The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-07-25 00:00:00

(Our 'fonbon Torrtspontnnt.
rwa deten it right to state that we do not at all times
Identity ourselves with our Correspondent'. opiulons.J


The Prime Minister's announcement that NAllc.
scent would be prorogued on the sth of August, was
received with satisfaction in other than Parliamentary
circles. There are many Industrie, in London where
the holb lay arrangements, solely depend upon the time
fixed for bringing the legislative (session to a close.
As it is impossible for a large establishment to follow
the example of the Law Courts, viz., close the doors
altogether from August to November, the next best
thing is to take turns in going away, and the later Par-
liament sits, shorter and colder grow the days for
snaking holiday. It would be an immense improve-
ment in many ways if the British Legislature, like
that of the United States, suet in November, and
separated in May. That would give the best part of
the summer to rest and recreation, and to the enjoy-
ment of the country when vegetation is at ita
freshest. Now the House of Commons works night
and day amid the almost insupportable heats of
July, and the air which is pumped into that
assembly has to be passed over large masses
of ice in order to make it somewhat cooler than the
surrounding atmosphere. On such nights so we have
lately had, members stretch themselves flat upon the
green benches in various stages of exhaustion. Not
upon the front sears., mind you, for there they would
be seen by the Speaker, whose dignity might be
offended, and a call of " Order ! " be the result.
But when a wearied representative id the people
wishes for a brief repose, he selects the most obecure
.4 the back benches. Very likely, before the House
assembled, he had been engaged at least four hours
on a Select Committee, and now wished for a little
rest before an impending division.
The beauty of the shrubberies and flower beds in the
open spaces of London is rapidly passing away under
the influence of the parching winds and the torrid
heat. The walks and shrubberies of Kensington
Gardens and Hyde Park, although kept in good
order, are suggestive of the sere and yellow leaf, and
of waning days. True, the old trees, the pride and
glory of the expanse, seem to be not so well attended
to as one might expect, but upon the whole there is not
much fault to find with the appearance of this lung of
London. A pretty and well tended piece of shady
garden, not much known, is that which adjoins on the
east the open grounds at the back of Chelsea Hospital.
Here are smooth winding walks, lawns, flower beds,
Rummer-houses, clumps of shrubs, and some handsome
taller trees, forming a part of the famous Ranelagh
Gardens of the hot century. A little westward from
Chelsea Hospital is one of the oldest gardens in London,
that of the Apothecaries Company, which was made
201:1 years ago. AS you peep through the iron gate the
place looks dingy and formal, as though it were
specially laid out for the growth 1 medicines. The
few trees are of a sombre and funereal aspect, as though
mourning over the springs and Rummers which have
come and gone during the term of their existence. In
striking contrast with this is Battersea Park, the last
made of the metropolitan breathing places, with its
pretty boating lake and its tropical garden, its lawns,
its cricket and football spaces, its shrubberies, and its
long terrace upon the banks of the Thames. It is a
most refreshing spot on a summer evening, and
appears to be highly appreciated by the large popula.
tion in the south of London.

The presentation of the freedom of the City of London
is always a cereniony full of interest. The names upon the
roll of citizens comprise some of the most distinguished
men who have contributed to the greatness and
to the prosperity of the country. War and peace
are equally honoured in the long and illustrious list;
and not far from the name of Sir John Burgoyne may
be seen that of Richard Cobden. The latest addition
t• the freemen is Sir Bartle Frere, who was admitted
in recognition of his long and honourable public life,
his eminent services in India, and his recent successful
mission to the East Coast of Africa, with a view to the
total abolition of the slave trade there. The document
upon which the admission of freedom is recorded, is
always enclose .I in a handsome gold box of the value
of one hundred guineas.

From Guildhall to Westininater is not long Ms.
tance, but Co far as the Abbey is concerned, it seems
like passing from the living present to the departed
past—from the bustle and animation of to-day to the
eternal calm whose rest is silence. The Abbey statues
crowd so thickly together; that there cannot be room
fur many more; yet an addition has lately been made
to the number, recalling the memory and the services
of a statesman whose name was very prominently
before the country twenty years ago. I speak of the
Earl of Aberdeen, who was Prime Minister in the
earlier stages of the war with Russia. It is just
exactly twenty years since, in the summer of 1854,
England and France were preparing to make that
descent upon the l'ihnea which was to carry Sebas-
topol by a cup sic main, ausl put an end to the war in
a trice. I well remember the excitement which fol-
lowed the arrival of the intelligence of the Battle of
the Alma, fought on the 20th September in that year,
and the sanguine hopes raised upon is. Then ensued
is winter of terrible and unrelieved disaster.
On the fourteenth of November a storm of un-
paralleled violence swept over the tempestuous
waters of the deep Black Sea, creating awful havoc
amongst the British shipping in Balaklava Harbour,
and sinking a score of noble vessels laden with winter
clothing and provisions for the troops. Before more
clothing and provisions could be sent out from Eng-
land, a frost of intense severity descended upon the
Crimea. and our men were slain in thousands by the
cold, without proper protection from the i clement
weather and with food which was insufficient to keep
life within them. The distress caused by the elements
was visited upon the head of Lord Aberdeen, for on
the night of the 29th of January, 1855, his government
was driven from office by such an overwhelming
majority as had never been heard of in the history of
party conflicts. Now that the whirlwind and the storm
have passed, and many of the Ministers of that day
are gathered to their fathers, we see that all the criti-
cisms levelled at their heads were scarcely founded
upon justice. They were suddenly called upon
bo carry on a great European war upon a system
which fell to pieces at a touch after the dry rot which
was the result of forty years of peace. 'lle Abbey
statue to Lord Aberdeen, of which I spoke just now,
is very near that of Sir George Cornewall Lewis, and
bears this inscription—" George Gordon, fourth Earl
of Aberdeen, K.T., K.G. Born January 29, 1784;
died December 14, 1860. Ambassador, Secretary of
State, Prime Minister."
The drought from which we have been suffering has
extended to other countries. In many parts of the
Turkish Empire there is a deficiency of crops conse-
quent upon a low rate of rainfall. Turkey is one of
the chief granaries of Europe, so that any extension of
the scarcity must cause the general supply to fall con-
siderably short of its usual dimensions. From Austria,
another great grain centre, we have news that
harvest prospects have lseen injured by Revere frosts.
In Hungary, however, where serious misgivings had
been previously entertained, the condition of the crops
has lately improved. But in France great destruction
has been caused amongst the vineyards by frost, while
cereals are said to be backward. The latter observa.
tion, indeed, applies to most of the grain-producing
countries of Europe, owing to the singularly cold and
dry weather which pi-mailed in May. The story is
the same from the southern shores of the Mediter-
ranean ; while in Morocco the advisers of the Sultan
declare that they will be compelled to prohibit the
export of cereals, as every kind of grain will be re-
quired for home use. On the other hand the corn.
producing lambi of the United States are said to
promise well, and there are hopes that our own
harvest will be a better one than was anticipated some
little time ago.
The presence of the Crown l'rince and Princess of
Germany has lately re-awakenei the London season
lets active life. During their stay in the metropolis
their Imperial Iliglineeses remained with the Prinee
and Princess of Wales at Marlborough Hews !some-
times slric ing out in State, at others, such as on the
occasion of their visit to the South Kensington
Museum, going about with little or no ceremony. One
morning last week, as early at half pad four, the
Grown Prince, with his ilbestriou brother in-law,
started from Waterloo Station to witness a sham fight
at Aldershot, which was arranged to take place before
the fierce heat of noon-day. The mimic warfare, ably
as it might have been planned and carried out, must
have seemed to the Crown Prince tame and common-
place when compared with some of the scenes which
he has witneseed upon the field of battle. How it
niust have contraated, for instance, with the slaughter
at Konuiggratz, in July, 1866, when thetimely arrival
ed the Prince's armydrove the Austrians flying from the
field I And what compared with Woerth on the 6th of
August, 1570, when Fritz, as his father always
familiarly called Inni in his despatches, bowled over
IslacMahon, and drove him in hot haste towards Metz?
Then there was Gravelotte—an awfel harvest-field of
death, and after it, Sedan! The Prince, however, is
of a type of manhood admired by the people of this
nation. Brave and fearless in war, be values the
blessings of peace, and is as farm a believer in the
sanotity of the domestic circle as any Englishman
could he. Those photographs which repreeent him
babouing in each hand one of his little children,
cannot :ail to convey a favourable impression.
Amongst the efforts which have been mmle to im-
prove the dwellings for the humbler chases, that in the
immediate neighbourhood of Clapham Junction de-
serves to be especially noted. Clapham Junction, as
• many of your readers well know, is a great centre of
mut about TOO trains a day run in sad out

there. Not far away is " Shafteebury Park," so called
from the nobleman who takes such an active part in
charitable and philanthropic work. On this haa been
built Neveral hundred houses, designed for the
accommodation of the working classes, each with
a little plot of garden ground. Place of worship,
lecture halla, reading rooms, baths and wash.
houses, and temperance refreshment saloons are
on the estate, and the workmen resident thereon are
ambled to reach the scene of their daily labour by
those admirable institutions, the cheap morning trains,
for which, however little they may know it, they are
indebted to the efforts of the late Earl of Derby,
, who argued that if railway companies destroyed by
. wholesale the dwellings of the poor, they ought to
1 accommodate them by conveying workmen at specified
times ~f the day at a penny each journey. The block
of buildings which has just been opened at Clapham
Junction is only a section of the industrial city to be
called into existence as time goes on. The movement
has received some hearty support, and deserves sue-
' cess, as tending to give not only greater domestic
comfort to the toilers in the town, but to promote
religion and morality, and to encourage habits of
temperance and thrift amongst our artisan population.
1 The annual gathering of the National Temperance
; League at the Crystal Palace is one of the events of
the year. The great glass building at Sydenham and
its beautiful grounds are the scene of many an
interesting assemblage in the course of twelve
mouths. Sometimes the "cheerful horn" of the
Foresters is heard sounding merrily over the sward;
then the Oddfelloses muster in exceeding force, and
make the place glad with the sound of their bands and
the spectacle of their regalia, while dinners and fetes
for all kinds of objects are constantly turning up. But
this demonstration of the National Temperance League
is quite unique in its way, its peculiarity being
that for the whole of that day no intoxicating liquora
are obtainable either in the building itself or in the
grounds. Tuesday's fac was a great success so far as
the attendance was concerned, for contributions to
the multitude which thronged to Sydenham were
made by all parts of the provinces. The weather,
too, was highly favourable, for there was a palpable
diminution of that overpowering heat with which we
have all been lately so familiar.