The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-06-27 00:00:00

IPPIP"

a-idly affected by a very slight exciting cause. lie was
art a env, likely to commit self-destruction, except under ,
such eireUTLIA inees. He should have been surprised to hear
that it had been found necessary to put deceased
wider restraint, because he was of a very placid nature.
He was suffering from extreme physical end moral
depression. It was manifestly overwork and irritability of
- mind and body under which he was labouring. Ile was a
---- . worn-out men, having over-wrought himse lin his struggle
The fact of the Houle of Commons being " 41101111tia to rise in professional life. Even when his friends were
out" on ...Ray last at ten minutes past four is very
,ffivneiruti.leizsoullvAtiewtourn:uhave nothing. Irregular niealo
significant, :ind just shows that everybody by this upon hint ire was anaio-us th'i.f:lest4Yargrmee"at•Purtehie
time must pretty well know that the House has a very patient* He had not acquired the ordinary ladifferanee of
a medical man which comes by habit.
-Teat disinclination to work, and seem wisdom' only to
The Coroner stated to the jury that unless they
--ct: throu,li the seeidon somehow. When the HOW.
thought it neseseary no further evidence would be
net at four o' Y clock there werw exactly for' Lu°nbei" I called. It would be undesirable that Mrs. Marsden,
present. but a few immediately went au a., lilld ten ! in her present state of mind and feelings, should be
tiding, after meeting, "an hon. @lobar" noticed required to give evidence ,• and he believed that the
or fact, and the result was, that after the farce of
' facto stated by the medical and other witnesses would
e a
ten minntex sitting the House was counted out. benclititient to enable them to ellUili to an accurate
i.'ored.lerilig that Mr. Hardy was to . ovo the o,dnina- The.°
. IL •
pry, through their foreman, expressed them-
of a select 011111111itter on the Realer tiou Rid, and selv es iiatifffied with the evidence that had been adduced'
dust the posing of this Illeftoelet, IS e,,Sentiat to the . scud returned &verdict to the effect that the " Deceased
iLeeting i.f is new II 4 use of Oaninons, Government , hail poisoned himself by taking prussic acid, and that
: at the time he was.inot of sound mind."
ro.-haps ....glit to have seen to it that forty members
ii ere kept there; but the truth 1.-- and it is rather an
71, 10eald one - that WellltreeS We SA; weary of the
~sion that it is now nearly always difficult to get
together a respectable assembly. There is no doubt,
however, that the machinery for electing the new
Parliament will be all ready in due time ; and this is
d!iout all that either the House of Commons or the

,area for.
The I louse of Commons has agreed, on the proposi-
t of it' Prime Minister, to have " morning " sit-
tings, commencing either at twelve o'clock or at two,
the claim. of the Government. This is intended merely
• th.. present Session ; but it may, perhaps, be regarded
a, the first step to a permanent alteration in the hours of
the House Of CoMIIIOIIB business. With all due
.1,-ference to or legislators, they set the country a
very bad example of late hours. Midnight is a very
common time to adjourn, and occasionally "the wee
short hour ayant the twat" has passed before the House
adjourns -on special occasions the House breaking up
still Liter. Continental Lagislatures manage these
things better, and our own House of Lords very seldom
sit Late. Instead of meeting, as now, at five o'clock,
and ,arrying on business for seven or right hours.
would it not be better to meet always at two, adjourn
I rim six till eight, and sit again from eight till ten? But
t here is another question of more imp..rtsince. 'What
shall be done to compete with the growing business of
the House of Commons? The time that our legislators
devote to Parliamentary business is evidently not
adequate to grasp the immense amount of work, always
increasing, that has to be done; and yet the wear and
tear of an ordinary session is so great that we cannot
ii isonably ask members to increase it. One thing at
least might be done. Instead of the labour ..f Sisyphus
tieing illustrated by abandoning bills, which have pro-
gressed through several stages, and then doing all the
work over again the following session, why not carry
over the Lill as it stand's and take it up at that point
on the succeeding session?
tiome time ago a girl was brought from Belgium,
ostensibly to he employed as a waitress, but, as it
turned ..tit, she was really decoyed over here for an
immoral purpose. The case came incidentally under
the w.tice of the Lord Mayor, and thus a great
leal of puldieity was given to it. Ti this publicity,
am! the fact of some leading articles being devoted to
subject. is doubtless owing the prosecution of
the principal offender; but how sad it is to think that
there must be many, many such women in London as
the •• lady " who is now being prosecuted. Parliament
ought really to face this painful subject. It has been
ns. long ignored.
- • •

By degreis+, improvements are being effected in the
management if the Metropolitan police. The latest
reform is a very good one. The men are to have one
ilay's holiday per week, and, as far as possible, I
Sunday will be the day chosen. This is as it should
be. Government may have no right to legislate on
purely religions subjects. but Government depart.
pests ought at least to du nothing to promote Sunday
%sink. The policeman's weary pacing up and down
die streets 4,1 his beat is as much work as the
mechanics every-day employment ; and it is well that
the police should be relieved from it as much as
possible. Perhaps the General Post-Office might take
the hint. That there is a good deal of unnecessary
stinday work in that establishment there is good
reason to suspect. Reverting to the Metropolitan
p lie, is it uot time that the chief of that force re-
tired': Sir lticimrd Maonie iii 'ROW seventy-tmi years
in age, which is a trifle too old fur a man whose
duty it frequently is to taks personal command of his

men.
This is cool :

—"Secretary wanted for a Co operative
Soeiety in course of formation. His services will be
re juiced at irice. He will have to find the preliminary
expenses." Co-operative societies are supposed to he
worked Iry the union of labour, and a small amount of
capital dabbed together by the members ; but to start
a emoperative society without money, and advertise
for a omit who, for a doubtful honour, will find the
capital, Li about as cool a joke as has lately appeared.
An article in the Star (I wish the same thing had
been in I he .n7llO, and then it would have attracted
rig attention, and possibly have led to the commence-
mer,t A' a reform) deals with the nuisance and the
scandal of importing Italian boys to beg about the
r•l' our towns, under pretence of exhibiting
guinea-pigs re white mice, or playing wretched violins.
After giving a sketch of the presumed occupation of
flies,. boys, which by no means tallies with the con-
, 1 usion. of those who have inquired into the facts, the
wrher says - " And this is repeat...A through the live-
', nv day, when the footmore little 011ent returns to
the Italian imarter, lying north of Holborn-hill,
and turns out the contents of his pockets for the
inspection of the padrone, whir rewards him, if he has
with a hunk of bread, and sends hint
ott sliwit in arough barrack-room, amongst, perhaps,
a se, ire of his little fellow-sufferers ; if unsuccessful,
with bh raw." This is doubtless true enough, but
the writer much exaggerates the extent of the
reat mistake, too, is made in reference
to , orean-grindeni. "We do not allude," says the
tr. .r. "to the organ-bearers, whose slowly-ground-
ou" tunes ought long before now to have grown en

familiar to the ears of Mr. Babbage, that his abstruse
.:.iations could he disentangled without hurt or
atirovniee. hut to the children," Are. TION is sheer
r. Babbage has long been a martyr to
the organ nutsAnce, but not more so, perhaps, than
hum're.lA of othern who have made lees fuse about it.
orzatogrinding is An intolerable and unmitigated
aflli There are emcalLai quiet neighbourhoods in
th s".- f London, which all the livelong day are
•ly ever free from the groaning, whining, and
ef these organs. No sooner has one gone
...tiler VIM...A. It is not a quest in of music or
for these organs Is not produce music, and
,ether they are intended to Is so. The men
mere money to go away than for playing.
, at Act of Parliament is a farce. If an organ-
)... playa rinse to your door you can send him away
II thvory. hut not in fact; he will go a few
doem oif, where the wound is dill more distressing.
have Aet oral times heard three organs grinding
nliiin hearing at the some time, and many a time
have I beanl then, within a few minutes of midnight.
There h: lint one remedy for it. Abolish it --it
is mercy to the men ultimately, and a
t.. "..siety immediately
Kole
Bole

A

has recently been -established near the
railway station, and a Bill has passed the

-
for eatabliahing a market at

_ _ so that, in the matter of markets, we
all :ear to he progressing ; and it is high time some
progress were effected. The idea appears to be to
v.(O lish small local or district markets; but whenever
a liriiisisition of the kind is made, there is naturally a
gool deal of opposition on the part of the shopkeepers.
1.% ith all the improvement we have had in this respect,
however:we are still worse off than many provincial
towns. Any one who ob,ervantly perei,minates about
wane parh, of London, most be struck with the ab-
own, of 0101.4. Take the neighbourhood of the
sfe,tres in the west-central district for instance. it
may almost he said that there are no shops. The Puke
of lledford, and iither landed proprietors, appear to be
under the i;:tpression that people don't want them.
()no curious restfft is, that tor a large family, we will
say,hi Riisiiell.squai.e, the cost of living, owing to all
the artieles tusvhi 4 to lie ordered and sent home, must
he from to clio a year Enoce than it would be were
)liere retail shops in the immediate neighbourhood.

THE EFFECTS OF OVERWORK.
An into the eircumstmees attending the death of
\Vin..llll Frederick Marsden. of Earldom iiirmin4litim,
CU.Llllktt 'I suicide, was lield 4111 Friday, when Thomas
t, slop, M D, Eat., M. RA!. P , Lt,mlofl, WA he had
intimately acquainted with the deceased for the last
, or nine yearn Had seen him very frequently Miring
time. having been the medical adviser of Ms family.
mit Mrs. Marsden not quite a month ago in Biukstreet.
• -aid her husliaml watt in a very depressod state of mind,
. ;:iat he thought he was goihg to die of consumption.
▪ wished witness to come anti site her husLand, and
,•, • Able WA chest, lie called on Dr. Marsden nest day.
' nhe celled, or. Marsden hail a sad expression of face.
"ambled him, and assured Mtn that his chest was
• • ,+ea-e. Dr. Marsden had repro-sell his opinion that
• • ming from consumption. Witness endeavoured to
tlLat his cheat was sound. lie did not know whether
I n.•
tt tint, ;utilised hint or not. At the time deceased made
no remark. Witness had been struck with his apparent
warm., Ile it. He was aware that there hail been
m soething mind of the tl,eased some months before
lie knew this from a conversation with
Mrs. 1 Linden. Attar the interview to which witness re-
ferred he nevi r saw the deceased alive again. Had noticed
deceased was an extrowely nervous man, and had warned
hint not to work so hard, hecirtse kin health for a long time
had been very aa,ansfaetary. Ittpl requested him over and
ever again, during the last twelve modes, in the most urgent
instiller, to obtain a vehicle, and to limit hie nelkinn and his
gen,ral ,nr. Mr. Marsden kept 110 horse. Over ext,relseon
of he ners-ons temuerament Would naturally harba,n
un lull eriC. In such a slats his mind would be