The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-05-22 00:00:00

Pisaltantnus (flttili4tatt,

ROME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

THE GERMAN STAGE.—Durinc, the winter season,
which has lately closed, about 000 persons, exclusive
of persons engaged as chorus singers, &c., found
employment in connection with the stage in the 350
regular theatres of Germany. This gives an average
of about twenty-four persons per theatre, intimately
connected with dramatic representation—as actors,
prompters, &c. The majority of the theatres close on
April 1 or May 1, and not more than fifty remain
open during the summer. About 7,200 members of
the dramatic profession in Germany are thus placed
out of employment. Perhaps a fifth of these may
find short engagements in connection with theisummer
theatres.

THE YANKEE CANVASSER.—Some time tince a num-
ber of Boston lawyers invested in and nailed up at
their desks a sign reading that they were very busy
just then, but would see the visitor later. One day a
withered-up old man entered an office, gazed stupidly
around, and at last inquired, "Can I see the lawyer for
a few minutes ? " He had a book under his arm, and that
settled the case. His-eyes were directed to the sign and,
after reading it, he turned away, saying, "Well, if
you're very busy I won't stop. It was a case where
there was about £40,000 at stake, and—." But
he was out in the hall by that time, and he didn't
seem to hear the invitation to come back. The
lawyer, vexed and annoyed, tore down the sign at
once, and hoped the old man might return. Sure
enough, he entered the office again next day, and,
not seeing the sign, he sat down and asked, " Very
busy this morning ? " " Oh, no—plenty of time,,,
was the reply. "Sure I won't annoy you? "
"Oh, you can't annoy me at all. I shall listen to
you with the greatest of pleasure." ":Well, then,"
said the old man, as he slowly undid his book, "I'd
like to call your attention to this Life of Napoleon. It
is said that the engravings alone cost £40,000. We
are selling this book at —." The lawyer grew
quite white around the Mouth, and asked to be ex-
cused for a moment, He put on his hat, and went
down for a ride on the omnibus, calculating to be gone
just two hours.
A STRAIGHT "TlP."—Tramp. "Whose 'ouse is
this, Sir ? " Gardener, "Squire Noakes's." Tramp.
"Do you think I could get anything there?"
Gardener. "Well, I don't know—the last 'o your
sort got twenty-one days."—Punch.
UGCNDI CHIEFS AT WOOLWICH ARSENAL.—The
other daT four chief § of Ugundi, who are on a short
visit to England, were taken over the Royal Arsenal,
Woolwich, in company with Colonel Grant, the African
explorer,- the Rev. C. T. Wilson, and Dr. Falkin,
missionary and mission surgeon, who accompanied
them from the shores of the Lake Victoria Nyanza.
The chiefs, who were clothed in the European costume,
but evidently unaccustomed to the garb, took great
'interest in all they saw, the coiling, the rolling, and
other operations With heated iron carried out in the
Royal Gun Factories Department exciting wonder and
awe while the great 40-ton hammer in the same depart-
ment as it pounded a., huge mass of red-hot metal
evoked manifestations of extravagant delight. The
chiefs, whose names are Namkaddi, Katerruba,
Sawadu, and Kitacka, are the bearers of a message of
goodwill from King Metesa to England, and are sent
to bear testimony of the progress of Christianity in the
centre of Africa. Their journey to this country has
occupied 11 months, and after a stay of about six
weeks they will return to their native land.
UNITED STATES ARCTIC EXPEDITION.—The United
States Government is fitting out an expedition at
San Francisco to search for the Arctic exploring
vessel Jeannette, which has now been some months
out. The revenue cutter Corwin has been selected
for the duty, and she will start with one year's pro-
visions. Her instructions are to search for two
missing whalers also. The Jeannette went by-what
is called the eastern passage by Behring's Straits,
and Captain Markham, formerly of Her Majesty's
ship Alert, of Polar fame, suggested that every year
during the Jeannette's absence a vessel like the Corwin
should be sent into the Arctic regions to save her or to
learn, as the case may be, of her progress.

A QUERY.— Since the Home-Secretary lost his seat,
what is his official standing ?—Punch.
TREES or LIBERTY.—The only Tree of Liberty in
Paris has just burst into leaf. It was pla,ut Third with
he ed
several others on the proclamation 0 f
Republic, but all its companions have P
e
this sole survivor, which stands before the Town Hal
in the Montrouge quarter, is protected by an iron
rished, and
railing.—The first Tree of Liberty lil France
curd of St.
to have been planted in 1700 by , so warmly that
Gaudens, and his idea was taken ;q. Indeed, Louis
80,000 were planted in two yeas
XVI. himself presided- over
the n
eplsh: but when he fell
planting of some of
these trees in the TuileriesinGardg
been "defiled by the
they were uprooted as ha
replaced replaced at the national
hands of Capet," and were regarded as such sacred
expense, while they wnernine
persons were- executed
emblems that at 13-Ve . The oak was at first con-
for having cut one 00
tti„,,,, but was discarded as being
sidered the most
A refiolaced by the poplar, naturally a
too Royal, an IA of a popular movement.
more fitting sYln
611 ~.
~, 00TING FEAT. Captain A. H.
REmAIIS-A--,1 his son Eugene recently gave the
Bogardus anrfui performance with the shot - gun
most wondeever
seen in Missouri. A bystander
and rifle t a silver quarter,•which he handed to the
brougl?tr.
,i °l.:rho gave it a toss,- when, with astonishing
the force of the rifle-ball sent it whizzing
dexterttY
'the tops -of the tree fifty yards away.
d'sappeared with the same ease, when it
Another '
began to show an unnecessary expenditure of -money
on the part of those who were contributing, when a
niekle -was thrown into the air. Another ball from
Eugene's Winchester sent it to no one kfiew where.
The Goddess of Liberty on a silver dime WM shot
clean over to the Kansas side of the river by the
' force '6f 'another ball from the boy's rifle. .It would
hardly be believed, but a small marble, not much
larger than a pea, when thrown into the air disap-
peared simultaneously with the crack of the rifle in
the hands of the young champion. This, no doubt, is
one of the mol,t remarkable feats ever performed by
any one ; the cheering of the audience evinced their
, appreGiation of Ilia akin,

RENIAIITEARLE Sronr.—The Times of India of the
Ist inst. says :—" Some ,el the big native chiefs are
proving themnelves great sportsmen. One of them,
the Maharajah of Durbhanga, who is described by
those who know him as a very fairly educated man,
possessing good business habits, liberal ideas, and a
love of manly sport, went out the other day with a
small party on a shooting expedition, and, it is said,
bagged no less than 6 tigers 31 buffaloes, 104 pigs,
and 230 deer. It is believecethai no such luck has
ever before attended a single spoitZtillg Party. The
young Nawab Of Bhawulpore is also pinaKing a name
for himself as a shikary. Within the pt month he
has bagged two fine tigers in the neighbo:.
uhood of
Cawnpore."
No MORE PROSAIC LORD-LIEUTENANTS.—ROMM..tie
imaginative Ireland does not need politicians to govert;
her. She prefers poets. Having once enjoyed Sptnoex,
she is now going to try Cowper.---Punch. f.
THE ORIGIN OF COOS THROWING ON SHROVE
TUESDAY.—A Correspondent of Land and Water
gives the following as the origin of the obsolete cus-
tom of throwing at cocks on Shrove Tuesday :—" It-
seems that when the Danes were in England the
natives of a certain town agreed to rise in the night
and murder their hard masters. Twelve men were
chosen to enter the town house, surpise the guards,
and seize the arms; but whilst they were executing
their scheme the cocks began to flutter and crow so
that they awoke the Danes, who, discovering the
design of the English, became fearfully enraged and
treated them even worse than before. A little time
went by, and then the Danes were driven out of Eng-
land, when the inhabitants of the town having re-
gained their freedom vowed to be revenged on the
cocks, and every Shrove Tuesday, the day on which
the birds had by their crowing betrayed the con-
spiritors, they instituted the custon of throwing at
them. This sport soon spread all over the kingdom
until it became a national custom, at least this is the
version given by Cranenstein, an old German author.'
THE AMERICAN COTTON CROP.—The coming cotton
crop in the United States will, it is estimated, be less
than that of last year. The following figures show
the estimated yield from the various States :—Georgia,
750,000 bales; Alabama, 725,000 bales; Mississippi,
975,000 bales ; Louisiana, 600,000 bales; Texas,
900,000 bales; South Carolina, 350,000 bales; Ten-
nessee, 225,000 bales; Arkansas, 250,000 bales;
Missouri, Illinois, 450,000 bales. The cotton grub
is said to be making serious ravages among the planta-
tions.

THE PRODUCTION OF COFFEE.-It is estimated that

the total production of coffee throughout the world in
1878 amounted to 1,080,075,0001 b. ; the proportion
yielded by the principal coffee% swing countries being
as follows :—Brazil, 496,100,1011 b ; the Dutch Indies,
201,090,5601 b. ; Ceylon and Br tish India,ll7, 529,2801 b. ;
West Indies, 91,960,0001 b. ;South Africa, 79,178,0001 b. ;
Central America, 71,500,000 ; West Africa, 8,800,0001 b. ;
the Philippines, 7,472,9601 b. ; Arabia, 6,114,2001 b. ;
South Sea Islands, 330,0001 b. The greate.st consump-
tion of coffee is believed to take place in Holland,
where nearly 181 b. per head of the population size con-
sumed every year; Belgium comes next, taking'. Plb.
per head per annum ; Norway consumes 81b.; the
United States, Bilb. ; France, 41b.; Germany, 31b..;
and England only 11b.
WHAT SIR WILLIAM DID " NOT " PROPHECY.—
That he would be Hauled out of his Seat at Oxford.—
Punch.
A CONFLICT WITH RATS.—The Daily Telegraphs
says: "Pee-Dee, Marion county, South Carolina, has
lately been the scene of a terrible conflict with rats.
Mr. Bostick, the owner of a flour-mill at Pee-Dee,
accompanied by one Anderson Wayles, imprudently
visited a barn of his in which large quantities of wheat
had been stored away and left undisturbed for more
than a year. Upon entering the barn, the miller and
his man perceived that swarms of rats had substituted
themselves for the bushels of corn that had been
garnered up. Before they had time to recover
from their astonishment, they were fiercely at-
tacked by the ferocious vermin. Bostick and
Wayles strove manfully to defend themselves;
but, unfortunately, in their efforts to get rid of their
savage assailants, they contrived to upset a huge chest
which, falling, blocked up the doorway; and a few
minutes elapsed before their agonised cries for assist-
ance brought them rescue. Meanwhile the rats had
used their sharp teeth to such cruel purpose that their
victims, when dragged out of the dark barn into the
light of day, had suffered so severely as to be scarcely
recognisable. The miller's left ear had totally dis-
appeared, and his face and hands were bleeding pro-
fusely from innumerable bites. Wayles was still
more terribly mutilated, for the rats had literally eaten
off his nose, ears, and lips, L asides inflicting hundreds
of wounds upon different parts of his body.'
"TRAIN TRAIN UP A CHILD-IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO,"
&C.—Uncle, to the Collector: "I suppose you won't
charge for this little man ?"—The Collector to Child :
"How old are you, little sir? "—Boy "I an five
when I am at home, but three when travelling'.."—
Fun. •

INCREASE OF SUICIDES IN GERMANY.—According to.
an account compiled by Herr Hirsch, pastor and
principal of an asylum for inebriates at Lintorf, there
can be no doubt as to the large increase of suicide in
most of the countries of middle Europe (says the
Paris correspondent of the Standard). In Germany
nearly all the separate States exhibit an increase vary-
ing from sixty to one hundred and eighty , per cent,
within the past thirty years. Taking the average for
the ten years since the foundation of the German
Empire, the annual number of suicides to every million
inhabitants has been in Saxony three hundred, in Wur-
temberg one hundred and eighty, in Mecklenburg one
hundred and sixty-seven, in Baden one - hundred
and fifty-six, in Prussia one hundred and thirty-three,
and in Bavaria one hundred and three. In Denmark
the annual number of suicides per million inhabitants;
during the same period has been two hundred and
eighty, in Austria one hundred and twenty-two, in
Sweden eighty-one, in Belgium seventy-three, and in
Norway forty. . It is only in the last-mentioned
country where a decrease has taken place in the
period under consideration—a change which Pastor
Hirsch attributes to the rigorous legislation there
recently introduced asrainst drunkenness.

WRECKAGE FOUND AT SEA. —A Lloyd's telegram
says :—Captain Revett, of the Medway Royal Mail
Company's steamer, arrived at Southampton from
the West Indies, states that "when off the Azores he
passed a vessel of say 1,000 tons, about 220 feet long,
bottom upwards; apparently coppered, with what of
the bows that could be seen very much damaged."—
The Lord Elgin (steam tug), of Queenstown, picked
up on the afternoon of May 18, about four or five
miles off Queenstown Harbour, a ship's upper deck
port painted black on one side and white on the
other, bearing the following letters carved on it—
namely, T. A. E. L. J.' also a broad arrow. The
port measured about lift. square and was 2in. thick.
HINTS FOR ANGLERS.—Never fish in troubled waters
unless you are certain that there are plenty of fish to
be caught.—You cannot weigh a fish in its own
" scales."—The angler's favourite dance "is the reel?
—Some fishermen's receipts are all " net " profits.—A
worm on the hook is worth more than two in the mud.
—Give a fish ever so much line and he will never hang
himself.

THE ORIGIN OF THE LONDON GAZESTE.—In the year
1665 the first number of a newspaper appeared which
lives among us still. It was issued by a man who bore
the strange cognomen of Roger L'Estrange. Roger
was a great rogue, if history was true, and perse-
cuted printers most unmercifully. The. paper he
began was first called the Oxford Gazette. At the •
time it started the plague had broken out in London,
and the Court very wisely had retired to Oxford.
Some news was wanted, and this paper was started.
When Royalty returned to London The Gazitte came
with them, and was then appropriately changed to
The London Gazette, and by that name it has been
known up to the present thne.—Britisli, and Colonial
Printer and Stationer.
•
THE GERMAN BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY.—During the
month of last February there were 127 beet sugar•
actories in operation, of which 59 were in Saxony
and 30 in Silesia. The quantity of beetroot brought
to the mills was 1,994,833 quintals. The exports were
2,017,077 quintals of refined sugar, 4,635,570 of raw
sugar, and 933,693 of molasses. On the other hand,
the imports were 2,159,693 quintals of refined sugar,
86,537 of raw sugar, and 491,044 of molasses.
A DESTRUCTIVE HAIL-STORM. The Presbarg
Zeitung states that on Friday evening, May 7, a hail-
storm of almost unprecedented violence fell on the
Wartberg district. It lasted only about five
minutes, but wrought great havoc. All the young
grape blossoms and the other young fruit buds were
quite destroyed. The early corn and other crops, •
and even the vegetables, were terribly damaged.
Some of the hailstones weighed more than one-third
of an ounce, A butcher who was surprised by the
storm while on the road had his cap cut through, his
head being severely wounded. Women who were
inrg in the vineyards had their hands cut.
and fruit orchard work has been stopped.
Is nli
v.
feared the
d the mischief is irreparable.

A THOROUGH PRACTICAL RAILWAY MANAGER.
The resignation of Thomas A. Scott, the President of
the Pennsylvania Railroad, has attracted more than
usual attention in American financial circles (writes
the Philadelphia Correspondent of The Times). Fail-
ing health has caused Mr. Scott to present his resigpa-
eon, and he will terminate on June 1 his connexicrn
with the company which has continued for 30 years.
His career has been coincident with the history of the
great company itself, and shows the rapid growth of
most American things. Although his age is but 56 he
has literally worn himself out in the service of the
railway; having begun in 1350 as a subordinate agent
representing it in the mountain division of Pennsyl-
vania. In his earlier life he held clerkships in various .
offices where tolls were collected for the State of
Pennsylvania on the traffic over the portion of the
railway then belonging to the State. From this posi-
tion he gradually advanced to the vice-presidency, and .
six years ago became president. Of Mr. Scott it may
be said that he has been the most thorough practical
railway manager in this country. He was the acknow-
ledged head of this great business that has grown with
such strides, and his attention was devoted not only
to the affairs of the Pennsylvania Railroad itself, but
to pushing its influence and connexions in all direc-
tions
A VILLAGE SUBMERGED.—Turkish papers announce
that, during an earthquake which took place a couple
of weeks ago, the village of Heleddi, in the neighbour-
hood of Sinope, was completely swallowed up by the
sea. Not a trace remains of its sixty houses and
mosque- The villagers were all able to save them-
selves, Si) that not one of them suffered any harm.
A FOSNIL FOREST.—An interesting discovery has
been made at Edge-lane quarry, Oldham. The quarry-
men, in the course of their excavations, have come
upon what has been described as a fossil forest. The
trees number about 12, and some of them are 2ft. in
diameter. They are in good preservation. The roots
can be seen interlacing the rock, and the fronds of the
ferns are to be found imprinted on every piece of
stone. The discovery has excited, much interest /11
geological circles round Manchester, and the " forest
has been visited by a large number of persons. The
trees belong to the middle coal-measure period,
although it has been regarded as somewhat remarkable
that no coal has been discovered near them. The coal
is found about 250 yards beneath. Professor Boyd'
Dawkins of Owens College, has visited the gum',
and &dirge there le not ouch a eglit in Europe.

COUNT KAROLYI and ML GLADSTONE.

•
ns Times has published the following letter :
Sir,—Considerable uncertainty prevails touching the
!,12anner in which the explanation between Count
:-arolyi and Mr. Gladstone brought about ; and it
E° ilaPPens that none of the current accounts are
oefrroect. The facts ar.", these :—Two or three days
efe,re• G, lads. to'..,e became Premier, Count Karolyi
ng Lor his -eecent remarks on Austria, was corn-
(oo—„,l,llg.„.°l embarrassing situation in which he
witiT"..--',..arolyi) should be placed on his first meeting
l'-‘fr. Gladstone. On April 23 (the day on which
,Gladstone kissed hands) the gentleman
ora this complaint was addressed repeated
son his own responsibility to Mr. Gladstone, who ex-
bressed his deep regret that the remarks in question
_should have given pain, and authorised the communi-
tltion of -that regret to his Excellency, accompanied
an assurance that words hastily uttered under a,
?liistaken impression must not be regarded as indica-
,tive of his future policy, nor even of his general feelings
v)wards Austria, which were' those of sympathy and
tesilDeet. The day following, April 24, Count riarolyi
Leg-nowledrd this communication by a letter to the
e'
"41n, c gentlel-Ilan in which, accepting the affair as an
ectoral incident which might be regarded as non
Z„„ven,u, he declared his readiness to take the first oppor-
h'-'4, dY of cordially congratulating Mr. Gladstone on
'" accession to office.
e explanation was then regarded as satisfactory
complete on both sides; and, be it observed, it
L'4B not the- result of any peremptory demand or
nGnreat of resignation on the part of the Ambassador,
ose tone, as might be inferred from his well-known
ttrnPer and tact, was considerate and conciliatory
foughotit. Nor did he ever attach to what ke rightly
wnsidered an unofficial utterance the exaggerated im-
Portance with which it has been invested by the
rifailants of the Government., The affair, after being
wed to rest for some days, was re-opened from the
'ecessitY; real or supposed, of making the explanation
. an Public inofficial or diplomatic form. —Your
uedient servant, VERITAS.
Alay 16.