The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-07-10 00:00:00

Cut onflt earrunonttra
• k

We deem It rt2lit to state that we do not tt all tisaes
hentify ourselves ,nth our Corrc3pond,?.nt'a oplaions.l

Most of the polls have now boen taken, sand the
csvelfth general election oi the reign of Queen
Victoria will soon be at an end. This will
scarcely be deplored even by the most ardent
politician, for a general election in 'July means
that the always hard work attending such a
RtruL:gle, is rendered the harder by The heat. In
the winter months it is rather agreeable than
otherwise to be present at an enthusiastic
political meeting, for a little added warmth to
he blood is far from unwelcome when fog fills
the streets and frosts 'shill one to the bone But
it is quite another matter when one is invited to
such meeting in the summer. The fineness of
the weather tempts one to spend the time in
the fields, where fields are conveniently near, or
- in the open, wherever one may be situate, rather
than in close assembly rooms, where the already
heated air is rendered more suffoeating by the
presence of a number of people, and the com-
motion which such a number cause. One effect
of this has been that many election meetings
have been held in the open air, where an
orator may be listened to without danger
of' asphyxia, and where political excitement
can be had combined with the blowing of the
evening breeze. But however pleasant such
gatherings may be to the listeners they are not
always so agreeable to those who have to speak.
To effectively address an but-of-door meeting a
man has to exercise quite a diflerent style of
oratory to that which he would use in a hall;
and many of the most telling indoor speakers
fail to impress an audience in the open. Con-
versely some of the best outdoor speakers are
not successful on an indoor platform, for a style
which befits a speech delivered under the broad
canopy of heaven proves too broad and too voci-
ferous to suit a hall.
According to the testimony of nearly every
person of both parties who has, had active con-
nection with the recent electoral struggle in
London, one of the greatest diMculties which beset
their path was the immense number of removals
that had taken place since the previous dissolu-
tion. Those who dwell in a small town, or even
in a large one, may scarcely appreciate to the
full the greatness of this difficulty. Even in the
most populous provincial borough, if a man
moves from one house to another, or even from
one division to another, it is comparatively easy
to trace him, and to ask him to come to the poll.
But in London, where tens of thousands of resi-
dents scarcely know the name of their next-door
neighbour, and who, if that next-door neighbour
removed, would not have the least idea whither
• he had gone, it is a task of almost superhuman
difficulty to political organisers to trace those
who have gone. It has to be remembered, also,
that three quarter-days had passed between the
two general elections—a fact of great importance
when both were being contested upon the same
register; and in some districts—more especially
those mainly occupied by the working classes—
the proportion of persons who have moved upon
one of the three proved astonishingly large.
This fact in itself has to be taken greatly into
account when the diminished polls of this month,
compared with those of last November, are con-
sidered.
It is almost impossible, when every eitizen has
been forced to think of politics for some weeks,
to avoid frequent reference to the general elec-
tion; and one feature of the recent struggle
which peculiarly affects Londoners may be noted
in addition to those named before. As is pretty
generally known, the metropolis is now cut up
into 59 divisions, each returning one member,
except the City, which has two. Now, even to
those best acquainted with metropolitan topo-
graphy, the boundaries of all these divisions are
almost impossible to remember, for they are
necessarily purely artificial, and crossing a street
carries one from division to division, and often
from borough to borough. In these circum-
stances, any who wished to make themselves
acquainted with the various boundaries has had
most assiduously to study street maps, and it re-
quired a man of long memory to derive much benefit
from the process. But an easier plan could be
followed while the election fever was at its height.
Any who drove through the metropolis at that
period could not mistake the district he was in
because of the window cards and wall posters so
extensively displayed. Those who strongly
favoured a particular candidate would exhibit his
name and colours in their windows, whether that
window was of a shop or of a private house; and
by keeping an eye on these the traveller could
tell at a glance what Parliamentary division he
was in and could distinguish in a moment
when lie had passed the boundary. A practical
"object lesson" of this kind taught much more
than could be learned from a map, and the hint
might be borne in mind by any who wish to
improve their education in this respect at another
general election.
Land is so dear in London that, unless a man
is wealthy, he can scarcely have much of a garden;
but it is always interesting in the summer to
no te how much can be done by a suburban resident,
possessing a taste for horticulture with the little
piece of ground allotted him, either at front or
back of his house. To many a business man,
immured all day in a small room in a narrow
court in the City, it is a source of never-ending
delight to devote the evening hours to work in
his garden. The product may not be large, and
- looked at from a strictly commercial point of
view, every flower which is grown may cost far
more than if a similar specimen were procured
- in the open market. But this is a lamentably
r defective light in which to look at the work of
• amateur gardening. It pays itself, not in the
- extent of its production, but in the amount of
health-giving enjoyment itaffords. The pleasure
must be greater than the labour, or it would
not be so extensively pursued; and the pride of
being able to say "These flowers are from my own
garden" is no light factor in securing for amateur
horticulture so much of its popularity. Looked
at all round, there is very much to be said in
favour of the pursuit, and the answer to those
who wax sarcastic at its expense obviously is that
no one is compelled to take it up unless he has
the mind.
Gardening on one's own account, however, is
not the only way in which the passion of the
-average Londoner for flowers is shown. Just at
this time it is no exaggeration to say that tens
of thousands of these are daily sold in the streets.
One of the most familiar sights to any who have
occasion to pass the Bank of England is the large
number of flower vendors seated around
• Chantrey'S equestrian statue , of the Duke of
Wellington; and each of these acts as a wholesale
dealer to the scores of younger sellers who crowd
the streets leading to the main stations of the
great suburban lines. The City merchant,
equally with the City clerk, the stockbroker,
fresh from the exciting atmosphere of Capel
Court, equally with the artisan just coming
from the bench or the scaffolding, buys a flower
as he hurries to the station. For the expendi-
ture of a trifling sum it seems no if a whiff of the
country, a smellof the fields, and tho orchards, mid
the gardens, can be procured; and homes are
brightened at evening with a little nosegay
plucked, it may have been the.. same morning
scores of miles away.* The fashion appears to be
growing, and it is at once so innocent and so
pleasing, that none will wish it to die out. We
cannot all have gardens and even if we could it
is not all who have sufficient leisure or sufficient
" taste to cultivate them; but none need be in
-want of a.ffower as he passes through any of the
,principal London streets on a day in July.
Those who are now living have been so loaf
Accustomed to talk of the nineteenth century
that it is difficult to realise that, in a. little ove:
fourteen yearn the- twentieth will have begun.
But a fact related a few days since by the head-
master of one of our great public schools vei:l
bring forcibly home to us the consideration then,
1900 is very near, that bring the year
which a boy has already been entered a
destined to join his establishment. It ceeine
a strange date to us now, and very matev
things will happen before it becomes familiar.
If for only one circunistanee, the year will be a
memorable one, for it will net only mark the
close of an important century, but, though
coming four years after one lean-ear, it will not
itself he another. This is one of the rules of the
Gregorian Calendar, in order to *vent a repe-
tition of the defects of that known as the:
Julian; and unless Russia .abandons the latter
before 1900, which does not _seem at all likely,
she will fall one further day behind tie rest of
Europe. It may be expected that, -Vs 1900
approaches still nearer, much will be heard of the
old controversy as to whether that year or 1901
will commence the twentieth century. But the
point is so simple that it scarcely needs aagu-
rnent. No one would contend that the year. 29
closed the first century, and it will only be tlas
unreasonable who will argue thatel.B99 doses the
nineteenth.
Just as in winter an almost daily-recurring
Lleadline.,4 in the newspapers is "Fatal Skating
aso Aceident,'h so in the -summer it is "Bathing
• Fatalify,"tif bah' it "muit regretfully he said
that many of the unfortunate deceased have
brought the disaster neon themselves by fool-
NEdipess 0 the pils, cage, and =vied of ohvi(?!.7s

,f.4gtalk,

prr cautions in the other. But this, of course, is
not true in all cases, and many of the fatalities,
sad as they always are, come strictly within the
limits of tiojdents which could not be prevented.
At the same time, any who wish to bathe,
whether in lake, sea, or stream, ought first to
make himself acquainted with the local cir-
curnstatices—tho character of tho bottom, the
known currents, or the rapidity of movement,
as the case may be. Many an individual goes
into the sea simply because it is before him, and
without knowledge that at that part of the coast
is a treacherous ground swell, that may suck the
sands from beneath his feet, and doom him to a
watery grave. There are other precautions
, which the Royal Humane Society enjoins upon
all who bathe, and which should be taken to
heart by everyone who loves the pastime. It is
one which is so invigorating that it ought to be
extensively fillowed, as in point of fact it is, but
the enjoyment of it is not incompatible with
heedfulness, and should be even the greater
when the necessary means have been taken to
ensure, if possible, safety A. F. R.