The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-12-31 00:00:00

- -

COMMENTS ON CURRENT NEWS.

-=1.14

7-Arl

THE Christmas holiday, the most looked-
forward to of all the holidays of the year,
did not pass over without a visitation of
seasonable weather, though the frost came a
little too late to make skating thoroughly
enjoyable. In London the ice on the pond
waters was far too thin for even the most
adventurous of adepts on the agile foot iron
until Wednesday morning at the earliest, but
this was not so farther north, for curling and
ornamental figure-skating were more the
rule than the exception in parts of Lanca—
shire and Yorkshire, and in many Scotch
districts on Christmas and Boxing-Days,
though the record of pleasure was sadly
marred by several lamentable accidents,
causing around dozen of deaths by drownirg
in places where precocious skaters dashed
away from where the shallow water vas
c')ated with a shining plate of yielding, yet
secure, frost mail, to where the currents
rotted it. When will our skaters learn to keep
clear of the dangerous springs? Never, we
fear, for each winter always brings us a sad
tale of deaths by drowning. Then to accentu-
ate the seasonable severe aspect of Christmas
tide, we had big snovqg orals in many places
on Christmas and on Boxing Day, reminding
one of the old-fashioned winters which our
grandsires used to love, which the makers
of Christmas numbers never tire of depicting
In East Kent, at Dover and Folkestone
especially, there has not been so Christmassy
a look abont the landscape for almost forty
years, as the inhabitants experienced just
after Christmas Dayiwas over. Throughout
the neighbourhoods contiguous to the east
coast snowstorms were more or less common
though such mild weather had previously
been seen, there was generally in these isles
little ground for complaint that the weather
was out of trine with the calendar at the
Christmas season of 1887.

CHRISTMAS charges at the police-courts all
over the country, a% well as in the metropolis
were this year quite as light as anyone could
taking the average of past seasons expect and
indeed so favourable that in many places the
magistrates remarked on the good behaviour
of the populace and the consequent insignifi-
cance of their Boxing Day business. Does not
this argue for an improvement in the tone of
public morality?

HAPPILY the holiday-time was not this year
marred by any great calamity or disturbance
of the public peace. Everything passed off
satisfactorily as far as the great community
is concerned here and, on the continent. The
over-crowded railways carried their big traffic
safely, the steamboats had good passages,
people agreed witn each other and all the
doings of the many had a Christmastide
savour of goodwill. There were the inevitable
accidents to rash adventurers on unsafe ice
and one fatal affray in a domestic gathering
in Dublin; but these were but the exceptions
to prove the rule above remarked upon.
With far less than is usual of distress for the
Christmas outwelliag of charity to attend to
those in want got greater relief and all things
went as amicably as they should do at
Yuletide.

CHRISTMAS DAY, falling on Sunday, caused a
slight dislocation in the holiday arrangements
There was beforehand a little disagreement
as to what should be the proper duration of
the recess; and some of the "Scrooge and
Marley' clan, were for insisting upon an obsery
ance of the letter of law, and resuming busi-
ness promptly at the usual time on Tuesday-
morning. Others, of the jollier heart, assent-
ing to the spirit of the enactment which
afforded one day's additional relaxation from
the desk's dead wood at Christmastide
ordained that Tuesday, the 27th, should this
year take the place of Monday the 26th, neu-
tralised by the exigencies of the almanac as
the extra Christmas holiday. The larger
heart greatly outdid those who parsimoni-
ously adhered to the law's letter; and conse-
quently the few who took down their shut-
ters and appealed to empty streets or to
solitary, unsympathetic passers-by on Tues-
day, resolved there and then, in their isola-
tion, to go with the tide of pallic opinion for
the future, and not hold for what mistaken
self-interest led them to regard as principles.
Next year we shall see, in consequence thanks
to Bis-sextile, a holiday really acceptable for
its length to those who have no summer
recess.

!ONE likes to close the revenue year well,
and we in Britain have this year done so.
Our Christmas Day national balance is better
by £1,600,000 than it was last year, while
our expenditnre is less by very close upon
£2,200,900. With these figures confronting
readers of the London Gazette surely we cannot
consistently pose as reasonable complainers
concerning commercial depression and indus:
trial distress.

THE greatleader of the Opposition has sent
forth his counter-blast to the Premier's
political manifesto, and thnags are just as
they were before either spoke. Lord Salis-
bury left Fair Trade adroitly alone, Mr Glad-
stone simply contented himself with keeping
it where it was. The Prime Minister defended
his Govan -nent's Irish policy, the statesman
of Hawaritun related once again his oft-told
tale of Homo Rule. The Liberal leader inva-
ded. the Cor'Tervative stronghold in the hop
county, and ii consequence he had as many
deriders a= ...?provers ; hut still the op-
ponents ev •if the old man eloquent of
reform mi, have abstained from snow-
balling him. i the refutation by fair means
of his argum will not avail, neither will
a display o' gratuitous and irresponsible
force. We valu., the antagonistic snowballing
of Mr Gladston3 at Dover at exactly the
same appraisement as we do the demonstra-
tions in his favour en route on his journeys,
i. e., nil. Claque, which may or may not be
hireling applause counts as nought to those
behind the scenes; and the same may be said
of rowdy disapproval. Solar and serions
ratepayers do not lend themselves to disorder
neither are they moved to ridiculously
extravagant adulation. "'

GOOD news came from San Remo at
Christmas, giving an authoritative opinion
from the surgical experts that the malady
with which the German Crown Prince is
attacked, and which has of late aroused
snch grave anxiety, is not of such
a character as to cause the lalarm that
has been felt everywhere. Sir Aforell
Mackenzie and his German co-workers are
agrred upon this point, anti the eminent
British medico has concluded, after a care-
ful investigation, that six months must
elapse before the real nature of the malady
of the illustrious patient can be ascertained.
Certainly, latest accounts ef the Crown
Prince's doings would lead to a confirmation
ot this optimistical view, for the heir to the
German Throne moves about at San Remo
in good spirits and splendid general health.
It may be—all lovers of the popular husband
of oar Princes Royal hope it is—that the
rumors of cancer in the sufferer's throat are
grounded more on fear than fact. It will
be well for Germany's peace if this is so for
the Crown Prince is the one man who could
guide the great mid-European State safely
along the paths of peace when diplomatic
dangers assail the Empire, as they will do
in years not far distant.

]WORKING MEN DELEGATES TO'

IRELAND:

Mr. Doughty- is expected shortly to return
to Ireland accompanied by several English
working men delegates.