The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1870-05-14 00:00:00

Our Kiminon Contsponkni.

(We deem it right to state that we to not at at times
tdeEtity erostives with our correipondunt: otAntous 1

Slowly and somewhat painfully the Irish Land Bill,
of which most persons must now be weary, makes pro.
cress. That progress haa been so tardy for a long
time that many persona incline to believe that the
measure will not, after all, be carried this session.
There is, however, little cause to fear any such disas-
trous result as the bill being either rejected or with-
drawn. It will be passed this session, almost to a dead
certainty. Scarcely so hopefully can the other great
meaartre of the session, the Education Bill, be spoken

of. There seems indeed considerable doubt wliether

Cl•overament will be able to carry it. That the people

sire to remain without adequate means of education,
'while rival sects and parties are disputing about the

c onditions under which education shall be offered, is in

evitable, but it is to he hoped that this difference of
opinion will not impose a lasting obstacle to the
establishment of really national schools.
There are some subjects which come before Par

rient which are in no degree party questions, and yet

which create an immense amount of excitement and no

little difference of opinion. Such a eubject is betting and
gambling. There are many who strongly deprecate
the Government interfering at all in such a matter,

but many more who consider it the bounden duty of
Government to do what in them lies to discourage

gambling. The Home Secretary has been alluding to
the subject, and reminding us that he had instructed
the Chief Commissioner of Police to prosecute the
keepers of betting houses. And no far as these pro-
'mentions have gone they have undoubtedly been pro-
ductive of good. But it now turns out that the keepers
of such houses have flown to Scotland, where the law
does not apply, and to Boulogne. And why should
the law not apply to Scotland? Why, indeed, should
not the laws be the same all the United Kingdom?
Perhaps this is too much to expect during the present
generation, but the more our laws are assimilated the
better. And it is gratifying to find that there is some

„
prospect of putting down illegal lotteries, the only
difficulty being to prove their illegal character. It is
a shame and a scandal that they should exist. Alto-
gether we are progressing favourably, sofar as Govern.
ment can exert power and influence, and they certainly
are needed, for temptations to gambling still abound.
The mischief, and even the ruin, to which these tempta-
bora lead are incalculable.

Th. 3 annual camping•out on Wimbledon Common,
under the auspices of the National Rifle Association,
bids fair to be more interesting this year than
ever before, in one respect at least—that there
will be more prizes than ever. The association

having invited Manufacturers and tradesmen. to send

articlea of their own manufacture, or in which they

deal, they are coming in rapidly. And so our riflemen
Will have all sort of things to shoot for. Some of the
articles are rather curious—for instance, a full suit of
Skietland tweed (will the suit suit the winner) ; a
meerschaum pipe, a box of cigars, and a pound of
tobacco; an easy chair, and no on. But all this will
give additional interest to the annual rifle contest, and
the donors of the numerous articles will in a very deli-
cate way eontributelto its success.
The Chief Commissioner of 'Metropolitan Police
States that the number of serious crimes against pro.
perty during the last six months of the past year were
less by 13 per cent, than the number during the first
half of the saine year. That is very satisfactory of
course, but Landon burglars seem now to be more
daring than ever at least since the era of the police.
Among the latest burglaries is one at the residence of
Mr. Beaumont, M.P., in Piccadilly, about £lO,OOO
worth of jewellery being taken away, and it is sup-
posed that the burglars may be the same band as thoee
who broke into the houses of Lady Napier, and the
American Minister, and of Mr. Bohn, the bookseller.
Be this as it may it is evident that as much
precaution as ever against housebreakers is needed.
People ought to rely upon themselves in such
matters. However numerous, or however well
organised may be the police, burglars will be more
than a match for them unless housekeepers themselves
are on the alert. If burglaries continue to be as
numerous as of late, perhaps we shall have some new
invention to raise an alarm as soon as burglars get to
work. Ingenious mechaniciims might well turn their
thoughts in that direction.

As almost every stranger who comes to London makes
ri point of visiting St. Paul's Cathedral, it may be
interesting to note that the Dean and Chapter, the
Metropolitan Board of Works, and the City Commis-
sioners of Sewers (a commission that seems to have to
do with everything but sewers), are in correspondence
with regard to throwing open a portion of the church-
yard to the public way, and thus vastly improving the
locality. At present the hitch is that the ecclesiastical
authorities decline to throw open the northern car-
riage way, which is always blocked up by a barrier.
If this could be done, foreigners and strangers would
cease to wonder how it is that the road in which is the
public entrance to the :athedral is blocked up, one
of the funniest anomalies of London show-places.
The proposed improvement has been talked of
as long as I can remember anything, and perhaps it
will be only talked of for many a year to come. Of
greater general interest than anything affecting St.
Paul's, is the discussion in the House of Commons,
arising out of the motion or opening the National
Gallery and portions of the British Museum from 7 to
10 on three evenings a-week. A great deal can be said,
and was said, on both sides of the question. But there
is evidently no hope of this proposition being carried
out. The motion on this occasion was withdrawn.
Mr. Allen seeing it was hopeless to press it, and the
discussion shows pretty clearly that whenever a similar
motion may be brought forward it will meet with a
like result. Captain Shaw and the late Mr. Braid-
wood, who ought to be regarded as authorities on the
liability to fire, both gave it in evidence that to light
up these institutions with gas would be highly
dangerous, and as many architects, builders, and
scientific men agree with this opinion, all the argu..
snenta in the world on the other side seem powerless.
There is one little consolation—that ground at the
back of the National Gallery has been purchased, and,
as Mr. Gladstone puts it, "sooner or later that land
will be built on." Whenever that occurs, no doubt
the Government of the day will take into consideration
the passibility of making such alterations as will
permit of lighting the new building. So that there
Is hope for our children—or grandchildren. Mean
while, the failure of the attempt to open these insti-
tutions in the evening, will add force to the arguments
of the National Sunday League, who advocate the
opening of these "and similar institutions" (rather
vague that) on Sundays. It is probable, therefore, that
this League will recommence an agitation with greater
vigour than before, and those who are opposed to such
a step had better be prepared for it.
Tit-for-tat is often a good principle to act upon,
when we preserve the distinction between retributive
justice and malicious revenge. One of our journals
lately had a very severe article on the superstition of
the lower classes, and now a orrespondent points out
that the upper and middle classes are also superstitions.
"I observed lately," says the writer, "in The Tunes
sixty-two advertisements of marriages on Thursday,
the 21st of April, and not one of a marriage on the
following day. A similar thing may be noticed,
though perhaps not to the same extent every week, so
that it seems that the class of persons who advertise
their marriages in The Time] are not above the super-
stition of thinking it unlucky to be married on a
Friday." The hit is a telling one. This superstition
about Friday (ar i dug out of the crucifixion af our Saviour
having taken place on that day) is very widely spread,
and perhaps exists in greater force in Catholic
countries than in our own, but there is no occa-
sion for any greater strength of superstition than exists
among ourselves. In what class it does not exist it
would be difficult to say. We all remember that story
of • shipowner desiring to counteract this superstition
about Friday. He had a vessel as intimately connected
with Friday as possible. Her keel was laid on a Friday;
she was launched and christened on a Friday; her cap-
tain was appointed on • Friday; she sailed on a Friday
—and was loot ! Very unfortunate that, though it had
about as much to do with Friday as it had to do with
Mercury being in "aphelion," or of Saturn being in
conjunction with the Moon. I wish some shipowner
would have the courage again to try a similar experi-
ment. But perhaps it would do no good. All the
accidents that ever happened to this ship (and there
is no vessel free from them) would be set down as
owing to its connection with Friday.

The Crystal Palace commenced its season well last
Saturday, and the whole place looked bright and gay
in its lovely spring dress and with its brilliant com-
pany. A great musical festival at this "palace of the
people's pleasures" is like nothing else in the world,
and a finer sight than the monster orchestra in full
action, with the whole palace filled with a well-dressed
audience, it would not be easy to conceive. The great
musical festival of IS7O will bear comparison with its
predecessors, and I hope it will be of good augury for
the future.

The sad and painful excitement created by the mur•
dere in Greece is partially kept up by the exhibition, in
the photographers' windows, of the portraits of seven
of the Greek brigands. Their countenances certainly I
do not speak in their favour, and the comments of the
examining committee, who lounge at the windows, are
anything but complimentary. How far opinion is in-
fluenced, however, by a knowledge of the previous
facts, it would be difficult to determine. When we
visit Tormada Chamber of Horrors we are prepared

to find 'Albumin physiognomies, and of course we find
them—or our fancy makes them villianous.
The temporary population of London must be some-
what increased by the numbers of people who have
"come up for the May meetings," but at all events
these meetings are very numerous just now. What an
enormous amount of religious and moral anti% ity is
representtd at these gatherings ! It is said that they
are not so largely attended as they have been during
previous years. That is a very difficult asserti in to
prove or disprove; but at all events an immense
amount of enthusiasm, a great deal of talk, and doubt-
less a great deal more work, are represented by these
"May meetings"—meetings which find no parallel in
any country in the world.