The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-03-01 00:00:00

DEATH OF TWO CENTENARIANS.

Canon Holmes writes (to The Times) from St. Paul's
Vteineaarriln died in my parish, St. Paul s'
may be interested to know that last S!ind sy night a cen-
-83, Dorking, Feb. 20 :—" Some of your readers
Dorking. Mrs.
Blackman was born at Newhaven, Sussex, on the 7th
of September, 1778 and died on the 16th offebrnary,
1879. I have known her for the last twelve years,
and can testify to her being in full possession of her
faculties to the end. She was ill for a fortnight, and
on ray last visit to her, a few hours before her death,
she was still able to converse with me."
The Rev. R 0. Assheton also writes to The Times
from %lion Rectory, Rugby, Feb. 21: "Yesterday was
buried in this churchyard Mrs. Mary Cox, widow, of
this place. She always believed herself to have been
born on March 3, 1778. She was certainly baptized
and stands registered in the parish register book on
April 5, 1778. ;She was married in this church on
July 9, 1794, and died on February 16, 1879, aged 100
years 9 !smiths and 20 days. She was in perfect pos-
session of all her faculties, except being deaf, and
could read moderate print without glasses. Her only
child, a daughter, also a widow, who lived with her,
died 13 days before her mother. A few years ago she
used to go a field gleaning, and within a few days of
her death broke her own coal, sticks, &c."

Switzerland was visited with a severe hurricane on
Thursday in last week. Many houses were stripped of their
roofs. At Amiens many forest trees were destroyed, and the
spire of the Catholic church was blown down.

DEATH OF FIELD-MARSHAL COUNT

VON- ROON.

GeneralFielcl.Marshal Count von Roon died in Berlin
laet Sunday about one o'clock, in the Hatml de Rome.
The deceased maTshal was born near Colberg, on the
30th April, 1803. He entertd the army as second
lieutenant of the 14th Infantry in January, 1819. In
1842 .be was appointed major; in 1851, colonel; and
in 1856, major general. I 1859 he was appointed
Minister of War, and in 1861 he also became Minister
of Marine. In 1866 he was named General of Infantry,
and took part in the battle of lionigsgratz. He also
served in the war against France in 1870.

In noticing his death, the Berlin Correspondent of The
Times says :—" A few days ago his state was such as to
justify the summoning to his bedside of his sons from their
various regiments; but his suffering abated, and it was
hoped that his life would be further spared, but his malady
suddenly grew worse, and the administration of the last
sacrament signalised his approaching end. The Emperor has
been most solicitous about the state of his old and trusry
servant, and has several times crossed the Lltden from his
palace to comfort the dying man. The chief of the Hohen-
zollerns is already far beyond the allotted span of life, and
his mighty men of valour are beginning to fade away. The
Empire is a reality, but one or two gape are already visible
in the illustrious ranks of those who helped to rear it. Pro-
minent among these was General von Roon. The hand
which executes is ordinarily not entitled to so much honour
as the head which conceives and the fame of Prince Bismarck
mill undoubtedly outshine that of all other paladins of the
Raiser in the page of history which records the reunification
of Germany; but the greater share of credit for having
formed and fashioned that instrument which, wielded, by
Count von Moltke, achieved such marvellous results wilt
always be allotted to the aged soldier who has just passed
away."

The Times has also the following leader on the Field-
Marshal's death :

"The death of Field-Marshall Von noon removes a
historical figure of the first rank from the European
scene. He was one of the half-dozen men who made
the German Empire. In the seventy-six years of
his eventful life he saw Prussia rise from her abase-
ment, establish her supremacy in Germany, and take
a leading position among the great Powers of the
world. Nor was he a passive witness only of this
mighty regeneration. He was among its leaders from
the first, and none had a greater share than he in
forging the weapon with which the victory was won.
Twenty years ago Prussia was still regarded in
Europe as a Power of the second rank. She had
not drawn the sword in any European contest for
more than forty years, and her army was looked down
upon by military authorities as little better than a
militia. The dreamy aspirations of youthful Germany
found little countenance among its princely rulers,
and the designs of the men who were preparing to
weld Germany together by the stern discipline of
blood and iron had not yet been revealed. Never-
theless Von Roan was already one of the men
upon whom Biemarck was co*Unting to aid him in
the gigantic task he had undertaken. He became
Minister of War in Prussia at the end of the
year 1859. Fer some time previously he had been
untiring in his representations to his superiors
as to the inefficiency of the Prussian military
organization. His representations were listened to by
the present Emperor, then Prince Regent of Prussia,
and he was enabled to enforce them by the experience
he gained when the Prussian troops were mobilized in
1859 in consequence of the war in Italy between
France and Austria. During the long struggle be-
tween Prince Bismarck and the Prussian House of
Representatives, Von Boon gave effective support to
the Minister, while he silently devoted himself to
the great task of reorganizing the army. The
result of his labours, though it was partially fore-
shadowed by the Danish campaign of 1864, was not
clearly revealed until the war of 1866. Then, how-
ever, it burst on the world like a thunderbolt from a
clear sky. In a few short weeks the military power
of Austria was shattered, the Austrian Empire itself
was shaken to its foundations and the supremacy of
At stria in Germany was overthrown for ever. Prussia
stood revealed as the unchallenged leader of Germany.
'Dais was the first blow for German unity which
Bi6marck, Von Moltke, and Von Boon delivered with
the weapon they had forged in secret and in the teeth
of unceasing bpposition.
"But not even 1866 revealed the full strength of the
mighty weapon. Again in 1870 Prussia took the field,
this time with all Germany at her side against the
Imperial strength of France. In 1866 men had judged
, that Austria would crush Prussia with ease, and the
unexpected result of the brief struggle had conse-
quently filled the world with amazement. In 1870 the
power of Prussia was better understood, and it was
thought not imposiehle that she might be a match
for the renowned legions of France. But again
Prussia has prepared a surprise for the world. Some
expected that France would invade Germany and
take it unprepared. The French troops only crossed
the frontier for a day, and the advance of the
German armies was marked by a series of gigantic
victories, wholesale surrenders,and capitulations on a
scale unparalleled in the history of war. Kiiniggratz
had been a great victory, but it was thrown into the
shade by the catastrophe which overtook the French
armies at Sedan. We have no need, however, to re-
capitulate the events of the campaign of 1870-71;
:they are still fresh in every one's memory, and,
besides, we are now concerned, not with the events
themselves, but only with their causes and results.
It was Von Boon and his colleagues who orga-
nised victory at Kkiniggratz and Sedan. It is a
singular characteristic of the two campaigns that
they were planned and executed by men who were
already far past Middle age. The Emperor himself
had learnt the military art in the campaigns of the
beginning of the present century. Both Von Moltke
and Von Boon were over sixty when IConiegratz was
fought. Thus the leaders of thaGerman army were not '
of the type of the heaven•horn soldier who wins vic-
tories before he is thirty. They were men of thought,
of culture, and of intelligence, who knew that those
qualities will tell even in war, and had the courage
to put their knowledge to the proof. In the
days of Germany's abasement it was the fashion to
sneer at the education and enlightenment by which
Prussia set such store. But Prussia's victory, after
all, was won not more by the sturdy strength of her
manhood than by her abiding faith in culture. The
chief lesson of Von Boon's life and labours is, that he
and those who aided him knew that even strength
such as Prussia could show in abundance would be
of no avail if it were not sustained by study and in-
formed by intelligence. He found the Prussian Army
a machine; he left it a living organism, instinct with
the spirit of knowledge and of progress.
"Thus the process whereby Prussia has been re-
generated and has thereby acquired the hegemony of
United Germany has been no mere baptism of blood.
It has been a stern intellectual training such as few
nations have gone through. If some sacrifices have
had to be made, thal is only the prise that must be paid
when great deeds are to be accomplished. To Prince
Bismarck and to his great coadjutors is due the credit of
having elearly seen, when others were groping in the
derk, how the end which all professed to be aiming at
was alone to be attained. In the early days of the
strugele few of the dreamy Liberals who had striven
in 1848 and afterwards to unite Germany by the aid of
a few democratic abstractions would have admitted
that the masttrful Junker, who seemed to be fighting
only for caste and privilege, was really about to
accomplish the task which they had attempted in
vain. Yet all the time his real aim was identical with
theirs, and his methods were far more efficacious. Even
he would have been powerless, however, unless
he had been seconded by men like Von
Boon and his colleagues. If the instrument with
which be was to work when the appointed time
came had broken in his hand, all would have
been lost. It was Von Boon who gave it its strength
and temper. Thus, not one party alone, but all
classes in Germany, her Princes and her nobles who
led, and her citizen soldiers who followed, worked
together in their respective ways for the common
welfare of the Fatherland. The band of men who set
themselves to the task, and pursued it through good
and evil report, is dwindling fast, for they were
already advanced in age when the time of trial came,
But the fight is now fought, and the victory is won.
Von Boon is gone to his rest, but his name and deeds
will never be forgotten so long as Germany honours
the men who have deserved well of their country."

TEMPERANCE IN THE
_NAVY.
,
A speCial public meeting of the National Temperance i
League was held in London the other evening n the
Memorial Hall, Farringdon-street, to receive from Miss
Agnes E. Weston an account of the progress made in pro-
moting temperance in the Royal Navy. The chair was taken
by Admiral Prevost.
After a few remarks on the past and present state
of the temperance cause in the Navy by Captain
Grant, RN., Miss Weston gave an interesting ac-
Count of her work among sailors on shipboard and
on shore. Branches of the league have been
formed on board 202 ships out of 230 in commis-
sion. They could now number four Admirals and
many Commanders in the ranks of the total abstainers.
In the boys' training ships, too, the work bad prospered,
and on some ships nearly half the boys were total ab-
stainers. The men had to fight a hard battle tr) stand
by their principles. There were many rules in the
Royal Navy which made it peculiarly hard for the men
to keep the pledge. It was all very well to say that the
men should determine not to take up their grog. There
were many teetotallers who took up their grog and yet
did not drink it. The grog, in fact, was a kind of
currency, and a man might sell his grog or get work
done by giving it away.
Admiral Prevost, who said he had been a total
abstainer for more than ?') years, expressed a hope
that the Government would see the difficulty in which
total abstainers in the navy were placed by the present
system of serving out grog, and that some beneficial
change would be effected. He had been glad to learn
from Captain Grant, who had been one of the first
commanders to allow Miss Weston to go aboard his
ship to lecture to the men, that the beer canteen in his
ship had been done away with, and replaced by a
coffee canteen by a vote of a majority of the c r egit.
The chairman concluded by urging officers to set an
example to their men by abstaining from wine.
Thb proceedings ended with the passing of votes of
thanks to Miss Weston and Admiral Prevost.