The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-06-17 00:00:00

Our Fonbn Corrtspithtni.

[We deem it right to state that we do not at all Urns
Identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.)

One of the first lessons taught to children in the
primer tells them that "the horse is a noble animal."
The creed is one which has received general endorse•
meet in all ages; for if we go back to ancient history,
sacred or profane, we find that Solomon had 40,C00
stalls of borsee for his chariots, and that the people of
Thessaly were amongst the best equestrians which
the world hal produced. In peace or in war—in
the quiet pursuits of agriculture, or in bearing down
upon armed battalions in the field of battle—the
horse is found to be of incalculable service. The
neighing of the war-horse is mentioned with much
effect in the Book of Job. Chariot racing was a
Greek exercise, and the chariot of an Ethiopian officer
is referred to in the eighth chapter of the Acts of the
Apostles. :Tunnel Cesar relates that Cassivelatuaus,
after dismissing his other forces, retained no fewer
than 4,000 war chariots abut his person. The first
Athenian chariot is supposed to have been produced
about 1,500 years before the Christian era. I quote
these facts merely to show how popular the horse has
been from the most remote antiquity, and to illustrate
the immense service he has been to man. One of the
exercises amongst the ancient games of Greece was
horse racing, and in our own day we see what vast num-
bers collect on such occasions. The Horse Show
at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, is one of
the favourite gatherings of the year for all classes,
from Royalty downwards. It is held early in June,
a very different time a the year from that selected for
the Cattle Show, in the first week of December. The
Horse Show, as a rule, leaves bright and cheerful
associations behind it; whilst clustering round the
collection of horned cattle, sheep, and pigs are remem-
brances of fog and gloom, and bitter winds. Exactly
half a year separates the two; and if the sight-seeing
public was polled as to which left behind it the most
pleasant memories, the verdict would be in favour of
the horses. Another evidence of the popularity
of the horse is found in the enormous assemblages
which gather in Hyde Park on the afternoons
selected for the parade Of the Coaching and
Four-in-Hand Clubs. Thousands is really not
the word for them. They are there from all parts
of London, and are well repaid for their journey, for
some of the best blood in Europe passes before them.
Often more than thirty fours-in-hand elicit the admira-
tion of the multitude. Blacks, greys, browns, chest-
nuts—the most fastidious may have his choice; and you
have not ceased to praise one turn-out before another
low come up, and you find your superlatives exhausted.
The animals themselves are good to look upon, but
the magnificent way in which they are mounted sets
off their proportions to the beat advantage, and makes
these afternoons amongst the most agreeable of the
summer.

A new suggestion has been made for supplying recre-
ation to the people. It is proposed to build a palace of
noble proportions, chiefly composed of glass and iron,
on the banks of the Thames close to the railway
stations and steamboat pier in Battersea Park. The
cost is estimated at £lOO,OOO and the building would
be celled the Victoria and Albert Palace, because that
Is the site which the Prince Consort wished to have for
the great exhibition of 1851. The object is to provide
mholecome recreation for the people, and the palace
would contain a laege conservatory, aquaria, and fresh
and sea water swimming baths. These aquaria are rapidly
becoming exceedingly popular institutions—that at
Brighton has achieved for,itself an European reputation.;
the Westminster Aquarium has lately burst into favour,
and that at the Crystal Palace is one of the most
generally patronised departments of the place. By
the way, we were all giad to see that amid all the other
Whitsuntide attractions, more than 63,000 visitors
went to the Crystal Palace on one of the holidays. The
institution at Sydenham has been trying to please us,
for more ihan twenty years, and thoroughly deserves all
the public support that can be given to it.
The anxiety respecting what is called the
Eastern Question, and the despatch of a powerful
ironclad fleet to the Mediterranean, remind us
that although only twenty years have elapsed since
the conclusion of the war with RuEsia, the science of
fighting, more especially upon the sea, has been com-
pletely revolutionised in that time. Altheugh it looks
a great deal when added to a man's age, it is a mere
speck in the history of a nation, or of the world. Yet
in this brief space we have overturned the traditions of
thousands of years. From the time when Noah set
about the construction of the ark until within even the
past fifteen years, ships of whatever description were
of wood. When the Baltic and Black Sea
Fleets were despatched from our shores in
ISM, it was as true then as it bad ever
1- een that our ships were British oak and hearts of oak
cur men.' The huge Duke of Wellington, the flag-ship
of Sir Charles Napier, an enormous three-decker now
lying in Portsmouth Harbeur, was then lee ked upon
As the embodiment of strength, and as the finest
specimen of naval architecture which could be pro-
duced. She was mounted with 131 guns, and could
throw six tons of iron shot in four minutes. What
chance would this monster ship have now against one
of our ironclads. To say nothing of the calibre of the
guns now carried, a single blow from a ram such as
that with which our men-of-war are now furnished,
would send her like a stone to the bottom. When
the Russian war was over, a grand naval review
was held by the Queen at 3pitheac.l, in April
18.56; yet of the vast armada which then crowded the
surface cf the sea, not a single vessel would now be of
the slightest service in offensive warfare. Old things
have passed away, and all have . become. new. The
35-ton gun was looked upon as a prodigy, yet it has
been superseded by the 81-ton weapon; the DevastatEon
finds len-self ecFpsed by the Inflexible, and at the same
rate it wou!d he impossible for any one to predict what
further revolutions, not twenty, nor even ten, nor five
may produce.

Preparatory to the Nat!onal Rifle Competiron at
Wimbledon in July, a series of impartant rifle meet-
ings are being held this month. To the great gathering -
upon the Surrey Common, every crack volunteer shot
in the kingdom looks forward with high anticipat'ons,
and these June meetings are the precursors of the
Wimbledon contests. A larger amount of money
was never cffered than is now being competed for.
The sum, it is stated, reaebea the extraordinary total
of XII,COO, and for the month preceding Wimbledon,
this it must be acknowledged, is more than liberal..
It may well be called profuse. Under such circum-
stances no one can wonder that increased devotion to
the use of the rifle is being displayed by both civilians
and volunteers. Success can only be achieved by
the moat careful and systematic practice, and our
riflemen are fu'ly aware of this. No ardent
sportsman defies the inclemency of the weather
more persistently than the thorough-going marksman
at the rifle ranges. With rumours of war in the
distance, and all kinds cf threatened European com-
binations, the spread of rifle-shG3ting is to be encouraged
as much as possible. The pastime is harmless, and
tho accomplishment Possesses great value; while
nothing can exceed in interest and attraction the meet-
ings and periodical competitions of our rifle associa-
tions.

The Hospital Sunday collections will be made on the
18th instant; but hitherto, these, so far as London is
concerned, can scarcely be said to have been a success.
A sum of about £27,000 is really a very poor affair
amongst three millions and a half of people.
The metropolis is so vast a place, covers such an area,
and combines so many interests, that it is very difficult
for it to unite even for a cbalitable purpose. Residents
of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, and of the western end
of the Strand, know the value of the Charing-cross
Hospital, for they witness it every day; therefore they
would willingly subscribe towards its support. Thou-
sands in Shoreditch and Whitechapel have been re-
lieved from the East London Hospital, but the in-
habitants of that region do not care to contribute to a
general fund which is to be distributed promiscuously
at Hollowayin the north, Brixton in the South, and St.
George's in the West. The mass of the people at the
East-end will never go to Holloray, to Brighton, or to
'Hanover-square in their lives; why, then, they ask,
should they trouble about supplying the wan ts of localities
to which they are as completely strangers as they are
to Birmingham or Manchester ? That is the true
secret why, this movement has not succeeded so well in
Lon&pn, as in many a large provincial town. It may
be added that the large hospitals with rich founda-
tions do not share in this fund. St. Bartholomew's, or
Guy's, for instance, would swallow up between £4,000
and £5,000 each if they were allowed to participate
according to the proportion eupplEd to the poorer in-
stirutionen But they do not want the money, being
amply provlded for already.
Tao removal of the remains of the Orleans family
from England to France for interment suggests some
curious reflections. On a cold February day in 1843,
King Louis Fhillippe, as plain John Smith, landed at
Newhaven in a fishing smack, an exile for ever from
the land over which be had ruled. He did int long
survive his downfall, dyLig in 1850, but his Q leen,
Marie Amelie, lived until 1866, when she was buried
by the side of her husband in the land of their expa-
triation. Amongst those who came over to this
country to the funeral of the ex-Queen of France ten
years ar was M. Thiess, who had beon one of the
King's chief Ministers; and as he stood above the
vault in which the members of the ex-Royal family
lay, it was generally supposed that M. Thiers
had had his day so far as statesmanship WA3 concerned,
and that he could never again wield influence in
France. At that time the late Emperor Napoleon
was at the height of his power, had banished the
Orleans family and confiscated their estates, and to all
appearance had founded A Napoleonic dynasty which