The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-11-20 00:00:00

TWE STOTIEBRIDGE OBSERVER.

Opposite Sassoon Hospital a beautiful triumphal arch of
Persian architecture had been erected, *with a Persian in-
scription welcoming the Prince. Under the arch was a plat-
form occupied by European ladies, officers and civilians, and
the leading Parsee and Mahommedan inhabitants.

When the Prince reached this spot an address of welcome
was read by Khan Ba"indoor Pestonjee, a member of the
Council. The address was contained in a beautiful massive
silver casket. The Prince made a brief and appropriate
reply, and the procession passed on over Singaum-bridge
where it broke off, the Prince driving en to Gunesh Khind,
the palatial residence erected by Sir Seymour Fitzgerald at
great cost.

After a State dinner a charming reception was held in the
ball-room and drawing-room. At the Prince's suggestion
an informal dance was added to the programme, the com-
pany dispersing at midnight. The Prince danced several
quadrilles.
This morning Canon Duckworth privately performed
divine service at Gunesh Khind. The Prince drove out in
the afternoon, and in the evening he will attend service at
St. Mary's. To-morrow a review will he held of the Poonah
Division.

At Poonah on Monday, the Prince of Wales, at-
tended by a brilliant suite, reviewed two European
and seven native regiments of infantry and two and a
half batteries of artillery. The proceedings were of
the simplest character, the Prince merely passing
along the line, after which the troons marched past.
Lord Charles Beresford was thrown from his horse,
but not seriously injured. The city was illuminated
in the evening, and a display of fireworks preceded his
Royal Highness's return to Bombay. The prevalence
of cholera in the Madras Presidency prevented the
definite settlement of the Prince's future movements.

The Times of India of the 25th ult., says :
"Scindia, Holkar, and the Maharajahs of Cashmere
and Jeypore are making the most elaborate prepara-
tions for the Prince's reception when he visits their
capitals. At Jummoo a special house is being con-
structed for his Royal Highness's accommodation. A
large quantity of valuable shawls of rare texture and
design, and valued at about 10,000 rs. each, have been
ordered. In addition to these presents, it is stated
that a valuable sword set with precious stones and
valued at 40,000 rs., and a handsome gold chair, and
somes tables inlaid with the same metal, are being con-
structed. It appears that some three lakhs of rupees
have been set apart for these presents. The Mahara-
jah's troops are also all to be equipped with new
uniform and accoutrements."

A Simla paper hears that it is in contemplation to
present the Prince of Wales with portraits of all the
rajahs and chieftains of India, but whether it should
be in the form of an album containing these portraits,
or merely separate cards, it has not been informed.
The Superintendent of the Hill States has issued an
order to each chieftain of the district under his super-
vision to come into Simla to be potographed, and ac-
cordingly one and all have done so.

The Bombay Gazette thus describes the excitement
which was prevailing in Bombay previous to the arrival
athe Prince :—" A stranger coming to Bombay would
require no extraordinary intelligence to perceive that
the humdrum city is not in its usual condition at pre-
sent. Everywhere there are signs of unusual activity
among the inhabitants despite this broiling weather,
and even the houses seem to have caught the fever of
expectancy, for the majority of them have begun
either to look pale with whitewash, or red and
apoplectic with scarlet paint. Tradesmen are
already calculating the enormous profits they
intend to reap within the next month or two;
householders are filled with the idea of letting their
bungalows for a few days to some rajah at a fabulous
price; possessors of furniture, crockery, horses, or car-
riages, consider that now or never is the time to sell
these articles; local Government servants are smiling
pleasantly over the prospect of coming holidays, while
the Mofussilwallahs are grumbling reasonably because
the holidays granted to them are too few; certain
citizens are disturbed with a vague alarm that although
they have many a time and oft bent gracefully before
the Governor of Bombay, yet they may not be permitted
to be present at the Prince of Wales's levee; while
many a fair bosom is in a similar flutter of anxiety
lest the owner of it shall be denied an entrance to some
of the balls which will probably be given in the Prince's
honour. The local milliners and tailors are doing as
much business as they can manage; even the tailors
of London and Paris have not escaped from being
affected by the Prince's visit to India, and perhaps
more than one large box of dresses and furbishments of
the latest fashion has been consigned to the care of the
luckless steamer Deccan, and may not arrive in
Bombay until after the Prince has landed—a melancholy
thought."

yielded the poineof accelerating the death. It is very
awkward to suggest questions like the present to juries.
It was a sentimental verdict got by three young ladies
and an eloquent counsel. The deceased had, as the
saying was, enjoyed bad health, and was a confirmed
dyspeptic. My Lord said he might have lived three
or four years. The Court ought to interfere, as no man
of firm mind would say there was any loss at all.
_ _

_
Mr. Poole contended that the state of the daughters
was not brought about by the accident. It was the re-
sult of the will of the deceased. The accident did not
interfere with his income. He was dominus of his es-
tate, with the disposition of which the Court would
not quarrel. His wife must be taken to carry out his
intentions.

Baron Amphlett : They are better off under the will
than if he had died intestate._ _ _

Mr. Poole: The deceased relied on his wife's not
doing all the plaintiff's counsel says she will. The
plaintiffs are bound to make out their case.
Baron Amphlett What evidence is there as to an
allowance during the father's lifetime?
Mr. Lopes: There is no evidence of that, my Lord.
Mr. Poole: The question is, what sort of partis the
ladies would be in the marriage market. It was so
put by Baron Bramwell when the rule was moved.
There was no loss brought about by the railway com-
pany. It was reasonable to suppose that the wife
would support her children, whose position was, he
contended, improved.
The Lord Chief Baron said their Lordships were all
of opinion there should not be a new trial on the ground
of misdirection; but as the majority of the Court
thought the verdict was not supported by theyevidence
there must be a new trial.
Rule absolute.

The cellars and areas of three houses in Stamford-
street flooded twelve feet deep, party walls and doors
knocked out; Bond-street, 26 houses flooded; John-
street, 40 houses flooded; Commercial-buildings,
houses • Bond-court, 30; Princes-square, 24; Commer-
cial-road, 65 ;VinP-street, 30; College-street, 24; Broad-
wall, 10; Lucas's-terrace, 10; Body's-bridge, 12. The
basements of all the above houses were flooded the
depth of six feet, the water nearly reaching to the
ceilings. The havoc made by the water in these
wretched dwellings, chiefly inhabited by waterside
labourers, is very extensive. All the outbuildings and
party walls of the yards havq, been completely swept
down by the waters, and considering how the
dilapidated houses were inundated last year, the
wonder is that whole rows of dwellings this time did
not come down with a crash. At Bailey's livery
stables eighteen horses swam to the higher streets, but
one, less fortunate, was drowned. Some hundreds of
domestic animals, dogs, cats, and poultry, were
drowned. A blind man, who was sleeping in a down-
stair room at Body's-place, nearly lost his life. The
water was five feet deep in his room' and he, becoming
alarmed and being blind, could not find the staircase.
A woman who had just been confined was, with great
difficulty, got to an upper room with her child._

, No death is reported as resulting from the overflow
of the Thames on Sunday night, but there is little
doubt of the existence of an immense amount of priva-
tion. Large quantities of coals have been distributed
amongst the more necessitous of the sufferers; and
while in some of the damaged houses good fires are
kept, others are so wrecked that rather than return to
them the former occupants have gone to the work-
house.

Referring to the floodg throughout the country gene-
rally, but more especially to ths present loss in London
from the high tide in the Thames, The Times of Wed-
nesday has the following leader

Nobody can read the accounts of the calamitous and
really distressing Floods which fill our columns without
arriving at the conclusion that much remains to be done in
this country. England has done wonders, it is true, and
may fairly claim to stand at the head of the mechanical
nations. It not more inventive in the way of discovery or
Ideal conceptions, at least she can apply what she knows to
very good uses. She has added greatly to the comfort of
man, to his convenience, his power, and his enjoyment; but
when this is said a reserve must be made. Inventors act on
lines hardly their own. They seek profit generally even more
than fame; they consult the appetites and tastes of the
public; they help man to do what he wishes to do
and cares much about. Among the objects of existence
occupying a high place in man's daily thoughts and cares
we can hardly reckon a palpable amount of anxiety to
secure himself and his property from extraordinary inunda-
tions. Of all the dangers to which we are liable there is not
one which admits of more exact calculation or more
certain treatment. Fire none can account for: pesti-
lence, once let in, will have its way; war decides its own
questions; in all these things a certain element of Infinity
seems to show itself ; but not so with water. In this climate,
for example, rain never exceeds so many inches a day ;
the dimensions of every river basin and the lines of water-
shed are taught in our village schools : the formation of
the surface is seen with the eye, and recognised in the
shape of every gutter ; the greatest heights of floods, or tides,
are everywhere recorded and generally well remembered.
The conditions of the question acquire some importance
when it is considered that at least a quarter of a million
inhabitants of this Metropolis may be said to live under
water—that is, under the level of the Trinity high-water
mark Here, then, is an enemy certain to invade us at some
time or other, and to find us at a disadvantage. But he
always comes with ample warning. We see the rain; we
know how recently it has rained, and how much; we can
calculate the saturation of the soil ; we have time-tables ; and
we know to an inch the elevation or the depression of
every spot in this Metropolis. Yet we allow this familiar
foe to surprise us like a thief in the night Two hours
after midnight there arises a cry in the many miles of
streets, houses, public buildings, warehouses, and workshops
on either side of the Thames. Engines, printing-presses,
costly piles of stationery, provisions, cloth, hops, chymical
products, furniture, miscellaneous stowage, literally to the
value of hundreds of thousands, are submerged, and many of
them destroyed. Thousands of families are driven out of
their homes, which are rendered uninhabitable, if not deadly,
for months to come. It is no hurricane, no torrent of fire,
such as we sometimes hear of in volcanic countries ; but a
mere rising of the water some inches above its usual level,
from causes which have already forced themselves on our ob-
servation, and cried aloud to us to Beware, and set our houses
in order.

Yet our engineers claim to be the first in the world. We
are not sure that the Dutch engineers will admit this in the
matter of water works, water courses, dykes, floodgates, and
such fortifications of the land against the sea. A nation
which has whole cities, and, indeed, whole Provinces, under
the sea level, and that still looks covetously on every acre
of the earth's surface which the sea has not established an
absolute right to, might be able to advise under circum-
stances not altogether different from our own. Our diffi-
culty in that we wish to use our rivers, and, indeed, our
estuaries too, both as friends and as possible foes. We
shrink from making our defences as strong as they ought
to be, for fear of their hindering ordinary use. It has
now been shown by the evidence of many successive
Floods that the line of at least the south bank of the Thames
ought to be kept considerably higher than it is. With the
experience of Monday morning we know the height below
which the bank is not sufficient. Of course, there ought to
be no drains into the Thames, as in flood time they become
outfalls, unless they be secured better than drains usually
are. No doubt to raise a bank many miles long must be
costly and inconvenient, but there is no alternative unless
we are prepared to accept the submersion of half Lam-
beth and a good part of the Borough as a periodical visita-
tion beyond our power to avert. On the mere question of
money it may be found wiser to spend what is neces-
sary at once. But damage by water happens to be about
the last thing we calculate against—that is, if it be fresh
water. In toe course of the last week ships have been
wrecked in docks ; and we should think the first reflection
of the unfortunate owners must have been, "Would that it
had happened at sea !" In that case, no doubt, they would
have been amply insured. But we are net aware of any office
in which the owners of valuable goods destroyed by Mon-
day's Flood, or by the corresponding Floods all
over the country, could have insured themselves.
Prudence, calculation, science itself, all seem to recoil from
the comparatively safe and homely element of fresh water.
It is assumed that here a man may take care of bironolt, end
that he fails to do so, it must be wilful carelessness or dis-
honest intent. Yet nere are some of the most respectable
firms in London losers by many thousands, and of course un-
insured. If these disasters are unavoidable misfortunes,
why not Insure? If they are not proper matters for insur-
ance, then let Science come in and provide her securities.

Unquestionably there have been times in the history of
this country when the treatment of water, whether from the
clouds or from the tides, was made much more a matter of
national concern than it is now. The sea dikes and river
dikes of Lincolnshire are works worthy of imperial Rome.
To the same period must be referred the dikes of the Thames
Estuary, and no doubt of other estuaries. But even since
those early days, Dutch settlers, later still the promoters of
irrigation on a large scale by dealing with the rise and fall
of tidal water, have converted sands and swamps to fer-
tility and health. Such extensive operations are,
Indeed, the easier for not being complicated with
the variety of uses a great city, and even a small
town expects to derive from the neighbouring stream or tide.
But, even so, we cannot claim to stand the comparison with
our predecessors. They did what was sufficient for their
purpose, and we have failed to do what is sufficient for ours.
The tides and floods of the last week have made indiscrimi-
nate havoc of railways, banks, quays, esplanades, piers,
docks, constructions of every kind, all presumed to be
planned so as to meet all possible dangers, and satisfying on
that point not only architects, but promoters fully ac-
quainted with all the local circumstances. We shall
be told that in these matters people will always
risk something, and not provide for extreme contingencies.
We shall be told also, perhaps, that the whole country
Is altered— surface, climate, retention and discharge of water,
obstructions, use and misuse of streams. If that be the
cage, then is it time to inquire into the fact and extent of an
evil which will not set in without going much further and be-
coming much worse. Is England really going backwards
indeed of forwards, and lapsing into some unknown and un-
controllable conditions of danger, in regard to that water
supply which all nations have thought worthy of the
greatest care, cost, and skill? The bare suggestion that we
are going backward will raise a smile in some quarters,
but there happens to be a rather considerable con-
sent of authorities that river floods and tides are found greater
and more unmanageable than they used to be. The property
at stake everywhere is greatly increased. On the whole, the
losses are unparalleled in the Metropolis, in the Provinces,
and on the shore. We have more to lose, and the more
we have to lose the less care we seem to take of it. Cal-
culation has done wonders latterly, but risk still keeps
pace with it, and is sometimes ahead. Every now and
then we recall ourselves to wiser counsels. We are now
making energetic attempts to subdue the ocean and make it
amenable to the prudent certainties. But while our hands
are full of unseaworthy ships and unseaworthy men, we are
found hardly waterproof at home in ouzo commonest land
tenements, haunts, and operations. Thesailors may tell us
to begin at home, and secure our houses and clties from
being drowned by a few inches more rainfall before we pre-
tend to make the ocean everything that it ought to be.