The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-06-26 00:00:00

'VisaUnarms Alnietligentt,

HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL.

ANECDOTE OF THE LATE M. DE REMUSAT.
The following anecdote is given of the late M. de
Remusat :—" A young attache of an embassy foolishly
provoked a quarrel during a ball at the Foreign Office
with an officer of high rank much older than himself.
Cards were exchanged, a meeting took place, and
General X. gave the rash youth a wound which con-
fined him to his room for a mouth. When he re-
covered he learned that the Minister wanted him.
M. de Remusat himself received his penitent subordi-
nate. Monsieur,' he said, 'I was present the other
day at the quarrel which you were imprudent enough
to provoke with one of my guests.' 'Your Excel-
lency !" Since then you have borne yourself bravely
under his,sword. That is well, but that is not plough.'
I regret—' 'Allow me to finish. You will leave
for South America, where you will remain for a year.
There you will have time for reflection. And when
you return, I do not doubt, you will have added to
the knowing how to die (savoir-mourtr) the knowing
how to live savoir-virre ).' "

A BRAVE WOAIAN.—The Governor of Cochin
China sends to the Minister of Marine an account of a
melancholy accident at Baria, in that colony, on the
16th April last, accompanied by a remarkable act of
courage by a woman. Captain Lucas, of the Marine
Infantry, was 'walking on the banks of the river, ac-
companied by hss young wife, when he saw two sol-
diers, while bathing, carried out of their depth by the
current. He plunged into the water to save them, when
he was seized by the two men in such a manner as to
quite paralyse his efforts, and was in danger of drown-
ine• with them, when his wife rushed into the stream
to his aid, and succeeding in reaching the group, helped
him to extricate himself from the grasp of the others.
The officer was thus saved, but the two men disap-
peared below the surface, and their bodies were only
found some time afterwards. The name of Madame
Lucas has been proposed for a public reward.
COURT OF CHANCERY.—The report On the ac-
counts of the transactions of the Paymaster-General of
the Court of Chancery for 1873-4 contains some in-
teresting items. It shows a grand total of funds dealt
with of no less than £87,193,216 195., and a balance in
hand of £67,344,016 18s. 11d., consisting of £63,009,777
14s. 7d. in " seourities" (exclusive of those in foreign
currencies) and £4,334,239 4s. 41. in "cash." It gives
a general statement of the securities in which the funds
are invested, also a statement of the boxes and other
miscellaneous effects remaining in the Bank of Beg-
land to the account of the Paymaster-General on
behalf of the Court of Chancery, such boxes containing
among other things, stocks and shares jewels, trinkets,
watches, diamond rings, silver articles, tallies, &r,c ,
with the names of the suits to which they relate. Tbe
number of causes and matters standing on the books on
the 31st of August, 1874, was 31,827 being an increase
of 681 over the preceding year. The number of
draughts paid was 45,625.
THE DISASIROUS FIRE AT PESHAW UR. —The
fire which recently visited Peshawur seems to have
been most disastrous in its results (remarks the corres-
pondent of The Times, writing from Calcutta). Thirty,
three mohullas, or wards, including the wealthiest por-
tion of the city, sustained more or less damage. The
number of houses destroyed is supposed to exceed
1,000, while upwards of 800 detached shops were also
burnt down. Nearly one third of the inhabitants of
the city were rendered houseless, and, although
shelter has now been provided for all the sufferers, as-
sistance will be required to enable them to rebuild
their homes. The hill station of Murree has also suf-
fered severely from a fire, which is said to have been
the work of an incendiary. Two of the main streets in
the bazaar, containing 300 houses were completely des-
troyed, and the church and barracks were for a time
in danger. During- the progress of the conflagration
the thieves of the place appear to have plied their trade
with the utmost assiduity and success.
HENTOWN.—An American paper gives au
account of a" Mammoth Hennery, which has been
established by two brothers in Colorado, a few miles
from Denver :—" It covers four acres, which are
laid out like a village, with streets and avenues, along
which are built long rows of houses of various designs.
Regular families of hens are assigned to these houses,
and it is found that they quickly domesticate themi-
selves, without troublinetheir neighbours. The popur
lation of the villao is about 2,000, divided closely into
'soCiarcliquekunkulksilatuas Coohins,. Shanghais.; and
Dorkings, and the chief products are eggs and spring
chickens. Sundays included, the industrious matrons
of the village turn out daily from 40 to 50 dozens of
eggs, which are sold in Denver for from 30e. to 50c.
per dozen."

AGRICULTURAL. —Haw to get a very Earil
Crop—Have your hair cut at five a.m.—Judy. friiB
FIRES FROM DROUGHT IN AMERICA.--I'-
‘i
American Correspondent of The Times says
recent severe drought has had the usual effect ott.
ducing destructive fires, not only in the forests, Pl't
also in the cities. The worst of these occurred
Springfield, Massachusetts, on the 30th of
high wind driving the flames through the businew
portion of the town. Several acres were burnt eyed
the flames destroying a number of planing ilnof
lumber yards, and also over fifty buildings, some
them being the finest business edifices. The loss t.
estimatedlat $750,000. At one time the flames threa
ened the entire southern and western portions of Sp rill;
field, but the exertions of the firemen, aided bY
obstruction found in an iron-front block of buildl3;
s wed the place. Springfield is but a few miles g
Hoiyoke, and the two appalling calamities CO
almost together are severely felt. Several fires
also reported from Portland, St. John, cincioter
and Great Bend, a town in the Susquehanna 11113/msg
district of Pennsylvania. At the kilts- place the '-t.O
was $120,000, the entire business section being blula
THE ONE THING NEEDFUL.—May. " Man:1,111A;
do let Us have another wedding soon !"—Mamon,a tll•Lt
does not like parting with her daughters). "Ponl I'6o
of such a thing, roY darling !"—May. "I meSll
have another wedding, and leave out all but the
you know l"—Punch. 411

-

THE BENEFIT OF WOMAN'S SOCLETY."-''
bOle
men who avoid female society (says ThackeraYeg,
dull perceptions, and are stupid, and have gross tiwo
and revolt against what is pure. Your 09
swaggerers, who are sucking the butts of billiard co.
all night, call female society insipid. Poetry ji
inspiring to a yokel; beauty has no charms for
,00t
man; music does not please a poor beast, who d°ia
know one tune from another; but as a true ePlerod
hardly ever tired of water, sauce, and brown Pr. g
and butter, I protest I can sit for a whole night tain
to a well-regulated kindly woman about her daug ter.
Fanny, or her boy Frank, and like the evening's eeco
tainment. One of the greatest benefits a ina,em
derive from woman's society is that he is bolo" "-or
respectful to her. The habit is of great good to Yesto
morals, men, depend upon it. Our education nolka the
the most eminently selfish men in the world, 101.0'0
greatest benefit that comes to a man from a wuws,ooe
society is that he has to think of somebody to se:',l,
he is bound to be constantly attentive and respectl
he
A PROPER PAIR. —There are two num—rid to
this year's Royal Academy whi .h ought cert,47lo
mike a match of it. They are " Coniston Old Ala
(1231) and "Widow Bay, Beds" (698).--Punch. a
THE DREADFUL FIRE AT HOLYOKE. —TIIIIOO
disaster caused by the burning of the French Cutuvtlt
church at Holyoke, Massachusetts, still causes a:0
gloom in that part of the country (says the Aeribet
Correspondent of The Times). The deaths 111°",ere
about 80. A considerable number of the victims "Aed
French Canadians, and their charred and Inagn'ille
corpses have been sent to their relatives in the v"„ctir
nion for burial. On the 29th of May the servieeeet
48 victims were performed at Holyoke, in the basew..ocl
of a partially completed Catholic church, a vast e'vwiere
being in and around the building. The coffins pig
brought in one after another and placed on st
raised in the centre of the room. After
coffins had been thus placed the platform guve,l.o
causing a momentary panic. Women shrieke,'
fainted, and several were carried out. After yobbo
citement had subsided, the dais was repaired, °were
other coffins were brought in. Funeral sermons
..;,,g•
pronounced by priests from Worcester and Srwed
field, and a procession over a mile in length folk° tith
the remains to the French Catholic Cemetery at Pv
Hadley Falls, on the Connecticut, near Holyoke.
DOMESTIC.—How to keep the Flies off tillege
Sugar in Summer—Eat it all in the Spring.-1114.
SCHOOL BOARDS.—A ieturn has been isetpli t
relating to School Boards, from which it appear', a iS
in 1870 there were 27 School Boards establisoe,bet
England and Wales. In the present year they ne,'"het
165-141 in England and 21 in Wales. The 21,-,j'orhe
of schools for which loans from the Public" 131,
Loan Commissioners have been sanctioned is
0 hotl
to the end of March, 1874, 248 School Bou..ru:doil
rented 658 schools, of which one Board (lA°:i
had rented 139 schools. Up to the 30th of APr1.0,361
the expenditure on school buildings swill gel.
by the Education Department was £4,021,418 ueis/1,
In the year ending the 29th of September,A,,,4s'o
the total expenditure of School Boards was
3s. 4d.; in 1872, £279,672 10s. 2d. • in 0,,"
£1,174,985 7s. 6d.; and in 1874, 21,958,665, mig fo,f
Last year there was accommodation in Board
245,568; the average attendance at day was
children, and at night 3,784. In the same Yet;Cro;
school pence amounted to £52,099 Os. 11d. and
vernment grant £76,733 13s. 4d. A return is
the estimated cost of school buildings per chila 't-per
modated in fourteen towns. In London the oed the
child in the buildings only is £lO To. 90., ento site,
largest is at Bradford £l7 7s. ; while us_Lifor)
and buildings in London £l5 7s. 24d and in
£22 14s.
14s. rmeetY
AN EARLY BlRD.—London Swell (to
Belle). "Nevar see you in the Wow! ,
when do you Wide? "—Lady. "Hampstead
Seven in the Morning."—Punch.
RETAILERS OF BEER.—An inland Rev'eu-1,81
01;09ci
turn shows that in the year ending with Septe
1874, there were in England 69,903 victuallers lice. pa
to sell beer, or 45 less than in the preceding Y,e,ee
~,r; r t°
there were 39,925 other persons licensed to seo w,- thie
be drunk on the premises, or 776 fewer than h-3,511
preceding year. But besides these there were tlie
persons licensed to sell beer not to be drunk. o.cie the t
premises, and this last number is 485 more t137000t
number in the preceding year. This increase.g.eo
noticeable in some parts of the north. In the PP—a to
"collection" there were 20 fewer persons liceus_gesll
sell beer to be drunk on the premises, but there onto
increase of 64 in the persons licensed to sell beer eo,
be drunk on the premises. In the Manchester e°e, of
tion the former of these two classes shows a decreelaaa ,
36, but the latter an increase of 125; in the Sunde.rTter
collection, the former a decrease of 16, but the Too
an increase of 42. In neither of these places Vais
any decrease in the number of licenses issued to
tuallers.
LOCUSTS IN ITALY.—The Arena of 17* eiTelot:
says: "An army of locusts has invaded a great e,!
of country in this neighbourhood, and especialle.stecl
meadows of Villafranca. The zone at present u°„,:idy,
is between Pozzomoretto, Capello, Ganfardini, urroee
Alpo, and Azzano. In five days the peasants ° bich
commune collected 4,780 kilos of these insects,
have also found a terrible enemy in the shape °f cir
of birds, which seem to have been created for t?e,treo
struction of this pest. These avengers arrivea if. the
days ago, in such vast numbers that the wails
buildings were quite 'black with them when; ugh'
alighted. Two of these feathered strangers were 1100,
by Professor Pellegrini, who, after examining, iota,
stated that they belonged to the species called P os
roseue That race inhabits warm countries:ov
especially those in which grasshoppers, Stc., ab°. g
that is to say, Asia and Africa—always travellin
large flocks, like starlings."
00"
MORE SLAVERIES THAN ONE.—Rigu. -otteso°
B. D. "Now that your Highness has seen the
ings of Freedom, I trust we may rely uP°llc,.i'ittiS
strenuous help in putting down Slavery?
Seyyid Barghash. " Ah, Yes! Certainly 'weed
member, 0 Sheikh Ben Dizzy, Conservative Par"
Strong in Zanzibar I "—Punch.
Use'

COTTON MILLS IN INDIA. —lt may be., tool
in connection with what has been written in wet /0
week upon the decrease of demand in the Boislig
tC
Manchester geods, to note what Bombay is 69/00
manufacture its own cotton goods (remarks the re.
ward Mail). The industry, according to figilritito'
ceived by the present mail, is rap dly growiflg,.
gether there are twenty-five cot on mills in 1111„dle°
full operation, working six hundred thousand atlcs
and seven thousand looms. The spindles Pr%cet
about 130,0001 b. of cotton thread a day, of whieb„,,,f) Ate
50,0001 b. are used to produce cloth. These nufoiog
chiefly in the Bombay Island, where a new sPnoii
mill, just opened by a wealthy Hindoo, and nor 010.
25,000 spindles, makes a total of 17 working coot/
Up country there are several others—one
two at Broach, two at Ahmedabad, one at Jtuga 0
one in the native state of Bhownuggur, and
Madras. Extensions are also rapidly going foz: OPt
Eight extensions are in course of construe%) oro'
Bombay, chiefly on share capital, and these v9ll,.,jiefil
vide at least for the working of 40,000 more sPw,,OO.
and 1,345 looms. Manchester must take into 90" 00
'in calculations for the future, the rapid develoPo
of cotton manufacture in India. of
TIIE PAUPER RoLL.—The annual rob-11110ot
pauperism in England on New Year's-day shoviB
the number of persons in receipt of relief fora 000
rates on the Ist January, 1875, was 817,822, bei9go;('
by 14,548, or I'7 per cent., than on the corresPeli
day in the preceding year. The indoor pat 4
vary much in number; they were 156,795 on
of January, 1872, 154,171 at the like date
152,279 in 1874, 155,655 in 1875. But the ni
outdoor paupers is lessening • they wer(
on the first of January, 1875, which is 1,
than at the corresponding date in 1874, 74,034
in 1873, and 162,080 less than in 1872. Tht
on New Year's-day, 1875, were lin 28, or 3'6
on the population according to the census
but as the population has increased since then.
ratio was not quite so large as that. The ni
adult able-bodied paupers (three-fourths of dr
women) was 115,209 on the let of January, 1F
was 885 more than at the corresponding date
but less by 12,488 than in 1873, and by 38,54'.
1872,
,uan

pei; do

7,-
' less

AN UNKNOWN QUANTITY. —The qi
rain which falls in England is very carefully
various parts of the kingdom, and the resi
observations is published far and wide, but th,
of our sunshine is not so well known. It is n,

season at this time to notice that in Sco'
Registrar-General regularly reports the nr
hours of sunshine with which that country is f
as shown by the mean of returns from 55s

the Meteorological Society of Scotland. The
sunshine in a year in that country most fr
-e between 1,650 and 1,750; but in 1874 the'

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