The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1885-06-13 00:00:00

THE QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY.

The anniversary of her Majesty's birthday was
celebrated on Saturday. The ceremony of trooping
the colours, which is observed at each annual celebra-
tion of the Queen's birthday, took place on the Horse
Guards' Parade, St. james's-park. The hour fixed
for the ceremony was ten o'clock, but a heavy down-
fall of rain coming on, it was postponed until eleven.
Rain, however, fell through the trooping and the
march past. The troops present comprised the Ist
Life Guards, the Royal Horse Guards, 2nd
Battalion Grenadier Guards, 2nd Battalion
Coldstream Guards, and the Ist Battalion Scots
Guards. These regiments were drawn up facing the
rear of the Horse Guards. The Prince of Wales, the
Duke of Cambridge, and the Duke of Edinburgh,
attended by the Home District staff, arrived shortly
before eleven, and were received by the combined
bands playing the'National Anthem. A large crowd
assembled to witness the spectacle, which was, how-
ever, greatly marred by the heavy rain.
The Premier and other heads of State Departments
gave full-dress dinners at their official residences on
Saturday evening.
In different parts of the country celebrations took
place in honour of the day. In Dublin, the Queen's
birthday was celebrated by a review and sham fight
in the Phcenix-park, in which all the available troops
in the garrison took part. General Sir Thomas Steel,
commander of the forces in Ireland, and General
Lord Clarina, commanding the Dublin district, were
present. On the arrival of the Lord Lieutenant and
Countess Spencer a feu de joi was fired, and three
cheers were given for the Queen. There was a large
concourse of spectators.
In no place is her Majesty's birthday more gener-
ally or enthusiastically honoured than in Liverpool.
All classes of her Majesty's loyal subjects join most
heartily in celebrating the anniversary of the birth of
a sovereign whose reign has been so beneficent. On
Saturday the tokens of loyalty were to be seen on
every hand. On all the public buildings—the Town
Hall, St. George's Hall, the Municipal buildings, the
Police Offices, Custom House, and Revenue Build-
ings—there floated the royal standard, and flags were
displayed from the premises of many of the leading
tradesmen of the city. On ths exchange flags cheers
were given for the Queen. At the Stock Exchange the
royal standard was hoisted; at the opening of the ex-
change at eleven o'clock there was a large attendance
of members, who gave three hearty cheers for her
Majesty. Mr. Alderman Wm. Chambers (the chair-
man of the Stock Exchange) made a few remarks
appropriate to the occasion, after which the members
sang "God Save the Queen."
In Belfast the Queen's birthday was celebrated by
a review of the troops in garrison in Ormean Park,
there being a large number of spectators present. A
feu de joie was fired and hearty cheers given for her
Majesty and the Prince of Wales. At Carrickfergus
Castle, on Belfast Lough, and at various points in the
north of Ireland, where Militia regiments are being
trained, the day was celebrated in a similar manner.
The birthday was celebrated at Aldershot with the
customary military display. The troops, numbering
about five thousand men, with eleven hundred horses
and twenty guns, paraded at ten, but owing to a con-
tinuous downpour of rain, the parade was indefinitely
postponed at a quarter past eleven.
The anniversary was kept in Plymouth on Satur-
day, when a grand review was held in the Devonport
Park, at which all the troops in the garrison were
present together with the volunteers. The spectacle
was witnessed by thousands of people, and in the
evening Major-General Lysons and Admiral Philli-
more, the Commander-in-Chief, gave dinners and
receptions, at which the officers of the garrison
and the leading inhabitants of the locality were
present.