The Penn's Grove record., 1882-04-01
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While the value of horses is perpet-
usliy rising and the supply decreas
ing in all the great'oities Of ives ern
Europe, it Is not a little remarkable
that a price should simultaneously be
set in three of the Australian colonies
upon the heads Of 'brumbies," or
wild horses, and that in the Pampas
Of South America countless swarms Of
''~baguales," as they are locally called,
should always be found. The horse, it
must be remembered, is not an indigo
nous product either Of Australia or Of
South America. Upon the latter con-
tinent the mobile animal" as we are
accustomed to call him in England,
was first introduced by the Spaniards,
when they invaded the country four
centuries since in pursuit Of gold,
while at the Antipodes the "brum-
bies" owe their origin to a few tame
animals which escaped from the con-
troll of man, their master, and multi
piled with i~nconceivable rapidity in
the trackless ''bush." 1t is computed
that at this moment there are about
1000, 900 head of tame horses upon the
Australian mainland, to which must
be added, roughly speaking, about
10000 "brumbies," which hang per-
petually upon the skirts of civilization,
and are a ceaseless cause of annoyance
and loss to outlying squatters. During
the night the "mobs" of wild horses
are in the habit of jumping into the
''corrals," or inclosed spaces where
their tame brethren and sisters are
herded and of tempting them to escape
and join the runaways.
Furthurmore, the ~pssturags upon
which the squatters depend as supply
ing food for their fiocks and herds is
devoured by what the French call
''bouches inutiles," a term which is
applicable not only to wild horses, but
also to the teeming swarms of rabbits,
which, within the last twenty years
have proved such a nuisance to Aus
tralian agrie~ulturists, and finally to
sparrows-another import from Eng.
land-which, like the lOcusts of Scrip
ture, 'eat up every green thing in the
land" Who can wonder that, under
these circumstances, The colonial Leg
istures should have found it necessary
TO aim at the destruction of thesethIee
pests-the brumbie, the rabbit and the
sparrow-by passing special acts set
ting prices upon the heads of the in
satiable depredstors? TIL Is we read
that the Government of South Austria
liza has just placed a premium of six
pence per dozen on the heads of spar.
rows, acting on the advice of COM
mission appointed to inquire into the
sparrow question: Many will
remember the efforts made not long
ago to acclimatize the English sparrow
at the Antipodes and in the United
States. The arrival of the first few
pairs of English sparrows was hailed
with exultation at Melbourne and
New York, and nov there is wailing
and weeping in both cities that the bold
and rapacious little stranger should
ever have been introduced to CONT
nents In which nature has PROVE ed
no sparrow-hawks to keep down his
swarming f1ocks. In the soft climate
of Australia the prolific birds have
multiplied with such amazing fecun-
dity that, in the words off contempo-
rary, neither apIicots, cherries, figs,
grapes, apples, plums, peaches, pears,
nectarines, olives, wheat, barley,
peas, oabbages, caulilowers, nor
seeds, nor fruit of any kind are spared
by its omnivorous bill and all means
of defence tried against its depreda-
tions, whether scareerows, traps, nets,
shooting or poisoning, are declared in
sufficient to cope with the enemy.
The latest Partisan caprice in gloves
is kids, undressed or dressed, of a pale
pink, just the shade of the flowers of
the ground laurel. They are inn
mensely long, and worn only in the
evening with almost sleeveless toilets.
1t is scarcely possible by gaslight to
tell where the gloves end, as they are
so near the color of the flesh when
orn by a blonde.
The latest caprice of London es-
thetes is the wearing Of polonaises
made of a handsome cashmere shawl
over a skirt of velvet or velveteen,
dark green, brown, plum, or maroon,
whichever suits best the general tint
produced by the mixtures of the shawl.
The trimmings are the borders of the
shawl and dark green, brown, or gar
net crystal buttons, on which are
various tints of enamel.