The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-01-15 00:00:00

Our Pan Corrtspodtnt.

(We deem it right to state that we do not at all times
Identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

February is usually thought to be as con-
sistently cold a month as any in the twelve, but
if it is to bear out that character this year, it
will be speedily wished over by those who object
to a Kamschatken climate in England. For, so
far, January has beeh cold enough to satisfy all
who
l love a "hard winter," and such a series of
snowstorms as marked the end of the old year
and the beginning of the new has not had its
parallel for some time. One consequence of a
hew, fall of snow is always a complaint that the
effiteta in the streets of such crowded cities as the
metropolis are not got rid of as soon as con-
venience demands. There are some folks who
appear to imagine that a Corporation, or a Local
Board, or a Vestry has only to give a wave of the
hand, and the snow will disappear. But those
who have had practical experience of the work
know that this is altogether a wrong idea. The
removal of snow is no light task, even when the
place to which it can be taken is close at hand
but when the place is some miles distant, the
difficulty is enormously increased. In London
the Thames is the natural home for the fallen
snow, but it does not require any such "exten-
sive and peculiar" knowledge of the metro-
polis as Mr. Samuel Weller possessed
to see that the river is far removed from many
of our districts, and that the avenues leading to
the Embankment are so few as to be likely to
become congested if a large number of snow-
carts make their way thither. Many plans have
been suggested for melting the sno w as near as
possible to the spot on which it falls, but as yet
these have come-to naught. '
Another question suggested by the snow-
storms is likely to provoke discussion in Parlia-
ment speedily after the opening of the session.
The danger of the interruption of telegraphic
communication by a heavy fall of snow has been
forcibly brought home to the public mind by the
fact that at the same moment and for some days
no telegrams could be sent from London to
either Portsmouth or Plymouth. Now, as these
are the two most important military and naval
stations in the country it requires no laboured
demonstration to show the national danger
that might arise should such a state of
things occur when England was at war.
Whenever there is a great breakage of the
telegraph wires the suggestion is sure to be
made that, instead of being hung to poles they
s should be placed underground; and the official
answer is always the same, that with the present
development of electrical dcience the latter pro-
cess would hinder the speedy dispatch of mes-
sages. This, together with the enormous cost
which would be entailed by placing the whole of
our wires underground, has up to now been held
to be sufficient reason for adhering to the present
system; but the recent interruption of commu-
nication with Portsmouth and Plymouth has sug-
gested whether there cannot be a compromise on
the question. It may not be possible to place
the whole of our wires underground, but could
there not be means devised to secure uninter-
rupted telegraphic communication between the
capital and the chief cities and military and naval
stations of the kingdom. Even the unimagina-
tive can perceive that there might be occasions
when this would be of the highest value—it
might be even of vital importance—to the
nation "; and when the question is ventilated in
Parliament, as it is certain to be, this aspect of
it will not be lost sight of.
There are sometimes strange links between
thinas which at first would appear beyond reach
of connection with each other, and none stranger
could perhaps be found than bOween the series
of exhibitions recently held at South Kensington,
and the plague of rats which is now infesting that
vicinity. In 1885, after the Inventions Ex-
hibition had closed its doors, there was a com-
plaint from the dwellers in this aristocratic
suburb that the number of rats in their district
had greatly increased; and now again since the
Colonial and Indian Exhibition was shut, the
same complaint is raised. The cause is not so far
to seek as at first sight might appear. As all who
ever visited such exhibitions must know, a very
great deal of eating and drinking was done at
them. Wherever there is much (maing and
drinking there will scraps of food abound ; and
wherever there are many scraps of food there
will congregate a number of rats. That was so
at every one of these exhibitions, and as soon as
any one of them was shut, the voracious animals
had to make excursions elsewhere in search of
the food of which they had been suddenly de-
prived. This is one of the reasons why
the denizens of South Kensington little loved
the shows which with the general public
were so popular. The noise they made and the
crowds they drew were sufficient to account for
this dislike on the part of the dwellers in a
suburb, which would be nothing if it were not
- quiet; and when the after-results were even more
unpleasant than the immediate, it is little wonder
that they heaved a sigh of relief when they found
that the last had been held, and that the fourth
ended the series.
It is pleasant to record therecognition of some
especial act of bravery on the part of the police.
The general public does not always appreciate as
highly as it deserves the courage frequently dis-
played by our constables. It seems to be
thought that this is " all in their day's work,"
and so, to a certain extent, it is; but when any-
thing out of the common occurs, it is but right
that it should be taken note of. One of the most
recent instances in which a policeman has been
singled out for public reward, is that of a London
constable' who, in the endeavour to secure a
burglar, had literally to fight for his life.
The struggle was a desperate one, but
the constable won it; and, though much
injured, had the satisfaction of securing
the prisoner, and delivering him up to justice. It
was, of course, the policeman's duty to do all
this, but we recognise, in the case of soldiers and
sailors. that when duty is done especially well,
or in the face of exceptional difficulties, recogni-
tion in some fashion is desirable, not only as a
reward of individual merit, but to "encourage
the others." Those who have occasion to visit
the rougher districts of London will know that
in the worst of them the police have to "hunt
in couples," for any single constable would carry
his life in his hand. It stimulates such men to
renewed exertion when they know that any
brave deeds they may be called upon to do will
be noticed by their superiors and the public.
That there are some black sheep among them we
all know, but these are exceedingly few com-
pared with the number of honest and upright
fellows who guard our life and property as we I
sleep; and who often receive buffetings of which I
we know nothing in their struggles efficiently to I
do their duty.
No more lamentable result of a gas explosion
has lately been forthcoming than that which
attended upon the recent catastrophe in the
Cambridge Barracks, Portsmouth, by which five
soldiers lost their lives, and several were injured.
The exact cause of the disaster will probably
never be discovered; but it is believed that, as a
number of the men were sitting around the fire,
one of them, ascertaining that gas was rising
rapidly out of a hole, placed a clay pipe there and
lighted the bowl. Before his companions could ,
warn him to extinguish it an explosion occurred,
and, the wall of the ground-floor room being
blown out, the storeys above collapsed, with the
direful result previously stated. If this account
of the sad affair be the correct one, it is a lament-
able example of what foolhardiness can do, for
here were five lives sacrificed when ordinary
caution might have saved them. But an
escape of gas is always a dangerous thing
to deal with. It is easy enough to
repeat the old warning against looking
for a leak with a light ; but it is
very difficult to say how otherwise the ordinary
leak could be discovered. What everybody
dealing with an escape should do is never to
strike a light as long as a body of gas is obviously
present. When one enters a room full of gas,
windows and doors should immediately be opened
wide, so as to get rid of as much of it as possible
before any attempt is made to look for the leak.
Lovers of the "old masters" may gratify their
tastes with regard to one of them by visiting the
Grosvenor Gallery just now. Gathered there
are over a hundred of the important works of
Anthony Van Dyck, or Vandvke as he has been I
more commonly called; and -those who wish to
study the method of that accomplished master
can gratify their taste to the full. But it is not
only the lover of art but the student of history
who will h. interested in this collection, for Van
Dyck's portraits of Charles I. and his consort,
Henrietta Maria really throw light upon an
important period of English histcry. The
mournful dreamy eyes of the King as he looked
out upon us from the canvas tell of the indeci-
sion which even his warmest admirers would
admit to have been at the bottom of many of his
misfortunes. The character of the Queen, a
character which had much influence in mould-
ing the destinies of her husband, alee stands re,
vealed to us in her face as painted by the great
court artist. It is in this capacity that Van
Dyck is best known Vo,tha J3ritish.public,sfor bii
Lot,
or Charles 1., whether on horseback or
foot, are more familiar than those by any other

artist of any other English motarch, not even ex-
cluding Holbien's painting of Henry VIII. But
it is not alone on these royal portraits that the
collection is worth study. The glorious colouring
of some of the pictures on classical subjects, which
a couple of centuries have not apprecially
dimmed, cannot fail to secure the praise even of
those who know little of art.
At a time when there is a discussion which is
almost fierce in its intensity as to the value of
emigration, it is of more interest than usual to
examine the annual return of the numbers,
nationalities, and destinations of the passengers
who left the United Kingdom for places beyond
Europe during 1886, just issued by the Board
of Trade. From this it appears that ill that
period 233,119 British subjects left the country
for across the seas, of whom 146,459 were
English, 25,363 Scotch, and 61,297 Irish. Not
only the gross total, but the individual totals
showed an increase over 1885, the first then
being 207,644, while the number of English was
126,260, Scotch 21,367, and Irish 60,017. There
was an increased emigration of Englishmen to
the United States, British North America,
Australasia, and all other places; but the;
number of Scotchrnen and Irishmen who went
to Australia showed a diminution. There is
food for much reflection in these facts and
figures, and they will doubtless be eagerly dis-
cussed by those interested in emigration. There
is ample evidence that those who before they
leave this country for another have a definite
idea of what they will do when they get there,
manage to secure a fair share of success; but to
argue from this that emigration is the panacea
for all our social ills is to draw too large an
inference from so small a fact. The ne'er-do-
well is as little likely to succeed in Australia as
he does in England if he does not mend his
ways; and if those ways weie mended, he might
often do better at home. A. F. R.