The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-04-10 00:00:00

ur gonbou Carrtspoubent.
(We deem it right to state that we do -uot at all times
Ventity ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

It would be no surprise to find that one-of the
best-known "spring events "—the University
Boat Race—has gained a new lease of popu-
larity from the exciting character of which it
this year partook. Those who had watched the
matter had seen that for some time the public
interest in the contest had been on the wane,
and the preliminary practice, and even the race
itself, had been attended by far fewer than was
the case some years ago. But the exhibition of
re-in pluck and endurance in this year's struggle,
re. which made it one of the finest eight-oar races
▪ vier fseeri on the Thames, was such as to revive
• the old interest. The best feature of the con-
etests isethat it is known to be a thoroughly
honest one. It is entered upon for no other
prize than the honour of victory, and. no suspi-
mon can el* -be entertained that aught that
,is not of a straightforward character enters
• e • into the relations between the crews. To
be a boating •" blue" is a distinction much
a a, striven for by, the
,athletic young Englishmen
who throng our universities; and that the
possession of the coveted honour is not incom-
patible with prolonged study and sustained
mental effort is evident from the number of those
distinguished.at the bar, on the bench, and in the
church who have attained it. Like every other
good thing, a taste for athletics may be carried
to excess, but few will doubt that the sound
mind in the sound body, which from of old has
been declared to be an excellent possession is
largely enjoyed by Englishmen because of their
fondness for boating, cricket, football, and other
• otitdoor. amusements.
One of sfich amusements—that of cricket—
will soon again be in full swing, and a very in-
teresting season is expected. The fifth biennial
11.;.1 visit to England of an Australian team will
- • deepen the popular attention given to the game,
and the performances of the Colonial eleven will
be watched with the greater eagerness, because
several of the number are new to us.
Murdoch, for instance, who has done such
excellent work on English cricket-grounds, will
:no longer be with the team, and some others
..who Played under his captaincy in 1884 will simi-
jarly have their places filled by those to whom
as yet we are strangers. But whether they are
known or unknown, the members of the team
will receive a hearty welcome; for, although in
'the course of the four previous tours a few
jealousies may have been aroused and a few
bickerings caused, as was perhaps only
natural, they have been so few, and their results
so little felt, that the general public have passed
them unheeded by. The point upon which fre-
quenters of our best-known cricket-grounds agree
as a whole is that the periodical visits of the
Australians have had great effect in stimulating
Nee popular interest in the game. There is a
„wort of international rivalry imported into it
,iv.laich increase's the zeal with which is followed
result after result—a rivalry which, as between
county and county, can only be mainly local,
and which, as between gentlemen and players,
has somewhat died dowja. If the summer, there-
fore, be a fine one, we may look for some excel-
Jent exhibitions of cricket at Lord's, the Oval,
vand•the great provincial grounds.
Musicians of all kinds cannot fail to be in-
torested in the visit to this country of the Abb6
, Liszt. To Many of the younger generation the
venerable pianist and composer was to a large
, extent a tradition and a name; and the eager-
nese to meet him which has been displayed on
all sides is a testimony to the esteem in which he
it held. • Years ago, when Wagner was but little
understood in England and even less appreciated,
• there was not the same admiration for the music
of Liszt; but nowadays the great composer,
with whose name Bayreuth will always be as
intimately associated in popular memory as
Weimar with Goethe and Stratford with Shake-
speare, is placed upon a high pedestal by
English lovers of music, and Liszt likewise
,is • more looked up to than of yore.
;.Perhaps • these afford only other instances
of the manner in which fashion changes in music
as in so many departments of human life and
human emotion. The time is not so very far
te,moed when Donizetti, Bellini, and other sweet
singers of the Italian school were held in an ad-
miration which to musicians saturated with Wag-
• nerisra is utterly incomprehensible. And it may
not.be heresy to hazard the opinion that, as the
st. 'has been • fruitful in changes of musical
fashion, so will be the future, and that the idol
of to-day may not be worshipped to anything
like the extent by our children that he is by
their fathers.
From music to the sister arts of painting and
sculpture is but a step, and it is one which can
-.be the more easily taken just now, because of the
opportunities which are being afforded to inspect
the works which next month will be on view to
all the world in the annual exhibition of
the Royal Academy. One of the most
interesting tasks which the spring pro-
vides for many a metropolitan jour-
nalist is the making a round of the
studios. There is something almost piquant in
the sensation of seeing the scarcely-finished
picture or statue which will not be gazed upon
by ordinary eyes until weeks later. And there
is a charm about this first and private view which
is wanting when the finished work is placed
among hundreds of others in a crowded gallery,
to which any who have a shilling to spare have
a right to enter. The atmosphere of Bohemia
has almost disappeared from the artistic circles
of to-day, and it is no longer considered to be
necessary for a painter or a sculptor to dress like
a brigand and to carry about with him an air of
disrepute. But although in these times the
artist is eminently respectable, there is always
some touch of romance about a studio. It can
never be entirely• commonplace if it has once
been invaded by genius, and, whatever those
who always decry the present may declare, there
is much of genius to be found in our studios yet.
Welcome news to many is included in the
announcement that the Tower of London, from
the beginning of this month; has again been
open to visitors. For a period extending for
• over a year, the authorities have thought it
• desirable to keep the gates of the venerable
strarture closed to strangers, and people gene-
rally have acquiesced with cheerfulness in any
arrangements that might be deemed desirable
to preserve such a unique historical possession
• from the chance of injury. But of late it had
begun to be increasingly felt that, under due
precautions, the public might again be admitted,
and the decision of the authorities to that end
has, therefore,' been cordially approved. It is
repeating a twice-told tale to say that all visitors
to London ought to include the Tower among
the "sights." There is no other building in our
midst which is at once so venerable and so full
of interest. History lives for us as we see
the axe with which some of the greatest State
•81%criminals were beheaded, the cell in which
Raleigh was confined, the armour which our
Kings and Princes wore, and the diadems with
which our sovereigns were crowned. He must,
indeed, possess a dull spirit who does not feel
quickened as he walks over ground and through
passages, every foot of which has its tale to tell;
and it may safely be anticipated that very few
who make the journey will come away dis-
appointed at what they have seen.
South Kensington will this year be honoured
in the opening by the Queen of the last, for
the present, of the series of annual exhibi-
• tions which, beginning with the Fisheries three
le
years ago, proceeded with the Health and the - Inventions of two years since and last year, and
will end next autumn with the Colonial and
Indian. Extensive preparations are being made
for the new exhibition, the opening of which is
fixed for May 4, and, according to all accounts,
Lt will abound with interest. A very slight
mental effort will suffice to recall many of the
• marvels which such a collection would include,
and if it serve to teach Englishmen generally
What a wealth of natural and commercial pro-
ducts our colonies and dependencies possess, it
will do much good. As a matter of fact, how-
-- , ever, the majority of those who patronise such
exhibitions these do not go because of what
• they can learn. It is as a means of social enjoy-
. - 4
raent that they are visited, and such instruction
as can be extracted from them is decidedly a
subsidiary consideration with the majoeity of
-* visitors to the amount of pleasure they can gain.
Good bands, well laid-out grounds, and
nted fdenitafris, are the main attractions, RS all
Wllo haVe- frequently been to South Kensington
during the last three summers can testily; and
• se alt. the amusement is decidedly a harmless one,
iteelaa.s deserved all the encouragement it has
: -
P
i‘sv hose *lio go to South Kensington, however,
ele4- less with the idea of being amused than of being
sof iertructed, will do well, when they have inspected
the Colonial and Indian Exhibition, to step
ee'ross the road to the Museum, whiJi is being
.t.r• tendered more. interesting every year. Of late
*4-ee
the..reehave been -various changes in the 'dispo-
, EitiOn of objects, together with additions from
elsewhere, which have greatly increased the at-
tractiveness of the in2titution. A collection of
which h 44 Dmvieusly occupied the

Vatent Museum in the Cromwell-road, has been
moved to the Science Department of the South
Kensington Museum; and when it is stated that
among these are Stephenson's "Rocket" and
Arkwright's original "spinning jenny," enough
has been said to show how well they are worth a
visit. But it is not only for the objects of
interest that have recently been added that
South Kensington Museum deserves a larger
measure of public patronage than it has yet re.
ceived. It includes a thousand and one things
of interest which can be seen nowhere else; and
those who once go, and who do not exhaust
their patience and themselves by endeavouring
to grapple with the whole of such a large collec-
tion at the first visit, will certainly be tempted
to go again. A. F. R.