The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-03-04 00:00:00

Our Irellboll torrtsponbrilt,

,tve deem It eight to state Met we In not at all Caul
jteotjfy our,lves a Ls Our con ,fBllda U's opinions.'
The Commission re for the London Internati ma
Exhibition of 1871 have done well to appoint a gentle
man, Mr. Buckmeaster, to visit the principal tents of
manufacturing industry and deliver addseezes
explanatory of the objects of the series of annual inter-
national exhibitions. Mainly owing to the war, the
public have not paid that attention to the forthcoming
exhibition (to be opened on May Da)) which it
deserves. I believe it will be far more interesting and
entertaining than is generally thought, while its import-
ance on the progress of the arts and manufactures is eel-
tam. It is, however, rather late in the day to efficially
draw the attention of the manufacturing towns to the
subject. Better late than never, perhaps, but it would
have been well had the step which he now taken been
taken months ago. The a?tivity which is now being
di-played in the preliminary arrangements of the Ex.
hibition, iaof good onion for the atfractiyeneas of the
place when it is tht own open to the public. Bearing
In mind that esoh y-a 's exhibition will b- ccediaed to
certain c'ast.es of ..bjects, or exhibits, aid that ths
classes exhibited on, ;ear will be excluded next year,
the annual exhibiti in may be regarded as • great edu-
cational movement. at well as ministering to the plea-
sures of the column sity. The first year's display will
be especially rich to. °maw ntaland decorative tbjects
in painting, sculpture, &-., while the long list of foreign
countries that have co-opereed in this great work
proves that the aff .jr will be what it professes to be,
internationA

Payment of members of Parliament has never bred
a popular idea in th's cour,try, and the reception of the
proposal in the Howe of CoDar-OES last smion shone
that the idea is very diatamteful to members them ;elves ;
but it is remarkable that the idea has been a lopted by
the Melbourne Parliament, where the members are to
receive £3OO per annum each. But will net this lower
the statue of the members? Ceitainly wherever pay.
merit of members exiles the assertion that • candidate
" seeks the hone lot. of representation " is all the more
difficult to believe,

"Town Is very full "—so say people of fsehlon who
take an interest in ouch matters, but the remark must
be taken with a grain of salt, like that other remark
which we hear reguls.rly about September, that "town
is empty,"—' there's positively nobody here," and so
on. But the London season, began languidly with
the opening of Parliament, and which has re-
c,ived an impetus from the first Drawing Room,
has made iterlf apparent even to superficial ob-
servers. The war has decidedly h.scl the effect of
shortening the off-seneon or the recess, and has caused
many first-ekes families to commence their iesidence
In the metropolis eerier than usual. The drawing,
rooms and 'sense, %Heir have teen annonemd, and the
marriage of the reit ..e,eLeuise will all tend to render
the London season a I. mtwhat gay one, ani this is
by to amuse an noir' erest ing part for our thon ar de of
pan workpeople, a In profit by the extravagances an 1
frivolities, if you wit, of their rich brethren and
sisters. A Court and a Drawing Room haa already hero
held by the Queen, and a levtie by the Prince of
Wales ; the last ari.docratic reception created evident
interest ; the day was fine, and St. James's Perk wee
thronged by t eopie who came to lounge in tide
favourite resort, and ve the arrivals at and departures
from the Palace.

All who are lute:Tided in the work of the Post
Office—end who is ni t?—are indebted to !lupe gentle.
men who hare been earnestly directing the attention
of the authorities to the rest lotions on the patnele and
pattern poet. There lea probability that the public
requirements in this mstter will be !yet by the postal
authorities, and that we shall also have come re form
in the present cap naive system of money orders, and
the registration of I tta re. The rates in both respects
were, perhaps, not a bit too high when they were first
arranged, but now that the money orders and registra-
tion eystem have p t thoroughly into working, there
is no reason nay the rates ehould not he reduced, The
Pest Office revenue will not lose by this, and tho
public will very largely gain. '
There seems to be quite a ymision for vaccination
springing up. A. lit. le while ago we heard that all the
Metropolitan police were ordered to be vaccinated,
whether they had previouely undergone the proems or
not, and that if they declined they were to be 'invited
to resign," which was certainly a delicate way of
telling them they would be discharged. Now it is
stated that the Admiralty las ordered that all the
officials at Whitehall and Somerset Home churn be
vaccinated. 'I he same sort of thing goes on in many
large wax-ebonies, factories, schoole, workhouses, &e.
Many of the doctors are very ear husialtic on the
subject, and make themselves awful examples for the
benefit of these whom they advise to undergo the
operation. Meanwhile, the anti•vaccinating ninon.
*treats and denunciators appear to be toeing groand
rapidly, and the stubborn facts of the It-gistrar-
General show us that it is a very good thing these
people arc losing ground. It is stated that the Queen
has been reaveccinated, and that her M ijesty iffies
the fact to be genertlly known. Thut this little tact
will have a potent influenee need not be insistod on.
Of cur three millions of inhabitants probably tin re
are very few who feel much intereet in the fact that
Staines bridge is new peu toll free, in addition to these
of Kingston and Wall on ; and however much we may
feel inclined to congratulate the inhabitants in the
vicinity of there bri 'gee, we should like that, as well
as the bridges named, those communica4ng between
crowded districts lower down the river should also be
freed from tell. It would be marvellous how long this
antiquated abuse is allowed to lest did we not bear in
wind that after all it is a question of funds, and that
the question, where is the money to come from is a
very difficult one to answer.

It would be a good thing for society generally
perbapp, Co far as an Mfluence might Gnus be exerted
If the various tchoel boards throughout the country
were to arrange for the teachirg of the rudiments of
vocal 131t121C. These are very easily taught and learn.,
and music is one of those brines in respect to which a
little learning isoot at all a dargerons thiog, while it
is certainly pleasant to have such an amount of know.
ledge of shogingaa will enable ore easily to acquire a
little more. We owe much to truh men as Mr. Hullah
and Mr. Cutwen for spreading a kn.sw'edge of vocal
music, for it has terded to amuse and entertain, to
cultivate and refine thowande of yonrg people of both
sexes, and to give an additional charm to home life,
An interesting book has just been published, the
"Diary cf a Esseieged fireside-tit in Paris," reprinted
and revised from the Daily News. This volume will
possess a permanent value as a personal record of one
of the most wonderful events of our own time.. The
author, it may be mentioned, is Mr. H. Labouchere,
formerly MP. for filled:ore, and who is mid to be one
of the troprietom of the journal in which this diary
originally appeared.
I see announced for publication "the Keramic
Gallery." And what is Keramtc ? There are, be it known
to those who may not know it already, mme wcutd-be
clank reformers who are t-ying to restore what they
consider the original and therefore correct pro.
nunciation of Greek and Latio. They tea us,
for instance, that sediect should be yronounced
tkiliket, Cicero ehouid be Karma, and CO on ; and so
Ceramic is to be pronounced 'Ceramic. At the last
examination at cbews Hospital one of the Get clans
gents Mulled the auditory by these changes. But we
common people don't easily take to such reform., if
they are reform.. Who would like, at an evenirg
party for example, to speak of the celebrated orator
Kikero?

Lori Kimberley's "Pauper Inmates Discharge
and Regulation Bill," if passed, sill do some.
thine, it is to be hoped, towards remedying a
rather serious evil -the habitual vogratcy which
recent leeslation Lss considerably fostered. At
present our "ca mils" throughout the country
make a complete c,nvenience of the workhouse,
going in and coming out when they I;ke ; it will
simply keep them t,,ere for a time whets they once
ci me in, and will this be a cheek upon the continuous
demand on workhour< a for supper, bed, and brig fa.t
--as though a casual•ward wire an hotel. The reader
may be at first sight inclined to ridicule these ward
being thus used, but the fact is as stated. Would that
I. Tcl Kimberley, or any one else, could do anything to
losseu the amount of professional pauperiem ; but it
would seem as though the task were hopeless.