The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-09-30 00:00:00

STOURBRIDG-E OBSERVEIL

„,IrPN,.

ticnlarly like the phrase—it is not an English one—it is very
vague and elastic in its meaning (cheers) ; and, for ray own
part, I very much prefer the plain English phrase of local
self -government. (Hear, hear.) But I take the word as I
findlt. and I think that in that direction we may look for a
possible and a practical solution. (EJeer, hear, and cheer'.)
!every country has in One way or another to solve the problem
of reconciling central authority with local institutions, and I
believe that the best of the Turks themselves are quite
aware that their system of excessive and deepotie centralisa-
tion—a system, I may observe, which has been carried to its
height only in recent times, and imported from Eerope, has
been to them a miefortane and a mistake. Ido not conceal
from you, or from myself, that to bring about reforms in the
sense which I have indicated will be a difft mit matter, notr
so much difficult to bring them about as to melee them Work
when they are brought about. (Hear, hear, andialighter). But
I bcaleve it can be done, as lam sure it ought to be attempted.
I have referred on some fernier occasions of the kind to the
local constitntiona given to Crete and the Lebanon. I have
never referred to those es indicating the exact model which
ought to be copied, but merely as giving illustrations Of a com-
mencement in that direetion which, so far at it has gone, has
worked in a satisfactory manners (Cates of ''No, no.') lam quite
aware that what I have satd to you is very vague and general,
but I am afraid It is not in my power to satisfy, your very •
natural desire for a statement which should be more definite
and more. detailed. You mutt recollect that we haae sik
Gevernments who must be induced to wcrk tiegether. We
must have united action, because 11 We have not union we
should have no action at all—(hear, hear)—and as being un-
fortunately in a position where every word that I utter upon
an occation like this is watched and weighed you will under-
atand that lam bound lobe more than ordinarily careful not to
create expectations which by no fault of mine, and Whatever
my personal wish might be I should End myself unable to
realise. Equal treatment to Slat.cmed an and to Christian, bet-
ter administration for both, security to life and property,
effectual guarantzes—(a laugh)—effectual guarantees against
the repetifiton of such outrages as those which all Europe has
seen a ith so much disgust, these are practical objects, and
for these objects we shall labour. (Hear, hear.) Ido not
wish to disguise the fact that what has happened in Bul-
garia has to a certain extent changed the position not only
of our own Government, but of every European Govern-
ment in regard to Turkey, in regard to its rights and
duties. As regards the two belligerents, Bervia and
Montenegro, I do not think it is at all necessary
or desirable that we should express any opinion as
to the merits of the quarrel in which they embarked.
When parties appeal to arms, then the solution which fol-
lows is to a considerable extent independent of the merits
the original dispute. But lookir gto the military position, I
think that no decisive success having been obtained by either
side—(cheers)—both parties may fairly and honourably treat
the matter as a drawn game and return to the status quo.
(Hear, hear.) We could hardly ask concessions from Turkey
for enemies who have been defeated. On the other hand, I
am sure it is the wisest policy, as well as the most generous
on the part of the Porte, and of those who in any
degree control the actions of the Porte to abstain from
pressing for any penalty, consequent upon an unsuccessful
war. (Hear, hear.) I cannot tell you that peace is absolutely
certain, but I may say that the disposition on all
sides is favourable, and for my own part I not
only hope, but I confidently believe, that we shall see
this matter brought to an issue withcut any fresh Effusion
of blood. Now, gentlemen, I think I have steted as
fully as, under the circumstances is convenient, or even
possible, upon this gener.d subject. I only end with one
remark—Da not imagine you oan settle this Ersetern ques-
tion by merely saying what you wish to be done. The ques-
tion is not what you or we or anybody wishes to be done
—the question is, what under the circumstances ean be done?
(Cheers.)
The Lord Mayor having thanked his lordship for the state-
ment which he had made, the deputation withdrew.

Ciudad Rodrigo. at Bade j )z ; in whatever battle the English
flag waved the Royals stood under it with their old proud
bearing, and won Via admiration of their great captain by
their gallantry. At Salamanca it was the fifth division that
carried the heights above Arapiles, and held the village so
stubbortily agaitist all ti.e furl ms endeavours of the French
marshal to drive them from it At Vittoria the Royals were
in Sir Themas Graham's column, and took pert in the clever
flank movement ending in a brilliant bayonet charge by
which Sir Thomas earned the grateful thanks of his chief.
Three days later, at San Sebastian, the Itnyals be
-
hayed with conspicuous gallantry, leading the aslault
on the breach, and reftising to give way until ordered to re-
tire from the nihrderous storm IV musketry, grape, grenades
and shells with which they werfaassailed. Graham's tribute
to their conduct then was given in no grudging spirit.
'lndeed,' he said, I conceive our ultimate success
depended upon the repeated attacks made by the Royal
Scots.' While thh third battalion was thus winning renown
tsi the triuMphant progress of the Allied Army from Torres
Nedras to the Psrenees,' the others were serving their
country with equal gallantry in three quarters of the globe.
The first was in America, the second in India, and the fourth
in Girmany.

"At Qaatre- Bras tbe 2nd Battalion of the Scots was brigaded
with ether famous Northern regiments, and the no less
famous 28th, under the veteran leader of the 'fighting
third ,' and though it was said to have been an cffi3er of the
Royals who grumbled that the 42nd always had 'the luck of
it' when the Thank Watch was ordered to advanCe first, he
and his men must have lvsel almost tinGugh of fighting before
that day of hard blows was over. Sir Thomas Ficton
them in person when they charged through
the corn that was shoulder high, and drove the
French back from the road to Brussels. The invincible
cuirassiers were hurled against their squares time after Eine
in vain, and until the tardy sun had set the Royals and thei2
gallant comrades hell the ground they had so deakly won
against all odda. Amid tho mighty 'silence of many men,'
the Beds stood with their division from noon to night on the
ridge behind La llaye Sainte, only moving to take that ter-
rible vengeance for the fall of their brave chief and
then returning to contend for possession of the
height against Napoleon's last desperate efforts to carry
it. In 3817 this battalion was in India, winning
fresh names to be emblaLmed on the regimental
colours. They marched with the battery-train down the
Barer Ghent' At Nagpore they were applauded for their
gallantry, steadiness, and good conduct. At Maheldpore
they ruined forward in !see of a tremeadous fire, and carried
the village at the point of the bayonet, and a little later
they marched with Cotton's brlgade by the swamps of the
Irrawaddy and bore bravely their part in the arduous cam-
paign, which ended, after four days' fighting, in the total
defeat of the legions of Ave.
"What the regiment did in the Crimea, the decorations on
the Woman of its senior °Meets will tell. At Alma and
Inkermann, in the trenches Wore Sebastopol, and the final
assault on the Redan, the Royal Scots had fresh opportu-
nities of distinction, and showed by their gallantry
that the old fire had not died out. One honour,
however, they craved that fortune denied them, and those
who stood, in a moment of terrible anxiety, before
the breach which the Light Division had so bravely
struggled to hold, will never ceaso to regret that
General Codrington's 'You may take the Royals' came too
late for them to sustain Windham's gallant effort, or to
answer his passionate appeals The'Takes Forts' and
'Pekin 'close the long list of names inscribed on the colours
which her Majesty on Tuesday presented to this illustrious
regiment, and no corps in the Euglish service can show a
mate brilliant title roll to a place in the Temple of Fame."

A BICYCLING FEAT.

In the presence of 10,000 spectators, M. Thulllet, of
Paris, the chamnion bicyclist of France, at the Moll-
neaux grounds Wolverhampton, at twenty minutes to
seven on Saturday night, ended his task of riding 650
miles in six consecutive days--a feat never before ac-
complished. His scores on the six days stands
thus : —Monday, 120 miles; Tuesday, 12); Wednes-
day, 106 • Thur.day, 104; Friday, 06; and Saturday,
104—total, 650. On Friday weariness with the mo-
notOny of his task, ‘Vhieh he began daily at seven
in the morning, appeared to tell upon him,
but when the musicians arrived upon the ground
and struck up some popular French airs, he
was wonderfully revived, and went away with a
vivacity and an energy which proved that his work
was not dintressingbbn, and at night he *as qnadrilling
upon Plimpton's roller skates in the chief rink of the
town. On Saturday his friend Keen, the long-distance
champion, began to run with him at about 11 in the
forenoon, and accompanied him at intervals to the
completion of the task. The enthusiasm of the spec.
tators rose to a great pitch as the race drew near the
end, for the champions were running at the
astonishing pace of 16 miles an hour; and at the close
the amateur bicyclists lifted Thuillet and Keen on to
their shoulders, and along an avenue made for them by
the police bore them in triumph to the hotel in the
grounds

The Globe makes the following remarks on the
above feat :

"Lees than ten years ago people would have ridiculed the
idea that any mortal could travel 650 miles in six days without
any other motive power than what lay in his own strength
and endurande. Still less would Englishmen have acknow-
ledged that their lively heighbonrs across the ChAnnel were
capable of performing the feat. The task has, however, been
accomplished, and that by a Frenchman, too, M. Thuillet,
the French champion bicyclist, having thus achieved
fame at Wolverhampton on Saturday. Nor can he have
felt mach distressed, if it be true that he was driving
his machine at the rate of sixteen miles an hour
towards the end of the affair. That is reckoned a
good pace even in short matches of thirty miles or so, and
much more when some 640 miles have been travelled,
Allowing that M. Thuillet worked for twelte hours per diem
throughout, exclusive of stoppage, he must have kept up an
average speed of nine miles an hour from first to last—a re-
markable instance of Inman endurance. We doubt not,
however, that this performance, meritorious as it seems at
present, will be regarded as a mere nothing before /another
ten years elapse. Bloyling is as yet but in its Mancy, and
although the baba has made rapid progress, no one can say
what capabilities remain for development. The best machines
certainly leave little to be desired in point of strength,
lightness, and oXcnitsite finish. A spider bicycle, with a 6111. n.
or 601 n. driving wheel, tea thing to marvel at when ridden by:a
heavy man. One wonders, in the first place, as to how the
rider contrives to balance himself at that elevation on what
is little better than a narrow rail; and then comes a feeling
of astonishment that the fragile-looking machine does not
collapse. In spite, however, of this perfection of workman-
ship, we confidently expects rapid advance in the art ofpanu-
facturing bicycles, resulting in a considerably increased
speed without greater expenditure of power. Nth ape this
end may be attained by some ingenious appli^ation of multi-
plying machinery, or by bringing into play arm and Chest
power. The great fault of bicycling, as an athletic exercise,
is unquestionably that it develops one part of the body to
the neglect of the rest.

A METEOR.
Many persons in London, and other places, were
startled on Sunday evening about half-past six
o'clock by what appeared to be a vivid and un-
usually protracted flash of lightning. No thunder
followed, however, nor was lightning Been later in
the evening. It now turns out that what Was seen
Was a meteor, which must have been at a great
height and of extra9rdinary brilliancy, as according to
accounts already received, it was observed at places
fully 309 or 400 miles from each other. The meteor is
described by various correspondents as being of great
sirs and very brilliant, and (according to some ac-
counts) although no report was heard it appeared to
explode, emitting sparks and smoke.

"A Vidtor writes to The Times from Broadstairs
under date of September 24
This evening, at 8.27, while standing upon the jetty here
I witnessed a most extraordinary phenomenon almost
directly over our heads. The day had been stormy, and a
body of dark clouds was hanging about. At tho time men-
tioned one of these appeared to open, when an immense body
Of blue dime, headed by a brilliant red colour, flint out
Although no report was heard, it appeared distiwily to
explode twice, and was visible for from 8 to 12 seconds. It
left behind it a streak of reddish coloured line, indicating
the course it had taken."

The same phenomenon was seen by "J. M. T. M."
at West Peeping, Lincolnshire
"At a few seconds after half-past sit by my watch I saw
an extraordinary and awful looking meteor fall in a sOuth:
easterly directicn. It presented the appearance of a large
body of fire falling comparatively slowly and widening as it
fell to an immense es,. The space it seemed to traverse
was, as one might say, ten or 15 yards. and it passed from one
dark watery•looking cloud to another over a clear blue space.
I heard no noise as it disappeared,"
" M." writes I

- -
"Travelling on the new railway between bankirk and
Calais, between the stations of Merck and S. Pierre, at a
few minutes after half-past 6 by the railway clocks, the car-
riage was suddenly illuminated as If by a lime light very close
at band. I was sitting with my back to the quarter whence
the light came, and before I could adjust myself to get a
direct view, the light had disappeared, leaving behind it, in
a N.N.W. direction, a straight, thin, perpendicular line of
white smoke, like a chalk mark, on the sky. The length of
the line may have subtended an angle of 10 or 15 degrees,
The white line retained its sharply defined shape, unbroken
for several minutes, then slowly curled up as smoke does,
and seemed sloWly to ascend."

Mr. E. Dorling writes on the same phenomenon from
Walton-on•the Naze
"The meteor made its appearance from the centre of the
heavens and descended in a south east by east direction. It
was so large and brilliant that the whole country was lighted
up for some seconds. The size appeared to be at least in. in
diameter, the colour was white with a To.° edging, cod
from the old pier persons standing there eay they distinctly
saw sparks fly off from the meteor as it rushed down. It
left a thin streak of white cloud, which did not wholly dis-
appear for half an hour."
Gaggnani of Monday says :
" A meteor of extraordinary brlllianey was seen in Parts
during the twilight yesterday evening at twenty minutes to
seven. A collection of dark and storm-threatening clouds
had Just swept rapidly across the city from the west, bringing
a slight shower in its passage, when in the northern heavens,
at an angle of 30 deg. above the horiz m, a fiery globe, about
the site of a cricket ball, seemed to emerge from the clear
sky, descending slowly towards earth, emitting showers of
sparks and a scintillating train in its flight. It fell almost
perpendicularly and grew elongated in falling. It had
hardly flashed into sight, when it disappeared behind the
houses, where it must have burst, for the whole northern
sky was illuminated with two successive bum a of fire, like
lightning, by which the surrounding clouds were tinged as
if with gold. The effect was extremely beautiful.