The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-11-06 00:00:00

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Our YoiOwl (forrespcgmt.

[We di:eru it right to state that we do TIOt at all tincs
i.deutify ourselves with o)rre3poialeht's okiniuns.l

The month of November is one the very name ti
which is, in many minds, inseparable from dulness rnd
gloom. It was anciently the ninth month of the year,
as its derivation sig,nities, thereby answering to the
September of to-day. But when Numa added January
and F3bruary (713 B. O. It became the eleventh, as
now. That it should retain its original appellation
through 2,500 years of change, especially when that
appellati..n is really incorrect, testifies to the conserva-
tive feeling which in matters of sentiment has animated
Christian peoples in all ages. Tiberius Caesar was
burn in this manth, and the Roman E. matora wished to
_ _name it -after him, in imitation of Julius (JulY) alta
Augustus (August). But Tiberius refused, saying
"what will yon do, conscript fathers, if you have thir-
_ teen_ emsars ?" Tiberius saw •abort if every Roman
Emperor gave' his name to one of the months, un.
mitigated confusion must be the result. Those who
flourished in the second century might wish to erase
--the names of those that held sway in the first; Trajan
" and Claudius might naturally wish to blot out the
memories of Nero and Domitian ; nor would Vespasian
and Titus stand much chance of being held in remem-
brance. So it was wisely resolved to.leave the names of
the months alone ; and although the presiding spirits over
the first French Revolution sought to change them
into the titles of the seasons which they represented,
the old style of chronology was restored by Napoleon.
It is worthy of note that when Julius Ca3sar fixed the
astronomical year at 365 days and 6 hours, making the
- odd hours every four years an additional day, he over-
estimated the time of the earth's revolution round the
sun by eleven minutes. Some might be disposed to
argue that eleven minutes in twelve months were no
great matter; but as centuries rolled on it became a
very timportant matter indeed, so much so that after
the lapse of 1,500 years people found themselves ten
days too fast. They had the vernal equinox upon
them on the 11th of March instead of the 21st. So Pope
Gregory issued a decree shortening that particular
year by ten days (the sth of October becoming the
' 15th); and to preveat further irregularity it was
ordered that only once in four hundred years should the
beginning of a century be a leap year. Thus 1700 and
-
1800 were not bissextile, nor will 1900 be ; but 2000
wil be a leap year. In this way three days will be
retrenched every fourth century, ani by that means
our astronomers hope to keep the time straight. See
what confusion only a few minutes in a year causes if
it is allowed to run on unchecked through the lapse of
ages,
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The ninth of this month is a date of interest in every
corporate borough in the kingdom, for the head of the
rmunicipality is then chosen for another year by the
free voice of the local representative body. We are
.__ef ten told by cynics that things are "better managed
in Prance;" but this is one of those things which
are certainly not better managed by our neighbours
across the water. In that country the Make or the
Prefect is a Government official; and one of the
standing quarrels of the people of Paris with the late
Emperor Napoleon was that they had no control
whatever over the enormous sums expended in the re-
construction of the city. They were heavily taxed for
improvements ordered by the Executive, the Prefect
of the Seine himself being appointed by the ruling
powers at the Tuileries. Now, the inhabitants of no
city or borough in this country would not long approve
of a system like that; and doubtless appreciate the
free municipal institutions under which they live.
aa
The great works which have been executed in
London during the ,last few years, such Holborn
Viaduct and Blackfriars-bridge were carried out by
the Corporation with the concurrence of the people
whom they represent, and are thus cheerfully paid
for; but this would not have been so had the expendi-
ture been ordered by the Government of the day,
without giving the citizens a voice over the oatlay.
The announcement that the chrysanthemums in the ,
Temple Gardens are, as the custom is in the month of
November, again open to the public inspection is a
welcome one to all who delight in winter floriculture.
These gardens are very beautiful in the summer, and
the Templars, being a remarkably rich body, no ex-
Pense isapared to make them attractive. But even
when the summer flowers fade these grounds do not lose
all their beauty, and the carefully-tended chrysan-
themums in November seem to tell the spectator not
only of brighter days that have gone by, but of cheer-
ful ones to come. West of the Temple are the gardens
of the Thames Embankment, which are increasing in
extent every year. Two acres and a half of ground
below Hungerford Bridge, which were waste land in
January last, now make up a well-laid-out pleasure
ground. When Millbank Prison shall have been
swept away, as it soon will be, there will in all proba-
bility be a continuation of these river gardens from
the Houses of Parliament in the direction of Chelsea.
The gloemy buttresses of Millbank, washed as their
basements are by the tides of the Thames, have long
been an eyesore. Almost immediately opposite Lam-
beth Palace, the residence of the Archbishop of can.
terbury, and within a stone's throw of the Palace of
Westminster, a great convict establishment has long
seemed to be totally out of place in the centre of a
populous community. It is now to disappear, and if
the example could be followed with Newgate and
Horsemonger Lane, great would be the rejoicing.
What of the coming winter? We h—e,i
an old-
fashioned one last year, with its plentiful descent of
snow and its severe frosts, which often of a night
marked fifteen degrees below the point at which water
freezes. The London General Omnibus Compan—
y aeem
to anticipate a not very mild one now; and have
appealed to the metropolitan vestries and district
boards for permission to sprinkle salt on the centre of
the public thoroughfares through which the omnibuses
have to-pass. In some of our local governing bodies
the application is meeting with strong opposition
while in others it is regarded with favour. The corn:
pany points out that the sprinkling ef a little salt over
the frozen surface of the streets enables the vehicular
traffic of a great population to be carried on; the
opponents of the scheme contend that the salt creates
a sloppy ice-water, which strikes a deadly chill into
the feet of pedestrians who are unfortunate enough to
have to cross the streets. The convenience of the
masses, however, must be considered before the com-
fort of individuals; and in the majority of. cases the
company hats obtained leaver. to adopt the salt-
sprinkling process.
The annual report of the Post Office is always an
interesting document, the magnitude of the business
transacted by that important department being fully
set forth. It does seem extraordinary when we are
told that last year the number of letters posted in the
United Kingdom was nine hundred and sixty-seven
millions! That is one for very nearly every inhabitant
upon the surface of the globe—for the teeming
myriads of India and China, for the pushing popula-
tions of the European continent, for the settlers in
the far-off Antipodes, to say nothing. of the forty
millions of our cousins across tne Atlantic.
More than four million letters came back to the
Returned Letter Office; and upwards of 20,000 were
posted without addtesses, one of these containing
£2,000 in bank-notes. Amongst the co]f)signments to
the Post Office for conveyance per mail train were a
horned frog, a stag beetle, white mice, and snails—all
alive. Other incongruous articles for transmission
were an owl, a kingfisher, a rat, carving knives and
forks, gun cotton and cartrid,ges, all of which were
considered by the senders proper articles to be for-
warded by post.
When the Viceroy of Egypt was over here some
years ago, he was greatly impressed with the skill
shown in the construction of the Underground Rail-
way, and made its designer, Mr. John Fowler,
engineer-in-chief to his government. For some time
past the value of Egyptian bonds upon the Stock Ex-
change has been materially depreciated, through the
default of Turkey to meet her liabilities; and Mr.
Fowler has therefore told us what the actual condition
of Egypt really is. It is a wonderful story concerning
a land where it is certain that a dynasty was founded
by a grandson of Noah. Railways and docks, cities
with streets well paved and lighted, irrigation works,
and telegraph wires, all these are the lot of the
Egyptians of to-day. What would the Pyramids say
could they speak to us of the changes wrought in all
the land of Egypt since their foundations were laid?
That they were begun before the incidents recorded in the
Book of Exodus is undoubted, and that the children of
Israel, when "the task masters heated them" over the
manufacture of bricks without straw, were employed
ea building up the vast structures which cast their
shadows over the land to-day, there is equally little
question. They are thirty centuries old if they are a
day, and to all appearance will wrestle Time for thirty
centuries longer. In the British Museum you may see
giant representations of Rameses, the Pharaoh ef Old
Testament history, who imposed upon his subjects the
building of walls, and pyranaids, and other labours.
And as you note the mummies, still in a perfect state
of preservation, you cannot help apostrophising them
somewhat in this wise :

" And thou haat walked—bow strange a story!
In Thebes's streets three thousand years ago;
When the Memnoninm was in all its glory,
And Time had not begun to overthrow
Those temples, palaces, and piles stupendous,
Of which the very ruins are tremendous."
But Time, which has ruthlessly cast down the
"cloud-capped towers and the gorgeous palaces," has
hitherto found his match in the Pyramids, although
In the long run Time will be the conqueror.
One change wrought by the Judicature Act, which
is now in force, is in the mode of appointing the Judges
of the Superior Courts. Before the new statute came
into operation, it was essential that my lords the