The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-08-13 00:00:00

alisrdiantaits ynteillgturt.
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

SUDDEN DEATH.—Mr. Lucy, forage agent to the
Royal Horse Guards, quartered at Windsor, died
suddenly on Monday afternoon while being driven by
his daughter in a pony carriage from the Spital
Cavalry Barrack g to his residence in the Bath-road,
Hounslow. In the vicinity of Staines, Miss Lucy felt
her father lean rather heavily against her, 4nd as he
seemed to be unconscious she drove to that towfi for
medical assistance. He was then found to be dead.
.The deceased was greatly respected by the regiment.
MlEitio.et IlloN AND STEEL.—The report of the
American Iron and Steel Assoctiation for 1880 states
the production of pig iron to have been 4,295,414 net
tons; rolled iron, excluding rails, 1,838,906 tons;
Bessemer and other steel rail, 968,075 tons ; and iron
rails, 493,762 tons. The total production of steel was
1,397,015 tons. The imports of iron and steel are
valued at 80,483,365 dols., and the exports at
12,960,995 dols. The production of anthracite coal
was 23,437,24 gross tons, and of bituminous cc;al
43,000,000 tons, -
WISE IN HIS GENERATION.—Mamma: "Cyril,
you're a naughty boy; and I've a good mind to whip
you !"—Cyril.: "Have a better mind, mammy, and
don't."—Fun,

A EAZTEN'S DENONSTrATION.—A procession of sea-
men, with band and banners, left the East-end of
London on Monday and proceeded through the
principal thoroughfares of the City to West-
minster. Information was received of the visit by the
police at the Houses of Parliament, and as they did
.not know the object of it, when the procession ap-
proached, some of the gates leading to Palace-yard
were cloud and the others were guarded by an
extra force. The pronession halted near the Clo@k
Tower and the spokesman said they had come there
peaceably to demand fair pay for their work. A
crowd began to assemble, and Chief Inspector Gernon
went to tie lep,,ders of Op party nd pointed ut that
they were obstructing the- tratbe, whereupon they gave
three cheers for the police, the band played "God
Save the Queen ! " and the procession moved on. It
had originally been intended to vist the Board of
Trade, but this was abandoned.

PEINE— SAI73 Pi.—Hanoyer bids fair to earn a
great reputation as a petroleum-yielding country; in
proof of Which anticipation, from a here 200 feet deep
near the town of Peine, a single source has been pro-
d!,-tcing in twenty-four hours nearly twenty thomand
gallons of valuable liquid. Consequently, it is stated,
a perfect fever of speculation has seized the neighbour-
hood ; so the inhabitants are not likely to suffer from
ennui just now, although they do possess such "a
great bore."—Fun.
MOUNTED INFANTRY.—The Illornfng Post does not
wish to be considered pessimist, but is of opinion that
the time is not far distant when we shall have to de-
fend our Indian Empire againat Eussia, and as the
forces employed by that country in Turkestan are
mostly mounted infantry, it is certainly advisable that
we should not be placed at a disadvantage for want of
proper defensive measures or from a false idea of
economy. It is not economy for the Govenunent to
refuse to maintain in time of peace 4 force which they
are obliged to raise at an enormous expense and
sacrifice as soon as a war is imminent, and which,
moreover, must under such circumstances be inefs-
cient, for only civilians can bd under the impression
that mounted infantry can spring out of the earth at
the dictation of the authorities in Pall-mall. It is to
be hoped that the Secretary of State for War will
ultimately see his way:to forming a corps of mounted
infantry, but in doing so, insist that they are infantry,
and not a dual arm.

TTTE CosT or•Cvpnus.—One of the items in a Sup-
plementary Estimate just issued is a, grant in aid of
the revenue of Cyprus to the amount of £78,000,
being an increase of 2,58,00 Q over the stun Voted last
year. The liabilities of the Cyprus Glovernment on
Ist of April,llB7l, amounted to £205,268 9s. and the
available assets amounted to £127,643 11s. 61d.,
leaving a deficiency of £77,619 17s. sid.

DRATH OE A LADY 102 YEARS OLD.—Mrs. Anne
Webb, relict of Mr. Thomas Webb, J.P., has just
died at her residence at Ledbury. The venerable lady
was in her 103rd year, and the dates of her birth and
marriage are beyond dispute. When Mrs. Webb at-
tained her hundreth birthday the Queen sent her a
letter of congratulation and her Majesty's portrait,
with a request that the photograph of Mrs. Webb
might be forwarded to the Queen. Her eldest son
was born in 1812. The deceased lady was possessed
of all her faculties to the last,

THE DEANERY OF WESTIHNSTER.—The Daily NCWB
understands that the Deanery of Westminster has
been offered'to, and declined by, the Bishop of Man-
chester. "It will be remembered that several days
ago we stated that the Bishop had the matter under
consideration. It is now said that the appointment
has been offered to Dr. Butler, Head Master of
Harrow, and that he will probably accept it. Dr.
Butler has frequently preached at the special services
in the Abbey on Sunday evenings."
THE FRENCH WHEAT TRADE.—Paris advices state
that the week which has just elapsed has been favour.
able for the If rench wheat crops. The French wheat
markets have continued to show little animation,
although new wheats, being still scarce, have made
about 10d. per quintal more than old wheat.
TOBACCO SMOKING IN FRANCE,--sorne cnrious
statistics relating to tobacco smoking in France
appear in the Belgian National. It appears that
there are 5,671,000 smokers, each person smokes an
average of 9 lbs. a year. For every fifteen smokers,
eight smoke pipes, five cigars, and two c;prottes.
The total conSunaption of cigarettes s otinnlted to be
291,000,000,000 per annum, that is 800,000,000 a day,
33,000,000 an hour, 550,000 a minute' 9,160 a second ;
finally, if all these cigarettes were placed end to end
they would reach 514 times round the globe.

MR. ARTHUR ARNOLD, M.P., ON THE LAND BILL.
Addressing about 1,500 of the members and friends of
the Salford Liberal Assooiatio4 at their annual picnic
in Lord de Tabley's park on Saturday, Mr. Arthur
Arnold, M.P., referring to the Land Bill, said the
landlords of Ireland did not believe that the measure
could do them injury. The hill set up with the fixity
and the force of law nothing more than the established
custom of land tenure in Ireland. He could only pity
the-intelligence which could deny the principle of the
Compensation for I.isturbcnce Bill of last year, and
could accept, without division' . the bill a this yeas
It was the Conservative and not the Liberal party
which had yielded to agitation that which it refused
to the claim of justice.
DISCOVERIES IN EGYPT.—Further details have been
published respecting the discovery in Egypt of a rock.
hewn gallery containing 30 Royal mummies—king,
queens, and' pri-fleszep, with all their Royal Wrap-
pinv.s Intact, their bo(slies still adorned with the
flowers and garlands laid upon them by moireners 3,000
years ago. One of the mummies is that of Thutmes
lII.' who first Fet up the Embankment Needle, and
another is Ramses 11., who 270 years after the death
of Thutmes caused his own official titles to be carved
upon the same obelisk. • Papyri werw found in all the
coffins, some of the highest possible value ; 41p,b2,stgr
vases containing the hearte of the deceased .-and
number of huge hair wigs, anciently wctin by prin-
CesseS 'of the Royal House only, All the mummies
have been remoVed to the poui4kmwelina,
. .

A LESSON TO G .11 :ADITATES.—An Ohio paper says that
a young lady wh o graduated in a calico dress a few
years ago is now a larried to a railroad superintendent
who has an incon u 3 of 500,000 dole, a year. This may be
takeTras a basis I r the regulation of graduating dress
hereafter. Had the worn alpaca she might have done
even better, and .caught the general manager of the
road. On the ot her hand, had she bloomed forth in
whits swiss, she might have captured the President of
the concern, witl 3 his untold millions, while had she
worn silk, with cint la,ce and diamonds, she might
have scooped in, "t. 11,1 conductor of the passenger train,
and had onyx -stakcases and alabaster walls to her
house, and cut c the wives of the officers of the road as
society altogether too thin for her style. This thing
ought to be ,v lesson to girl graduates and a sharp
warning to p?o,,,r,Dnize their tailors liberally.—Brooklyn
Eagle.

SUPPRESSTIO VECL—Small boy (construing). "But
the crocodil a F--"—,Schoolmaster. "I am sure you got
' crocodile ' 'put of a) crib."—Small boy. "No, sir I
Indeed, sir, I didn't."—Schoolmaster (severely) „ "
know you lid. And as you've told a lie about it "
[Prepar*s cane.—Small boy (terrified.) "No, sir—
indeed, I didn't tell a lie, sir I Please, sir—it's
allirKator ' in the crib !"—[Tableau. Cane comes down
hea-Aly.l—Punch.

A -WONDERFUL CLOCK.—The most astonishing thing
eves heard of in the way of a timepiece is a clock de-
scribed by a Hindoo rajah as belonging to a native
prince of Upper India, and jealously guarded as
the rarest treasure of his luxurious palace. In
front of the clock's disc was a gong, swung upon poles,
and near it was a pile of artificial human limbs. The
pile was made up of the full number of parts of twelve
perfect bodies, but all lay heaped up together in
seeming confusion. Whenever the hands of the
clock indicated the hour of one, out from the pile
crawled just the number of parts needed to form the
frame of one man, part ' joining itself to part with
quick metallic click; and when completed, the figure
sprang up, seized a mallet, and walking up to the
gong, struck one blow that sent the sound pealing
through every room and corridor of that stately
palace. This dpne, he returned to the pile and fell
to -pieces again. When two o'clock came, the two
men arose and did likewise; and so through all the
hours, the number of figures being the same as the
.number of the hour, till at noon and midnight the
entire heap sprang up, and marching to the gong,
struck one after another each his blow, and then fell
to pieces.

"GOOD DOG ! "—lt is now proved beyond all doubt
that the best deg ever known was the poetical pointer
who could both point amoral" and " adorn a tail/"
—Funny Folks.
FATAL CONSEQUENCES OF A PRACTICAL JOKE.—
Last Saturday a melancholy accident, the indirect re-
sult, it is believed, of a practical joke, occurred oil
Plymouth. The Orient Line mail steamer Potosi,
having been cleared for Australia, left the Sound at
12.30 p.m. Half an hour later, when four miles outside
the Breakwater, and proceeding at the rate of 11 knots
an hour, a cry arose of "man overboard." Captain
Darley, who was on the bridge, ordered the vessel to
be stopped and to run astern. The starboard lifeboat
was being lowered, five men seated in her, when the
forward fall e bema entangled, and all the seamen
weke precipitated into the water. Lifebuoys were
thrown to the men, and meanwhile two other boats
were lowered from the Potosi. Three of the hauds
were rescued, but Edward W. Barkley, A. 8., and
Walter J. Dodge, 0.5., disappeared. The boats
cruised abut for ninety Minutes, when nothing having
been seen of the unfortunate men, the Potosi proceeded i
on her voyage to Adelaide. It s thought tho atfair
was a silly practical joke on the part of a passenger.
Great excitement prevailed among the 350 passengers,
who crowded the vessel's decks.
RELEASE OF THE "DAILY NEWS" CORRESPONDENT
AT MERV.—The Daily News of Wednesday said :
Through the courtesy of Tiord Granville we learn that
a telegram has been received at the Foreign Off4ce
announcing the release of our correspondent long held
in captivity at Merv, and his safe arrival en Monday
at Meshed, whither he wa,s er.icarted by a guard of
thirty Turkonlan bc4rsqq,en. Our thanks and our
correspondca's are due to Lord Granville and to
Mr. Thomson, her Majesty's Minister at Teheran,
for their exertions in this matter, now brought to a
happy issue, and also to Prince bona:4°ff, the Russian
Ambassador at the Court of St. james's, for the
active concern he has shown for our correspondent's
safety.

THE IRON TRADE.—The return issued by the British
Iron Trade Association shows that the production of
pig iron for the half-year ending June 30 last,
throughout the -United Kingdom, was 4,134,821 tail&
The stocks of pig iron amounted to 108,7‘11 tons, as
compared with 1,298,261 in Decomlaer 31, 1880. The
stock of pig iron. on January 1, 1881, was 1,541,411
tons; the production of pig iron during the first-half
of 1881, was 4,134,821; Total 5,676,232; deducting
stock on June 30, 1881, 1,851,711, leans the con-
sumption in first six months of 1881, 3,824,521. The
stocic of pig Iron in warrant stores and in makers
hands on June 30, 1881, is equal to 12i weeks of the
consumption of the first six months of 1881,
THE COST OF Fop,Tlro4TioNa.--"The annual return
relating, to the moneys raised under the Fortification
Acts shows that the total amount authorised to be
raised by those Acts was £7,460,000 and the totAl
amount raised up to 1877-78 was £7,i25,000. It is
stated in a note that it is not intended to raise any
further sums fo;• this service. The expenditure actually
recorded up to IVla,rch 31st, 1881, was £7,4,20,919
18s. 2d.

BEARDS IN Tip RUSSIAN NAVY,—For the future
Russian seamen are to wear beards. This measure is
due to the action of the Czar himself, who dislikes
everything that smacks of Western culture, and,
above all things, shaving. Since the time of Peter the
Great the Russian sailor has always had to laz an ex-
pert with the razor. For the first time for nearly 200
years this practice, borrowed from Europe, is to be
discontinued.
AN EXHIBITION SELDOM SKEN,-,-The Loan Exhibi-
tion of umbrellas.-1-.14.
•

STEERING BY ELECTRIOITY.—EAgineeing says :—A
patent has recently been taken out for a means of
steering a ship by electricity. The aparatus is the
invention of Mr. W. F. King, an Edinburgh elec-
trician, and ivas recently tried on board a steamer
sailing between Glasgow and London. Its object is
to dispense without a helmsman and make the com-
pass itself steer the ship. For this purpose the compass
card is fitted with an index which is set to the true
course, and one degree on either side of the true course
two metal contact pins are adjusted; each pen is con-
nected to a single Daniell cell, and when the ship
deviates as much as a degree from her conrae to one
side or the other the index comes into contact with
one or other metal pin. The result is that a positive
or negative current cows and actuates an hydraulic
apparatus which works the helm.
THE LIFE or A SOYEREIGiN%—It is estimated by the
Deputy-Master of the Mint that out of the total gold
coinage in circulation, amounting to about one hiindred
millions sterling, not less than 40 per cent. is light to a
degree which renders thp coins no longer legal tender.
It is to ba observed, however' that a sovereign reaches
this pohit when it has lost three-quarters of es grain of
its weight, worth about three halfpence. The estimated
"life" of our sovereign and half-sovereigns is about
eighteen years. It is satisfactory to learn that
although sovereigns are occasionally found which Lave
been tampered with, our gold coinage does not, as a
rule, suffer from anything bnt fair wear and tear. It
appears that the Rank of England is accustomed to
send light gold to the Mint for recoinage at the rate of
nearly one million per annum.
ARABlLrry.—Some pieces of land are capable of pros
ducing crops, some are not. The first 'would clearly
come under the designation " ar'-able" fields; the
latter should, on the other hand, to be consistent, be
denominated "are-not-able."—Punny Fo/ks.
A PIOUS "Really, John, I don't
think it nice, just as the people are comir,g out of
church, for you to sit like that, with a pipe in your
mouth, and your hat at the back of your head, and
your clothes anyhow I "—John. "Bosh, Emily I I
am doing no harm, and therefore I don't care who
sees me, or what anybody thinks! " Well,
John, you know best. By the bye, who do you think
were in ahurch, of all people in the world? The
Duchess of Stilton and Lord Archibald! Hero they
come ! "—John (hastily getting off his perch, button-
ing his coat• and waistcoat, and thrusting his pipe
behind his back). "Good Heavens, Emily i—where,s-
where ? / can't see them ! "—Punch.
ENGLISH PATJPERISAL—The pomparative statement
of ssaisperism in England and Wales, forJuly,lBBo and
ThEil,shows that the number of paupers at the end of the
Midsummer quarter was 714,915, which, as compared
with the corresponding period in 1880, was a decrease
of 1,674, or o'2 per cent. ; and az compared with 1879,
a decrease of 2sS4O, or o'4 per cent, In the three divi-
sions of England in which the principal manufactures
are carried on, the North Midland, North-Western,
and York divisions, there was an increase in 1881,
compared with 1880, of 138, or 01 per cent. ; but
in comisarisen with 19.79 a decrease of 6,642, or 34 per
cent.
RELLES WITHOTJT RlNti#S.—lt is proposed by a party
in the States, says the Staniard, to do away with the
wedding ring, substitnting a bracelet with a clasp,
which the lady can snap as an Occasional reminder for
her husband. Snapping turtles, these! The whole
den is a snappy thonght.—Punch.

A MO4NIN4 CALL.—A party of Sioux Indians were
guests at a leading Milwaukee hotel, and the ladies
had a great del Qf amusement with them studying
their costume. Thai is, they all did ekcept one
lady. The ladies called upon the Indians, and
the savages returne.sl the calls almost before the ladies
got to their rooms. One lady called on a chief and
then went to her room and retired, and pretty soon
there was a knock at her door, and she found that it
was the chief. She told him to come in the morning.
The lady Unlocks her door in the. morning so the
porter can come ip and 1114114 4 fire before she gets
up. Slip houa a knkking in the morning and
supposing it was the porter she said "Come in."
The door opened and in walked Mr. Indian. She took
one look at him, and pulled the bed clothes over her
head. He sat down on tha side of the bed and said
"How ?" Well, she was so scared she didn't know
"How" from Adam. She said to him in the best
Sioux that she could command: "Pleaee, good
Mr. Indian, go away until 1_ apt up,' lint be didn't
di
seem to he in vy hurey. Ha picked up piecea gf
her wearing apparel from the floor, ffeint articles
that he didn't seem to know anything about
where they were worn, and made comments on them
in the Sioux tongue. The stockings seemed to
paralyse his untutored mind the most. They were
those long 90 dpgrees. tb? ObaCia OtoCkipus, and
too naueh for hie feeble intellect. He held them
uPby the toes and said "Ugh !" The lady trembled
and eteid she wished he would go away. He seemed
to take great delight in examining the hair on the
bureau, and looked at the lady as much as to say
"Poor girl, some hostile tube has made war on the
pale face and taken many scalps." Finally Oe hap-
pened to think of the bell, and ehe kings it as though
the house was en fire, and pretty; soon the porter came
and invited the Indian to go downstairs and take a
The lady locked the door quick, and she will
never leave it open when there are Indians in town.
She says her hair—on the bureau—fairly turned grey
from friffht,—.Peck's