The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-05-01 00:00:00

ARCTIC EXPLORATION.

Within the polar circle there is an enormous are,t
comprising at least two million square miles, of lOW'
we know simply nothing. We shall have presentlY te
speak of the various speculations regarding the natucie
of this vast extent of the world's surface; it is enotigu
for our immediate purpose to say that we do not knoW
anything whatever about it. Whether it is land/
water, or ice; whether the climate is cold or
whether there are inhabitants, animals, plants,
or whether it is a howling wilderness—sPecri-
lation has included almost every possibilit9,
and almost every absurdity; but of knowledge;
such as alone intelligent men can be conteui,
with, we have absolutely none. To attain some BIT:
knowledge is the first object now proposed in Arcb'
exploration. It is considered unfitting and unseerallA
in the present state of scientific progress, that there
should be this large area of our own earth's surfs?
still -so utterly' unknOliii. The examination of it 18
loudly called for; it is a problem of universal interest,
the solution of which appealsnot to commercial Pr:4°'
pecuniary advantage, and increased facility of trans" ,
port or communication, but simply, in the first instance'
to those higher feelings and yearnings which, whatevere
pur remote ancestry, now distinguish us from Oa
braes. We want totraverse this unknown space, 1111
pee and know what it is.—Edinburgh, Review.

THE LABOUR LAWS. -

Li London on Tuesday, a deputation from 012.
inited Congress of Trades Unions Waited upon IP`
lome Secretary to urge upon the government te
ring in a short bill to amend the Master and Servant
Mr. Henry Broadhurst commented on the delay in
and called upon government for the iterne-
diate fulfilment of their promise on the subject.
Mr. Hopwood, M.P., agreed with all that had.bee
4
stated, and mentioned several special cases.
The Home Secretary said the appointment a MI
Royal commission was not to postpone legislatitikt
for he had been anxious to have legislation last Yen
He had hoped that he should have had the report
the Royal commission during last autumn, but -he
been disappointed. It was true that legislation ?IT
mentioned in the Queen's speech and he could out
t° •
repeat that it was the intention of the Governmeut
Aue
introduce bills and legislate this session. This
Government would do, but they would not expect
to anticipate what the nature of those bills should
would be.
"TERRY v. THE BRIGHTON AQUABIV
COMPANY."
In the Court of Queen's Bench, the above cause has,
beard, and was an action brought to test the legality 0, No
\ct of the Brighton Aquarium Company In epening
Lquarium on Sundays.
Mr. Giffard, Q C and Mr. Bosanquet appeared for
daintiff ; Mr. Manisty, Q.C., and Mr. Macmillan for toL
lefendants.
By the 21st George 111. cap. 49, sec. 1, any bowel
'lace kept open for entertainment or amusetFen
luring any part of Sunday, and to
Ile are admitted by payment, shall
a disorderly house. By a But.
tion the proprietor is made liable to
of £2O for every day on whieh the hb
to any, one who shall bring an actil
him. The Brighton Aquarium is kept
Certain hours of the day on Sunday,
public are admitted on payment of sixpene
admitted they may pass their time in a in'
reading-room, or they may examine the fish
Collected in the various tanks, or they ma'
pieces of sacred music which are played by
sixteen performers. The question for the t
whether what is provided by the company 44-
• iment or amusement" within the me- G.

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Mr. Justice Blackburn said that he did not see ehiet!
was possible to say that what was provided bY.
Impany was not "entertainment or amusementa
-e did not hesitate to say that it would have afford
..
pleasure to be able to decide the case the otho-
Ay.
Mr. Justice Field agreed. He thought that th_ose_,
rho are anxious to induce people not to frequent public_
louses on Sunday would do well if they were to takici
seasures to provide the people with rational an.,
rholesome means of entertainment and instruction 0':
3e Sunday • by doing this they would really furthe'
le object Which they have at heart.
Judgment for the plaintiff. ea
It should be stated that although this case involv et
a certain extent.a theological question, the conch'
the parties did not seen to be characterized tie
losity. The plaintiff had agreed to forego Ait 8
ienalty, and the defendants had agreed to paY '
wits in any event. .
.
ilisallantous ititiligatcei.
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.
THE WAY TO Woo.—Wealthy Widow
znswer to warm Vows of undying Love and Adnz,il.6.. ,
tion). "Then, do you really think me beautiful,
O'Dowd ?—Candidly, now?"—Mr. O'Dowd. `` .1.011. s
tiful ? Indeed you are. Not, perhaps, in that
and dried, regular, and insipid Fashion that passes
Beauty with the Vulgar Herd; but, 0! your
has a subtle Charm—a—a—an ineffable something,o
—a—a certain Ve ne say locaw,' you know, which je ' t
more Rare and more Precious than what the ignoran •
World calls ' Beauty ' !"—Punch.
di
MURDERS BY A LUNATIC. —A dreadful trage
has recently recently occurred at Saint-Maurice-sur-Avat*
(Loiret) •' an insane man has killed no less than we
persons (says the Globe). He first attacked the cure
of the parish, who was returning from visiting set,
sick, and clove his skull with an axe. The maul, n,
then obtained possession of a reaping-hook, and ii.P.t°:
at all he met, struck down five persons. A. sevenr,;,,,,
who attempted to assist them, had his wrist sut .
...,on
The lunatic was with great difficulty arrested, and Jo'
been sent to the asylum for the insane at Orleans,
A HORSE AND CAB IN A RAILWAY TUN1414,,,1"
—A strange accident occurred, one day last wee"
at the Central Railway Station, in Ranelagh-streett
Liverpool. There is a cab-stand within the station,
and a horse attached to one of the cars on the 4
stand took fright and dashed into the tunnel. Til i,
vehicle had not been drawn many yards into the tunnt el
before it was enamelled to pieces, and the horse va',
severely injured. At the time a train was due in till
station, aed there was barely time to get the anites
and the fragments of the car removed. This, however'
was done before the train arrived.
WORK FOR THE NEW GRAND MAST/DR.":
Brother Punch (log.). "Now that your Royal Ilikner
ness is Head Mason I hope you 'll do your best 16'
Improve our Public Architecture; and, above all, the,
Dwellings of the Poor."—Punch.
. THE EAST AFRICAN SLAVE TRADE.—It 'III 411. '
stated that the Sultan of Johanna shows so little 1,11:--, ;
terest in carrying out that portion of the slave trecw ,
treaty which affects his dominions, and punishes 11,°'''i
lightly any of his subjects who offend in this respee" ,
that the recently appointed commander-in-chief rt_32l ~
ceived instructions before sailing to keep a watch ,fIP-'
eye upon his Majesty, and to impress. upon. him tn°
unpleasant consequences consequences which may follow if he do el ~
not honestly act up to his engagements.
i CORRESPONDENCE.— "Teddy the Tiler" write'''.
to know what rank the Marble Arch holds in Free /
lasasonry ?—Punch. c
' THE OLIVE IN PORTUGAL.—The olive riisYP
no inconsiderable part in the ordinary food of the.a
people of Portugal; and the experience of ages liegi
shown it to be both grateful to the palate and whole;
some., The common practice is to allow the larger an°
more fleshy kinds to become ripe—i.e., black—whl 1
they lose a good deal of their astringent and scrip
taste. These are then scalded in water CiCnsiderablVi
under boiling, into which an ounce or so of soda to the
gallon is dissolved, and allowed to stand in it for three'
or four hours—in fact, till it is cold. They are the'
taken out, and well washed in cold water several timed.;
over, and finally put into a clean wooden or large:
earthenware vessel, and completely covered with a .
pretty strong brine of salt and water, and covered 11111;',
from the air. Another lot, first treated as above, ig -
put down as a pickle in moderately strome vinegar,
and used as required. —The Garden.
MISUNDERSTOOD. Hopkins (on Weals,
1
thoughts intent). "Pray, Miss Julia. are you engaged
—Miss Julia. " ' Engaged l' Mr. Hopkins? 0, dear,'
no! lam going back to School next Week! "--Punch.l
'
HYGIENIC EXHIBITION.—An international ev*.
hibition of instruments and apparatus for the preset' ,
vation of life and health will be held in Brussels fro.nni. -,
June to October (says the British Medical Journal'
The articles exhibited will be arranged in the folloW'
lug classes :—I, delivery from fire; 2, apparatus fcf
the prevention of accidents in travelling in streetSi
tramways, and railways; 3, apparatus for diminishieg
danger and affording assistance in regard to water; 40
aid in war; 5, hygiene and public cleanliness; 6, pre,
cautionary measures and apparatus for safety in in'
dustrial occupations; 7, hygiene in private '
life;
medicine surgery, and pharmacy in their connection!" i
with the foregoing classes; 9, regulations for the inv i:
provement of the condition of the working classes; 101.
hygiene and apparatus for preservation of life in thel-01'
application to husbandry. k
A
FATAL ACCIDENT AT THE NEW LAW COURTS.
,—ln London, OD .Monday afternoon, a fatal accid fr 1
occurred at the New Law Courts now in course*
erection near Temple Bar. William Roberts, aged ~,
years, was engaged with a gang dot-kw-men in attend..
nag to;the removal of large slabs of stone. The ston*
were lifted by a jib. worked by a derrick capable os,l
lifting three tons. Whilst they were in the act of
shifting one of the large slabs to its appointed place, ann„"
whilst the deceased and otherEi were guiding the jib, iv
gave way and fell a distance of. 15 feet upon thee,
deceased. The man was conveyed to King's College'
,
Hospital, and was pronounced dead.
Eituji, P.ROSPECTS. —Fruit prospects this year .
are, on the whole, most cheering. Apricot have set Ai
abundant crop, peaches are one mass of 'pink blossom,
-
Pears onloutdjund west walls are sheets of white bloom, I
and ch4rries and plums are the same; but we are not sst
out of the w_ooda-po to speak, as one m4lOl-frost, inch se
we sometitne's 0 t at this !INDIA"; might ruin' our hopes.
Therefare, the.anxietaLtelt.for. the -saaty of the crop
should awaken us to action in devising ways and means
to protect the blossoms on the first indications of frost;
for, though the season .is backward and -so
favourable,. still, it will not do to trust too much 1
to our fickle chmilfe. Where Proper coverings .for -
walls exist thesq are gfnerally let down at night and ,
drawn up in the morning; but in the event of sharp
frosts they should remain down for some time after
the sun is up, and if very bright they are better
down altogether, as more harm is sometimes caused
by the fierce rays of the sun than even frost itself.
The great show of bloom on many trees this season
will make it absolutely necessary to thin some of it.
At this busy season but listtoleuldtibe mademeisa t
t coomgo over
for such work, but an effort h
',eine of the choicer kinds of peaches and pears, and
take off the weakest blossoms from some of the

him

Anim,

largest spurs; those left will set all the better and 1",
nisil fines fryilaban would otherwise be the case—T"'
Garckn.

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