The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-07-24 00:00:00

SATURDAY, JULY 24, 1880.

TH.E INNOCENT YauTH.—" There were two men
got into a fight in front of the bank to-day," said
stockbroker at the family supper table, "and I tell
you it looke,d pretty hard for one of them. The
biggest one grabbed a cart stake and drew it back. I
felt that he was going to knAck the others brains out,
and I jumped in between them," The family had
listened with rapt attentima, and, as the head paused
in his narrative, the young heir, whose respect for his
father's bravery was immeasurable, proudly remarked
"He couldn't knock any brains out of you, could he,
father?" The head of the family gazed long and
earnestly at the heir, as if to detect evidences of a
dawning humourist ; but, as the youth continued with
great innocence to munch his tart, he gasped and
resumed his supper.
THE CHESS CONGRESS.—The Wiesbaden Chess Con-
gress has resulted as follows :—Herr Scharwz of
Vienna, Herr English, of Vienna, and Mr. Black-
burne, of London, each won 11 games, and divide
the first three prizes—viz., £5O, £25, and £l2s. 10s.—
equally among themselves. Herr Schallopp, of
Berlin, won 101 games and obtained the fourth
prize; Mr. Mason, of New York, won 9 games, Mr.
Bird, of London, and Herr Winawer, of Warsaw,
each 9 games; Herr Minckwitz of Leipsic, 8; Herr
Schottlander,.of Breslau, and Herr Paulsen, of Blom-
berg, each 7i ; Herr W. Paulsen, of Na,ssengrund, 6i ;
Herr Wemmers, of Cologne, 6; Herr Fritz, of
Giessen, 5i ; Dr. Schwede, of Dresden, 4; and Dr.
Schmid, of Dresden, and Dr...l(norre, of Berlin,
each 2.
FEARFUL EFFECTS OF THIRST.—The Galveston
(Texas) News publishes a despatch received from Fort
Stockton, stating that Major R. J. Lawrence and a
corps of Texas and Pacific Railroad employes, after a
number of days of extreme suffering from thirst in the
White Sand Hills, arrived at the Pecos River without
loss of life. Some stock and wagons were abandoned
at different intervals for forty miles.. Those first arriv-
ing at the river went in search of the others, some of
whom when found were crazed by thirst, and had
entirely stripped themselves. They were found
within 100 yards of the Pecos River, drinking the
blood of the animals they liad slain. Some of the men
were almost blind. Arriving at the river they plunged
in head foremost, and but for the bravery of the most
experienced a large number would have perished.
THE WEATHER AND THE CROPS.—The prospects of
of a prolific harvest seem to have been seriously im-
paired by the heavy rains and floods of the past week.
Some of the storms have been partial, but there are
few if any parts of the country in which the rain has
not been sufficient to beat down all the best of the
cereals crops, while in other districts hundreds of
acres have been actually under water. The barley
crop has been especially injured, not only because it is
the heaviest crop of the season, but also because it is '
more liable than wheat or oats to be badly laid. In all
parts of the country fields may be seen as flat as if they I
had been rolled with a heavy roller. Quite apart from
this laying of the cereals at a critical stage in their
growth, continuous wet weather is always against a
good yield. There is much reason to fear that the
high hopes at one time entertained as to an abundant
harvest may be to a great extent disappointed.—Pall
Mall gazette.

THE BEST SHOT IN THE BRITISH ARMY.— The
Graphic of last week—in giving a portrait of Sergeant
Armstrong, the champion shot of the British Army in
1878-9—says :—" Sergeant Armstrong, late Master-
Cook, 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade, has lately been
awarded a silver medal as the best shot in the British
Army, 1878-9, receiving at the same time complimen-
tar,- mention from H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge
and from Colonel J. P. Carr Glynn, commanding the
2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade. The score was as
follows :-Ist period, 67 points; 2nd period, 68 points;
3rd period, 72 points.—Total, 207 points. In 1877-8
Sergeant Armstrong was only beaten by Sergeant
Salmon, 72nd Highlanders, by two points for the same
honours. Having completed twenty-one years' ser-
vice, Sergeant Armstrong now holds the position of
hall-porter at the Brighton New Club (King's-road),
and is in possession of medals for Ashantee, and bar
for Coomassie, for distinguished conduct in the field.
These he received from her Majesty's -own hands at
Windsor Castle, as well as one for long service and
good conduct, and a gold star for being the beat shot
in the Battalion for two years in succession. Sergeant
Armstrong is a total abstainer, very moderate in the
use of tobacco, and shoots with both eyes open." •
AGRICULTURAL PROSPECTS.—The reports this week
are more or less gloomy, and it is impossible to over-
look the fact that very considerable damage has been
and is being done by storms and floods. A good deal
of hay has been spoiled in swathe, and much has been
badly put together. The early wheats may have
passed through their flowering stage safely, but much
damage must have been done to the later crops; the
grain is much laid by storms in the districts in which
they have been severe. Root crops are doing well,
but weeds are now almost master of the situation.—
Mark Lane Express.

- THE COLDEST TOWN IN THE WORLD. This is
Jakutsk (or Yakobtsk), chief town of the province of
that name in Eastern Siberia, on the left bank of the
river Lena, 62 degrees one minute north, longitude
139 degrees 44 minutes east, and distant from St.
Petersburg 5,951 miles. The ground remains con-
tinuously frozen to the depth of two hundred feet,
except in mid-summer, when it thaws three feet at the
surface. During ten days in August the ther-
meter marks 85 degrees, but from November
February it ranges from 40 to 68 degrees below
co, and the river is solid ice for nine months
t of the twelve. The entire industry of the
oe—population about five thousand—is com-
p-. :Id In candle-works, and yet it is the principal
market of Eastern Siberia for traffic with the hunting
tribes of the Buriats. The former mostly nomadic,
having large herds of horses and cattle, bring to
market butter, which is sent on horseback to the port
of Okhotsk. The Buriats, also nomadic, bring
quantities of skins of sables, foxes, martens, hares,
squirrels and the like, and many of them are sold at
the great fair in June, which, with May, is the active
period of the year. In May the collected goods are
conveyed to the seaports, whence they are sent in
every direction.

REASONABLE PLEA.—Daughter of Cabinet M inister.
It would give pleasure to use my influence with Papa
for the appointment you want, but it is already filled.
Applicant.—Oh, but surely he could put a subordinate
in as well. There must be nothing-to-do enough for
two I—Funny Folb.

HINTS ON Hom: ART.—The most strictly fashion-
able thing going is to have a Queen Ann-y goat's
chaise to drive your.babies in.—The simplest wisdom
in house decoration is to go in largely for sage green.
—The best way to give a refreshing coolness to your
rooms in summer time is to have a frieze round every
one of them.—The worst taste possible is to have your
place pierced with too many windows, but a girand-ole
or two is quite the rightest thing.—he greatest vul-
garity is shown by having a number of things alike in
your drawing-room. Yet three or four Simla rugs
need not be objected to.—Judy.
AN ENTERPRISE OF A NOVEL KIND.—M.
evidently a practical manager, has left Paris for Brus-
eels, with a Theatre, all ready constructed and in-
geniously packed in boxes, comprising lustres and
seats, which can be put together and taken asunder
in forty-eight hours! It was constructed by M.
Godin, and the decorations are by M. Robecchi, who
has also painted for it five panoramas, each nearly a
mile and a quarter long, representing "Nordenskjold's
Voyage," "The Coal and Iron Age," " 20,000 Leagues
Under the Sea " (from Jules Verne's book), and
"Paris by Day and by Night."
THIS YEAR'S CHAMPION SNAKE STORY.—A farmer
in Ohio had missed sheep and hogs for two years, and
his only conclusion was that they had been stolen. He
also mourned the absence-of a little hero which, when
last seen, was at play in the fields. The other day he
missed an old ram from his flock, and following a
bloody trail, came to the mouth of a cave. A charge
of giant powder was exploded in the opening, and
when the smoke cleared away, a black snake fifteen
feet long and kwo feet in circiunference, was discoveied
in the agonies Of death. The mangled sheep was by
its side, and stacks of bones were all around. The
skeleton of a child was found in the cave, and the
gold chain around the neck enabled the farmer to
identify it as the remains of his long-lost daughter.
Quite a thrilling story; but the concoctor of it forgot
that serpents do not pick the flesh from the bones
and thus leave perfect skeletons behind. The black
snake, like other snakes, swallows its food whole.
"LOCAL Lor-TioN."—Mr. Gladstone trimming his
trees.—Funny Folks.
FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN HORSE AND DOG.—Mr.
Thomas Worthington, writing to Land and Water,
vys :—A paragraph in your number of the 3rd inst.
reminds me of a singular attachment which existed
between an old greyhound bitch, named Stella, and
an old posthorse, at the King's Head, Derby, some
fifteen years ago. Whatever journey the old horse
went, no matter who drove him, Stella accompanied
him. At night she lay under his manger, and when
in summer he was turned out at the landlord's farm
about two miles off, Stella lived with him night and
day in the field, coming home for her meals and re-
turning to her friend. After some years of mutual
affection the old horse was taken ill and died. The
vs. was about to make a post-mortem, but the faithful
Stella would not permit it, and he had to make a pre-
cipitatenightgreat
friendship exodus, and wait until the faithful dog was
fastened up. Stella was permitted to attend the
obsequies of her friend, but could scarcely be per-
suaded to quit his grave ; so great indeed was her
devotion that she lay on his grave
scratched a deep hole, endeavouring to get to the body,
am satisfied
and it was a long time before she
hsohseterroyu.ldl take up her
permanent quarters at the o
inferior animals.
Many both to man and the
ssi
that horses, as well as dogs, are
ac.anrpd,.eaabd.leorohf
Many of your readers have doubtless
the celebrated Godolphin Arabi, his_ favourite
11 remember a coloured en-
_Five-ianrd-thirty years ago,
companion, a cat.
kept at
livery in
.irdte
graving of them belth'-ve
eenk,ep
a ivery in in rd.
s a spotted carriage
horsewhe n
which-residing
street. In thed the greatest fondness for my relation's
dog, which had the
accompanied him if he had a
horse, and always
h"
rode
him or anyone else.
a inreLl:tnivd
stable yard wa
chance, whether
, I
Ng IN SOUTHWARK.—On Saturday Oil'
"OLD REMAINS 181
were made by the workmen employed in thtk
coveriestsion
of the foundations of the new inn to be.
built the site of the old Bricklayers' Arms, situated.
—the corner of the Old Kent and Bermondsey New
a
rotads which are of no little value to the lovers of,
antiquities. The site, which is the property of the.
corporation of the City of London, has been occupied
,by an inn bearing the same name for upwards of 600
years, and on sinking down for the new foundations
traces of. no fewer than four different foundations
have been discovered. On Saturday, at a depth of
about 14ft., the workmen engaged on the north site -
came upon the foundations of what evidently belonged
to the first house. These were bit. 3in. in thickness
the bricks and mortar being in excellent presdrvatiot
On re4deviftetheiel.;-thick stratunt 'deere *Ale ' ;(1
somvery lafttlsiziSrand bon e§ ''vvis found. ' Later'
on, in the part facing' tlie Old Kent-road, the corre-
sponding portion of the foundations was reached, and
here what is described as a beautiful necklace was
discovered, also a, large number of copper and some
sold and silver coins. Built in these old foundations
-
were a number of bottles and jugs, evidently of a
remote period, and, strange to say, in perfect preser-
vation,

sa;

vole
WINDOW GARDparro.—The Duke and Duchess ei
Teck visited St. Pan,cras Vestry Hall, Luzuicnf °,1:1
Saturday last, to open an exhibition of window plan,"
cultivated by the poor children resident in the neigv
hourhood. His Serene Highness, after exprogiug the
great pleasure it gave him to attend, said he thought
it was a most laudable thing to promote the cultiva-
tion of plants among the working classest
would like the practice to become as universal
possible, He was glad to be amongst the hard-work
ing little bees of the people, and he assured them si
the sincere sympathy which the Duohess and he
always felt for them. In the evening Mrs. Gladstone
distributed prizes, and upon the conclusion of the
ceremony wished them good night and God-speed, and
remarked that she would go back to Downing-street
refreshed at the sight of the flowers and the haPPY
faces of the children (cheers).
th.e

A REMARKABLE SWORD.—There is now 112
museum at the city of Mexico, a remarkable
made from an teorlite or meteor that fell in the Staie
of Durango, Mexico. A Mexican gentleman sent
General Ord, of the United States Army, a small slay
or tablet, about an inch thick and six inches squarel
which was sawed out of the meteor. General Or°
sent it on to the national armoury at Springfield, t°
be worked up into a sword for General Trevino of tile
Mexican Army, who has done so much to rid tbe
border of the Indians that infested it. The sword is e
small, straight blade, and is a fancy-dress sword,
mounting representing an eagle with the olive bran° I
and arrows, such as we see on a quarter of a dollat
now and then. The grip is of silver wire, and the
whole thing is very pretty. On the blade is the
Spanish sentence, which translated, into English;
reads, "Made of. iron that fell from the skies
Mexico. Presented to G. Trevino, General of Divv
sion, by his friend, General Ord, U.S-A."
VALUE OE LAND IN LONDON.—At the Auction
Mart, Tokenhouse-yard, last week, Messrs. Edwili
Fox and Bousfield sold, by direction of the First Cow'
missioner of her Majesty's Works, premises ill
Seething-lane, Tower-street, at £4 17s. 4d. per square
foot, or at the rate of £211,992 per acre. They al°
sold, by direction of the Court of Chancery, ten free-
hold houses in Ely-place, Holborn, occupying together
about 13.412 feet, all with vacant possession, the
leases granted 99 years ago having expired. The
total amount of sale was £34,570, being at the rate
of £2 us. fid. per square foot, equal to £112,167 Per
acre.
MIDSUMMER APPEALS.—AppeaIs for ice, claret-cuP'
Pic-nics, garden-parties, and light summer dieases."
Punch.
THE "SEPARATE HOME" SYSTEM.—The managerg
of the Kensington and Chelsea School District
making arrangements for the opening of their nel
schools at Banstead, Surrey, which have been ereete;',
on the "separate home" system. "House Mother°
are to be appointed to take charge of the building"
each to contain from 20 to 25 girls and infante',
Married couples are also to be appointed; each coulme
will be required to take charge of and act as "housi3„,.,
father and mother" of a house containing between Dv
and 40 boys, while the men will also teach their re"
spective trades and perform such work as may he
required in connection with the establishment gene'
rally.

THE STORMING OF THE BASTILLE.-A Zurich pale
the Neue Ziircher Zeitung, publishes the followix,
letter from a Herr Irminger, in St. Gallen :—" It
be of interest to many to hear that the leader .of ti
famous party that stormed the Bastille was a Swiss,
native of Ziirich. Our family is in possession of
big, valuable medal, cast at the time in honour of th•
event, and more especially in honour of the hero of i
It represents on the one side the storming of tl
walls, and on the other the half figure of the victo
bearing the inscription, 'Henri Irminger, chevalier (
capitaine, vainquer de la Bastille." The writer
the letter, says the Zurich paper, is the great grao
nephew of this Henri Irminger.

ROUND THE WORLD IN SEVENTY-FIVE DAYS.-31.1.
Ismay, senior partner in the firm of Ismay, Imrl9l
and Co., proprietors of the White Star Line of Euro'
peAn steamships, recently arrived in New York, witil
his wife and family, after an extraordinary voyaC
Leaving Liverpool on the 13th of March last in
steamship Oceanic, they successively visited Sue"
Point de Galle, Singapore, Hongkong, Canton Shan
hai, and Yokohama. The last-named port
,hey 10
on June 6 for San Francisco. When they airived A
New York they had travelled 22,320 miles. The tirae
occupied in making this journey, exclusive of WV
pages at different points visited, was 66 days. Alloss.:
ing nine days in whiCh to complete the return
Liverpool, the trip will be accomplished in 75 days,
five days less than the celebrated journey describedine
M. Jules Verne's well-known story " Around t"
World in Eighty Days."
THE LONDON BOARD SCHOOL TEACHERS AND PUPILS
h°
AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.—Saturday last was t
„A
annual School Board f4te day at the CrY.P',
Palace, when 4,000 Bibles and Testaments, g 1".."
by.. Mr. Francis Peek and the Religious Tract Socieg
were presented by the Chairman of the Bon
(Sir Charles Reed, M.P.), to pupil teachers
pupils who had distinguished themselves. The pr°r;
ceedings commenced in the centre transept, svue..,
upon the orchestra were seated about 5,000 teache';
and pupils of the Board School. Before presenti9t
the Bibles, Sir Charles Reed delivered an address,,!,
which he said that the School Board of London Pi
this public ceremony made a declaration every year
the value it attached ta the place religion should 110
in the education of the children. By the Act of fin
liament they were not obliged to teach religion, 0,,,i
by the act of the Board they taught it to every chAie
every day, and there was now no such thing as
"religious difficulty." . _

THE DAHLIA.—The dahlia is growing away lust
the warm drenching showers are imparting a wonde_ir
ful vitality to the plants, and should we get a war'
and sunny August a fine head of bloom may be II;
pected. It has been said that August is the
when dahlias are in their glory, which is very truf:
and especially, so if no long droughts keep them bse...,'
The dahlia is one of the most succulent of moistwv,,,
loving plants, and there can be no fine blossoms min ,
there is abundance of rich food at the roots, arla
liberal supplies of moisture, overhead as well
the soil. An uncongenial season robs the dahlia .°
much of its summer glory, and next to this nothing de; ;
figures the flower so much as the depredations of tP
earwig, and it must therefore be hunted after ilia
every practicable way. To invert a flower pot on
top of the main stake with a little moss in it
method that, though old, is yet simple and effectual
and has out-lived the registered earwig-traps .°
the past 30 years. The old custom of hunrJl4 1
for the enemies of the flowers early in the mornilte
and then placing the pot beneath the foliage of t. 13 t
Dahlia for the day, putting it on the stake agabl.„lo 1
the evening, is one still followed by growers.
leave the pots on the stakes constantly; and we has, I
known lobsters' claws and tobacco-pipe IDOW.IS to 135 V t I
been used for the purpose. Another import
August practice is to thin out superfluous shootsi
but do this constantly, so that too much be not all
away at a time. Much depends on the habit °'
growth and size of the flowers, as well as the apPliel.
v
tion of the powers of observation of the cultivator
The side branches need to be securely tied to stak.le
or they will be blown about by winds, and s°w,
mulching of manure applied to the roots, turfl&.!!
up the surface soil about the roots a little before thn .
is done. In dry weather there should be given a
soaking of water at the roots at least twice a weeaf
and a sprinkling overhead every night if it can bel
done. The importance of this diurnal shower ha
can scarcely be over-estimated. —Gardeners' Chronicle' :
NOT SO BAD AS IT SEEMED.—It was startling to bj
told by a servant that a sweep "had got his head finr.,, '
in the chimney!" But it turned out to be only 11'
circular-brush head !—Funny Folks.
THE CLAIMANT.—It is intended to appeal agal. 11,1
the decision of the Court of Appeal on the writ
error obtained on behalf of the Claimant, now ssf,'i .
ing his first term of penal servitude in the Cony°
.Prison, Portsea. On Saturday, Mr. E. Kimber,solicitori
visited his client at the prison for the purpose
obtaining his signature to the notice of appeal, t''''
signature appended thereto being R. C. D. Tichborriee'
The appeal will, it is expected, be heard before tli
commencement of the Long Vacation, and 170.
Benjamin, Q.C., will again argue the case on beh
of the Claimant.—lt is said that the Claimaitt 111
lost much of his corpulency, and is in good health
spirits.
A WINDY Crrv.—Denver asserts no claim to beil
a calm locality. The dust, which is Denver's bete 110'; .
is swept in blinding clouds at the shortest notics
aitray from before you, to be denositsd in some les
desirable place, while you get the. full benefit of ouiv
else's pulverulent property. Nor has this Colorat
wind a decent and fixed purpose. It is a perfect pu_..e'
of a wind, dashing down from the mountains, or tea''
ing irooff the plains at a pace that defies all prepal4
tion or caution. All the cinders resulting from Icla
chen fires are required by law to be put into little cl°'„
domes of brick,—quaint little structures, like Mex.lo-
be
ovens, that attract a stranger's eye at once as
glances over the palings of the back-yard. In 'Oil°
breeze a family lost three wash-tubs, amour number;
'less other things blown miles away on the plains. .
good, motherly woman, hating frivolity and canlP,.l°A
to please her children in the mouth of a canon, is wi.'"„t
, this dare-devil wind loves above all things to W,
with. It holds still till she has made eaerythirt
!ready, and is just reaching out to set her frying-Pre
upon the nicely glowing coals; then—piff I and ta,
embers are
.going over the top of the hill, and tu
whole camp devotes itself for the rest of the eveniat
Ito collecting scattered articles. There is a yarn ab0.„1.11
a miner who, being.swift on foot, chased his vagjra
' fire and held his skillet over it as he travelled. UP'-
, his bacon was done he found himself within fifteeP
miles from camp.—Scribn Cr' 3 Monthly.
WEATHER FORECAST.—The following cable rpess•lgeo,
has been received at the London office of the
.._..fe,s%
York Herald from the Herald Weather Bureau .4-le a
York —"A disturbance will arrive on the British a_..13
'Norwegian Coasts, affecting the North of Franc'',
between the 21st and 23rd, preceded and attended
thunderstorms, and south veering north-west str°l'w
winds. The Atlantie, -north erf 40 deg., stormy. '
Mn. G. A. SALA ON bOTrPORAL PITNIsHITENI% t
Mr. G. Sala writes :—" Whether corporal puilishmend
. will ever altogether be abaaittaned an schools, slie
, whether parents will ever be persuaded that about th.
worst way in which they can correct their childreo.4,
to beat them, I am sure that- 1.-don't know.
know that I (with inestimably kind help many, Ye(' 0
. ago) brought up a little boy from the age of eight,e°,.,g
f months to the age of seventeen without ever spoi,l7,
lor even laying a finger upon him; but some guard,
sof youth may not have had such good fortune as I efi
Iperienced. But I also know that I should be asharc
Inow, when my grown-up little boy comes to dirl4l,_e4
sto sit opposite to him if I had to remember that, W.c:i't
she was a weak yaung child and I a hale and str t
Iman, I had abused my s-tzengall by )aitsting lairlsit..l
1
is impossible to predict what -may be the. eve"
solution of a moat perplexbag social dilemma VIM
more perpleaing when it is remembered that OM,
tgoad and wise poople are in favour of the bodily cw",_,,, I
itisement of children. Yet then much might be a°,l*;,; I
perhaps, to simplify the problems. No one, sl.l-7ta
iwill maintain that. it can be justipa,ble to bit A
on the head—before, p.orhaps, the very outure6 0t:32-
skull ara completely 30illed, and blows on the 13.04
are one of the comriao4e4t forps Of icool bartgiv,cl
I would raajv such 1117w8 at aggraVatVd assault,,
p'untitt it a=ti4.l7." i