The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-12-11 00:00:00

J)( : I:

„aa-
Williams) ,A as taken away just when he was bog
t'
to reap the tenefit of his troubliis. He was
going to enjoy what he had done wen suddenly he
wa- sa'a-itt away. When a in in, wh'' was not vn'Y
rich, a Mr. W 1 ims Ws tie, ua t raakei so at
thin ,4i suet' gaaat thi a;s, iad•etl. aiell very f.ni
men would uitdertake, o con- e he must find Mita
self in diffeulties during his life time. (
Penley) called gentlemen of the c .ngrega,tion ta-
aether, and aft.nr a good deal of uiscussion they
agni, d that ta e first thing .hould be to hold a bazaar
The ladies of the congregation had aeaoaded most
willinglv. They had written to their friends and
ohtained workers from all parts. lie must simply
say that he begaed to thank all those ladies woo
had welted so iii air him, and to the ladies who
took part in the st tils : lso those young la lies who
were going t share the work of getting off the
thinas 'hat they had made, lie also thanked his
chttahwardens and the t ier gentlemen,Mr. Heck-
ford, Mr. Thomas, and otlairs, who had work d so
inuefatieably ti make io make Vie b izaar a success.
Lair Lytteltun a ti 1”. I have great pleasure in pi o-
nonneina the bazaar to be open." Lord Lyttelton
said he had only to ask them to do what they possi-
bly could to reader the bazaar it great sue oe;.
11, hardly nead p ,iut out to the: what a drawback
it was to a clergyman t.) timid that he was surrounded '
with such an embarrassm-nt in sneh populou
place as Stourbrid;e. it wa4 net ow;ng to any
fault of Mr. Penley's ; it was more to his cm edit that
he bad taken to thtL, work with such a deht upon
him. lie asked tnem to do what they could to re-
move the burden w:deli had been placed on lis
pia Penley's slamld:,,rs, Mr. Thomas, in proposing
a vote ti thanks to Lord and Lady Latteltou, said
it was a groat source of satisfaction t see that tne
present Lord Lytteltoa followed in the faotpath of
his late father. He was always ready to support all
institutions for the good of the town. Mr. Roberts
in seconding the vote of thanks to Lord and Lady
yttelton said he had always selt an interest in the
parish. The late Mr. Williams had very great diffi-
culties, indeed, in the starting of this p :ri-h lie
first preaceed in a vei y small place in Duke Street.
The debt was not much and it was not any neglect
otahis pert that cause 1 it. (Hear, hear). Mr.
Willisnms began with a small income and lived after
with cnia He had had a large amount of +work to
get up and Mr. Penley would not have so much
trouble. Ile trusted they would not merely confine
the work to raiia: the debt, but to leave a balance
in hand. Lord Lyttelton suitably acknowledged
the compliment, and the business of t .e bazaar was
proceeded with. We understan 1 that the handsome
sam of £3OO was realized, including the followina
donations, Earl of Dtelby,£o; Lidy Ward, ;
Mrs Roberts, Field House, £ ; Mrs. Grant, £5 ;
W. Roberts, Fsq., 42 25.; LICK Pag Esq., a

LECTURE ON TIIE FIRE BRIGADR.-011 Wednesday
evenieg a very interesting lectare wAs delivered by
Jeakyit ingre,... Esq., of Lowfon, in the Corn
Eeelianee. on "Fires, tire engines, aud liennen," in
aid of the steam ti, e engine funl. There was a
I.,rga attehlauce. Mr. Charles Cochrane o.!eupited
the chair. Mr. Ingram delivered a very eloquent
lecture. After the opening by the chairman, Mr.
Ingram, quoting the proverb respecting a gool
servant and a bad mister, said that.this';ippliecl with
singular appropriateaess to fire- Ai a servant, it
contribu ed to the development of nat'onalresou.ces,
the right exhilaration of domestic life, while, as a
master, the ministering angel became a fiend
inearuate, for whose Meat ible maw-n s icrific ,) was
too greet. Within liiitorical_dinaes th n-e was n)
race of men ingnorant of firthe Ilse of it being
the great practical distinction betweeu ma
and brute. The worship of tire, and the superst,-
tious couneJed with it were thyn touched upon
with re.erenee to the methods by which fire WA-
obtained, that of rubbing two sticks tegether being
undoubtedly the earliest.. The important part in
the tdstory of ete ry melon played by fire as a
devastating agent was dwelt upon with descriptions
of the burning of the Temple, the gra it tire of
London, and, coming to more recent times, the dii
asters at Chicago and Santiago these particulars
being offered to itluitrete ;he terrible dangers to
which society is at alt times liable, dangers a-
sudden as they are terrible. The CRUS.S of fires
were considered iii corm2ction with which many
numerous and iuteresting anecdetes were quoted.
The igni ion of worneus dresses was a f:uttful
source of disaster, and the means used to render
textile fabrics uninfiammable were described. Two
large (tolls were called into requisition; the dress of
one resisting the application of a match, while that
of the other was swiftly in flames, These, however,
being at once extinguished by the aid ot a model
chemical fire engine, the mode of charging which
and its action being clearly explained. Incendiarism,
arson, and pyromania were then considered, and it
was statee that befote a select conunittee of tit,
House of Commons, several witnesses connected
with the leading Fire Insurance Co?.. gave it as
their opinion that from one-third to one-half the
tires uuter their notice were occasioned wilfully or
with intent to defraud, and it was only that
companies knew the importance of not appearing
fond of litigation that they often paid what they
felt was not due. From a very early period the im-
portance of appliances for extinguishing fire
appeared to have been recognised, and by the aid
of diagrams the lecturer illustrated the development
of such appliances from the syringe or squirt of the
ancients, to the powerful steam fire engines of the
present day. The want of coolness and presence of
mind at a fire proved by far the greatest hindranc
to the preservation of life and property and a few
simple rules to be observed, on an emergency wete
given. Reference was made to a disaster which
occurred at Liverpool early in the present year
when a man, who had saved his wife, r turned te
the burning house to rescue his son, but perisned in
the flames. Mr. Ingram had made this touching
incident of domestic heroism the subject of a poem,
which he recited with a power and pathos that cen •
siderably moved his auoietice. Firemen formed the
last division of the subject, and it was mentioned
that to the great German writer Goethe, and also
to George Washington, might be assigned pro-
minent places among faMous firemen. gioting
Dickens' humourous description of the parish fire-
engine and its custodian the pari-h beadle, the
lecturer contrasted the past with tee present. and
congratulated his hearers that in common with the
residents in towns of any importance, their persons
and property were confided to the case of a body of
men, active and e‘ell disciplined, whose courage
was daunted by no danger, however great, whose
devotion to duty was worthy of the highest tributes
art could pay, the mime stirring productions of the
pencil of its painter, the lofty and ennobling
strains of the poet's pen. There were deeds the
public rarely heard of, that were at the most dis-
missed with balf-a dozen lines in the mcrning
papers, which could be ranked amongst the greatest
acts of the truest heroes the world had ever known
There were men keeping their mid-night watch
animated with hearts as true as steel, and pulses
throbbing with as warm a glow as were ever those
of crusaders guarduy cross against crescent, or
mailed knight couching his lance to the cry of S.
samlinceos n ea
apropos
do epdo s by
reciting f George and his
is
Joe Ford, the fireman.—After the lecture Mrs.
'rurney, wife of the. Captain of the brigade ascended
the platform on which the engine had been place t,
and breaking a bottle of champagne on a hind wheel,
named it the "Fire King," a ceremony that wets
greeted with hearty applause.