The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-05-14 00:00:00

Our yonbau Corrtspoda
'We deem it right to state that we do not at all tine
Ldentify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

The holding of two Drawing Rooms by Her Ma-
jesty at Buckingham Palace in the first week of May
combined with the brilliant weather to infuse an ani-
mation into the west end of London to which, for a
long time, it had been completely a stranger. The
number of presentations at the two receptions was
more than 420, and this means a considerable amount
of work done and money expended in the ashionable
world. Four hundred and twenty new trains for the
ladies preiated, and in many cases new equipages
and appointm_ents, helped to circulate the coin which
in many a street and square had moved but slowly
-during„ the long and dreary winter. The bright
sunshine, to which the people seemed to have
been strangers for months, on each day atttracted
a large multitude into the royal park of St.
James's; and as the people gathered in the
Mall, now beautiful amid the greenery of fresh
vegetation, the scene of bustle and expectation re-
minded - many of the days, now a long time ago,
t when the Court was kept at Buckingham Palace,
and life and gaiety reigned within its walls. The
crowd gathers to see not only the handsomely-
dressed ladies who are going to pay their re-
spects to the Sovereign, but numerous members of
the Royal family drive down to the Palace in State;
and an afternoon which enables the gazers to see
the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Grand
Duke :and Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz,
Prince and Princess Christian, the Duke and Duchess
of Connaught, and other members of the reigning
House, is one to be remembered and to be talked
about long after it has passed away.'
On those occasions when the Court spends a few
days at Buckingham Palace, Princess Beatrice takes
the opportunity of visiting come of those sights of
London of which her Royal Highness can only read
during her sojourn at Windsor, Osborne, or Balmoral.
The Royal .Academy, for instance, now in the full
tide of its attractiveness and popularity, is certain to
come in for an inspection. Then there are the
Grosvenor Gallery, the Institute of Painters in Water
Colours, the Soho Bazaar, and generally one of the
theatres where the highest form of historic art is
represented. There is a great deal in London which
4, is well worth seeing; and the Princess never fails to
make the best use of her time during her summer
visits to the capital.

The Duke of Cambridge is the President of the
National Rifle Association; and from its establish-
ment has taken the deepest interest in the success of
that organization. No sooner is the Easter Monday
Review fairly out of the way than preparations are
being made for the annual competition at Wimbledon,
which will 'begin on the second Monday in July. The
Duke, in presiding at the annual meeting of the Asso-
ciation, congratulated its members on the prospect of
another team of Canadians coming over to test their
skill as marksmen against that of our own riflemen.
At the same meeting a letter from a gentleman
~,Idpuid was read by Lord Elcho, which elicited loud and re-
seeee panted cheers. He called attention to the importance
ete or ourYolunteers being able to strike moving objects
„es 'at undistinguishable distances, as illustrated by the
eventie orthB 'War in the Transvaal, and enclosed a
cheque for the munificent sum of £2,500 to promote
this object.
The magelagegate is generally an indication of the
national prosperity. If trade is brisk, and agriculture
is flourishing, the rate is high, thus showing that
people who are just beginning life have sufficient
P, mean's to take upon themselves additional responsibili-
ties, the contrary being the case When these conditions
It have' no existence. From the latest official returns
which have been issued, it appears that during the
three months ending December last the marriage rate
was equal to an annual one of 17 per 1,000 of the
population. This showed an increase of two upon the
exceptionally low rate that prevailed in the December
quarter of 1879, but was more than 8 per cent, below
the average rate in the correspending periods of the
previous ten years. The marriage rate was equal to
20 in the fourth or autumn quarters of 1872 and
"1 873, when the country was enjoying a high degree of
prosperity; and declined, as aleeady stated, to 17 in
1879, when we were visited by a period of depression.
The recovery in the marriage rate during the last
three months of 1880 was most marked in North-
. amptonshire, Devon, Durham, Cumberland, Mon-
mouthshire, and South Wales.
Another sign of progress or decline is sometimes to
be found in the emigration returns, and these have
been supplied by the Board of Trade for the quarter
ending the 31st of March. During those three months
, 42,812 emigrants embarked from the various ports of
the United Kingdom; in the corresponding quarter of
the previous year the number had been 45,151. The
emigrants of British origin were 28,788, of whom
17,968 were English, 3,32 Scotch, and 7,458 Irish.
The proportions of emigrants to a million of the popu-
lation were respectively G9O from England, 910 from
Scotland, and 1,409 from Ireland. This was a decline
so far as Englatel and Ireland were concerned, but an
increase as affecting Scotland. Sixty-four per cent. of
those who left our shores went to the United States,
five to British North America, fourteen to the
Australian Colonies, and fifteen to all other places.
. The statistics issued by the Registrar-General are
often of greater public interest than at first sight
' masses. of figures usually are. The price of food is,
for instance, a natter which affects every bous-hold,
whether high or low. The Registrar-general, in his
latest quarterly return, is enabled to tell us that in
the three months ending the 31st of March the average
price of wheat was 425. 3d. per quarter, and showed a de-
cline of tenpence from the price at which it was quoted
in the last three mchsthe of 1880. The mean wholesale
price of beef and of mutton during the quarter was
6d. and 7d. per lb. respectively, the former showing a
decline of ed., while that of the mutton showed no
;
s change. The average prioe of the best seaborne coal in
t the London market was 16s. per ton. This was a penny
lower than in the previous quarter, but it exceeded by
is. 2d. the exceptionally low price that prevailed in the
first three months of 1880. With reapect to the
meteorology of the first quarter of the year, the tem-
perature was below the average, and on forty days
below freezing point. The amount of rain and melted
snow was half-an-inch in excess of the average.
The thanks by both Houses of Parliament have
been voted to the officers and men engaged in the
recent operations in Afghanistan--that is to say, in
the work which became necessary after the rising at
Cabul on the 3rd of September, 1879. Thanks had
been already viited for the skill and valour displayed
between the advance into Afghanistan in November,
:* .1878, and the Treaty Of Gandernak in the following
spring. This second vote was, however, not less
deserved than the first, for it covers the brilliant march
from Cabul to Candahar made by General Roberts
in the summer of last year. That gallant officer,
who within the last few weeks has made a rapid
run to the Cape and back, was present in Parliament
when the vote was passed, and had the pleasure of
listening to the eulogiums which were passed upon his
military reputation. When a member of the House
of Commons is thanked by the Legislature for dis-
tinguished naval or military services, the seat which
he occupies that night is his as long as he remains a
member of the House. General Sir De Lacy Evans,
one of the representatives of Westminster, received
the thanks of Parliament for his services in the
Crimea, and while he was in the House for that con-
stituency—a period which extended over many years
afterwards; his seat was always kept for him, what-
ever might be the pressure for places or the interest of
the subject before the House.
The disastrous explosion on board the Boterel has
caused a painful sensation, for the lives lost are more
than are sacrificed in many a battle. It is some-
what alarming to contemplate what a ship of
liar has become under the tutelage of modern
science. She carries explosive shot instead of solid
cannon-balls. Her guns, if few, are large; and if one
should burst, it is like a mine explhding. She employs
steam-power, involving the use of immense boilers,
which can only be safe while skilfully and carefully
tended. She has torpedoes, with all their sensitiv
and elaborate contrivances. Gunpowder is no longer
sufficient, but there must be guncotton, and possibly
some other curious matters connected with the fuse
arrangements. It has been said that the capsizing of
a steamship isethe most cruel form of naval disaster.
This is possible; but an explosion like that which
hag befallen the Doterel appears the most terrific.
Every season appears to have its prevailing fashion
of investment, and the. present would seem to be that
of gold mining companies. Since December, 1879,
• .sti wenty-six companies for the working of gold mines
in India alone have been launched, and already their
subscribed capital approaches three millions sterling.
' Formerly the gold mines of California and Australia
-were regarded, as typical of boundless riches in the
earth; but India has now suddenly put in a claim to
the consideration of those capitalists whose invest-
ments come back from the ground as seed sown upon
"eegetscl soil.
Ventures in silver have been lately before the public ;
, and cartoinly this beautiful metal, the depreciation in
which leas occupied so much attention, deserves every
,117- encouragement to its recovery in value. Far back in
the earliest ages it was used in south western Asia as
a medium of exchange. The famous purchase of 46
fiel3 by Abraham was paid for in shekels of silver; and
we are told that the same patriarch in his days of pros-
perity was "rich in gold and silver." From the time of
Pericles to the end of the Roman Empire there was a
great demand for silver, and large quantities were con.

stantly being produced. The mines of Lauriane furnished
the Athenians with a very rich supply of silver, and
in later times Spain and South France contributed hand-
some additions to the store. The chief use to which the
metal was put was to make drinking cups, jugs, and
goblets; but forks were in those days unknown, and
knives were made with silver handles. But plate's and
dishes, basins and bread baskets were constantly of
silver. The legs of chairs, sideboards, and tables, and
even occasionally the tables themselves were of a like
material. In some cases chariots were plated with the
metal, and often the doors of houses and the lids of
chests or cupboards were thickly studded with silver
nails. The purity of the appearance of silver has in
every age made it a great favourite with all the writers
who have dealt in metaphor; and descriptions of it
have often been applied to the sea as well as to swiftly.
flowing rivers.

The Iron and Steel Institute, which has been hold-
ing its annual sittings in London, includes amongst its
members the cream of British and Continental in-
dustrial engineers. Its annual deliberations have not
been without their result on the commercial enter-
prise of the United Kingdom, all the more im-
portant in improvements which have bSen effected
in manufacture having been in this manner first
subjected to a course of rigid examination .and
criticism. The discussions this year have had
especial reference to the coal supply of Great
Britain, whisia the Rcyal Commission of 1873 esti-
mated would last eleven hundred years. But
more coal has been raised than it was then thought
would be required, and the forecast is now that in 987
years from the present time, no more coal will be
left in our collieries. The distance is about that
which separates us from the days of the Saxon
Ileptarchy; and as nothing which science is-able to do.
can increase the great storehouse of coal in the bowels
of the earth, it can only be hoped that long before the
thousand years have expked, an intelligent posterity
will have succeeded in discovering a substitute for
the matezial which is now the life and soul of the
national existence.