The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-04-04 00:00:00

Cur Fodor( Corrtspodtnt.

[We deem it right to Etat, that we do not at allttraes
.Identify ourselvea with our Corre3pondxot opiuionx.]

The visit of the Queen and Princess .i3eatrice
to the Continent takes place at a time when the
absence of the Sovereign from the realm will
occasion no inconvenienm. It is opportunel;c
fixed for the Easter Rec.-2ss, when Parliament i 3
not sitting, and Loras and Commons are dis-
persed throughout the three kiir.,doms. At the
council heli by her Majesty at Windsor, a few
clays before her departure, every provision was
made for the absence of the monarch, whom no
one should grudge her short period of rest at
Aix-les-Bains. The splendours of a regal posi-
tion may well begin to pall after nearly half
za century, and a lady silvered as to hair and
mature as to 2.g,e, who has borne the burden of
the State alone during the last twenty-three
Tears of her life, is quite entitled to that brief
period of retirement which she has now taken.
Before the House of Lords rose for the Easter
Recess Earl Granville made a statement with
respect to our dispute with Russia, as indicating
the principles by 'which we should be guided,
that must have given general satisfaction. The
Secretary for Foreign Affairs showed, that this
was a matter on which both parties in the
State were united and agreed, for it was
one which affected the honour of the

nation. 'There is a very clever but ex-
ceedingly eccentric evening paper in London,
which on the previous night had proved conclu-
sively to its own satisfaction that Russia was
altogether in the right and England completely
in the wrong. The Foreign Secretary speedily
disposed of this argument; and, indeed, it would
take a long time to convince the people of this
country that Russia does not covet India just as
thirty years ago, and, indeed, since the days of
Peter the Great, she has coveted Constanti-
nople. We went to war to prevent that
calamity; and much as we dislike war, it would
certainly be undertaken rather than that the
teeming population of Hindostan should fall
into the clutches of the Muscovite.
The division on the Egyptian Convention
excited very little interest either in or out of the
House of Commons. Very few of the public
understood it; while they did very clearly com-
prehend the issue placed before Parliament only
that day month, which was the existence of Mr.
Gladstone's Administration. Practically, of
course, the issue was the same involved in Mr.
Bruce's amendment; but the Ministerial
majority was never doubtful, and the
result showed it to have been more than
trebled. The small amount of interest
taken in the Convention may be partially ac-
counted for by the fact that so much has been
heard of Eg j,pt during the last three or four
years. Unhappily, we shall hear a great deal
more of the country before we have done with
it. Many a taxpayer looks forward with terror
to the statement which the Chancellor of the
Exchequer will unfold on the 16th of April.
Palm Sunday and "Show Sunday" were this
year on the same day, although in their associa-
tions they are as wide as the poles asunder. The
one is a solemn festival of the Church; the other
is selected by artists who intend to exhibit at
the Royal Academy as a convenient time for
throwing open their studios, so that their pro-
ductions may be seen by their friends before
being deposited in Burlington House. Great
interest is always attached to the Royal Academy
exhibition. As the result of the work of our
best painters, it represents the latest stages of
our artistic life. The opening, on the first
Monday in May, is always preceded on the
Saturday evening by a magnificent banquet, at
which the President, Sir Frederick Leighton,
takes the chair. It is attended by the most
illustrious in art, science, literature, philosophy,
and statesmanship, and for weight of varied and
cultured intellect is an extraordinary contrast
to any ordinary run of guests which might be
brought together.
The Press Club of London, which was started
less than four years ago, had a very successful
diimer at the Holborn Restaurant on Saturday
evening. Mr. Edward Clarke, M.P., took the
chair, and amongst the other members of the
House of Commons present were Sir R. 'Cross,
Mr. W. H. Smith, Mr. Herbert Gladstone, Mr.
O'Connor Power, Mr. Charles Russell, Mr. Bar-
clay, Mr. Armitstead, and Baron de Worms.
This was a remarkable gathering, for at five
o'clock the House of Commons was in session—

not a long one it is true, but inconveniently
near the dinner hour at the Holborn. The
Press Club of London, although late in being
established, following instead of leading some of
our great provincial towns, seems now to have
attained a very fair position, and with more con-
venient premises than a set of rooms on a
second-floor in Chancery-lane, would do a very
great deal better. However, where it is, there
is-no doubt of its being an immense convenience
to the journalists of London and the country.
The forty-first University Boat Race was
rowed on Saturday over the usual course from
Putney to Mortlake. Both crews were fairly up
to the University standard, and were coached
and trained most carefully. The weather was all
that could be desired, and the attendance on the
banks and steamers enormous. Of late years the
sporting of the rival colours seems to have
degenerated somewhat, but this year there has
zertainly been a revival of the display. The
crews of 1885 were both above the average as
regards weight, the Oxonians especially. Cam-
bridge, on the first day of their arrival at
Putney, were made the favourities, but as soon
as Oxford. appeared on the tideway, the betting
underwent a revolution, and odds were laid on
up to the day of the race. The success of the
Dark Blues is not to be wondered at, when we
come to look into the facts. In the first place
it was apparent that the Light Blues had been
trained rather too finely. But they also had
to put up with a greater misfortune than this.
Just a week before the eventful day it was known
that one of the eight was seriously indisposed,
and would not be able to take part in the con-
test. A substitute had, of course, to be pro-
cured, who was not only untrained, but unused
to the other men in the boat. It will thus be
seen that the success of the Oxonians was not
altogether unlooked for.
It is interesting to note that, while the rival uni-
versities were contesting for supremacy on the
Thames, an aquatic struggle was being fought
out on the other side of the globe. This was the
sculling match between Haulm and Beach, for
the championshtp of the world, on the Parra-
matta river. The result was a victory for Beach
by six lengths. The men had met before, a few
months since, the Anglo-Australian being suc-
cessful on that occasion also. The Canadian
wonder, Hanlan, seems to have had his day, as
before his first reverse by Beach he vanquished
every sculler that could be brought against him.
Thus, on the same day, on opposite ends of the
earth, thousands of people were watching the
progress of two rival boats. Hanlan is under
thirty years of age, and appears, at this early
period of life, already to feel the very great
strain consequent upon the pursuit of such an
avocation. The university men feel it; but,
after all, their experience lasts only a few weeks,
and they row merely for the distinction which
-victory confers. With men of the stamp of
klanlan, on the other hand, success is their bread,
their existence. The physical struggle to main-
tain proficiency, and the excitement inseparable
from such a life, at length tell seriously upon the
human frame.