The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-05-30 00:00:00

Cur Kuhn Corrapate-

ryire firni ft right to state that we do not at all UMW!
'dentity oraselves with our Correacondeat's op:Monis.]

Although the Queen completed her sixty-sixth
year on Sunday, the official celebration of her
Majesty's birthday will not take place until
Saturday, the 6th June, when Ministers and
members of both Houses of Parliament will
again be in London after the recess. The
Ministers and great officers of State give grand
banquets to commemorate the occasion, the
Princo of Wales generally dining with the
Premi.2r. The Government offices in 'White-
hall, the clubs.in Pall Mall, 4114 the shops of the
Royal tradesmen in
.such thorouglifarea as St.
James's-street,
.Piccadilly, Waterloo-place; and
Itegent-4reet, are illumintatedwith devices of all
descrifitiOn-5... Fine '''Weather, with not much
moonlight, makes this spectacle one very well
worth going to see, • and the streets are always
crowded for hours at such celebrations.
Politicians, albeit we are in the Whitsun
recess, are speculating on the probable events of
the next few months, which under any circurn-
stances cannot fail to be full of importance.
What is Mr. Gladstone going to do ? He has
declared that his intervention in public affairs
-can now be measured by months or even by
weeks, and there is a belief :that if he could
bring about a satisfactory settlement of
the Russian difficulty he wonld retire
from office. One thing is tolerably
certair4,tbat, the right hon. gentleman does
not intend to sit in the new Parliarnent.. •He
has hinted this over and over again. The work
of the ptcsent Parliament has told severely upon
him, and he has not now the physical strength
which he possessed in 1,879 and 1880, when he
delivered his Midlothian speeches. The entire
aspect of•the man is one of weerinerisanda desire
for rest. The session has been a mot harrassing-
one for the Prime Minister. One vote of cen-
sure after another has had to be beaten off, the
Soudan Expedition has come to nought, the
Russians hesitate over the negotiations,
and the national expenditure has been
raised for this year to . the vast sum of
one hundred millions sterling. Such accumu-
lated anxieties tell upon a man who has lived in
the world more than three-quarters of a century,
and who began his official career over fifty years
ago.
After the death cf Lord Palmerston Earl
Russell came to the Premiership as a matter of
course, for he . had already, held that office; but
in the case Of Mr. Gladstone's retirement no one
can say who the new Prime Minister would be.
The Marquis of Hartington has led the Liberal
party in the Commons, where there is no 'doubt
the head of the Government should sit. But the
noble lord's father, the Duke of Devonshire, is a
man of advanced years—the marquis himself is
62—so that his-tenure, of a seat in the . House of
Commons w;ould not probably be -a long one.
Earl Granville has often been mentioned as
having a reversionary right to the Premiership
but he is 70 years of age, and younger men are
now required. for
.the exacting duties of
~the
State. Each political party believes that the
General Election will gave it -a majority; but
never was an estimate more difficult to make iri
the face of the extended franchise and the
multiplication of electoral divisions.
By the adjournment of the House of Commons
to the 4th of June the annual-wrangle over the
Derby holiday was saved. Many members
objected to a branch of the Legislature sus-
pending its business because 4 horse race was
being run on Epsom Downs, holding that a sort
of legislative encouragement was thus given to
the sport; but if the House had sat it is doubtful
whether a quorum. of forty members would have
assembled to. disen4 the contents of the notice
paper. The House,theref ore, invariably adjourned
-for t.lte Derby on a division.
The people. of London read of the Queen's
journey iilong
.Deeside in an open carriage, and
in splendattiveither,- while' a pitiless rainstorm
-was passing.over the metropolis. It was not one
of those gentle showers of midsummer which are
often so welcome, but a cold descent mixed with
hail, whiclelasted Several honrs. Steamboat trips
from the 'Thames -ha."(l,--been advertised for that
day in alrelirectiens ; but Oxcursions of this sort
naturally had to be given up. It has been
a strange' ungenial season. The absence of
sunshine has, retarded the growth of the fruit
to ad extent which is perceptible at a glance at
any fruiterer's shop id a principal London
thoroughfare. Oranges are now practically past,
apples are not much better; cherries and straw
berries cannot come to maturity without sun-
shine. One suggoAed reason fOr the long con-
tinuance of chilly 'winds is the. presence of
icebergs in the Atlantic where they are found in
large numbers. The Inman steamer City of
Berlin ran into one of these in a fog, and
narrowly escaped destruction. *
On the Ist of ;Time there will be opened to the
public the largest caravanserai which has yet
been attempted in London. At one time New
York carried off the palm for vast hotels; but in
this respect the British capital is now competing
with the Empire city. The Grand, at Charing
cross, at the Corner of Northuniberland Avenue,
is of imniense extent and iinposina dimensions.
-Next was raised the First Avenue, inHolborn, and
now comes the Hotel Metropole, an enormous
structure -0;c-tending from Northumberland Avenue
to Whitehall:place With dining accommodation
.for a thousand guests and with 600 bedrooms.
Charing-cross is rapidly becoming the centre of
large hotels.. These are Morley's, the Golden
'Cross, the South-Eastern, the Grand, and the
Metropole. A stranger coming to London
.ought not to be under the slightest apprehension.
.as to obtaining quarters. A cab fare to Charing-
cross will present him with such a variety of
temporaty homes as can be found in no other
part of the metropolis.
The cricket season is now getting advanced, as
already some important county matches have
been, played.- The 'sport lately has been much
interfered with in several parts of the country,
through the rain. When we have had a
long spell of warm dry weather, and the wicket
'becomes hard, a few showers are beneficial;
but continuous heavy -rain saturates the ground,
.and renders play an impossibility. Oxford have
lost their second trial match by fifty runs,
their antagonists being Lancashire. The rival
Universitj.es are likely to be strong this year in
batting, but weak in bowling. But, apart from
this both sides will endeavour to put a
tlaatighlY'representbtive team into the field
to do battlb On the eventful day at Lords. Last
year, it wilPbe remembered the Light Blues were
defeated: Nottingham, the champion county
for-A.0;14A two 'years, can now, play their full
eleio' n _as all 'the members of Shaw's Australian
teo4v: ate.' back in England; They started last
'atid: have had a. very Successful tour,
winning most of the contests they were engaged
Apliinty‘that May 'be mentioned as having
.commenced• the season well; - is Surrey; this
eleven unto the present' has been successful in
tall their.engagements. - • . G. R.