The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-08-29 00:00:00

Our yonbon (torresponbtnt.
(we deem It right to state that we do not at all times
Identify ourselves with our Gorrevondent's opinionsj
e had an Idtperial visitor in gar midst d g
th4F: few days wheee presence has attrac
1 Th
t
notion. e Impress of Atria, for it is r
of tin I spnic, "Mit V.:me amongst us wi

flourish .4 trumpets, no clang of arms, no dazzling
panoply .1 gold: After enjoying, in retirement, the
health-giving sea breezes of the Isle of Wight, her
Majesty came incognita to London, not eslutheclein
purple and fine linen, but in ordinary quiet attire.
She has not t ,ken up her quarters in Buckingham
P.ilace, with a retinue of servants at her command,
but has preferred the privacy of Claridge-ehoteL 'rise
Empress has a young, but regal bearing, such as befits the
his partner of the Kaiser. Meanwhile the King :of
Denmark, while honouring the citizens of Edinburgh
- • - with a Thrlt esriTis Way'firolT Teel-sin-T:llSi steam 4
away agnin ter. Am north cssuntry, without coming.
further south, Is-caring with him our own amiable.
Erincess of Wales. We are all
.sorry to lose her
Royal Highness, even for a time. No member
of the reigning House in ever snore cordially received
when driving through the streets, the parks, and the
squares of London than the estimable lady who, eleven
years ago, left the country of the Norsemen to be-
come the wife of the heir-apparent to the British
throne. Tier gracious demeanour has won all hearts,
while thousands who recognise her solely by her
, photographs in the shop windows, are struck by the
• .sidguLlr sweetness of her face. Well, the Princess has
' gone- htsck to Copenhagen with her father, and while
we shall all be glad to see her back once mole, no one
.can'beglaidge her a short respite in her native land
from the fatigues and engagements of life in London.
sus Still, we have again got back the Duke and Duchess
sin of Edinburgh, who are looking all the better for their
Continental sojourn. And while Londoners are away
in large numbers, the foliage of the trees in the parks,
oe the pride and glory of the summer, has dropped into
se the sere and yellow leaf. They look all very well
when the atmosphere is calm ; but let a north-east
40 winil spring up in the night, and the brown and
withered leaves Are scattered by thousands in the morn-
ng. They have had their day, and their day is
TO gone.

A series of regulations bearing upon attendance at
evening schools ha.e been issued by the School
Management Committee of the London Board, which
are in some respects worthy of notice. No school is to
opened until the names of 100 pupils are inscribed on
the register, nor continued if the average attendance
of the previous month has fallen below 50; and it
must be kept open when in operation at least three
evenings every week. The head-master will exercise
general superintendence with reference to the use of
the building and the school material, but must not in-
terfere with the teaching. Assistant masters and
mistresses qualified to earn grants are eligible for
employment as !teachers of evening school, and upon
the head teacher will devolve the responsibility of
organization. These teachers will receive in remune-
ration the whole grant for attendance and examination
as well as half the fees, the total amount being divided
equally when there are only' two teachers; but when
there are three or more, the head teacher will receive
one-half, and the subordinates divide the other
moiety between them. Unless sanctioned by the
Board the daily fee is .never to exceed one
penny an evening, nor is a single teacher to take
charge of more than forty pupils. The latter are to
enjoy the use of apparatus, books, and materials on
the premises, but in no case are these to be carried
home, or removed from the schoolroom for any pur-
pose whatever. Finally it is directed that no child
between twelve and thirteen years of age be admitted
as a pupil unless when exempt from the compulsory
bye-laws as having passed the fifth standard of the
Education Code. It is possible that some of these
regulations may undergo amendment, but at present
they give a very fair idea of the principles upon which
night schools are conducted in the metropolis.
The provincial tour of Marshal MacMahon, the
President of the French Republic, has galvanised into
active life many a sleepy little place in Normandy
and Brittany, and no towns have been more gay, even
though temporarily, than the seaports to which the
people of Paris crowd during the warm and sunny
days of autumn. Up to five years ago many of
the summer resorts in Germany were formidable
rivals to the watering-places within the borders of
the French dominions, and Baden successfully
competed with Trouville and Biarritz. But since the
great war of 1870 the people of France have not cared
to venture into the territories of the Germans, even
for a holiday; and so it conies to pass that when Paris
now annually empties itself of its fashionable residents,
they make for their own seashore in all directions.
The visitors are entertained with fetes and races, and
the former are divided into both day and night enter-
tainments. The (lay fete is generally devoted to the
amusement of the junior portion of the population;
while, as darkness seta in, the streets are gaily lighted
up with Chinese lanterns.
There are very few of its who have not at some time
or another, ori an occasion of great uproar and dis-
turbance, heat (I it compared to "Bedlam let loose.'
Unsophisticated youngsters, and people in remote
country districts, have often wondered where or what
Bedlam could possibly be. Well, the word is a
corruption of Bethlehem, the latter being descriptive
of an institution for the reception and treatment of the
insane. It is situate near the " Elephant and Castle," a
well-known hostelry in the South of London, and a
spot where six or seven streams of traffic meet at one
point. Go there in the middle of the day, and you will
see streams flowing to and from Newington Causeway to
London-bridge, another making in the direction of
Blackfriars, a third pouring down the Kent-road
towards New-Cross,sa fourth passing along Walworth,
a fifth making the way of Kennington and Clapham,
a sixth bound for Westminster, and a seventh for
Waterloo. But although Bethlehem is so near all this
roar and bu-tle, its capacious grounds and its massive
walls exclude to a great extent the noise of the outer
world, and the quiet which reigns within the institu-
tion is a singular contrast to the eternal hurrying up
and down of the crowds without. Get an order of
admission from the governors, enter the well-heist
grounds, and you will find it difficult to believe
that yon are in the land of those who have lost
their reason. Pleasant-looking little groups of gossipers
stroll about in the shade underneath the trees, and
although some of those engaged in conversation are pos-
sessed with the most extraordinary delusions, the humane
and intelligent system of treatment which is adopted,
at once removes all fear or possibility of danger. Sun-
day morning service in Bethlehem is an interesting
time. While the chapel bell rings out its invitation to
prayer and praise, there is a faint rumble of distant
traffic from the world outside, but for a season no other
sound breaks the dreamy stillness. Up several flights
of stone steps is a pretty little octagonal chapel, with
comfortable pews—all cushioned and carpeted, an organ,
a pulpit, a reading desk, and a clerk. There are, per-
haps, al out a hundred patients present, the males on
one side, and tt e females on the other. They join
heartily in the responses and in the singing ; and
ii thing in their dress, appearance, or demeanour would
distimmish them from any ordinary congregation. The
great aim of the preacher is to present to his hearers
the sunny side of every troth, and the reason for final,
obvious from the fact that the greater part of lunacy
has its origin in mental worry or distress.
Visitors to our fashionable watering-places cannot
fail to have noticed those smart elderly seamen who,
armed with telescopes, pace the pier at eventide, and
when off duty, retire to a trim block of white buildings
surmounted by a flagstaff. These are the coastguard,
and the popular idea of this body is that its sole duty
is to prevent smuggling. This force, however, forms
a most valuable reserve of seamen, who, in the event of
an invasion, or even of a threatened descent upon our
coasts, would be called upon to man the ships for the
num ort of the Channel Squadron. Like many other
CIA&Ses, however, the coastguard have been memo-
rialising the Government to remedy some little griev-
ances under which they labour, and it is understood
that the visit of the Lords of the Admiralty to the
different stations will probably result in certain
changes being carried out. The arrangements for
mustering the men for the annual cruise have long
been a cause of dissatisfaction at certain stations, and
complaints are also made that the allowance of is. 4d.
per day, out of which both food and fuel have to be
purchased, is quite insufficient; this sum, as in many
similar caws, having been fixed years ago. It is now
said to be the intention of the Admiralty to re-establish
in a modified form some ~f the features of the old
coastguanl organisation, so as to give a more harmo-
nious tone to the working of this branch of the naval
service.

An interesting return has been issued, showing the
extent of the commerce between the Dominion of
Canada and the United States. In one year the
British North American provirces took 57,000,000
dollars worth of the products of the United States,
against exports to Germany valued at 43,000,000
dollars; to France and other possessions valued at
35,000,000 dollars ; and to Spain, including her colonies,
valued at 27,000,000 dollars. It is also shown that
the export traffic from the United States to the
don exceeded the entire exports from the former to
Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Italy, Japan, Denmark,
Portugal, Central America, Austria, Turkey,
Alen, Norway, and Greece, besides smaller States.
.1 it were possible to imagine any cause for the out-
break of a war between these two peoples, it is cer-
tainly impossible to estimate the amount of hies and
suffering which must ensue.
Many a Londoner reads with curious interest of those
acientilic picnics with which the mouth of August is

Dominion

China,

Chili,

Sweden,

generally associated in some parts I.f the country. It
is at this season of the year that the arehthologista take
wing; and while the more of Scotland and of York-
shire are occupied by c-ampaigns against the grouse, the
antiquarian traditions of oin' land are being d d
and discussed by learned feentlemen w delis is
*And " Sellilono in stonesa" and bio apki in a t
b,4 1
walls. With witat pltiesure d the unea a
aldheva bilimapogsgirs a 'in of illse '
a crumbling Saxon! A piece of Roman earthenware,
a slice of tesselated pavement, a coin, or an urn, is
made the subject of an erudite and interesting descrip-
tion. These excursions, moreover, are not conducted
in the austensfashinn whictrfi rnierly prevailea aninngSt
the alchendits, who were accustomed to fad if haply
they might discover the Philosopher's Stone, or compose
the Elixir of Life! Hard by some, Druidical remains,
iiiiiiula haathbrawal the etarias of ceotaries, the .S.ifeds-
sit down to a nice little champagne luncheon, the sway-
ttaas fare forming as great a contrast to the acorns
anal tlie _water upon which the Ilruida lived, as the
architecture of the ancient Britons differed from that
which is in force to-day. I have been at a good many
f these gatherings in my time, and can safely say
that while they form pleasant outings, they keep up
the poetic idea of respect for ruins, which has almost
entirely disappeared in London.. With us, every year,
antiquity gives way more and more to utility; and old-
fashioned inns and historic birthplaces gradually give
way to the mallet of the leveller. But the archzeolo-
gists, finding themselves more and there driven away
from the bustling town, betake themselves to the quiet
calm of some secluded rural retreat, and there elaborate
the science of history. And while they are thus so
ardent in the cause as to give their days and nights to
it, few will be so ungenerous as to carp at their la-
bours, or at their manner of enjoying themselves in
their own peculiar fashion during their autumn
holidays.

The permission given to the volunteers to change the
colour of their uniforms to that which distinguishes
the battalions of the line, is doubtless welcome in
many a regiment of our home defenders. Yet it is
well known that grey, drab. and other medium tints
have great merits from a military point of view. They
neither fade nor show stains quickly, and they render
their wearers snore invisible to hostile marksmen.
When the Indian Mutiny broke out, the white
uniforms worn by the European troops during the hot
weather were immediately dyed mud colour, so as to
render their wearers less discernible to the Sepoys.
At the same time a brilliant looking uniform possesses
a considerable advantage in inducing recruits to enter
the army. Many a countryman has his martial ardour
aroused by the sight of a scarlet coat, while one of
grey or of invisible green would find him perfectly
unimpressionable.