The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-12-29 00:00:00

._
IA sr- yooon gorrespoOtst.
[We deem it right to state that we do not at all time I
identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

The poli.ly of dynamite, so sedulously advocated by
the foremost of the Irish desperadoes of New York,
has been often heard of in the course of the year which
is now drawing to a close. There was "Something in
It," and that all the menaces were not merely vapour-
ing bluster, was practically brought to the knowledge
of the people of the British capital on the 15th March
by the explosion at the offices of the Local Govern-
ment Board which shook the whole of Whitehall and
was heard all over Westminster. Happily a 2ubstan•
tial punishment awaited the principal agents in this
design, and it is to be regretted that justice was not
equally successful in tracing the perpetrators of the
outrage on the Underground Railway at the end of
October. The execution of O'Donnell for the murder
of Carey has revived the threats of the Irish in New
York against our leading statesmen and against the
public buildings of the British capital in a way which
has induced the police to take extraordinary precau.
tions for the safety of both.

It may well seem strange that conspirators should
proclaim their intentions from the housetops of
New York. It used to be the custom for characters
of this sort to meet in secret, and not to allow a
breath to get wind respecting the nature of their
plans. Their communicativeness has, of course, the
great advantage of putting upon their guard those who
are threatened, And thus it comes to pass that Ha.
warden Castle is protected by a cordon of police, that
London Bridge is very effectually guarded, and that a
watchful care has been exercised over the nation
structures of London.
The outcast poor of London have during the past
wo months received more attention, so far as their
condition is concerned, than for many years past. It
was felt by the metropolis that, for a number of pro-
vincial delegates to meet in a provincial town, and
calmly enunciate the dictum that "London can wait,"
was going a little too far in the spirit of sell-compla•
cency ; and London, which has patiently waited for
nearly half a century for a system of municipal
government, seams now to have resolved to wait no
longer. The subject has been thoroughly taken up with-
out distinction of politics or of religion; and had im-
parted additional interest to those annual appeals
which are made to the benevolent at this time of the
year for assistance towards giving even one day of
coml.)rt to those of the necessitous who see so little of
material sunshine in their lives; Those who are more
fortunately situated so far as this world's goods are
affected, have been pressed to give of their substance,
and there is reason to hope and to believe that these
appeals to the charitable have not been made in vain
The universal celebration of Christmas in all
civilized lands is a great fact in the face of those
constantly-changing scenes and vicissitudes which
mark the world's history. Even in our own times
great political changes have been witnessed not only
in our own but in other countries of Europe, and not
merely in Europe but in the western hemisphere as
well, as for example the great civil war in America.
But compared with the length of the Christian era the
longest life amongst us, not excepting that of Sir
Moses Monteliore himself, is but a speck. Yet the
flight of Time makes no difference whatever in the
heartiness with which this Christian festival is com-
memorated. Philosophers may call this a superstition
if they please; but the Christmas Day celebration
remains a great fact both upon sea and land. Taking
the British flag alone, it will be found that wherever
it waves, whether upon "the Atlantic westward or
upon the calmer waters of the Pacific main," over
Canadian snows or the teeming cities of Hindostan,
or whether it throws out its folds over ,the growing
colonies of South Africa, or hangs listlessly amid the
languid atmosphere of the Gold Coast, there the Eng-
lishmen will be certain to "keep Christmas," and it
is kept as joyously in the midsummer sunshine of
Australia as in tles long nights of our own wintry
latitudes.

T`..e Poet Laureate has told us of the fierce light
which beats upon the Throne, and publicit4y is one
of the penalties paid for the occupation of a high
position. Let us take as an illustration the recent
travels of the Crown Prince of Germany. In
the unsettled state of the Continent the most ordi-
nary movements of so exalted a personage have
been regarded as possessing political significance.
The Crown Prince, however, is a man who is pos-
sessed of a considerable amount of discretion, a
quality which would be very useful in such circum-
stances as those surrounding his visit to Rome, with
the Quirinal on one side and the Vatican on the other
"Fritz," as his august father was accustomed to call
him during the war with France in 1870, is now 53
years of age, a time of life at which if he never did
p.ooao. ai.OVQfirlolo by ca w ••••1 Losotthin..t. 14.4 of to .41.1 L.
learnt it to some extent. But in his mental constitu-
tion the Teuton is habitually a more cautious man
than the Gaul. We never hear in the German Parlia-
ment of those violent scenes and outcries which too
often distinguish the sittings of the French Assembly.
When Shakespeare declared that "uneasy lies the
head that wears a crown," he did not foresee that in
the present tense this would not long remain appli-
cable to her Majesty Queen Victoria. The Sovereign
has told us that in the troubled times of 1848, when, ac-
cording to the late Sir James Graham, "all constituted
authorities in Europe trembled," there wasunquestion-
ably some anxiety even amongst the residents of the
palaces in England; but that was five-and-thirtyyears
ago, and when we compare the freedom of our own
Sovereign's movements with the enforced seclusion of
the Emperor of Russia, the balance of advantage is cer-
tainly on the aide of our own reigning monarch. Even
in the revived demand for Parliamentary Reform,
although it is contended that there are political
grievances to be redressed, no such fierce threats are
heard as in 1831; in the Chartist agitation of 1848 ; no
destruction of Hyde-park railings as in 1866. Her
Majesty, who, with her youngest child, has been
spending her Christmas at Osborne as usual, has had
the satisfaction of contemplating the fact that there is
pace throughout the British dominions and quietude
at home, and that the calm surface of the Solent is a
reflax of the existence of the august ruler of these
realms.

Christmas brings an immunity from that which one
writer has lately described as the plague of public
speaking. This generally prevails with the break of
the Christmas recess from about the beginning of
October to the end of January. Parliament rises in
the middle, or at the end of August, and for three
weeks or a month thereafter, the wearied legislators
are too jaded to attempt the task of much speaking in
the provinces. But October is always a vary lively
month in this way, and recent experience has
proved that its successors are not mach less
animated. The practice of condensation is becoming
more widely applied to most of these utterances.
Now and then a verbatim report of a speech
is given ; but so far as London is concerned,
its readers can be comparatively few. Before half the
business day has gone, the evening papers are out with
a new batch of intelligence, and the four-column
speech which has been placed upon the breakfast table
is possibly superseded by briefer crisper news of more
immediate interest. The verbatim report is thus more
becoming a thing of the past, and the few days before
and after Christmas bring a relief from it altogether.
The elections to the Court of Common Council took
place on St. Thomas's Day, as the custom has
annually been, and the qnestion of London Municipal
Reform having of late been so prominently before the
public its advocates took more than usual interest in
the proceedings of the day. The City is divided into
twenty-six wards, one of which, that of Bridge With-
out, contains no inhabitants, and is always assigned to
the senior alderman. Those who know anything of
the area of the City of London will see at a glance that
if it is divided into twenty-five wards the area of some
of these must be remarkably small. Queenhithe,
for instance, which comprises a portion of the
ground on the banks of the Thames between
Southwark Bridge and the Tower, contains com-
paratively few inhabitants, moat of the space being
occupied by warehouses. Whatever is done there is
little doubt that in any ministerial scheme remodell-
ing City Government, the ward system would be
arranged on a Very different principle.
About the average number of London theatres have
placed pantomime upon the stage for Christmas,
Drury-lane and Her Majesty's being the most im-
portant of the houses with pantomime in the imme-
diate neighbourhood of the Strand and Charing-cross.
The east.end theatres follow the custom and intro-
duce Harlequin, Clown, and Columbine to the notice
and admiration of gazing crowds. It pays only large
theatres such as Drury-lane and the Britannia to pro-
duce pantomime; the comparatively small houses have
not the accommodation required for the annually de-
veloping area of scenery. The cost of production is
also yearly on the increase, but the time during which
pantomime runs does not extend. Eight weeks is con-
sidered very good, and the period is more frequently
seven. Looking at this fact and also at the circum-
stance that theatres will hold only a certain number of
persons, it is not surprising that managers in most
cases prefer burlesque to pantomime at Christmas
time.

Why are naughty children like stair-carpets?—Be-
cause neither can be kept in order without the sod.
A most worthy man, unaccustomed to public speak-
ing, being suddenly c4lled upon to address a Sunday.
school, rose to his feet, and, after vainly struggling for
utterance, &Cleat boeireely ropttered, 'Dear children,
don't 'Ter Way wilhipowderg7