The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-04-10 00:00:00

TEACHING DOGS TitioKs. --A dog is, we think,
neither happier nor better for being taught a number
of set tricks. Such instruction must almost of neces-
sity subject the dog to a certain amount of painful
discipline, and his accomplishments must, after all, in
a little while grow wearisome to his master. Leave
him alone, and he will make for himself a hundred
clever, funny little ways, which are far more interest- -
ing to watch than any stiff, trained performances. He
should, however, be carefully educated in the matter
of obedience. An unruly dog is a real calamity to his
friends. Truthfulness is one of a dog's most marked
attributes. He will never show affection where he
does not feel it, never willingly stay in a place he
dislikes. In this, as in many other points, dog nature
is a very beautiful nature. In all our pride of intel•
lect we may, perhaps, learn something from our dogs...

—The Argosy. - -
MR. Titoms's FAVOURITE TUNE.
Hundredth."—Punch.

FEMALE SUFFRAGE.—The Women's Suffrage
Journal, speaking of the Women's Disabilities Removal
Bill, the verdict of Parliament on which will be given •
within a week from this date, says : •
The present Prime Minister has publicly declared that the
anomaly that the Parliamentary franchise attached to S •
household or property qualification, when possessed by
woman, should not be exercised, though in all matters of
local government she exercises this right, was, in his belief!,
injurious to the best interests of the country, and he trusted
to see it removed by the wisdom of Parliament. We do
indeed hope that Parliament will on this occasion follow the
lead of the right hon. gentleman at the head of her Majesty's
Government ; and we trust that Mr. Disraeli may have the
satisfaction of seeing completed during his tenure of office
a reform which he was, so far as we know, the first member
of Parliament to advocate within the walls of the House of
Commons.
TURNPIKE TRUSTS.—A return connected -with
Turnpike Trusts to Parliament has just been issued. -
On the 31st December, 1864, there were 1,048 trusts,'
and the length of road 20,589 miles 3 furlongs and 194 •
yards. From that year to last year 429 trusts were
abolished, which extended over 8,301 miles 5 furlongs
and 71yards. On the let January last there were 588
i ,•
trusts n existence, of 12,273 miles and 24 yards. From'
1875 to 1885 as many as 166 more trusts will expire,
comprising 3,743 miles 6 furlongs and 1 yard. This
year 39 turnpike trusts will expire, and next year 25
in 1877 24, and in 1878 the same number, until in the
next ten years the number will reach 166.
A BAD OMEN !—Speaking of Sir Jung Balite
door's determination to postpone his visit to Englana
after his accident, a correspondent of a Bombay paper
relates the following amusing story of the Hindeo
belief in "omens :"
" I remember a case not long ago of an educated Brahmin
who obtained permission to put a substitute in his
Place for
three months, so as to enable him to go elsewhere for the
purpose of forming a matrimonial alliance. His arranr
meats were all completed, the substitute duly engaged 10
three months, all the preliminaries gone through, when el 2
occurrence took place which rendered it impossible for Idle
to start. With a very solemn air he came to his superior in
office and asked him to cancel his leave, as he could not noir
go as originally intended. But the substitute was inexorable
—he would either have his three months' pay or retain his
office for that time according to agreement. Very naturall
the cause of this sudden alteration in the Brahmin's plane ' P
was inquired into, and it was found that a lizard had dropped
on his mother's back, and after such a bad omen he dared
not set on his expedition ! The consequence was hel ost his
situation and his intended bride into the bargain." ,
THE GRECIAN BEND.—" She Stoops to Con-
quer" (A Great Mistake.)—Punch.
' TRICKS OF SPEECH.—Sydney Smith laughed
at adjectives, and his plan of striking out every other •
word in a sentence as a strengthener and condenser a ,
style would have made short work of them; but he dia
without them himself by a sort of subterfuge. We
can detect the epithet under the disguise of an illustra-
tion. Thus when he says of somebody, "that he never t,
saw a manner with so little frill," it is an amusing!
but certainly roundabout, way of saying that A
the manner was ungracious. When he said of
Horn, "that the commandments were written on ,f 4
his face • and that no judge or jury would gil3,
the smallest credit to any evidence against him,
it is really going a long way about to express t
honesty and probity of expression, though the hyper-
bole is effective. The same of Swift, who was cbar. •
of his adjectives. It takes much longer to say,
panegyrics are mingled with an infusion of popph -
than to say they are dull; only the one remark vvoula
not be worth making—the other is a saying. Quaint
writers are fond of the same form. "He wrote some
several effects of a crazed head," instead of he wrote
strange books. And Charles Lamb's "cold scrag-a' -1•
mutton sophisims" of those who argue that enough
as good as a feast.—Blackwood's Magazine.
AN EmiscvtATioN MISSION.—A memorial hao
been presented to the Legislature of the State. of
Virginia, suggesting the propriety of a trip to Eng.
land by the Governor, with a view to promote emigr.e- •
tion to Virginia. The Richmond Whig, allowing that, •'
the proposition is of a novel character, commends it al),
follows :
"The Governor, on his arrival abroad, would, of cour.4e,
be received with distinguished honours; he would he
banquetted, interviewed by Englishmen in quest of infotine-
tion as to the advantages and resources of Virginia, and, DI
fact, afforded every opportunity to make speeches and tl
talk with the people. His speeches would be reported an
published in the newspapers, and in that way they would
reach tens of thousands of just such men as we want to come
over here. His utterances would be received as authentic,
accurate, and unquestionable. And his very presence iR
England on .such a mission would inspire contidence in au
men contemplating a change of residence to this side of the
sea, and arouse an enthusiasm that would tell, and tel
quickly, with wonderful effect, in bringing sturdy settlere
to our State. Governor Kemper is just the man for the
work, and six or eight weeks of his time after the adjounfl.
ment of the Legislatnre thus devoted to Virginia's materlea,
interests would probably prove to be worth million'a
money to our people."
THE SECRETARY FOR WAR'S MOTTO.

" The old

-- -
change no Robbery.—Punch.
A FASHIONABLE CHURCH. Dr. Howarth, of St.
George's, Hanover-square, London, has published the
following circular to his parishioners :—" The rector re-
minds the parishioners that the living depends wholly°.
voluntarily offerings, there being no endowment be-
yond an expensive parsonage-house and a trivial suer
of £lO per annum, the ground-rent of a small tene- '
ment in an obscure street in the parish. It depends
mainly on the Easter and marriage offerings whether
,1
the living will pay its expenses, and leave a mainten- ~.
ance for the rector on the most frugal scale which the 4
position and locality will enable him to adopt. Of .4
late years it has not done so much as this. Long,; .
ago the rector might have retired under favourable s.
circumstances from a laborious and oftentimes pale-... 4
fully responsible charge, which he has held for Libby°
thirty years; but he was earnestly requested on the ,
part of a large body of the parishioners, for reasons`of.».
their own, not to create a voluntarily vacancy in the 0
parish church. The rector deems it right to make 'r•-'i I
known these facts as widely as possible, because there .;
is still an almost universal impression, conveyed fro •-,1
past and very different times, that St. George's, Haw A
over-square, is one of the wealthiest livings in Londoner 4
or even in the whole kingdom. . i
A GALLERY OF KINGS.—The Mikado has a?
plied to the painter Ugolini to execute full-length
portraits of all the Sovereigns in Europe, as well as .
that of himself and his wife. They are to decorate frfe .;
residence at Takeo, and, if these portraits are vac'
cessful, it is the intention of the Mikado to found e
school of Italian painting in Japan.—Academy.
HEALTHFULNESS OF APPLES.—The frequent
use of apples, either before or after meals, has a most
healthful effect upon digestion—better eat less meat'
and more fruit (remarks the Gardener's Magazine). Al
eminent French physician thinks that the decrease or
dyspepsia and bilious affections in Paris is owing to the
increased consumption of apples, which fruit he main-
tains is admirably prophylactic and tonic, as well as
very nourishing and easily-digested article of food. ",
The Parisians are said to devour one hundred millions 4
of apples every winter—that is, they did before the =4_,
war. Whether this estimate is true or not, nevertheless ic
the French are extravagantly fond of apples and other 41:
fruit. .4
nd
u I
WHAT'S IN A DAY ?—Prince Bismarck 1....:44 .
been keeping his birthday—the First of April. The--
festival of All Fools can thus boast of one magnificent
exception —Punch.
THE FIRE AT NlCE.—Advices from Nice state
that the hospice for insane persons at Saint-Pent, con-
taining one hundred patients was completely destroyed
by fire in the night of the 21;d. Three lives were lost.
The fire broke out at two in the morning, and the,
flames spread immediately to the principal staircase, -
which was soon rendered inaccessible, so that life could .
only be saved by means of the windows. The distance .
between the Saint-Pont and Nice, which is nearly two
miles, was unfortunately the cause of delay in the
arrival of succour; it was only at four that the firemen
were able to reach the site of the conflagration, at t:
same time as the civil military authorities. All th
efforts to arrest the disaster were fruitless. The water
~
was very low in the river Pallion, on account of the ;
recent drought, and it was soon evident that not 41;;
vestige of the buildings would escape destruction.
The wonder is that so many persons escaped.
BALLOONING.—The longest balloon voyage
•ever made has just been accomplished by some members
of the French Aerial Navigation Society, who have re-
solved to undertake a series of night ascents for the pu;
pose of spectroscopic and electrical observations. Tt,
balloon, which was called the Zenith, contained Es e
passengers, and started from Paris, descending near
i
Bordeaux n 23 hours. Several valuable discoveries
were made during the trip. The aeronauta met witl
two currents of air in different directions when sailing
over the Landes. In the higher regions a hot wind
directed them to the ocean, and lower down, at 100
metres (about 300 ft.) from earth, a cool breeze took..
them inland. During the night a clear moon enabled .
them to see the earth, and about 5 a.m. the moon was
encircled by a splendid cruciform halo. The balloon
crossed the river Gironde in 35 minutes, and four uigeons
were despatched, none of which, however, hive yet
reached home, The lowest temperature experience‘
was four degrees below zero (cent.) during the night. ,0
Anent balloons, the cost of one in France appears to ba A
about £2OO. The silk for the upper part of the balloon ,
is worth 25.4 d. per yard, and that for the lower portion,
which must be considerably Stronger, as it has to hold.. ,
the weight of the car and the ropes, about 2s. 6d. a` 41
yard. The ropes and car come to £2O and the labour '
to £4O, and for a balloon of similar size to the Zenith, ' 4
which made so successful a voyage last week, 1,260 '
yards of stuff are required. An attempt to cross the" '
Atlantic will be made in the Autumn.—Graphic,
ANOTHER SHIPMENT OF AMERICAN, _hart
ENG LAND. —The Birmingham Post says i—" Much dis-
cussion was some time ago occasioned respecting a
shipment of American iron fox, sale and use in Eng-
land. .
land. At the time it was thought that finished iron
I
had been sent across frc.m the States, but the explana-
tion was that the transaction had been an experimental'
consignment of good pig-iron. In fact, it was a lot
of Alabama and Georgia pig, for which the makers. ~
had hoped to get £.B per ton but that when ,
sold in Liverpool did not realise more. than.. .01.'i
'et. This figure, however, left prefala44l64llf
slit very small. We have authority for saying that
the Cornwall Iron Company, of Cedar Bluff, Cherokee
county, Alabama, are preparing to ship to the same
destination 300 tons of their charcoal (pig) iron, and
they have secured freights from Savannah to Liverpool
at 10s. per ton. The comparative nearness in point of
cost of this country to the pigmaking furnaces of the
Southern States is to be observed-in the fact that the
first consignment was conveyed to Liverpool at onlY
one dollar a ton more than it would have cost to take
the same iron from the furnaces to Cincinnati,"


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