The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-10-01 00:00:00

Our fonbon Corrtsgoattitt.
[We deem it right to state that we do not at all times identify
ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

It is fortunate that the bathing season is
practically over, or the pleasure of those who
delight in that form of seaside amusement would
be sorely dashed by the reports of sharks on the
English coast, which have been current within
the past couple of weeks. A very startling an-
nouncement on the subject appeared in the lead-
ing journals, with the healing "A Shark in
Piccadilly," which did not refer to the living
presence of any so unpleasing a monster in the
well-known West-end thoroughfare, but to the
fact that the carcase of one which had been cap-
tured off Cornwall was therein being exhibited.
No sooner had it been stated that the Cornish
coast bad had so alarming a visitor than it was
made known that no less than three such
had been caught at Bournemouth in the course
of this year. The first of the sharks, which
was over six feet long, had floundered
into shallow water. The second, which was a
foot longer, was caught in a net by some
fishermen after a hard struggle, it having broken
one of their nets while they were fishing for
mackerel, but being caught in the second.
And the third, which however was mucn
smaller, was taken by some of the Bourne-
mouth Rowing Club with their net. It is not to
be wondered at that, appended to this piece of
Information should be the remark, "There was a
decided falling off in the number of bathers for
some little time after." For sufficient dangers
lurk in the ocean at ordinary times without sharks
being added to the list.
An almost perennial source of agitation among
Londoners is what is known as "the four mile
radius ; " and, for the benefit of those who are
not versed in metropolitan ways, and seeing that
the question is again being thrust prominently to
the front, the meaning of the phrase may be ex-
plained. It is simply that cabs which are driven
outside a circle, which has Charing-cross for its
centre and is four miles from centre to circum-
ference, have to be paid for at double the mileage
rate to that which is charged inside. Now this
was a very excellent idea when it was devised,
but London has grown so enormously of late years
that it works a distinct hardship now. If a person
lives, for instance, at Clapton, or Peckham, or
Finsbury Park—all of which suburbs are con-
sidered to be so close to the town that people
are continually moving out beyond them so as
to get to the fresh air—he is outside the radius,
and has to pay a considerable deal more for his
cab. The natural consequence is that he em-
ploys such a vehicle as little as possible, and the
increased means of communication provided by
railways and omnibuses enables him the better
to do without it. The very regulations framed
to benefit the cab industry has, therefore, re-
sulted in some degree in injuring it; and although
all previous efforts to extend the radius have met
with severe opposition from those interested in
the present system, the new movement to make a
five mile circle emanates from the cab pro-
prietors themselves. There is, therefore, the
more hope for Londoners of a settlement which
shall be a benefit to both parties concerned, and
which shall remove an anomaly which the con-
tinual growth of the capital is every year render-
ing. more palpable.
When, last spring, the Local Government
Board instituted a series of inquiries into the
condition of the working classes in certain
specified districts of the metropolis, it was
felt that although some very interesting
facts might be collected, there was some danger
that all of them would not be able to be im-
plicitly relied upon. The results of the inquiries
have now been collected and tabulated, and it is
important to observe that the officer who is
responsible for them confirms the original fear
by cautioning the public against too implicitly
accepting the statements reported. As might
have been expected, there is not only no
guarantee for accuracy in the answers given, but
thse was a strong incentive to some of those
replying to prevaricate. For instance, many a
man would hesitate to state the exact
truth if asked, " Have you ever re-
ceived any charitable aid, and to what
extent ? " or "How long have you been out of
work since October 31 last ? " The honest and
independent working man would shrink from
fully answering such painfully blunt queries,
while the professional " loafer, ' of whom there
are many thousands in London, would be exceed-
ingly likely to exaggerate the poverty of his con-
dition, if he imagined that by Bo doing he could
in any way benefit himself.
Despite these drawbacks—and it may be Chat
they helped to neutralise each other—some very
interesting facts have beer. 1,-..a.t.eght out in the
return. Of the 29,.1-;_l zorking men of whom
inqniries 7-:zis made, '27 per cent. returned them-
seless as being out, of work; and of this total
of 8008 men, 74 per cent., or 5964, state that
they had had no work for a period of three
months. This latter large number must, there-
fore, have had to suffer much privation, for
they ,had to live as best they could on charity,
paro6hial relief, or by other means which may be
left to the imagination. But it is exceedingly
eurious to note--7-and this is the kind cf thing
which throws donbt upon the figures—that of
the whole 8008 out of work, the number
acknowledging the receipt of parish relief is only
507; charitable aid is owned to by 28; and
assistance from benefit societies or trade unions
by $67. In addition to these, 2288 admit having
received small amounts from their relatives;
but that leaves 4588, who had, accord-
ing to their own statement, no help of
any kind during an out-of-work period, which
lasted from a fortnight to three months: and
this is a statement which is scarcely credible.
Those who have any acquaintance with the
poorer districts of London will be well aware that
there is very much destitution among them, but
they will scarcely be prepared to adopt in their
entirety such appalling figures as these.
Few Englishmen are likely to have visited
Belgium on pleasure bent in any year since
1815 without having paid a visit to the
Field of Waterloo, and it' is, therefore, with
some surprise, not unmixed with indignation,
that one reads that those visitors who have
in no small degree contributed to the prosperity
of the district, have now increasingly to complain
of the molestation and insults to which they have
been exposed by so-called guides over the battle-
field. These are now roundly declared to be
"nothing else but a set of most rapacious and
rude ragamuffins ;" and certainly the instances
which have been given of their conduct suffice
to show that they behave very badly
towards those who visit the historic spot.
All this is not the less annoying,
because it must ultimately injure the
guides themselves. It cannot be expected that
English visitors wilt continue in large numbers to
go to Waterloo to be robbed and insulted. As it
is the total of such visitors is likely, from obvious
ctiuses, to dwindle, for there is not the same keen
interest felt in the great battle to-day as there
was forty or sixty years ago, and this arises from
the perfectly natural fading of the event into the
perspective of history. For true Englishmen,
however, there will always be a deep attraction
in the historic place, and it may be hoped that
the Belgians themselves, remembering upon all
grounds what is due to England and their own
reputation, will do what in them lies to remove
the stigma under which the guides to Waterloo
are now lying.
A ,touch of romance is given to diplomacy
when a Xing becomes his own negotiator, and
many have seen promise of settlement of a very
thorny question in the fact that the king of the
Belgians is himself engaged in attempting to
secure a compromise upon the Anglo-Belgian
fishery dispute. Within the past few weeks this
trionarch has more than once risen early, taken
the steamer at Ostend, crossed to Dover, visited
London upon a diplomatic errand bound, and
returned to his own dominions in time for
dinner. Such work deserves not only all praise,
but all success; but the fishery question is one
of so complicated a character, and it touches 83
many interests, that it is not to be settled
even by the most amiable intentions or
the smoothest words.- The fact has to be recog-
nised that' the difficulty has grown to such a
point that there is almost open war between the
English and the Belgian fishermen, and things
have come to such a pass that armed cruisers
have to be sent out to the fishing grounds to
keep the peace. This is all the more reason, of
course, why a strenuous effort should be made to
settle the matter, but it is also a proof of the
enormous difficulties that lie in the way. If the
King of the Belgians by his present effort can
remove, or even appreciably len these difficul-
ties, he will deserve well of both countries.

TroNnErt vyby I can't wake my kite fly, wailed the
hole tieci.ther of the High School girl.—lt looks to me,
,feplied Mildred, as though is caudal appendage were
disproportionate to itd superficial area. —I don't think
that's it, said Jim; I think it'd tail is too light.
MARK TWAIN told a newspaper reporter thh.t be
was going abroad in order to find a quiet place to
write, where he woull not be didturbed once a day.
It is singular that it never occurred to him to remain
at borne and secure a desk in a store that dosien't
Elvertist,,

A. F. R.