The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-08-08 00:00:00

Our Fonbou erorrtspoAtut
tWe deem it right to rte that we do not at all urns I
khntll,7 outzelves with Cra.' CO reapondent'a opiLiouo

There is a curious misunderstanding over the
proceedings in connection with the naturali&-t-
-tion of Prince Henry of Battenburg. His Royal
Highness took the oath of allegiance to the
Queen as a naturalised subject several hours
before the bill making him one had passed
through Parliament, and the question has been
referred to the law officers of the Crown whether
it will not be necessary for him to take it again.
So far 8.5 the House of Lords was concerned,
there was no difficulty in suspending the standing
orders and passing the Naturalisation Bill
through all its stages in a few minutes. In the
CoMmons it was different. Some of the Radicals
objected, not seriously, but rather playfully to
the haste with which the bill was pushed
through. " Why all this hurry?" asked Sir
Wilfrid Lawson. The truth was, as the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer pointed out, this matter
ought to have been attended to before. Of that
there could be no possible doubt, seeing that
Prince Henry had previously taken the oath,
which it was the object of the bill to enable him
to take.

The business of Parliament is being prolonged
further into August than had been anticipated.
Formerly it was supply which was the last object
of attention, and when the eight days required
by the stages of the Appropriation Bill were at
an end, then came the close of the session. But
this year there has been no difficulty over supply,
which by favour of the Irish members has been
rapidly disposed of during the past few weeks.
The Government has been anxious to push
through some valuable legislation, particularly
the Criminal Law Amendment Bill, and in com-
mittee a tough struggle it has been. The huge
petition of the Sa!vation Army on this subject
attracted consideraille attention. It came
appropriately to the time, which all petitioni-do
mot. For instance, not many 7-ears P..go months
of labour were bestowed on getting un a petition
against making any further grants to the mem-
bers of the Royal family. But at the time no
such question was before Parliament or the
public, so that all the trouble of -the petitioners
went for nothing.
The leader writer who declared in one of the
morning papers that cart ropes would not hold
the House of Commons after a certain date
must have been singularly forgetful of past ex-
perience. The date referred to is, of course, the
twelfth, but the present Parliament has not
once been up on the twelfth. In its first session
it sat into Spetember, and in its second until the
last week in August. The truth is that as long
as there is any necessary business to be done,
the Government takes care to keep a House;
and when a Prime Minister gives it to be clearly
understood that a certain amount of work has
to be performed, there is no trouble about it.
Lord Palmerston once declared that he would
keep the House sitting until September in order
to pass the Divorce Bill, and the menace had its
effect. - _ _

The August Bank Holiday, as the last open-
air occasion of this kind in the year, is often
looked forward to with mingled pleasure and
apprehension. This was more especially the case
this year, for in the midst of a dry season it
rained on Easter Monday, and in London Whit
Monday was a perfect drencher. It is the last
open-air holiday for the year, because on Boxing-
day indoor amusements are the special attrac-
tion; so that a wet August holiday is always a
deep disappointment. Formerly We heard of the
volunteers only at Easter, but now they turn
out in large numbers also at 'Whitsuntide and
in August. In connection with the Bank Holiday
which has just passed. it may be mentioned that
thirty thousand volunteers were encamped near
London for several days' manoeuvres. This means
a sacrifice of time which those who are not volun-
teers should understand and appreciate.
The Manchester Ship Canal Bill is probably
the most gigantic engineering scheme ever
sanctioned by the British Parliament. The
struggle over it has lasted three sessions. One
tear the Commons passed it and the Lords re-
Jected it; another year the Lords passed it and
the Commons rejected it; at length the tv. d
Houses agree that the scheme is practicable,
although some of the conditions imposed upon
the promoters are decidedly onerous. The litiga-
tion is said to have cost -..e350,000, which will, of
course, add so much per mile to the cost of the
undertaking. But Manchester is a very wealthy
place, and having put its hand to the plough
apparently looks not back. It has had many a
contest with Liverpool, but this is the most
costly and the most prolonged of all. No wonder
that the cathedral bells were rung in honour of
the victory.
While the interesting question of over-
pressure in Board Schools is still being debated,
it is not perhaps out of place to refer to the work
of the teachers, especially of the girls' schools.
Many imagine that they are simply engaged
with the scholars during the usual school hours,
9 a.m. until 12, and 2.30 until 4.30. Such, how-
ever, is not the case. In the first place they
have to be at their duties a quarter of an hour at
least, both morning and afternoon, before the
pupils, so as to be in readiness to start at once.
Then after school everything has to be cleared
up, and it is fully one o'clock and 5 p.m.
respectively before they leave the premises.
If this was all the female teacher
TvouM not have much cause for complaint.
Needlework, of course, is one of the chief .things
a girl is taught at these establishments. Each
scholar is provided with an apron in the first
place, which, of course the teacher has to cut
out. When is this done? Certainly not in
school hours. There is too much already to be
done in the time allotted to leave space for such
work. The material accordingly is taken home
by the hard-worked teacher, and there made
ready to be sown by the children the
following afternoon. This is not all; pieces
of calico, or such like, have to be made
up for the pupils to practice on; this is also
done after school hours, and when a standard
consists of 100 or more this is no light task.
When over-pressure is talked of, the public
should give a thought to those whose duty it is
to see and make the children do their work.
Although the Inventions Exhibition draws
such crowds of people, theatrical managers are
beginning to pluck up courage and open their
doors once more. The Adelphi, which has been
closed for some time has opened with a revival
of Mr. Dion Boucicatilt's famous old melodrama
" Arrah-na-Pogue." From the way in which it
was received by a fairly good audience it should
have a prosperous run. Not to be behind hand
Mr. Augustus Harris has again opened his house
with a revival of the late Mr. Charles Reade's
well-known play, "It's Never Too Late to Mend."
This will probably, and should run, until Messrs.
Harris and Pettitt are able to produce their
new drama early in September. The Promenade
Concerts, under the direction of Mr. W. Freeman
Thomas, which were such a success last year,
will open next Saturday at Covent Garden.
Many people complained last year that the
lighting of the immense theatre was insufficient.
This has now been rectified, and on the opening
night the building will present a remarkably
brilliant spectacle, illuminated as it will be by
600 incandescent and 60 arc lights under the
superintendence of Mr. W. R. Oswald. G. R.