The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-09-03 00:00:00

~r
Illtsultaneotts 4ntel4t
HOME, FOREIGN, AND COLONIAL

THE PAPER OF THE WORLD.—A German statis•
tical journal observes that the consumption of paper
in the world is enormous. The annual production of
this article in the United States is 207,000 tons; in
England, 180,000 tons ; in Germany, 203,000 tons;
in Prance, 732,000 tons; Austria, 97,200 tons ; Italy,
50,600 tons; Russia, 32,400 tons; Spair, L'0,600 tons.
In the United States about 11lb. of paper are annually
consumed per h.ead of the total population. In Eng-
land the consumption is about the same ; in Germany
it is about 101 b, per head; and in France, 7 1-31 h. It
is pretty generally agreed that the production of
books, properly so called, is on the decline all over the
world. The increased consumption of paper is owing
to the development of newspapers and magazines.
WILD BIRDS.—On Tuesday the Act to explain the
Wild Birds Protection Act of 1880 was issued. The
amendment is in reference to the 3d section of the
Act 43 and 44 of the Queen, cap. 35. A person is
not to be liable to be convicted under the section of
exposing or offering for sale or having the control or
possession of any wild bird recently killed if he satis-
fies the Court before whom he is charged, either that
the killing .of such wild bird, if in a place in which
the said Act extends, was lawful at the time when
and by the person by whom it was killed, or that the
wild bird was killed in some place to which the said
Act does not extend ; and the fact that the wild
bird was imported from some place to which the said
Act does not does extend shall, until the contrary is
proved, he evidence that the bird was killed in some
place to which the said Act does not extend. In the
schedule to the Wilds Birds Act, the "lark' is to be
sad as included,

THE HARVEST MOON.—Dr. D. G. Macdonald
writes 1 "The phenomenon known as the harvest
moon is altogether independent of harvest and of
terrestrial latitude and longitude. The nearest full
moon to the autumnal equinox, when the sun is in
Libra, is the proper harvest moon. She then rises
sooner after sun-settin4 than at any other period of
the year, and nearly at the same time for days to-
gether, occasioning a number of brilliant moonlight
nights. The so-called hunter's moon is the home-
diately succeeding one as soon as the orbed is in full
effulgence."
THE FLIGHT OF THE SWALLOWS.—A letter from
Berlin says that by the 15th of August all the class of
swallows that dwell in towers or high buildings had
already quitted Northern Germany, and the house•
swallows were gathering in packs, and could be
noticed daily taking long flights in the upper regions
of the air preparatory to the migration to warmer
lands. The same gregarious tendency and restless-
ness were observable in the marsh and water-fowl.
Flocks of storks, numbering many hundred birds,
had been seen passing over Berlin towards the south-
west.

A MUNIFICENT CLERGYMAN.—The late Chancellor
Haringtorr, of Exeter Cathedral, who was a large
contributor towards the fund for the restoration of
that edifice, has bequeathed £2,000 for the benefit of
the Exeter Training College for the Clergy ; £lOO to
the Devon and Exeter Schools; £lOO to the Episcopal
Schools; and £5OO to the incumbent and church-
wardens of St. David's, Exeter, partly for the poor ;
£3OO to the incumbent and churchwardens of Kelston,
in Somerset, partly for the poor; £l,OOO for the benefit
of the choristers of Exeter Cathedral, £5OO to the
Curates' Augmentation Fund, and £5OO to Bishop
Philpott's Church Endownment Fund. The late
Chancellor, whose personalty was sworn under
£32,000, has also bequeathed his library and book-
cases to the Dean and Chapter. The library com-
prises 4,000 volumes, and it has been suggested that a
suitable memorial to the Chancellor would be the
erection of a hall for the reception of the same.
TOBACCO CULTIVATION IN IRELAND.—Among the
Irish business to be brought before Parliament next
session will be a Bill to repeal the Acts in force pro-
hibiting the cultivation of tobacco in Ireland. During
the recess arrangements have been made for the collec-
tion of information and statistics on the adaptability
of the Irish soil for the growth of the plant. It is not
proposed, should the cultivation of tobacco be resumed
in Ireland, to exempt it from duty.

DIVISIONS DURING THE LATE SESSION.—An analysis
of the divisions taken lathe House of Commons during
the past session has been issued, from which it appears
that there were altogether 410 divisions, the first being
one for the adjournment of the House and the last of
them a division in Committee on a new clause of the
Supreme Court of Judicature Bill. Motions to
adjourn the House were divided upon 16 times, and
motions to adjourn the debate 15 times. The question
which led to the largest number of divisions was, of
course, the Land Law (Ireland) Bill, the House
dividing no fewer than 124 times upon it in its varioun
stages. The Protection of Person and Property and
the Peace Preservation Bills for Ireland were also
prolific, the former having provoked 73 and the latter
52 divisions. Without counting the numerous divisions
on side issues on Irish matters, such as the suspension
of members and the precedence of Bills, the total
numbers of divisions due to the affairs of Ireland
amounted to 271.

A PERSIAN UNIVERSITY.—Persia, it is said, is
making considerable progress in the direction of
education. Hitherto education in that country has
been mostly confined to religious learning; now, how-
ever, the nucleus of a university is being formed at
Ispahan, colleges being in the course of erection there
for the teaching of languages,. European as well as
Asiatic, and the arts and sciences, mostly under
European supervision.

THE CHINESE AMBASSADOR TO AUSTRIA. - The
Vienna correspondent of the Standard reports that on
Saturday the Emperor of Austria received the Chinese
Ambassador, Li-fong-pao, who presented his creden-
tials on his appointment as diplomatic representative
of China in Vienna. The Chinese Emperor's letter
was a curious document. It was inscribed on parch-
ment, and was in the Chinese and Manchu languages.
It was bordered by Chinese dragons painted in silver,
and enveloped in beautiful yellow silk covered with
triangular patterns like the Chinese flag. Li-fong-pao
addressed the Emperor in German, expressing the
hope that the friendship between Austria and China,
which had never been disturbed, might ever continue
to increase, to the happiness and benefit of both
nations.

A NEW TEMPERANCE ORATOR. —ln London on
Saturday evening a meeting of the East-end sup-
porters of the temperance agitation was held at
Hoxton Hall, Hoxton, for the purpose of giving a
hearty reception to Mr. Francis Alurphy, from
America, and the founder of the Blue Ribbon Gospel
temperance movement in the United States, and a
branch of which was inaugurated in England on the
10th November, 1878. Mr. William Noble occupied
the chair, and the following resolution was passed by
acclamation, Mr. Murphy and his son responding to
it in suitable terms :—" That this meeting heartily
rejoices in the good work done by Mr. Francis
Murphy in the United States by the establishment of
the Blue Ribbon Gospel temperance movement, of
which he was the originator, and in which he has
been the chief worker for the last eleven years, and
hereby tenders to him and his son a hearty welcome
on their arrival in Great Britain."

THE GERMAN BATHS.—Paragraphs in the German
papers inform us that the number of persons who have
this season (up to August 20) taken the waters at Aix-
la-Chapelle is 16,088; at Baden-Baden the number is
31,475; at Ems, 14,703; at Homburg, 8,507; at,
Kissengen, 10,765; at Kreuznach, 4,888; at Munster-
a•St., 1,222; at Nauheim, 3,808; at Schlangenbad,
1,623; at Schwalbach, 3,906; at Weilburg, 180; Wies-
baden, 63,769. There is no return for Wildbad. The
numbers at Ostend are reported at 16,656.
SOFT-SHELLED CRABS.—" M. W.," writing to Land
and Water, says :—" Probably a good many of your
readers have never heard of a great delicacy in the
way of edibles called the soft-shelled crab. During
last summer months, when I was in Virginia and other
Southern States, I had them for dinner repeatedly.
The crabs cast their shells, and the tide goes out, they
may be found partially buried in the mud. From a
little distance they present the appearance of an
ordinary crab, but on examination will be found to be
completely soft in every part. They will average
about three to two inches. To cook them, they are
put into a frying pan until browned both sides.
Every part is eaten, from the tips of the claws to the
insides."

FIRES IN AMERICA.—A fire, which broke out at
Plano, Texas, destroyed 51 buildings, comprising the
business portion of the town.—A large pork-packing
establishment and premises, known as the Union
Stock Yards, near Chicago, were destroyed by fire on
August 26. The loss is estimated at one million
dollars.—A telegram from Montreal says that a fire
broke out at midnight in ,the village of St. Jean
Baptist (Canada), and spread very rapidly. No water
was to be procured, and it was f; /red that the village
would be totally destroyed. Ti,t .t.. 0 destroyed twenty
houses before it was extinguisiii

THE MARRYING SQUIRE.—A. parallel to the New
York preacher who lately attained some notoriety by
the great number of marriages at which he claimed Ve
have officiated, is found in the quaint old town of
Alexander, Pa. (says the Lowell Courier). "The
marrying Squire,' as the individual in question is
called, is the son of a "squire" who married 900
couples and he proves the superidrity of the present
generation by more than doubling his father's record.
Up to the 25th of last month he had united 1,846
couples. Of course he has kept a careful record of
them all, giving dates, names, residences, and the
amounts of the fees. The largest fee was 20 dole., the
smallest fifty cents, and the average about 2 dole.
Among the odd experiences of his long career (for the
" Squire" is 68 years old), he relates the story of a
man who had no money to pay the fee, and wanted to
get married "on tick." The knot was tied, with a
promise of 3 dole, in a few weeks. Three months later
came a letter with the money, telling the "Squire "
that if he would only untie the knot he would remit
double the fee and thank him besides.

A ONE HUNDRED POUND AEROLITE.—The State
of California has purchased of a tribs of Alaska
Indians an aerolite of rare beauty, weighing 100
pounds. The meteor was seen to fall by the father of
one of the oldest Indians in Chileat, over a century
avo, and has been in the possession of his descendants
until its purchase by an agent of the State. It is des-
cribed as being exceedingly irregular in shape, the
projecting points being as bright as if they had been
burnished. It has been christened the " Chileat
meteor," in honor of the locality from which it was
procured,
FATAL FIRE.—On Monday a warehouse in Dutton-
street, Liverpool, belonging to Mr. Harbord, and
stored with cotton, hemp, &c., was partially destroyed
by fire. When the fire brigade with engines reached
the spot it was found that three floors were in flames,
and that James 'Williams, warehouse-keeper in the
employment of Messrs. Birkett Brothers, was on the
second floor in imminent danger. Ladders were
placed against the building and Williams was dragged
out and taken to the Northern Hospital, where he
died in a few minutes from the effects of suffocation.
When he was dragged from the warehouse, the room
he was in was full of smoke and darting flames. It is
said that he had volunteered his he] p to turn off the gas or
do some similar service when Mr. Harbord's ware-
houseman told him of the fire. 'Williams had been 20
years in the service of Messrs. Birkett Brothers, and
had a wife and three children.

A RELIC OF THE CIVIL WARS. A very curious
and remarkable seal has ncently been found on Wash-
common, the scene of the first battle of Newbury,
September 20, 1643, near the spot where the Falk-
land Memorial is erected. The seal is circular, and
made of brass., measuring one inch and eight-tenths in
diameter. It bears the device of a skeleton, with the
surgeon's knife in the dexter hand, and an hour-glass
cn the sinister side. The legend with which it is in-
scribed is as follows :—" THE SOSCIETY-AND-
LOYALTY- OF-OHYRVRGEONS - HALL - LON-
DON." This seal is supposed to have been used by
the surgeons belonging to the Chirurgeons' Company
of London attached to the Royal army at Newbury,
and it was probably lost in the encounter.

CABALISTIC SPECULATIONS.—A correspondent writes
to The Times :—Sir,---I do not know whether the fol-
lowing facts with regard to the present year and the
mystic number nine have ever been remarked ; if so,
I have seen no notice of them, and I think, taken in
connexion with the Prevalent idea that in some way
or other this year is to be an unusual one, they are
interesting :—One and eight are nine; eight and one
are nine ; twice nine are 18; nine nines are 81. The
whole will divide 209 times by nine, and 19 times by
99.
A TRAP FOR SHEEP•KILLING DOG3.—An American
paper describes a trap devised by a Virginia farmer to
capture sheep-killing dogs. Having suffered severely
from the depredations of dogs upon his sheep-fold, he
built around a number of sheep that dogs had killed
an enclosure of rails twelve feet high arid about ten
feet square at the ground, the sides of the trap sloping
inward until an opening was left about five feet square.
Any dog could easily climb such a sloping fence and
enter the pen, but not even a greyhound could jump
out of it. In three nights the farther captured forty-
six dugs, including fifteen or twenty that had never
begn seen before In that neighbourhood.