The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-04-11 00:00:00

THE GERMAN SOLDIERS IDEA (°'

OBEYING ORDERS. rod
Not long ago a little event took place at astation near near Berlin, which shows what is the
soldier's idea idea of obeying orders. The officer iolhis
mand one morning posted a veteran in front O,
own residen&e, with orders to pace up and dot,
certain distance, and on no account to lower btif,
from the "carry." The officer, a pompous,
sr
important man, was expecting visitors that, "
and he wished to impress them with his inilitOrl
io
style. Calling the soldier before him, he gave 1.30
orders : "You are to pass the distance assigned,wcfr
your gun at the 'carry.' Do you understali to
"Yes, commander." "On no account are you 01.
deviate from your walk, or remove your weapon ff°r.l
its position. You understand ?" "Yes, cominnnae to
"You will not speak with anyone, but ni;l:sre,
observe strict silence. You understand ? "

commander." "Very well; go and obey." • to
d
An hour after the officer's guests were ushere olio
his presence. They entered, each with a broad gr
on his countenance.
"My friend," asked one of Jib"'
"what is this procession in front of your house? #
" Procession—procession ! There is no processionli
blurted out the host, growing red in the face. "
look for yourself." Where
The commander rushed to the window.
was the soldier, as stiff and erect as his ce:10,
weapon, with eyes stolidly staring straight 5b
marching solemnly up and down his beat,rs,
following him was a mob of young street-loale,,er
armed with old brooms, sticks, pitchforks, and °tfio
improvised weapons. Seeing that the soldier
apparently unconscious of all around him, oue .lii
scamp had affixed to the sentinel's coat-0,
string, at the end of which dangled a rusty tio 17itif
And this unique procession had been going on f°,r_. tbe
an hour, to the intense delight of the populace wtbey
street, and the edification of the guests Whet', see
arrived. Out rushed the irate officer. The U'° 'r
ing him, dispersed, and he began to vent his age'
the sentinel.
" Idiot—blockhead—sentinel ! Why did 9°- der
strike them down—disperse them ?"—The conalroni
forgets. I had orders not to remove my gua.,iabt
Position." "True. lam a fool! But you
have ordered them off."—" The commander, irr,,lG
me, forgets again. I had orders not to speak. ed;
is true; but "—"There is no 'but.' You order
I obeyed. What more can be said ?"
Indeed nothing could be said. The officer 'OOl
lowed his wrath as best he could. It would 10,:fisr
gether unmilitary to punish a soldier for ow'
orders.

TUBEROUS BEGONIAS.
,
The cultivation of the tuberous begonias ret'"fit)
commenced at almost any season of the year.et de.
more or less success, but there is, perhaps, no W. It
favourable for making a beginning as the preseitet of
matters not whether a start is made with a Pec:4olo
seed or a few dozen:tubers, more satisfactory
will be obtained by commencing now than 1°0!
other period. Seed sown within the next two or„iie
weeks will, under good management, produce reptll;
that by the middle of the summer will. be 8042 011
strong to bloom most satisfactorily; but thee,lfioei
are unacquainted with these begonias may be 14,ise'
to purchase tubers, which can now be el' aor
to the greatest advantage. They are neviri
mant, and can, in the case of seedlings orl-0130:
older varieties, be obtained at a seel- the/
cheaper rate than growing plants later oil
cost but little, if anything for packing, 51:Triflief
be sent long distances for a very
?tipsy for carriage. Moreover, there is no ,„'•og
injury either from the weather or rough ham", 1011/
course of transit; and they can, of course, be ed.
from first to last under the conditions most WO iiibetl„
to the production of dwarf, sturdy specimene_A tie;
they are started at home. Having determine"f r,
purchasing the tubers whilst at rest, the cultiv, nwfietiff
two courses open to him: he can obtain
under name, or selected seedlings, according to
tion and the means at disposal. First-clas! 7.'epreci
under name are unquestionably the best, as tnef sod
sent the pick of many thousands of see€llos 4,i the!,
where there is no objection to the additional Cie;reiv
should invariable be selected for specimen &it
the conservatory.—Tha Gardeners 211-agazifee•

JOURNALISM AND POLITICS'
t
There is, unfortunately, a certain amount ° „,
as well as of cynical humour, in the apotherjeole
journalism is not literature. But no one vrit,st
that journalism is politics. It is not often tilftifili:l
normal positions of the legislator and the t° ,0011,0
are reversed, as they were at the recon" t_A"
dinner of the Press Club, the legislator beooltoenc;;
critic of the work of the journalist. It 115Punfortunately, however, that both Sir ILiclisr7 tyir
and Mr. W. H. Smith seemed to consider th!ci tbe.,fif
presence in the capacity of guests preveoeoriall
treating the subject in that spirit of faithftu boots fro
which, as they must admit, many of thei-er,l, afff)of
Saturday night exhibit when dealing with ' is
of the Home Office and the Admiralty% tio nezi".
course, pleasant for men who write in 0
papers, and some of whom are 00.;riolioto,
disposed to lament the fact that jr%tite
is not, as in France, the direct bat 1,0
the Legislature, to think that
ent vio_#6l
newspapers the proceedings of FarlißT vicht"v
be of comparatively small account. Sed3
Cross, however, got outside the accoot°Plolgoeirlis
prandial language of compliment when hetitilisovst
that the influence of the press might be
order to restore to the House of Conon°'e bO,rej,
"gentlemanly feeling." It would be unotse seltn_,
sanguine on this head, although it must _tidicov 3o'
that a large amount of special knowledge; apoO
istic astuteness was recently brought to be „,beroellore
discussion of the question as to whether a Ine'-04,111
properly described as a jackal or a bildgneeti p7of
directly bearing on the actual relations owel:ierstklbe•
tical journalism and high politics is the a to de
Mr. W. H. Smith that complete Publiellvices °fief(
condition and conduct of the militant se,.tesr ,t
sirable. It may be pointed out that wL'''
doctrioe'l:sor
may be held as to the soundness of thie„,tary co
directly opposed to the exercise of a, 1311"th°' cleoPs
ship such as has lately interfered witll_,,,,t,
not only of telegrams but of letters by P"'

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