The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-05-28 00:00:00

LOCUSTS IN ASIA MINOR.

Very favourable accounts of the forthcoming
harvest are being received from nearly all parts of
Turkey, but there is grave reason to fear that in
the western districts of Asia Minor the crops will
be ravaged by locusts. "On Saturday," says the
Correspondent of The Times, "in the by-roads
near the Dardanelles I saw millions of these de-
structive visitors, a few of them being still in
the caterpillar stage, and the others about the size
of ordinary grasshoppeis. The latter, when lying
motionless, formed large black patches on the ground,
but when disturbed they jumped about in all direc.
tions, and ware swept southwards by a strong north
wind, no energetic measures being taken for their
destruction by the inhabitants. In spite of this
plague, whicli extends over the Broussa and Smyrna
vilayets, it is expected that the imperial revenue
from the cereals will be this year exceptionally pro-
ductive."

In commenting upon the above, the Evening S,tanciarc;
remarks
Turkey in Asia seems to be threatened this year
with a more than usually severe visitation of locusts.
In the Smyrna and Broussa districts they are described
as covaiug the ground in black patches, the insects
being about as large as grasshoppers, while some few
still remain in the caterpillar slag. pr.t, according
to the Levant Herald, the authorities in the district
of Bigha are fully alive to the danger, and are
taking strong measures against it. The campaign
is carricd pp with great vigour on the classic
plains of Troy, li/hither an army of five hundred
men, fully equipped with torta and commissariat,
has been despatched to do battle on behalf f the
hearths and homesteads of the province. These men
are doing good work and give an account of some
millions of thP Pueiny every day. During the heat of
the day, when the creatures will ju.inpi they are col-
lected by being driven on to sheets, ' where they lie
about an inch thick. In the evening, when they are
still, a close line of men march over them slowly
phutiling with their feet. This extinguishes the whole
collec,tad agreave. Nor have these Trojan warriors
been badly suprportad by allies, who have attacked
the foe in the egg. As—Mariy r"s twR hundred
tons of earthen cases containing locust eggs were
collected and destroyed, and these, at thirty-five
eggs to the case, are calculated to represent as
many as twelve thousand millions of embryo
locuSts. i WPpid thus appear that, whatever
may happen, Lire fag:niers will at least be
spared the expense of feeding Many friusapils pf
millions of these voracious creatures. But it remains
to be seen whether, after all efforts have been made to
starnp out the plague, there will still remain locusts
enough to eat up 4',11 ;he crops. If this should so turn
out, it will be clear ap,-4 the authorities are gaining
nothing by applying a poll i,;ir Pf advanced Alalthusian-
ism to the locusts, for the aistiect befAl f'the s}:fr-
vivors. If these last have appetites equal to thp whgle
supply of food, it is clearly only a case of "the fewer
the better fare." Those now destroyed would have
died of hupger, pr the whole host would have had to
go on short rLimm.FiOer alternative would have
been less pleasant than an gar 4, daath, enabling their
relatives to revel in the blessing 0'004:

The bulk of Mr. D. M'lnt.,sh's famous herd of
shortnorza have been sold at [layering Park, Essex. Five
bulls realised 61; guineas, the highest price for one animal
being 310 guineas. Thirti-four cows and heifers made 1,503
guineas. Two animals were bought for the Queen, seven to
ao to Belgium, and one at 100 guineas, tb
7
A now ludustry has arisen. Everybody who has
visited Madera at the end of April, or in May, has wondered
at the fields of hyacinths, thlipa, nuriculas, carnations,
grouped in every variety of gay pologri. recently the
beds were annually mown, and the Ilewers swept oty for
manure, the bulbs and roots only being retained to supply
the gardens of Europe. This year the Great Eastern Rail Way
Company has brought over daily to Harwich an odorous
freight of 000 or 700 boxes.—Gtobe.

THE CENTENARY OF GEORGE
STEPHENSON.

As the period for the celebration of the centenary
of George Stephenson's birth, the 9th June, draws
nigh, any information relative to his life of usefulness
cannot fail to be interesting. It is therefore note-
worthy that a Centenary edition of Dr. Smiles' " Life
of George Stephenson " has lately been published
(by John Murray, London), in the Preface to which
Dr. Smiles observes :

"It is one of Emerson's pithy and suggestive say-
ings, that an institution is the lengthened shadow
of a man; ' and it may be truly said, that the loco-
motive railway system is the result of George
Stephenson's life and labours. His bkgraphy is
the visible commencement of this great event in
history.

"For the first fifty years of his life he had every-
thing against him. He owed nothing to luck, to
patronage, to the advantages of education. He owed
everything to bravery,; intense conviction, and pro-
longed perseverance. lie had to teach himself every-
thing, from the A B C to the principles of mechanics.
He had to conquer every inch of the ground on which
he stood.
"His conquests were not easy; for arrayed against
him were, first, his own. ignorance, which had be
subdued by silent, persistent endeavour; and second,
the opposition of men of knowledge and science, Who
stood united to oppose him and could only be silenced
by success.
"At first, Stephenson stood almost alone in his be-
lief in the powers of the locomotive engine. His ex-
periments were carried on in silence and obscurity.
They were quite unknown to the journalists, historians,
and writers of the day. The great work was done
without any help from authors and orators. . • .
" The success of the railway locomotive grew in the
main from the mind of George Stephenson. The
cow-boy, the picker, the plugman, the engineman, the
pump. curer, the brakesman, the colliery engine-
wright, is truly the parent of the great railway
system of the world. In his mind the essential parts
of it were first conceived; and by his hand and genius
they were made visible and real.
"The locomotive railway started into full life under
the eyes of a single generation. The opening of the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway on the 15th of
September, 1830, was the era of a great change in all
popular ideas respecting lolomotion. It proved the
germ of infinite change in all civilised countries.
"It imparted a new series of conditions to every
rank of life—to every kind of work, possession, and
intercourse. It brought to an equality the richest
and the poorest in the facilities of travelling. George
Stephenson's prediction 'that the time would come
when it would be cheaper for a working mak to make
a journey by railway than to walk on foot,' is already
realised.

"The iron rail proved a magician's road. The
locomotive gave a new celerity to time. It virtually
reduced England to a sixth of its size. It brought the
country nearer to the town, and the town to the
country. To A merica, Canada, and other countries,
it opened up the boundless resources of their own soil.
It energised punctuality, discipline, and attention,
and proved a moral teacher by the influence of
example _

"Without George Stephenson, Sir Rowland Hill
might have lived in vain. It was the locomotive that
made Cheap Postage possible. Mail coaches could
never have done the work. Letters, books, and news-
papers are now conveyed by the ton, at marvellously
cheap rates, and with extraordinary [regularity and
despatch.
"Two celebrations of the openings of railways have
occurred since the death of George Stephenson. The
first was the jubilee of the Stockton and Darlington
Railway, on the 27th of September, 1875. That line
had originally been formed for the conveyance of coals
to the seaside, as well as for inland sale. It now forms
part of the North-Eastern Railway, 1,490 miles in
length.
"The second jubilee was held—not at Liverpool,
where the triumph of the passenger locomotive was
first achieved—but at Turin, in Piedmont! The young
kingdom of Italy was amongst the first to recognise
the great advantages of railways in opening up and
uniting the great provinces and cities of the State.
"The jubilee at Turin was worthily celebrated on
the Bth of October, 1879. The king was present.
There were processions and ovations. A striking
likeness of Stephenson, in marble, was unveiled in
front of the magnificent railway station. Imme-
diately after the event, the King of Italy kindly and
thoughtfnlly conferred an Order of Merit upon the
author of this work, for having commemorated the
Life of the Great Engineer.
"The centenary of 'George Stephenson's birth occurs
on the 9th of June, 1881. It will be celebrated in
London, Chesterfield, and Newcastle. An effort will
be made to complete the Railway Orphanage at Derby,
and to establish the Scientific College at Newcastle.
Both are excellent objects. Every friend of bene-
volence and education must wish them all success."

The Committee of the George Stephenson Centenary
Festival, to be held at the Crystal Palace on June 9,
in aid of the funds of the Railway Servants' Orphanage,
Derby, announce that the Prince and Princess of
Wales have consented to give their patronage to the
festival.