The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-06-02 00:00:00

Ely 3tourbrib4e ('A.)bserser.

SATURDAY, JUNE 2, 1888.

THE NEW WIMBLEDON.

WEIERN will the new Wimbledon be? His
Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief,
for reasons which many volunteers cannot
brillg themselves to consider other than
selfish, has put the closure on the familiar
contending-ground of crack shots, and only
once more will the Queen's Prize be won
within sight of the picturesqneold windmill.
"The Duke," as the supreme head of the
army—under her Majesty is colloquially
called, is always profuse in his professions,
post prandial and otherwise, of regard for
our citizen-soldiery, and enthusiastic, as far
as words can go, in their patronage and
praise; but., some illnatured and disappointed
people are saying, when the tirri3 came to
pat his protestations to a practical test by
pitting the interests of the volunteers against
his own private belongings, his Royal High-
ness loved the gallant and greatly valued
reserves much, but he loved himself the
more. Of a consequence, the old Wimbledon
will soon be no more. Not that anyone has
a right to complain. The Duke of Cambridge
like any less significant person in this flee
land of ours, has a perfect right to do as
seems best to himself with his own, and
because he has graciously given his essential
support to the annual shootings on the
breezy Surrey common for so long, volan-
teers are certainly not entitled to consider
Wimbledcn, established institution as it had
become. theirs by right during a certain
season. At Wimbledon the riflemen con-
gregated in the hot summertide on suffer-
ance, by kind permission, in fact; the ranges
were erected with the cognisance of the lord
of the soil, Now the consent is withdrawn,
and there is nothing left for the marksmen
but to search out a suitable fresh shooting
ground, to find, in fact, a new Wimbledon.
Those who take umbrage at this necessity,
and act as if they had a grievance against
the Commander-in-Chief for sweeping away
the popular camp, really do his Royal High-
ness wrong, for thanks and gratitmle are
due to him for the favour he has shown in
the past, however keen may be the regret
that he cannot see his way clear to leave
things as they have been. However, the
fiat has in this respect gone foith, and it is
useless to cry over spilt milk, and the volun-
teers had batter bid farewell to the old
Wimbledon in a spirit of gracious good
humour The lthxtle of the shooting " fort-
night " has in all respects been a splendid
one, except that o: late years houses have
spraag up on the fringe of the common and
in the park, in dangerous proximity to the
range of the rifles, and this is the chief catie
which has led to closing of the camp. The
officers who have, as the executive of the
Nationel Ride Asseeia- ion, the task of fin I•
ityg the " new m "—for there is no
qutstion as to the desire for the continuation
or the yearly carnival of the cracks are
eathaLuteriug a g•roi deal of difficalty in
diseovering a pl tce combining all the re-
quirements of dry and yet not dusty soil,
pieuresque surroundings, and central situa-
Con. All these are absolutely essential i f
in s-ting is to maintain its attractiveness;
alt a s;te must also, to be acceptable, b
a tinable on reasonably advantageous terms.
w: n some security o tenare, and it Daus', of
course, be free from the liability, present or -
pv-speetiVe, te) be regarded as a danger or a
eeiaapee by neighhouring resid.ents. North.-
0171tryvoluniers would like, some of them,
te have " new Wimbledon "nearer their
homes than the old; but we do not think
the National Rifle Association would be wit-e
in favouring their view if the rig :t spot can
he found near London. There can but be
lit tie doubt tat the success of the shooting
meeting has in a great measure been due to
easy distance of any part of
the eapital. and in touch by excellent rail-.
wa Vt) ItHifliCtti,Pl with all the country
And the fix- are being so far south has not'
preve'lite.t a large annual visitatien of
volutii•ers from Scotland, the English
no, teevii and western shires, and Ireland,
as well as froto London and the home and
s,n ted uth-east ern counties. We
she ald eertainly say with Lord Wantage,
t tie new Wimbledon ought to be as
i'&:-Lr London as at all passibLe if it is desired.
ruaintaie !he importance and popularity
of the contests. O course metropolitan
voliiiteera w aid strenuously oppose the
reeeeval of_ the venue from thcir neighbour-
,d loeal eenun la. just as Lancashire
men might ae-:tate for
.the adoption of the
sue ~-esn..ed site at A !tear, • near Liverpool, a
eee, of lad sat able iu every way for the
!)se reAu.r • e 13%",• that it stsuds so far
. Out tile coief elay of th nation ; bat petty
e.ne.aleratio s of this soil should he left out
a-COUS. in the general Cesire for the c,.n
tinted s!:cv,..,t, tie yea. I) shooting tour-
-taa).. 1t is a great pity, seeing that di.

Queen is so kindly disposed to mint the use '
of a pretty part ot lovely Richmond Park as
a, sit for the required new ratiges that the
Duke of Cambridge considers that spot also
open to the objection of being too near—
viev,-ing the forthcoming adoption of a new
ritic —to the haunts of men. But he should
know the capabilities of the coming arm,
and ,:ne cal but bow to his decision. There
are plenty of sites near Brighton, but they
are too difficult of access to the northerner
to be generally acceptable. Great favour is
rziven in some quarters to the proposal to
esta')lish a camp on the Berkshire downs;
and numerous other spots have been named
and inspected, and yet the ,question of as to
whi.re the "new Wimbledon" will be re-
mains an open and perplexing .one.

COMMENTS ON CURRENT NEWS.

EVERYONE h3re in England, as well as on the
Continent, joins in the German joy at the
very marked improvement in the condition
o! the Emperor Frederick. He was enztblecl
to he present at the weddinc, of his son, the
" Sailor Prince," with the daughter of the
late lamented Princess Alice, and on Tuesday
he witnessed a view of his troops in the
nark of Charlottenburg. The Kaiser's con-
lulled convalescence ;E3 beginning to inspire
the people of the Fatherland with a hope
that he may, after all, be spared "long to
reirm over them."

TFIE glorious uncertainty of cricket has
again been exemplified inn most unmistakable
manner. The Australian team, which had
thereto vanquished all before it, including
the doughty champions of Surrey, with the
greatest possible ease, succumbed last week
to that county of e!icket surprises—Lanca-
shire. The Couli7 Palatine had, earlier on
in the week, fallen before Kent, who later
were beaten by Gloucester; and Glonce.4ter
had completely collapsed previously before
the prowess of Surrey. These are the
acc dents of cricket, bro tight about by varying
form and changes in the condition of the
wickets. Great interest centred in the con-
t_!st—confincd, unfortunately, as the result
showed, to two days—between the Gentle-
men of England and the Antipodeans this
week. It was the first of the representative
matches against the Colonists, and the
English gentlemen were considered very
weak in bowling; but they manged to put
down all ten wickets of their opponents for
179 runs, and themselves hit up 490 in their
first inn'nrrs—a total which they might have
increased had runs been of value. To this
magnificent batting the Australians re
sponded with three hours of grand up-hill
play, in which they sc:.red 213 runs for the

los:i of one wir:ket-only. It was a pity so
interesting a game coul.l not be played out
because of a pre-arrangement to make Derby
Day a blank. The English leviathan, Dr.
W. G. Grace, scored 165 in splendid style;
Mr. W. W. Read, of Surrey renown, put
together 109 ; and Mr. John Shnter made 71
in dashing style. For the Australians Mr.
G J, Bonnor, "the giant," scored 119, and
Mr. Bannerman, the stonewaller, defied the
English bowling for three hours, being not
out 30 at the call of time.

TIIE new German Government passport
regulations. which have just come into force,
are designed, of course, to keep French in-
fluences and French people out of Alsace
and Lorraine, but they will entail a good deal
of ineorvenien3e upon English and other
travellers in and across those provinces. It
is extremely unlikely, we consider, too, that
the policy of exclusiveness which the new
regulations evince will have the result aimed
at—that is, the closer unison and identifi-
cation of Alsace and Lorraine with the
Fatherland.

Tamils is trouble ahead in Ireland, not-
withstanding the strenuous efforts and
determination of Government to carry out
the letter of the law. Th, Papal Reseript,
which in effect bans the Plan of Campaign,
boycotting, and all the works of the
Nationalist party and its supportn.s, is, in
effect, repudiated by the Parnellites, and
that circumstance alone is a serious one,
opning up possibilities t.f a conflict bet.veen
popular opinion and the spiritual power.
History tells in terrible language what,
similar contests have in the past led to.
Yuen it has been considered necessary by the
EKecntive to proclaim Dublin city awl
county; and even severe, and more decisive
tiyasares are sp ken of as likely to supervene.
What will be the end of all this? Mr.
Gladstone and the bulk of the Liberal party
range the.nselves on the side of the Home
Rulers, and in effect endorse their action;
on the other and we have the Conservatives
and those who are called variously Liberal
Unionists or Di:sentient Liberals. The
latt !r combination is in a majority, but how
long will the status last ? The position
cannot possibly become permanent, for
though Mr. Chamberlain, chief of the
militant Liberal Unionists, speaks of Mr.
Glaklstoae, his old leader, as past praying for,
he is & far off being at ha .nionv with Con-
servatism as he is being in toach with the
ex-Prem!er ? Truly the state of partv
U-overbrnent in 1.4111au I
is parlous, and the
Irish question as tar off Boiation as ever, is
eatirely responsible for the situation.