The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-09-26 00:00:00

@ur Fonton Corrtsponba
(We deem it right to state that we do not at all az*
identity ourselves with our Correspondeut's opinions.)

Now that most folk have returned from their
summer holiday and the daylight is becoming
less, thoughts are naturally turned toward the
amusements which best befit the autumn and.
winter. Among these concerts play a very promi-
nent part, and the programmes which can be pro-
vided are of so elastic a character, that all tastes,
as well as all pockets, can be suited. It is' a far
cry from some classical uncert at St. James's
Hall to the musical enterl ainment which is pro-
vi led in a remote villag,), but the same word
covers the both performances, and it may be
doubted whether the enjoyment in the village is
not as great as that in the London hall. A good
many persons cannot appreciate classical musie
sufficiently to sit through a whole evening
devoted to it, and, though this may
be due only to their lack of training
in this direction, the fact remains and
must be met. The reasonable course, it
appears generally to be thought, ia that
thoso who wish to lead the general body of the
public up to a full appreciation of the classical in
music, should sandwich their favourite selections
with some of a more popular cast; and this idea
has been largely acted upon of late years by
many caterers for the public amusement.
It is not in London, however, that any person
has reason to grumble at not having his own
particular sort of musical pabulum provided for
him. Dwellers in the metropolis have an almost
infinite variety of choice as to the concerts they
will attend, and the arrangements for the coming
winter which are already known serve to show
that this will no more be limited in the future
than in the past. Those who do not care for
the concerts at Exeter Hall will be able
to go to St. James's Hall, and those
who do not appreciate the programmes at St.
James's Hall will be able to trawl further West,
and pass judgment upon those placed before
them at the Albert Hall. And when it is
remembered that, in addition to these, there are
concerts always going on in various suburban
regions, it will be seen that a music-lover who
would grumble that he had not a sufficient
choice would be unconscionable indeed. Perhaps
the most effective coup dcril to be seen at any
London concert is presented at the Albert Hall
when that buildina- is crowded. Should it be
half empty the effect is disappointing, but when
every seat is filled, and when in the extensive
gallery throngs of persons are standing, and there
is scarcely room for another to be squeezed in,
the magnificent hall is seen at its best. When it
was first opened, it was found that its acoustic
properties were not as satisfactory as they
should have been; but by some judicious altera-
tions these have been bettered, and there is now
so little to grumble at that even the most invete-
rate scarcely ever indulges in the practice which
has been cynically described as the Englishman's
choicest privilege.
Those who in passing along Fleet-street from
the City westward have given a glance to their
right hand up the narrow thoroughfare known
as Fetter-lane, can scarcely have failed to notico
a large and comparatively new building standing
a little way back from the road. The pile is
sufficiently striking to be worthy of a site where
it could be better seen, and its contents are so
interesting and so valuable that it may be safely
prophesied that, were its occupation known, it
would be looked at with more interest and
visited much more frequently than it is to-day.
For this is the Record Office, in which are depo-
sited most of the originals of the State papers
which have formed part of the history of Eng-
land for the last seven hundred years. In it
will be found the rarest documents of absorbing
interest which England possesses, and intending
historians are almost always to be met within its
walls searching for materials upon which to build
their works. There is a curious sensation of awe
in handling these ancient records. It seems to
bring the Eighth Henry, or Elizabeth, or Charles
the First nearer to us when one has in his hands
documents drawn up or signed by those Sove-
reigns; and history becomes more real as one
thus grasps the very originals upon which so
much of it is based.
The Record Office is largely used not only by
those concerned in the compilation of Imperial,
but by those who are engaged in the work of
writing local history. It is surprising to those
who have not had to give practical attention to
the matter to find what a vast quantity of
information concerning the history of the old
towns scattered up and down the country is to
be found within these walls. Court and manor
rolls, presentments of town juries, assize rolls
and rolls of fines, copies of "privy seals "—all
manner of documents bearing upon the daily
doings of our ancestors are to be consulted at
the Record Office. And the method of admit-
ting persons to view all these treasures is so
simple that no inquirer need be deterred from
attempting to get in by fear of needless or
awkward preliminaries. All an intending visitor
has to do is to sign his name at the entrance,
and this evidence of his bona fides is held
sufficient until he shall have transgressed some
of the regulations which are clearly laid down
for his guidance when once he gets inside.
It may be wondered how many persons who
pay a via to such places of amusement as the
Crystal Palace, the Alexandra Palace, or the
Inventions Exhibition give a passing thought to
the problem of how the food-wants of the
myriads who flock to those places are supplied.
They know that, if they sit down at a certain
set of tables or stand up at another set of
counters, they have only to ask and to have,
Always provided, of course that they have the
money ready; and with this information they
remain satisfied. But it is not without interest
to know a little of the internal details of ar
rangement which enable the having so speedily
to follow upon the asking. At the Inventions
Exhibition, for instance, the number of persons
daily employed in catering for the public is
over seven hundred, half of whom are
women, while the plant and stock required for
the service cost over forty thousand pounds. All
the figures, in fact, are on a gigantic scale, as is
evidenced by the circumstance that no less than
fifteen thousand plates are kept on the various
shelves as a reserve, in addition to the still larger ,
number which is in daily employ, and that there
are between eight and nine thousand serviettes ,
constantly in use. Another heavy figure may be '
mentioned as an instance of the elaborate nature
of the arrangements which such undertakings re-
quire ; 9672 ices were consumed in the Exhibi-
tion on the night of the Royal fete in July, all
of which were made within its precincts.
Such facts and figures as these are only
another proof that there is always an amount of
what may be called " underground " work going
on in connection with public institutions, of
which outsiders, as a rule, know nothing. The
general public receives the finished article and
does not greatly heed the processes which have
brought it to perfection, and this is the case
with such social concerns as that which has just
been spoken of as in other matters. A penny is
given for a newspaper, for instance, and the
print is often tossed aside with the disparaging
observation, "Oh, there's nothing in it," without
a thought of the time, the labour, and the brain
power which has been devoted to its production.
And yet it may be safely averred that, if the
various processes of the development of that par-
tivulaa jv t& al dii,t, aulULiiL
wonder would be caused, as is experienced when
some complicated machinery is inspected for the
first time. Even those who are accustomed to
daily dealings with an intricate arrangement—
whether it is a newspaper, or a steam engine, or
the catering for a public exhibition—do not
always perceive the difficiulty of their task, use
having blunted the feeling, but the intricacy
remains nevertheless.
Several years ago it appeared to be the height
of the skilled artillerist's ambition to produce an
eighty-one ton gun, but, when that was accom-
plished, he sighed for other worlds to conquer,
and a hundred-ton gun was the result. The
Italians have gone even beyond that enormous
weight of metal, but the English appear to think
they have reached a point of sufficient heavi-
ness and another hundred-ton gun is just being
added to our armaments. It is being made at
Elswick, and will have to be delivered at Wool-
wich during October. Preparations are already
in progress for testing- its powers, and what
these are may be gathered from the fact that it
is expected to carry a shell of a ton weight for
a distance of fourteen or fifteen miles. It is
almost appalling to think of the amount of
mischief which lies concealed within such a tube
as this; and it may be hoped that it will be lona-
before necessity for its actual employment will
arise.
A very few days will now elapse before the
cheaper telegraph system will be introduced, and
at the General Post Office in St. Martin's-le-
Grand the utmost efforts are being used to make
everything ready for the change. There seems
to be little doubt that an enormous amount of
new business will be transacted as a result of
lowering the tariff: and it will be needed if the
system is to pay. To provide for tha expected
increase in the number of telegrams, neW lines

of wires have been laid in various parts of Eng-
land, and the cost of the extra plant, coupled
with that of the extra labour, has been very
great. For the sake of the public, it may be
hoped that the new busint_ss will not be too over-
whelming at the start as much confusion will
result. The telegraphic system is a highly
elaborated one, and is of extreme complication,
and although every effort is being made to cope
with the expected increased demand, it will of
necessity be a little time before the new system
will ahalie down into perfect working order. The
Postmaster-General, it may be taken forgranted,
will spend au anxious time during the next few
weeks; but if, as may be hoped, all goes right,
the Post Office will have added, by this new
system, a fresh claim to the many it has already
established upon the esteem and even the grati-
tude of the British public. G. R.