The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1866-12-29 00:00:00


THE YEAR 1866.

The year 1866 is growing very old, and is about to
Fe "numbered with the years before the flood." It is
dying out, with all its joys and sorrows, its broken
hopes and realised expectations, its saddening episodes
and its happy memories; but, ere we part with it, we
may well look back upon its history, and recall some
of the passages in its eventful life,

Place aux dames—to our Sovereign Lady Queen ,
Victoria. Her Majesty has on the whole been somewhat
less excluded from her subjects than during the previous,
year. The Court, held at Blickinghata Palace wine,
however, of good augury, which was scarcely fulfilled ;
but the Queen's loyal subjects were delighted at the
style in which she assisted at the unveiling of the
statue of the late Prince Consort at Wolverhampton,
and they accorded her a right loyal reception. Two
royal nisrriaies have ale° somewhat relieved the
dulness that has characterised our Court, Since the
14th of December, 1801—those of Prince Teck and
the Princess Mary of Cambridge, and of the Prince
Christian with the Princess Helena. And we may
here-note also the marriage of the Czarewitch of
Ruesia with Princess Magnus, daughter of the King
of Denmark.
Before Parliament opened there was considerable
excitement throughout the country in anticipation of
the Reform Rill of the late Government. In due time
Mr. Gladstone introduced it in a magnificent speech.
At first the Radical portion of the press seemed inclined
to oppose the measure as being inadequate, but their
policy soon became that of the Reformer' of the
country generally —a policy of acceptance under pro-
test, and finally every effort MIA made to support the
Ministry in their efforts to carry the measure. But
all efforts were useless. A section of the Liberals,
whom Mr. Bright was the first to call " Adollamitee,"
coalesced with the Conservatives, and their united
opposition was too much for the Government, They
withdrew the bill and resigned. Lord Derby then
formed an administration, and it is understood that
they will in turn introduce a bill on this vexed
question. Meanwhile, numerous great meetings have
been held in various large towns in favour of • large
extension of the suffrage and the ballot. One of these
great meetings was to have been held in Hyde Park,
which was forcibly entered by a part of the crowd,
which caused some bloodshed and great disorder. A
great deal of discussion arose out of this, on which
we need not now eater. Another great demonstration
took place on the 3rd of December, in London, and
passed off Ma very orderly manner, some 25,000 or 30,000
joining in the trades' procession, which would have
been further swelled but for the wretched weather.
Reform meetinza will continue to be held till the
assembling a Parliament, when the whole subject
will be fully discussed once more.
Preparations were commenced in the spring for
another attempt to lay the Atlantic Cable. On the
30th of June the Great Eastern left the Medway for
Valentis, from which port she soon afterward, sailed.
The splicing of the shore-end of the cable was effected
on the 13th of July; all proceeded satisfactorily, and
on Friday, July 27, about 5 p.m., the Atlantic ( 'able
was landed on the American side, and the splicing
completes]. Connections having been made with the
lines on the mainland, • message was sent by Queen
Victoria to the President, and a reply immediately
received. Since that time the cable itself has con.
tinned in good working order, though some few
interruptions in the communication have occurred on
land. 'rhe co npletion of this wonderful enterprise
may well be considered one of the most gratifying
facts of the year. Scarcely less gratifying, and
certainly not less wonderful, was the recovering of the
cable of 1863, which was picked up on Sunday, the
lot of September, in 1,400 fathoms of water; and
eight days afterwards a inesmge was transmitted
through it, announcing the successful completion of
the enterprise. The Great Eastern returned home at
the end of the month, and congratulations and State
honours were awarded to the chief workers in the noble
enterprise c 1111 l ecting the Old and the New Worlds
by a telegraphic chain.
The agricultural community specially, and the
whole community generally, have bad to laumnt the
appearance of • terrible disease among our cattle. A
Cattle Plague Commission was appointed before the
meeting of Parliament, and the Privy Council
viirourously turned their attention towards preventive
and remedial measures. Notwithstanding all that
cool be done the disease continued to spread, and
every week a number of animals fell victims to it.
In the autumn the number of deaths gradually dee
clined, and at the commencement of De-ember the
disease WM considered almost to have disappeared ;
but, unhappily, at the close of the year it re.com-
minced with renewed virulence, and at the present
time the agriculturists have great fears of its
spreading.
One of the most painful aspects of the year has been
the spread and development of Fenianism in IRELAND,
in CANADA, and AMERICA. In America there have
been numerous meetings of Fenians ; regiments—
scarcely deserving the name perhaps, but at all events
parties of soldiers—have been called mit, arms and
money collected, and riot and piracy have resulted.
The much-talked-of raid into Canada, however, proved
a signal failure, and several persons were tried, found
guilty, and sentenced to death. At the instance of the
Washington Cabinet, however, the sentence was corn-
muted to imprisonment. In Ireland throughout the
year there has been growing discontent, and the
country has been seriously injured, commercially and
politically, by a wide-spread conspiracy. At the com-
mencement of the year it was found necessary to pro-
claim Dublin, Waterford, and Tipperary, and erelong
it was also deemed desirable to suspend the Habeas
Corpus Act, one result of which was numerous arrests.
Among them was Head Centre Stephens, who sub-
sequently escaped and went to America. This Was a
great blow to law and order, as it imported an element
of romance into Fenianism, and at the moment of
writing we can but hope that. as he is thought to be in
the country, he will speedily be arrested. During the
last month or two Government have shown great
activity in putting down this pernicious rebellion.
Regiment and war material have been dispatched to
the country, and arrests have been almost daily made
throughout Ireland. We sincerely hope that these
measures may be crowned with success.

The terrible outbreak in JAMAICA scarcely belongs
to the expiring year, but the year, nevertheless, opened
with the appointment of a Commission of Inquiry.
The Commiasion was appointed on the strictest prin-
ciples of political justice, and in doe time it made its
report. The leading conclusions of the commissioners
were partially in favour of Mr. Eyre, but unnecessary
severity was attributed to him and those acting under
Lim. The whole subject will be re-opened on the trial
-if ex-Governor Eyre, at the instance of the Jamaica
Committee.

It is to be regretted that, at the close of the year,
the relations between ENG LAND and the UNTTIID STATES
are not so satisfactory as we could wish. Fenianism
and the 4/abanvi are the chief difficulties, and though
there is reason to believe that the claims of America
with regard to the latter will be amicably settled, Pre-
eident Johnson, in his recent Message, takes upon
himself to lecture us upon our misgovernment of Ire-
land, and makes this a palliation for the Fenian raid
in Canada, adding that the alleged misgovernment
and the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act "must
necesearily modify the opinion whioh we (the
Americans) might otherwise have entertained in regard
to an expedition expressly prohibited by our neutrality
laws." President Johnson, too, is on no better fertile
with his own Government than with ours. He in quite
in opposition to the Congress, and the question now is,
which shall give way? Appearances indicate that the
President, who has taken up an unpopular Cf 1,181., will
have to eerie something as to hie reconstruction policy.
FRANCE has been peaceful and progressive during the
year, nut the attention of the country has been
directed to the re-organization of her army. A com-
mission having sat for some time, under the presi-
dency of the Emperor, has decided on a ncheme by
which there will be an army of 800,000 men, one half
on service, and the other half as a reserve, besides
300,000 National Guard. An essentially peaceful
eubject has also occupied her attention—the Inter-
national Lxhibition, which is to be opened on the
let of April seat. All the civilised nations of the
world v he more or less represented in the magni-
ficeut building, and we trust, ail we believe, that its
influence will be beneficial to humanity.
The New Year'e speech of the Emperor of the French
was a very pacific one, and throughout the year
Palatine has endeavoured to mssiitxin a peaceful
policy. While she ha., been able to carry out this
policy into actual fact, France has had many difficulties
to contend with with regard to Mexico and Roses.
With respect to Mexico, that unhappy country has
been ix a troubled state throughout the year. The

THE ST

Emperor Maximilian, supported tnough ne was by
French money and French prestige, has not been able
to maintain his ground, and at the, moment of writing
may be said to have abdicated. The poor Empress,
who left Mexico on a mission to Frawley lost her reason,
and is still in a state of mind that MIMES her to be
talked of with sorrow and compassion ; and Mexico
herself seems likely once more to he the prey of revolu-
tionary bandits and scheming politicians. Auto ROME,
she now attracts the eyes of the world, and all look
toward the seven-hilled City with more or lee anxiety.
The Emperor of the French hononrably performed his
pert of the convention, and on the 12 h of December,
the French flag was hauled down from the Castle of
St. Angelo, and the Pontifical flag was hoisted in its
place. Meanwhile the French army of occupation
had been gradually withdrawn, and Rome is now left
without the protection of French arms.. General
Montebello, however, on taking leave of the Pope,
assured His Holiness that France would still protect
him—how, remains to be seen.
Early in the year some ominous differences between
ArSTRIA BEd PRUSSIA, began to be manifested with
I regard to the so-called Danish Duchies. Several of
the smaller German states, taking the alarm, tried
hard to preserve neutrality, but some of them found
it impossible. The attitude of ITALY, and especially
Venetia, then soon attracts 1 attention. Matters
growing more and more serious, private efforts
towards mediation, or at least deprecation of war,
were unavailingly made by the Char of Russia, and
our own Queen; and before long it became evident
that war could not he avoided. A treaty of alliance
having been made by Prussia and Italy, the latter
power displayed great eagerness to commence the
war, and Austria and Prussia plamal their armies on
a war footing. A terrible war—short, sharp, mid
decisive—ensued. Prussia gained several signal
victories over Austria, who hat to succumb to her
powerful antagonist, armed as she was with the all-
compelling needle-gun. Venetia was thus freed from the
Austrian yoke, and Austria lost her place in the
German confederation, while Prussia not only took
the disputed Duchies, but extended her power in
Germany, absorbing several of the smaller estates.
Among the miscellaneous events of the year, which
may be viewed collectively, and which may be briefly
summarised, we may mention the loss of the ship Lon-
don, with 220 souls; and that of the Monarch of the
Seas, with several emigrants to America; the great fire
in St. Katherine's Dodos, doing damage to nearly a
quarter of a million ; inundations at the commence-
ment of the year and again towards ita close; the
failure of several limited liability companies, notably
0 verend, Gurney, and Co., and the throwing of &whole
railway—the London, Cnathatn, and Dover—into
Chancery; the breaking out of the cholera, which has
happily passed away with less ravages than during
its former visit ; a famine in several parts of India;
long controversies on the subject of Ritualism, which
hid fair never to end ; the visit of our volunteers to
11-Igium, and their cordial reception, which is to be
as heartily returned next year under the auspices of
the Prince of Wales ; the volunteer review at
Brighton, with about 20,000 men, which showed a
great advance on previous years, and a volunteer
review in Hyde Park; Mr. Pealxidy's " more than
princely" moniticence to the poor of London, and her
Majesty's letter of thanks to him; the continuance of
trade disputes between masters and men, and a dis-
graceful trades' union outrage at Sheffield ; the
terrible coldery explosion in Wigan and Dunkinfield ;
the rupture of diplomatic relations and some hostilities
between Spain and Peru, and between Spain and
Chili; internal diesensions in Roumania, Moldavia,
Camila and Crete; continued troubles in China and
Japan, hut little affecting other countries; an abortive
attempt to assassinate the Czar.

England owes much of her greatness to her coal
mines, and, an if to humble no in our national pride,
the source of so much of our nations! wealth is intl.
mately connected with calamities which are as terrible
in their results as they are mysterious in their causes.
" In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," hundreds
of living men become blackened and seared corpses,
the bowels of the earth are rent asunder, and the pit
which a moment before was the scene of industry and
perilous labour becomes a vast furnace, the fire roarirg
with fury and seeking further prey. The terrible
colliery explosions in Lancashire and Yorkshire are
too fresh in the memory of our readers to need further
reference, and they will long be remembered as one of
the saddest episodes of the year ; but when these
catastrophes are spoken of it will be in conjunction
with the large-hearted and openhanded charity tip.y
have evoked.

The obituary of the year is a long one, but we will
attempt only to record some of the more prominent
names. They ale: —The Earl of Limerick; Sir John
scceegne, f-.emeely physician to the Queen; Marie
Amelie, ex-Queen of the French; Admiral Baldwin ;
Sir John Hall, Ins ector General of Hospitals ; Mr.
Gibson, the sculptor ; Sir Charles Eastlake; Lord
Monteagle ; Dr. Braude, the chemist; the E.rl
Kinnonl ; Col. Phipps, Keeper of her Majesty's Privy
Purse ; Mr. Gordon Cumming. the liomhunter ; the
Rey. Francis Mahoney (Father Front); the Marquis
of L madonnas ; Vice-Chancellor NVigram ; Dr. Whe-
well ; the Rev. J. Keble ; Lillywhite, the cricketer;
, and Grimahaw, the jockey; the eccentric Mr. Wynd-
ham; and the Marquis of Waterford.

Glancing over the Continental history of the year,
there one fact which is especially prominent. There
has been almost everywhere a tendency to reconstruct
armies and prepare for possible war. England, too,
is directing her attention in this direction, but ardently
desires peace, and does not fear war. May the year
1867 he a peaceful and a happy one, and heartily do
we conclude by wishing our readers a Happy New
Year.

A VISIT TO THE SCENE OF THE EX-
PLOSION IN STAFFORDSHIRE.
-

The correspenisnt of the Landon Standard glue the fit-
lowing snterestli,g account of s visit he has pain to she
tc•ne of the reo,nt explosion in North Staff gdshire:—
Tunstall, which is the nearest town of any slze to
" Talk-0'411%HW," is a place of, I ghouls! suppoee,
4000 or 5000 inhabitant!. But these manufacturing
and mining towns, with their long rowe of workmen's
cottages, are very difficult to judge, as they cover lea',
space, ar 'Lkof far less importance than agriculture'
towns witli about the came population. 'Nostrat is
about a mile distant from Burelem. no of the prin•
cipal pottery towns in the Trent Valley. Tunstall,
indeed. bouts a station of its own, but as hardty any
of the trains stop there, were it not fur the honour of
the thing, it might as well be stationlem Tongan
ale,, has a neat little town-hall, and a very large and
excellently arranged market-hall, which many a very
much larger town might envy. In the open space
between there two edifies stands a Russian cannon,
by which I imagine that the native, of the place must
have distinguished themselves during the II inrnean
war, either by sending an unusually large number of
volunteers, or by the extreme valour of those who
went, or why should Tnnetall, at which even the
Passing train, disdain to stop, have received so great
an honour? The cannon had not an imposing effect,
for beside, and almost touching it, were two caravans,
the one belonging to a "cheap jack," the other having
one of the long tubes for enabling the nervous to
practise rifle-shooting without fear of the recoil. There
were two or three stalls of various kinds round it, a
man selling holly, and a steam-engine, which upon
inspection turned out to he • baked-potato machine.
Finding that the colliery of Talk.o'-th'•Hill was three ,
and a half miles distant, I procured a conveyance, and
I can conscientiously say that a rougher and more
dirty road I never drove over. It wee hilly, the roads
were cut into deep ruts, occasionally stones, varying
from the size of a man's head to that of his body, had
been thrown into it—l am inclined to think by boys,
with the object of upsetting any peening vehicle,
which they would most effectually do if any one
coming along in the night were to drive over
them. The road itself is made according to the
fashion of the country, by bringing cinders from
the adjacent collieries, and laying them down
four or five inehee deep. As these cinders never bind,
but in wet weather churn up into a deep mud, of the
coheir and consietency of the sediment of an ink•
bottle, its general aspect may be imagined even by
those who have never seen a szosionted in the Black
Country during wet weather and under the influence
of an unnettsl amount of traffic. The valley, upon
rising ground to the left of which the solitary of
" Talk" etude, is for the whole of its length one line
of collieries and iron work,; but on leaving this, And
getting on to the plateau upon which Talk-o'-th'-}lill
stands, the view improved greatiy for the better.
The wind wlin fortunately Wowing the other way, and
consequently the uncke of the works in the valley
drifted towards Bendel's, and the sky here shone ,
clear and blue. The colliery is prettily situated ;
beyond it the ground dips gradually away over a
country disfigured with but few chimneys, while to
the left runs • line of hill,, of no height, but fairly
wooded, and upon one of the rise, of which stands a
tall obelisk, which my informant could only tell me
" was met up to the duke," the duke being, if I re•
member rightly, the Duke of Bridgewater,
"Talk-d-th'• lint" colliery was opened by the
"North Staffordshire Coal and Iron Company"
about ten years ago, and has been extended gradually
until it has become one of the largest and most im•
portant mines in this part of the country. Two bleat
furnaces have been erected at a short 'distance from
the colliery, which are in full work. About eighteen
months ago the Banbury seam of coal, which lies 25
fathems deeper than the one previously worked, was
struck. It is 173 fathoint deep, and has
been worked with great P UCCOM up to the
',resent accident. The upcast mei downcast shafts
are close to each other. The vein of coal it
eight feet chick, and is worked, as moat thick veins
are, by the "pillar and stall" erstem. At a short
distance from the Banbury ehatt, as that with the
deep seam is called, is another called the old shaft,
and 1.50 fathoms deep. This is worked an a separate
wine, hut there is a communication with the other
pit, and a great proportion of those who were caved
...Gaped by waking their way into this pit.
All the arrangements in and about the mine are
said to be excellent, and indeed the buildings and
surface work, plainly evidence, even to a canual
visitor, that the works belong to a rich proprietary,
4 who have spared no expense lit having everything
to proper order. The vein of coal in which the work