The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-01-29 00:00:00

EVERY DESCRIPTION OF

GENTLEMEN',S CLOTHING
•

MADE TO ORDER,

ON THE SHORTEST NOTICE.

L PERFECT FIT GUARANTEED.

Terms on application.

RAILWAY TRAVELLING.

P. has been truly enough declared that the
life of man is a continual struggle with death.
From the first moment of existence down to the
last flicker of animation in the human frame,
life's hjstory is one long record of contentions
with a foe which successfully baffled as he may
be over and over again, is yet ever on the alert
to fasten on his prey. "Dangers stand thick
through all the ground" is no less true now than
it Ws ever been; indeed they scarcely seem to
have been lessened by the progress of science
and the development of the human intellect. It
is true that, to a considerable extent mind has
triumphed:over matter ; but it is no less the fact
that in his contest with the forces of nature, man
has suffered many a signal defeat. So far shall
his victories go, but no further. When steam
was pressed into his service, it was justly re-
garded as an extraordinary achievement ; the
steamboat's prow was to cleave the ocean's wave,
defying winds and tides; and as the locomotives
dashed along the iron rails like a fiery meteor,
it was felt that not only was time annihilated,
but that the subjection of a mighty power to the
will of man was an enterprise of which we may
well be proud. And so undoubtedly it was. Man
having found such an instrument ready to do his
service, set to work and surrounded it with the
most elaborate precautions to guard against ac-
cidents. So far as railways are concerned, no-
thing appears to have been left undone that skill
or science can suggest, in order to provide for
the safety of the travelling community. And
how enormous is the number of those who now
travel by rail, the weekly traffic receipts abund-
antly show. An idea which was in its infancy
forty years ago, has now developed to an extent
which represents hundreds of millions sterling.
Fortunes have been made by devising plans of
signalling which are intended to secure an abso-
lute immunity from all chance of accident. And
looking at the immense area over which our iron
roads are spread, and the number. of persons
using them, there can be no question that the
proportion of casualties to the number of pas-
sengers is very small. When a railway accident
takes place, there are always people who at once
attribute it to the fact that it happened on a
railway. The cheap press carries the intelli-
gence into the crowded town and into the most
peaceful hamlet. The newspaper is now seen
not only in the thriving cities of Lancashire and
Yorkshire, but it finds its way into the calm re-
treats of the Cumberland valleys, into the lowly
cottages upon the Welsh mountain side, the
desolate moorland& of the Western counties, and
the sparsely populated coasts which are washed
by the waves of the German Ocean. Therefore,
if a railway smash takes place now, every body is
sure to hear of it. The unceasing activity of
the printing press, never at rest either by night
or by day, makes it certain that the news shall
be carried into the remotest corners of the
kingdom. The fault thereof is at once placed to
the credit of " those horrid railways again."
The elderly section of the population sigh for
the " good old times," when the utmost speed
of the Quicksilver mail was twelve miles an hour,
and when the mere mention of the rate of the
expresses of the present day would have been
received with the utmost incredulity. Yet it is
an undoubted fact that the -casualties under the
regime of the locomotive are vastly less in pro-
portion than those of the old coaching days.
And again, when an accident did take place in
those bygone 'times, very few people heard of it,
and for more than one excellent reason. In the
first place, there was no penny press to convey
the account of the breakdown to every corner of
the land; and there was cheap, easy, and expe-
ditious way of circulating the intelligence
amongst the masses of people.
As we have already said, science has done a
vast deal to render railway travelling safe, but
that there is a point beyond which it not yet
passed is occasionally rendered obvious by some
appalling catastrophe. Whilst a man is rejoicing
in the strength and development of his intellec-
tual powers, and is singing a song of victory
over the accomplishment of his really great
deeds, he is suddenly checkmated by one of the
silent forces of Nature, and taught in a terrible
way that, much as he has done there is yet some-
, thing more to (10. Two calamities within a
little more than twelve months forcibly
this position. A train full of passengers on
Christmas Eve is dashing through the country
TO THE NERV_US AND DEBILITATED at the rate of five-and-thirty miles an hour, the
Read the New Work entitled the freight thinking of e happy faces which
await them when they arrive at their destinations.
HOW TO ENSURE HEALTH.
Just published for two stamps.' There has been a sharp frost for several days
BY Du. BARNES, M.D., (U.S.)
A TREATISE on the LAWS GOVERNING preceding, but this is rather rejoiced at by the
Christmas passengers, for is not frosty weathor
LIFE, and the CAUSES, SYMPTOMS and
on Exhaustion TREATMENT of all diseases depending seasonable at Christmas time ? Yet that frost, in
of Nervous Vitality, such as Nervous Debility, eel, a trifling cir-
its silent working, had been the cause of a frac-
and Physical Depression, Palpitation of the Hearat
Mein tore of one of the tir, sin a wheel,
Noises in the Head and Ears, Indecision, Impaired Sight' curastance in itself,tbranitno
offn e that
the trvaaisls,sueffiancsiienngt
and Memory, Indigestion, Prostration, Lassitude, De to throw the entire
ression of Spirits, Loss of Energy and Appetite, Parr;
in the Back and Limbs, Timidity, Self-Distrust, Dizzi isteuvneinetdyiaotethdeerast.h
Ht o thirtyerewas
pae r
caseso n and s ,
whichian
no
nags, Love of Solitude, Groundless Fears, and many ingenuity of man could have provided against
other ailments, which, if neglected, bring the sufferers the possible results of the severity of the weather.
to an early Death ; together with Hints on Chroni
Rheumatism, Gout, Neuralgia, Epilepsy, Hysteria, and Again, on a dark winter night an express train
all diseases of the Nervous and alimentary system, is rushing along at a rate of 60 miles an hour.
The Appendix to this valuable work ei,,utai„ It has gone over the ground at a similar speed
useful PRESCRIPTIONS for the alleviation of suffering scores and hundreds of times before, and there
and the cure of minor disorders, with full inatruetions is nothing in the circumstances of the night to
for their preparation and use.
Contains also some friendly advice on Hygiene. or th denote peril now. An elaborate and effective
WAY TO PRESERVE HEALTH. system of signals warns it of danger, but the
ustrated by liIIIIICTOUS testimonials from grateful FnOw-flakes till the air, and BO obscure the lamps
patlielnte who have been restored to health through the containing the red lights that these cannot be
author's instrumentality. seen, two express trains rush to destruction, and
more than half a score of human beings are at
Sent post free for 2 ,tamps ; or by letter post, this
stamps. once launched into eternity. What a slight
imuadale Square '
had. The
t.aTsnhedeemyrneetedrw—ehtoalblosmcl
I.loltno momentous 4-4" Address. Dr. BARNES, 48,ca oo
consequences
lamp-glass
:et hq te
n Sc le os
at
Sainsbury, London. N.
coiningolrnaa
IMPORTANT TO COUNTRY PATIENTS.
DR. BARNES way be consulted personally a signal station in the country means death to a
or by letter in all I rivate cox tideLtisl dozen or snore persons, and life long injuries to
sod fur the benefit of N ervous Sufferers who cannot visit many others. Still, a snowstorm is one of those
hire, he will, on receiving a description of their case, en- incidents of winter with which even in a tempe-
closing a stamped envelope for -.eply, be ready to give his
Opinion upon the nature of the case, and the principles rate climate the people have to contend, and it
of treatment necessary to effect a permanent cure. for science now to say what it can do to ensure
Address, Dr. BARNES; 48, Lonsdale Square, Barns-
the immunity of the travelling public from such
bury, London, N. disasters as those of Abbot's Ripton.