The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-01-30 00:00:00

yooon eurtspootnt•
[We deem it right to state that we do slot at all throes
Ilentify ourselves with our Correspondent's opt:lions.]

The efficiency of our great public departments
is a matter of interest to everybody, and in nc
case is this more true than in that of the Post
Office. The whole population is concerned in
the speedy and safe delivery of letters, from the
business-man who receives a hundred communi-
cations in a day to the farm-labourer who gets
no more than one per month. Under such cir-
cumstances, it is no wonder that a discussion
which has been recently going on, as to the care
the Post Office authorities take to secure the
early delivery of imperfectly-addressed letters,
should have aroused much attention. The con-
troversy, if such it can be called, was started by
a correspondent of a London dairy paper, who
narrated that a letter, simply addressed "Mr.
Jones, Wales," which was posted at Preston one
day in December, was delivered the next morn-
ing to Mr. Pryce Jones, M.P. of Newtown,
Montgomeryshire. Seeing what a very large
family that of Jones is in Wales, the story
was a strikinr, one; but its significance was
diminished by the addition of the correspondent
"that the letters received by Mr. Puce Jones
average about two thousand a day, thus causing
his name to be very familiar to those who have
the handling of letters in transit, aid that,
letters addressed 'Mr. Pry-ce Jones, Wales,' con-
stantly reach him." But, even under these cir-
cumstances, the exploit of the Post Office
deserves recognition.

Naturally,-no sooner had this anecdote ap-
peared in print than a host of correspondents
were ready to narrate experiences b,?arincr upon
the point. Somo had tales to tell, which con-
firmed the original impression of the sagacity of
the Post Office, while others -rclated instances
in which letters, though their address had been
but slightly imperfect, were rin4lelivered for
weeks, or not at all. And then came a corre-
spondent who told a story which in .eint of
astonishing detail overthrew all the others.
The narration ran that a pest-c aid posted at
Slough, a distance of eighteen and a half iniies
from London, on October 15, 1874, was delivered
at its destination in the metropolis on September
18, 1883, '_having thus been on the road eight
years and 338 days. The rate of progn.,,ssion
reminds one of that of the glacier, as narrated
by Mark Twain in his "Tramp Abroad," which
would travel a mile in 2000 years or thereabouts;
and the Slough post-card deserves to rank with
such cificiosities as that card, which, starting at
Liverpool, was directed and re-directed until it
had gone round the world and back to Liverpool
again. The annual report of the Postmaster-
General always contains a number of strange
instances of the adventures of letters, but those
which are being told in the correspondence
referred to are as curious as any which the blue
books have given to the world.

Tunnels under rivers and estuaries are becom-
ing as common in England as those under
Alpine ranges are on the Continent. The open-
ing of the Mersey Tunnel by the Prince of
Wales has called renewed attention to the sub-
ject, and the completion of the Severn Tunnel is
another indication of the rapid strides which
are being made in the improvement of com-
munications between one part of the country
and another. Those who are old enough to re-
member the popular excitement which attended
the construction of the Thames Tunnel will
almost marvel at the comparative indifference
with which the excavation of the far greater
works andeithe Mers: y awl the Severn have be n
watched. But the reason is that tunnel making
in these days is no adventurous .experiment,
but a work conducted on scientific principles,
and with almost absolute safety. The records
of the time relate how often the water broke
into the Thames Tunnel, and how narrowly,
on more than one occasion, Brunel and
his workmen escaped with their lives. In
the early days of river tunnelling, the
endeavour was to make the tunnel watertight,
but, eminently desirable as this may seem to the
amateur to be, it is not attempted in these days
as it was 40 or 50 years ago. It is now recog-
nised that a certain amount of water must be
allowed to percolate through the roof, and
arrangements to dispose of it are accordingly
made. And not only in this respect, but in the
matter of boring appliances has a great stride
been made. Knowledge of geology is also more
complete; and the old story of Brunel sleeping
near the works and being awakened every two
hours to inspect the latest specimen of soil which
the excavators had dug, is never likely to be re-
peated in the case of engineers of tunnels under
streams.

Personal statistics are always interesting, and
those which every year are published as to the
ages of our most prominent public men are in-
structive as well. It is a proof that hard work
in the public service does not kill that the second
oldest peer of the realm, Viscount Eversley, was
Speaker of the House of Commons for eighteen
years, a post which demands unwearying atten-
tion, and which is enervating to a high degree.
Lord Eversley, as Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, was chosen
Speaker as long ago as 1839, and he held the
post until 18577 when he was raised to the peer-
age. He has seen, what is probably almost
unprecedented, three successors chosen for the
chair. The first was Mr. Evelyn Denison, who,
having occupied the distinguished position for
fifteen years, was made Lord Ossingdon in 1872,
and died the same year. Mr. Brand came next,
and he retired in his turn in 1884, to be made
Viscount Hampden, and to be succeeded by Mr,
Peel, who has just been unanimously re-elected,
Lord Eversley has had a long and active life,
and forms a link with our Parliamentary past
which is of interest to us all.

When we turn from the contemplation of Lord
Eversley and the Earl-of Strz..-11,:oke both aged
ninety-one, to the youngest members of the
House of Lords, there is a wonderful contrast to
be noted. The infant Duke of Albany is the
youngest of all, for he is aged only one year.
Set by his side Lord O'Hagan, who is six, the
Earl of Guilford, who is nine, and the Marquis
of Camden, who is thirteen, appear old, and yet
each of these has several years to pass before he
attains the age at which he can take his seat
with his peers. Of course no member of the
House of Commons is as young as this for the
law declares, even if constituencies did not,
that none under the age of twenty-one can
be elected. But there is one member, and
he returned for a large London constituency,
who is only twenty-three, and it is on record
that there are a larger number of members
under thirty in this Parliament than in any of
recent times. And as the empire of the future
is to those who are young to-day, it is doubtless
well that, at as early a period as possible they
should be made to feel their responsibilities.
The greatest statesmen in our history com-
menced their public career at a comparatively
early age, and it was only by dint of long prac-
tice that they qualified themselves for the dis-
tinguished positions they were ultimately called
upon to occupy. And this should not only be
an encouragement to the young of these days
to persevere, but a lesson to them not to be im-
patient in striving, for it is length of service
which often qualifies best for high position.
Controversy as to what are the best hundred
books which should be read by those who seek
self-improvement is still going on, and as
every authority differs as to the list
which should be drawn up, there seams
no reasonable chance of its soon being
endeil. The fact which is ignored by the
industrious and learned persons who devote
_ _

themselves to devising these lists is that the
same books will not suit everybody's mental
palate. There are men who may delight in the
works of Confucius, and to whom the Koran
may prove agreeable reading; but the proportion
of such to the total number of book-lovers must
be small; One test of this may be applied, and,
though only a rough one, may afford some indi-
cation as to the tastes of book-buyers in general.
Let anyone visit a bookseller's shop or glance at
a bookstall, and he will get a very good idea of
what most people are prepared to buy. And if i
he goes further, and inquires whether several of 1
the books named in Sir John Lubbock's now
i '
famous list are n print, he will find they are
never asked for. It does not seem of much use
to recommend folks to read a number of books
Which cannot burocured through the ordinary
channels; and, even if they could be obtained, it
is not improbable that the artisan or clerk who,
after his customary day's toil, attempted to read
them through, would find, by the time he had
reached the hundredth, that his head was filled
with a mass of literary material which scarcely
May human brain could digest.
Strange applications are constantly being made
to the. stipendiary magistrates at the various
metropolitan police-courts, and one which was
brought forward a few days since was sufficiently
singular to be worth notice. A gentleman who
was visiting this country had a great desire, as
most strangers have, to see t he Tower of London;
bat he found upon going to the gates that they
were closed to vi-ito s as they have been ever
since the dynamite explosion which occ-arred
twelve months ago. He thereupon applied to
the nearest police magistrate—the one who has,

jurisdiction in the Thames Court—for an order
of admission, thinking evidently that that
functionary was sufficiently powerful to be able
to cry with effect "Open. Sesame," to any
portals however securely barred. But in
this he was deceived, for the magistrate,
with an expression of regret at his inability to
help, referred the applicant to the Home Secre-
tary, and there, as far as public knowledge goes,
the incident ended. It is, however, an indica-
, tion of how much disappointment is continually
being felt at the closing of the Tower. All will
; admit that the authorities can scarcely be too
I careful in their endeavours to preserve such a
venerable relic as they have in the Tower, but
everyone will hope that reason may be found,
before long, to relax the present restrictions, and
to allow those who would wish to study a very
important section of English history from what
may be called its pictorial side, to again vi;i the
grand old building which has overshadowe 1 1-ea
Thames for the past eight hundred years.
It is a gratifying circumstance from every point
of view, that now that the accounts of the le.el
Hospital Sunday collection in London have
been fully made up, it is seen that more places
of worship contributed to the total last year
than had been the case for some years pre-
viously. The amount collected is still far too
small to be considered as fairly representing the
wealth and benevolence of this great metropolis,
but if there is a progressive increase in the
number of places of worship at which collections
are made, it almost stands to reason that there
will be a growing addition to the total gathered.
The object of the fund is such a thoroughly good
one that any sign of its greater prosperity is
welcome; and as every one has a kind word to
say of the hospitals, and as no one knows when
sudden accident or dire disease may make him
need the assistance such institutions can render,
all ought to hope that the Sunday Fund will go
on and flourish with ever increasing benefit to
those who dwell within the circle it affects.

A. F. R.