The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-01-22 00:00:00

41. u fonban 6orrtspoithtnt.

[We deem it right to state that we do slot at all times
Ldentify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinionsd

When the late Emperor Nicholas was over here in
1844, he describtd the Houses of Parliament, then in
course of election, as "a dream in store." It has,
however, proved a substantial reality, and the lofty
chick tower, from which the hours are boomed out over
the metropolis, gives the time to all London. The
hour-bell of St. Paul's, which was AO long a standard
for the regulation of chronometers, has given over the
palm to Big Ben of 'Westminster, for if the clock of
the Parliament Houses gaios or loses a second in eighty
days, tint is the utmost extent of its variation. N, ris
St. P,,,u1'4 bell so full or deep-toned as that of Big

Ben, while the latter, being at a considerably higher
elevation, is heard at a propertionately greater dis-
tance. The residents in the various quarters of the
capital, who are without vanes or indicators, estimate
the cardinal point from which the wind is blowing
from the sounds which may or may not reach them
from the stately towers of Westminster. If there be
an east wind, you hear nothing of Big Ben in the
City, but his notes are carried away over Knights-
bridge, Chelsea, Bayswater, and Kensington. Let
the breeze be south-west, and the clangour of his
iron tongue is wafted towards the rising sun, some-
times penetrating beyond the city boundaries at
Aldgate, and telling the time to the residents of
Spitalfields and Whitechapel. And so on, with the
various shiftings of the fitful wind, solemn proclama-
tiOn of the hours alternately in the quiet and respect.
able squares of the north, the less exposed regions of
the south, the closely-packed human hives in the east, -
and the aristocratic terraces and gardens of the west.
There is a theory in existence which tells us that a
sound, once sent forth upon the air, is never lost. It
may appear to mortal ears to die away, but it really
continues to live, and to gather new life as it flows on
amid the fluctuating changes of the atmosphere. As
a ship ploughs the waves of ocean, so the effect of
sound is felt indefinitely upon the air which it strikes.
The theory suggests some curious thoughts. When
the bells send forth their chimes, or toll out the hours
of departing time in the bitter days of winter, are the
sounds frozen up before they have reached a high
altitude, and so remain until the time of the singing
of birds has come, and the warm sunlight, releasing
the winter-bound chimes, suddenly fills the upper air
with their pealing melody Does the music of the
belle burst forth in the clouds simultaneously with the
song of the lark BB she-carols on high her welcome to
the morning? Questions like these, however, though
pretty ard fanciful, scarcely come within the domain
of practical philosophy. Those who adopt the aerial
system of navigation of the future will be able to answer
them.
The announcement that the Queen intends to open
Parliament in persou has been received with much
satisfaction. It will be five years within a day that
her Majesty took the chief part in this ceremonial,
for it was on the 9th of February, 1871, that her
Majesty inaugurated the Session in which the official
notification was made that the Princess Louise was
about to be married to the Marquis of Lorne. Those
who are responsible for the safe custody of the Palace
of Westminster are busy enough over the vast pile just
now in preparation for the coming event. It is indeed
a little town in itself. The officials and their house-
holds who live within its walls make up a community
of 300 persons; and very careful are they, from the
highest to the lowest, in taking every precaution
against an outbreak of fire. Watchmen never cease
to patrol the structure night or day, for as it is
looked upon with national pride, so its destruction by
fire would be regarded as a national calamity. It
would be difficult to say what the splendid pile has
cost, and it is not completed even yet. The beet
architects and painters of the day have been employed
upon it, and those two masterpieces of Mackse alone,
• representing the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo,
covered an expenditure which to many a wealthy man
would be a fortune. On the morning of the opening
of Parliament a solemn search of the vaults is made,
in order to make suae that no conspirators of the Guy
Fawkes type have stored up a quantity of gunpowder
after the fashion of 270 years ago!
If the proper study of mankind were fishes, the op-
portunities for indulging in it are rapidly on the in-
crease. The world-famed aquarium at Brighton has
given an impetus to the formation of similar institu-
tions which deserve all success. There is every reason
to encourage such a means of recreation as this. The
animals which move upon the earth's surface, and the
birds which enliven the air with the sweetness of their
songs, enjoy life in one respect on the same conditions
BB we do—they depend for their existence upon the air
they breathe, and die when the supply is cut off.
Plunge them into water, and its heavier volume, driv-
ing out the air from the lungs, speedily renders life
extinct. Therefore the chief point cf interest in an
aquarium, and one which renders it so popular, is the
fact that the spectator looks upon the movements of
strangely-formed creatures which find life in an ele-
ment that to him would in a few minutes be certain
death. At the same time that which is so essential to
him would be equally fatal to them. He cannot help
thinking that those singular denizens of the deep are
fearfully and wonderfully made. The aquarium which
the Duke of Edinburglais now to open at Westminster
promises to be a great success. It is something to
bring the sea water to London, but it has been done,
and all kinds of ocean monsters will be presented to
the gaze of such of the metropolitan public who are
carious in such matters.
The Registrar-General has brought a subject under
the public notice which is well worthy of attention.
He reminds us that on the Ist of April next five years
will have passed since the taking of the last census,
and suggests that as the growth of large towns is much
more rapid now than formerly, ten years is too long a
period to elapse between the periodical countings of
the population, which would be done more satisfactorily
every five years. There is another matter of very
considerable importance, and that is the re-arrange-
ment of boundaries. The exception is to find the
municipal and parliamentary limits of *town con-
terminous, for in most cases the former are far more
'restricted than the latter. In estimating the popula-
tion of a Lorough, therefore, it is essential to consider
which of its descriptions is intended—that which ap-
plies to the election of the town council, or of mem-
bers of Parliament. In some large communities there
is a peopled belt between the two boundaries number-
ing thousands of persons. The municipal limits have
not been touched for more than forty years, viz., since
the passing of the Corporations Reform Act of 1835;
and although there was a Boundary Commission in
1867, its operations were not of that extensive cha-
racter which the necessities of the case deman.dsd.
The tendency of the inhabitants of the rural districts
seems to be more and more to converge upon the
towns; and it is important, therefore, that correct
estimates of the population should be arrived at.
The "Spelling Bee" is an institution which has
rapidly taken the public favour. Prizes of substantial
value are offered for competition, and when an adept at
spelling stands a chance of winning such a reward as a
complete set of the works of Charles Dickens, he Ls'
inclined to take his place upon the platform In the face

Of a crowded audience. A standard dictionary is taken
as the authority in cases of dispute respecting the cor-
rect orthography of a word, the spelling of which may
be in doubt. For instance, let us suppose that all
Parties concur in abiding by Walker. "Rein-deer"
. the word given out for competition. Nineteen out of
twenty would place an "e "in the first syllable, just
as it is printed above. But the nineteen, according to
Walker, would be wrong; the twentieth, who rendered
It "rain-deer," would be right. Take again the word
"referable." That is the ordinary oommon-sense way
of spelling the word ; yet, were Walker the authority,
scores would be ruled out of the race, for he makes it
" referrille," even, as it will be seen, making
the "r" a double. I venture to say that scarcely
one man in a thousand would spell the word
or use it in a letter, as Walker would have
us do. But if you decide to refer your differences
to an eminent lexicographer, and find to your mortifi-
cation that he rules against you, the only course then
to be adopted is to retire from the contest with as
much grace as your disappointment will enable you
to command. Some lexicographers are eccentric, as
• for example when they, or some of them, tell us to
give "withhold" only one "h," for the vast majority
of educated people would give it two.
The first two or three weeks of January are times of
great interest to the investors in public securities,
for then the half-yearly dividends are declared, and
shareholders are enabled to see how much interest
per cent. they made for their money during the whole
twelve months. Of course those who believe in
"the sweet simi licity of the Three Per Cents," to
use a well-known expression of Mr. Pitt, need not
trouble themselves about the fluctuations of the
markets, and the depositors in the Post Office Savings
Banks know that under any circumstances their
sixpence in the pound per annum is sure to be safe.
The world is variously made up, and while there are
many who are content with the 2i per cent, offered
by the Government, others believe that a sovereign
in twelve months, ought to return more than a
fortieth part of itself. Railway securities seem
to be gathering strength in public favour, for
the stocks of any important company running
into London are quoted considerably higher now
than they were seven y.ears ago. If a railway pays
It s shareholders 7i or 8 per cent., as many now do, its
scrip is certain to stand high in the market, Railway
stock has indeed augmented in value in a greater pro.
bonds, foreign

portion

than

other liescripti-orTe

Lvestme:

Alta, -
for instance, not having been at all banefittecl

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