The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-08-07 00:00:00

ur fonbon arrtspoutant.

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

Although subsequent telegrams from the Viceroy of
India have materially modified the impression which
was produced upon the receipt of the first intelli-
gence, sufficient is known to show that the disaster to
the British arms at Candahar was of a very serious
nature. This is the second time within eighteen
months that, upon two different continents, a British
force has been attacked by a body of antagonists vastly
superior in numbers, and after fighting gallantly has
found itself overborne by the sheer weight of its
assailants. Had the first accounts of the Candahar
catastrophe been borne out, the effect upon the minds
of the excitable population of India might have been
most prejudicial. When the Marquis of Hartington
read out the telegram in the House of Commons
describing the reverse as " annihilation," the feel-
ing was one little short of dismay. Memories were
carried back to the terrible story of the Khyber
Pass, thirty-eight years ago; and forebodings of
the vast gloomy character were presented respect-
ing the future of our relations with Afghan-
istan. Happily the first news told the very worst
that could possibly be conveyed; and instead of a
whole brigade having been cut to pieces so that not a
single man escaped, which would have been the mean-
ing of the word annihilation, a very few hours brought
the welcome intelligence that not only was the General
in command safe, but that stragglers were coming in.
The fears of an Indian mutiny, consequent upon the
lam of British prestige in Afghanistan, gradually died
away; and men of all parties concurred in the deter-
mination that under any circumstances the defeat
must be avenged, and British influence retained in the
East at any cost.
The House of Commons has by a large majority
decided upon the repeal of the malt duty, and the
addition of a penny to the Income-tax, which will now
stand at 6d. in the pound. This is at the rate of 2i
per cent., and it was last levied in 1871, at a time
when France, fresh from the war with Germany, was
discussing amongst her people the propriety of levy-
ing a ten per cent. income-tax in order to pay off
the heavy burdens consequent upon that struggle.
Even at its present rate, however, and it is now three
times as high as it was five years ago, it is less than
upon its re-imposition by Sir Robert Peel in 1842,
when that great statesman placed it at sevenpence in
the pound. A hope was then hold out that at the end
of three years it might cease to exist; but every
Chancellor of the Exchequer, of whatever political
*arty, has found it extremely useful in times of emer-
gency ; for nothing can be more simple than, by placing
on an extra penny, to pull in some £1,200,000. Once
abolished, its re-imposition would not be easy; and so
for nearly forty years it has been continued—once in
the Russian war rising as high as sixteenpence, and
again, in a year of great prosperity, dwindling to
twopence. Still, there it has been, although
readjustments have been made from time to
time rendering the burden one the more easily to be
borne. Not long ago the rate of exemption was
raised from £lOO to £l5O, and all incomes under £4OO
were subject to a abatement of £l2O. By such means
as these, aided by the increased prosperity of the
country, there has been no such agitation against the
income-tax as was witnessed a generation ago, when,
more especially in the troublous times of 1848, stormy
meetings was held in Trafalgar-square to denounce
the impost and demand its repeal.
The arrival of the month of August finds both
Rouses of Parliament busily at work, with little pros-
pect of release for certainly a fortnight beyond the
usual time. Although the temperature of July, 1880,
has been several degrees higher than that of July,
1879, it has by no means come up to our recollections
of what an English summer used to be. Consequently,
life in the House of Commons has been endurable, and
it must also be remembered that the most perfect
appliances of science are brought into operation for
cooling the air which passes into the chamber. Al-
tholgh there have been some late sittings, the hours
during the present session have not been so extended
as h. some of the experiences of the last Parliament.
Seven o'clock in the morning then often found the
isollective wisdom of the nation at work; so that a
Minister had just time to go home, take a bath, have
breakfast, go to his department, transact business
there, and be in the House of Commons again at noon.
Sleep under such conditions as these is out of the
question, but life would not long be worth having on
such terms; indeed, there would be very soon no life
to have. It is doubtful whether any other legislative
assembly in the world keeps such extraordinary hours
-mg the British House of Commons. If the Lords sit

•:. or an evening it is considered a very fair
; the Commons go on for ten or twelve
lours, dealing with a great multitude of questions,
varyiii.-;• in degree from the picking up of a pin to the
renrili g of an oak.

The prese lt is a critical time in the state of the
crops, and the agriculturists may well watch with
anxi Ay the condition of the weather day by day.
These .!an be little doubt that July has not left behind
it sucn effects upon the ripening corn as the heat of
that month is generally expected to produce; for
although there has occasionally been some high tem-
perature the month was sadly broken by thunder
storms, scarcely a day passing without some electrical
disturbance sending forth its crash and rattle, and
being accompanied by deluges of rain. During the
five months ending with May the rainfall was very
much below the average; but since the beginning of June
there has been no lack of moisture; indeed July has
been almost as wet as it was last year. The farmers might
therefore well look upon August with some degree of
apprehension; for unless there is more sunshine than
in July the harvest is not likely to be much of an
impr( v:ment upcn that of last year. The storms
which I- ave passed over our own islands have been
general throughout Europe, and St. Petersburgh no
less than London, has suffered from their violence.
Eut the inconvenience in a great town, caused by an
occasional flooding of h e streets, is as nothing com-
pared with the loss to the agriculturist, who may well
feel depressed at the descent of torrents of rain, day
after day, when warmth and sunlight are so all-
important. These thunder-tempests not only deluge
the land with rain while they last; but by reducing
the temperature leave very ill effects behind them. If
wheat is to ripen the thermometer must stand at
least 68 decrees, and the invariable result of a
thunder-storm is to bring it down considerably below
that figure.

With fine weather the August Bank holiday is the
most enjoy ible of the four, so far as out-of-door
recreation is concerned. Easter Monday can never
well be d :pended upon; nor at Whitsuntide are the
atmospheric conditions such as to ensure the prospect
of an unbroken day. Besides, the evenings are then
cold, for the heat of spring is of a transient character,
and its effect soon passes away. But by August the
warmth which the sun has poured upon the earth
is to a great extent retained, and the chilly nights of
April and May are unknown. Water excursions are
especially enjoyable, and the aspect of the Thames on
a fine bright August holiday is a spectacle full of
interest to all who care to witness one day of enjoy-
ment amongst a toiling population. To those a wet day
at such a time is a matter for deep regret; for nearly
five months then have to elapse before another general
holiday again comes round. And then there can be
no open-air recreation; for Boxing Day is a time when
well-lit rooms and comfortable fires conduce far more
to enjoyment than a run upon the river or a walk in
the Park. In fact, from August to Easter, with the
single exception of Lord Mayor's Day, there is
no general occasion upon which the population of
London come out for a few hours of amusement. On
Monday the weather was not specially favourable
to pleasure-seekers, the first half of the day being
very showery, but the holiday was generally observed
by the cessation of business in the metropolis. Great
preparations had been made by the large carrying
companies to take the holiday people out of town, and
many thousands went upon excursions. The number
of visitors to the State apartments at Windsor Castle
was 5,675. The number of visitors at the Crystal
Palace is officially reported to have been 40,179. At
the Alexandra Palace the number was 107,852.
The interest felt by the Queen in her soldiers has
been often manifested; and another illustration of it
was given at Osborne a few days ago. When, on the
22nd of January, 1879, Lieutenants Coghill and Mel-
ville, of the First Battalion 24th Regiment, were killed
in their effort to save the colours after the disaster of
Isandula, these were found in the river Tugela, the
boundary stream between Zululand and our colony of
Natal. The two officers in charge of them lost their
lives in the effort to prevent the colours from falling into ,
the hands of their savage enemies. By her Majesty's com-
mand a colour guard in charge of these s ame flags attesded
at Osborne, where the Queen, who was accompanied
by the Princess Beatrice, received the colours in the
corridor; and after inspecting them her Majesty tied
a small wreath of immortelles to the head of the re-.
covered flags as a mark of the deep sense of the
heroism of the two young officers who gave their lives
to save them. The Empress Eugenie, when in Zulu-
land, placed two wreaths given her by the Queen for
that purpose on the grave of Lieutenants Coghill and
Melville.
The annual competition of the National Artillery
Association at Shoeburyness is an event of more
limited interest than that of the Rifle Association at
Wimbledon; but it is of no lees importance. True,
it is not ialicad so muck about, nor Is it
n easily aasantirls frau'LUStllL Yfiablvdvit Mel be

_

reached in twenty minutes from Waterloo, or in half
an hour from Ludgate Hill; but a journey to Shoe- I
buryness involv -8 more expense and takes a longer
time. Nor are the surroundings of an attractive cha-
racter; the targets are fixed far out of sight of the
ordinary spectator; the conditions of the competi-
tions cannot be readily followed by the uninitiated;
and the scenery, more especially at low tide, is of an
uninviting nature. All the same the importance of
this meeting must be recognized at a glance. It
would not be upon the rifle on which we should
mainly depend in case of a hostile attack, but upon
the cannon as constituting the principal arm of our
coast defences. Of course the chief strength of
Great Britain is her navy; but in war we must
be prepared for all contingencies; and if the navy
failed the artillery would stand between the invader
and the rifleman. Therefore it is that both the Secre-
tary of State for War and the First Lord of the
Admiralty—whatever Government may happen to be
in power, always make it a point to give the greatest
peasible encouragement to the National Artillery
Association.

As the Goodwood race week marks the beginning of
the end of the London season, so the Cricket Week at
Canterbury foreshadows the approaching termination
of the matches which have occupied the summer and
the early autumn. Thus far, taking the cricket season
as a whole, it has been a more successful one than its
predecessor. In 1870 more matches were spoiled by the
rain than in any year since 1860; but this year most
of the principal matches have been played out. When
cricketers come to us from Canada and from Austra-
lia, and find their engagements rendered nugatory by
a persistent downpour, the incident is not likely to
conduce to equanimity of disposition; and there have
been comparatively few of these this year. The re-
markable series of successes recently achieved by the
Kent Club gave a general attraction to the Canter-
bury week—one of the chief matches being between an
Eleven of England and Thirteen of Kent. The
cricket club of this county has of late taken a de-
servedly high position in this national pastime, so
peculiarly English, and which foreigners often tax
their mental energies in vain to comprehend. Histo-
rians of the Crimean war have given amusing recitals
of the bewilderment of the Turks when they saw the
convalescent soldiers at Scutari amusing themselves at
a game of cricket. No sooner were the men, who had
been in the hospital, recovering strength, than with
the energy typical of the English character, they set
about exerting themselves ; and it may well be under-
stood that a cricket match, under an eastern sun,
savours more of work than of play. Th. Turks,
sitting cross-legged upon the ground, enjoyed Moir
coffee and their chibouques as they watched the play,
in astonishment that men who could take life easily
so long as they remained at Scutari should put forth
exertions even in recreation which to a Mussulman
would have been impossible under any circumstances
whatsoever.