The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-06-16 00:00:00

LONDON CORRESPONDENCE,

[We deem it right to state that we do not at all times ideal la
ourselves with our Correepondenreopinions,)

It is just a tw. elvemonth since we were al
talking about the jubilee of the Queen's axessia i.
to the throne, and now the official world :s
engaged in contemplating the celebration of tl
fiftieth anniversary of the coronation. This,-S
course, is not of the same importance to tl .e
general public as the former celebration, for it is
highly probable that outside garrison and docii-
yard towns few people were aware, as each 28th
of June came around, that it was "Coronation
Day." In such places as have been indicated
there is always an official recognition of the fact
—salutes are fired, the colours are trooped, and
a holiday is given to the workmen employed ;n
the dockyards, arsenals, and gun-factories. But
the English people as a whole are little given to
celebrating occasions like thes., and, there-
fore, it is the more necessary to impress
upon them this year that Coronation Day is
of more than usual interest and importance.
For fifty years will then have passed away since,
amid the acclamations of a loyal and hopeful
people, the crown was set upon the head of the
young Queen, then but a month more than
nineteen years of age; and now we look
upon the events of the half-century whic:. has
intervened with a grateful feeling that so much
has happened since the • Queen's coronation to
contribute to the happiness and welfare of the
English people. It is tting, therefore, that the
historic ceremony in Westminster Abbey on
June 28, 1838, should be loyally remembered by
her subjects now.

The isit to England of the kg of Sweden
and Norway, though strictly incognito, as
that term is applied to royalties, was of much
interest to a great number of people, the most
important of whom was, of course, his Majesty
himself. While he was in London he managed
to see various institutions and ceremonies, which
could not fail to furnish him with interesting
recollections upon his return to his native land.
He attended the opening of a gymnasium for
young men, as well as a sitting of both Houses
of Parliament, and he evinced peculiar interest
in each. The point which would have struck the
uninitiated as curious was that, although the
Royal visitor was supposed to be unknown—for
it is not necessary to explain to anyone that this
is the strict meaning of incognito—his presence
was recognised by the officials of the two Houses,
and he was received with honour as he passed.
But what is meant officially by incognito is quite
different from what the bare significance of the
word might be thought to indicate. It simply
signifies that what are known as "Royal
honours" shall not be paid to the visitor. Our
Queen, for instance, when she travels' passes
under the name of "The Countess of Balmoral."
Everyone, of course, knows that the Countess of
Balmoral and the Queen of England are one and
the same person, but the same official recognition
is not required for the former as for the latter;
and her Majesty is thus spared the worry of
State receptions at every point she touches.
That this difference is a very real one it does not
need any elaborate exposition to prove; but is
a difference which is not generally understood
and is, therefore, worth explaining.
Not only soldiers and sailors, and members of
the auxiliary forces, but every citizen will be
interested in the information that the military
authorities having at length decided upon the
pattern of a magazine rifle, have given orders
for the speedy provision of the new arm
to the troops. One thousand weekly are
to be furnished by private manufacturers
at Birmingham, eight hundred weekly by
certain works at Bow, and two thousand weekly
by the Royal Small Arms Factory at Enfield. A
large consignment is to be ready for despatch to
India within a few days, and a further and
larger one is to be prepared for distribution in
the United Kingdom within three weeks. As
the Metford-Lee, which is the name of the new
weapon, is stated by competent experts to be the
finest rifle of the kind possessed by any army in
the civilised world, the importance of this step
on the part of the Government can scarcely
be over-estimated. However much we may as
individuals love peace, we know that we have
continually to prepare for war, and therefore we
cannot afford, as a mere mater of insurance
against possible danger, to neglect any of the
improvements which are continually being made
in military science. The magazine rifle is one of
the most striking of such improvements, and
there is not likely to be any complaint at this
recent action of the Government.

Some of the evidence which- is being given
before the Select Committee of the House of
Commons on Foreign Immigration, is both
painful and startling. Only a few days ago
there were brought before this body no less than
fifty men of various ages, natives of Russia, Rou-
taania, and Poland, and nearly all Jews, most of
whom had arrived in England within a month.
These presented a very wretched appearance, for
all of them wore destitute, and not one could
speak a word of English. The first of the batch
who was called as a witness was of the distinc-
tively pauper type, the second was a man
afflicted with heart disease, and the third
was physically unfit for work. It is
not, of course, to be assumed that these
were fair samples of all the immigrants
who land upon these shores, but it is not to be
doubted that a very large proportion of such im-
migrants are not fitted physically or morally to
settle upon English soil. The problem of con-
trolling the immigration is a very large and im-
portant one, and it is one upon which public
cfpinion is distinctly growing.
One of the questions which is likely more
and more to interest those who are con-
cerned in the physical and mental welfare
of their fellows is that of the bodily recreation
of the working classes. It is many a century
since the old Roman author insisted upon the
necessity for having a sound mind in a sound
body; but although a general assent has always
been given to this principle, it is one which has
not always been consistently acted upon by those
having authority with their fellows. Much
good work, however, has recently been done
by the National Physical Recreation Society
established for the promotion of physical
recreation among the working classes. This
society, which numbers among its officers
and principal adherents some of the lead-
ing men of the kingdom. and which has secured
the direct patronage of the Prince of Wales, has
greatly: assisted of late in promoting the
establishment of gymnasia in various parts of
the metropolis, and the work is such an excellent
one that it is likely to receive large and con-
tinued support.
Hospital Sunday for London has just taken
place once more, • and although of course the
accounts- have not yet been made up, it is hOpFd
by the promoters: that the result will be more
than ever to assist those most deserving institu-
tions in whose aid it is established. How
urgently such assistance is required is shown by
the continual appeals which are being made by
some of the best known and most valuable
hospitals upon the list. The old est of such
institutions, such as Guy's, St. Thomas's, and
St. Bartholomew's, possess estates and • en-
dowments, it is true; but even these which
always used to be considered supremely wealthy
institutions have been heavily hit by the pro-
longed agricultural depression, most of their
property having been in land. As for the hos-
pitals which have to depend solely upon volun-
tary contributions, their case of late has been
a somewhat hard one, for they have not been
able to persuade the public that their funds are
in urgent need of assistance. • It is well that all
eharitably-inclined persons should give liberally
on Hospital Sunday; but it would be better if
they did not limit their assistance to the one
particular subscription on the one particular
day.
.. . , • •
Although we are as yet only in the middle of
June there is a good deal of talk in Parlia-
mentary circles concerning the possibility, and
even the probability of, an autumn session. This
is not a point of course which will be, or can be
decided by .the Ministry at once for many
things may happen-within., the next few weeks
to sway their resolution. • But it may be
taken fot 'granted that if there appears any
likelihood of Parliament sitting into Sep-
tember members will become increasingly
pressing fOr an early adjournment with
a resumption of business later in the year.
The great body of our representatives in fact are
growing tired of being at Westminster year after
year, during the most enjoyable months of the
holiday season; and as an increasingly large pro-
portion of them are not hunting men, the
chances of their coming together again in October
or November after an adjournment early in
August are greater, than they used to be by a
very long way. But all this can at the moment
be regarded as
,mere speculation. A. F. R.

"Wry, these are riot the shops I ordered!" ex-
claimed the lady of the house, with extreme vexation.
"This is a pair of expns, ive Frenoh; nee. I can't
afford filch shoes as these." "Beg pardsh Inadarp,"
said the messenger, respectfully; 6iburyen've opened
the wrong package. This pair Is yours. The other
was ordered by the housemal4.l._,