The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-06-19 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER.

ness, and his people loved him in spite of
them all, though thereby they were taxed
heavily. When the end had almost come,
and a deputation of skille4 physicians went
to inquire critically into the mind of Louis,
the Bavarians .clamorously demanded that
no harm should be done to their sovereign.
The poor crazy wearer of the Crown is at
rest froth' his wild imaginings now, and all
Bavaria mourns his sadly painful death.

COMMENTS 'ON CURRENT TOPICS.

IN a few days we shall be in.ithe midst ,‘
the turmoil of a. general election, which will
occupy parara.ount attention for a much
longer period than is really necessary, caus-
ing in consequence much inconvenience,
which we hold to be avoidable. Why can-
not the pollings all be taken on one, or a€
most two days? A proposal to that effect
has been beforo'the House of Commons, but
thelrishbusines has caused it to be neglected.
If we are to have Parliamentary elections
with such frequency, some safeguard of this
kind mast be made, or Commerce will be
seriously affected. _

THE hay and the fruit harvests are com-
mencing somewhat later in the year than
was expected. There will not be, on the
whole, probably, more than an average grass
yield, but farmers are hoping to get good
prices. Strawberries are so late that the
imported and frame-grown fruit has long
had possession of the field, in consequence
of which English field-grown berries will be
a drug in the market in the hot weather,
and -- fruit-farmers fear fetch next to
nothing. Cherries are also in glut from
abroad, to the certain hurting of the market
for Kentish ;fruit in a week or two's time.
Gooseberries are realising a good return, and
other fruits promise to be satisfactory. Some
of the hop vines are well forward and look-
ing clean, but it is still to 'early too prophesy
with probable accuracy what hop-gardeners
will say of this year's work at the end of the
hopping.

THE addition of lavatory accomodation to
second as well •as first-class carriages on
their continental service trains by the South-
Eastern Railway Company, is a boon to the
travelling public which might with advan-
tage be granted by the management of other
great railway companies. Railway carriage
accomodation is far from perfect here yet,
and every step in the right direction deserves
commendation.e.,

'To welcome an Australian on his visit to
the Mother Land by presenting him with an
Income Tax account is scarcely the sort of
hospitality 'which one would expect to be
shown by England after so much has been
said about and made of the Colonists now in
oar midst, But so a distinguished Anti-
podean has been received on arrival in Lor-
don, and he is naturally indignant. Some-
body must be at fault. _

THE rioting in Belfast and Sligo has been
serious indeed, and is much to be regretted.
It is to be hoped that the authorities will do
their utmost to quiet the dangerou.4 faction
excitement, and sectarian feeling which have
led to these lamentable excesses. Orange
disturbances and religious rows must be
firmly suppressed, but with with no unneceq.
sary violence. The majesty of the law must
be vindicated, and the powers that should be
should see that this is done in a dignified
and impartial way, without saspicion of
prejudice or partisanship.
* ' *

IT is pleasant to see such men as Mr.
Herbert Gladstone and Lord Harris—promi-
nent young lions of opposing political
parties—sinking their insurmountable differ-
ences, and joining hands on a common plat-
form—that -of health giving recreatiou.
These two gentlemen, and others who take
a leading interest in athletic pursuits—such
men, for instance, as Mr. Allan Steel, of
cricketing renown—are 'endeavouring to es-
tablish a system of well-appointed gymnasia
all over the country for the muscular de-
velopment of the young, on a plan sketched
out by the National Physical Recreation
Society—an association which well deserves
the support of all who admire munliness.

Tun Mormons, who are congregated- at
the "New Jerusalem," by the side of the
great Salt Lake, are threatened by a fresh
danger, likely to cause them more trouble
than all the persecution of unbelievers in
their strange polygamic doctrines, and all
the hostile decrees of an unsympathic Senate.
The waters of the immense sheet of water
by the Mormon city seem to be rising raeidly
and threatening to eventually sweep away
the community. The lake has twcnty-four
inches greater depth of water now than in
Joe Smith's days, so that the Mormons may
well feel alarm.

Ho*, is it that the members of that sturdy
sect the Quakers are -decreasing ? Is it be-
- eause the members of the Society of Friends
are becoming more and more conformed to
the ways of the World? Not that their
piety is less irreproachable ; but there is not
that broadly defined difference between the
modern members of the Society of Friends
and the ordinary worlding which existed
generation ago, when the shrewed and rus-
set-robed Quaker was as easy to discern by
his dress and demeanour as a white bird in
a flock of starlings. , The Quakerism of our
day seems to be held together more by family-
and commercial connections than unison of
conviction, and that sturdy common princi-
ple which will not be identified with the
hypocrisy and evil of the world. To say a
man was once equivalent to giving him a
letter of credit, but that can scarcely beheld
to be the case now. Ine Society of Friends,
estimable as is that body, and grand as are
its traditions, is growing feebler, and if its
members do not bestir themselves it will be
lost in the whirlpool of religious societfr ere
oar young men are old. Quakerism needs
=other George Fox to quicken it unto new
life,

Two hundred and twenty-three persons
have lost their lives in the United Kingdom
during the twelvemonths past by railway
accidents, and close upon two thousand more
have sustained serious injury. A. great
many of these—by far the major proportion
--were the result of reckless carelessness
and heedless baste. Crossing the railway
lines at stations against orders, and leaving
or joining trains in motion, were the cause
of many fatal and other serious accidents.
Such statistics should cause the public to
exercise more caution, and so prevent many
of the sad mishaps which are . constantly re-
curring.
THE ROYAL CIRCOLO BELLINI have
Awardocl Academical Honor and the Medal of the
, SoeiPty to Mn. JOHN 13Faxamnan the well•known
pianoforte rnaLIT.
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