The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-10-02 00:00:00

1

SATURDAY, OCT. 2, 1875.

AN ECCENTRIC BEQUEST.—A wealthy tracteli
man. M. Thomas Heviant, died a few months °Je
the village of Croane-sur-Marne. In his will he Diaqie
a number of singular bequests, among which
following, which was carried out on Sunday wee'.o,-
the annual fete of the village. He ordered that a 133?..."
the amusements should be instituted a race with Pr'?'
the animals to be ridden either by men or bey's. S,11:
sum of 2,000 f. (g8O) was set apart as the oze totto
lucky rider of the winning pig. The prize was 11°
that
be handed over, however, except on the condition
the winner wore deep mourning for the deneqeci.
during two years after the competition. rhe n 3,14
polity accepted the eccentric bequest, and on 01211 f
week the first race was held agreeably to the tern3g°
the will.

"ST. Ames TUNE. —A singular and in'
ing discovery has (the Leeds Mercury says) been,
dentally made with respect to this well-known n 3
tune, which has been treated by Bach, Maefarrgi;
other less noted musicians, as a fugal subject.
to it has been almost invariably attributed to
Croft. In the Yorkshire Exhibition; however, I
may now be seen an octavo book; in which the 0,7
called "Leeds Tune," by Mr. Denby. This bg?,,"
longs to Mr. Thomas S. Turner, master of St. Pr,
Sehools., Leeds. It was "licensed Feb. 14th, 16°Ii
arid printed by JILL.). White, see., of York, for A
Barber, bookseller, of Wakefield, who also rovieecv
corrected it. The music notes are of the old losei
shape, with the canto ferme (or air) in the tenor.
discovery (for so we conceive it to be) is most
ing to musical people generally, and to this district
particular, as the probability is that "Mr. Den:
the composer of a hymn-tune admittedly one
finest we possess, was a West Riding if not
man. Dr. Croft was born in 1677; and was there
only ten years old when this book was publigheCt
A "FITTING" REFORM NEEDED.--.1..0
York Times declares that no article of attire TO
reform so much as the shirt. No matter from W
the shirt is obtained, it refuses to fit. The 131111/ 41
purchases his shirts full grown of a professional
fancier, and tries to break them in himself, final4j
they never become tame enough to abstain,'
wounding him in tender places. SimilarlYflo
prefers home-bred shirts never succeeds in in 3
them to discard the inherent wildness and mali,gll
their nature, and to render him obedient ann.,aw
service. The shirt sheds its buttons all
round. It fights fiercely with the washerworasrlf
001
emerges from these weekly contests with stoner f
largementa of button-holes, and with the edgee nct
bosom frayed and unsightly. We have tarn,e„t
elephant and made the lightning our call-boY; ';'t"
shirt is as untamable and untrustworthy a5„l I
when, centuries ago, man first recklessly wide
bind it to his service.
c t
AWKWARD BREAKS IN SINGING. —ln ta
of a recent lecture on" Congregational Psalmodht
Rev. Dr. Allen noticed some of the incongruitiest•l
used to occur by the awkward divisions in repelol
lines. For instance, "Love Thee better than bela
was divided "Love Thee bet— • " " We'll cf!tc
fleeting hour" was sung " catch the_ll7-
" And more exalts our joys" was sung 110
ex—;" "And take the pilgrim home" became ,
take the pi—;" "And in the pious he deligh,teo
sung "And in the pi—, and in the pi— ; " anclA ,
down salvation from on high" became "
sal,—." A soprano in one case sang "Oh for A F
and the 'chorus responded "Oh for a mansict ltj
skies."., In one case the soprano modestly sang
me to kiss," the alto took up the strain, " Toe,'
kiss," while the bass rendered it quite quite Prno/1
singing "Teach me to kiss the rod."
SYMPATHY.—PIain-featured Party, Iv)
strong advocate for Cremation, begs his frien.a
that his remains are submitted to that process, so,
his sudden death.--His Friend. "All right,
But—a—hadn't you better wait till the •
No ember? "—Punch.
WHAT EXPERIENCE TEACHES. —Tb
people who may be quiet and sober to their 1
and yet they may know happiness, though
slowly, and they receive it distrustfullY•
hard, so very hard, to believe in faith and boa
to rest yourself upon them, when you ha"
cruelly and long from falsehood and unfaith.
slow about trusting to love that asks nothing
in return—to what seems like an angers gel
and the most exquisite tenderness and forbe
you are slow, because for years your love 11°'
used for another's gain, and your devotion
made into a convenient tool to shape YO":0
sorrow. It is so strange to find your weakenest
your small faults given way to and induigeu't.
you are accustomed to have them mocked rh
treated unmercifully • so strange, that at first yl
frightened, and think something lurks bet°
usual), made on purpose to give you pail'
cannot believe that it is love for you, delight inse,
ing you, that has worked this change in your ite,
it, can it be that ? If it be, let me give my lan 03
and soul to the keeping it; bra if it be not, oh,
never know the truth I—Healey: a Romance.
ANCIENT C U I.msSTOMS. —A discovery g
been made (remarks the Pall Mall Gazette), eril
-land in the Mississippi which shows that the al
of America were not wholly unacquainteAet
mechanical surgery, but occasionally wore vinu-a,
when deprived of their natural limbs. In
terranean cave hewn out of a hnge solid rock,_
"had undoubtedly been made thousands of yeafiej
was found, among several other remarkable
skull as brown as a polished walnut, perfect i_nt
respect, and of extraordinary-size ; also an 5113:171„,
plete skeleton with a ;wooden leg. The fo.step.-2
the artificial limb consisted of petrified leath!
bronze buckles. The original leg appears to haVe
removed half way between the hip and knee. of
discovery is regarded as extremely interestilioe
only proving that timber extremities were
in early ages, but that a knowledge of binisll„,fte
among the learning of the aborigines. It 'sem' tb
rather painful to reflect that the state of &octet/ ill
sands of years ago had not even the redeeming Pf3t,
being natural, but was artificial, as at presell_,,
that, in honouring the bones of our forefathelli
have often unconsciously. been merely honouring
wooden stumps.
y k
TOO EXPENSIVE TO PAY. —The New
bune says Whether a tunnel will ever be enlisil
under the Channel that separates Englanc;.,
France is one question; whether such a work,r
ticable with present engineering appliances Patlir:
another. The latter question is replied to affirrto, •
by one of the most eminent of living engine.„; to
John Hawkshaw. His opinion does not see'roc
very seriously opposed in the British Science A,7„t
tion, and from the letter of our correspona7e3l
appears plain that the difficulties at first meet to
are not now deemed insuperable. The enor,,
of the work is a more formidable barrier than tu RA
gular ridges of marl which Professor Hebertetei
Whether the benefits to accrue to the nations Ttej
be connected will compensate for the additional
to
a Channel tunnel would compel may well he eet
The prospects of profit on so large an inveo"4l
capital are too slender to give any hope that it
attempted by private enterprise. tie

ate

BLOWING GREAT GUNS.—The 35.t011
named at its birth "The Woolwich Infant, to
strange monster; well, the 81-ton Gun maY 1/0
said to be a little Stranger.—Punch.
rot'
PEACHES PLENTIFUL IN
Traveller says: "The supply of peaches is a 10,111,t t
to the citizens of Boston. Apples are scarce, t
abundance of peaches fully compensates for thi,bio
ficiency. In former years only the wealthy CO 0
what peaches they desired, and to them good frill,/
often an expensive luxury, but now there are IS I,
poor that they cannot feast upon well-riPllexgot
luscious peaches. Their distribution and Belie
employment to hundreds, if not to thousseu°;,ve,
expressmen, the wholesale dealers and their enWis"ll
the regular retailers, and an army of wolne:4
men on the street corners, and girls and boy ba
baskets, and hawkers with their teams, are keY'ore
all the day long, and sometimes until late in t"?t.
ing, in carrying, handling, and selling the fral,eo;
the peach-growing district thousands of poor
from the cities and villages find healthy el32l)l°igoi
as pickers of fruit, and here there are similar resov- tj
similar scale. There are no tramps there ato i
season, and the present abundance will have 0,1
fluence here in helping people to help themselvee,
thus afford a preventative, if not a remedy, fior f
bondage."

" VICISSITUDES OF FAMILIES. --- /1
Party. "Ah 1 I should never a' been redooce-m
this 'ere If ithadn't been for the Lawyers 1”- -840,111
Ditto. "And look at me! All throuo
Deeds bein' made into Banjos an' such like 1 '7.,
spent a small fortun' advertisin' for one Tanabourri;
was supposed to a' been made out o' my Grandruo"
Marriage-Settlement ! ! 1 "—Punch.

AN EPISCOPAL PRINTER.—Mr. Walter, 0-I'oloo
at a recent anniversary dinner of the Printers' relllo3
Society in London. at which he presided, said Ile ticel
often regretted that he himself was not a Pr,,„'ete,ge
printer, and he gave an illustration of the adv'—fiou3
which a man in any position of life might. derive oleo
learning such a trade in his early days. Two or olosi
years ago he had the pleasure of entertaining a
remarkable person, the bishop of one of our nielodea
mote and inaccessible colonies, whose diocese inc. op;
the whole of the Hudson's Bay territory. Whtetee
• pointed bishop he was a young man, and he reface'
upon what would be the most advantageous (Ifei;
tion he could acquire, next to that of his sacred'
Pre
sion in order to recommend himself to the nativvioa
that country, and to render them practical ser ooe'
Considering that the wild Indians of those reginlVOl
sessed neither books nor an alphabet, he learnefiter,
trade of a bookbinder and the profession of a P:';ted
before setting out for that country, and he construtocl
an alphaEet and had books printed, which he b°oo
with his own hands, for the benefit of the natives ;
feat, said Mr. Walter, might he regarded as a felt
in the cap of the printing profession. ete
DUTCH SCENERY.—To land in Holland ,!
a travelling correspondent), and pass through its Pte
and by its canals for the first time, puts Dutckfron
its true light. As you career through the connw
feel as if you were wandering through a picture
lery in a dream. Here are the low, fiat tneAcidiesil
with the dull, heavy clouds looming over them, ell,kers
expanse of land as level as sea sand, the horizon bP'l,44,
here and there by a little nestling village of cottee;os
all gathered round the central church. The eeetr te
to our own country is very great ; the contrast evullie
Belgium or Germany is great. There, too, you see Ai
long tracts of level ground; but here the cattle are,
in the meadows, and the eye is relieved from thole oe
tonous stretch of mete tilled fields. The very
cattlei
an individuality about them. Charles Dickeneiotot
matchless sketch of a dinner party, compared a nerlNtorP
old gEntlemen seated on sofas to cows painted
Here we see the cows lying in that tnecutleet°
solemn, ruminating ease, exactly like dinnerel:lF'
t
anticipating a banquet, and not much troubled :e;'Jut
versational duties. The meadows are parcelle,a ;act
lots almost as small as building-ground in
and the very simplest divisions are used to.
~.Hsergici So
the lands of those riparian proprii3tors.'
building a wall or planting a fence, the
land has but to let the water flow into a channet.ate!
he has his ground marked out by well•defined oO
and bounds. It is curious to Bee how plealn.„
seem in Holland, and how few sheep yon 133U1' "