The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-01-20 00:00:00

ELECTRIcALLY LIGHTED THE &TRES

The Savoy theatre in London no longer stands alone
among theatres. The Edison Company has lighted the
Bijou Theatre, Boston,- with 644 lamps. The audi-
torium of the Academy of Music, Chicago, has been
lighted by Edison lamps for some time; the Albion
Theatre, Havanna the Munich Theatre, and a new
theatre at Brunn,sMoravia, haye been equipped with
the incandescent light, that at Brunn belng probably
the largest and most complete installation in the world,
Sixteen hundred lamps are in position for lighting,
though not more than 1,00.9 are likely to be used at
one time.
The stage lamps are arranged in three circuits, each
with different coloured globes, so that atmospheric
effects can be produced by switching from one circuit
to anothee, an,d thus changing the colour of the light
thrown upon stage and soppr.
Other circuits are arranged to produce lightning
flashes, and all are provided with regulators so that
the intensity of the light can be graduated from the
faintest glimmer to the full blaze of day.
The machine houo is removpd from the theatre
nearly four* hundred yards, the current being carried
to the theatre in .underground conductors. Io pro-
vision has been made for lighting the theatre With gas.

A man named Robert Barnfield was killed in.
on Tuesday while engaged in felling a
tree pn the estate of Lady Cromie at Birdlip, near
Cheltenham ; and another man named George Barnfield
aeverelyinjurpd. The tree fell upon them,
z

THE MEMORIAL TO THE LATE
PRINCE LOUIS NAPOLEON.

The Prince of Wales, accompanied by his two sons,
Prince Albert Victor and Prince George, and by the
Duke of Edinburgh and the Duke of Cambridge and
their suites, paid a visit to Woolwich on Saturday for
the purpose of unveiling a statue of the late Prince
Imperial of France, which has been placed in the
grounds of the Royal Military Academy. _

The Duke of Connaught was to have joined the
party, and had arrived in London from Windsor for
the purpose, when he was recalled by the announce-
ment received by telegraph of the accouchement of the
Duchess.

As soon as the Prince of Wake had been received ift
due form by the Memorial Committee, the Governor,
General Browne, 0.8., R.E. and Major-General
Dillon, C. 8,, the Duke of Cambridge opened the in-
auguration ceremony by reading the report of the
committee, which stated that they had received up-
wards of £4,310 from more than 25,000 subscribers of
all ranks, and from every branch of her Majesty's sea
and land forces, including many Indian regiments and
Canadian volunteers who had sent their quota to the
fund.

The Prince of Wales then stepped on to the dais,
and pulling the line, unveiled the statue, amid
general cheering. His Royal Highness said,—l have
acquiesced with the greatest pleasure in the wish of
the committee that I should unveil this statue to the
late lamented Prince Louis Napoleon. In doing so it
is obvious to every one that the short ceremony of
to-day is not a politioal one in any sense of the word,
for it is subacribed for by 25,000 of all classes of Her
Majesty's forces. We are assembled for the purpose of
inaugurating a monument to the memory of a young
and gallant prince, who fell fighting for the Queen of
England. This is a specially well-chosen spot for the
statue which has been so successfully modelled by my
relative, Count Gleichen, who is beside me, to stand
opposite the Academy where the young Prince passed
two years. There he grounded himself in military
knowledge, and showed extraordinary ability. Though
a foreigner, and naturally having difficulties to con-
tend with in his knowledge of the English language,
the report of the professors showed that he might, had
he chosen to enter the Army, have gone either into the
Royal Engineers or the Royal Artillery. Afterwards
he was attached to a field battery during the autumn
manceuvres in the Vicinity of Aldersot, and, natu-
rally, when the war in South Africa broke out, and
he saw his comrades with whom he had studied
here, and with whom he had participated in the
manceuvres in time of peace, had gone to share in the
trials and arduous difficulties of that war, his impulse
was also to join them, and, by the Queen's permission,
he did join our Army. • The rest is a matter of history.
We all know what befel him, and how deeply he has
been regretted by every one. Those virtues, that
blameless life, that courage, that obedience to orders,
which were always what he exhibited most, will I am
sure, prove a bright example to many young men
entering this Academy. I feel sure that when the
cadets who are educated hers look upon the statue
that has been inaugurated to-day, they will see before
them the features of a young and brave prince who
died with his face to the foe, and will wish to emulate
his bright example. (Cheers.)

Colonel Bigg, Equerry to Her Majesty, hung upon
the front projecting angles of the memorial two
wreaths of bay and variegated holly which had been
sent by the Queen. On the rear angles were hung
other wreaths tied with violet ribbon sent by the
Countess Gleichen and the Countess Feodora Gleichen
and the Countess Sydney. The Prince of Wales and the
Royal party having inspected the memorial and read
the inscriptions, re-entered their carriage amid the
usual Royal honours and the cheering of the crowd.

The memorial stands at the further end of the lawn
and cricketelground facing the front of the Royal
Military Academy, where the Prince passed two years
of his life and pursued his military studies. It consists
of a base of Portland stone on which is placed a square
pedestal of polished red Aberdeen granite some 12ft.
high, having projecting angles- which support the
French Imperial eagle with outspread wings and
clutching thunderbolts in its talons. On the south and
front panel is inscribed "Napoleon Prince Imperial,"
on the east face are the words "Born in Paris, March
16, 1856; killed fighting in South Africa, June 1, 1879."
On the west face is inscribed "Gentleman Cadet
Royal Military Academy, from November 18, 1872, to
February 16, 1875." On the north side are the
words, " Erected by upwards of 25,000 officers and
men from all branches of her Majesty's Forces."
Above the inscription on each side is in bronze the
Imperial crown, under which is the cypher "N," en-
closed in a laurel wreath. On the four projecting
faces are the arms of the Royal Artillery with their
motto, " Übique quo fas et glom ducunt." The
statue of the Prince, which is cast from a model exe-
cuted by Admiral Count Gleichen, represents the
Prince standing bareheaded in an easy attitude, with
the right foot advanced, his left hand resting lightly
on his sheathed sabre, and holding in his right a pair
of field-glasses. He wears the service patrol jacket
and high riding boots with spurs, and close by his left
foot is placad his helmet, The general impression
appears to be that the likeness is an admirable one,
and recalls vividly the features of the Prince,

The Royal party afterwards visited the Herbert
HoTital, and then proceeded to inspect the cairn
designed by Admiral Count Gleichen, which has been
erected by the officers, non-commissioned officers, and
men of the Eoyal Artillery as a memorial of their com-
rades of all ranks who lost their live e in South
Africa and Afghanistan in 1877 and 1881. The
bairn consists of huge rough blocks of Aberdeen
tr—tnita, piled one on the other to the height
ot sDnie 18ft. the base of th, cairn being
some 9ft. by dt. Let into the front of the cairn
is a marble tablet on which are engraved the names
of the killed. On the left of the tablet is a trophy of
Afghan arms, consisting of rifles and spears, and on
the right is placed another trophy of Zulu shields and
assegais. Below the tablet he two crossed guns of
Afghan manufacture, one being a perfect copy, as
far as appesranee goes, of a light breech-loading
Armstrong field piece. The cairn stands in the gun-
park by the side of the road on the right of the Royal
Artillery Barracks.

Me Times notices the Memorial to the Prince Im-
perial in a leader, from which we maks the following
extract :

The Prinpe was an exile, like his father before him,
and like his father, too, he bore himself in such a
manner as to win the respect of , the English people.
. Whatever were the faults and failings of his
domestic governmen.t and policy, there is no doubt
that Napoleon 111. was a sincere and consistent friend
of England. Ho bad lived in this country as an exile,
and he probably understood it better than any foreign
statesman of his time. Probably no European Sove-
reign ever had more personal friends among English-
men, and certainly none was ever less forget-
ful of his friends. Wsen, therefore, he was
once more driven into exile, he returned to 4
nation still generously mindful of his steady friend-
ship towards itself, even if it could not be blind to the
faults which had undermined his power and the
mistakes which had brought about his overthrow.
Towards the Prince Imperial the feeling of English-
men was, as was fitting, not less one of good will.
He At least was guiltless of the faults attributed
to his father, though he was the victim of their
consequences. He was only fourteen years old
when he quitted France. He was born the
heir to a powerful Throne, and if, when his
father died in exile, he did not renounce his
dynastic ambitions, it is, perhaps, more easy to
regret the fact than to blame it with any severity. Ho
adopted the only profession open to a Prince, that of
arms, and he devoted himself to its study with com-
mendable zeal and activity. He endeared himself alike
to his teachers and his fellow students by his kindly
and gentle disposition, by his professional ardour, and
by his steady application to work. He was deter-
mined, moreover, to be something more than a
mere ornamental soldier, We need pot scilitin4.-e
his motives too closely; whatever they were, they
are now hidden once for all in the secrecy of the
grave. He chose to share the hardships of the
army to which he had attached himself, and im-
prudent or impolitic as it may have been to comply with
his wish, it cannot be imputed to him as wrong that he
entertained it. He went to seek danger and day it, to
show that he had in him the true military mettle, anfl
he yielded up his life with all a solditr's fortitude.
There is no true soldier but would be n..oved hy the
tragedy of such A fate. Porn in Imperial pomp,
trained in adversity and exile, slam in a quarrel not
his own by the spears of savages who had never heard
his name, he left his widowed and desolate mother to
mourn the untimely loss of an only ohild, and the ex-
tinction of a fallen dynasty