The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1876-07-08 00:00:00

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THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

cessfnl than was at first anticipated. But no plans of the kind
wolld have been successful without the aid of thorough
good temper and good feeling on the part of the mass of the
people- Even the appeal of Lord Henry Lennox in behalf
of ;inch fragile ornaments of the Pak as fl.Ners and
trees appears to have been heartily responded to, and
scarcely a twig or a blossom in said to have been injured.
The crowd, in short, was as conspicuous for its voluntary
self-control as the Force reviewed was for its voluntary self-
devot:on ; and if, in any respect, we are entering on a period
if public anxiety, the country may be thankful to have had
such a display of the loyalty, the good spirit, and the military
capacity of the population.

The Times, in their report of the review, in noticing
the arrival of the Prince of Wales, says—

_
Panctual as Royalty should be, and as English Royalty
always is, the Prince of Wales arrived on the ground at
exactly half-past live, and there arrived, toe, in an open car-
riage and four, that Royal lady and her children at whose
coming the hearts of all Englishmen beat with a feeling of
mirgled tenderness and respect Volunteers, Regulirs, all
are forgotten when the Prince of Wales, with his wife and
family, are before the eyes of an English assemblage.
The roughest crowd roars with delight, and we observed
women lifted up on the shouldArs of their men and scream-
ing shrill welcomes. If they Could not themselves see the
gracious lady and the fair children, they lifted up their
babies that the little things might catch a glimpse of the
Royal Family. The young Princes were in sailor dress,
and looked as English and merry as we would wish their
youth to be. The Prince of Wales rode on the right
of the carriage, on the left the Duke of Cambridge.
The Duke of Connaught and Head Quarter Staff
of the Horse Guards accompanied the Prince of Wales,
who was escorted by a detachment of the Royal
Horse Guards. As the Prince approached the flag-
staff the Royal Standard was flueg out from the
masthead, and at a signal frcm Prince Edward of Saxe
Weimar the whole line presented arms, and the bands of the
regular forces played the National Anthem With astonish-
ing unanimity the spectators uncovered their heads, and
it soon became knanitest that the rougher spiri's in the
erowd were determined that the heads in front of them
should remain uncovered, and furthermore, that ti * privi-
leged classes In their enclosures should sit down, and by no
means stand on the chairs. Peereeses were clieffod ard
familiarly addressed in endearing but comical epithets, and
venerable legislators had to uncover polished polls,
which reflected the rays of the sun with almost as bright a
gleam as the helmets of the Household Cavalry. It was no
use to attempt disobedience; the good-natured but deter-
mined crowd would have its way, but in the midst of the
noisy chaff the element of common sense, which is the great
rational safeguard against folly, declared itself from the
mouth of a boy, who, in ringing tones, shouted to his com-
panions, "Hold your noise, will you, and let us hear the
music?"

By a general order from the Horse Guards the Duke
of Cambridge, Field Marshal Commanding in Chief,
conveys to Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, under
whose immediate c unmand the Volunteer Brigades
were marshalled in Hyde Park on Saturday, his satis-
faction with the manner in which all the preliminary
arrangements were made. He oonsidtrs that the
steadiness of the troops under arms was creditable
alike to officers and men. His Royal Highness refers
in gratifying terms to Colonel Henderson and the
officers of police, and, in conclusion, expresses his
high appreciation of the orderly oonduct of the vast
mass of spectators.

AN OFF Ti.—A hungry person went into
a dining eetablishment a few days since, and asked the
waiter what he. could have for dinner. " Well, sir,"
. . . . .

sa;d James, "it's rather awkward just now, you see,
because everything is off."—" Ah," said our hungry
friend, " ah." (Pause.) "Then so am

FUNERAL Or TtiE LATE H.IRRIET MARTINLAU.
—The funeral of the late Harriet Martineau took place
on Saturday at the Old Cemetery, BirrnLgham,
where her mother and other relatives are interred.
Shortly before her death the distinguished authoress
had expressed a wish to be buried in Birmingham, and
she further desired that the funeral should be of a pri-
vate character. The body was brought from Ambleside
on Friday eveninv, and taken to the residence of
Councillor It, F. Martineau, of Edgbaston, nephew
of the deceased, and remained there till about ten
o'clock on Sunday morning. The cortd4e, consisting
of a hearse and two mourning coaches, reached
the cemetery at half-past ten o'clock. The mourners
were the Rev. James Martineau, London, brother of
the deceased, and Messrs. T. Martineau and R. F.
Martineau (nephews) F. Martineau, and E. Martineau.
The Rev. Charles Clarke conducted thefuneral service,
paying a tribute of respect to the memory of the
deceased. Excepting to relatives and a few friends of
the deceased it had not been made known that the
funeral would take place in Birmingham, otherwise
the attendance would, no doubt, have been very large.
As it was about 50 persons were present. The coffin
bore the following inscription :—" Harriet Martineau,
died June 27th, 1876, aged '74 years."
R &THER TOO PZA-TIGULAR. —Refusing to eat
green peas because they weit'grown on a Sunday.—
Judy.

FIREPROOF BUILDINGS.—It is curious (says a
corresvonelent of the Builder) that while we have
AU' 11 dia4trous and nuipeiols tires in this and neigh.
homing countiies, and in North Ameriea, there are
cities and towns not far off absolutely fi, e-proof, as
Buenos Ayres and Montevideo. In Buenos Ay-res, a
city of 250,001 inhabitants, a poor charwoman sleeps
with her chillren with more safety from fire than the
iocess of Wa'es and the Royal chi dren. The
houses are built as follows, the material being brick :
Alike each fbor and the roof, which is flat, are sup-
ported by joists of bard wood about the same distance
apart as in this country ; across these are laid rails of
the same (3iin. by 11in ), and the space between these
is bridged over by thin bricks 13iin. long; another
layer of bricks is then laid, and generally on this a
layer of tiles. The roof is exactly the same, but has a
slope of lin 30 or 35. Then the doors and windows
have no boxes, but simple frames, which are set up on
building the walls and built in, and there is no lathing,
nor wainscot, nor skirting of the bottom of the walls.
And all the wood is of the hard and hardish kind, the
doors and windows and shutters of cedar slow to ignite.
The modern laluses of Buenos Ayres are pretty much
like those of London, Bath, or Edinburgh, nor would
any one see harily any difference. It would be easy,
therefore to adopt the same way of building here with
the necessary slight modifications.

- -
" A GOOD JUDGE, TOO."—British Workman:
Well, anyhow, Union means strength, don't it ?
Party with vast Workhouse experience: Well, I
dunno ; Vve tried it often, and I fun' it just the re-
verse !—.Turfy.
THE COAL AND IRON TRA.DES.—The Wolver-
hampton correspondent of The Times writes under date
the Ist inst. :—" The great distress previously existing
among the miners and blast furnace operatives through-
out South Staffordshire is rapidly increasing. Only
about 50 of the 146 blast furnaces erected there are
now on, and many of these only partially; while at
the mills an forges scarcely one-third time is being
run. Tbis of itself is serious enough, but the difficulty
has been ?creased by the decessities of the Mines
Drainage Oommissioßers, which threaten a maximum
rate with August neit throughout the district most
severely tried by short work. This is leading to the
closing of colleries not before profitable at existing
prices. Mtly 0011ier3 are leaving the pits to night as
the result of the closing of the collieries, and further
disaster will follow in the Fame neighbourhood from a
notice whieh is being given to-night by Messrs.
Samuel droncutt and Sons, Bilston. This firm are
blast furnace and mill and forge proprietors, and like-
wise exterytive colliery owners. Two of three blast;
furnaces at Broadwaters have been standing through-
out the past twelve months; the third is now to go
out. A fortnight's notice to leave is being given to the
men at the pay-table to-night. The notice extends not
to the ironworkers only who carry on the furuace, but
likewise to colliers, since the stopping of the furnace
will necessitate the closing of two or three coal pits.
Similar action by other firms is anticipated.

A HAD ST THE OANONB.—Herr Krupp is re-
ported to have received considerable attention at the
hbalds (.-f the authorities of the Brmsels Life Saving
Appliances Exhibi'ion. Oa the principle that he
repreented several great guns, we prestune.—Fun.

OMNIBUS CONDUCTORS AND THEIR FARES.—
American ihgenuity delights to exercise itself in
devices for the thwarting of possible rogues (writes the
American correspondent of The Times). In most of
the "horse cars" the passengers are requested to see
that the conductor moss a small tell-tale instrument
called an "alarm-punch," which makes a sharp ring-
ing sound at the same time that it makes a bole in
the ticket, and, I suppose, registers its receipt
Sometimes the conductor is not trusted even with the
alarm-punch, but stands behind a glass case to see
that the passengers put their tickets into a carefully-
closed box in front of him. The tickets, I may ex-
plain, are, by a marvellously convenient system, the
same on all the lines, and if four or more are bought
at a time they can cost each 6i cents instead of 7
a cent being nearly our halfpenny. Hence, people
have generally a ticket or two in their pockete,
and might, indeed, find them convenient as
money in the present dearth of small change, if it wen
not for the odd quarter cent which to 'cute men of
business is a consideration. Happening, however, to
have no ticket, I handed a ten cent note to the con-
ductor through a hole in his case—feeling somewhat as
if I ought to apologise to him and explain that I did
not myself in my personal and private capacity wish
to treat him as a thief—and was considerably
astonished at immediately getting back, with the
rapidity of a conjuror's trick, a small sealed envelope
containing my ticket and three cents change. Written
instructions on it informed me that I, as pasFenger,
might open the envelope and put the ticket in the box,
but that any conductor that opened the box would be
instantly discharged. What precaution was taken to
prevent his swallowing or otherwise feloniously appro-
pria'ing my ten cent note I did not, unluckily, see,
but I mean to take the number of the next I give and
endeavour to trace it.
„
-- LABOR ET IN GENIUM.”—Lady : "Are
those the hardest boot brushes you have r—Shop-
keeper : "Oh, yes, m'; fact is, m , they're generally
considered too hard for boots, m', and are used by
laundresses to scrub gents' ehirte and collars, m'.
They're the hardest brushes made, m'."—Fun.
LADIES' POCKETS. CannGt the combined

ingenuity of dee4s makers and dress wearers contrive
some safer deposit for a lady's purse than her pocket or '
her hand (says The Graphic)? A Irian who refrains
from getting drunk, and who is fairly prudent in other
respects, may be robbed by violence after dark, but
he need rarely have his pocket picked of anything more
valuable than a handkerchief. If he goes into a crowd
he should leave his valuables at home, or hide his watch
and chain away ; but, at other times, his most im-
portant pockets ht so closely to hiS person, that a thief
must be a very artful dodger indeed who can, in a rail.
way carriage or omnibus, extract a purse from a breast
or trousers pocket without ,the victim feeling the touch
of the felonious fingers. Ordinarily, in our opinion, a
man is safer if he carries no purse at all, but keeps his
gold, silver, and bronze ia three separate pockets. Now
let us look at the case of the woman. The exigencies of
her attire (if they are really exigencies) place her in a far
worse position than her bearded brother. El en in
these anti-crinoliue days the pocket in the skirt of her
dress stands at a most unsafe distance from her actual
person, s-) that in the crush and pressure of a well.
filled omnibus the manipulations of a skilful purloiner
are unfelt. Sortietimes scissors are used, and the puree
is either hooked out bodily or falls among the straw,
to be presently appropriated at leisure. lint the most
accomplished omnibus thieves scorn the name of cut
pu,ses. They extract the purse from the pocket,
boldly exmnine its contents under the very nose of the
fair owner, and return it to the pocket after borrowing
part of its contents, politely leaving enough for the
conductor% fare. In a case which came- under our
notice lately all the silver and copper in a lady's parte-
monnaie was left intact, and only the gold (a sovereign
and half aevereign) was taken.
ARTFULNESS. It has just transpired that
Philadelplida has a surplus ot 20,000 females over
males in its population. A great many people have
wondered why this city was fixed upon for the Can-
tennis! Exhibition. Perhaps they will leave off
wondering after this.—Judy. -
THE NEW MEMBER, FOR BIRMINGHAM. —Mr.
Joseph Chatnberlain, f Seuthborne, and of Augustus-
road, Birmingham, who was returned to Parliament
last week in the advanced Liberal interest as the suc-
cessor of Mr. George Dixon in the representation of
that city, is the eldest son of the late Mr. Joseph
Chamberlain, formerly of London, and subsequently
of Moor Green hall, near Birmingham, by his
marriage with Caroline, daughter of Mr. Henry
Harben. He was born in the year 1836, and was
educated at University School, London. He has been
long engaged in business at Birmingham, of which he
is an Alderman and an active magistrate, and has
lately discharged the Mayoralty, to which he has been
thrice elected. He is also chairman of the Local
School Board. Mr. Chamberlain' who married, in
1868, Florence, daughter of Mr. Timothy Kenrick,
has never yet held a seat in the House of Commons,
and he will be the 65th new member who will have
taken his seat since the General Election of February
and March, 1874. The return of Mr. Chamberlain ,
makes no difference in the political representation of
the borough, as Mr. Dixon, like himself, was a
Liberal of the advanced school.
ACCIDENT TO LORD HENRY VANE TEMPEST.
—On Saturday afternoon, while engaged in a polo
match at Hurlingnam, Lord Henry Vane Tempest
was thrown from his pony and fell upon his head, the
pony rolling over him. His lordship was taken up in
an insensible state, and so serious was his fall con-
sidered that the Marquis of Londonderry was as soon
as possible informed of the occurrence, and at once
left Londonderry House for Hurlinghsm. The Mar-
quis returned to Park-lane to inform the Marchioness
—who was at the review in Hyde-park—of
the sad accident, and the dinner party which
was to have been given at Londonderry Howe
the same evening was countermanded. The
Marquis and Marchioness proceeded at once
t o Fiiirlingttain, and remained during the night
with their son. On Suuoay afternoon Lord Henry
was removed to town, and the following bulletin was
issued for the information of his friends: "Lord Henry
Vane Tempest has slept well during the night, and is
now recovering from the effects of his fall."—Signed by
Mr. W. Morrant Baker and Dr. Thomas J. Wood-
house. His lordship continues to go on as favourably
as can be expected under the circumstances, for his
head was severely bruised, and he was unconscious
several hours. The Prince and Princess of Wales, the
Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of Cambridge, the
Duke atnd Duchess of Tecli, and a host of the nobility
called or sent to learn the condition of his lordship
during Tuesday and the day previous.

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