The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-09-04 00:00:00

l'hur Yonhn eurtspratbent.

(We deem It right to state that we do not at all VEOI
ifientify ourselves with:our Correspondent's opinions.

Blue-books by tradition are accounted hard
reading, and, truth to say, the great majority of
them well bear out the. character. But there are
a few issued from the parliamentary press which
are of interest to every intelligent person, and
one of these is the ,annual report of the Post-
master-General. So many good stories are told
in this that it is a pity they are not cast into a
more accessible form, but as the newspapers
usually pick out the cream of them, this is thf,
less tobe regretted. It is not only, however, for
the good stories with which this blue-book
abounds that it is of interest, for it contains a re-
cord of hard work of which the postal depart-
ment may well be proud. For initance, it is a
fact difficult to realise that during the year
ended March :31, more than fourteen hundred
million letters were delivered in the United
Ningdom, or over 414irty-eight to each person,
thus. showing an increase of more than three per
cent, in the total of letters over those delivered
in the previous. year. But this is not all
171,020,000 postcards, 342;000,000 book parcels
and circulars, 147,000,000 newspapers and
26,000,000 parcels were sent through the post,
6,tery item exhibiting an increase, especially in
the parcel department. To accomplish the work,
no less than 96,000 persons are employed, and
the institution grows yearly, At the General
Post Office, St. Martin's-le-Grand, extensions are
continually going on, and arrangements have
just been made to add another building of huge
dimensions to those already in use. Year by
year the social benefits conferred upon us by
the Post Office are becoming more appreciated,
and the limits of development are far from
reached.

There are some people. however, who wish to
r extend the usefulness of the Post Office in direc-
tions with which the authorities cannot, and are
not likely to agree. It is stated, for instance,
in the Blue-book just issued, that at the com-
mencement of the parcel post with Belgium
several cages of live birds were received from
that country; while on other occasions a pigeon,
a fowl, fifteen frogs, many bees, and some snakes,
all alive and active, were detected and stopped
in transit through the parcel post from different
countries. And even in our inland service, though
official warnings against such practices are frequent,
people often send live things through the post.
Two hens, eight mice, and two hedgehogs were
among the contents of the parcels received at
the returned letter office in Dublin, one of the
hens being addressed to a veterinary surgeon in
London, because it was in bad health, and it is
interesting to know that, though carefully at-
tended to, it died in the office. But it is not
alone by such extraordinary despatches as these
that the postal officials are troubled. Insufficient
addresses are a frequent cause of worry, and
badly-written addresses are so common that a
special department exists at St. Martin's-le-
Grand for the purpose of deciphering them. It
is a proof of how much trouble is given in various
fashions to the Post Office authorities that, the
number of letters, postcards, newspapers, and
parcels received in the returned letter offices
each year was nearly thirteen millions, of which
no less than twenty-six thousand were posted
without any address. These figures will appear
surprising to careful folk, more especially when
it is added that of the letters bearing no address
there were over sixteen hundred which contained
in all nearly four thousand pounds in cash and
cheques. People who are so careless of money
as this, do not deserve to have any money to
deal with.
Paragraphs from time to time appear in the
newspapers, headed "Promotions from the
Ranks, which have become comparatively so
frequent of late that their significance is not
appreciated as fully as it deserves. But they
tell of a feature of English military life which is
at once gratifying and encouraging, and the
growth of which will be watched' with in-
terest. The saying of the first Napo-
leon, that every French soldier carried a
marshal's baton in his knapsack, which
proved literally true in the case of Marshal
Bazaine, did much to stimulate .his armies to
heroic deeds; and the fact that an English
private can now look upon the chance of a
commission, not as something in the dim and
distant vista of the future, at as a possibility
which good conduct and steady application may
turn into a reality, must do much to stimulate
those virtues which bring success in military as
in civil life. At one •time, it was thought by
many, who are not too proud to own themselves
mistaken, that it would be impossible to make a
,e-ceed earamissioned officer out of a private sol-
dier; but the experience which is being accumu-
lated on the point is distinctly in the other
direction. The present state of *things is
obviously more in favour of deserving talent
being recognised than that which obtained in
the French army in the last century, when no
one could be an officer unless he could boast
four quarters of nobility, or which is in existence
in the German army of to-day, where no man
who is not of the "pinker" class can hope for a
commission.
Among the many places of interest with which
the country surrounding London abounds, none,
perhaps, possesses greater attractions than
Windsor Castle. Those who are visiting London,
and have only a limited period for their stay,
may begrudge the day which is necessary for a
trip to Windsor if they wish thoroughly to see
the place; but if they can make up their minds
to spare that amount of time they will certainly
not regret it. For, apart from the historical
associations which crowd around the Castle, that
building, or rather pile of buildings—for it covers
an area as large as many a place which would feel
insulted by being called anything less than a town
—is one of the most imposing which England
boasts. It has gone on growing as fortress,
palace, and prison as our history has grown' and
no portion of it is without its story. At this
period of the year, when the Queen is absent, visi-
tors are permitted to go through the state apart-
ments, which contain a number of objects of inte-
rest, unique and interesting to a high degree. And
those who are fond of rural scenery will find much to
gratify them, even if they have little taste for the
historic and antique. The view from the sunamit of
the Round Tower,whence on a elear dayportions
of seven or eight counties are to be seen, is a,
splendid one, the richly wooded scenery par-
taking of that character which we are proud to
believe is thoroughly English. The Thames,
which winds its course at the foot of the castle,
adds to the beauty of the scene, and the old
town itself clinging, as it were, close to the castle
walls is an object of interest. Windsor, in fact,
is one of those places which no visitor to
London ought to feel satisfied until he has
seen. _ -

Sir Frederick Stanley's elevation to thepeerage
as Lord Stanley of Preston is a reminder of the
number of similar titles to be found in the Eng-
lish peerage, , for already there sits in the House
of Lords a nobleman with the title of Lord
Stanley of .Alderley. In addition we have
• a Lord Napier of Ettrick, and a Lord Napier
of Magdala, an Earl of Mar and an
Earl of Mar and Kellie, and a Lord Mont-
eagle and a Lord Monteagle of Bran-
don. The fact that, before the union
of the kingdoms, there was a creation of
peers of Scotland and of peers of Ireland
distinct from that of peers of England,
will account for many similar. titles that exist:
but the danger of confusion is lessened by the
fact that several holders of„ them possess also
English titles by which they are sometimes
known. This fact is itself a pu77le to many who
read a division list of the rouse of Lords as
officially published. Very few except professed
students of politics recognise the Duke of Buc-
clench by his English title of Earl of Doncaster,
the Duke of Argyll as Baron Sundridge. or the
Marquis of Waterford as Earl Kerry. For the
convenience of those so situated, newspapers as
a rule rearrange the division list, so as to presont
the peers under the names by which they will be
popularly known, and it will be generally agreed
that this is a sensible course. But the official
list is found to stand as it always stood; a curious
instance of how little the formal records of the
proceedings of the House of Lords are allowed
to change with the lapse of time, is afforded by
the fact that although the House of Commons
has long abandoned the practice, the days of the
month at the head of the minutes are still given
in Latin, and the signature of the Clerk of the
Parliaments continues to be appended in the
same tongue.
Within the past three years various attempts
have been made in London to acclimatise the
out-door evening ammements. which are so
striking a feature of the Parisian summer, and
they have been attended by a considerable degree
of success. Closed buildings are certainly not
the most comfortable places in which to spend an
evening when the thermometer is high: and as
a large section of the population demands amuse-
ment in its leisure hours, the problem was how
to provide it. Now that success has attended
certain out-door efforts, it will appear obvious
enough to most that it was in that direction that
a solution of the problem should all along have
been sought. But thereare diffic-ulties to be consi.

dered which, though to home extent minimised, ere
yet far from overcome. The difference of climate
between London and Paris is one of these, and
it is one which human arrangements cannot
affect. There is another which has equally to be
considered, and that is the relative states
of the atmosphere as far as that is
under man's control. In London, as all
who dwelt within its borders know, the
" blacks " which are continually falling as a
result of the enormous quantity of coal-smoke
daily poured forth from our myriad of chimneys,
are a very real nuisance that does much to render
outdoor amusement less pleasant than it ought
to be. In Paris it is different; not only are the
bulk of the manufactories at one end of the
city, far removed from the most popular resorts
of the pleasure-seeker, but charcoal is burned in
most of the houses, and from this no " blacks "
result. These are differences not to be avoided
or lightly estimated, but if despite them we can
have more outdoor evening amusements in
London, many will be glad. A. F. R.