The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-09-27 00:00:00

Our Inban aoraspodent.

(We devil tt right to state tbat We do not at-at:nes
.tileutify ourselves with our Correapondent's opinialt.j

The discussion which has recently beat 'carried on
in the columns of sonic of the Londoa tewspapers as
to the exact time of die year that the.' harvest moon"
is to be seen, is a reminder of the 'fact that for 1884
In most parts of the kingdom the harvest has not
'been gathered in. There are extreme northerly
.portions of these islands in which the harvest is very
ISte, and 'where September in well-nigh spent before
the last sheaf is garnered; tut, as in all such matters,
• one can only speak generally, and, speaking generally,
it has been evident to all that the harvest has been a
good one. It is not needed to indulge in laborious
-statistics to prove a paint like this; fortunately for
the welfare of the great bulk of us, the fact is this
year self-evident. And who that considers the matter
can fail to see the inestimable boon that is conferred
by the occurrence cf a good harvest? The very poor
are benefited by this as they are perhaps by no other
one thing; and those whose lot it is to labour and to
earn their bread by the sweat of their brow are well
able to realise the blessing of having the staple article
of food at a cheap rate. Farmers and labourers,
merchant and workman alike, have reason to rejoice,
and the time of plenty is the time of happiness, as it
has been from the beginning of the world.
The summer of 1884, which may now be said to
have drawn to a close, will be remembered for long
to come as having been the finest of recent years.
Settled weather has marked its course in as creat
• degree as rain has characterised what should have
been the summer time of some years within easy
recollection. 1879, for instance, has not been forgotten
• by those who had to be out-of-doors to any great
extent. London had peculiar reason to bear it in
mind, because of the ceaseless and pitiless rain which
fell during the whole period of the Royal Agricultural
Society holding its annual show at Kilburn. The
site was an excellent one, the entries were numerous
to an unexampled extent, the metropolitan public
were anxiously awaiting the opportunity of making
practical and close acquaintance with the best speci-
mens of the products of the soil. But the rain spoilt
all. The exhibition opened amid a downpour such
as has seldom being seen in time of summer, and as
day after day went by the rain continued, and, if
possible, increased. The field in which the exhibi-
tion was held became a sea of mud, and even the
hardy souls who braved the wetness had speedily to
retire discomfited from the scene. And thus it came
to pass that an exhibition which might have taught
dwellers in town a great deal as to the -skilfulness of
their brethren in the country, was deprived of its
effect by a power which no human agency could
control.
No sooner is summer ended, and before autumn
has well had time to set in, preparations for
Christmas are being actively undertaken. Few but
those who have had for business purposes to make
themselves acquainted with the facts, can have any
conception of the labours which are commenced in the
summer for the winter. To go no further afield
than the comparatively modern institution of Christ-
mas cards, it would surprise most people to find what
an enormous quantity of these are disposed of yearly.
Artistic eyes and busy fingers are at work throughout
the summer in preparing designs for the cards which
in the winter will bring joy to manya heart and light
to many a home. The development of the custom
of presenting these is one of the mast marked of
recent social fashions, and the manner in which they
are now presented to us—even the cheapest being a
picture—has been a distinct aid to the artistic move-
ment which has been a characteristic of later years.
It is not alone in the matter of presentation cards
that much is already being prepared in the publishing
world for the due celebration •of Christmas. The
love for the Christmas Annual has very far from
diminished, and every magazine with a pretence to
popularity has to provide a special number at the
joyous season, in which its many goodnesses are cele-
brated in story or in verse. It is a very old tale
amongaliterary men of the writers who, in the midst
of the hot days of summer, have to enngfri,Pt atesiss
dealing with the time of ice and snow. Shakespeare
asked, centuries ago, whether it was possible to hold
fire in the hand by thinking of the frosty Caucasus;
but there ought to be a certain consolation to a man
amid the broiling heats to be forced to chronicle the
beauties of winter. Perhaps this view does not
occur to those who by circumstances are compelled to
do this; but men who wish to walk through this
world comfortably do well to look at the best side of
things, and to extract from apparent incongruities as
much harmony as possible.
Whenever Parliament is not sitting, when, in fact,
what is commonly called the "dead season "is in
being, even the most careless reader of a daily news-
napes can scarcely fail to note that social contro-
versies which are not heard of at other times of the
year come to the front, and are discussed with a zeal
which makes it difficult to realise why they should be
so long allowed to slumber. One year the question of
what to do with "our boys" is the one to which the
whole of public attention is directed, another autumn
the topic for our delectation is the provision of cheap
dinners for the mass of the people, and in a third the
one subject for discussion is whether it is well for
many of us to emigrate. Politics for the time are
put aside while these topics are being actively
threshed out from all points of view; and though
those to whom public affairs are as everything, and
social matters as almost less than nothing, may ob-
ject to the amount of time and space annually de-
toted to such debates as have been voted, it is
scarcely to be doubted that good arises from the more
perfect ventilation of topics to which under ordinary
circumstances an insufficient amount a public atten-
tion is apt to be given.
The River Thames during the past summer has
scarcely deserved some of the lines in which Sir John
Denham celebrated its characteristics two centuries
ago. It is still "strong, without rage," it continues to
merit the remark concerning its being "though gentle
yet not dull," but decidedly during this summer it
has not been "deep, yet clear," for it has been shal-
lower than ever and its muddiness has consequently
been more apparent, and, for the same reason, it
cannot lately be said to have been "without o'erflowing,
full." Facetious individuals living up the Thames,
and at no extraordinarily great distance from London-
bridge, have placed in the bed of the river notice
boards with the inscription, "This space to be let for
building," and seeing that a cricket match has
actually been played and a luncheon held on the spot
where the water ought to flow, the idea did not seem
so utterly preposterous as it might at first sight. The
low condition of the river has been attributable not
only to the unusual dryness of the season, but to the
immense and growing quantity of water which is now
pumped from it to supply the wants of a large portion
~of the metropolis.

The question of supplying London with water
is one which is thrust into prominence with every
dry season, for our wants are growing yearly, and
growing with a rapidity with which the present
y,.eources are hardly able to cope. A great part of
Alorth London is fed by the New River—due to the
enterprise in Stuart times of Sir Hugh Myddleton ;
East London depends upon the River Lea for its
, watery while the remainder of the metropolis has to
drink from the Thames. Some very extensive, and it
may be-said some very extraordinary schemes, have at
one time; and another been laid before the public to
meet a demand which, in the course of a few years,
is bound to become louder and louder. Liverpool
has had to go to the Welsh river, Vynwry, while
Manchester has had to seek help from Thirltnere,
and it is asked why London should not go far afield
an search , of meter. The Romans of old were not
afraid of making gigantic aqueducts when they
required to bring water from long distances, and the
• question is put .whether it is not possible for us to do
the same. But it must be confessed that, for the
present, at least, it looks, if not impossible, yet very
highly improbable, that London will have to go to
Westmoreland for water.
It is hoped by some practical men of science that
before the approaching winter is over sonietfeing will
be done to make the electric light more accessible
for domestic purposes. Scene years ago it Ina the
fashion to talk of this as " tize light of the future,'
and, unfortunately, az some thirk, it is as the light of
the fake) and not of the present,that electric illumi-
nation remains. There has been ne lack of enterprise
in the matter to sufficiently account fel. this; a great
amount of energy as well as a large sui of money
has been devoted to perfecting both the Jere and the
incandesce at systems; but it is evident that some-
thing is as yet lacking, and this something it is the
situ of practieti v11%4464113 to supply. WWt js

santed sonte Mans by which it vrill be possible tc
give the electlic light to dwelling-houses as easily and
as cheaply As it is now possible to use gas. The older
among ts who can remember the many difficulties
-rhich were thrown in the way of the introduction of
.."cal--gas as a domestic illuminant will be able to
reassure those who argue that, because the electric
lig,ht has not made good its footing in dwellings in a
few years, it is hopeless to expect that it ever will.