The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-01-10 00:00:00

LUCKY AND UNLUCKY DAYS.

Those who have regard to lucky and unlucky days
have to be specially circumspect as to their under-
ttkinge just now, as the month of January, and par-
ticularly the first half of it, seems more loaded with
days of ill-omen than any other month in the
twelve. This may be gathered from a MS. Calendar
of the tlu3e of Henry VI„ in which we find that
every month has some one or more unlucky
days, and all these more or less in the early
part of it. February, for instance, has three such
days, as also have March, May, and December;
April, June, July, August, and September have
two each; and October escapes with one; but
January has no fewer than seven, and these are the
Ist, 2nd, 4th, sth, 7th, 10th, and 15;11. All these days
are notified in the MS. to be " perilous days, for to
take any sickness in, or to be hurt in, or to be wedded
in, or to take any journey upon, or to begin any work
on that he would well speed." Originally unlucky
days were called "Egyptian days," because the
Egyptians were the first people who systernati.ed the
hunk.' stition. Our Saxon forefathers indulged in only
a very limited number of such days, being content
originally with the three mentioned in an old MS..
as the last Monday in April, the second Monday in
August, and the third Monday in De3ernber, all of
which were "dangerous days to the blood of man
or beast," But later on we find S axon Calendars giving
a total of 24 evil days out of 365, i.e., about one in
every 15; and, according to the astronomers, out.of
these there were six "perilous of death," on which
men were forbidden to let blood or take any qin,k.
They were January 3, July 1, October 2, April 30,
August 1, and December 31, the three last-named being
specially to be avoided for blood-letting. " f. r all the
"veins are then full." In an old Exeter MS. Calendar,
supposed to be of the time of Henry H, the let of
January is set down as a Dies male. These day-super-
etitions seem now to have fallen to a great exter!t into
oblivion, but not a few among us shrink from be/gipping
new work on any Friday in the year, sailors especially
from beginning a voyage, and domestic ee,vants from
going to a new place. —Evening Standard.

DAls or OUR YOUTES..—Nistallta. Eclie,
no more. You will feel nncomforteble Edie.
Pleat., mamma, I don't mind.—Judy.

EPITOME OF NEWS.

BRITISH AND FOREIGN.
•
Daring the past week 40 British and foreign wrecks
were reported,
,of the estimated value of £710,000, including
British £520,000.
The death is announced of the Vicomte is Bonteiller,
a nobleman well known in the Parisian world in 1830. He
had been a Guardsman under Louis XVIII. and Charles X.
The deceased viscount was eighty-two years of age.
The average price of wheat last week was 461. 11d.
per quarter, the average price of barley was 37e. 7d., and
the average price of oats 21.1. 7d. per quarter.
The Times of India says the fine to be inflicteA on
the city of Cabut will probably be fifty lakhs of rupees.
Mr. Charles Morrison's rent audit was held on
Tuesday at Wallingford, and a reductien of 50 per cent. in
the rent for the year ending Michaelmas last was made.
It was announced at the Metropolitan Tabernacle
on Sunday that Ur. Spurgeon's health makes daily improve-
ment.
It is said that a Utica artisan has patented an
attachment signal for the telephone. It has something of
the nature of the signalling apparatus in use on some rail-
ways, or of electric bells, inasmuch as every time a call is
made a red disc makes its appearance.—The Electrician.
Preston Great Horse Fair was held on Monday,
and was numerously attended by buyers and dealers from all
parts of the country. Prices realised were at least 15 per
cent, higher than they have been for the last two years.
A great national demonstration of women, at which
women only will speak, is to be held in Manchester in
February, with the object of memorialising the Government
to enfranchise women before the next General Election, so
that their opinion on taxation and other questions may be
expressed. Mrs. M'Lesen, wife of the member for Edin-
burgh, and sister of Mr. John Bright, will preside.
A. telegram from Vienna states that floods have
occurred in Lobau, and that eleven persons were drowned.
Trade generally in the Rotherham district is
reported to be reviving particularly in the heavy iron
industries, and it Is believed prosperous times are at
hand.
In Hungary they are in fear of further floods from
the Danube. The water in the river has been slowly rising,
and a little more must produce fresh inundations. Szegedin
is again in serious danger, but everything is being done to
avert a catastrophe.
"On the 28th Nov., killed at the taking of Seco-
coeni's stronghold, South Africa, James Elmsley Macaulay,
Captain Commanding the Transvaal Mounted Rifles, late of
the 12th Lancers, third son of the late CoL Macaulay, R.E ,
aged 39."—Obituary of The Times, Jan. 6.
Daring 1879 there were 155 deaths from explosions
in coal mines in England. In the preceding year the number
was 588, and in 1877 it was 345.
Last financial year, which ended on the 31st of
March, the dirty paid by 8,463 hawkers and pedlars was
£25,607 10s.
The Electrician hears from New York that the shares
of the Eitson Electric Light Company, of 100 dollars per value,
are selling at 3,000 dollars per share.
The pearl fishery at Ceylon is a failure this year.
The pearls found hitherto have been so small that it is
proposed to postpone any further fishing to 1881.
The Prince and Princess of Wales, accompanied by
Princess Lents., Princess Victoria, Princess Maude, and the
guests stopping in the House, and attended by the ladies
and gentlemen of the Household, were present at Dlvine
Service at the parish church of Sandringham last Sunday
morning. The 114 v. F. Hervey, AL A., Rector of Sandring-
ham, and Domestic Chaplain to the Prince and Princess of
Wales, officiated, assisted by the Rev. Canon Dackworth,
who preached the sermon.
On Monday night, in London, Mr. Waddy, the
member for Sheffield, was entertained at dinner by the
Finsbury Liberal Association, of which he is president. A
congratulatory address was presented to him, in acknowledg-
ing which he referred to the result of the recent struggle at
Sheffield as a representative contest, and the forerunner of
the triumph of the Liberal party at the coming general
election.
At titockholm, the Countess Persen Gyldenstolpe,
the last survivor of the Persen family, and whose grand-
father, disguised as a coachman, drove Louis XVI. and
Marie Antoinette to Varenncs, was examining on New
Tear's-eve a thermometer hung outside her roam, when her
lamp set fire to the curtains. Her clothes were caught by
II" games, and, despite prompt assistance, she was so
seriously burnt that she shortly afterwards died.
The death is announced from Perla of M. de Monte-
livet, the last survivor among the great officials cf Louis
Philippe. He had held the offices of Minister of the Interior
and Minister of Public Instruction; but retired altogether
from public life on the advent of the Second Empire, re-
maining in comparative seclusion until last year, when he
was elected a life Senator. He had previously declared his
adhesion to the Republic.
The City Press states that the annual return of the
produce of the coal chilies for the year 1879 by Mr. J. R.
Scott, the Registrar of the London Coal Markets, exhibits
the extraordinary increase of 1,260,000 tons in that year, as
compared with the year 1878; while the revenue shows a
gross increase of £58,000 for the year 1879.
Mr. Gladstone having been asked by the promoters
of a Welsh Liberal meeting, held in Manchester, to write
them a letter, the right hon. gentleman replied as follows :
" I heartily desire the succees of the meeting yort describe, but
there is necessarily a limit to my letters for publication,
and I feel I can only refer to my speeches before the world,
especially that at Rhyl In 1878, which was especially for
Waies."
German papers state that during the recent stormy
I weather the new subterranean telegraph lines laid down in
that country have once more shown their superiority over
the old-fashioned wires, exposed as the latter are to the dim-
turbing influences of winds and clouds. Telegraphic com-
munication on the underground lines was never for a '
moment interrupted, either by high wieds or by atmospheric
electricity, whereas the gales and frost have made sad havoei
on the old aerial lines.
A. newspaper correspondent points out the curious
fact that the temperature on the 2nd Jane, 1879, was 55
west wind; and on the Ist January, 1880, it was 55 west
wind, also.
A Correspondent writes to the Daily News :—" At
the present time it may be of interest to landowners,
tenants, and owners of tithe-rent charges to have the fol-
lowing information before them showing the value of a
£lOO rent charge for the year 1880, viz , £lO9 17s. 9i.; the
average during the 44j years since the passing of the Com-
mutation Act being £lO3 2s. lid."
TOe reportB from the Empress of Russia at Cannes
represent her condition as gradually becoming Worse.
Scarcely any hope of her recovery is now entertained.
American pottery manufacture is improving so
rapidly that the home productions this year are for the first
time equal to foreign importations. Beds of valuable clays
have been found in plenty, and the common wares of the
potteries are declared to be as good as those of Staffordshire.
The eye and taste of the Transatlantic workmen, however,
greatly require to be educated by art-museums and training-
schools.
A circular addressed from the Roman Catholic
Bishop of Leeds was read on Sunday in all the churches and
chapels In the Roman Catholic diocese of Leeds, in which
Dr. Cornthwaite commands that collections take place on
some Sunday in the present month to relieve the distress in
Ireland.
A young English lady at Dinan, who had been
cleaning her gloves with petroleu.m, held her gloved hand
near a candle to burn an end of the cotton, when the glove
caught lire, and on her instinctively trying to extinguish the
flame with the other, that also took fire. Both bands were
se frightfully burnt that amputation would have been
necessary, but the unfortunate victim expired prior to the
operation.
There was a crowded attendance at the large Corn
Exchange, Rochester, on Monday evening, to witness the
presentation by Mr. Justice Lush of the prizes obtained by
the scholars belonging to the Sunday schools for proficiency
in Scriptural knowledge, and also the prizes to the success-
ful exhibitors at the recent Sunday School Industrial Exhi-
bition. Sir Robert Lush, in his address to the teachers and
scholars, dwelt upon the importance of Sunday school in-
instruction at the present day.
The Sydney Morning Herald of Nov. 6 reports that
I at Braldwood a miner named John Oakes picked up a nugget
' weighing 43 oz., which proved to contain more than £lOO
worth of gold.
The Right Hon. Viscount Stratford de Radcliffe,
KG, GOB., the eminent diplomatist, on Tuesday attained
the advanced age of 92 years, having been born on January
6, 1788. His lordship is the fourth and youngest son of the
late Stratford Canning, Esq., a London merchant, by his
marriage with Mebetabel, daughter of Mr. Robert Patrick,
of Summerhill, county Dublin, and was raised to the peerage
on April 24, 1852. He sat in the House of Commons as M.P.
for Old Sarum 1828-30, for St rckbridee 1831-32 and for King's
Lynn 1635-42 He is the oldest member of the House of
Lords, and also of Her Majesty's Privy Council.
The British Bee Journal for January has an article
advocating the extensive keeping of bees, as a source of profit
to farmers.
Lord George Beauclerk died in London last Satur-
day evening in his 62nd year. His lordship was uncle of
the present Duke of Si. Albans, and served in the army for
seven years, having been present with the 10th Hussar, in
the Crimean campaign. Death resulted from bronceitis,
but his lordship had been in failing health for some months
past.
At A rent-audit dinner at Hatch Beauchamp,
semerses, on New Year's Day, Mr. W. S. Gore-Langton,
M.P., announced that his brother, Captain Gore-Langton,
who WAS at present in India, had shown his desire to help
his tenants by remitting 10 per cent, of their rents.
Distributing the prizes at the annual meeting of the
Oldham School of Science and Art, Sir Edward Watkin, M.P.,
took ocs.atilon to say that whenever we bad a period of pro-
sperity we did less work, worse work, and at a dearer price.
Re hoped the time of adversity had taught us that, if as a I
nation we were to maintain our manufacturing supremacy, 1
we must do more work, better, and at a lower price. On the
old policy, all the science and art schools on the earth would
not make England a great commercial nation.
The works for rebuilding the 1:18'el de Ville at
Paris are advancing rapidly. The attic windows on the
Eue de Rivoli are almost completed, and those looking on
the central court were commenced some days back. In the
other courts the building has reached the height of the
third story. The Iron flooring of the second and third is
laid down, and the attics of the principal frost are being
roofed over. The blocks of at .ne for the sculptured orna-
mentation around the great clock are ready to be put in the
hands of the workmen. fin total sum expended at the end
of the third querter of 1879 was 8,055,2921. It is hoped that
the building will be finished during the year 1881.
The 30th Regiment —BOO strong—left Dover for
Portsmouth, at 830 a m., on Tuesday, to embark on board
the Serapis troopship, en route Inc India. A crowd
assembled at the South-Eastern Station to cheer the
men on their departure. At Shornciiffo Station, through
semen the train passed at a slow pace, tho officers and men
of the 65th Regiment were drawn up, and the band payed
.'Auld Lang Syne" as the train passed.
The Duchess of Marlborough has addressed a letter
to the Lord Mayor of London, thanking him for the recent
remittance on account of the Irish Distress Fund at the
Mausicn Honse Her Grace states that local committees for
the distribation of roof have beet) formed in the ofil cted
districts; but as it will take a very large sum of money to
melee rimy substantial impression on ttio exiating and im
°ending scarcity, she must continue to urge her appeal to
the sympathies of the English public.
The British Museum has acquired about a thousand
hitherto
more tablets and fragments of inscribed terracotta Amongstdocu-
unknown
mis a tablet
nown of
nSoaraparno.-
Idea, reentsofroßmabriyiaobnyilaonn.
monarch u
babiy lived about the time of Barden and was one of the
intermediate rulers between Cambyaes and airing, B c 618.
Another fragineet has a representation of one of the gates
of Babylon.
The "Publishers' Circular" gives its usual analy-
tical table of baoks published in 1879 This table is divided
into 14 classes, showing the new books and new editions
published during 1879, compared with the publishing season
of 1878. In 1879 there were published new books, 4,294;
new editions, 1,540. In 1878 the number of new hooks was
only 3,730; new editions, 1584. Thus 1879 was more prolific
of new books by 684, while the number of new editions was
less in 1879 by 44.
Another school, erected by the Sheffield School
Board, was opened on Monday at Heeiey Bank. It includes
accommodation for 9)0 children. Mr. S. Cole, chairman of
the board, said that this was the nineteenth school which
the board had erected and opened. There were four others
in course of erection.
Mr, Philip Chasemora Gates, C.C., the Recorder
of Brighton, in charging the grand jury at the quarter sea•
aons, referred to the alterations in the administration of
criminal justice which had come into force on the previous
day by toe operation of the Summary Jurisdiction Act of
1879. No doubt, he said, the changes made in the admini-
stration of the law would interfere with and lessen the work
which hereafter, from time to time, would come before the
grand jur;es of the country; but, having stated the various
alterations, he expressed his belief that the rights of the
public would be maintained on all points, both on questions
of law and of fact.

The Queen of Spain Was obliged, by the excitement
of the attempted assassination and of the demonstration
next day, to keep to her room for eeveral dam

A costly sword is about to be presented to King
Humbert by the inhabitants of Ancona.
On Sunday evening the train which left Brussels
for Calais came, at Lembecq, into collision with a goods.
train. Twenty-five of the passengers were injured, three of
whom have since died.
A congress of chess-players from all parts of the
world is to be held shortly at the Manhattan Chess Club,
New York, at which general and special prizes are to be
awarded to successful competitors.
Lsst week 7.9 hours of sunshine were registered at
Greenwich Observatory.
The committee of the Dublin Mansion House Fund
have sent telegrams to Australia and the chief towns of
Ault rica, England, and Scotland, appealing for assistance to
the distressed peasantry of Ireland.
An American contemporary states that in that
country a miner's house on Mount Lincoln, Colorado, is
14,15715. high. In Peru, a railway village, called Galera, Is
15,645 R. high. Near this place is the celebrattd railway
tunnel of La Cims, which is being bored through the peak
of the mountain The tunnel is 3,84711. long, and fa located
60011. above the line of perpetual snow. _ _ _ _

- -
Her Majesty has given htr assent by Order in
Connell to an increase in the number of lieutenants of the
Royal navy, which will be gradually raised to one thousand,
being four hundred more than provided for by the retirement
scheme of 1870. This step has become neoessary on acconut
of the serious stagnation in promotion which has for a long
time existed on the Sub-Lieutenants' List.

The duty on auctioneers is £lO a year. and the
number licensed last financial year was 7,089; the revenue
yielded £70,890.

A telegram from Toronto says :—A large meeting
ht.s been held here to consider the means of alleviating the
Present distress in Ireland, A resolution to grant a sum of
10,000 dols, for the relief of the distressed districts was, how-
ever, rejected by 4,279 against 2,392 votes.
Mr. Gladstone, in reply to a letter from Mr. David
Mien, Inn., of Belfast, on the subject of the present crisis in
Ireland, says :—" You may depend on my giving attention to
any plan which may seem to me advantageous with reference
to the land of Ireland. I do not, however, as at present
advised, see the character of practicability in any design
based on expropriating with compensation the present landed
proprietors."

- -
The total amount of estate sales reported at the
Auction Mart, in London, for the year 1879 was £7,693,764.
The corresponding figures for the three preceding years
were :-1876, £10,495.927 ; 1877, £11,738,882; 1878. £9,839,897.
—City Press. _ .

At a meeting held in Sheffield on Tuesday night it
was resolved to establiah a local patriotic asaociation, the
memberz of which are in favour of Lord BeaconstlelcYs
foreign policy, but independent of any political party, their
object being to aupport any candidate who warvote for
measurea which they think are for the best intereilts of the
nation. It has been decided to hold a large meeting In the
town, for the purpose °flaying the objects of the association
before the public.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer acknowledges in
The Times of Monday—under the head of "Conscience
Money "—the receipt of a £l,OOO Bank-note from "L. R." for
income-tax, innocently omitted to be paid in respect of
income and capital; complete notes for £2O from "Render
to all their due ;" the first halres of a £lO-note from "C. D.,"
and of notes for £36, with £4 in stamps, from "L,' for
income-tax ; and the second halves of Bank-notes for MO
from "A. B. K."

Her Majesty's staghounds met on Tuesday at Stoke
Common, o
large field, and e run turned
n b evsetthis season. The deer, unearted
o tmobne, thereone o being eti the
a Very field,th
near Dulreswood, went away in capital form, but was run
into Mr. Drake's pond and killed after two hours and Any
minutes' chase without a check.

--- -
The Earl of Beaconsfield was present on Monday at
the Bucks Quarter Sessions, held at Aylesbury. His lord-
ship, who appeared to be in good health, arrived Just before
the opening of the Court, and remained nearly three hours,
but let t before a vote was taken as to the proposed extension
of the municipal borough of Wycombe, a matter in whichhe
seemed to be particularly interested. On the motion of the
Rev. G. Thillimore, it was decided to oppose the Bill for the
extension of the municipal borough by about 450 acres,
Lord eariugton voting against the resolution.

The number of deserters from the army advertised
for during the year 1879 was 5,840. This total is consider-
ably below the average of previous years, the number of
deserters in 1573 having been 8,891

At a stall at the bazaar for the deserving military
charity lately held at Brighton there was a charming illus-
tration of "Goody Two Shoes "—a mite of a child sitting in
an enormous shoe, selling dolls not very much bigger than
herself. " Aad why don't you sell your little self?" asked
the Duke of Connaught. "How much would It cost to buy
you ?" " Ten thousand pounds is the price,' was the pre-
cocious reply. "I am sure you are worth ten thousand
pounds," laughed the Duke, with consummate tact; "but
my difficulty would be to know what to do with you after I
had bought you."—Court Journal.
"A Civil Engineer" writes to The Times :—'s With-
out passing any opinion on the cause of the Tay bride
disaster, may I be permitted to suggest through your columns
that it would greatly contribute both to the comfort and
safety of the travelling public if the last carriage in every
train were heavily loaded—in fact, a goods carriage? There
would be less oscillation and less tendency to leave the rails.
and it would pay the railway companies to do it."
b qTuhe
iewV7as trreacme
natrl
yedasysat
rot hyaetd tbhyeant oewan o r
thgf
alabkoe,
.in lifozam
-
The approximate value of the vepeele of all nation.
entire, with their cargoes, lost during the year 1879 was no
less than £25,b00,000, including Britian property £59 230,000.
The grand total number of wrecks repored WAS 1,638, which,
compared with the total at the end of 1878, chews an increase
of 94 British-owned ships numbered sn, and those of all
flags wrecked on the coasts of the British Isles were 425.
Toe registered tonnage aggregated upwards of 850,000 tons,
inclusive of 170 steam vessels mostly owned in the United
K` ngdom. About 5,000 lives were lost, about 150 yesssel
were lost through collision, and about 40 through fire.

"From a return issued by the late Captain E. D.
Shafto, RA., Commissary of Ordnance, and dated the 13th
October, which has been placed in my hands, it appears that
the number of guns captured by the Cabul Field Force,
under command of Dent -General Sir Frederick Roberts,
was at Charastab, 20 ; Sherpur, 76 ; DehKagato, 21; found in
the Bala Risser, S 5 ; abandoned by Gianni Regiment, 12;
total, 214. Ninety four of these were of bronze, ninety-nine
of iron, and twenty one of steel. Efeht were of Engliah, the
rest of Afghan manufacture."— Whitehall Rsvkia.

On Tuesday Lord Salisbury received a deputation
from the holders of the bonds of the Turkish Loans of 18611
and 1862, who requested him to forward and support their
protests against any alienation, without their consent, by
the Porte of the special Turkish securities specially pledged
to themselves respectively. His lordship, in reply, said the
matter was one which would have his best attention. He
wished to be furnished with legal advice before he expressed
any opinion as to what ought to be said and to be done.

A considerable alteration in French coinage has
been made this year, and will probably give rise to much
loss, not only amongst foreigners, bat amongst natives who
are not sufficiently quick to examine every separate piece
given in nhange. Thus, since January 115, not only all Italian
coins are no longer available for circulation, bat all Belgian,
Swiss, and Greek pieces of 20c., 50c., lit, and firs. struck
previous to the date of 1866 will not be received in future.
Further, French pieces of 20c. and Ekoc, bearing date before
1864, and of hr. and 2lrs. before 1866, are useless. Tourists
during the forthcoming season should certainly be blessed
with a good memory.

Another ingenious and practical utilisation of the
telephone is reported from Leadville, a mining settlement in
Columbia. The "far-speaking" Instrument has been fitted
to one of the more important mines in that district, the
subterranean workings of which are thus connected with the
surface, and the employes at the pit's month are enabled to
impirt instructions verbally to the foremen of gangs, as
well as to receive the tatter's reports without an instant's
loss of time.

Mr. Donald MacKenzie, the African explorer,
sailed from Liverpool on Saturday In the Bts/ra, for the
station he has formed at Cape Juby, on the north west coast,
after a two months' visit to England. Mr. MacKenzie was
accompanied by ihiekh Mohady, son of the leading Arab
chieftain in the district.

If we had not declare I war against Share Ali when
we did, it is a moral certainty that another six months
would have found the capital and a great portion of Afghan-
istan occupied by Russian troops. The war was undertaken
In the very nick of time, and it will never be complete until
the British flag waves in Herat. —Whitehall Review.

On Monday the West Norfolk Hounds had a meet
at 11111Ington-ball, the seat of Sir W. B. Flolkes. The Prince
and Princess of Wales, with Princesses Louise, Victoria, and
Maud, and the guests ot their Royal Highnesses, drove over
from Sandringham and joined it. There was a very large
assemblage from all parts of Norfolk, and the adjacent dis-
tricts.

M. Hermann, the Viennese conjuror. was engaged
In the difficult task of amusing the Sultan The scene was a
boat moored in the Bosphorus. "Will you oblige me," said
Hermann to the Grand Viz,er, "by throwing your watch
overboard?" The Vizier looked doubtful, but the Sultan
nodded, and the watch sank glittering through the sea.
n7hionwg,
r"osda r. If
Ae r adnwn
s"bwr
0111
girt m, I &nee,
and
dalrhogoivke,
wmheicha
the conjuror batted before the eyes of the Sultan. Ile soon
bad a nibble, struck, and, after an exciting interval, had a
line fish in the landlog net. Hermann opened the fish and
took out the Vizier's watch, still keeping capital time.
At a public meeting held in Birmingham on Mon-
day, to consider the desirability of commencing a local
fund for the relief of the Irish distress, It was resolved to
open such a fund, and two hundred guineas were subscribed
In the room

On Monday the Mansion House Fund for the relief
of the distress in Ireland reached the sum of £5,000.

The remains of Major Rodway, the originator of
the Volunteer movement, were interred at Torquay on
Monday. As long ago as 1142—seven years before the
Volunteer movement became aeneral—Mr. Rodway, at the
desire of the Duke of Somerset, Earl Fortescrte, and other
gentlemen, raised a company of riflemen under Royal
warrant. In 1853 deceased received his commission as
captain of this company. fr
"Argus," writing in Land and Water, says :
Byron'd celebrated simile of the suicidal scorpion (in the
" Gtaour ') was not long ag) practically illustrated, if the
following, sent by a friend, is correct :—A gentleman, open.
lug a case of sugar in the London Docks, found a small
scorpion; and in order to put the fact to the test, he placed
it in the centre of a small circle of three inches in diameter,
formed of cotton dipped inspirits of wine, which he ignited.
The sc)iplon, after vainly endeavouring to eccape, as moon
sett felt the intense heat, turned up its tail, and darting its
sting "Into its desperate brain," was dead in an instant.

"The Royal Family are all credited with having
'long memories,' and especially for persons and faces. Once
seen, they never forget them The Qneen herself is pre-
eminent in this matter. Her whole thoughts now seem
centred in her soldier., especially in those who have been
wounded in her Aervice ; and in looking over paintings of
subjtcts in the Afghan and South African wars she knows
and remembers the names of all those soldiers—even pri-
vates—on whom she has conferred the Victoria Cross or
other honours, at once picking them out from their com-
panions in the painting, and asking after them by their
individual name. Thit is a good and womanly trait, and one
which well deserves to be made more generally known than
It Is at present "—Whitehall Review.

A mining village in Pennsylvania was recently
nearly swallowed up through the undermining of its founda-
tions by a colliery which ran beneath the whole length of the
town The owners had taken out the coal which should
have served as suppotting pillars, and a mere shell of earth
was left, RO that one night the inhabitants were awakened by
loud cracks, and found their houses falling about their ears.
F,,rtanately they bad time to escape.

Mr. Lazg,rdi, a French scientific agriculturist, has,
the Farmer .as, discovered that soils infested with wire
worms, grills, ants, and other insects, may be completely
freed frm these pests by simply sowing them with buck-
wheat, allowing it to grow until it flowers, and then plough-
ing or digging it in as green manure. The manner in which
the buckwheat accomptishes tts work of destruction is not a
little singuiar. Its leaves are spongy, and it decomposes
very quickly after being dug into the ground In the course
of decomposition It gives out much gas, and this gas asphy-
xiates all insects in the ground The variety known as
tartary buckwheat is found to be the best for the purpose;
and as M. Lazard' states that he has now practically proved
the success of his recipe by several years' experience, Eng-
lish agriculturists may try the remedy with every hope of
finding it effectual.

The question of the appointment of a lady manager
for the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh come up on Monday
at the annual meeting of the contributors to that institu-
tion, and excited a good deal of interest. Sir of the
m tuners, of whom there are 21 in all, are elected by the
contributors. Two lists of candidates were put forward,
one giving the names of six gentlemen, and the other the
names of two ladies—namely, Mrs Russel, widow of the late
Mr. Russel, editor of the Scotsman, and libte Wigham,
member of the Society of Friends. The Lord Provost pre-
sided. Voting Usti having been given in by the meeting, it
was found the% 210 lists had been given for the Itenti°o"
candidates, 169 for the ladies, and 63 for both ladles and
gentlemen.


tj CORN7ORD,
(Late R. THOZSON,)
111 A. I I_, 0 I=Rd
LINEN AND WOOLLEN DRAPEL
GINTLEMEN'S CLOTHING

Made to Order, on the Shortest Notice..
STYLE AND FIT GUARANTEED.

LADIES' JACKETS, SU A.WLS, DRESSES, lee.

14 and 16. TIAGI :•11'1‘} T. SI( 11 37

"FOR THE BLOOD IS THE LIFE?