The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-05-16 00:00:00

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iWe deem it Kitt to state that
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work ;Se m bent m have tanak the
seats which they will occupy as long as the House of
Commons last ; and both noble lords and gentlemen of
the representative Chamber have within the last week
or two diligently applied themselves to the business #
legislation. While upon the question of seats I may
say that at a remote period of parlianientary history
the burgesses— those who were retunied for the towns,
occupied a lower rank than the knlghts of the shire,
and werelint orwiih the s,ort places. The knights
were for wane time the representatives of the lesser
barons, and persons who were not of gentle birth could
not bireleeted as county members. The burgesses,
being accounted of a meaner sort of mankind, eat
below or behind the knights of the shire, and
could not always hear what was going on. In
'addition to this they were sometimes treated with
scant courtesy by the officials of the House of Lords;
and it is written in other chronicles how at the opening
of Parliament in 1603, Sir Ileibert Crofts was not per-
mitted to hear the Royal speech in the House of
Lords, but had the door shut in his face by one of the
Yeomen of the Guard, who etclaimed, "Goodman
Burgess, you come not here !" The goodman burgess
so addressed evidently felt that the line must be drawn
somewhere, so he reported this insolence to the Speaker,.
and it was resented as an affront to the whole House.
The delinquent yeoman was accordingly compelled to
kneel at the bar, where he made humble acknowledg-
went of his fault, and was severely reprimanded by
the Speaker. Matters are wonderfully changed now!
The Commons have access not only to the House of
Lords, but to the presence of the Sovereign herself,
whenever they think proper to demand it.
The Lords' officials are the very embodiment
of courtesy to the Commons, and as to the
difference of rank between town and county
members, that ceased long ago, and there is now no
distinction even in name. Up to the last general
election summonses were issued for the sailing of a new
Parliament, as "the Lords spiritual and temporal,
the Knights, Citizens, and Burgesses, and the Com-
missioners for shires and boroughs in the Mouse of
Commons." But at the recent dissolution the writs
were issued and the returns made simply for the elec-
tion of "members," in accordance with a provision of
the Ballot Act of 1872. Knights of the shire, Citizens, '
Burgesses, Barons of the Cinque Ports, Burgesses of
the universities— all are gone, and members even in
name are on an equality in the Commons' House of
Parliament.

do not at all dem
opinionel

There is one question which has been brought before
the notice of the Legislature not a moment too soon,
and that is how the humbler classes of London are to
be housed. Eleven or twelve years ago the late Lord
Derby called attention to an evil which was
even then perceptible, but which has since assumed
ominous proportions. The construction of the metro
politan railways and of the gigantic works of improve-
ment which have been carried out in our midst during
the past decade, have necessitated the demolition of
thousands of dwellings, the former occupants of which
have been driven into localities already sufficiently
crowded. The bringing of the Midland Railway into
London and the building of the vast terminus in the
Euston-road caused the destruction of 503 houses. -A
similar number was cleared away to provide a site for
the new law courts. Hundreds of families were dis-
placed for the execution of the Holborn Valley Im-
provement Works. And so the business of driving
away the lower classes from their homes has gone
steadily on until at length it has become impossible
to shut our eyes to the increasing evils of the over-
crowding in those neighbourhoods in which they have
tied for refuge. It is a relief to find that Parliament
now looks the matter seriously in the face, awl that it
is to be taken up by the Government of the day.
Some interesting facts showing how the grant for
public elementary schools was disposed of last year,
are embodied in a return issued by the Education
Department. The total amount to be accounted for
was £1,172,786, and of this £829,625 was expended in
grants to inspected schools, while £111,451 was
applied to building grants. Very small progress was
made in the establishment of Board Schools in the
first three years of the operation of the Act of 1870,
and last year schools of that class received only
£14,287. On the other hand the Church of England
schools received £757,859. As far as the results of the
year's work are eoncesned, the returns show a con-
siderable degree of efficiency. Of 752,268 children
who were presented for examina n, more than 60
per cent. passed in their respective stam'ar Is, as far
as reading, writing, and arithmetic shod affected.
England acid Wales are, however, much behind
Scotland in the matter of school instruction, for in
the last-mentioned kingdom, of 134,481 children pre-
bolded, more than 30 per cent, were successful in the
three elementary subjects. The total number of
certificated teachers in England and Wales at the
date of the report was 16,735, of whom a small
majority were women. The average annual salary
of a male teacher is £lO3, and of a female teacher
032. In Scotland the average salary of a master is
£llO, and of a mistress 1:58.

I attended a gathering in the theatre of the London
University a day or two ago, on the occasion of the
diatrilaition of prizes and certificates to the successful
candidates at the Cambridge Local Examinations, so
fax as the metropolitan centre was concerned. There
was a very numerous muster of the young people,
their parents and friends, and the time was a happy
oine for the recipients of honours. The presentations
were made by the Bishop of Carlisle, who in his
genial and easy manner put himself quite at
home with his audience, and gave them many
words of kind encouragement and advice. The dif.
ference in the faces of the boys and girls who had
failed and those who had succeeded, was very striking,
and when I say that the failures amongst the boys
were in the proportion of 50 per cent, you will see
that all who were present could not put on a joyful
irountenance. Of t7at successful ones, some passed in
tue subject, others in two or three, but the cheers were
long and loud when a girl of seventeen or eighteen
wfis called up to the table to receive her reward from
the hands of the Bishop, who said "Now, my young
friends, Miss So-and-So succeeded in every subject."
She was very warmly congratulated, and if there be
anything in what his lordship called the virtue of
emulation, the example of that young lady ought to
have a beneficial effect. The prelate carried his
audience with him when he protested against the
cramming system which is adopted at many of our
places of learning. I remember, however, that Lord
Palmerston was one if its warmest supporters, for he
maintained that the more a child was crammed with
learning, the better, for he must of necessity retain
some of it.

Experiments vitli the continuous air-brakv have
been made by some of our leading ailways, and the
invention appears to be a success. Without going
into technicalities I may say that it will stop a train
in a fifth of the time, and a seventh of the distance
required by the mechanism now in force. The prin-
ciple upon which it is constructed is that of working
by means of air tubes, and some authorities have objected
that if there was the slightest puncture in any of these,
the brake would be disabled. This has been tested in
two ways, first by cutting a hole in one of the tubes,
and next by unscrewing one and removing it altogether,
leaving the pipe open on one side for the free escape of
air. Even in this crippled condition, however, the air
brake brought up a train, when going at the rate of
48 miles an hour, in 28 seconds by time, or 320 yards
by distance. Its general efficiency being thus ad-
mitted, the adoption of this new power by every rail-
way in the United Kingdom ought to be only a ques-
tion of time. But the matter of expense arises, both
by application, and increased wear and tear through
friction. Monetary considerations ought not to pre-
vail when the preservation of human life is in the
balance, but the government can only recommend the
adoption of esetter mechanical appliances, and cannot
enforce it.

It is singular to note how a man a for any particular
object often takes possession of an entire people. Some
years ago a rage broke out in Holland for tulips,
which brought many a prudent and cautious Dutch-
man to the verge of insolvency. More remarkable
still, the Japanese are Mat now going wild over the
rearing of rabbits. From San Francisco steamers
deeply laden with these animals sail regularly for
Japan, where the inhabitants pay almost any price for
them. Lately one rich Japanese actually gave 1,200
dollars for a single rabbit before it was landed
from the ship. The prevailing insanity has seized
upon all classes, and if England were only a little
nearer to Japan, the tenant farmers who enjoy from
their landlorda the right to trap these animals would
realise handsome fortunes. At every general election
the candidates for the representation of agricultnral
constituencies are assailed with questions hOw beet to
dispose of the rabbits. Many of them will therefore be
surprised to hear.that a weakly)? Japanese thinks quite
as mush of a. lop-oared " bunny " as a tenant farmer
does of a team of bases or a score of mulch cows.

•-•
Now that the lentest el the warm summer days will
$G 5500 u 111,011 US, the construction of the flontan
swimtnin4 bathe upm the Tharnes comes to be ye-
tiled with some interest. It is expeatel that th,
first of these-- at Charing-cross, min be °pare,'
by tee enri of .Tene, an 1 it i intemlei that
'Frtatucti Iron and Ship Building Company shall
niece another off the embankment at Pimlico
PIM The swimming iirea ill the foram. will

be 136 ft. by 26ft. and in the 'attar 200 ft. by 40ft.
i
la
The shareholdars in the ve tare have certainly one
advantage br.being saved ....'
greaWexpenen' ivb,'
oth SW I ' g bath comp havi to pay 1,-
till c,f w rates. Th 'll (11Y,- thefr
fro ehr and ample n 1,1,41, ,
11 Your df-sal ter • t

the art may be enabled to imagine themselves nearer to
the sea than they really are. The cost of both baths
will be under £30,000. Skilled professors .4 swimmin;
are to be iiiointej„ and prizes for annual matches
Will olfe SMix it iiratieffiZed whit a lei*
proportion o the people are occupied in niaritinsti
pursuit., it is not easy to over-estimate the importance
.4 possessing a thorough knowledge of the art of swim-

. The Chelsea section of the Thames Embankment,
which was opened on Saturday by the Duke aud
Duchess of Edinburgh, is the third which has been
executed within the past ten years by the Metropolitan
Board of Works. The whole comprise three and a
half miles of splendid thoroughfare, reclaiming 52
acres from the river, thus giving the people pleasant
drives and ornamental gardens instead of mudbanks.
Another effect is to purifylhe stream, and to make it
more useful for the purposes of trade, by improving
the scour of the tide, and causing it to flow in a more
uniform channel. The Chelsea Embankment Wall is
upwards of three quarters of a mile in length, and has
been so laid out as to reduce the water way to a
width of 700 feet. The roadway is 70 feet wide, and
planted on each side with trees. The cost of the work
is about £134,. 00, exclusive of the expenditure for
purchase of property and compensation.
Many will regret that the present is to be the last of
the series id annual International Exhibitions. The
amount of support on the part of the public is not of
such a character as would justify the Commissioners
in continuing them; and at a meeting last Saturday,
over which the Prince of Wales presided, it was re-
solved that the 1874 display, which will remain open
until October, should be the final one.

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