The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-02-07 00:00:00

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A Di•solution of Parliament is such an absorbing
topic that, as a rule, it dwarfs evnry other subject into
Insimalficance. Matters which, in ordinary and (-pie
times are full of Interent to every claw of tie wing/
tion„so. now noticed may in the briefeet form in th
papers, or not reported at all, The Tichhorne trial in,
of course, an exception, for even the en citerienof
gener.l elec in does not effect the avidity airs fht.i.
the inuideots ot that remarkable cape are etillftehOrna.

But intelligeuGe wLieb, under otter c:reyruetargil,
would find ite wny into the urn 116, now nivea adult.

RA appearanw, end column .ter column is devotei
lints a candidates, tahles a the new Par*meet,
records of going and losses, and oalcultetions of Tic
toriee or defeats yet in store. The advertis.ment
Plea are lively with election addresses, and titli In-
structions to out-voters anitiofill etippiktifhit'eandi-
&tura of this or that partlendai shittarentbiTtlfliar,
. . . .

monitory honours. Altogether it in n h9y time in
the -political and journalistic world.' The circulation
of the morning and even* • papeiir is lell in-
creased, more especially when .speenhes ,0f suctri
great men-el Mr, Glaciation'', Ilr.Piaraeli, and, Mr.
Bright are all reported in fihn' came lane. If the
k max saw rif the pevesivosid tostaseltA, they:would
prefer that one oft ej.ftqSi4th,pap*e at.
time. A speech from either mods up the cinalation
by many thousand', and theriiiit'a'isighinf reeree in the.
leeekAaeldal Net •auxthstMl.at onoes

. -
these orations were not sprearknelfir,three,dep, But
statesmen cannot consult the convehience of newspaper
• proptietora, arid ft therefore bestirs* the duty of the •
latter to make thectast pastdble arrangeauseta under
the circumstances. The celexiiy with yli9h.tlll) work
ibikdou, I&S•vicitriseir attending l,is nOk: flue lees
marvellous because lift So cOnibsitii.
•. Passing through one of the riverside city streets
day or two ago ~I could not help contrasting the poll deal
excitement of to, day with the venerable
.atsiociatits
• and the 'inlet abide lierS Of the precincts of the Tosser
• • oflicntion:. •Thereltlitende:lis it strehd didtuhVâ ago,
.1, foarslong Ulna a Royal Pala's, and for a much longer
e M4odStmtapr4.oo. In eorne navel* it may be
oonipared with the Bastille, wl4hoh formerly stood
' Is the °entre Of Paris, and Wee dediroitel by the mob
•at the outbreak of the. Revolution- of 1789. It
has oarupied the background :of all the darkest
scenes of English history. It has, some claims to
Horn= origin, and readers of Shakspeare will
remeinrer that he has immortalize) the name of
Ceesar'e Tower. There is little doubt, that Alfred the
Great built a etronghold on the site, but the Tower,
In Its present 'babe, was commenced by William the
Couqueror, with a view to c imp.l the citizens of
Lohtion to submit to his stern rule. Additions were
made to it by successive kings, notably by Henry
who carried out the construction of the embankment
and wise f eotomand-d by the Water Gate. In the
year 1240 there was great rejoicing amongst the
London citizens when the Water Gate and the wall
both fell under the attion of high spring tides. The
king, however, was by no means discouraged, for he
ordered a firmer foundation to be secured, and the
Wa•er Gate was raised a. it is seen unto this day. At
one time the Courts of Queen's Bench and Common
Pleas held their eittiogs in the Tower. Ani,og.t the
kings who kept court bore was Edward If., whose
barbarous murder at Bukeley Castle forma mai a
sad episode in our annals. Dtetiuguished captives

without number have been incarcerated within
them massive walls, end from but to last a
long list of victims has weed out to execution upon the
neightmuring elevation known as Tower dill. The
names of Lady Jane Grey, the two young Princes,
Anne B dein, and Sir XViatsr Raleigh will at once
occur to all who are familiar with the more promineet
events In our national history. Here also was con-
fined Guy Fawkes., whom name is so ins-parably c oi-
nected with Fifth .4 Nbivesubsr celebrations. Another
Inmate was Judge J. if and t come down to later
timm, the Tower has received within its walls Sir
Francis Burdett an Ithe Cate•street conspiratore. The
armoury and the jewel room are, however, the main
objects of intere4 to the visitors who now go to the
Tower. In the apariment loot usenti reed is the
Imperial State Crown of her Majesty, which was made
In 1838. It consists of jewels (alien trim crowns worn
by previous minarets, and these include diamonds
pearls, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds set in silver
and gold. Allow me to lay before your lady reader,
a summary of the jewels comprise-1 in the crown:
one large ruby, irregularly polished; 17 sapphires',
11 emeralds, 4 lesser rubies, 1,34 ed brilliant dia-
mond,, 1,273 rose diamonds, 147 taolo diamonds., 4
drop-shaped pearls, and 23 pearls of other deserip-
tiona. Its value Is something fabulous. Space will
not permit me to describe the other articles of the
regalia, so I will be content with simply mentioning
them :—St. Edward's Crown, the Prince of IValee's
Crown, the Ancient Queen's Crown, the Queen's
I.Madem. the Golden Orb, St. E lwardie Staff, the
Royal Sceptre, the Queen's Ivory Rod, the Eagle of
Gold, the Sword of Mercy, the Bracelet., the Royal .
Spurs, and the Saltecellar of State. As may well be I
supposed. this treasure is jealously guarded. It is en.
clown.' within a strong iron barrier, and sentinels are
always on duty.
While! am in the neighbourhood of the Tower, and I
as the elect one eclipse the interest of other topics of I
the day with which I might possibly have dealt, let
me tell your readers soon thing about the Mint.
From this building are sent forth tom and
tons of new coins of all deseriptions, and how
deliehted the younger ',onion of the population is
to get bold of one of these we all know. The Mint
Is an unpretending-looking building, et ending on the
east side of Tower-hill. A visitor is trot conducted to
the central office, where the irgots of gold and silver
are weighed as they are brought in, and a small piece
is cut off each slab in order to be tested. After the
lumpe of precise metals have been weighed, they are
sent t the melting house. Thie is an old-fashiooed
etrecture, divided Into the gol I kitchen and the silver
kitchen, with a counting-house between the two, in
which the su,erinten.lents may overbok the men at
their work. I should eay that the Mint contains
tie Ply a hundred persons resiihint within Its wails;
still maey of the workpe Tie have to be drawn from
the outer wortl. They pass it..o !heir lal,oUl between
a soldier and two policemen at the entrance guts;
and dinner is provided fur them all within the build-
ing, and they must not depart in the evening, until the
books of their department are balanced, to see that
nothing Ii mien pg. Should all be found right, a
properly signed certificate is given to each man, and
Its leaves. The molten silver in the furnaces looks
like so much gremy mi.k, while the solid bare
of Kr-Id preeent the appearance of cakes of very
bright yellow soap. The machinery for converting it
Into the current coin of the realm is f the most
elaborate and delicate character. Old and condemned
coins are cam into the crucible, sad hundreds of new
sovereigns are weighed in scales with a nonchalance
which is rather en prisiog to those who know how much
value the human species place upon the possession of
money. The office r 4 Master of the Mint is now com-
bined with that of Chancellor of the Exchequer.
It ie often asked ...hat ban become of the old-fashioned
winters. Those amongst us who are net very old GM
remember how the commencement of each year
realised the truth of the old miom, "When the days
login to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen."
Now, however, this is no longer so. Thy whole ef the
month of J.-smeary in the present year was remarkable
for it, turbine.; indeed. we have had many a colder
June. The climatic is (hence, which contribute to the
increasing mildness of our winters and to thee-he tuertel
character of onr summers are a subjnt of much
steely amongst ecientific men. The gradual change
in the climate of Canada has been attributed
to the destruction of the vast forests which
had existed in the Dominion for thousands r 4 years
b--fire the activity ef the settler cleared the way
f e the advance of viiiz Aloe is the western world ,
The calamitous Ito a which swept down upon the I
Italian kingdom fifteen month, ago were t aced In
directly to the aarce course. With the Italian, coal is
a coon. a-atively scarce article; eco, when in want of
fuel he betekes hiuntelf to the wood, which cover the
hilltops; and forests, woods, mid plantations slowly
bat surely rileappear. The mcisture arising fr .m the
ground, instead of being absorbed by the trees, escapeee
into the atmosphere, where it undergoes the process of
condensation, and descends to the earth in rain. Ent
how are we to account for the certain change which I
has takos place in the climate if the British islands ?
We have cut down no forests simply I.eCSUSe we have
had none to destroy. Ye t we HoW roe none of
the winters which visited Us mane peers ago, when
Ople periodically laid then:solves out f learau of
frost and snow. While upon this point I may my that
competent autlioritien tell us we have eetered npon
period of dimirdeted rainfall, and have now before
us a eerie, of comparatively dry [lemons. Last year
there was an excess of rainfall in the British islands,
sod thres thousand seven 14u-dried million tens of
surplus water fell upon the land. This, however, we..
but a mere drop when compared with the entree
fall oi 1872, which amounted to sixty thousand nii,l
tone. Should, as Is anticipated, a time of defini t
moisture be before US, it will be a wetter for ii I
regret that some system of storage him not yet b..
put into praetice, and that such a vast amount r 4
plus water was all Med to run Le R•St
In speaking of the diesolution if Derliamert, I m-1
mention one or two facts connected with the home of
the writs which will be of Interest Jost now. These