The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-07-17 00:00:00

"WILD HAY" ON THE ALPS.

"Wild hay" is the name given by the Swiss to hay
made from the grass growing on strips of soil to be
found on the Alps, at a height of from 5,000 to 6,000
feet, in places so difficult of aecess that even the goat-
herd and his venturesome flock forbear to visit them
(remarks the Pall Mall Gazette). This hay is so valu-
able from its excellent quality and delicious aroma that
a regular hay-harvest is yearly undertaken to these
almost inaccessible places in spite of the danger to life
and limb involved in the attempt. The haymakers
are shod with iron, and secure themselves with ropes
to some sure hold when in especially dangerous
places, but fatal accidents occur every year. It is
reckoned that one man can make a hundredweight of
hay daily. This he either carries home at night in a
net slung over his shoulder, or stacks it on the moun-
tain whence it is removed in a sledge when the snow
comes. The wild hay is essential to the maintenance
of the Alpine cattle, the produce of the valleys being
insufficient for their winter keep, besides being of in-
ferior quality to this hard-won spoil from those nooks
in the everlasting hills upon which the sun's rays still
linger when they have long since left the valleys.

It is stated that the weather in Australia is unusu•
ally cold for the present season of the year.

No fewer than eight persons were charged before
the Liverpool magistrates on Monday with brutal outrages
with various weapons, in some cases their victims being in a
dangerous condition. In four of these cases the knife had
been used, and in one a man was committed for trial for
fracturing the skull of a woman with a poker.

The Emperor of Russia, in an Imperial rescript, has
expressed his gratification at the reunion of the 200,000
United Greeks with the Orthodox Church, which was recently
announced as a grand conversion en bloc, h, thanking the
Minister of the Interior and the Governor of Warsaw for the
part they have taken in bringing about this result, the
Emperor directs that everything requisite for the services
of the churches belonging to these communities is to be
provided.

Mimi'allow lintelligenfti

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

THE Costs OF THE ABYSSINIAN WAR. —III°
final appropriation account of the votes of credit ftr,
the Abyssinian Expedition in 1807-68 and 186,8'7
shows a balance remaining, to be surrenderea.
the Exchequer, of £250,963 7s. lid. Sir WOW°
Dunbar, however, in his report expresses his 0001°13
that the item of £.2,007 lie. 3d. described as " Ex'
diture for Ra,sam mission charges, &n.," is in--
Bible, and if that amount be deducted from
the to,
expenditure the balance to be surrendered will
£252,970 19s. 2d.
THE JAPANESE DEAD. —A Japanese coma,
we visited was so full of tombstones, we though,t
most probably belonged to the sect. who are econ-
of space and burn their relatives. On each tom,
there were two small holes and one large one-7"
former to hold bamboos filed with water, in W'
. te
were placed bouquets of flowers and evergreens,
the larger one is intended to contain rice for the
pant of the grave on fête days. Except that they Jo'
graveyards, and do not bury their dead promiselv
all over the country, the Japanese seem to tre,at
deceased relations in much the same manner 9,0
Chinese, for though one sect "cremate" and the WV
not, all unite in the respect paid to their an(
As in China, there are certain seasons of the year
especially set apart for feasts in honour of the
On these occasibns the spirits of the departed are
posed to be present, and when all the rites are
eluded, they are sent off again to the place wh'
they came in little boats neatly modelled in straW
which are put rice, water, and a small lamp to
them on .their way. Numbers of these little boats
be seen on the "Inland Sea" at some periods a
year.—Letters from China and Japan.
. 0
A GOOD FAMILY HORSE. ---‘‘ Yes," said
driver of the car to the man who stood on the
"she's a mighty nice mare for car work—least
to look at. Kick? Well, you bet. Since I'v.e
her, she's removed the insides from two horses late
in with her; she's caved in her stall times enough
make one carpenter rich, and livened up more:a '
passenger; 'member one case in particular: Ni
gent with youngsters, goin' out for a Sunday Pl'
had a basket of lunch covered up with a table
Just as he was gittin' off, the mare worked
when I wasn't lookin', and she fetched that -
one clatter with both feet—l don't rightly know
she got in all four—anyways there was lunch.,
everybody within ten rods, whether he wanted 111
not; the paper boys mostly did. Think the old '
saved the handle of the ham and the cork of one be)
Sich a nice-lookin' beast as she is too. Why,
mare has been bought out of the stable not less Ii
times a cause she was sech a gentle-lookin' lady's
Well, it's good for the doctors and waggon-WA'
anyhow. Always staves up the family, and gets 1%,
into the team'n less than a week. Never was bro.,
she wasn't ; and never will be till she falls off a hollo°'

NOT TO BE CONVINCED. Matert
"John, love, you know you said there was sure to
'something wrong' about Dieppe, because it
foreign, and all that. Well, there can't be
wrong, for I wrote to the agent, and I've just
a letter from him, saying there is only one ai
un-let in the whole town I Do let me telegral
secure it at once ! "—Chorus. "Yes, do Papa I
—only one apartment un-let in the whole town,'
Paterfamilias (grimly). "'Only one apartment no'
in the whole town?' Then there's sure to be
wrong about that apartment!"—PuNcH.
FOREIGN TRADE OF THE UNITED STATES.
report of the Bureau of Statistics at Wash!,l'
shows that in the ten months ending with April
first ten months of the fiscal year 1874-75, the irs,:
of merchandise and specie into the United DI
were of the value of 459,675,479 dols., '-
495,305,669 dole., during the corresponding ten
of 1874—a decrease of 35,630,190 dols. Very
a third of this decrease occurred in the ulsz'
April. The ten months include three W c h
before the panic. The value of commodia
growth, product, and manufacture of the
States, exported in the ten months to 14
countries was 532,619,766 dols., against 573,e
dols., for the corresponding period of 1
decrease of 40,452,423 dols. This decrease is ino
the breadstuffs exported as compared with thee,
months of 1874, the actual amount of the decro
being 30,913,851 dols. In cotton shipments there
falling off of 25,299,761 dais. The importation
.metals has largely diminished—of iron and steel
their manufacture, 12,500,000 dols., or nearly
cent. The exports of these articles, on the other
have increased by above one-third, and now
seven-eighths of the imports. Curiously eno
importation of precious stones has increased by In/
two-thirds. Wool and its manufactures also 000
slight increase. In exports the most notable itets
decrease are in breadstuffs, cotton, oil, and tobli4o/,
and the most remarkable instance of increase
course, gold.
COOKERY FOR ARTISANS. —.A course of _
tion in the preparation of food is being given le
School of Cookery, South Kensington, in a
that is at once skilful and economical. On Sal
morning there assembled in the school about t
young women, with one or two middle-aged ,
most of whom seemed to be in statu pupillari
gard to the culinary art, but about whom there,
nothing to designate them specially as of the sr,
class. A couple of female cooks expounded ana
pounded various dishes, the instruction being 50
and practical that an accurate knowledge of the
of preparing a good dinner must have been acql
by all. Lessons were given also in the concoct')
economical dishes such as vegetable soups, beef 4
pudding, sheep's bead, trips dressed in two wee,
cheek, &c.

FATAL BOAT AccIDENT.-1-Four persons
their lives in consequence of the capsizing of a
between two of the Scilly Islands on Saturday*
tween eight and nine o'clock in the evening a
containing nine persons who had been to a ;
match at Tresco, was returning to St. Mary 9,
principal island of the group, when a sudden
overturned the boat, precipitating the party in
sea. In the course of twenty minutes another "1,0
came to the rescue, but only succeeded in saving
persons, who were then almost exhausted.
CONSIDERATE COUSINS.—A large nun'-
Americans now in England celebrated their nnt''
Declaration of Independence by a fete held on tin
of July, at the Crystal Palace. Not one of the spes
abused the British. Was it that they recollected
they were in a glass house, and so must not
stones ?—Punch.

"A NEWFOUNDLAND WATER
deeds as that of poor Ready, who was ready at
right moment for once, tend also to show how 11,1
Newfoundlands are in times of danger. Ana, ‘,
can read, without a sigh of regret, of the loss 0! ..40
noble fellow who saved so many lives at the sad
dation in France—saved twelve lives, and was
himself in trying to bring out the thirteenth
that dog deserves a monument as much as the -
man that ever drew a sword. It will be one 0'
objects of the Newfoundland Club shortly t(),
started to endeavour not only to breed good dogs,
black and Labrador, but also to give their dogs a
plete education in water work, and encourage
way their being utilised as savers of life, both 10
parks and around the coast.—The Live Stock JO
and Fancier's Gazette.
mt. ace
CONCENTRATED BEER . iron says: lae
,
cess that has for a considerable period been aPPhe
milk is now, it seems, about to be adopted with
.to beer, a method having been patented by which •„,
popular beverage can be evaporated in a vacuu.o2,,ip
to the consistence of treacle or condensed 1110"
which condition it may be kept for almost any -
of time without deterioration. About a quarter
century ago the same plan, or something like to.
tried ; but on account of a disagreeable flavour nice
municated in the process, the product failed to wP"
its way into public estimation, and its manuft
was discontinued. The alcohol which goes of/
the water is, of course, intercepted. To reconvert
mixture into beer suitable proportions of water,
alcohol are added, fermentation is renewed, and
hours the beer may be drawn from the tap for
One advantage of this method will be that less h'
qualities may be exported to hot climates than 11°,9'
fore has been possible. The bottling in India ww
a comparatively inexpensive process, for it is said
India contains twice !as many empty beer buten
would suffice to build the Pyramids twice over,
ill-natured people add that, were our rule there tlrd:
nated to-morrow, in a few years those bottles Wo°
its only memorial and monument."
THE POPULALION OF NEWFOUNDLAND.--;.'
incident of legislation has led the Government of l'eirt
foundland to anticipate the usual decennial CensoB -
five years. An education grant having been 10f
which is to be distributed among the different relif
denominations in proportion to their number,
deemed advisable to re•number the people Wit
special view to discovering their exact denominal
proportions. This extra Census was taken at the
of 1874, and the result has recently been publi
The total population is 161,386, as against 146,63,_"
1869, when the usual decennial Census was to.'
This shows an increase of 14,850, or 10 per cent.,
five years. It has to be noted that this increase
no measure due to immigration, for the very -
accession of strangers to the Newfoundland conom-
is far more than counterbalanced by the emigratioll;3
Newfoundland-born youths to Canada and the 1f131.110
States. The Roman Catholics number 64,018,
adherents of the Church of England 59,057, WesleYo'l34
46 '
35,099, and Presbyterians of different kinds Lao,
The Protestant majority in the colony is some 32,,V
In 1869 the Roman Catholic population was 61,v; et
and the Protestant 85,560, so that, while the fel' g
has only increased at the rate of 4-88 per cent., the Is
has increased at the rate of 1222 per cent.
ADAGE ON THE PUBLIC WORSHIP A CT.--aryboSo—L
who play at Vestments must expect Suits.—Punci"
ADVICE TO SEA BATHERS.—Many person:s,
after bathing, complain of singing noises and other 10
agreeable sensations in their ears, with more or leci,
deafness, these symptoms being ascribed to the eh' 0
of the waves, to bathing in the open air, or to 00
circumstances connected with the general health—",
any cause, in fact, except the real one. These secs
tions and temporary deafness will arise equally f-
bathing in still water, when the head is submerged,
opportunity being thus afforded for the entry of Ws'',
into the external passages of the ear, or even whl.o,
small quantity of water is allowed to pas into the eg to
as in our daily ablutions. The reason is that, owipg tat
the peculiar shape of the auditory passage, it is pliv°:c
impossible to thoroughly dislodge the water aftert,he
has penetrated to the drum of the ear; so that
moisture is only got rid of by evaporation, which
to chill of the lining membrane of the passage, with uyo
casional inflammation of the membrane, or of the cl,liss
of the ear, with a diseased secretion of wax. Bat'-`,Ol
caps constitute no protection against this solrr:io.
danger to ono of the most delicate senses; but, Pchiog
nately, a complete preventative will be found in coltpa,
a small piece of oiled wool in the ears before ba
so as to exclude the water. The bather can thf_los
joy his or her plunge with impunity.—Public BO'

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