The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-09-08 00:00:00

'Nonban 6outspoubtnl,

_CFe deem it right to state tint we do not at all Vme,
tmtify ou-selves with our Correspondent's .)pinions.3

With the incoming of the lovers of sport
throughout the country are actively engaged. The
thirteer,th of August (for the occurrence of the his.

torical " Twelfth " this year on a Sunday drove the
opening day twenty-four hours later) saw the earliest

saerifiats of the heather•coloured grouse; the firt of

September gave the signal for the slaughter of many a
plump partridge; the first of October will witness the

destruction of thouands of pheasants. Then will
come cub-hunting, to be followed by the pursuit of the
fox, and even in some parts of the wild deer, and thus
the sportsman's time will be occupied until the spring
once more invites him to gentler plea.mres. It is a
curious relic, in these days of advanced civilization,

this survival of.the earliest love of all mankind for

hunting, and bow long it will continue to co-exist with
the ever-changing circumstances of modern life is a
question which has greatly exercised many a philo-
sopher and sociologist. But it is not a problem which
greatly stirs the imagination of those with whom it
rrjght seem to have the most concern. The genuine
sportsman takes but little heed of philosophical specu-
lation ; it is sufficient for him that the game exists
and is in fit condition to be pursued. When in
the heat of the chase, or when in those almost

equally delightful moments when the day is done and

the met comes after the pursuit is over, the sportsman

who would trouble himself with doubts as to the
wisdom of his course is not likely to derive much

enjoyment from his action. It is allowable to have
more than one opinion upon the moral lawfulness of
sport, but the question should be definitely settled

before a person takes the field.
Toe who for the first time pay a visit to the
metropolis at this time of the year, and who have

heard or read that London ia empty, will wonder
what it can be like when it is full. If they come intr.

the City at high noon, and stand at the Royal Ex-
change, where, according to Heinrich Heine, the pulse
of Europe beats, they will see Cheapside and Thread-
needle-street, Qaeen Victoria•street, and the whole
region surrounding the Bank, crowded with horse and
foo-, ornoibu,:es and private vehicleP, waggons, wild

cabs being mixed in what at first looks like inextricable
coLfusion, and pedestrians sorely puzzled to thread

their way through such a maze. Let the same visitors
go to one of the great metropolitan termini, and a
similar scene of bustle and apparent confusion will be
presented to their view ; let them attempt to enter a
train on the Underground Railway, and a crowd is

almost certain to be found impeding their footsteps ;
and PO through all the busiest portion of London.
The streets and the docks, the bridges and the railway
stations, show no symptoms of that phenomenal
emptiness of which ea much is annually heard. It is
only when a visitor penetrates to the fashionable
portion of London that he perceives a reason for the
statement that there is "no one in town." In street
after street of Belgravia, Mayfair, and Kensingtcr,
the blinds are drawn in every house; the West End
parks are practically deserted; the palaces are shut ;
and Rotten Row is a desert. But London is a city of
four millions—a fact which often seems to be for-
gotten ; and the depletion of one portion of the town,
and that very far from being the largest, can E candy
be held to justify the cry so often heard.
The mention of visitors to London is a reminder

of some of the difficulties with which a stranger
is met who wishes to travel easily and swiftly from
one part to another of such a vast metropolis. In
the matter of omnibuses, for instance, it is sur-
prising how much delay is sometimes caused to
the casual traveller who does not know his Lundon
bearings by his inability to distinguish in what direc-
tion the vehicle is travelling. If he stand in Oxford.
street, for instance, and wishes to proceed to the
West.end, he hails a Bayswater 'bus and thinks him.
self secure, being awakened from his dream cnly when
he finds hims H deposited at the Bank. It is some-
what surprising, seeing how many mbtakes of this
kind occur in the course of a year, that some means is
not taken of avoiding them. In Paris there is a very
simple method which, effectually answers the purpoae.
On the top of each 'bus and tramcar is a reversible board,
with the two destinations painted one on each side,
The passer-by in the street can tell at a glance whither
the conveyance is bound and acts accordingly. Some
such convenience in London would be hailed as a boon,
not only by those who come from the country, but by
the thousands, especially ladies, who reside in the
metropolis, but who are comparatively seldom in the
streets.

Anyone who has had much business at one of the
greater Metropolitan Railway Stations, will know
the difficulty which often arises as to which plat-
form to choose for any given train. The porters may
be obliging, and there may he a very fair number
of them, but the travellers are so many that it in
not possible for every question to be answered as
speedily as it is put, and the result very often is con-
siderable confusion. It must, therefore, have been
very satisfactory to the patrons of one of the companies
having a terminus in London to find that means had
been taken to prevent much of what to many must often
have proved a great annoyance. At a certain metro-
politan terminus a large board has been erected right
opposite the main entrance, and on this has been
placed a series of clock•faces, having opposite boards
stating the platform from which the next train for any
particular district will start, the dials in the same way
showing the time of departure. This has not been in
existence long, but sufficiently so to enable it to
become a very popular institution. No longer are
the officials tormented by questioning thousands eager
to know when and from what platform a given train
will start; intending passengers as they make their
way into the station pause at the board, look for the
indicator of their own direction, and proceed to the

proper platform accordingly. A more striking illus.

,tration of how much comfort can be afforded by a
single improvement could sc4rcely have been fur-

The F cce e s of the Fisheries Exhibition at South
Kensiogt,n has been one of the moat noticeable

feature; of the Lendon season and the announcement
of the Executive Committee that it will not only
remain open to a later date than had originally been
fixed, but that the building will not be demolished
when teis particular show is finally over, has been
welcomed with much delight. Those who had the
matter in hand always prophesied that such an
Exhibition would prove wonderfully popular in
London, and they certainly left no stone unturned
which could assist in the due fulfilment of their
prediction. But there were not wanting a good
number who opined that "the Fisheries," as it is
familiarly called, would be but a nine days' wonder,
and that, when the eclat given by a Royal opening
had died away, the whole thing would fade into some-
thing very like inanition. The prophets of evil have
been proved to have been mistaken, and although it is
yet too early accurately to forecast what will be
the result of the Exhibition in contributing to a
cheaper and more plenteous fish supply for the
metropolis, sufficient data have already accrued
upon which to frame some sort of judgment. But it
is not to be doubted that, with the great majority
of those who visit the show, it is not the
practical outcome so much as the immediate enjoy-
ment which is most considered, and on this latter
point there cannot be much doubt, Especially is this
the case of the evening files, which are of a type with
which Writinental cities are much more familiar than
English. Their success has been such that a repetition I
of them next summer will not merely be looked for
but eagerly awaited.
The year of which nearly three-quarters have
already sped is likely to live in history as that of
earthquakes. Some years are more famous than others
because of the colliery disasters, the shipwrecks, or
the floods with which their course has been marred.
But the present year of grace, while not SO prolific in
those moving accidents of flood or field with which
others have been chequered, has been marked with
more earthquakes than any twelvemonth in recent
memory. We had scarcely recovered from the shock
of the terrible catastrophe in Ischia by which a whole
town was a Arept into oblivion, and its inhabitants, who
could be counted by thousands, destriled, than the
eruption on the volcanic island of Krakatoa in the
Sunda Straits throws even that disaster into shade.
Those who live in a land where earthquake shocks are
practically nnknown, and where, even when they do
occur, the only result is a little shaking of the furni-
ture tasting one or two seconds, can scarcely
understand the fear which sweeps over a population
in volcanic countries when the earth begins to tremble.
A sickening terror tills the breasts of all, and it is
fortunate if this is tbe worst result. It is when the
earth opens, when the sky is darkened with an almost

super.,atural darkness, when .the strongest houses
totter to their very foundatic rp, and even the mighty
hills appenr about to fall, that the full horror of the
eartl-,quake can be appreciated. The curious fertility
which marks most volcanic lands is no compensation
for the contingency of such dangers as these.

London has had another "Hospital Saturday," and
the establi.hments devoted to the c Ire and cure of the
sick and wounded have benefited accordingly to the
extent of several thousand pounds, Like the sister
institution "Hospital Sunday." the "'Sw.tirday " has
not many years been in aistence, and its usefulness
is obviously such tha.t_i_qtri_lrt3pAopie 48. sL ,
range that
this should be The &i.e. The idea is v.t once so simple
and so praiseworthy that it might have been imagined
that it would have been put in practice long before it
actually was, but -the promoters now appear desirous
-