The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-09-06 00:00:00

Our fottlion Contspoubtut.

Iwo de m It right to state tiut we do not at all times
I lentify ourielves with our Correspondent'm opinions.)

The re-arrangement of the South Kensington
Museum is now under the consideration of the Govern-
ment with a view to a better dispoedtion being made of
the space in that institution. I remember the time
when South Kensington was deemed to be so far out
of London that the most strenuous opposition was
offered to any proposal for removing thither any of the
national cAlectione In the British Museum. The
Metropolitan District Railway has, however, effected
a wonderful change in this respect. A journey from
the f:ity to South Kensington by omnibus occupied
from an hour and a half to two hour,; now • quarter
of an hour eufticee to accomplish it. You get in either
at the Mansion House or the Blaokfriare station, are
carried underneath the Thames Embankment to the
Temple, te Chasing Cross, to Westminster-bridge, on
to Victoria, and then by way of Sloane square to South
Kensington. Had the district railway been open in 1862,
the traffic over it would have been enormous, for that
was the year of the International Exhibition, and
there was no way of reaching except by cab or by
Jmnilana. Now that it is so accessible, the objection
the removal of • portion of the British Museum
there will no longer exist. The building in Blooms-
bury, large as it Is, has been found insufficient for the
accommodation of the ol,j,cts of interest which are
continually being added to it. Curiosities of great
value, which have only been secured at much expense,
have to be stowed away in vaults and collars because
of the simple imgxteeibility of finding room for them in
any of the apartments to which the public are regularly
admitte I. The officials have done their beet to make
the most of the limited space afforded to them, but it
It in evident that there is an inadequate amount of room
In the Museum.

The waterside population of London are not so well
provided with the means of intercommunication as are
the people of many cities which stand upon the banks
of a large river. Until within the past few years there
were toll bars at the entrances of Southwark bridge,
the northern access to which is in the very heart of the
city. To this day Waterloo bridge can be passed over
only by the payment of a toll; the same remark ap-
plies to Vauxhall, and to some other bridges higher up
the river. There is an association in existence which
Ii working with praiseworthy energy for the freeing of
the metropolitan bridges, but union its members re-
ceive assistance from either the Government, the
Corporation, or the Board of Works, the bridges
are not likely to be liberated from tell within
the lifetime of the present generation. But
below London bridge there is an immense
population lining the banks of the Thames who
would gladly have Waterloo, even by the pay-
ment of a tax. Neither bank has any visible means
of communication with the opposite side of the river.
London bridge is the 'sat upon the swiftly-flowing
tide, and for miles away dews the stream the people
have to cross in the beet way they can. The resident
upon the Middlesex bank surveys the Surrey @bore,
with its long lines of wharves and warehouses, its rows
of private dwellings, and its innumerable church steeples,
but for any personal knowledge which he possesses!, the
great t men over the water might as well be Newcastle or
Liverpool. Some time ago it was proposed to construct
• bridge below that of London, but • Committee of
the House of Lords rejected the scheme on the ground
that the execution of the plan would be • most serious
interference with the business of the docks, for the
great ocean steamers could not possibly pass under the
roadway of the new bridge. Formerly there was the
Thames Tunnel, but this as • 'peculation was a
failure, and has been utilised for the purposes of the
East London Railway. More lately we have had the
Tower Subway, a comparatively inexpensive tube
driven under the river between Tower hill and Vine-
street, Southwark. But the task of descending ninety
steps to the bed of the Theme", with the pr 'pent of
having to amend quite as many ou the opposite
seta as a considerable deterent to the use of this Sub-
way. And it must be confessed that the journey along
the tube is anything but a pleasant one. The narrow
pathway is wet and slippery, and the atmosphere, so
far beneath the surface. of the stream, is close and dis-
agreeable. The place is dimly lighted with flickering
gas jete, while in some p.rts greasy, flaring tallow
candles are brought intc reqqieition. It is used prin-
cipally by :he dock population, and more than 3,000
persons daily avail themselves of this means of crossing
the Thames. How grateful they would be fore bri3ge,
or for a steam ferry, such as those which ply between
the Lancashire and Cheshire shorts of the Mersey, is
best known to themselves,.

The storm which swept over the British islands last
week have recalled public attention to the existence of
the Meteorological Department of tho Board of Trade.
Fr, m this Wee telegrams are sent as Otcasi n may
require o British ports, warning the authoritbo that
tempestuotu weather may be expected, and cautiming
the smaller craft against putting to sea. Very of ten
these forecasts have been treated with contempt, fol-
lowed by disastrous consequences. In connection with
this subject • useful Parliamentary return has just been
published. From this it appears that while in 1871
the percentage results of the weather telegrams were
almost identical with those for 1870, those for last
yeershow • very largely increased success. Thus in
1870 the warnings justified by subsequent gales were 46
per cent, in the following year 45, and last year
61 per cent. The telegram not justified by subsequent
weather were for the three years respectively 22 percent.
12 and 11, thus reducing the percentage of unsuccessful
forecasts by onelaP. This result must be attributed
to the greater caution exercised in issuing warning
manages. The principal improvements has been on
the west coast of England and Wales, and on the east
coast of Ireland. The figures for the exposed anith of
Ireland are nearly the same in the whole three years.
It has been conclusively proved that though the me-
teorological office has not been able to give a timely
forecast of all gales, it has supplied such informaticn
as would have enabled our coasting seamen to avoid the
violence of a very large percentage of the serious
storms which have visited our coasts had they
heeded it.

This subject incidentally lead, to another in the
same category—the preservation of our public buildings
from lightning. It is only to imagine St. Paul's ire.-
trlevably damaged by the electric fluid, thoroughly to
appreciate the importance of this question. The Dean
and Chapter, have however, taken the most elaborate
precautions for the protection of the Cathedral. Con-
nected with the cross, the ball, and the scroll!, there
are eight copper conductors, which pass to the
metallic railing of the golden gallery, and are carried
down to the dome, thence to the rainfalle, over the
leaden roofs of the aisles, along the choir and cave, up
to the summits of the west towers, and from those
down to the sewers, where the conductors are
rivetted to copper plates pegged into the earth. Too
mock care certainly cannot be taken of this historic
pile, which is insured in a million and a half sterling.
It is not a quarter of the age of Westminster Abbey,
but the grandeur of its lines, and the massive stitch.
nese of its architecture are universally admired. It is
in St. Paul's that the nation deposited the remains of
two of the most extraordinary meh who ever made the
name of England feared and respected—Wellington
and Nelson. It is considered a high honour to be
burled in Westminster Abbey, but to be laid at red
In St. Paul's is a greater still. Enter the cathedral in
the day-time, while Divine Service is being conducted,
and as you listen to the roaring of the city traffic, the
place seems like some haven of repose in the midst of
a stormy sea. Or stand alongside the vast pile in
the lengthening shadows of the moonlight, when the
night air sighs fitfully throngh the branches of the
trees in the churchyard, and you can scarcely conceive
the place to be the same which was a few hours pre-
viously such a scene of bustle and excitement. There
Is little or no noise now, and as the great bell of the
Cathedral booms out in measured tones the hour of
midniAt over the metroplie, you can hear the
verdict re-echoed by a score of neighbouring steeples,
sad taken up by Big Bat of Westminster in mellow
not, whose reverberation's echoing for miles along
the silent streets tell of the departure of one more
day.

The New Post-cflice in St. Martin's le-grand, is a I
very handsome building, and sufficiently commodious
for the transaction of the immense btuiness now under-
taken by the State in the carrying of letters and the
transmission of telegrams. The old Poet-office became I
too small for the country's requirements, and since the
telegraphs were transferred to the State, that depart.
meet hag been directed from Moorgate street. The
removal of the instruments into the new building is
shortly to be carried out, and when we comider the
enormous number of wires connecting the e ffion with
all parts of the world, it will be seen at a glance what
a work of difficulty the removal will be. I ma) say
that the number of letters annually passing through the
Poshoffice is nearly nine hundred millions ; of post
.cords, eighty millions; and of nevrepapers and book
packeta, each one hundred millions.
One of the most Important trials of recent years was
brought to a close • few day, ago at the Central
Criminal Court, when the perpetrators of the great
forgeries upon the Bank of England were convicted
and neitenceci to penal servitude for life. The hearing
laded n!ua days, and the counsel for the pri.oners ex-
hausted tt 'dig ingenuity on behalf of their clients, but
hi vain. Lsws band was one of the most gigantic of
which gh,, vie of this country had had any en-
f or th sLnur Americans succeeded in extracting
ours than a hn,„ iced thousand pounds from the coffers
of that strong, sq, *Ea building in Threadneedle.strest,
which is so (maw tp mii country visitors to Loudon.

There is • general feeling of relief amongst the mar.
cantile community that the swear of each men has
been cut short, and the police deserve greet credit for
the way in which they captured the delinquent/ and
recovered the ill.gotten securities.