The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-07-19 00:00:00

ur 31.1',anb on tarresponVent.

tWe deem it right to state that we do not at all times
4deni,ify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

Not many years ago the present Prime Minister,
when Leader of the Opposition in the House of
Commons, described the multitude of notices given at

,
the beginning of the Session as presaging "a terrible
July" in the number of bills to be considered late in
the Session. Of late years, however, there has been
no such rush of legislation in July and the early days
of August, partly because the Parliament, so far at all
events as its present condition is concerned, is waxing
old, and partly because there is no great demand on
the part of the public for organic changes. It is re-
markable to note how waves of public feeling sweep

over a country. For several years previous to 1875

this wave was in the direction of home politics,
and one great question after another was dealt
with—Parliamentary Reform, Irish Church, Irish
land, and Education in England. Since 1875
the current of popular feeling has been towards

foreign affairs, which have occupied the attention of
Parliament to the exclusion of domestic topics which

_
at any other time would have been regarded as of great
importance. In fact, it is impossible for two absorb-
ing questions to be before the Legislature at the same

time and to receive full attention. There was a
striking illustration of this a quarter of a century

ago, at the outbreak of the war with Russia. At
that time Lord John Russell had a comprehen-
sive scheme of Parliament ary Reform before the
House of Commons, but no sooner was war declared

than the Reform Bill was withdrawn. Members had
neither time nor inclination to go into it when the
nation was engaged in a foreign war. And it was not
until 167, thirteen years afterwards that, when we
were at peace with all the world, the two Houses settled
down to a discussion upon the Reform Bill. So now,
what with the execution of the Treaty of Berlin and
the war in Zululand, there is but little disposition to

discuss subjects of overshadowing interest in home

legislation.

The "terrible July" Di which the Prime Minister
spoke might well apply to the weather which marked

the opening days Of the present month. The vast
Agricultural Show at Kilburn was kept open two days

longer than was at first intended, in the hope that the
weather might improve, and the attendance of the
public make up for some of the very heavy expendi-
ture which had been incurred. But the exhibition

ended as it began, amid torrents of rain; and thousands
who would have gone to Kilburn had the elewents been
propitious dare not venture into the sea of mud into
which the rain converted the ground. The Prince of
Wales, in his letter to the Council of the Royal Agri-
cultural Society, spoke of the success which had
attended the exhibition; but had it been a dry week
instead of a wet one, that success would have been far
more marked, and the Show of 1879, with the Heir-
Apparent to the Throne as President for the year,
would have been looked back upon with pleasure and
satisfaction, instead of, as at present, with a feeling of
disappointment, if not of positive failure.
One thing cannot have failed to strike newspaper
readers, and that is the great degree of accuracy which
has of late attended the weather forecasts in the morn-
ing papers. At eight o'clock eve ry evening the
Meteorological Office sends round to the London
journals predictions of the probable weather for the
following day; and it is obvious that in a climate
where the success of so many engagements depends on
favourable atmospheric conditions, these forecasts, if
they can be made with any amount of exactitude, are
of greakintereat and value. As the science of meteor-
ology is yet in its infancy, we cannot expect calcula-
tions of the weather to be made upon such marvellously
correct bases as those of the tides or the eclipses. At pre-
sent the prophecies extend only to the day of publication
—that is to say, Saturday's paper does net contain
Sunday's weather. Still, those who have watched
these forecasts for months past are enabled to bear
witness to the fact that they are generally accurate.
Although our scientific men cannot estimate the
weather as they can the phases of the moon, they are
taking a step in the right direction by giving the
public what is to be got. The time may come, in the
next century, when our almanacks will contain the
weather for the year, just like the eclipses and the
tides; meanwhile we are thankful for ;hat we can get,
and this is a great improvement upon the circum-
stances under which weather predictions were made
a few years ago.

take:

The funeral of the Prince Imperial at Chisel'burst on
Saturday, amid every mark of respect for his memory,
and of sympathy with the bereaved Empress, took
place undEr conditions which will not soon be for-
gotten by the English people. He had offered his
sword to the country of his exile, and had volunteered
to go to the front to assist in bringing the Zulus to
their senses, when he fell in a skirmish the name of
which will never be found upon the page of history.
Those who can carry their recollections back twenty
years, will remember that in July, 1859, after the
battles of Magenta and Solferino, the Emperor Napo-
leon and Victor Emmanuel rode together in triumph
through the principal cities of Italy. When the Em-
peror re-entered Paris at the head of his victorious
soldiers, the Empress was standing upon the steps of
the Tuileries, with a laurel wreath ready to place
upon her husband's brow, with her little son, then just
over three years old, standing by her aide. The Em-
peror was then, without exception, the most powerful
Sovereign of his time. It was only two decades ago;
and of the three illustrious persons then upon the
steps of the Tuileries, two lie in simple graves in the
church of a little Kentish village. Had this been
prognosticated in 1859, after the glorious campaign
upon the plains of Lombardy, who amongst us would
have believed it? Less than nine years have passed
away since the Emperor and his son set out for the
Rhine in the war which had been declared against
Germany. "I take my son with me," said the Em-
peror, who that day took his last look upon the capital
where he had ruled so long.
An account has been lately published of the way in
which the indemnity paid by France to Germany on
the conclusion of that war, has been spent. Alto-
gether, including the war contributions imposed upon
Paris and the departments occupied by the German
troops, Germany has received from France the sum of
210 millions sterling. Of this enormous amount 91
millions were in the first instance set aside for Imperial

purposes, and the remainder was divided amongst the

several states forming the new German empire; the
old North German Confederation receiving 79 mil-

lions, Bavaria 13 millions, Wurtemburg 4 millions,
Baden 3 millions, and Hesse one million. Of the
91 millions set aside for Imperial purposes, 28
millions have been appropriated to form a pen-
sion fund, 10 millions to strengthen, enlarge, and
add to the fortified places of the Empire, eight millions
for the purchase and construction of railways in Alsace
and Lorraine, and six millions to improve the for-
tresses in the two annexed provinces. Six millions
have been placed in Ire Imperial war treasury;
£6oo,6oovilibrebein awarded in grants for eminent ser-
vices, £242,000 have gone towards a range for carrying on
artillery experiments, and £300,000 to German subjects
expelled from France, while smaller sums have been
appropriated to recompense railway companies for the
damage done to their rolling stock, to improve the
military, telegraphic, and postal services, to compen-
sate German shipowners for losses sustained during
the war, to extend the military topographical
department, to enlarge the artillery workshops at
Strasburg, to provide commemorative medals, and to
construct a building in which the German Parliament
shall hold its sittings. Yet, after paying such a vast
sum to the conqueror, France is really better off than
she ever was before. The energy of her industrious
people has been the more thoroughly brought to bear
in developing the splendid resources of her soil and in
making the best of her magnificent climate.
Since 1860 there has not been such a Cricket season
as the present, that is to say, so many matches have
not been spoiled by the weather as in that year of
drenching rain, The Eton and Harrow match was
however, played under circumstances far more favour-
able than those which sturuunded the two contests
between ,the Gentlemen and Players. The first
match, which took place at Kennington Oval, re-
sulted in a single innings victory for the Gentle-
men, though their team was not so strong as
in some previoua encounters. Play did not begin until
the second day on account of rain, and when it did the
Gentlemen managed to retain possession of the wickets
during such time as admitted of play, and they scored
250. When the Players went in the surface of the
ground was not in such good order, and had a " crust "
—id est, one inch of dry grass concealing two or three of
wet—which made it treacherous. This, and the deadly
bowling of the two University bowlers, ?awed
great havoc amongst the wickets of the professionals,
and they fell for the small totals of 73 and 48 in the
two innings. Then came the match at Lords, the
great cricket ground upon the north side of the
Thames, corresponding to Kennington Oval on the
South, This was also very much of a bowlers, match,
and neither side could do much in the face of the bowl-
ing of the other. The Gentlemen were now a trifle
stronger than their previous team, while the Players
did not show quite to so much advantage; never-
theless, the latter made a far better game, and left
matters with an open aspect at the time of the draw.
The Players made 121 and 103, and the Gentlemen
109, leaving the latter 116 to win. The sloppy con-
dition of the ground, and the return of the rain,
rendered it impossible to conclude a competition which
is always regarded with so much iuterest.
The success of the French fa 4 at the Royal Albert
Hall was of the most marked charactc, and a sub-


stuntial addition has been made to the funds of the
French charities in the British capital. The interest
In in the bazaar by the members of the English
Royal Family will not be without its effect upon the
minds of a people so susceptible as the French. The
Prin

ce and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess
of Edinburgh, the Duke and Duchess of Connaught, and
Prince Leopold, testified by their presence to their
sympathy with a noble cause. The stalls were presided
over by English ladies of rank and by the ladies
of the Comddie Francalse ; and with such attractions
it is not to be wondered at that a bazaar with such an
object received so much support at a time when a
great deal is heard of the depression in trade and agri.
culture. That depression is not likely to grow less
with the hay and corn harvest in its present backward
condition; but as man cannot control the elements, he
has simply to hope on for better times, and when they
come to make the best of them. Let only the mu
shine just now, and hay would be made rapidly
enough.