The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-10-03 00:00:00

out' gonbau Torrtspabtut.
(We deem it right to state that we do not at all tiroa!
ider.llfy ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

Those who are in the habit of reading- the
daily London newspapers can scarcely have failed
to notice that every autumn some topic appears
to be seized upon by a number of correspondents
by common consent as one upon which it is
necessary to appeal to the press. The subjects
for discussion vary from year to year, but they
all have a likeness in tho fact that they are such
as appeal to the greatest proportion of news-
paper-readers, and such as almost everyone can
speak upon from personal experience. One year
it will be the question, "What shall we do with
our boys ?" and columns are filled with the out-
pourings of anxious parents, eager to learn some
feasible scheme by which their sons may be
started in life at the least possible cost, and by
the recommendations of active emigration
agents, who are convinced that to leave one's
own country is. the panacea for every social ill.
Another year it will be the subject of cheap
dinners, which will give rise to all this talk, and
everybody who suffers with a large appetite and a
small purse will feel impelled to rush into print to
demand an explanation of why the two things go
very awkwardly together, while theorists on
various systems of food will have an opportu-
nity, for which they are always thirsting, to
prove to their own satisfaction that, if their
plan were once adopted, complaint would cum.
Such topics as these when fairly started fill a
good many columns before they are exhausted;
but it must surprise the uninitiated to see how
speedily they fade into insignificance when a
startling murder or an appalling shipwreck
has to be reported.

The topic which this autumn is troubling the
columns of the metropolitan press is that of
the 'bus fares in London, and it is being
threshed out with much vigour. At the
first glance it might seem as if such
a subject could present few attractions
for any save those who dwell, as the old phrase
runs, "within the bills of mortality"; but, as a
matter of fact, it, perhaps, concerns visitors
more even than residents. The Londoner has
learnt by experience what vehicles to travel by,
and he does not run the same risk of being
cheated as the casual sojourner in town. Many
a visitor could save not only time but money if a
little attention were paid to the difference be-
tween the various lines of omnibuses which travel
the streets. It is perfectly safe, for instance, to
trust oneself to the mercies of a conductor
employed by one of the two great 'bus
companies. The table of fares by these
is fixed, and as the vehicles have to start from
one spot and arrive at another at an appointed
time, no delay will take place on the journey.
But it is apt to be different in vehicles
which are put on the road only for the
purpose of picking up stray passengers, in which
the table of fares is liable to be altered as oppor-
tunity serves, and in which delays are frequent
because no time is appointed to be kept.
Londoners know this and profit by their know-
ledge but their friends from the country have
not had the same opportunity for learning and
lose thereby.
Mention of autumnal topics for newspaper
discussion is a reminder of the tradition that,
whenever a journalist is at a standstill for a
piece of intelligence, he indulges in a reference
to a big gooseberry or in a description of the sea
serpent. To the sea serpent every newspaper-
writer must plead guilty, but a line must de-
cidedly be drawn at the -big gooseberry. This is
a survival of a tradition which has come
from the dark ages of journalism, but
which has certainly no foundation in
the present day. It is very different with the
sea serpent, and it certainly is curious that this
extraordinary reptile should always be most
talked about when newspapers are most in want
of something of interest to fill their columns.
But it is the opinion of a good many, whose
opinion is entitled to respect, that there is more
foundation for the popular belief in the existence
of a gigantic serpent which can travel the waters
than has generally been admitted by semi-
scientific men. There is nothing impossible in
the idea of such a reptile, and it is difficult to
believe that all the persons who have vouched to
a sight of the serpent are consciously lying or
are grossly deceived. Of course, there is bthe
difficulty that no specimen has yet been secured
and brought to our shores, and until one is on
exhibition the best proof of its existence will be
lacking. But the belief that there is such a
thing is not quite BO absurd as many people
profess to think.
Visitors to the British Museum usually obtain
a ticket by which they are privileged to enter the
Reading-room, but, as they are allowed only to
come just inside the door, the impression they
can carry away in a hurried and distant glance of
the literary treasures to be found therein is
necessarily a vague one. They see a vast cir-
cular building, with its walls filled from floor to
ceiling with shelves, and each shelf crowded with
books; and, if a door in one of the galleries
chance to be opened, they notice that space is of
so much value that the door itself is covered with
shelves and the vista beyond is as full of books
as the heading-room itself. Their astonishment
is great when they are told that what they see
is only the Reference Library, and that the
main portion of the books of the establishment I
are hidden from their eyes. If they were allowed I
to look beyond, and to pass through corridor '
after corridor crowded with shelves, they could
only, if they had any love for books at all, envy
those whose privilege it was to call for which of
all these hundreds of thousands of volumes he
wished to read.
The privilege, though thus valuable, can be
obtained with very little difficulty, and it is one
which is possessed by a great number in London,
BS well as by many in the country, who like to
be able to drop in at the reading-room when they
visit town. All sorts and conditions of men' as
well as women, are to be found seated at the
desks. Students of science jostle with those
whose only mission is to find the solution of
double acrostics, and learners in literature, in
history, and in art are mingled with impartial
confusion. Many people get their living in the
room by copying extracts front old books, and
among these are several ladies who are well
known to the habltueB of the place. When such
a large number have to be daily attended to
there is naturally sometimes to be heard a
grumble as to the manner in which their wants
are served, or the time which is taken in look-
inu for the books they need; but on the whole
there is exceedingly little complaint, considering
what an irritable race literary folk are always
supposed to be.
Some anxiety is expressed by those who wish
to appeal against the decision of their revising
barrister to know if their case will be heard and
decided by the superior court in time for them
to vote at the general election. It may be a
comfort to such as entertain this feeling to
know that every effort is being made to
accelerate the hearing of the appeals. It will
commence on the 24th inst., and will be pro-
ceeded with daily until all the cases are settled,
it being thought that in this way the work can
be got through in time. Those who are accus-
tomed to think that such appeals affect only a
few votes forget that this year, owing to the
Coming into operation of the Franchise and Re-
distribution Acts, a great number of doubtful
points have to be decided, and that these will
affect thousands of votes. The "service fran-
chise" has given an extraordinary amount of
work to the lawyers, and it has alreadynbelsnas oa
muses oil. CU UGI r es
the present Parliament that, if elected to the
new House of Commons, a bill shall be brought
in next session to settle authoritatively some of
the disputed points.
One of the most popular institutions among
London pleasure-seekers has for many years
been the Zoological Gardens, and there
appears no likelihood of this being in
any way altered. Not only upon the
great public holidays, when tens of thou-
sands wend their way to Regent's - park
and into the enclosure where the animals are to
be seen, but at ordinary times the scene in the
gardens is an animated one. Perhaps one of the
Pleasantest sights is a group of school children,
who wander from one building to another, de-
lighted with everything they witness, whether it
be the bears in the pit, the lions at feeding-time,
the elephants upon which twopenny rides can be
obtained, or the serpents and young alligators in
the new reptile house. a special meed of admira-
tion being always given to the large collection of
monkeys. A lesson, or rather a series of lessons,
in natural history can be obtained from one
afternoon's visit to the gardens of a more striking
and enduring kind than can be gleaned from a
whole course of books. Even those who have
been to the place more than once can enjoy a re-
newed visit, for there is always something fresh
to be seen. Animals, birds, insects, and reptiles
are continually being deposited in the
collection, on loan, or are being bought
by the Zoological Society, and the
student equally with the ordinary sight-seer
need never be at a loss for something to look at
One great feature of "the Zoo" is the quantity