The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-07-19 00:00:00

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I bays frequently had o—ccadesi to allude to the
active part taken by the various members of the Royal
Family in the promotion of useful and charitable
works, and in saying a few words about the annual
meeting of one of our moot worthy benevolent societies,
I may cite the presence of the Princess Mary of
Cambridge ass further illustration of the interest taken
in the encouragement of good deeds ; an interest which
may safely be said to be on the increase. The Royal
Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Anio abs has
now been in existence w-tbin a few months of fifty years, '
and there can be no question that it commends its-If
to the sympathy of all friends of humanity. The
mana,errient of its affairs has undoubtedly been
uharacterised by prudence and good sense, and of the
vast numbers of cases which its officers have brought
under magisterial notice, the complaints have been
neither visionary nor sentimental, but have had
reference only to definite and recogniz-d acts of cruelty.
T11(2 Society's efforts to create a better tone of
public feeling with regard to the treatment of dumb
animals have been crowned with success, and that tier re
Is a growing averision amongst the people to the pre:,
tice of cruelty, does not admit of d aibt or of con-
troversy. The Society not only gives prizes to cabmen
costermongers, and drovers, for humanely treating the
beasts noffi-r their care, but also offers rewards to
children in schools for the best essays on kindness to
animals, and at the annual meeting of which I have
just spoken, these prizes, numbering nearly 400, were
distributed by the Princess Mary, to the great delight
of the recipients and to the improvement of the So-
ciety's financial conditi n
The annual illumination of the Botanic Gardens, on
the occasion of the summer evening ftte, is one of the
moat beautiful spectacles to be witnessed during the
London season. That which took place a few
days ago was a very successful gathering. The num-
ber of lime-lights exhibited was now doubled,
and amongst the additions was the splendid ap-
paratus from the Houses of Parliament, which for
several months east has nightly shown over the West-
end of London to indicate that the House of Commons
is actually sitting. The Conservatory was likened to a
veritable Crystal Palace, all ablaze with countless jets
of gas glowing under its glass walls. In addition to the
lime-lights, one of which demanded steam power for
Its production, innumerable oil lamps marked the for.
epsilon of the principal walks, and through these there
passed, from nine o'clock until midnight, several hundred
members of the aristocracy. The night was warm, And
enabled the ladies to be as gay as though they had been
perambulating a vast ball-room. It was truly a fairy
scene; for whether the eye rested upon the smooth
lawn or the luxuriant flower-bed, the ever-changing
mass of colour in the gardens or the trees in full foliage,
• magnificent eight was opened up to the vision, and
one which none who witnessed it will easily forget.
The Royal Geographical Society, which includes
amongst its members a large number of distinguished
men, has lately had under its consideration very im-
portant intelligence respecting the expedition of Sir
Samuel Baker. Those whe have read the traveLs of Cap-
tain Spoke, who perished by an unfortunate gun axi-
dent at the Bath meeting of the British Association in
1864, will remember that in the map accompanying the
volume there is a large lake to which the name of
Albert Nyanza was subsequently given. About 200
miles south of this was the great Tanganyika Lake, so
well known to all readers of Livingstone's works, and
so often heard of twelve months ago, during Mr. Henry
Stanley's descriptions of the way in which hsdiscovered
the great African explorer. Well, between the Albert
Nyanza and the Tanganyika, Captain Spoke placed a
vast range of mountains, one of which be estimated to
be 10,000 feet in height. But Sir Samuel Baker
contends that thee two lakes are not so separated,
that they are nearly on the same level, and
in fact communicate with each other. This is
a piece of intelligence which will command
learned discussions at the meetings of the Royal
Geogreo. hical Society for some time to come.
If Sir Samuel Baker be correct, there fresh-water
lakes, so immense in their extent, form the true
sources of the Nile, and a way from Alexandria to
Zanzibar is opened up through the interior of Africa.
This would be s death-blow to the slave trade, even if
the treaty recently concluded by Sir Bartle Press with
the Sultan of Zanzibar had no existence.

Speaking of this gentleman, I nosy say that since
his return he has appeared at one or two important
public assemblies, and has been cordially received.
This was more especially the case at the annual gather-
ing of the Anti slavery Association held at Exeter Hall
a few days ago. He gave an interesting account of his
mission, and carried his audiento with him when he
pointed out the duty of this country to put an
end to the slave traffic. It was urged that as
the East African slave trade was caused by the de-
mand for slaves in Turkey, Egypt, Persia, and
Arabia, the total abolition of the traffic was the only
MVO guarantee for its complete extermination. We
have had in our midst the sovereign rulers of the three
countries first-mentioned, and any representations
made by England in the direction suggested, ought
not to be without their influence.

Those who have had occasion to go into the city of
Loudon proper, that is to say the municipality ruled
by the Lord Mayor, and bounded by London Bridge
upon the one hand, and by Temple Bar upon the other,
must have noticed the life, the bustle, and the energy
of the place. Into this little raiius there pour daily
from east, west, north, and south, by rail, by omnibus,
by steamboat, and foot, not far short of a million
people. St e the city streets from nine to eleven in the
morning, with merchants, tradesmen, clerks, and ware
hontremen, hurrying to business in vast numuers, some
settling down in the principal thoroughfares, others dist
appearing into narrow and crowded courts, and mounthi g
high and dingy flights of stairs to their respective avoca-
tions. Look at the streets of the City again from four to
eix in the afternoon, and mark the rushing throng
leaving its precincts. So continuous is the roar of the
traffic that the sound thereof resembles the roll of a
heavy surf upon a rocky shore, and for anything that
can be beard of them the numerous city clocks may
strike in vain, for the reverbrations of the chimes are
lost amidst the continuous dim. But go into the city
on a Sunday, and you will scarcely recognise it as the
same place. Contrast the deserted streets and the
closed shops with the commotion and the excitement
of every-day life; listen to the clangour of the church
belle, as they ring out over one alter another of the de-
populatedwards, summoning worshippers to pray er and
praise who seldom or never appear. The bully throng of
the week is scattered in all directions—to Highgate, to
Holloway, to Wood-green, to Tottenham, to Pangs, to
Norwood, to Sydenham, to Caterham, to Bromley.
Many of the city churches have of late years been
closed because there were positively no congregations.
Those which remain have generally a little surr minding
of churchyard, where the residents of two hundred
years ago now sleep their long sabbath of repose, undis-
turbed by the toils and the anxieties of this ever push-
ing age. There they lie at rest amid all the incessant
moving up and down,

" The trees are white with dust that o'er their sleep
" wave their broad curtains in the south wind's breath,
"While underneath such leafy tents they keep
n The long mysterious Exodus of Death."
The orignal use of these churchyards has long since
been abandoned, but in most of them the turf is culti-
vated and well-cared for, and it is occasionally en-
livened by the growth of flowers and shrubs. How
refreshing is the eight of a patch of green grass
amid the arid wastes of city streets can only be appre-
ciated by those who have daily occasion to thread its
crowded thoroughfares.

While lingering over these memories of past life in
the city. I may point out that the few monuments of
medifeval London are rapidly disappearing before the
advance of improvement's march. The newest instance
of this kind is the deatrur,tion of the terrace at Char-
terhonee, which formerly covered the cloisters, a tart
of the ancient monastery, and some of Oe oldest work
extant in the metropois. Some vigorous protests have
been made against it, but the Merchant Taylors' Corn
piny require the site for the erection of new schools,
and it is urged on their behalf that the existence of the
terrace is incompatible with the efficient execution of
the present design.
Within the past few days another attraction has been
added to the International Exhibition, in the shape of
the Australian annex.. It is the result of the Vic.
torian Exhibition held at Melbourne last winter, from
which specimens illustrative of the arts, industry, and
physical features of the colonies have been gatherEd
together and brought to South Kensington. The
walls of the annexe are covered with choice photo-
graphs, showing the Mane and the scenery of the anti-
podes, and enabling the spectator to comprehend at a
glance the more prominent characteristics of that far-
off country. Nuggets of gold, wool, fruit, wine,
pickles and preserves, meats of different kinds—such
are a few items in the interesting list of articles here
displayed, and they will amply repay inspection by all
who wish well to the prosperity of ourfellowsubjects
in the Australian colonies.
I may be forgiven for reminding your readers that
on the bit a August the lists of persons entitled to
vote for members of Parliament will he placed by the
overseers upon the doors of the churches and chapels
in the various pariahes. Every ratepayer in the king.
dons who is entitled to vote :Mould personally inspect
the list, and ii his name is not included in it, he should
at once apply either to the local registration agent, or
to the overseer, in order to get the deficiency rectified.
v The engagement of the Duke of Edinburgh to the ,
Grand Duane Mafia of Rum* with which rumour

has been busy for several weeks, is now announced
officially. There will thus be a double matrimonial tie
between the royal families of England and Russia, the
Cesarewitch having married a younger sister of our
own Princess of Wales. The Grand Duchess is several
years younger than her affianced husband, for her Im-
perial Highness is not yet out of her teens, while the
Duke cf Edinburgh is in his 29th year. The union is
stated to be essentially one cf affection, and it has
received the formal sanction of the Czar, the father of
the bride elect, and of our own Queen. It may be
remarked that until the reign of her Majesty,
our Princes and Princesses married almost ex-
clusively amongst minor German potentates. The
children of the Queen so far have married the Crows
Prince of Prussia ; the heir to the Grand Duchy of
Hesse Darmstad, ; the eldest daughter of the King of
Denmark ; a Prince of Augusteuburg ; and thejaeir to
the dukedom of Argyll. The Prince of Wake is now
the brother-in-law to the Crown Prince of Denmark,
the King of Greece, the Cesarewitcb, the Crown Prince
of Prussia. and the heir to the Throne of fleece. The
Duke of Edinburgh himself will, In the natural course
of events, become the reigning Sovereign of Saxe-
Coburg-Gotha. The approaching Royal wedding ex-
cites much interest, and will be formally communicated
to both Houses of Parliament
The water-cress sellers and fruit and flower girls of
London form a clams by themselves, and scarcely come
within the pale of the charitable organization of the
metropolis. Some benevolent noblemen and gentle-
men, with Lord Shaftesbury at their head, some years
years ago formed • Water cress, Flower, and Fruit
Sellers' Mission, for the especial benefit of thosc who,
rising early and working late, raise their voices so often
with those of other street callers in the thoroughfares
of the capital. The annual meeting was held a few
days ago at the Agricultural Hall, when several hun-
dreds of there persons assembled, and having been sup-
plied with a substantial meat tea, listened to addresses
from those interested in their welfare. In connection
with this mission there are free evening schools, sewing
classes, a clothing club, a bank of deposit, a soup
kitchen, a fund for destitute children's dinners, and a
loan fund with a complete and well-organised system
of district nisiting and Scripture reading. The bene-
volents effort of the people of London find many ways
of manifestation, and this mission to a poor and neg-
lected, but deserving class, is one of the most praise-
worthy, and many will rejoice that Lord Shaftesbury
and his daughter, Lady Victoria Ashley, were pee.
seated with testimonials in recognition of their interest
in the success of the institution.

It is within a few months of three years that the
London School Board was chosen, and the first school
erected under their auspices, was opened last Saturday
in Old Castle Street, WhitechapeL It was made the
occasion of something approaching a demonstration in
that densely-populated district, and addresses were de-
livered by Lord Lawrence, the Chairman of the Board,
Mr. Charles Reed, for Hackney, the Vice-
Chairman, and Mr. Samuel Morley, M.P., • member
of the same body. From time to time the action of the
Board meets with some little adverse criticism, but con-
sidering what they have had to do in the way of organ-
ising an educational system for so immense a place, I
donot think that much time has been lost The mode
of election is, however, very expensive, for each new
member coot the ratepayers between £6OO and £7OO.
There was a very interesting ceremony in the Council
Chamber of the Guildhall on Tuesday afternoon.
Every year the Royal Society for the Protection of
Life from Fire distributes a number of rewards to
those who have been instrumental in saving the lives
of people from burning houses, and on this occasion
there were recipients of these recognitions of bravery
who had come from Liverpool, Stockport, Dover, and
Winchester. The Lord Mayor presided, and was sup-
ported hy the Sheriffs in their robes and chains of
office. There was a numerous attendance of the
puffiic. and those who were rewarded, including as
they did two female domeotic servants, certainly
deserved all the applause which they received.