The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-08-01 00:00:00

Our I.i'onbon a7orrtspontnra.

IWe deem it right to state that we to not at all times
tdentity ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.J
.

The days If the Parliamentary Session are num-
bered, but it may safely be asserted that between the
nature of its proceedings before and after Whitsun-
tide, there is the strongest possible contrast. Previously
to the period which I have ment4oned, the transtar-
", tioartAif business in the House alt COMMOMI 161
as dulTaa that of a parish vestry; since that time, and
especially within the las three or four weeks, a change
has, indeed, come over the spirit of the scene. Mr.
Gladstone's return to town to reassume the leadership
of the Liberal party has been the signal fol a series of
contests, mostly over ecclesiastical affairs, whimh have
readied the struggles of former years. No longer have
the benches been sleepy and almost mute. The lobbies
have resounded, night after night, with the triumphant
- shout of the Ministerialists, or the ringing cheer of the
Opp-mition ; and the forces upon either side have
eallfed round their respective chiefs as in days of
yore. Add when, at two o'clock in the morning,
the Mouse has adjourned, and members pour out by
hundreds into Palace-yard, the passages have re-echoed
With the loud hum of conversation, hon. gentlemen

speculating on the possible state of the political posi-
tion a few hours hence. There is a curious custom
carried out when the House rises, and what its origin
may have been I cannot say. The Serjeant at-arms
goes into the lobby, and calls out in a loud voice
"IVIto goes home ?" Members are ieming forth by
scores, and it is evident that, whether they are going
, home or not, they are about to leave the precincts of
the House. As a matter of fact, large numbers of
them do not go home direct. They betake them-
selves to those palatial structures in Pall Mall known
ns the clubs, which, as they do not come under the
A/et ation of the Licensing Act, are open night and day.
Side by side there they stand—Carlton and Reform;
the one the recognized head-quarters. of the Conserva-
tive party, and the other the trysting-place of the
liberals. They are separated merely by a little street
whieh runs southward from Pall Mall, and though
they are thus only a few feet apart, politically they are
as wide as the poles asunder. The neater the gladness
in the halls f the one, the more is the depression in
the rooms of the other. When a general election is
;zoing on, there is intense excitement in these places.
The returns are posted upon the walls of the different
apartments, and are scanned by eager groups. In 1868
it was the Reform which rejoiced ; last January it was
the turn of the Carlton to be glad. Thus is the wheel
of fortune continually being turned; the " ins" of one
year are the " outs " of the other; and each party in
its turn gets its share of the good things of Downing-
street.

Nothing to equal the grand fancy dress ball which
was given by the Prince and Princess of Wales a few
nights ago at Marlborough House has been witnessed
for very many years. Everything that money
could supply was there, and some of the
dresses were of the most gorgeous character. Amongst
.the gue-ta was Mr. Disraeli, and here I may mention
a fact or two showing the strain and pressure to which
we subject our public men. At one o'clock that morn-
ing the Premier was making a speech in the House of
Commons ; at ten o'clock in the forenoon he was trans-
acting business at the Treasury; in the afternoon he
was again in the House of Commons during one of the
debates on the Endowed Schools' Bill; in the evening
he went to the civic banquet at the Mansion House,
and delivered an important political manifesto; and
late at night wound up with this ball. Mr. Disraeli,
I may say, will be sixty-nine years of age in December
next. Of course, every day, even in the session, is not
tic laborious as that which I have just noticed; still,
the work, looked at in its most favourable light, is
spfficiently hard, and must be trying to a man of ad-
yanced years.

It would be difficult to estimate the number of
lives which have been lost in attempts to penetrate
the mysteries of the Arctic regions. For more than
300 years efforts have been nmale by different
nations to discover a north-west passage to China.
The attempt was begun by a Portuguese named Corte
Real, about the year 1500, and in 1576 Sir Martin
Frobisher sailed from England with this object in
view. In 1585 a company was formed in London
called the "Fellowship for the Discovery of the
North-west Passage," and from 1745 to 1818 Parlia-
ment offered £30.000 to the enterprising discoverer.
The names of Parry, Franklin, Ross, and M'Clure
will long stand out prominently in the front rank of
Arctic navigators. When Mr. Lowe was Chancellor
of the Exchequer, he refused Government assistance
to any further expeditions of this character, and there
were not many who were inclined to find fault with
him, seeing the risk which must be run, and the very
little practical result hitherto obtained. Two years
ago, however, an Austrian expedition set oat, and as
nothing has been heard of it, the usual rouse-
quence arises, and a ship has to be sent out
in search of the explorers. The gain either
to commerce or to science from these ventures can
scarcely compensate for the peril which they involve.
It would, no doubt, be interesting enough to know all
about those mysterious regions where the lie le live
so far north as to get behind the north wind itself; to
penetrate the eternal solitudes of those fraen oceans;
to break the everlasting stillness of the crisp and silent
air; to find fax beyond those deserted seas, now locked
in & perpetual belt of ice, a warm and sunny water-
way, upon whose bosom ships of all nations should
hurry to and fro, bearing the wealth and the commerce
of every civilised land. This is all very well from a
poetical point of view; but in this world we have often
to be satisfied, not with the magnificent, but with that
which is really practicable and attainable.
'Within a few days of the issue of Sir Charles Adder-
ley'- cular to the Railway Companies, warning them
to Lake precautions against accidents during the excur-
sion season, there was an influential meeting in London
with a view of forming an association for the protection
of the public against these casualties. Judging from
the experience of last autumn, there is ample room for
the operations of the Railway Passengers' Protection
Society. The Duke of Manchester, who presided, de-
scribed its objects as being "to effect amelioration in
the conduct and management of railways, for the
greater safety of passengers, quicker despatch of goods,
and more humane arrangements for the conveyance of
cattle." No one can doubt that these are important
duties, and.ns the society will be supported by persons
of power and influence, some useful results may be ex-
pected from its work.

The people of London will soon be pouring out of
town by every available avenue. The Great Western
terminus at Paddington, the Great Northern at King's
Cross, the Midland at St. Pancras, the North-Western
at Euston-square, the South-Eastern at Charing Cross,
the South-Western at Waterloo, the Chatham and
Dover at Lidgate-hill, and the Brighton at London.
bridge, are even n ow crowded with excursionists and tour-
eta, but the pressure is nothing like what it will bewhen
Parliament is up, and there is nothing to keep one in
town. Some of the law courts are still sitting, but the
period during which causes may be heard is now
limited, and the whole of them will have risen before
the date fixed for the prorogation. I always notice that
at this season of the year there is a general exodus
of those itinerant musicians and watvlsring minstrels,
who, at other times, pick up a procar'aus existence
in the streets of the metropolis. The Italian organ'
grinder and the Ethiopian serenader betake themselves
to the coast watering Owes, and there, up .11 the
beach, from morning until night, when the music of
the barrel-organ ceases, the distracting ditty of the
troubadore -begins.

One of the measures which has been sacrificed in
the annual " Massacre of the Innocents," was regarded
no being of considerable importance in the legal pro-
fession. That wal the bill which was to have com-
pleted the design of the Judicature Act of last
session. It thoroughly reorganized our whole system
of judicial procedure, and was to have come into force
on the 2nd of November next. The Amendment Bill
passed the Ilense of Lords some little time ago, and
has been upon the notice p iper of the Commons • night
after night. Unfortunately it had been pushed aside
by topics of a more exciting character, and with the
limited time at the disposal of Parliament, both the
Judicature and the Land Transfer Bills have had to
be thrown overboard. They abounded in detail, and
could not now be discussed. Consequently the opera-
tion of the Judicature Act must now be postponed for
twelve months, and we must wait another year for
those reforms in our antiquated and cumbrous system
of jurisprodenee which the mercantile portion of the
community have so long demanded.

The summer manceuvres at Aldershott have illus-
trated the working of that system of military
gymnastics which was introduced into the army
soon after rifles of greater precision were supplied to
the troops. Owing to the extreme accuracy and
length of range possessed by treidern military weapons,
movement of troops in masses ofgolumns was rendered
impracticable under fire. As a consequence, solidity
and steadiness were no longer the chief objects to be
aimed at in drill, but lightness and mobility were now
to be desired. So it became necessary to adopt a
system of gymnastic instruction into the British army,
with a view to render our soldiers capable of executing
movements at a rapid pace. This is still in force, and has
served a useful purpose in setting up and strengthen-
ing the constitutions of recruits. In the opinion of com-
petent judges, however, the good effects of a short
annual course of gymnastics lose their benefit if they are
not followed up, for • the remainder of the year,
a nature calculated
or their physical
march is sin-

during

muscles,

many of the men take no exercise
to try their lungs, their muse'
stamina; therefore, when a

forced

expectedly performed, there is an inordinate number terizing the murder an a most wicked and cruel deed,
of stragglers, displaying a want of endurance and a and souring the prisoner :that there was not the re'
morter„t ?ear not.,
who
chriiszicznri,gt the gallgotw
lack of lung power which would be a very serious the trial, had to
matter in actual warfare. Military critics are calling be helped from the dock by two warders.
out for the adoption of some plan which will give the
men a permanent interest in keeping themselves in
condition. Let it be somewhat analagous to the THE FLOODS IN PENNSYLVANIA.
musketry training drill, and results equally beneficial The Times has published the following Cable telegram from
would be likely to follow. their American Correspondent
The honours which have been conferred upon the Lord FITILADILPHIA, July Di
Two hundred persons have been drowned by the
Mayor and Sheriffs of London are looked upon as a Pittsburg flood.
eatable 'and deserved recognition of the splendid The loss of life at Pittsburg and Alleghany occurred
hospitality displayed by the city authorities. There chiefly along Butcher's, Sawmill, and Spring-garden
is a rule connected with the bestowal of these dignities Runs. Passing through those cities, they drain the
which is never disregarded, whatever party be in water from the neighbouring Inns through deep valleys
filled with bowies. In acme cases the houses are right
power, or of whatever politics the Lord Mayor mar
over the watercourses, the culvert walls being the
happen to be. That rule, or rather preeident, as foundations of the buildings. In Butcher's run the
that when a reigning Sovereign enters the City of valley of the Allegheny varies from 15n to 500 feet
London in State, the Chief Magistrate gets a wide, down which the torrent swept. At ten on
baronetcy, and a knighthood falls to each of the two Sunday night it was 20 feet deep, carrying before it
Sheriffs. T can carry my mind back a good many over 60 buildings, and drowning the occupants. Saw-
years, and find that this has invariably been the case. i(lileltaiaSiiin,:usnt-erwdeerne ltduenmsmaidn a 71,z,i1a.;iocldiatroimsie.
It was so in 1814, when the Queen opened the Royal from heavy rains falling between eight and ten o'clock
Exchange; In 1851, when her Majesty was enter- on the cities and neighbouring hills. All the streets
tamed by the City, on the opening of the Great Exhi- were converted into torrents, the culverts buret, Hag
bition ;in 185.5, on the visit of the Emperor of the are entitir
being
the
tra,iilewe linwwear
water,
overflowed,
French and King Victor Emmanuel ;in 1867, on the "
Ruh-Wing leftPOt a
deposit of renal a foot dee'p, through
arrival of the Sultan; in 1869, on the Queen opening which a passage had to be dug for the trains.
Blaekfriars Bridge and Holborn Viaduct; in 1872, The flood raised the Ohio River over Mt. during
,on her Majesty attending the Thanksgiving Service the night.
at St. Paul's; in 1873, on the visit of the Shah of One hundred and fifty bodies have been recovered.
Persia ; and in 1874, on the reception of the Czar of NIGHT.
Russia. The Court of Aldermen is becoming quite a At Pittsburg 219 persons have lost their lives. The
!onsswofzsraledrttn.m.
youarint sat liberal3;ooou lloilpat
have been
body. There are twelve baronets and knights
, out of a total number of twenty-six gentlemen. tilde in aid of the sufferers. The Militia have been
It is from the aldermen that the Lord Mayor called out for guard duty.
is chosen, so that, if a man is fortunate
enough to be elected a member of that Court,
he will, in all human probability, fill the chief office in
the City. For, unlike the practice which is in force in
many provincial corporations, where the ascendant
political party puts in its own man, the Lord Mayor of
Lon, lon as always selected according to his seniority as
a member of the Court. Polities are excluded entirely
and completely. Thus the Conservative Alderman
Gibbons was succeeded by the Liberal Alderman
Waterlow ; the Liberal Alderman Lusk will give
place next November to Alderman Stone, who takes
no part in political affairs; while the gentleman upon
the rota next after him is Alderman Cotton, one of
the Conservative members for the City. As a rule,
ten years elapse between a man's election as alderman
and his advancement to the dignity of the chief
magistracy.

ik,..