The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-10-03 00:00:00

A BLIND ACTOR.

A most remarkable fact connected with the Meiningen
Court company is that one of the principal players,
Herr Wellenbeck, who took the part of Pope Sixtus,
has been perfectly blind for the last three years (says a
German correspondent). Few people who attended the
perforniancesever imagined fora moment, however, that
the actor who moved with such ease and precision on the
!taps before them did not ewe the scenes around him.
. . . .

Fatunately for him his -atlictio—n- did not—c-o;;;por's
him until he had been for some years a member of
These are many places in London, the origin of the Meiningen troupe, so that he knew the boards by
whose names, although used by hundreds every day, heart whedn,,bi.ti,npLesisamcaainellfzin him. His fx!lleagure,s,
is almost entirely unknown to the population gene- be they n'ndertake. many Whenever
a aaiswirfe/reteieirs to
rally. Take for instance Sadler's Wells. This was a make the blind actor feel at home in his new r6le.
popular place of entertainment two centuries ago. In The drama of Pope Sixtus was quite new to him, and a
1683 some chalybeate springs were discovered in critic who knew of his affliction wrote how he trembled
Clerkenwell by one William Sadler, a surveyor fff the fm"rovfeeir ab'efutthedactora‘6lo,
;eat tahrfaleselytP. f But hd
highways, in a pleasant, retired, and well-wooded dignity. s "Sinceaa ascended
eyes died," Baal the acataurettsy, and
garden of a music-house he had just opened. The die- crftic, "I see everything clearer with the nerves
covery was trumpeted in a pamphlet, detailing the , of the brain. Life concentrates itself in my head
virtues of time water. So much was said about its ' undisturbed by the external world, which for me
no longer exists." Wellenbeck is a man of intellect,
healing powers that the wells soon became famous. As I
Igavilisgtrajoay,aedart saacholtilLiearaleotarizaiinor hiasaywou2.
time went on the place grew so fashionable that the
aristocracy and even members of the Royal family , ceased, and has always moved in the highest society."
frame to the gardens to drink the waters, the receipts , His fatter died only a few years ago, without know.
•f the proprietor averaging about £3O a morning—a Mg of the sad affliction that had overtaken his son,
sum relatively larger then than it is now. A theatre who, by means of a mechanical arrangement and a
fie)ravkaant,„fsiteialient,t7ears him uap to hatladeartathti,iaThe
soon rose near the spot, and from 1683 until after 1811
„ to
the neighbourhood was famous. All kinds of maladies so that his filturree
markable actor some years ago,
were reported to be cured by the water, which was is provided for.—Pietorial World.
sold at sixpence a glass. Amongst the names associated

with Sadler's Wells M the best of its days were those
LORD KIMBERLEY ON EDUCATION.
td Grimaldi and Phelps, the last-mentioned of whom
retired from the management of the theatre in the On Saturday, at Norwich. the Earl of Kimberley
year 1862. distributed the prizes allotted at the Norwich Centre
of the Cambridge Local Examinations. Among the
For some years past visitors to St. Paul's Cathedral
gentlemen present on the occasion were the Bishop of
cannot have failed to notice the worn and dangerous Isforwich, Mr. C. S. Read, ALP., Sir Willoughby
state id the steps at the north-eastern entrance. These Jones, and the Rev. Canon Howell.
have now, by order of the Dean and Chapter, been The Earl of Kimberley reviewed the progress which
removed,and massive blocksof blue Argyle granite fixed had been made with the examinations at Norwich
since he addressed a similar meetino in 1864. This
in their stead. The old ~tepS, Which had done duty
showed that the work was useful and Was appreciated.
for ages, were of black marble, and will be utilised in There could be no doubt in the mind of any one that it
the various improvements now being carried out in was a great advantage to connect the middle-class
and around the Cathedral. The removal of the tall 1 schools throughout the couritry with the Universities,
railings from the western entrance, and the throwing I and he was the wore glad to see these examinations sue-
hae made a wonderful i ceed because n the attention which Parliament anti
open of this grand facade,
the country had r4ven to the elementary education of
change for the better. Railings of an equal height the mass of the people he had sometimes been afraid
with those taken away still, however, run round three that lees care would be given to what was not of less
sides of the building, and it has for some time been under importance--namely, the education of the great middle
the contemplation of the Dean and Chapter to have timer of the country. Great progress had been made
in the establishment of schools for elementary educa-
these removed as well, and to throw op b
en the whole of 1
, on, but owing to various circumstances he did not
the enclosed space to the public. think that schools for the middle classes had kept
pace with this movement. He did not desire to intro-
duce any disputed topic, but he could not help
referring to the immense importance of utilizing
grammar schools throughout the country. He con-
sidered it an opprobrium to the country that we were
apt to be stopped by prejudices and feelings as to what
men might have thought some 200 or 300 years ago
from acting in accordance with the spirit of the
founders of schools, and making them useful to the
best of our ability for the present generation. Small
grammar schools sometimes struggled on manfully
under discouraging circumstances bee the boys who

A practical trial has been given to cremation at
Ilreslau, under the direction of the Municipal authorities.
Oas was employed for the purpose. in half an hour the
softer part of the body had almost entirely disappeared,
and in another half-hour the hones had been almost wholly
consumed. Another hour and ten minutes was required for
the Mining of the liver. The skull was then in fragments,
and scarcely any of the remains indicated that they had
formed part of a human body. A number of physicians sod
naturalist. were holding a congress in the town witnessed
the process, the co cam of winch is stated to have been
seri small.