The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-01-16 00:00:00

CANINE SAGACITY.

An American paper vouches for the truth of the follow
stories :

in
tea

There were two singular circumstances connect
with the burning of the dwelling-house occupied
Mr. Peter Riley, at Knightsville, on Sunday morninf
The first is, that at five o'clock in the morning a fit
should have commenced between the plastering an,
the outside boarding and under the sink. The onll
explanations of it that can be suggested are eithe
spontaneous combustion or matches carried thither IA
rats. The second is that a dog ahotild have discoTeret
the fire before its actual appearance, and given the
alarm. Mrs. Riley and others in the family state that
the dog, which was part bull, after becoming suspicious
that a fire was beginning, ran upstairs where the little
Rileys were sleeping, and jumped upon the bed and
whined and licked their faces. Failing to awaken
them, he ran back again to the fire, and finding his
suspicions verified, he bounced violently upstairs again
to the bed of Peter, jun., who was sleeping 'Soundly,
and took hold of the dauphin's ear with his teeth, and
shook it till he had him satin& up in the bed. The
screams of the boy had roused the patriarch also, and
the good woman, who came upon the scene from
another part of the house to quiet the dog. Where-
upon the cur conducted the head of the family, clothed
in his robes of the night, to the incipient fire, that was
then just beginning to make its appearance through
the plastering; thus, probably, by his intelligence and
reason, saving the lives of the children with wJaorn h
was in the habit of sporting.
Michael Conley, the sewer contractor, is the posse -
sor of four greyhounds which were yesterday morning
the means of saving a man's life. Felix Pryor and
James Carroll were at work in an excavation seven
feet deep- but about half-past nme o'clock Carroll
went away, and while Pryor was at work alone the
banks caved in, completely covering him up. The dogs
happened to be in the vicinity, and all four of them at
once commenced to scratch away the dirt from over his
head vigorously, at the same time yelping loudly. Mr.
Conley, who was the first to arrive on the scene, drove
his dogs away, but they returned and began to dig and
yelp again. He began to dig also, as did some of the
neighbours who had been attracted to the spot by the
cries of the hounds, and it was not long before the head
of the buried man, who was standing up, was reached,
and he was permitted once more to breathe the air of
heaven, of which, had he been deprived a few
moments longer, he would never have breathed again.
He was taken from the sewer unharmed.
EXPORTATION OF BIRDS TO NEW 1
ZEALAND.
We (Daily News) lately noticed the Bath* of the
ship Timaru, from Glasgow, with a consignment of
salmon eggs for Otago, New Zealand. We have now
further to notice the shipment for New Zealand of
another cargo of live stock, which must be of the
highest interest to ornithologists. The ship Tintern
Abbey has on board no less than 1,130 living birds—
viz., blackbirds, thrushes, starlings, goldfinches,
redpoles, of each 100; hedge sparrows, 150; linnets,
140; goldfinches, 160; yellow-hammers, 170; and,
lastly, partridges, 110. These birds have been
collected with great care and expense by Mr.
Bills, son of the gentleman who has in former years
achieved such great success in taking cargoes of birds
to the Antipodes. The cages are made after patterns
suggested by long experience. The partridges are the
worst to carry, as they are very nervous birds and beat
themselves about at the least provocation. There is
always a danger in transporting birds on board ship
that they will fly up and hit their heads against the
top of the cage. The partridge cages, therefore, are
covered over with a roof of soft canvas which will
yield when the birds fly up suddenly against it. The
quantity of food required for these various birds dur-
ing the transport is very considerable. As a sauce to
their dinners, and to enable the gizzards to grind the
food, no less than two tons of the proper kind of sandy
gravel are on board, as well as materials to make Ger-
man paste, &c. When the birds arrive,in New Zealand,
they will be let fly under proper authority. Thereia, we
understand, a heavy penalty enforced against shooting
at or injuring these birds in New Zealand ; and it is
hoped that they will do well at the Antipodes. The
gratuitous services of these birds is not sufficiently
appreciated at h(,me. The New Zealand farmers can-
not get on without them, for they will keep duwn the
insects that ravage the crops. A little bird single-
handed would, from his size and build, be, able to get
at and destroy in a few hours more insects than ten
men would in a week. To keep down the insects will
be the practical work of the birds in New Zealand,
while our friends, by their presence, beautiful plumage,
and song, will be reminded of their far distant home in
old England. The Acclimatisation Society of Canter-
bury, New Zealand, we understand, have begun, and
are now persevering in this good public work.

game or bett whatsoever the sum of £5OO, then, and
in any of the cases aforesaid, it is my express Will,
that he my said godson shall forfeit and pay out of my
estate the sum of £5,000 to and for the use of the Dean
and Chapter of Westminster, for every such offence
or misdemeanor as is above specified, to be recovered
by action for debt in any of his Majesty's Courts of
Re9ord at Westminster." M.s,a_ewis Etcan Morgan,
an Old Welsh gentleman, who died at Gwyllgyth, in
Gla,morganshire, in the ninety-eight year of his age,
was less reserved in his liberality, as well as in his
manners. His will is nearly crinteprised in few words
very p)iich to the purpose :—" I give to my old faith-
ful serval:ost, Ester Jones, the whole that I am possessed
of, either in personal property, land, or otherwise.
She is a tolerably good woman, but would much be
better if she had not so clamorous a tongue. She
has,- however, one great virtue, which is a veil
to all er foibles?—strict honesty." The Rev. Luke
Imber, of Christi:ll4dt, lUnts, one of his Majesty's
Justices of the :Peace for that county, who died at
the age of ninety, most have been an eccentric and
rather disagreeable clergyman, if Mr. Sylvanus Urban
is to be believed :—"Though he possessed a genteel
income, he effected- the dress of the lowest incl.
At the age- of eighty-three he married a coun,.
of thirteen. He desired in his will that he mig_
buried in an old chest which he had for some time
kept by him for that purpose, and that the bearers
should have each of them a pair of tanned leather
gloves and a new pair of shoes, which were given
accordingly." —P istokil World.