The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-07-03 00:00:00

IJ, ur fonllon (ItorrespoiNnt.

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

In an age in which centenary celebrations are so
numerous, perhaps there is none which has excited a
wider interest than that of the founding of Sunday
Schools. It is felt by all classes, sects, and creeds that
Robert Rallies, when he opened the first Sunday
School in the city of Glouceqter a hundred years ago
began a good and noble work, the results of which it
has been impossible to estimate. "Cast thy bread
upon the waters, and thou shalt find it after many
days," is an oft-quoted injunction; and it seems to
have been the principle upon which Raikes acted.
The world is a very different place now from what it
was in 1780, and it has learnt to appreciate the efforts
which he initiated with a view to the moral
and mental improvement of the rising gene-
ration. The Archbishops of Canterbury and York,
the leading Nonconformist ministers, the Lord Mayor
of London, and even Royalty itself, as represented by

the Prince and Princess of Wales, now unite to recog-
nise the value of labours so valuable and yet so un-
pretending-. Preparations are now being made to
place the statue of Raikes upon the Thames Em-
bankment, where upon a prominent site facing the
river it will constantly remind the thousands daily
passing up and down upon the surface of that silent
highway, of the useful work of Robert Raikes—one
which the lapse of no time can -dim, and which
indeed will shine with brighter lustre from generation
to generation.
While State Balls and Concerts rapidly succeed each

other at Buckingham Palace, and brilliant entertain-
ments make_ glad many a West-end mansion, the
votaries of science do not overlook those hospitali-
ties which are so numerous in London just now.
The reception given by the President of the Institute
of Civil Engineers at the South Kensingten Museum
was one of the best of the season. The host of
the evening had to shake hands with some thousands
of people, most of whom, after having been introduced
to him, passed into the North Court, where the study
of beautiful works of art was varied by choice
selections of music. The electric light was used in
the central hall, which led into the gas-lit north Court..
The warm and yellow gas, as seen through a long
corridor of artificial moonlight, which is not a bad
description of the illumination caused by electricity,
was a highly picturesque spectacle. Artists, pro-
fessors, soldiers, members of the civil service, archi-
tects, and representatives of many learned bodies,
were present to do honour to the great constructive
profession. Varied uniforms and rich dresses gave a
pleasing colour to the attractive scene. •
The "weariness of fastidious prosperity" is a say-
ing which, a few years ago, was applied to this
country. That was before the period of trade depres-
sion and bad harvests which seems at length to be
passing away. It is therefore refreshing to hear of a
place which is too prosperous; but such appears to be
the condition of one part at least of the American
continent. The district west of Missouri is likely, it
appears, to suffer from a plethora of natural wealth,
- and according to one account recently received from
that highly-favoured land is in a state of dangerous
prosperity. Its vitality and strength exceed all pre-
vious estimates, and there is every indication of such
a yield of grain as will be quite beyond the possibility
Of consumption of the inhabitants. Meanwhile,
mineral resources are being developed, new lines of
railway are being extended in every direction, and
there is an abundance of money. When we hear such
sad accounts from Ireland, and even from some parts
of England, it seems a pity that a part of this surplus
prosperity cannot be removed from the hemisphere
where it is not wanted, to thatin which it would be so
very useful. This side of the Atlantic, at all events,
people at present run no risk of being ruined by over
prosperity, either by making haste to get rich or by
the spontaneous increase of natural wealth.
It is not often that the east-end of London is
favoured with two Royal visits on the same day; so
the opening of a new recreation ground in Whitechapel
by the Prince and Princess of Wales, and of the
Victoria Docks Extension Works by the Duke and
Duchess of Connaught, created much interest in that
part of the metropolis which, from the City boundaries
at Aldgate, stretches away towards the rising sun.
There is no part of the capital more loyal than the
East-end, and this is always attested whenever any
members of the reigning House travel thither, so far
from the palaces of the west. The people turn out in
enormous numbers, flags are freely displayed, and
there can be no question as to the enthusiastic nature
of the welcome. The members of the Royal family
are invariably called thither by some useful, philan-
thropic, or charitable work. The opening of a recrea-
tion-ground and of docks comes within the first-
mentioned description; and the helping forward
of hospital extension to the latter. At the Docks
more than 3,000 persons were entertained by
the directors to luncheon; and, in order to do
this there had to be provided an army of 500 waiters,
100 cooks, carvers, and porters; the tables and table-
cloths covered a length of one and a half miles; up-
wards of 4,000 dishes were placed before the company;
there were 24,000 forks and spoons, 12,000 knives,
12,000 glasses, 15,000 plates, scwt- of grapes, and 2,000
baskets of strawberries. The shed in which this
gigantic repast was held, covered two and a half
acres.

The questions of Local Option and Sunday Closing
have lately occupied much of the attention of the new
House of Commons; and in connection with this it
may be well to mention a movement which is making
some progress in London. For some years past Coffee
Taverns and Coffee Palaces have been established in
various parts of the metropolis, with encouraging
results. An extension of this idea is now in con-
templation, or rather on the eve of being carried out,
and that is the opening of a Coffee Music HalL There
can be no question as to the attractions of music to the
human intellect, and the object of the promoters
is to furnish the people with a place in which
whilst enjoying innocent recreation, they can have
refreshments apart from those of an intoxicating
character. The building which has been selected for
this experiment is the Victoria Theatre, well known
to travellers upon the South-Western Railway as
being near the Waterloo terminus. It is of enormous
size, hard by what is known as the New Cut, but the
proper name whereof is Great Charlotte-street, con-
necting the Westminster and Blackfriars-roads. On
a Saturday evening the New Cut is a scene of busy
life with the humbler classes, for there is an open-air
market there; and a picture of Wm London would
not be complete without a sketch of it. The Victoria
Theatre has always been a place of popular resort;
and it is hoped by making it attractive as a Coffee
Mnsic Hall to combine national amusement with an
enjoyment which does not depend upon its exist-
ence upon the undue consumption of intoxicating
liquors.

Visitors to London never fail to see the Houses of
Parliament, and on the bank of the Thames imme-
diately opposite that sumptuous pile stands St.
Thomas's Hospital, a vast building in seven blocks,
stretching westward from the south side of West-
minster Bridge in the direction of Chelsea. For
eighteen months the House Committee have had
under their consideration a plan for increasing the
usefulness of the institution by admitting to it paying
patients, that is to say those who, suffering from any
disease and are willing and able to pay for the best
scientific skill. The Charity Commissioners have at
length approved a scheme which although somewhat
modifying the propositions of the Hospital autho-
rities, substantially admits the principle; and paying
patients of two 'classes are to be adtnitted—one at the
rate of eight shillings a day, and the other at the rate
of three shillings. The working of this experiment
will undoubtedly be watched with interest not only
in London but in many parts of the country in which
the gratuitous accommodation supplied by hospitals
is not always confined to that poor and needy class
for whom it was originally intended.
At length all the bridges over the Thames are free
from toll, that is. to say such structures as come
within what is called the metropolitan area. It has
alwayei seemed an anomaly that a charge should be
made for passing from one part of London to another,
to say nothing of the vexation caused by the delay
often arising from the want of change on the part of
the tell-keeper. Years ago, when even Waterloo
Bridge was entered through a toll-bar, it is difficult
to conceive or to exaggerate the annoyance which
must have often been caused to the hurrying wayfarer
intent on business when he had to change a sovereign
at the gate in order to pay a halfpenny. A combination
of circumstances immediately preceding his trrivat
there had deprived him not only of all his brorm
but his silver as well, and he really had not kept the
fact in his mind that a toll-bar was a a few minute'
ahead of him, otherwise he would have retained a coil
of less value in his pocket to satisfy the inexorable
demand which was so certain to be made. Worse
still must it have been for an absent-minded man to
come to the gate, and find that he had not a sou in his
pocket. A man need not be poor to be in such a pre-
dicament as this; it often arises from a want of
thought on leaving home in the morning. How-
ever, all these experierices are over now, and the
Prinoe and Princess of Wales have taken the
heartiest interest in the successful accomplishment of
this important movement. Last year and again now
thtir Royal Highnesses showed that no private
engagements would interfere with their presence at a
ceremony which although simple, is of at moment
to the inhabitants of the capital, has occupied years
60 tar as the accompliohraeut of the object Is con.

• • • ;

corned, and represents the expenditure of.,an enormous
sum of money.

The fact that nearly 80, 000 persons enj oye the Handel
Festival at the Crystal Palace is a strong testimony to
the massive genius of the old composer. He has been
dead a hundred and twenty years; yet his two
greatest oratorios and a selection from the vast range
of his other works, triennially command the attend-
ance of tens of thousands. Not many things are
necessary to ensure the success of such a festival.
There must be fine weather, of course anyone who
has seen the fare stretching lines of carriages on the
parade in front of the house of
,glass, or marked the
animation of the road leading to Sydenham, knows
that a drive through the pleasant southern suburbs is
a part of the ceremonial on these occasions. With
weather in which it is pleasant to be out of doors,
Handel's music is certain to do the rest. As surely as
the time comes round, so surely do the amateurs of
England respond to its call. In other nations composers
may rise and fall, but Handel in England goes on for
ever. The arrangements are as perfect as anything
conceived by the human brain can possibly be. Every-
body knows beforehand that the multitude of singers
and players will come together and fall into their places
with the ordinary regularity of discipline. The
thousands of executants had not met in full assembly
since they parted three years before; yet the music
was performed as though they had not parted at all,
The entire performance was one of which England
may well feel proud, Israel in Egypt, as on previous
occasions, crowning the festival as a masterpiece.
July is the last full month of the Parliamentary
Session, and its arrival betokens the beginning of the
end of the London Season. Thoughts of the coming
holiday in store for many a hard worker flash across
the mind, guide books are examined, and routes
mapped out which are calculated to afford pleasant
recreation in the coming autumnal hours. So far
as Parliament is concerned, present appearances
indicate that comparatively little work will be
embodied in the statute book as the result
of three months' attendance at Westminster. Un-
foreseen difficulties have arisen in the way of pushing
on with the public business, and it is very clear that
the new Parliament is in no way inferior to any of its
predecessors in the quantity of talking power which
it contains. Of late years it has of late been found
practically unworkable to attempt to keep the two
Houses of the Legislature together after the middle of
August. Noble lords and honourable gentlemen who
have engaged shooting quarters on the moors are
anxious to be reaping the fruits of their enterprise,
for though they may be at work at Westminster their
minds are far away. The season, too, begins to lose
some of its glories. First the Coaching Club, and
next the Four-in-Hand drop those attractive meets in
Hyde Park which never fail to draw together thou-
sands of fashionable London. Equipages four or five
deep rtder busy the neighbourhood of the magazine;
and as the last coach has left the Park either for
the Alexandra Palace or the Crystal Palace, a sigh
of regret escapes from those who reflect that months
must elapse befere they look upon its like again.

There are some quaint places in the city of London,
and some quaint customs still associated with the
usages of the Corporation. For instance, it often
occurs to many as curious that the Sheriffs, who are
elected on Midsummer Day should not begin their
duties until Michaelmas; and that the Lord Mayor
should be chosen on the 29th September to commence
his year of office on the 9th November. In one case
three months, and in the other six weeks elapse. It
is also worthy of note that in the city
.of London the
Sheriffs and the Judges, who in other places are ap-
pointed by the Crown, are elected—the latter by the
Courts of Aldermen and Common Council, and the
former by the Liverymen in "Common Hall" as-
sembled