The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-07-29 00:00:00

Oar odon arrtsponbtnt.

[We deem it right to state that we do not at all tir:es
Identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

During the prevalence of very hot weather, when a
considerable amount of force and energy is taken out
of the human frame, the vegetation droops from want
cf moisture, and even the tidal waters of the river seem
to rise and fall with reluctance, as though the effort
was too much for their strength under such a swelter-
ing sky, people, as they read the debates in the
House of Commons must have often bestowed a com-
miserating thought upon themembers at work, under
the capacious roof of Sir_ Chalks Barry's legiplative

palace. Stretching high in air, and above the noise
and bustle of the streets., are the pinnacles of the Victoria
t Tower. all aglow with gold and colour; and as the bright
hues dance and sparkle and glitter in the sunlight, the
spectacle is likely enough to make the onlooker feel
even warmer than he was before. If he takes an
interest in politics, he cannot but think of what is
passing inside, and in his imagination he sees tbe
representatives of the people at work in their
chamber, as though they were in a kind of Turkish
bath, or concentrated oven. Nothing can be further
from the fact. As in winter, owing to the absolutely
perfect system of ventilation, the House of Commons is
never cold, so in summer it is not allowed to become
hot. The air which circulates through the building
Is first subjected to a progress of refrigeration which
renders it delightfully cool, and thus it is passed into
the House, a constant current of polarised air being
kept up. It is not the breeze which you meet in the
streets, stifling and laden with particles of dust, borne
along as though it were the hot breath of the desert,
and PO far from possessing any refreshing constituents,
contributieg to the unhappy pedestrian's misery. But
stream of air passed into the House of Commons on
a pipine July day is es weicame as water to a thirsty
traveller on the aria plains of Sahara; and heartfelt
gratitude is rendered to the devotees of science for the
relief which they are thus enabled to afford.
Those who have had occasion to travel in the United
States caeaet have fail.d to notice the partiality of the
Americans for the consumption of ice. It Is not the
practice there, as in this country, to use ice only in the
summer; but all the year round, and at every meal,
the Le howl is placed upon the table. Here, again,
science has c-me to oer aid; so that if there is a mild
winter, whh but little frost, and consequently small
opportunity of storing ice, there is no necessity for going
without the usual summer supply. The art of congela-
tion, or the production of ice by artificial means,
which is nearly a century old, has now reached
such perfection thet ice can be produced in summer
by means of chemicd mixtures to any extent. The
popularity of ice has greatly increased during the past
few years, and no restanraunt is now considered to be
complete without it

How thoroughly tradition and usage are held in

veneration by the people of this coun.ry is seen in no way
more conspicuously than in the administration of juitice.
Readers of newspapers just now pay especial attenticn
to the aeSiza intellizence, each county being describel
as belonging to a particular circuit. It is true that of
Late years the great populations in the countiss of
York and Llncaster have rendered necessary a
rearrangement of the circuits Po far as r.nch large towns
as Manchester, Liverpool and Leeds are core rned.
Yet the circui-, as t term for describing a group of
counties has been in erstence for a thousand years.
in 1176, exactly seven centuries ago, they were three
in number, for there were fever inhabitants in the
land, and not so ranch work for the judges. But
the assizes were arranged on the same principle
as they are now, twice a year, one at Lent and
the other at Lanamas. In many cases this is still
carried out, although In the larger counties

a winter sitting is now held. The assize is one of the
institutions upon which the barons were emphatic when
they premed King John to sign Magna Charta ; and in
old law books it is defined to be an assembly of knights
and other substantial men who with the judge were
to meet at a certain time and place. By a statute of
Richard 11. it was enacted that "no lord or other of
the country shall sit upon the bench with the justice to
take assize upon great forfeiture to the King," the ob-
ject being to prevent any possible local influence from
being brought to bear upon the judge, whose decisions
were to be impartial and unbiassed in any way.
Those who followed the chronicles of the movements
of the King and Queen of Greece, whilst in this
country, would have noticed that the Court Circular,
which is offic7ally sent to the London papers by com-
mar a of her Majesty, has invariably described them
as " the King and Queen of the Hellenes," The
word, I may say in paising, is not pronounced
in two sjliables, hut in three—" Hel-le-nes." This
is a recogmtion of the classical origin of the Greek race,
which had ite first home at Hellas, in Thevaly. The
early Greeks derived the name which the court
newsman gices them to-day from Helen, who
was the ruler of the country 1600 years before
the Christian era. Brand.bye they separated into
the Dorians, the bans,iß) the lonians, and the
Ad tens; and now, nearly 3,500 years after the name
of Hellenes was first given to the Greeks, we still find
it used. Many and many a century has rolled away
since Athens and Sparta, Corinth and Thebes, Arcadia
and Macedon were in their glory; but to this day the
accompliehments of the ancient Greeks, no less con-
spicnons in the arts of peace than was their bravery
upon the field of battle, are the theme of admiration
by all men of intellect. Bs ron was enthusiastic over
"Those isles of Greece I those isles of Greece!
Where hurnlng Sappho loved and sung,"

And Mr. Gladsthne's praiee of the works of Homer,
the famous Greek historian, is known to us all. By

what mysterious law were such intellects as those of
Aristides end Phidies, Socrates and Plato, Lycurgus
and naiades, given to Greece thousands of years ago,
and why has the race in some places at least degene-
rated into tee brigand of to-dae ? On our own side of
Europe we have advanced. When the Parthenon sill
the Acropolis beautified Af•hene long before St. Paul
stood upon Mars Hill in that city, what is now Great
Britain was then an uncultivated forest; aed the
Druids were content with acorns and water. Yet now
it is the Thames, and not the Ilyssus, whose banks
tell of life and energy, and wealth and civilization.
The Prince cf Wales's garden parties at Chiswick
are amongst the most enjoyable places of aristocratic
assembly which the season affords. An invitation is
much coveted, and is highly appreciated by its fortu-
nate recipient. His Royal Highness distributes these
favours without distinction of party or of denomina-
tion, and in those beautiful grounds which run down
to the banks of the river statesmen and politicians of
all shades of opinion, ecclesiastics and divines, mingle
in the throngs Since the Prince's return from India
the people of Hammersmith have been made plea-
Rangy conscious of his presence in London, and when
there is a gathering at Chiswick they show their
interest in what is passing by assembling in large
nnmbers along the line of route to the gardens. The
four, in-h ands muster very strongly on these occasions;
and the coronetted equipages, with their gorgeously-
dressed attendants, are the objects of considerable
interest to the multitude. Sometimes the Queen
herself is a guest at one of these garden parties, and
if this becomes known the crowd which assembles is
proportionately increased.
The Chairman of the South Eastern Railway stated
at the half yearly meeting of shareholders that in the
excursion season, the difference between the traffic
receipts on a fine week and a wet one was at least
£3,000. A summer such as the present must thepef?re
have a perceptible effect upon the dividend of a line
which like the South Eastern, the Brighton, and the
Chathant and Dover, serve the south coast watering-
places. A change of wind from the north to the west
,eften costs either of them hundreds of pounds. Last
year more rain fall upon our lands than could have
been possibly condensed in our own latitudes, and
often the rainfall was greater in one day than was the
average for an entire month. Where did it all come
from? The story all over the world was the same,
and even from California and Australia came the
intelligence of devastating floods. Thus far during the
present year the quantity of rain has been far below
the average. Evaporation goes on at night from the
sea and from the river; but clearly the process of con-
densation has been in abeyance. What then becomes
of the moisture? A little of that Which was SO
plentifully distributed over our hills and valleys twelve
months ago would have been Ten), welcome in the
recent scorching heats.

To liken a man to a cormorant is to suggest
that he
is grasping and avaricious, and the conjunction of this
bird with the bittern ha 3 been used in graphic
descriptions of the desolation which prevails upouth
plains of Babylon. Yet the use of cormorants for fi.he
lag purposes Liss for centuries been practised by the
Chinese, who carefully train these birds to deliver their
prey uninjured to their master,-instF ad of appropriating
It to their own use. Cormorant fishing has now bz en
brought from China and other Oriental countries to
England, and the sport seems to be gaining ground in
this country. With a ring placed round their necks
to prevent them from swallowing their booty, the cor-
morants plunge at a given signal into the water, and
seldom fail to bring up a prize. Well-trained birds
will, indeed, dispense with the restraint of the ring,
and will fish for several hours together, their reward
being an occasional handful of the smaller fry which
is brom4it up from the depths of the stream.

What the inve,ting public think of the stock market
hai lately been shown clearly enough in the price
touched by Consols. Tnese have reached 97, only
three from par, and this is a higher quotation than
bad been witnessed for 17 years. Many will remember
the unsettled condition of affairs in 1859, the year
which saw the beginning and rapid spread of the
volunteer movement, The ordinary securities of the

Stock Exchange wePe as unstable as water; hence,
thoPe who bad a little money to invest, put it into
Consols, deeming it better to have a safe 3 per cent. in
perpetuity than six or seven one year and nothing the
next. The present state of the market is not die.
similar from that of 1859; confidence has been shaken
in the stability of many classes of stocks, and thus it is
that there is a de;caud for Government securities
which, let the fluctuations of the Exchange be what
they may, never fail to pay interest at the rate of 3
per cent. per annum.