the scullery is the upper
opening to the shaft of the dust-bin shaft. This shaft 7 open to
the air from the roof, extends to the bin under the basement
of the house. A sliding door in the wall opens into the shaft
to receive the dust, and this plan is carried out on every floor.
The coal-bin is off the scullery, and is ventilated into the air
through a shaft, also passing through the roof. On the laud-
ing in the second or middle stories of the three-storied houses
there is a bath-room, supplied with hot and cold water from
the kitchen above. The floor of the kitchen and of all the
upper stories is slightly raised in the centre, and is of smooth,
gray tile. The floor of the bath room is the same. In the
living rooms, where the floors are of wood, a true oak margin
of fluor extends two feet around each room. Over this no
carpet is ever laid. It is kept bright and clean by the old-
fashioned beeswax and turpentine, and the air is made fresh
and ozonic by the process. Considering that a third part of the
life of man is, or should be, spent in sleep, great card' taken
with the bedrooms, so that they shall be thoroughly lighted,
roomy, and ventilated. Twelve hundred cubic feet of space
is allowed for each sleeper, and from the sleeping apart
ment all unnecessary articles of furniture and of dress are
rigorously excluded. Old clothes, old shoes, and other of-
fensive articles of the same order are never permitted to
have residence there. In most instances the rooms on the
first fluor are made the bedrooms, and the lower the living
rooms. In the larger houses bedrooms are carried out
In the upper floor for the use of the domestics. To facilitate
communication between the kitchen and the entrance-hall
so that articles of food, fuel, and the like may be carried up,
a shaft runs in the partition between two houses, and carries
a basket lift in all houses that are above two stories high.
Every heavy thing to and from the kitchen is thus carried up
and down from flier to floor and from the top to the base-
ment, and much unnecessary labour is thereby saved. In
the two-storied houses the lift is unnecessary. A flight of
cuter steps leads to the upper or kitchen floor. The warm-
ing arid ventilation of the houses is carried out by a common
and simple plan. The cheerfulness of the fireside is not
sacrificed; there is still the open grate in every room, but at
the back of the flrestove there is an air-box or case which,
distinct from the chimney, communicates by an opening
with the outer air, and by another opening with the room.
When the fire in the room heats the iron receptacle, fresh
air Is brought in from without, and is diffused into the room
at the upper part on a plan similar to that devised by
Captain Galton.

As each house is complete within itself in all its arrange-
ments, those disfigurements called back premises are not
required. There is a wide space, consequently, between
the back fronts of all houses, which space is, in every
Instance, turned into a garden square, kept in neat order,
ornamented with flowers and trees, and furnished with
playgrounds for children, young and old. The houses being
built on arched subways, great convenience exists for con-
veying sewage from, and for conducting water and gas into,
the different domiciles. All pipes are conveyed along the
subways, and enter each house from beneath. Thus the
mains of the water pipe and the mains of the gas are
within instant control on the first floor of the building,
and a leakage from either can be immediately pre-
venteeL The officers who supply the commodities of gas
and water have admission to the subways, and find it most
easy and economical to keep all that Ls under their charge in
perfect repair. The sewers of the houses run along the floors
of the subways, and are built in brick. They empty into three
cross main sewers. They are trapped for each house, and,
as the water supply is continuous, they are kept well flushed.
In addition to the house fiushings there are special open-
ings into the sewers by which at any time, under the
direction of the sanitary officer, an independent flushing
can be carried out. The sewers are ventilated into tall
shafts from the mains by means of a pneumatic engine.
The water-closets in the houses are situated on the middle
andthasement floors. The continuous water supply flushes
them without danger or charging the drinking water with
gases emanating from the closet—a danger so imminent in
the present method of cisterns, which supply drinking as
well as flushing water. As we walk the streets of our model
city we notice first an absence of places for the public sale of
spirituous liquors. Whether this be a voluntary purgation in
goodly imitation of the National Temperance League, the
effect of Sir Wilfrid Lawson's Permissive Bill and most per-
missive wit and wisdom, or the work of the Good Temphers,
we need not stay to inquire. We look at the fa't only. . . .
And, as smoking and drinking go largely together—as the
two practices were, indeed, original exchanges of secial de-
gradations between the civilized man and the savage, the
savage getting very much the worst of the bargain—so the
practices largely disappear together. Pipe and glass, cigar
and sherry cobler, like the Siamese twins, who could only
live connected, have both died in our model city. Tobacco,
by fir the most innocent partner of the firm, lived, as it per-
haps deserved to do, a little the longest; but it passed away,
and the tobacconist's counter, like the drain counter, has
disappeared. The streets of our city, though sufficiently
filled with busy people, are comparatively silent. The
subways relieve the heavy traffic, and the factories are all
at short distances from the town, except those in which
the work that is carried on is silent and free from nuisance

This brings me to speak of some of the public buildings
which have relation to our present studies. It has been found
In our towns, generally, that men and women who are en-
gaged in industrial callings, such as tailoring, shoemaking,
dressmaking, lacework, and the like, work at their own
homes, among their children. That this is a common cause
of disease is well understood. I have myself seen the half-
made riding-habit that was ultimately to clothe some
wealthy damsel rejoicing in her morning ride act as the
coverlet of a poor tailor's child stricken with ma-
lignant scarlet fever. These things must be, in the
ordinary course of events, under our present bad ordinary
system. In the model city we have in our mind's eye
these dangers are met by the simple provision of work-
men's offices or workrooms. In convenient parts of the
town there are blocks of buildings, designed mainly after
the manner of the houses, in which each workman can have
a workroom on payment of a moderate sum per week. Here
he may work as many hours as he pleases, but he may not
transform the room into a home. Each block is under the
charge of a superintendent, and also us der the observation
of the sanitary authorities. The family is thus separated
from the work, and the working man is secured the same
advantages as the lawyer, the merchant, the banker now
possesses; or, to make the parallel more correct, he has the
same advantage as the man or woman who works in a factory
and goes home to eat and to sleep.
In most towns throughout the kingdom the laundry sys-
tem is dangerous in the extreme. For anything the
healthy householder knows, the clothes he and his
children wear have been mixed before, during, and
after the process of washing with the clothes that have
come from the bed or the body of some suft-rer
from a contagious malady. Sume of the most fatal out-
breaks of disease I have met with have been communicated
In this manner. In our model community this danger is
entirely avoided by the establishment of public laundries,
under municipal direction. No person is obliged to send
any article of clothing to be washed at the public laundry;
but if he does nr,t send there he must have the washing
done at home. Private laundries that do not come under
the inspection of the sanitary officer are absolutely for-
bidden. It is incumbent on all who send clothes to the
public laundry from an infected house to state the fact. The
clothes thus received are passed for special eleaudng into

A•onn,
sink.
'sptheir
The (.1
1,01581 F
tiOil
`htre.
it shall
inlike•

day ara-illif;(1-f-40-13xilag, 444'46.
- - ILLIICe

•pEt

the disinfecting rooms. They are specially washed, dried,
and prepared for future wear. The laundries are placed in
convenient positions a little outsids the town; they have
extensive drying grounds, and, practically, they are worked
so economically that home-washing days, those invaders ot
domestic comfort, are eAllshed.

rasing along the main streets of the city we see in
twenty places, equally distant, a separate building, Bur-
r •nded by its own grounds—a model hospital for the
, To make these insiiiutions the best of their kind
expern is _ payed Several elements contribute to
success TreV•tire small and are readily removable.
'old idea of loarehousing diseases on the largest
ible scale and of making it the boast of an institu-
that it contains so many hundred beds is abandoned
The old idea 'of handing an instituti,m so that
1 stand for centuries, like a Norman castle, but,
....asi`the castle, ststt retain its original character as a
shelter for the afflicted, is abandoned. The still more
absurd idea of building hospitals for the treatment of special
organs of the body, as if the different organs could walk out
of the body and present themselves for treatment, is also
abandoned.... [ln a full and interesting description of the
hospital, Dr. Richardson says :—The hospital is brought,
by an electrical wire, into communication with all the tire-
stations, factories, mills, theatres, and other important pub-
lic places. It has an ambulance always ready_to be sent out
'ring-asy4ojared persons-to thinnstitution. The ambu-
drives straight into the hospital, where, abed of the
lipictlilentivbeels, so thAt 1; can be moved with-
yDta iof 1 o a witrd, tecelweathe vatient: The medic'
.!ers at ache. io thp.bospitalirkout model city are silos,
.ctrold—tilitTlienfpointment at the same time, and that for
a limited period. Thus every medical man in the city
obtains the equal advantage of hospital practioe, and the
value of the best medical and surgical skill is fairly equalised
through the whole community.]

out 1

Supplementary to the hospital are certain other institur
tions of a kindred character. To check the terrible cours
of infantile mortality of other large cities—the 76 in the 1,001
of mortality under five years of age—homes for little children
are abundant. In these the destitute young are careful&
tended by intelligent nurses, and mothers', while following'
their daily callings, are enabled to leave their children under
efficient care. In a city from which thatgrand source of wild
mirth, hopeless sorrow, and confirmed madness, alcohol, has
been expelled, it could hardly be expected that much insanity
would be found. The few who are insane are placed in houses
licensed as asylums,.but not different in appearance from-
other heusesin the city. 'Here they live, in small communities,
under proper medical supervision, with their own gardens
and pastimes. The houses of the helpless and aged are, like
the asylums, the same as the houses of the rest of the town.
No large building for the poor of pretentious style uprears
itself; no men badged and badgered as paupers!, walk-the
place. Those poor who are really, from physical causes.' un-
able to work are-aniagUinedin a.manner showing that they
possess yet the digiiity of human kind; that, being worth
preservation, they are therefore worthy of respectful tender-
ness. The rest, those who can work, are employed in useful
labours which pay for their board. If they cannot find work
and are deserving, they may lodge In the house and earn
their subsistence, or they may live from the house and re-
ceive pay for work done. If they will not work, they, as vag-
rants, find a home in prison, where they are compelled to
share the common lot of mankind, ,
e..T. ..1 . .
Our model City is, of coarse, well furnished with baths,
swimming baths, Turkish baths, playgrounds, gymnasia,
libraries, Board schools, fine art schools, lecture-halls, and
places of instructive amusement. In every Board school
drill forms part of the programme. . . . 'there is in the city
one principal sanitary officer, a duly-qualified medical man
elected by the Municipal Council, whose sole duty it is to,
watch over tke unitary welfare of the place. Under him,
as sanitary officers, are all the medical men, who form
the Poor Law medical staff. To him these make their,
report on vaccination and every matter of health pertaining,
to their respective districts, to him every registrar of births('
and deaths forwards copies of his registration returns, anda
to his office are sent by the medical men generally registered
returns of the cases of sickness prevailing in the district,
At a distance from the town are the sanitary works, the sew-
age pumping works, the water and gas works, the slaughter-
houses, and the public laboratories. The sewage, which '
is brought from the town partly by its own flow and
partly by pumping apparatus, is conveyed away
to well-drained sewage farms belonging to the city,
but at a distance from it, where it is utilized
on Mr. Hope's plan. The water supply, derived from a river
which flows to the south-west of the city, is unpolluted by
sewage or other refuse, is carefully filtered, is tested twice
daily, and if found unsatisfactory is supplied through a
reserve tank in which it tan be made to undergo further
purification. It is carried through the city everywhere by-
iron pipes. Leaden pipes are forbidden. . . . . The
slaughter-houses of the city are all public, and are separated
by a distance of a quart-r of a mile from the city. They
are easily removable edifices, and are under the super-
vision of the sanitary staff. The Jewish system of in-
specting every carcass which is killed is rigorously carried
out, with this improvement, that the inspector is a man of
scientific knowledge. All animals used for food—cattle,
fowls, swine, rabbits—are subjected to examination in the
slaughter-house, or in the market, if they be brought
into the city from other dep6ts. The slaughter-houses are
so constructed that the animals killed are relieved from
the pain of death. They pass through a narcotic chamber,
and are brought to the slaughterer oblivious of their fate.
The slaughter-houses drain into the sewers of the city,
and their complete purification daily from all offal and i
refuse is rigidly 'epferced ,The buildings, sheds, and styes
for domestic food-'producing animals are removed a short
distance from the city, and are also under the super-.
vision of the sanitary officer. The food and water sup-
plied for these animals comes equally with human food
under proper inspection. . . . [Dr. Richardson then described
the arrangements in the model city for the disposal ;O
the dead_;, and afterwards indi,cated the results that iisig4l,
be -faidy -predicted tu respect to disease ahcruiditality
Presented- *ander" the Conditions specified.' In conclusion,
Dr. Richardson said—l must be eareful not to claim for
my model city more than it deserves; but calculating the
mortality which would be saved, and comparing the result
with the mortality which now pre visits in the most
favoured of our large English towns, I conclude that an
average mortality of 8 per 1,000 would be the maximum in the
first generation living under this salutary regime. That in a
succeeding generation Mr. Chadwizk's estimate of a possible -
mortality of 5 per 1,000 would be realized, I have no reason-
able doubt; since the almost unrecognised though potent in-
fluence of heredity in disease would immediately lessenina
intensity, and the healthier parents would bring forth the
healthier offspring. As my voice ceases to dwell on this
theme of a yet unknown city of health, do not, I pray you,
wake as from a mere dream. The details of the city exist,
They have been worked out by those pioneers of sanitary
science, so many of whom surround me to-day, and specially"
by him whose hopeful thought has suggested my design. II
am, therefore, but as a draughtsman, who, knowing some-
what your desires and aspirations, have drawn a plan which
you in your wisdom can modify, improve, perfect. In this I
know we are of one mind, that though the ideal we all of us
hold be never reached during our lives, we shall continue to
work successfully for its realization. Utopia itself is but
another word for time, and some day the masses, who now
heed us not, or smile incredulously at our proceedings, will
awake to our conceptions. Then our knowledge, like light
rapidly conveyed from one torch to another, will bury us in
its brightness.
"By swift degrees the love of Nature works
And warms the bosom, till at last, sublim'd
To rapture and enthusiastic heat,
We feel the present Deity, and taste
The joy of God to see a happy world I"

lena I ihLa

At the conclusion of the address, Lord Aberdare, in
very appropriate language, proposed a vote of thanks
to Dr. Richardson for his able and interesting address,
which was heartily accorded.

In connection with the foregoing, The Times, in a
leader, remarks :
Dr. Richardson is always original, even when tried by the
severest tests. In his capacity of President of the Health
Department of the Social Science Congress, he has fully
sustained this reputation, and has sketched a model of a city,
such as science woulft build it, for the special purpose of
combining "the lowest possible general mortality with
the highest possible individual longevity, so as to show
a working community in which death is kept as nearly ,s
possible in its proper or natural place in the scheme of
life."... If ever it were realized, it would amount to no
more than the exclusion, by structural arrangements or by
Municipal regulations, of those conditions which are, with-
out any disguise or possibility of doubt, the ordinary causes
of disease and death among us, and which, so far as we can
see, are not attended by any compensating advantages. . . .
If the address should be published in a separate form, as
we hope it will be, the author should endeavour to fill up
its outlines in more than one particular. He gives promi-
nence to arrangements for the sick, speaks of a.'training
establishment fur nurses, arid takes the existence of an
Improved type of doctors for granted. Bat he does
not tell us whence these doctors are to come, or
where they are to be educated ; and it seems likely
that they would have to be reared in less healthy locali-
ties around. Other difficulties of a like kind suggest
themselves as we read, and diminish the first enthusiastic
desire to make Dr. Richardson dictator, say over the county
of Rutland, with command of the national finances, and with
power to build a city sfter his own heart, and to fill it with
Inhabitants who would appreciatb its advantages. Perhaps
the great difficulty of all arises from a quality of human
nature with which Solomon was quite familiar, which
has come down unchanged from his time to ours, and
which, for want of a better word, we will venture to call
" Bohemianism." We are naturally impatient even of
the restraints which are for our good. The inmates
of model prisons possess already many of the structural
advantages which Dr. Richardson describes, and they,
especially the women, sometimes " break out." If
Hygeiopolis were established to-morrow, before six weeks
had passed the Municipal Council Chamber would witness
a powerful opposition in favour of dirt, freedom, and disease;
or, if there were not sufficient activity and independence of
mind for this to happen, the population of the place
would be little likely to reproduce, in any future generation,
the bold thought and the fertile fancy of the founder. But,
notwithstanding some cbjections, Dr. Richardson has done
good service by his startling discourse. He will force many
people to ask themselves why some of the more prevalent
causes of mortality are tolerated among us; and, apart from
ignorance or indolence, it will often be difficult to find a
satisfactory reply.

medical i
,wed greater

! THE BUDDHIST POPE. The Pekin corre-
spondent of the North China Herald, writing on the
sth of August, says: -"It would cause a sensation if
we heard, evoi out here, that the Pope was dead—and
we should have heard it within forty-eight hours of its
oc,urrence ; but the news that the Buddhist Pope. the
Dalai Lama, is dead has taken three months to reach
us, and I fancy most people, if you care to mention:*
the fact, will ask, And who on earth is the Dalai
Lama?' He died on the 22nd or 23rd of the third
moon; how, it is not yet known; but rumour, which
always exaggerates and generallyAuisrepresents, points
,to poison.
THE SHAH OF PERSIA'S PHYSICIAN.—The
Queen has, says Tuesday night's London Gazette,
granted unto William Cormick, Esq.' doctor in
medicine, who is. actually employed beyond- ler;
Majesty's dominions, in the medical service of the
Shah of Persia, in which he holds the appointment of
'chief medical officer attached to the heir apparent to
the throne of Persia, her royal licence and authority
that he may accept and -wear the insignia of the
Second Class of the Order of the Lion and Sun, con-
ferred upon him by his Majesty.
-OCrRIOUS DISCOYEB.Y.- The leases of the
_pait Of the property on the east side of High-
street, Shoreditch, in London, having recently lapsed,
nearly the whole of the shops between Bethnal Green..
road and the parish church are about to be demolished
for the purpose of rebuilding, and on Saturday, while
the workmen were engaged in excavating the founda-
tibia of the shop known as the Bonnet Box, an
mense chest, 6 feet long 3i wide, and 3 feet deep, was
discovered buried at a considerable depth from the
surface, in that part which has not hitherto been built ,
upon. Great difficulty was experienced in getting it
to the surface, the weight being very great. On open-
ing it, it was found to contain a large quantity of
church plate, consisting, among other things, of a
ciborium, two silver pyxes, an antique chalice, an
elborately chased lamp of great size, and a number of
articles the actual Uses of which have not as yet been
ascertained. Near this spot, in pre-Reformation times
stood a convent, and it is known that on the dissolution
of the monasteries many objects of artwhich decorated
the church disappeared and were never accounted for.
A local antiquary who examined these articles states*
that in the middle of the last century other treasure
was found near here, amongst it a quantity of stained
glass.
AN INTELLIGENT ,PAILITRItirrIi faniil7:ear
Boston is happy in the possession of awparrot of a more
than ordinary intelligence, and one whose talking
powers are the wonder of the neighbourhood. In an
evil- day, liowtever, the bird was taught by some
naughty boys to swear like a trooper, and with a per-
versity wonderfully human, and withal, strangely
savouring of original sin, the feathered biped soon
seemed to find pleasure in nothing so much as a sound-
ing oath. Mild correctionary measures proving un-
availing, the offender was at last regularly soused in a
pail of cold water after each burst of profanity, and
then placed on the stove hearth before the fire to dry.
During a recent rain storm, some small chickens be-
longing to the same family got very wet and thoroughly
chilled, and several of them were placed on a perch
before the fire to be warmed into full activity again
It so happened that the parrot had just been treated
to an involuntary bath himself, and he at once know-
ingly cocked his head on , one tide and surveyed the
new corners for a moment in silence t Then' as if all
was plain to him, he hitchea "a little away from his
dripping companions and eiclabna in an oracular
tone, "Little fools, been swearing!"
. -
TELE BELHA.VEN AND STENTON PEERAGE.—
Mr. James Hamilton, of North Leith, near Edinburgh,
who has just assumed the title Baron Belhaven and
Stenton, to which he made good his claim this year be-
fore the House of Lords, having previously established
it to the satisfaction of the Lyon King of Arms in Scot-
land, is the son of the late Mr. Archibald Hamilton,
by Mary, daughter of the late Mr. David Clarke. He
was born in the year 1822, and succeeded to the repre-
sentation of this branch of the Hamilton family on the
death of his kinsman, Robert Montgomery, the eighth
lord, in December, 1868. His lordship has two sisters,
the one unmarried and the other the widow of Mr.
Frederick Chapman, The English barony of Hamil-
ton, conferred in 1831 on the late lord, became extinct
at his decease. The Scottish title was conferred by
King Charles L in 1617 on one of his adherents, Sir
John Hamilton, of Broomhill, whose great grandfather,
also ,a John Hamilton, of Bioomhill, was a natural
brother of James, first Earl of Arran, but had granted
to him in 1513 a "letter of legitimization" under the
great seal of Scotland. The title, it may be added,-
being created with a very wide and complicated re-
mainde,r has become dormant twice—namely,' from
1777tb1799 pad_again,ftom 1868 to' the present time.
Tater. '

A 5T13.1.14GE STORY. —A curious story is told
of an old man, a harpist, of the name of Ddtroit, aged
84 years, living at Berlin on a small pehsion as ancient
Kammer musicus. The old man went one day lately
to solicit assistance from the General Intendant of the
Royal Theatres, saying that he was the father of the
present Governor of Albania, Moharnme,d-Ali-Pacha,
who when very young entered the Tutkish service,
amassed a large fortune in a very short time, and, ab-
-luring his religion, became a Mussulman. Inquiries
Aving been made by the Ottoman Ambassador, these
stat,ments were found to be quite true, and doham-
med Ali-Pacha, alias Earl D6troit, was communicated
with, in order that he might take steps to ameliorate
the position of his aged parent. It may be added that
on the first representation of the opera 'Huguenots,"
at Berlin, the old man was admitted to the orchestra
on the recommendation of Meyerbeer himself, who
appreciated very nivalihis talent as a harpist. •

BEES AND FRUIT. —A correspondent of the
Garden says :—The season of 1874, was a 'pretty/good
one for honey gathering, and bees did little- or no
damage to fruit. This year they have been on the
point of starvation since about the end of May, and
every kind of hardy fruit (except currants) has been
attacked by them. About the first of this month I
began to give them their food for the winter, when
they immediately left the peaches and nectarines, and
I have not seen a single bee at them since. I there-
fore conclude that bees will not take fruit unless
they are in want. A few pounds of sugar made
into syrup, and placed near choice fruits would save a
great quantity from being spoiled by bees and wasps.
I do not think that the piesence of wasps keeps off
the honey bee; neither appears to be afraid of theother
until it comes to fighting, and then the bee is generally
victorious.
AN ANCIENT CITY.—The Cronstadt Messenger
announces that during the reconnaissance recently
effected in the Steppes by the Russian troops of the
Transcaspian section, they discovered the ruins of an
ancient city, the existence of which was hitherto un-
known. From what, is reported, the remains prove
that the place possessed a large sedentary population.
Severals minarets of Arabic architecture were found
in a very good state of preservation, owing to their re-
markably solid construction. The inscriptions which
are found on many of these ruins were copied by the
officers of the expeditionary column, and have been
submitted to the examination of cc;mpetent Olientalists.
The site of the unknown city bears the traces of a vast
system ,bfirrigation, and a plentiful supply of drink-
able wilier is still found there. A tradition of the
Turcoitians :is" to the effect that this country. was
formerly very fertile, and was watered by a canalfiom
the river Atzelr.

PRESENCE OF MIND.—The following incident
is related in a Continental paper as having occurred
in Prussia :—A switch tender had just taken his place
to change the track, in order to turn a train which was
in sight,' so as to prevent a collision with another train
from an opposite direction. At this critical moment,
on turning his head, he discovered his little boy play-
ing on the track of the advancing engine. He might
spring to the rescue and remove him safely, but then
he would not have time to turn the switch, and hun-
dress of lives might be lost through his neglect. In an
instant his resolution was taken. "Lie down !" he
shouted to his boy, and the child, happily accustomed
to obectiene,e,,promptly threw' himself on the ground,
and the whole train thundered over him, the pas-
sengers little dreaming bow -much their safety had
cost that father.. The trembling man rushed forward
fearing to find only a mangled corpse, but no words
can express his joy at ageing his
_child alive and un-
harmed. The next day the Emperor sent for the man
and presented him the medal of honour for his heroism.
ORNAMENTAL" V. THE USEFUL.— SerVant "
suppose, Ma'am, I shall not have to Wait at Table ?"
—Lady. "0, no! I want a Housernaid."—Servant.
"I suppose, Ma'am, I shall not have to Make the
Beds ?"—Lady (surprised, but composedly.) "Certainly
not !'—Servant (thinking the place will suit). "And I
suppose, Ma'am, I shall not be expected to Answer the
Door?" Lady. "Of course not! The fact is, I
want a Servant to Look at, and I don't think you will
do/"—PIINCH.
RAVAGES BY A WOLF.—The Echo of Morlaix
(Finist4re) relates the singular exploits of a wolf at
Brinilis. In a week be has killed about sixty sheep.
In his last nocturnal expedition he climbed to the roof
of a low barn, made a hole in the thatch, and then
dropped into the midst of the flock, and worried
twenty-six of the defenceless animals; two only
escaped by taking refuge on a heap of peat, He then
laid out the bodies of his victims in a regular line and
commenced to strip the skin from one, probably to enjoy
the warm flesh. He was,te_wayeryilisturbed, and had
to escape heroiti making his repast.
EMIOIRATION.—According to the returns of
emigration from Liverpool, compiled to the end of Sep-
tember, there is a decrease of 26,303 persons, as com-
pared with the corresponding nine months of 1874.
During tho,past month 9,58; einigrantis left Liverpool,
being-a decrease of 4,433 as compared with September,
1874. During the last. quarter, out of 24,334 persons
who sailed in vessels unde' the provisions of the
Government Emigration Act, 18,950 went to the
United States. Of these 12,212 were English, 2,391
Irish, 249 Scotch, and 4,098 foreigners. To Canada
there proceeded 5,127 emigrants.

DOGS' REGISTER. —The Worcester (Massa-
chusetts) Gazette states that a reference to the City
Clerk's records, on which dogs', names are required to
be registered, shows that he has licensed 1,606 dogs
this year, including 161 females. The ordinary
observer, who is generally no observer at all, finds
himself mistaken in supposing that all the dogs in
Worcester are called Maj.r, or Jack, or Tiger. In the
first 250 ;lames on the register Jack is entered 18
times ' Jip appears nine times Card, eiglat times ;
Fido, Major; and Rover, seven times each ; Don,
Skip, Fanny, and Prince, six times; Dandy, five
times ; pick and Spot, fout Aimee; Topsy, Pedro,
Captain, port, Fan, Dash, •and Nellie, three times;
Tiger, Jelinie, Beauty, Sailor, Ned. Brpnot Charlie/
Pink, Dick, Sliephao_, D 4 eta Darr,-twic4 eacli
i and there s it long -fist of angle names of no special
merit. But there is oddity in the list, for tine man
calls his dog Bunkum, and anothercalls his Nigger; and
Punch, Hunter, Duke of Kent, Pat, Sporter, mid
Wallace are in the first 250 ;lames. , Beyond tlitskyilil
along the list of prosaic names we find such gems as
Smartie,,Brniser,,Patsey, Joke, Cube, Bear, Toady,
Boss, Teaser, _Doctor, Savage, "Doe," Neat, Moses,
Scanip, Calvin, Pepper, Saint, Tag Steamily Bender,
Brandy, Poiy, Carl, Judge, Rather, Lukee.,Guttsig, I
Dutchman, Shandy, Lucky, Faith, Veto, Rupee,''
Loafer, Keeper, Smoker, &c. The Gazette assures its
readers that 'none of the names are copyrighted ;"
they are open to all.

EPITOME OF NEWS.