The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1883-04-07 00:00:00

- our froim Correspoubcnt.

(We deep,. It right to abate that we do not et all times
Identify reelves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

All well-wishers to France, while rejoicing at the
subsidence of the recent polillcal excitement there,
note with pli-asore the recovery of the country from
the disastrous ffbots of the war with Germany, and
the progress which it continues to make. The pay
snort of the huge war indemnity of two hundred
millions sterling, so far from crippling France, seems
to have given new enterprise and energy to her people.
fact that thirty-seven new railways were opened
for traffic in France last year, speaks volumes for the
activity and industry of a great nation. These repro.
sent a total length of 640 miles ; and It is estimated
. that within the next twelve months 790 additional
mile* of rail will be made. Her ;climate and her soil
alike amply repay the efforts which are put forth to
make the most of a grateful land.
Parliament still lingered in the Provinces when the
Easter recess bad terminated and the legislature was
supposed to have re-assembled at Westminster. When
the House of Commons was In Committee of Supply
at least a score of its members were scattered over the
country addressing their constituents, as though we
were on the eve,ef a general election. Yet the present
Parliament is thus far only in its fourth session, while
its predecessor ran into seven. It has as yet scarcely
begun the work for which it was summoned, having
been thus far occupied almost exclusively upon special
and exceptional legislation. The speeches outside
Parliament just now attract a great deal more of
attention than those within. Lord Salisbury goes to
Birmingham and is replied to by Mr. Chamberlain; and

it is inevitable that an intellectual duel between two
such eminent debaters should attract general notice
ern the part of the political public. The Leader of the
Opposition in the Lords and the President of the
Board of Trade have never sat together In the same
assembly, Lord Salisbury having left the Commons
for the "Upper House several years before Mr.
Chamberlain entered It; all the same they are very
well . known to each other, and for incisiveness of
language, clearness of diction, and arrangement of
composition it would be difficult to say which of the
two had the advantage.
The freqnent and successful experiments which are
made in stilling the waves with oil are attracting
more and more the pnblio attention. Scientific facts
and old customs are, however, often lost sight of, and
a modern writer has discovered that the effect of pouring
oil upon stormy water was tried very long ago. It is
said to have been known to the Romans in the time of
Pliny, probably, as has been pointed out, in assisting
divers to obtain more light, presumably by prevent-
ing refraotion. It is a long gap from the time of the
Romans to the beginning of the eighteenth century,
when a practice seems to have existed in the Hebrides
of floating a bag of fat from the stern of the fishing
boats during a storm for the purpose of preventing
the water from breaking over them, and also of calm.
lag the water. Mere than a century ago an East
India Company's ship was enabled to weather a
tempest by the pouring of oil upon the troubled sea.
Benjamin Frankiin's investigations proved that the
'oil prevented the formation of small waves usually pro-
duced by the wind on the back of every great wave,
and reduced the latter to a calm and gently-swelling
undulation gradually moving more and more slowly
over the surface of the teen. A demand is now made
that our ships and harbours shall be supplied with
so very simple a means of protecting life and pro-
perty.

The graceful way in which her Majesty places upon
record her sense of the loss of one after another of her
faithful servants, form from time to time admirable
specimens of English composition. Some have been
servants of the State, like Lord Palmerston, Lord
Russell, Lord Derby, and Lord Beaconsfield; others
have enjoyed the confidence of the Sovereign in her
domestic affairs, such as Colonel Phipps, General
Grey, and Sir Thomas Biddnlph. Occasionally the
Queen notices the rem ,val of an atteniant in a very
humble sphere, and has paid a tribute to the memory
of her late faithful gillie which a statesman might
envy. Thirty-four years is a long time to remain in
one household, and there are many who would feel
such a lose in humble circles. The longer life
is extended, the fewer and fewer become the links
which bind us to the past. The late Emperor
Napoleon died at an age only one year older than the
Qpleen of England is now; yet, long before the war of
1870, he saw taken from his aide one after another of
the men who were with him when he ascended the
throne. St. Armand died within a few days of helping
England to win the battle of the Alma; De Morny,
Thouvenel, De Persigny, and others were all taken
successively from his counsels; and, although he was
on the throne of France only eighteen years, his
advisers at the end of his reign were, through the
repeated visits of death, completely changed.
The Royal Academy is opened to the the public on the
first Monday in May, the annual banquet invariably
taking place on the previous Saturdry evening. This
is always one of the most noteworthy of the non.
political gatherings of the London season, The
Peeeident of the Academy occupies the chair; and
night and left of him are the most distinguished men
of the country—in statesmanship, politics, redgion,
literature, art, science, and jurieprudence. But pre-
ceding the opening of the Academy there is a day
which is looked forward to with great interest in
the world of art,' and that is what is generally
termed "Show Sunday," the last Sunday on which
pictures destined for the Academy, and not entitled to
enter there as of right, are passed in review in the
studios of the different artists. This Show Sunday is
as a rule the first Sunday in April; and this year the
weather was of the most brilliant character. After the
long and gloomy months of rain and the briefer spell
of cold weather and parching east winds, the soft balmy
air of last Sunday brought back memories of happier
days, and might well have filled the imagination with
visions of the brighter times which we all hope are in
store for us, both as individuals and as a nation.
The unprotected state of the river front of the
Houses of Parliament has, in the face of recent events,
attracted the attention of the authorities, and it is
satisfactory to know that a police boat will be per-
manently stationed at this point of the river, cruising
up and down night itnd day. The lights on the terrace
will also be kept burning day and night. This, with
tim precautions taken with respect to the protection
of the Legislative Palace on the landward side, will
effectially dispose of any threats to blow up the Houses
of Parliament.

Thee-nation whether the climate of the globe is
undergoing a series of adverse changes has, in the face
of the adverse seasons of late years, not unnaturally
occupied the attention of our men of science. There
has been a succession of disastrous seascns, without
parallel in modern history, and it is not surprising
that never before were there so many farms unoccupied

or to let, or pning no rent. The complaints are not
confined to. one eoatinent or hemisphere, but are gen-
eral throughout the werli ; and many philosophers are
disposed to associate the appearance of huge spots on
the suns fess with the many years of gloom and of failure
of the crops. Meanwhile the statistics of our food
imports show the -620221028 extent to which we are
dependent on other conntries for the necessaries of
life. The value of our wheat imports, including
flour, was near.ly forty-live millions sterling last year,
as compared with a little over forty millions sterling
in 1881. Southern Russia used to be called the
granary of Europe, but these returns show that the
United States have become the granary of the
world.

Dr. Cameron, one of the Liberal members for
Glasgow, obtained a very decisive victory over the
Government when he brought forward his motion in
favour of the reduction of the minimum cost of inland
telegrams from a shilling to sixpence. True, the
Houie was not a large one wh-n the division was
taken; but a majority of 68 to 50 on a queftion of this
kind cannot be looked upon as of an indecisive cha-
racter: It is a matter of bet that the charge for in.
land reiterates in Eugland is donSiderably in advance of
that in roost Continental countries; and it is admitted
that while the adoptiiin of a halfpenny word rate
would r-eeult in an immediate loss, in three or four
years the revenue would be equal to that of the present
shilling tariff. • It is the Treasury which objecta to
the immediate loss which would be caused by the reduc-
tion in the price of telegrams; but looking at the
revenue returns for the quarter as well as for the
year ending r,n the 31st of March, its elasticity would
soon be proof against a sacrifice of even £171,000 in
twelve nienths in order to accomplish an immense
public convenience. The revenue for the quarter was
£2,659,598 in excess of that in the corresponding period
of last year, while for the twelve months the excess
was £3,182,174. Figures like these not only gratify
the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the end of the
financial y ear; but they are satisfactory as proving
that the country is well able to meet the demands
Which are Made upon it in the name of national
exigencies. .