The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-05-26 00:00:00

Our "'unbolt gorrtspoOnnt.

[We deem it right to state that we do not at all times
Identify ourselves with our correspondent's opinions.]

The days will not be much longer now; a few
minutes wore of light in the dawn and at eventide
now mark the difference between the end of May and
the 21st of June. The time which separates the
close of the Whitsuntide recess from the beginning
of July is a busy one in London. The vast number
of forms of life in the great capital may be
observed through nearly twenty hours of daylight,
like a series of shifting scenes in a huge kaleidoscope.
As the dawn gradually creeps over the eastern sky
in the early morning the echoes of the streets are
%wakened by the sounds of the long lines of
vaggons, wains, carts, and other vehicles hurrying
from the country into London with the fresh
produce of the market•gardens from the home

counties. Middlesex itself, -in which the larger part

of London stands, contributes an enormous proportion
to the feeding of its population; Essex, too, 'does its
best in this direction. But the wayfarer who crosses
, to the south side of the river in those still hours will
hear the wheels rumbling in from fertile Kent and
from pleasant Surrey on the way to Covent Garden,
or to the other great centres for the collection of agri-
cultural produce to which they may be bound.
As the sun gradually mounts from the horizon
towards the zenith, whers its rays will be vertical at
noon, the picture changes. The little area known as
*the City, which compared with the rest of London
may almost be said to lie tinder the shadow of St.
Paul's Cathedral, becomes a veritable hive of busy
• bees, and men of business literally by hundreds of
• thousands, crowd into it from the uttermost part of
• the capital. Every description of cunveyance is
called into, requisition—underground railways in the
,north, railways above -the- chimneys in the south,
tramcars and omnibuses. The river steamers, too,
pour in their contingents; the Thames, so silent in
' • the early dawn, that you may hear the plash of the
tideway upon pier and arch, is now alive with multi-
tudes passing up and down its surface. The scene
to-be *itnessed from the Royal Exchange at mld-day,
when the volume of life is at its height, is without
parallel throughout • the wide universe. Paris or
Vienna, St. Petersburg or New York, or indeed the
whole of them combined, could show nothing like it.
Westward through Cheapside, northward through
Moorgate-street, and eastward through the thorough-
fares of Lomtard, Threadneedle, and King William, as
.well as by way of historic Cornhill, slowly move the
. . .
mighty streams of traffio.--slowly ,because of eh,
enormous bulk. Then as the afternoon creeps on,
: and the sun imperceptibly travels from the south
to the west, the living tide of humanity which
has gathered in the City finds itself homeward bound.
The direction is just the very opposite of that
n the morning. Evening sees the great metropolis
brilliantly lit up. And then at last comes midnight
when a solemn quietude has taken the place of the
bustle and the animation of twelve hours before. The
simultaneous striking of the hour by the bell of St.
Paul's in the east and by Big Ben in the west has an
impressive effect. The notes that tell of the flight of
another day seem long to linger in the air. Behind
he walla of the giant town four millions of people
are asleep just as they were twenty-four hours before;
but within that brief space of time more than two
hundred people in that wide area have died, and
more than three hundred infants have been born.
Verily a marvellous place is the aggregation of houses
• •-•• which make up the great world of London!
The celebration of Her Majesty's birthday is an
. event of considerable interest in London. The official
commemoration necessarily is always fixed for Satur-
day, so that the engagements of the Ministers and the
great officers of State may not interfere with their
A . Parliamentary duties. It is customary f• r the Heir-
Apparent to dine on that occasion with the Premier of
the day, no matter what political party is in power.
The illuminations at the west end of the town are
really well worth seeing. Those palatial edifices, the
clubs, always light up, and immense erowds are at-
tracted to Pall Mall and St. James's-street. In
Regent-street and Piccadilly the moving throngs
witness the devices with which the Royal tradesmen
do honour to the day, and when the moon is not too
powerful the combined influence of gas and electricity
produce an effect which elicits admiration and reflect
credit upon an occasion of so much interest.
The Queen is now 64 years of age, and although she
has reigned 46 years, her Majesty is still younger than
any of the sovereigns of the House of Hanover, when
the time had come for them to lay down the crown
and the sceptre. Her grandfather was nearly eighteen
years her senior when he was called to his rest. George
lIL is likely to stand out in history as a Sovereign of
exceptional longevity, both in himself and in the time
during which his children were upon the list of the
living. Between the birth of the eldest and the death
. of the youngest the amazing term of 95 years elapsed,
George IV. was born in 1762, and tbe Duchess of
Gloucester died in 1857.
That product of modern civilisation known as the
Special Correspondent " has been taking flight during
the past week from London for the interior of Russia.
Notwithstanding the undefined fears attending the
coronation of the Czar, the duty of chronicling the
proceedings is not such a dangerous one as many which
the Special Correspondent has to encounter. At all
events, he has had time to make his preparations for
departure; while, on one occasion, a well-known
member of the band had to depart for the seat of war
at a few hours' notice. Life at Moscow, however,
will not be all pleasure. In the first place, those who
have delayed engaging hotel accommodation until their
arrival will experience a difficulty in finding a local
habitation. One London newspaper, which sends two
representatives, engaged and paid for accommodation
more than a month ago. So great will be the crowding
in the city that the Russian Embassy in London has
received instructions from St. Petersburg not to grant
permission for any more visitors to the ceremony.
The season for the Londoner's country and sea-Bide
excursions has coMMenuta in carneat, and tha
"husband's boat" for Ramsgate and Margate will
, . once more become the popular institution it always
is. In the matter of relaxation the cockney shows
• a singular want of enterprise. He has a few well-
known country haunts, and the persistency with
which he continues to visit them year after year
would lead people to the conclusion that the available
rural felicity is painfully limited. On the contrary,
to those who study to leave the beaten tracks, the
difficulty is to decide between the many pleasant and
quiet retreats. For instance, to most people Har-
penden is known only in connection with the race
meeting which takes place on the Friday before the
Derby. Readers of Charles Lamb's Essays, however,
will remember a delightful excursion which the gentle
Elia made to Wheathampstead, which is close to
Harpenden and within easy reach of London. In
fact, there is scarcely a village within thirty miles of
Bow Bells which has not the charm of some literary
association, while within ten miles from Hyde Park
some of the most delightful of old•world hamlets can be
seen. The metropolis can be made to combine almost
• all the advantages of town and country life.
Many of the London Vestries are now being agitated
by the Electric Light question. In one pariah in the
Borough of Lambeth the proposal to adopt electricity
for illuminating purposes has been the battle. ground—
if such a metaphor may be employed in this connec-
tion—at the recent Vestry election, the champions of
the new method having in that district met with a tem-
porary defeat. The patrician parish of St. George's,
better known in conjunction with its church in
Hanover-sqnare, has, however, taken a different course
in resolving to at once proceed with the lighting of a
coreiderable area with electricity,Tand there is little
doubt but that this course will before long be followed
..in many other parishes.

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