The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-01-23 00:00:00

isrtilantous gritlittnar4

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL

A FIRST ARITIMETIC.—The copy of the first book
on arithmetic, of which only another copy is known,
fetched the moderate sum of £4O at a sale in London,
the other day.
CORN AVERAGES.—The following are the average
prices of British corn for last week, as received from
the inspectors and officers of Excise: Wheat, 295. 10d.;
barley, 28s. 11d.; oats, 18s. sd. per imperial qr. Cor-
responding week last year: Wheat, 345. 2d.; barley,.
325. 3d.; oats, 20s. id.
LAST WEEK'S WE RCKS.—Thirty-eix British and
foreign shipwrecks were reported during the past week,
eighteen of which were British owned, making a total
of 90 for the present year. Eleven were lost off the
British coasts, nine foundered at sea, eight being
British; three sank by collision, two British and one
French; six abandoned, and one burnt. Ninety per3ons
are known to have perished, and it is feared that she
loss of life was greater.
A GRACIOUS ACKNOWLEDGIVFNT. —Before leaving
Estwell, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh presented
Mr. A. Legge, organist of the parish church at Ashford,
who has been giving the young Princesses music lessons,
with a gold pin set with rubies and sapphires, in recog-
nition of the pains he had taken 'm his work and the
progress the Royal pupils had Mae 3 under his tuition.
NATIVE OPERA FOR AIIERICA.----A wealthy American
lady has avowed her intention to found a native opera,
and she offers to produce at her own expense two lyrical
works, which she has commissioned from American
composers, if they should prove worthy of performance.
The names of the two composers are not given.
A KING REQUIRED.—"Wanted, an heir to the
Throne," is the cry in the little German Principality of
Lippe-Detmold. The present Prince has no children,
his probable successor, his brother' is a bachelor, and
his three sisters are also unmarried. So the population
are crying out lest their little country should be
swallowed up by omnivorous Prussia, and the King and
his Ministers are preparing a Succession Bill, and trjing
to find a suitable candidate.

HORRIBLE EXHIBITION —A ghastly table is to be
shown at a New York exhibition next year, lent from
the Pitti Palace, Florence. It is made from petrified
human corpses, the claws and pedestal being composed
of hearts, luegs, and intestines, and the top of the
table of the larger muscles artistically arranged in
patterns. As ornamentation a border of petrified eyes
and ears runs round this cheerful piece of furniture,
which was constructed by an Italian 50 years ago as an
illustration of his system of petrifaction.—The
"Graphic."
Nova:, Anvurerrsaarsarrsa-A bookseller in Tokio,
Japan, desiring to sell his wares, thus advertised there
in the newspapers: The advantages of our establish-
ment-1. Prices cheap as a lottery. 2. Books elegant
as a singing bird. 3. Print clear as crystal. 4. Paper
tough as elephant's hide. 5. Customers treated as
politely as by the rival steamship companies. 6.
Articles as plentiful as in a library. 7. Goods
despatched as expeditiously as a cannon ball. 8:
Parcels done up with as much care as that bestowed on
her husband by a loving wife. 9. All defects, such
as dissipation and idleness, will be cured in young
people paying us frequent visits, and they will become
solid men. 10. The other advantages we offer are too
many for language to express.
NAMES OF PANTOMIMES.—EIeven provincial theatres
have used the legend "Aladdin and his Lamp" for
their pantomime. The respective popularity of well-
worn themes is snown by this hat: "Alaaaln," eiesess
theatres; "Dick Whittington," nine theatres; "Babes
in the Wood" and "Robinson Crusoe," eight each;
"Ali Baba" and "The Forty Thieves," seven each;.
"Red Riding Hood," six theatres; "Cinderella," four
theatres; " Gulliver " and "Jack the Giant-killer,",
one each. The exceptions are—Bath, with "Herne
the Hunter ." Sunderland, with "The Invisible
Prince ;" Cheltenham, with " Zac, or the King of the
Manikins;" and Bradford, with "Fayre Rosamond."
EXTINCT Doo.—The remains of an extinct type of
dog differing widely from any of the ordinary wild or
domestic dogs, have been recently described by Mr. J.
A. Allen in the " Memoirs " of the Museum of Zoology
at Harvard College. The boaes were found in Ely
Cave, Lee County, Virginia, one of the oldest of a group
of caverns in limestone of Cambro .Silurean age,
described by Professor Shaler, of the Geogranhical
iirvey of Kentucky. In general form the new dog.
was a short-limbed, heavy-bodied animal, resembling in
it proportions a badger rather than a dog The skull
has not been found. Mr. Allen refers the remains
to a new genus, under the name of " Pachycyon',
robustus."
AN AGREEABLE GlFT.—King Oscar of Sweden was
agreeably surprised by a Christmas gift from his three'
younger sons, the Princes Oscar, Carl, and Eugene, in
the shape of a volume entitled " Vara minnen," or
"Our Reminiscences," containing accounts of their
travels in foreign lands. Prince Eugene describes the,
great reception accorded to them by the Druses, wha
regarded the tall youths as "princes of Og and Magog.'
Prince Oscar sketches his visit to the volcano of
Kilnaea, his journey through the Philippines, and his
interesting excursion to the Himalayas. Prince Carl;
who was so ill at Constantinople, seems to have been
the most industrious of the brothers, contributing
"Some days in Jerusalem," "Hyderabad," "A Visit to,
Benares," "A Morning on the Ganges," Zsc. The book.
has several illustrations, including some watercolour
drawings by Prince Eugene. Some of the persons who
accompanied the Princes have contributed some
chapters. The volume is dedicated to the King and
Queen of Sweden. Only a few copies have been printed,
for circulation among intimate friends.
GERMANY AND INTERNATIONAL COMMCNICATIONS.—,!
Herr Stephan, the Minister of Posts and Telegraphs for
the German Empire, in his latest report gives some;
account of the progress that has been made in internA
communications in Germany in the course of the lags
four years. The telegraph stations have in that periodl
been increased by 1639. They now number 7535, oil
one office to every 5000 inhabitants. In the same/
space the post offices have been increased from 7580 tol
13,651, an advance of some 70 per cent. The average,
annual value of the enclosures in registered letters
passing through the post amounted to £75,000,000J
Compensation for loss and damage to these was paid tat
the extent of about £6OOO per annum, or, roughlA
speaking, 100th per cent. Of non-registered parcels one,
in 30,000 failed to be delivered.
A FoRGOTIBN OPERA.—Herr Pollini, the manage
of the Hamburg Theatre, has revived a long-forgotte
opera, the words by Wagner, the Music by J. F. Kittl.
It is entitled "Die Franzosen vor Nizza " (" Tr
French before Nice "j, and the libretto was finishé4j4
by Wagner in 1842, while he was acting as conducto
of the Royal Opera, Dresden. It was originally de '
tined for his colleague at that theatre, Reissiger, bri
vilwas ultimately set to music by Kittl, a well-kno ,
musician of the time, and for a number of years
director of the Prague Conservatoire. At Prague the'
opera was produced in 1848, and met with considerable' '
success. Its disappearance from the r4pertoire is siej
counted for by the fact that the tune of a march taken!
from it was sung by the crowd during the revolutioi
which broke out soon afterwards—an association which'
banished the work from the Austrian stage. gl
FOREIGN LIVE STOCR AND FRESH MEAT.—The num-
ber of live stock- and the quantity of fresh meat landed
at Liverpool last week from American and Canadian
ports amounted to 777 cattle, 740 sheep, 6092 quarters
of beef, and 486 carcases of mutton, against the preced;
ing week's imports of 363 cattle, 457 sheep, 962§J
quarters of beef, and 567 carcases of mutton, showing
an increase in the arrivals of live stock, but a falling
off in the consignments of fresh meat. The conveyin '
SteanierB were as follows: Toronto, 291 cattle and 74
sheep; Roman, 270 cattle; Thanemore, 80 cattle ,
lowa, 136 cattle and 932 quarters of beef; Britieti
Prince, 1056 quarters of beef and 86 carcases of mutton
Germanic, 780 quarters of beef and 50 carcases of
mutton; City of Berlin, 1464 quarters of beef and 1A
carcases of mutton; and Arizona, 1860 quarters of bee;
and 200 carcases of mutton.
,:-.----si
TTTE-WRITINGr.—The first report of the Typeat
writing and General Copying Association, at Lonsdals
Chambers, Chancery-lane, is most encouraging to the
Society for Promoting the Employment of Women,
who found the small capital required by Mrs. Marshall
and Miss Garret for starting it. This amounted only
to £6O cash, one type-writing machine, and the 4
necessaries in the way of furniture. In the first ye.
the enterprise has paid its way, and out of profi
three new machines have been bought, each -
£lB 18s. There are now seven clerks, all gentlL
reduced to get their livelihood, who are paid one-)
the sum they earn weekly, ranging from 15s. to
according to ability. A large proportion of the
matists and writers of the day give employment to
Association, and its business in type-writing
documents is rapidly enlarging as it becomes
known.
THE ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.—The additions to
Zoological Society's Gardens during the past week
elude a lesser white-nosed monkey from West -
presented by Mr. T. Riseley Griffith; a gray iohnetinn.
from India, presented by Captain J. Cutting; a grey;
squirrel from North America. presented by Mrs. Charlef,
Neck- a golden eagle, European, presented by Bir,g.
V. Knox; a bronze-winged pigeon from Australia, pra-,
sented by Mr. Augustus F. Spry; a hang,nest froral
Venezuela, a song thrush, British, deposited; a whites
thighed colobus, a moustache monkey, a ludio monkej
from West Africa, received in exchange.

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