The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-04-11 00:00:00


AGENT FOR DAWFS'S PATENT
MELODY HARMONIUDIS.

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',:;ontn o.Torttsporbott.

‘l* In right to Alto Vial itti:det not at all time
ettattiu tuV ...in our :et, vat's 14.1111.1nA.6
• After a storm oases a e dm,' and the calm is
(Minions ; bat sometimes there is a dead calm which
pr,saces a stonn. IVliether it be so now in the political
world it is not worth while to discuss, but the
public mind certainly feels a sense of, relief now
that the great party battle of the
,session has.
been lost and won. The battle was waged fiercely
for four nights wi*h a spirit to which the country has
of late years been a stranger. The elespience*that
was poured out during that debate; the fire and fervour
of this speaker; the chaste elegance of that orator; the
biting sarcasm, the flashes of wit, the bitter taunts,
the rusting torreut of dechwation—all this l e some-
. _ .

what new to the readers of the present day. But it all
- shows clearly enough that party spirit is not deal,
and that it only requires some great question to arise
N4ltich the two political parties in the State can
range themselves in clip( sing ranks, for them to do so
and tight vigorously for the victory. The last night of
the recent debate wag as memorable a one as has oc-
ourred during many years past, for the issue was more
definite and decided than that of any battle that has
been fought for years, the It-form Bill itself not ex-
cepted. The House of Commons was'as crowded as it
ever was, and to a large extent the two 11011Se8 of
Legislature met in one chamber. There were princes
of the blood royal; there were bishops, peers, dip-
. luniatists, and soldiers; while the strangers,
and the pre(s galleries were packed with eagerly
attentive audiences. The scene at the oral.
cal moment of division was very exciting, and
no one that heard it will easily forget the vigorous
cheers that rang through the House, first when the
division list was handed to Mr. Glynn, the Liberal
whip, and secondly, when the numbers on the first
division were announced. And then there was more
ch,ring when the House again divided on the question
(if going into committee, and still more as the House
was breaking up. But it needs not to be added that
the cheering all came from one side of the House—to
tie 1. ft of Mr. Speaker. The topic if the day now is,
what is to be the result of this defeat of Ministers,
but on that topic I shall not be expected to enter,
; political affairs being in a transitional state.
A very agreeable ruinour is current—that Her
. .

Majesty is likely to be present for a short time at the
s•
great Volunteer Review on Baker Monday. May it
• 'prove true. Be the result what it may, it is at least
ple'sant to have observed lately numerous indications
. of .the Queen mingling more in cock ty than has been her
' wont since her severe loss. As to this review, it will
probably be the enest the volunpers ever had. Some
34,000 men. -volttnteers and regulars—will he on

the round;,i by day there will be marching and
•-• • . .

,
eountermarching ; and there will be a sound of revelry
' 4'4 night; the lamps will shine over fair women and
brave men," and it is to be hoped that all will go
merrily ass marriage-bell. Our volunteer movement
has ceased to be a movement, and has become an insti-
tution, and not only the country generally but the
volunteers themselves have largely benefited by it.
The battle may not be always to the strong, but
Napoleon made a very telling remark about the pros
hitollonv, the truth of which is pretty generally
admitted, even by the most reverential. The Oxford
and Cambridge boat-race is another illustration of
the truthfulness of the remark. The Oxford crew
were the sturdiest and strongest men, with equal
skill to their antagonists, and Oxford won accord-
ingly. The reeult was very generally anticipated,
*hie Ir was shown by the Letting being ri to 4 and 7 to 4
on dark blue, for several days before the great content.
But while everybody thought or feared this, most
people appeared to wish that Cambridge might win,
just because they had lost so often before. Never in
the history of aquatic sports, was greater interest
manifested in the University race, than on this last
occasion. The ribbon trade and the glove trade must
both have received a welcome impetus, for never were
dark blue and light blue ribbons more extensively
patronised; never were more pairs of gloves betted
with the ladies. The fair sex, by the way, seldom
encourage betting; they consider it unladylike; but
when they do indulge in a little mild excitement of
this kind, it is usually for a pair of gloves. With the
kindheartedness of womankind, they sympathise with
miefortune, and wished that Cambridge might be the
winners, and, perhaps, with the inexperience of their
sex, they betted as they wished. And never were
more ladies present at the race than this time ; never
were the banks of the Thames more crowded; never
was a race more honourably or more gallantly con-
tested. Cambridge can now adopt Jacob Faithful's
celebrated triple consolation, "It'd no use crying;
what's done can't be helped; better luck next time."
Private commercial enterprise is so vigorous a thing
in this country, and we are so jealous of any Govern-
ment interference with it, that perhaps the Ministerial
proposal fur transferring the telegraphs to the Poet.
office is strong enough to begin with. The bill provides
that Companies may hand over their affairs to Govern.
ment, Lot while the Government cannot compel a
Company to sell, a Company can make the Government
buy. This is quite a one-sided affair; but it will,
perhaps, havethis effect—that the Companies which
do not pay well will be desirous of transferring them.
These, of course, are just the Companies which are not
well managed, and the gain to the public will, there-
fore, be considerable, supposing that the Poet-office
manages well, which no doubt they will do. Mean-
while, the young women—l beg their pardon, the
young ladies- who have learnt the telegraph business
are in great collet, =Mien for fear their employment
should be taken away from them. It is to be hoped
that, whatever other arrangement may be made, these
young "persons "—Le that the word? —will still be em-
ployed. The occupation just suits them, and they
perform their duties admirable, if we except, perhaps,
an occasional inability to spell well, and an universal
ignorance of punctuation. But then, as no one but
printers and writers for the press understand the latter,
this is almost too much, perhaps, to expect.
A large part of the southern district of London
has, for the poet week or so, been very badly served
indeed, by the Post Office. The Southern District
Post Office having been abolished, there has
been—most needlessly, as it appears, to the in-
habitants—an extraordinary shifting about of men,
and their necessary ignorance of the localities in which
they have severally been placed had resulted in delays
innumerable, and many mistakes; but the delivery of
letters is now gradually righting itself, and, possibly,
the result may be an improvement. Economy has
been the object aimed at, and this object has further
been sought by the employment of a number of per-
sons, for they cannot be called men. Trrey are lads of
from 16 to 19. We do not like to see these post-boys
walking about with our letters, it does red look exactly
"the thing," but then it is well to employ these
hobble de-hoys, and their pay would certainly not be
enough for men.
We have had a fussy ceremonial on the part of some
of the City magnates, who have walked in procession
to Blackfriars Bridge, to lay the foundation-stone of a
new pier. If these gentlemen had gone to open the
bridge to the public they might with better grist' have
dined ts.gether afterwards, as they did on this eeree.i..e.
The bridge ought to have been opened long sinee, the
contract time hae irig long ago expired. One part of
the ceremonial was the depositing a copy of The Times
of the day, with a number of names in a glass jar,
coins of the realm perhaps; being too valuable to throw
away on such. a needles. ceremony. By the way, the
public will do well to watch whether the coins, kc., in
the foundation stone of the old bridge are found. If
they have been already found the fact has slipped my
observation. Londoners generally would much rather
have heanl, instead of this useless fuse, that the founda-
tion stone if another bridge—between Blacklriare and
Waterloo-,-had been laid. Such a bridge would lead
directly to the Palace of Justice, and the additional
means of communication would be extremely valuable
in other respects.
We have not recently heard so marry complaints
about the price of meat, partly for the very good '
rearren that it has, been somewlat L.were.l, but partly
also from the fact that tmployment has become more
general. But still meat is snfliciently dear to give
interest to the news from Australia which bears on
this subject. It appears that in Victoria and many
parts of South Australia they are boiling down more
than 60,000 sheep a week or the tallow, bringing in the
ridiculously small profit of 48. per sheep. 'the meat
that would be so highly prized here is a drug in the
market. At Ceelong and .Melbourne legs of mutton
were selling at 7d. each, and mutton by the carcase at
Id, ler lb. And yet, with as splendid a market for
meat as exists in our own country, the shippers and
mercantile houses have net yet succeeded in devising
any plan by which mutten can be preserved and sent
over to this country on a large scale. It is partially
done, but only to a small extent compared with our
willingness to purchase, and, moreover, the meat is not
exactly what it should be when it reaches us. Why do
not the Australians expart mutton hams? They would
be highly appreciated if properly cured, which is easy
enough. This would be better than selling legs of
mutton at 7d. per lb.
This in not exactly the season for evening parties
generally, but the aristocracy indulge in these luxuries
during the London season, and they may be glad of a
new sensation. Here is a young lady who promises to
entertain them: "A young lady who ham written
beautifully on the late Prince Consort, President
• eJ ; see re r,-f Vl-5 11111,;010-11. !..

written beautifully, which, judgind Irvin her advertise.
neat, in rather doubtful, she will oblige her patron' no
doubt by reciting from her own componitions, and that
is rather a dreary prospect. As nhe has written
beautifully, and publishers have apparently been
unappreciative, this would be a great advantage, just
as it is • great advantage to be told whererthe point of
a joke is to be found. For inatance, a writer, mentioning
lr. Cooke Ranter excursion to Rowe, nays: "Mr.
Howard Paul, the well-known entertainer, who in of
the party, has wittily bentowed on these birds of
pabnage the title of the Cuako's." ;Cow it is very kind
ti tell us that this is wit, for nig could never have
fjund it out unbided. • •