The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-03-31 00:00:00

LONDON CORRESPONDENCE.

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

Easter is with us once again, and to most it
comes as the first of the great holiday seasons
of the year. Arriving as it does so quickly after
Lady Day, it will find many households in a
state of confusion, because, as is known of all
men, Lady Day is pre-eminent among quarter-
*lays for house-flitting." The streets of the
London suburbs during the past few days have
been filled with huge furniture vans; straw has
strewn the steps of many a dwelling, and there
has been an air of movement apparent in many a
street which strangely differs from its customary
quietude. "Two removes are as had as a
fire," says an old proverb, which has a
considerable amount of truth in it, but it
Is one which has evidently not been laid to
heart by multitudes of persons who live within
that metropolitan area which the Local Govern-
ment Bill, now before Parliament and the
country, proposes to turn into a county of itself.
For there are many who seem never so happy as
when moving, and these not of the class which
has a love for "moonlight flittings " in order to
cheat their landlords; but of the honest house-
holding section, with whom it seems to be almost
a passion to be continually changing dwellings.
The expense and trouble to which they put them-
selves by this constant movement must be very
great; but there is evidently a subtle satisfac-
tion to be extracted from the process which none
hut the initiated can understand.

It has, however, to be noted. with 'each recur-
ring wave of removal that the tendency of the
average metroplitan householder is to move
"further out.' The older and quieter suburbs
are gradually losing more and more of their
accustomed inhabitants, who are now taking up
their abodes in districts further removed from the
roar and the bustle and the smoke of the great
City which seem never to grow less, but rather
to increase and to become more oppressive. There
am masons, however, beyond the desire to secure
purer air which will account for this. The older
suburbs, of course, mainly possess only old
houses, which, even in the case of the larger, are
Yint fitted with the sanitary requirements and
the domestic conveniences which modern comfort
demands. The consequence is that even low-
rented houses in the newer districts have bath-
rooms, electric bells, and other fittings to which
much more costly dwellings in the older are
strangers; and it is, therefore, not to be won-
dered at that a ,movement outward should be
made. The social, and even the religious, con-
sequences of this stream or tendency are deserv-
ing of note. Some suburbs which have had an
air of utmost respectability are now beginning
to look poor, while many places of worship
which used to possess a congregation of flourish-
ing worshippers, are gradually losing their old
position, and the effort to maintain them in their
old state is becoming obviously more arduous.
Fifty years ago several of the old city chapels
were removed to the suburbs to suit the conveni-
ence of their accustomed worshippers who had
thither retired, but these latter are now going
further out, and the consequences are as serious
as they are unmistakeable. _ _

We -never hear anything in these days of a
threat that used to be made some years ago by
,certain University authorities to the effect
that, if the public persisted in taking
so much interest in the Oxford and Cam-
bridge Boat-race, it would be removed from
the Thames and rowed upon Windermere. This
is for the best, of all reasons, that in them public
interest has so largely decreased that there is no
necessity to so threaten. Various reasons may
be adduced for this difference, but one of them
is palpable, and that is that the popular craze
over the race was largely due to fashion, and
that the fashion has changed. A dozen or fifteen
years ago it was regarded by society as "the
thing" to patronise the Boat-race by its presence,
and where society leads the crowd is bound to
follow. But by a regular law of progression society
no sooner finds the mob at its heels than it
begins to object and taboo the very thing it had
previously exalted, and then the period of deca-
dence begins. This is exactly what has hap-
pened to the Boat-race; and although other
causes have helped, this one has been the main
factor in causing the change.
It is only when dealing with storms in the
United States or starvation in China that
English people seem able to realise what large
numbers really are. Such a" blizzard" as that
which recently swept over Dakota or even more
recently over New York was of such immensity in
its power of damage that we can scarcely con-
ceive how much injury was done, though
the figures may be placed before us. And that
being so, it is much more difficult to realise the
state of things often prevailing in China. By
the recent earthquakes in the province of
Yunnan, several, towns were destroyed, and
fifteen thousand lives lost, while in the province
of Chuen over ten thousand persons were
drowned, owing to the surface of the district
being changed into a large lake. But even these
figures, appalling as they are, fall into almost
insignifinnce when compared with those fur-
nished upon official authority regarding the loss
of life caused by the Yellow River inundations,
which is stated at over 100,000, while
nearly two millions of people have been
renderoa destitute. Imagination almost
fails to grasp such fearful facts as these, and
although we may know that China is a land
which has not only a teeming population but
almost limitless resources, we cannot but admit
how direful is the whole sad story.
There is not likely to be an objection raised
in any quarter to the movement for raising a
memorial in the new cemetery at Brussels in
memory of the British soldiers who fought
and fell at Waterloo. It is true that as
1815 has receded further and further from our
view the last of "the decisive battles of the
world" has lost its old keen claim upon
the attention of the remembrance of the nation.
Time was when "Waterloo Day" was faithfully
celebrated upon each recurring eighteenth of
June, and when in the enthusiasm of recent
recollection it was imagined that the anniver-
sary would never be allowed to pass without a
public testimony of gratitude for the victory
won. But time which soften griefs tone down
memories, and to-day Waterloo is seldom talked
of, and the anniversary has ceased to be publicly
remembered. That, however, is no reason why
the dead who fell on the great field should
remain undistinguished by a monument over
their graves in a foreign land. Rather does
it give all the better cause for such a memorial,
so that it shall be seen that it is not lack
of reverence for the dead, but simply the
customary influence of time which makes the
anniversary of Waterloo almost forgotten. The
Lord Mayor of London has taken up the matter,
and has headed an appeal, which is supported by
the Duke of Cambridge and by the presentholder
of the dukedom of Wellington; and, so worthy
is its object, that it ought to prove abundantly
successful.

Those who love the sight of a good game of
cricket will soon again be in a position to have
their affection gratified, for it is not long now
before the season of 1888 will commence. True,
the admirers of football have not yet given up
their favourite pastime, but each passing week
makes them feel that they are very nearly at the
end of their tether, and those of them who have
a place in their hearts for football as well are
beginning to look out their bats, and will soon
be speculating as to which will be the
champion county of the year. The visit
of the Australian team—the sixth of the
kind that has been made to these shores—cannot
but quicken the general interest in the game.
The enthusiastic cricket lover does not need any
such stimulant, and is satisfied to watch the
matches between the great counties. But it
cannot be denied that to those not quite so
warm in their admiration for the game, the
touch of internationalism which is added by the
biennial visits of the Australians gives it a larger
interest. The interest, however aroused, is a
healthy one and deserves encouragement, for
cricket is so distinctly our national game, it is at
once so healthful and pleasure-giving that it
merits the approval of all. A. F. R.