The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-02-19 00:00:00

STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

PHYSICAL TRAINING FOR THE ARMY

The Globe says:—" On several occasions we have
drawn attention to the necessity of adopting means for
improving the physique of the army. Something has
already been effected towards this end by the esta-
blishment of gymnasia, but these institutions need
supplementing with an organised system of athletic
competitions in order to develop full results. After
the short annual course of gymnastic instruction is
completed, a large number of soldiers scarcely ever
exercise their muscles except when on the parade
ground and when route marching. It is not given
to every man to become a cricketer, while adepts
at fives are even scarcer. The object to be held in
view is, therefore, to enlarge the field of physical
rivalry, so that every soldier may be appealed to in
one form or another. If a well devised system of this
sort were supplemented by the annual gift of Go-
vernment prizes and badges to proficients, as in the
case of rifle shooting, a wholesome spirit of emula-
tion would be kept alive throughout the year, in-
fluencing the men to maintain themselves in fair
training. There might be both company and regi-
mental contests, as in the case of musketry in-
structicrn, while once a year it would be advisable
to hold a great military athletic meeting, some-
where in the vicinity of the metropolis, at which regi-
mental champions might compete for really valuable
prizes. We feel assured that a scheme of this sort
would meet with universal approval throughout the
army, where the neglect of physical education among
recruits drawn from our urban population is beginning
to create alarm. Be the number of recruits sufficient or
insufficient, a consensus of opinion among experienced
officers declares their average physique to he far inferior
to what formerly existed in the ranks. A greater number
of soldiers can read and write but many more fall out
of the ranks when tested by a:long march or an excep-
tionally fatiguing field-day. As the season for athletic
contests will commence in April with the University
Boat race and the championship meeting at Lillielnidge, the military authorities might take advantage
of the occasion to get up a military gathering by way
of inaugurating the new movement. It would be
sure to meet with powerful patronage when once
started, and as there cannot be any question
about the good effects of such competitions on
the army generally, no time ()tight to be lost
in making a beginning. Good shooting is of comp ara-
tively little use unless troops also possess mobility,
and it is in this latter respect that the English army
is now suspected of falling short, owing to the pre-
sence in the ranks of many men who cannot even
keep up a 'double' for a o aarter of a mile at a
stretch." _ z! e
.!
THE NEW DOMESDAY BOOK. .1

The Metropolis is altogether left out of the return,
for the very obvious reason that where so many
sub lessees of property exist there would be immense
waste of time and money in tracing out the ultimate
ownership of each little plot in the London area; and
when such a task had been accomplished it would be
of no use to any one, as the facts have no bearing on
the agricultural or political significance of the distribu-
tion ot landed property in the rest of England; but
there are two other classes of landed property, one of
which has been included indistinguishably in the
return, while the other has been omitted, and in both
instances we feel rather sorry for what has happened.
We must here explain that it was the local rate-books
or valuation lists for each union and parish which sup-
plied the machinery by which the return was pre-
pared. When the local authorities in each parish
and union in a county had forwarded corrected
copies of their valuation lists to head quarters in
London, all that was required was to consolidate
the separate parish and union returns into one
return for the whole county, and then the work
for that county was done. Now, as property which
is not rated does not appear in the parish lists,
neither does it appear in the present return. Hence,
woodlands not used for the growth of saleable under
wood, which were only made rateable in 1874, have
not been mentioned at all. This is much to be
regretted, as it is important for many reasons to know
what extent of our total acreage is devoted to the pro-
duction of large timber. Waste and common lands
are also seldom rated, and, therefore, though not
wholly left out of account, the areas assigned to them
in each case are more or loss conjectural; though, as
parish maps and county surveys have been referred to
for information, we may perhaps hold the return in
this matter to be approximately correct. There is, how-
ever, some ambiguity even on this point, for if we turn to
Devonshire, we find the Duchy of Cornwall owning
48,457 acres of land,of which the gross rental is but £4,726,
or less than El for ten acres; we conclude at once that
the common or " forest" of Dartmoor is comprised
within the estimate; but then, when we refer to the
final summary for lands in Devonshire, we find the
extent of commons or waste lands in that county
separately calculated at 77,868 acres, which seems very
large, unless Dartmoor has been reckoned all over
again. Still more important than the omission of the
woodlands is the incorporation of the areas of towns
indiscriminately with the particulars given as to rural
localities.—LancPand Water.

A TENDER SUBJECT.
(For the Admiralty.)
r THE Government ask for a "tender"
For raising the Vanguard. Enough
Of sand now o'erlies her to render
The job most uncommonly tough I—Punch.