The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-01-14 00:00:00

LONDON CORRESPONDENCE,

We deem it right to state we do not at all times identify
ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

The celebration of "Twelfth Night" appears
somewhat to dwindle in popularity as the years
go on, but certain features which attend it in
London, social as well as ecclesiastical, will con
tinue to prevent the old festival from being for-
gotten. For it is upon the Feast of the Epiphany
that the Queen's gifts of gold and frankincense
and myrrh are offered at the altar of the Chapel
Royal, St. James's. This is always a solemn and
somewhat striking ceremony. The Bishop of
London, as Dean of the Chapels Royal, takes the
leading part in the service, and at a stated point,
after being conducted by a verger from his own
pew to the altar, that official retires and conducts
from the Royal pew two officers of the household,
representing her Majesty, who, clad in full uniform,
proceed up the aisle and, kneeling at the altar rails,
present the Queen's gifts in small red bags to the
bishop. As many persons as can get into
the small chapel are customarily present on
these occasions, and they cannot fail to be
charmed with the excellent singing of the choir.
There is an element of old-fashionedness about
the whole surroundings whether of church music
or furniture, for no startling, innovations are even
tc be looked for at a chapel royal.
One of the characteristic features of a London
sltly Was to be noted by any visitor to St.
4athes's for the Epiphany celebration, and that
Was the playing of the band in the courtyard of
the palace, which was just concluding as the
service was about to begin. This musical exer-
cise takes place every morning at ten o'clock,
and even in unpropitious weather seldom fails to
draw a crowd of listeners. No one can quite
realise what a number of people reside in London
who have nothing definite to do until they go to
St. James's Palace a few mornings, and witness
the throng which listens to the band. All
sorts and conditions are to be found among the
crowd; and while many of the persons who com-
pONO it look as if they ought to be at work but
do not know where to obtain it, there are a
number of others who equally ought to be em-
ployed but obviously have no intention of putting ,
themselves out of the way in search of re-
Inunerative toil. The same sort of thing is to be
noted at various other points in the capital where
similar gatherings congregate; London-bridge,
for instance, is never without its crowds of
idlers lounging over the parapet, watching
the coming and going of the steamers, and
obviously purposeless of aim or intent. And
in any of our streets if there is a dog
fight or a quarrel "between a couple of
women, to say nothing of a fire, a
crowd seems to spring out of the earth ready to
remain any length of time in order to see the
finish of the business. Where they come from and
what they do for a living is a puzzle. There they
are, and there they will always be—that is the
only conclusion to which the observer can come.
Those who stroll by the Palace of Westminster
just now will see that an important addition to
the historic hall is proceeding rapidly towards
completion. When the old law courts, super-
seded by the Palace of Justice in the Strand,
were demolished, it was felt that something would
have to be put in their place, for their removal
exposed to view one wall of Westminster Hall in
a very naked and unpicturesque fashion. As is
the case in all matters architectural, a dispute
as to what was the right thing to put there
raged fast and furious for a considerable period;
but at length it was resolved by the Chief Com-
missioner of Works to accept the plans of Mr.
John Pearson for erecting cloisters on the site,
and it is these which have now progressed so far
that the roofing is nearly completed. What will
be the use of them when they are ready for oc-
cupation is not exactly known, but there are various
ways in which they can be put to advantage;
and in any case' they are so designed that they
will not detract from, but rather add to the
beauty of the finest architectural pile Which
London possesses.
Not only children who live in the mel
but a great number of those who, at one ..ane or
another, 'have come up from the country, will he
mournfully interested in the fact that
" Punch," the oldest lion in the Zoo-
logical Gardens—and believed, in fact, to
be the oldest in Europe —is believed
to he dying. He was a noble old fellow, for not
only was his head so handsomely shaped as to
be a model for sculptor or painter, but he was
gentle to a high degree, and he had won the
affection of his keeper to an extent which was
positively touching. It was with a voice almost
broken by tenderness that the keeper told an
inquirer a few days ago that all that could be
done for the poor animal had been done; that
they could not give him any medicine, and that
he refused to touch even the daintiest food. And
so " Punch " had to lie on his straw bed,
unable to move, and waiting patiently
for the end to which old age was
surely bringing him. All those who ever saw
him in his full time of health and grandeur will
agree in regretting that the close of the fine old
animal's life has apparently now so nearly come.
There was a time when the London appren-
tices might almost have been called a power in
the land, and in many a romance they have
figured with their cry of "clubs !" as the de-
fenders of their own privileges and the general
liberty of the citizens. But for a considerable
period the apprenticeship sytem has been a
dwindling one, and in the opinion of many
skilled persons this will account for some
of the loss of England's manufacturing supremacy.
Whether this be so or not, a determined effort
has lately been made to revive the system, and,
in order to encourage it, an Apprentices' Exhi-
bition has just been held at the People's Palace,.
in the East of London. From the time of its '
opening by the Prince of Wales to its closing a
few days ago, this was a great success, and it
should do much to stimulate the energies of the
apprentices themselves. So striking were its
effects that the suggestion has already been made
to hold similar exhibitions in our largest
industrial centres and if this be carried
out, good would be practically certain to
result. There is much demand in these
days for technical education, and, in the opinion
of many, the best form in which this can be
administered is by actual service at the bench or
in the workshop. And it is just such actual
service which the apprenticeship system supplies.
The complete destruction by fire of two
English theatres within a week has once more
drawn attention to the extreme insecurity of
this species of property, even when it is officially
described to be composed of " fire-proof "
materials. It most happily was the case that in
each instance the audience had left the building
before the conflagration occurred, and the
imagination fails to picture the horrors we
have been spared by...that fact. As was shown
most lamentably at Exeter last September, an
audience which has lost its presence of mind i-
almost certainly doomed to destruction' • -
what large assembly of human beings can be
pocted to preserve that presence of mind in fi
of what may seem certain death in the rn
fearful of all its forms? Perhaps the only lesson
taught by the latest fires is that gas is absolutely
dangerous in theatres' and that the electric
light will have to be madeade compulsory. It is not
only that gas creates peril by its flame, but that the
heat it evolves dries the surrounding woodwork
almost to tinder point, and that, therefore, any
chance spark is liable to produce a blaze. It is
now evident that all talk of "" fire-proof" con-
struction is worse than useless; it is dangerous
because so illusory; and the only thing to be ,
done is to minimise the danger as far as
pos-
sible by striot attention to the lighting arrangeril
rnents. Absolute safety will never be able to be
guaranteed, but experience should teach us how
near to it we can approach, and we should profit
accordingly.
The Times has lately been celebrating its
centenary, and a provincial paper has thought
that it could not do better than show its readers
that it had lived even longer than the leading
journal. It has accordingly done so in practical
fashion by issuing a fac simile of its issue of a
date in January, 1788, and no one can see it
without feeling interested in the comparison it
affords between both newspapers and news of
then and now. Among tie intelligence it con-
tains is set forth "The Flame of Liberty blazes
in every part of France." "From Vienna we
learn that the greatest Preparations for "War
against the Turks are going on ; " and "Every
new Occurrence indicated the unsettled State of
the Dutch ; " while one of the advertisements
refers to a "Society for the Purpose of effecting
the Abolition of the Slave Trade," Theme is one
point of resemblarce between 1" al 1,
however, which will come home .•
every trader; the credit system was oln
as_olluoxisius then as pow Land the sympathy os
many' people to-day will go out 16 the long-since
departech npwsvaper proprietor who announced
regar—cliiig.hili advertisement's that "ready money
is expected. svith all." A number of proprietors
would like to say that td-day, if they could feel
sate of being able to stand by tbs. declaration.

tropolis,
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