The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-04-12 00:00:00

tear Tonbort Correspnbri.i
"c now. - ,ght to Onto that we do not at all tinkle
-ouselves w th cor Correspondent's ,piniona

Open air spaces are now absolutely demanded in al
great cities, and London with Its three millions of
inhabltants must have some breathing holes. Victoria
Park is one, and may it never be permitted to be closed
azeinet sunlight, as nem-emery to humanity as bread.
There is en old adage, 'Absence makes the heart
grow fonder," but it would be a mistake to suppose
that the presence of I{,yal persons, among a loyal
people, can be anything but a good. The Qneen on
her visit to Victoria Perk a few days back was most
warmly and enthneiastically received on all hands, and
we have no reason to doubt that she herself was as
much pleased at the expression of sympathy, as the
people were in giving vent to their own feelings. It
wee really au "East End" demonstration—the visit
was to the people's perk, in the people's district—the
working, trading, manufacturing part of London ; and,
truth to say, the cheering was as lusty as it could be
at the West End parks, and perhaps less restraint
was put upon the heart', feelings than would
have been the case at the other end of the
town—" What the eye does not see the heart does not
grieve after," but we should be sorry that this
should he applicable to our Sovereign, and we feel
sure it will not be the case with Ifer Majesty, who has
showed so much regard for the welfare of the people—
that broad foundation of the Pyramid of Society upon
which every other rank rerts its weight and owes its
existence, The beneficial influence of that national ex
pressirm of feeling on the day of Thanksgiving, more
than twelve months ago, cannot have died away, nor
have been in vain -and the absence of any military
guard through the greater pert of Her Majesty's recent
pr 'cress, shows how Phe relies upon the multitudes who
flocked I. see her, not only for good wishes, and sincere
loyalty, but for that law-abiding and orderly conduct
which alone can prevent a ceu NJ becoming a riotou
mob. It was a magnificent day, and afforded a favour-
able 81CU449 to many to take • holiday, so that there
will be no lack of pleasant reminiscences to make the
event mark a red letter day in the calendar of those for
whose benefit the Park is reserved. There were pro-
bably many youngsters in their teen." who had never
seen the Queen before.

A fool's errand was always expressed as " taking
coals to Newcastle," and its equivalent would have
been, shipping coal. to Etheland ; but it bad almost
come to this point during the past winter, and if such
prices as ruled in the metropolis at the highest point
bad continued to be paid for much longer, it would not
have been at all out of the reckoning to consider the
expediency of importing. Our suppliee of coal cer-
tainly Lnit us very short, and it was stated that so much
misery was caused by want of fuel, that four hundred
more persons than usual died during the coldest week
from this very account. Englishmen once set a-going
gather impetus as they proceed, and a select committee
of the House of Commons has taken into considera-
tion the various bearings of the "Cal Question."
There are enhanced wages to keep prices up, and in
some instances lower and narrower Resins of coal
to mine from; but above all this there appears
another difficulty to threaten cheapness, and
that is "the letting in of water." The keeping
a wet mine free from water by pumping is not at
all an impossible, but it is a very expensive operation.
Our &one cousunrcition of coal has been stated at some-
thing over ninety-seven millions of tons annually ; and
of this quantity, about eighteen and ~-half millions is
used for domestic purposes, according to one estimate,
but Sir W. Armstrong puts it at thirty-two ;
about two millions (though this has also been disputed
and reckoned as high as five millions) is consumed by
the railways; whilst the manufacturing demand (in.
eluding the iron works) reaches more than fifty-seven
millions of tons. With such figures as these to look
"pm, a few shillings a ton in the price of °Gals is
really of national importance; and feeling this to be
the case, there have not been wanting those who would
desire to place coal mining more directly under Govern-
ment control, How such a course of action could be
maintained either on the point of expediency or of
principle certainly remains to be proved, for it is of
coarse, prima facie, contrary to all accepted free
trade institutions, and we might upon the same argu-
ment ask for Government control over the prices of
butter and beef, which are becoming such expensive
luxuries, because the demand happens to be greater than
the supply. The quantity of coal in this country not
yet discovered is probably very considerable, and Pro-
fessor Phillips, our great coal geologist, has been so
often a good prophet, that we trust his science may
prove as true a guide as heretofore in the case of his
present operations.

A ship of the Royal Navy, the Challenger, in engaged
in the Atlantic exploring the depths of the ocean,
dre icing for shells and life forms of all genera, at all
depths. Thin acience is pursued under great difficulties,
and though I would not detract from the knowledge
gained in other expeditions of this nature, that of the
Porcupine for instance, the learned in the craft have
to confect) their ignorance, and to deplore the in-
difference wiich has until recently prevailed upon the
subject. A great amount of the interest now ex-
hibited by the public at large, as distinguished from
the scientific, has arisen from the practical work.
log of the laying of ocean cables for telegraphic pur-
poses, which is year by year assuming a more con-
fident and also reliable business form. The dredging
at the bottom of the ocean brings beck to my memory
a picture in Punch of a year or two back, depicting the
diving-man, who bad gone down to seek the broken
end of the Atlantic cable, surrounded and beset by
mermaids and strange looking fishes of all kinds and
shapes If Professor Thomson, who is at the head of
the expedition, coul I only manage to hook up the
great sea-serpent what an amount of discussion would
be dispensed with, between the supporters of the phe-
nomenon and those who deny it, existence. It is
something like the question on the appearance of
ghosts in this material world—" all exp si-nce is in
favour of it, tut all reason in against it."
An the towis encroach more and more upon the rural
districts, thane animal., whDh either for beauty or for
food, are such a bleeeing to our Island, are diminished
year by year, and are often at length exterminated.
Sian@ few of the songeters have always had a ring-
fence round them, so to speak; and when I was a boy
it was deemed despicable to kill a robin, or to rob his
nest, and it was supp unlucky to do harm to a
swallow, but matters ho' tidy tely grown to ouch a point
that an Act of Parliament has been passed protecting
birds from the "destroyer." From its spirit, it s
evident all wild birds were intended to be included, but,
unfortunately for them, chaffinches and linnet, appear
to have been omitted in the schedule, and se they can
be caught or killed and no objection made, and their
enemies' know this full well. But • more direfully
destructive procese than the drop net or the gun,
Is the systematic pursuit of birds-nesting, and this
not se regards the commonest npeeies only, but with a
view of finding such egge no adorn the cabinets and
collections of "naturalists," who, one would think,
should be lovers of nature. It was one of Dr. Samuel
Johnson's sententious remarks, that he could buy
twelve ego for a penny in Scotland, not because egg.
were plentiful, but because pence were few; but • very
different ratio between money and some sorte of eggs
in exhibited in the addresa of the President to the
Pertbnhire Society of Naturalists • few days back,
Golden eagle eggn are worth twenty-five shillings each
northern divers' ten shilling', siakitue half-a-crown,
merlins' and owls' eighteenpence, and others sixpence
each. Such prices as these of course attract • large
number of egg seeker's, but this wholesale taking of
nests will very soon exterminate the creatures which
these collectors profess to have so much regard for. I
heard quite lately of the appearance of an owl, the
last representative of • variety now extinct, sa it seems,
for it was shot by the " naturalist " who saw it. It
" occurred" on th, banks of the River Tummel In
Perthnhire, and such • " specimen " has not been seen
for years. Shooting the unique representative of the
species was certainly not the way to make it "o,"
again. Nor does even the rearing of domestic fowls
appear to be one of our strong points; England is an
enormous consumer of eggs, for beside, all that are laid
In thin country. we imported last year from the Con-
tinent 5.58 millions of eggs—equal to about a million
and • half per day for every day in the year.
Considering all the modern of earning a comfortable
llvedhood which are now open to an industrious and
able-bodied man, it is not much to be wondered at that
the army with its numerous restrictions should not be
popular. Few soldiers can be married; the chances'
are that a man may be sent to India, or perhaps some
more unhealthy part of the world; he is of course shut
off from his friends; and he has no very grand prospect
for old age, if he should attain It through all the risks
of a military life. Of course there are advantages,
though these fall to the careless and idle more than the
industrious, for the drill nerieant and the military rules'
soon make a man the better for their influence.
Desertion, are on the increase; and this in spite of
what has been done of late years to make the soldiers
more comfortable, I conceive that it will soon become
a really serious question whether • commercial and
manufacturing country like England can rapport an
army of regular troops adequate numerically in them-
selves for all military duties, without the addition of
some other armed service of greater importance com-
pared with the troops of the line, than those now
existing among us.

l'he hundred years ago only two nulllone of penons
were barely supported by the Engliah harvest; then
the menage yield was about eight bushels, or one
quarteuper acre. In those days tho blond must grow
all ha own corn, and agricultural knowledge was

hardly up to the task of keeping the population
supplied with bread. Now, although we have Im-
mense quantities from the Black Sea, the North Ame-
rican States, Canada, San Francisco, and other ports,
farmers have found a way of growing wheat to con-
tend with all other competitoes, though saddled
with an enormous rent. But as great a change has
taken place in the stock of the country, as In the yield
of the arable land. The wretched beasts in England
in the fourteenth century would not be recognised as
the progenitors of such cattle as are now yearly ex-
hibited at the Cattle Show, Fancy a fat ox only weigh-
ing four hundredweights, and a then good fleece
weighing two pounds; but such was the ChM in those
days- The agricultural returns for last year, published
by the statistical department of the Board of Trade
are reassuring of the progress of British agriculture,
not withstanding the wet autumn, and the difficulties
and fears then experienced about getting the seed into
the grourd. From the very nature of the tendencies
of the present day the value of dairy and stock-farm-
ing in this country must become more and more appre-
ciated; for it is ~ur beef and mutton, and butter and
milk which are demanded, and most be supplied on the
spot, but breadstuffa can come a four or five months'
voyage from San Francisco, and *serve our purpose
quite as *ell as British grown wheat. The returns
show an increase of 287,000 head of cattle in 1872 over
1871, and of 802,000 cheep; but the drought of 1868
has left its influence still, for the numbers of sheep
have not risen to what they were at that date. It will
be remembered how largely potatoes were imported
from the continent last autumn, showing plainly that
when our crop of that formerly home-grown produce
had fallen off, we could have them from oversee. As
VI or. of meat is consumed on the average by every
person in the United Kingdom per day, we must
truly enough, look to our stock.

_
There is still great interest felt in the subject of the
purchase of the Railways by the State, so that in
future they may be under Government control, instead
of subject to the economic rides of • private under-
taking. Amalgamations may work either evila or
good, combinations may be feared by the public, never-
theless many may express dissatisfaction at the lodg-
ing in the hands of the Government that which has
been so long, and so successfully carried on as joint-
stock enterprise. It is not • matter for shareholders
to settle, the people will have their opinion heard.
Again, the expense, which might reach Mlle six
hundred to a thousand millions of pounds, is not a
light weight to add to our Consolidated Debt, even
with the hopes of large income from the investment.
Of course the Post Office and Telegraphic Services are
quoted as instances of the success of Government con-
trol as tending to the benefit of the community, and
the example of continental States as able proprietors
of the Railways. But the matter will bear much dir
cussion, and public opinion will have to be pretty plain
and unmistakable before such • c,instimmation can take
place. The proprietors ot Railway Stocks are numerous
and widespread, and they would sell out at a premium;
but, if such an opinion may be ventured, it does not
seem probable that we shall see any legislation in this
direction for some time to come. The Passenger Tax
will most likely be the first point to occupy attention
MI far as the railways are concerned.
A considerable exodus may be expected from Old
England to the Vienna Exhibition this summer. It
seems far t i the south and east of Europe to look on
the map, but steam communication, and the acknow-
ledged principle among the managers, that it is num-
bers, not high rates, that pay the railways best, will
transport our countrymen to the banks of the Danube
in time counted by hours, instead of by days or weeks,
and at a moderate cost, M. Tolain spoke in the French
Assembly a few days ago, asking that a sum of
money might be voted in order to send a certain number
of Parisian workmen to Vienna on the occasion, so
that they might become acquainted with all the im-
provements exhibited, and Owl bring knowledge and
profit to their fellow °wrier& This looked too much like
the instance of the deputies who came to the London Ex.
hibition in 1862, the germ of the International Work.
ing Men's Association, and the Assembly voted against
the grant being made, liy a considerable majority. It
will be remembered how this Association has spread
throughout all Europe since that date, and M. Tolain
is indeed himself it. founder and father. Be was one
of the two delegates sent from Paris, by means of a
fund subscribed in sous, by the workmen of that city.
The idea, however, is good, and we are not en suspicious
of 'lnternationals" in this country; but we are more
given to raising funds for such purposes from private
resources, than from the public chest.