The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-03-28 00:00:00

SERIOUS FIRE AT AMBLECOTE,

A fire attended with serious consequences broke
out early on Thursday morning at the firebrick
works of Messrs. John Hall and Co„ Amblecote,
near Brierloy Hill. .3 watchman on the premises
discovered fl Imes issuing from a large retort store
used for the purpose of drying retorts. Efforts
were at once made to impede the progress of the
fire by throwing on buckets of water, but the flames
ha(l obtained such a hold that it was impossible to
prevent the roof and floor of the building, which
was a two story one, !",being completely destroyed.
A large stock of retorts, together with a quantity
of carpenters' tools, mouldings, tie. were also burned
the total amount of the damage being about £SOO.
The Stourbridge Fire Brigade arrived with their
steamer and manual engine, but their efforts were
directed chiefly to prevent the fire spreading to build-
ingccontiguous to the drying stove. The brigade were
occupied three hours and a half before the fire could
be suppressed. The whole of the buildings in dangit
were insured, but the stock, which for ms no incon-
siderable portion of the damage was uninsured.

SIR RICHARD TEMPLE ON CENTRAL
ASIA.

Sir Richard Temple presided on Tuesday night
at a dinner of the members of St. Stephen's Club,
and delivered an address on Central Asian affairs.
There was a numerous attendance, including
Viscount Lewisham, M P., Mr. J. C. Lawrence,
M.P., Mr. E. Clarke, M.P., Mr. Grantham, M.P.,
Mr. Macartney, M.P., Mr. N. Nicholson, M.P., Sir
George Kellner, Mr. Bosanquet, Colonel E. H.
Legge, and others.
Sir Richard Temple, having traced the advance
of the Russians to their present position, said,
sooner or later Russia would advance on Herat by
the lied Red route. They might stop this by
fulfil) lug certain positions near to the city. Not
an instant should be lost, and if the positions were
fortified, then Herat would be rendered impregnable.
Train .d British officers should be sent by the
British Government to co-operate with the Afghans,
and to shew them how to carry out the works. 'Phe
Afghan people were now ready to receive our
assistance, and, therefore, not a day should be lost
in doing the necessary work. If this was done,
the advance of Russia would be checked, and it
would be impossible for her to move into Afghanistan.
She might lay siege to Herat, but the city would
stand a siege; atithe same time they must be pre
pared for the possibility of Russia seizing Herat by
a coup de main. The first line of defence might
tEsreby borced. and we ought to be prepared to
defer don 'second line. which was: Kandahar,
and was a position of the first importance. If
they cave Russia battle at Herat, or if they helped
the Afghans to defend it. as long as they kept
Rus-ia at arm's length then India would be loyal
and ttanquil. If they, on the other hand, I.t
Russia come as far as Kandahar, all India would
be in anxious suspense, and possibly our Empire
there might shake from end to end. They would
recollect that in 1879-80 there was a project for a
railway from the Indus Valley to Kandahar That
railway was ordered by a Conservative Govern-
ment—(hear, hear) —but the construction of that
railway was suspended when the present Govern-
ment came into power. When, however, the
Russians advanced to Mery the railway scheme
was revived. When the railway was carried to
Kandahar, if things looked critical we could move
forward, and with the help of Afghanistan occupy
Kandahar in force. This would leave us over still
900 miles between the frontier of Mery and Russia.
Russia had advanced at the rate of 100 miles a year
and had moved 800 miles nearer to India than when
Lord Beaconsfield was in office. Though he ad-
milted that he would be extremely difficult to pre-
vent Russia appearing before Herat, yet it would
be possible to prevent her getting any further. If
that were done and Kandahar were occupied in
force as a second line of defencei with a good rail-
way communication between that city and India,
then he thought we should be able to give a good
account of ourselves and our Empire, and we
should have an independent Afghanistan as a
quickset hedge, full of very prickly thorns, between
our Indian Empire and Russia.