The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-08-16 00:00:00

Our Introit Corrtsponkut

[We deem It right tn kat* that we do not at all times
nastily ourselves with our Correspondent'. opinions.]

The world of politics, usually so quiet at the expira-
tion of the session, was sndderly re-awakened into
active life, last week, by the simultaneous announce-
ment of important Ministerial changes, which was made
in those of the London daily papers which are supplied
With official news by the Cabinet. The alterations so
made have, of course, been variously regarded, accord.
lug to the bias of the politician who has studied them.
Upon them I have no opinion to express. They are only
another Illustration of the revolution which time works
In the composition of Governments as well as in that of
less weighty matters. Death and resignation have
done their work with the Cabinet which WY sworn into
office bet are her Majesty at Windsor in December,
1868, and very few Ministers now hold the same de
partments, the Seals of which were then handed to
them. Mr. Gladstone is still Prime Minister ; Mr.
Cardwell ie 3et Secretary of State for War; and the
Duke of Arg3ll still presides over the destinies of India;
but in all other respects there has been a transfer of
offices For instance, Lord,Geanville has gone from the
Colonial to the Foreign Department, Lord Kimberley
from the Privy Seal to the Colon ce, Mr. Bruce from
the Home Department to the Presidency of the Council,
Mr. Lowe from the Exchequer to the Horne Office,
Mr. Childers horn the Admiralty to the Duchy of
Lancaster, and so on. I may say that of the five
Secretaries of tate, the Home Minister t•kes pre-
cedence. Time was long ago, when one Secretary of
State was found sufficient for the administration of
affairs. At length it was found requisite to cre•te a
department which should have the exclusive supervi.
010 n of our relations with other countries. The Foreign
Minister, therefore, ranks next after the Home. Up
to the date of our expedition to the Crimea in 1855,
the Secretary for the Colonies administered the War
Department as well, but the offices were then severed,
and • Secretary of State for War was appointed. In
1858 the transfer of the Government of India to the
Crown made it necessary to create a fifth Secretary of
State, and this functionary comes last on the list in
any Cabinet records or Court ceremonials. This, then,
is their order—Home, Foreign, Colonies, War, India.
In the absence of the Leader of the House of Commons
from his post, the Home Secretary takes his place as a
matter of right, and the knowledge of this fact might
save much speculative criticism. When Lord
Palmerston, in the later years of his life, WWI SO often
laid up with gout, hie place was taken—not by his
brilliant Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Gladstone,
but by Sir George Grey, the Home Secretary. Those
who were ignorant of official etiquette construed this
Into a slight upon Mr. Gladstone, but it was really
nothing of the kind. The arrangement was governed
strictly by precedent. And If at any time the present
Premier should be ill during his tenure of office, the
Leader of the House of Commons pro tern would be
the new Home Secretary, Mr. Lowe.
The succession of railway accidents which were re
ported some days ago proved the truth of an oft-quoted
saying "It never rains but it pours !" In the absence
of complete and trustworthy evidence it would be pre-
mature to assign distinct MUMS for these casualities,
but one fact is fairly open to comment. In nearly every
came there was a lack of punctuality, and that thighs an
evil which has greatly increased of late years
those who have occasion to travel by rail can
abundant' testify. I remember the time when
"railway punctuality" was not merely a phrase,
but • substantial troth, and when there was an
aphorism in existence, telling the public that "Time,
tide, and train waited for no man." lint the train t.
iong been erased from Vie saying, and it Is not to,
samdi to assert that punctuality is no longer the rule,
but the exception. I sutpose that this result is in
some degree attributable to the enormous increase of
traffic, but whatever the cause may be, I think there
will be no dispute respecting the fact.

Many of the old city guilds have lately subscribed
liberally towards the promotion of education, some
tnrough the agency of the London School Board, and
others in a more direct manner. In ages long gone by
these guilds played important parts in regulating the
trade of the city of London. For the date of their es-
tablishment we must search far back amongst the
manners and custcm of our Teutonic forefathers. An
eminent writer has declared that it is in the old Teutonic
"gild." that we must look for the vital principle upon
which our chic institutions are all based. Their
charters were the first reeoguition of the profession
of rnerch-nts, and theit ordinances were the first embodi
ment of a code of mercantile regulations. During the
Middle Ages the city companies constituted what may
be called the friend y societies as well as the clubs of
the trading population. They were associations not
only for the relief, but for the defence an protec-
tion of their member', and they still play an important
part in civic history.
The British Medical Association bas just been
holding its annual meeting in London, and a very
Important and interesting gathering it has been. One
of the subjects was devoted to the consideration of
" Public Medicine," and the necessity of speedy relief
In cases of emergency was well pointed out. The
Preddent quoted the case of the city of New York,
where every medical man is furnished with • horse,
which can be used ander any circumstances. If •
man, for instance, breaks his leg in a particular
locality, the nearest doctor receives a telegram within
• few minutes ; he or an assistant starts with an ambu.
lance for the 'scene of the accident, and the patient is
removed either to his own house or to a hospital. In
the course of the sitting there was a good deal of
discussion upon the best means of preventing the spread
of the cholera, of which two cases have lately been
reported in London. The question whether the disease
was contagi,us was rather warmly debated, but the
beet way of dealing with it is perhaps a more practical
matter. One gentleman mentioned • case in which
diluted sulphuric acid had been effectual in premonitory
symptoms.

The curious objects displayed in the International
Exhibition have suggested various researches into their
history, and one of the most interesting is the history
of that common article of every-day use—the purse.
It is of great antiquity. Purses appear on Etruscan
tombs, they were in use amongst the people of ancient
Egypt, they are referred to in the New Testament,
the Celts and Anglo-Saxons possessed them, and it
wee nnder the Normans that they became important
articles of dress. Then they hung from the girdle.
The exhibition of Decorative Art Needlework contains
a specimen of the sixteenth century purse, described
as the " alms or money bag of the Queen of Francis 1.,
worked in silver and dark-blue velvet." There is also
an alms-bag of Anne of Austria in blue velvet, em-
broidered in god and silver, with the arms of France
and Navarre. We have read how, in the time of
Edward 111., the introduction of pocket-holes enabled
the ladies to pocket their purses, and how they became
conspicuous in the drese of the gentlemen as pouches
worn at the side. In the reign of Henry VIII. ladies
wore the purse suspended by long Cords, and this con-
tinued until the time of James I. From the fact
that expert thieves found no difficulty in cutting the
cords, and thus obtaining the purse, the old appellation
of " cut-parse" was coined. Even in the present day
more than one popular saying is associated with the
puree. "Drawing the puree.stringe " signifies a
penurious disposition, while to loosen them conveys an
exactly opposite meankg. And when we say that "Mr.
So-and-So law a tolerably long purse," do we not indi-
cate that the fortunate possessor is a man of means?
A singular fact has lately transpired in connection
with the strike of the London gas stokers in December
last. In the General Post Office at St. Martin's-le-
Grand the amount of gee consumed daily during the
month of December averages 40,000 feet. When the
authorities received a warning that the supply of gas
would probably be cut off, an order was given for a ton
of candles, and during the strike the sorting office.
were lighted up with 2,000 of these preparations. The
cost was ktiO dnriug the four days of the strike, while
the expense of gas in the rams time would have been
£3O. Thus, at a rough calculation, the relative cost
of candle-light may be estimated at double that of gas
—a fact which many householders have possibly
ascertained for themselves.

Large numbers of impede are held in London which
never get lot, the newspapers, but one of these in.
uniries, which took place • few days ago, has obtained
publicity, and it is hoped that it may have the effect of
stopping or at all events, of modifying a dangerous
practices. A pawing smoker threw away a lighted
fusee into the street, the drew of • lady was thereby
set on fire, and the injuries eo received ended in her
death. Unfortunately it is • very common occurrence
to see both fusses and flamers bl zing in the middle of
the pavement, to the great danger of ladies' dresses.
Some smokers, who do not sare to carry a box of
Vesnvians which may Ignite in the pocket, use one light
and throw the box and its remaining contents away.
Not unfregnently these are strewn along the pavement,
ready to take fire under the feet of pedestrians or la the
heat of the sun. There ía another playful pretties full
of danger to life and property which ought to be put
down by the strong arm of the law. In some parts of
London, miwnievone boys are in the habit of setting
wisps of paper on fire, and throwing them, while
burning, just beneath the feet of prising hones. Even
if the animals are not frightened, the dances are that
life or property is exposed to serious risk.

In the deneelrpopulated neighbourhood of Marken.
well, there ía a venerable structure known eg Si
John's Gate. It le a part of the famous hone.
; briorgine to the Kniatts of St. J and
Dr. Johnswi Ent bu,,ed to the Gratte.

sien's Magesins, which was printed on the premien.
There i.e story that the great lindoographoom dinner
woe pushed to him behind a 'arson upon one ma'am,
because his apparel was too poor to permit of his
appearance before one at the printer'. nests. Here,
ton, Garrick made his first appearance in London
as an actor. For many years St. John's Gate
has been occupied as a tavern, to the grief of the man
of letters and to the chargin of the antiquary. A
change is, however, about to oorne over its fortunes.
The English Order of the Knighta of St. John have
lately, by pri Huss., regained poreadon of the freehold.
The drinking bar will disappear, and the building is to
be completely restored. In course of time it will be
quite an orn %inept to the new thoroughfare now in pro-
ems of construction between Old-street and Oxford.
street.

-
For some time pact the question how beet to appro-
priate the space surrounding St. Paul's has been under
the considerAion of the City authorities, and it is
understood that they have resolved to pursue the course
lately followed with respect to one of Wren's churches
in the Strand. In the latter case the " curtilege"
vkirting the exceed edifice WM materially reduced.
This was a great public improvement, for it gave
space to a buoy thoroughfare where it warn urgently re-
quired. Who the church was built London was • very
different place from what it is to-day. Traffic was not
so heavy, nor was ground so valuable as it is now. The
idea then was that there should be a considerable area
surrounding the structure in order to prevent vehicles
from approa :hing too near the walls and interrupting
the service. Now a noiseless pavement produces the
sane result, besides adding to the width of a busy
street. Some strong objections have, howevee, been
urged against the idea of circumscribing the area in
front of our great metropolitan cathedral. It has been
pointed out that the requirements of city traffic do not
call for it, and that St. Paul's is already sufficiently
enclosed. The same may be said of many other public
buildings. Look, for instance, at the British Museum,
packed away in the heart of Bloonuibury, approached by
Insignificant streets, and scarcely visible from the main
thoroughfare. You may catch a glimpse at it in pass-
ing along Oxford-street, but not sufficient to convey an
Idea of the importance and value of the institution.
Before the Metropolitan Board of Works separated
for the recess, it had under its notice a scheme of some
importance for completing what is called the inner circle
of London railways. For some time past this has been
held to be desirable, and it is now proposed to construct
a line from the Mansion House terminus of the Metro-
politan District Railway to the Bow station of the
North London line, with • station at Aldgate. It is
also in contemplation to make a new street over the
Intended railway, from the corner of Esatcheap to
Fenchurch-street, and to widen the throughfare lest
mentioned. The net cost is estimated at a million
sterling, and it has been suggested that while the under-
taking should be carried out by private enterprise, the
Board should contribute part of the coat, as of course
they must do if the new street were made. So vast
project, however, required mature consideration, so the
Board instructed It. officers to report upon it, and in
the meantime it will be laid before the City Corpora-
tion, who are to be asked to co-operate with the Metro-
politan Board in executing such a great public improve-
ment.