The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1884-06-07 00:00:00

Our godon Gorrespdat

[We deem it right to state tint we do not atiktlim
I es
dentify ourselves with our Correspondent's opintina-1

'axon more has the metropolis beea startled by
'three dynamite explosions occurring simultaneously
'nt different points, and, like previoussoutrages, clearly
'showhag concert and elaborate 'reparation. Tht
'scenes of these attacks upon life and property vett
, :in the best part of London, the Junior Carlton Clut
being one of those places which are so numerous it
Tall-Mall and St. James's. The discocorky
'dynamite at the mine time at the base of dee
'Column in Trafalgar-square, the evident intetitiron
'being to shatter that national monument, added .con-
siderably to the panic that prevailed amongst the
'Crowds which had gathered from all quartd.rs in the
'West-end streets, to gain information, to look at thc3
'wrecked buildings, and to talk over the incidents of
' the night. Once more has the press been very severe
' on the impunity with which these crimes are periodi-
cally perpetrated in the heart of the nation, t.Le
'empire, and the world; and again is a call made
'upon the Government of 'the United States to take
Imore effectual measures for keeping at home those
desperadoes who scatter ruin and devastation in a
busy city.

The Whitsuntide recess has seen marked by tfit-
usual amount of political activity on provincial pr-v.-t-, 1
forms. Many might have supposal that after so arioaF
weeks of talk atWestrainster node lords and honoaribit
gentlemen would have preferred the enjoymentof
cadian retreats, or of quiet daYs by the sad ses. wtsves,
as a preparation for the task which lay befeateithem
on their return. Instead of this they seem tolfiad 're-
creation in the compositio'a and delivery of [patina'
addrestes ; and this seenasthe more reina,rictibit whet.:
it is remembercd that the Whitsuntide recess ,is the
last of the holidays. Tivlre are now no ut .inc,rnot even
an odd day, auch aa thz Derby, or ft prouviaouous two
hours as on Ash Wedatesday, or Ascension Day, sc• I
far as the assembling of cominittees is olneernekl. %A.
straight run of work now lies before tin Legilataro
until the time of promotion, whenev'that,no.y be
and in recent years this ceremony has been driver_
into the third or fourth week in August.
Readers of newspapers may have 'noticatl'in't_e
debates the insuperable objection which the 'House
seems to hare to a Saturday sitting. Mr. Gladstone
hinted at such a contingency a week or two ago, but
admitted that he had been compelled to .give,?up the
idea because of the general repugnance to it. .rThere
is one very sound reason for this. On Wednesday,
by standing order, the House is bound to rise,ht six in
ihe evening, no matter what may be the business upon
the paper: and at the morning sittings which are
taken on Tuesday and Friday, the standing orders
provide for a suspension of the debate at ten minutes
to seven o'clock. But there is :so ,provision for rising
on Saturday at any specified time.; indced,'itwas only
a couple of months since the House was kept sitting
until six o'clock on Sunday morning. Hon. members
who, under the anticipation that their Saturdays will
be free, have made engagements for that day weeks
in advance are therefore certain to strongly protest
against its being taken up with political debate in the
House of Commons. Ilenceeven the Primo Minister
finds himself powerless to earry.out the suggestion of
a Saturday sitting.

Whit-Monday has come fhis year when the days
are almost at their longest, forthere will not be much
more difference now between the light morning
and evening and on that which, the calendar officially
records as the longest day. Whit week brings
large numbers of excirrsienists to London, more
especially from the home -counties, but those who
come on Bank Holiday unprovided with refreshments,
and journey into the city in the hope of 'obtaining
them, are Very often sent empty 'away. If it should
happen to be a dull day, with the sky overcast with
huge banks of cloud, the aspect of the City of London
is depressing in the extreme. The great streams of
•
00 -traffic usually flowing east and west through Cheapside
"4 'and Holborn, and Ludgate-lin, Fleet-street, and the
Strand, or north and south .in the direction of Black-
friars and Farringdon-street, no longer exist. There
is nobody for the omnibuses to bring home from busi-
ness, because every plat* is.olosed ; and the unhappy
wayfarer may pass one restaurant after the other
before he finds the portals -open. 'Most people > are
heartily glad when the day is over, and the respect-
able jog-trot of life comes baek again. After the
August Bank Holiday there will be none until-Boxing
Day, a longer intervention of time than that which is
placed between any two other,periods of this. descrip-
tion of recreation.
So far as Londoners are concerned; the- tempting
advertisements of seaside resorts now displayed at
the railway stations, are a -sufficient inducement to
seek a few hours of the -sweet breata of ocean on
the shores of Kent or Sussex, 'washed by the waves of
the English Channel, or those of 'Essex and Norfolk,
open to the surges of the More. North Sea.
There is something- in- the gre.ndenr2.thelinmensity>
d the power of the great, deep which causes one
never to tire of it. Those .who live far in upon the
'anti--, experience an extraordinary sensation when
'first gazing upon its boundless waters. 'During
the invasion of France in 1870, the- Uhlans were the
scouts of the German army. Two or three of them
would ride into a town by way of spying out the
' nakedness- of the hind; and they took matters so
coolly that they often smoked.their pipes in the pro-
cess. It came to pass that .one bright autumnal
afternoon the usual advance guard rode into Dieppe,
and on to the heights overlooking the Channel.
There they were struck dumb with amazement. Out-
spread befoie them lay the vast shining bosom of the
sea. It was the first time they had ever beheld such
a spectacle; for in the great fatherland, although
there are mighty rivers like the Danube and the
Rhine, the sight of the sea is an unknown pleasure.
To Londoners, of course, this is not so; all the same,
tty have a great admiration of it whenever there is
-, a chance to get near it.
, The climatic conditions which .rule the temperature
/ of qui British isles remain a mystery to meteorologists
• In iiindostan people prepare for the hot_season or
the rainy season as the case may be; they know they
, will have no condensed moisture in the 'former, and
-• no bursts of torrid heat in the latter. In Egypt it is
• known when the Nile will rise, overspread the land,
and fructify the soil. There is at all events an advan-
:• tage in living near the Equator—you do know what
, have to expect, and manage accordingly. But
• the fluctuations of the atmospheric waves in the tern-
' ,petate zone are nothing short of wonderful, and were
never more forcibly illustrated than in the month ,of
May. One day London sweltered under-the fierce heat
of July, on the next the thermometer -told the _story
.z of March. For instance, on the Queen's birthday the
temperature in the metropolis registered ‘Bl in the
shade; ner.t day it was 57. Here was a rdrop.of 24
degrees in as many hours! The bath of -perspiration
on the one day was exchanged for the re-lit pariour
fire on the next. It can be no matter for astonish-
inept that such weather is exceedingly trying to many
--constitutions. Derby Day was bitterly cold. 'There was

• not a gleam of sunshine, and November could not
• .
ben* Mpre cheerless. That day, it the end of
",.;•".•• 44,..5aw, some parts of. England shivering in an
atmosphere only fikir degrees above the point ,4)-f
. ,
•
~•
:th,; 'court Newsman cites not tell us what 'the
nteather. is like'at Balmoral; but it is sometimes
.:wailrlier at Aberdeen than .in London. The.
• , nnd
,Princess Beatrice are lIGNV staying in her Majesty's
favourite northern residence, enjoying the quietude
and the pure mountain air. Some of the chronicles
of. the Court Circular might be open to objection as
• containing trivialities which would not be recorded of
a less august personage. For example : "The Queen
walked. this morning. Her Majesty drove out this
afternoon, :accompanied by Princess Beatrice, and
attended by Lady Ely." But there is really more in
this simple announcement than meete the eye. The
fact of the Qnetn being able to walk in the Castle
grounds after the pain and trouble caused by a recent
accident, is most encouraging, and not less ,so that her
Majesty can also enjoy carriage exercise. The dif-
ference between ,the words " accompany " and
"attend "is strongly marked in the Court areular,
every line of which is submitted to the superviain,f
the sovereign before it is sent to the newspapers.
The hopes of London municipal reformers begin-b;
Lade away as week after week of the session
glides past, and rto progress is made with the
Home Secretary's bill. Introduced on the day before
the House rose for the Easter Recess,Whitsuntide has
gone without hastening the time for the second read-
ing. The public meetings, both for and against the
pleasure are numerous enough; but in view of the
flew PrOgrPu of the PreMbis9 oprp APO few

ranguine cough to ,e;Zpect that the scheme for the I
reform of the loesi ,dministration x3,f the capital can
become law this rear. ,
Seldom hat there been such tutteertailatty in politicaL
circles as to the autumn as there is..ti`Rtst now. Lord
Salishtr and Sir Stafford X.OrthC.tite advise the I.eers '
to threw out the Reform till `WL.,n it reaches them,
so ;as to force on vlistehiaon; Lord Randolph
'am:l-chill declares that this is a course which woad
tst fraught with dante-r-; 811.. 'Herbert Gladstone has
assured us that the ElOterntment will dissolve when it
pleases, and not to 'suit Iha convenience of the Con-
servative leaders it'thts comes to MISS t'hA those ,
who. are an.-xi,om'tonaile.o autumnal holiclAy arrange>
meats find it melt tolimpossible to do so. The Prititft
Minister's trn, who ;is supposed to 'knelt' -somethkr.g
of the tili:re&of'thelPirst Lord of the 'Treasury, ,r.nd
hitnself. elienitik-tzpf the Administratian, plainly tells
us that 'rveri ,Shogild the Lords take the -course re-
comm,s:wled t them as the beat 'way Of binging
about al 'disstlttion, there will be none 'this year.
This s welcome news for a:tom who 'knew some-
thilcg of ithe 'turmoil and the libour .of -a general
eiect.i on.