The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-08-28 00:00:00

THE troubles of Burmah, under British
domination, do not seem to decrease in the
least with the lapse of time, Disaffection
still reigns rampant in some districts:
zuerilla warfare goes on in others. Small
British victories are reported every few days,
but no general settling down to peace and
quietude on the part of the natives seems at
all likely in the near future. The Waa
Office is just now very busy indeed with
sending off reinforcements to Burmah, and
no one knows what the end will be. The
terrible calamity in Mandalay the other day,
by which, report says, over a thousand lives
were lost, is held by many who know some-
thing of the Burmese and their teniperament,'
to have been something other than a mere
' accidental catastrophe. The swollen Irra-
• waddy, they allege, swept over the ill-fated
city, and wrought its work of death becaus(
it had been let loose through a demolished
earthwork by fanatics who did not scruple
to slay their fellow-countrymen so that the
British garrison might be destroyed. Let
' us hope the allegation is not true, for the
fatal floods are bad enough to think of, with-I
out looking for so dak a cause. The Bur-
mese question will, we fear, trouble Britain
a good deal yet, and that ere long.
41.

THOUGH there seems no prospect of arlyi
legislation being got through in the Imp( rial
Parliament, other than that connected with
the voting of the twenty millions more which
are wanted to complete the Estimates, seine
members manifest very little disposition toi
bring the present part of the life of the new!
House of Commons to an end. The soundl
of the rifle on the moors, which is usually
sufficient to turn St. Stephen's into a desert!
place, has this year somehow lost its charm.
The Queen's Speech was a phenomenally
short one, and needed no discussion. Yet
many members, afflicted with the speech-
making malady, had to have their lengthy
say thereanent, and the debate on the Ad-
dress assumed large proportions. Mr.
Parnell's amendment called forth the streng th
of the party whips, and every endeavour has
been made to keep the party warfare going,
though the soldiers themselves are weary.
There is great indignation at the tactics of
those who thus unnecessarily prolong public
business on the part of many old M.P.'s
who have not been near Westminster at the
end of August for many a long year past,
and who are kept there this Session for
()arty purposes only. So long as persistent,
if mild obstruction goes on, it would mani-
festly'be unsafe for the Government to allow
its supporters to quit London in such num-
hers as to leave the situation at the mercy
o: the Opposition. No one knows when a
division might be snatched for the mere
glory of defeating Ministers. There is sadly
too much of this sort of thing going on now-
a-days in Parliament. I:; is time our lepis
lafors recognised that they go to 'St.
Stephen's for conducting the country's
business as well as to fight for the interests
of their own particular party. The whole
nation has made up its mind that the Irish
question needs meeting by a well-considered
remedial measure; it has entrusted the task
to the new Government, and it is willing to
wait until February' for its production.
Then why should further time be wasted
between Gladstonians, Parnellites, Union
Liberals, and Conservatives in the vain-
glorious struggle for the upper hand in every
small matter?

THAT was a terrible exemplification of one
of the deadliest "perils of the sea," which
was reported the other day from the Volga,
in which 200 lives were lost through a fire
on the steamer Vera. How sad it is to
think that the whole of the drowned ones
might have been spared alive if everybody
on board had not lost their heads. The
flames in the saloon seemed to have gOt the
mastery of the officers and crew, and all ef-
forts to subdue the devouring vlement failed.
Then the wisest course was pursued by the
captain. He headed the' ship for the shore,
and put on all speed: Many of the - terror-
stricken passengers jumped overboard, fear-
ing they would be burnt to death, and not
a few of them were killed in the water by
the wooden vessels and other objects thrown
to them for support. • Then when the bow of
the boat struck ground, and most of thosp
on board, by calmness and piesence of mind,
might have been saved, the paddles of the
steamer were, for want of thought, kept go.
ing, churning the waters into fury, and dasl -
! iv.g into pieces the poor people who had
quitted the blazing deck. The many who
' died, died truly of panic—that worst of all
calamities. which can
.befal those who go
down to the sea in ships.