The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-06-28 00:00:00

Aution OTtrrespeent.
Is right to state that we do trot at all Mall
auraslves with our Lbrrespoodirolb °endows/

No communication, dated from the metropolis just
now, would be complete without • reference to the
Shah of Persia. His movements throw the proceedings
of Parliament quite into the shade, and it will not have
escaped attention that the length to which the Tich
borne trial is reported, has within the past few days
undergone a material abatement. The intereat taken
in the Persiau Sovereign is really extraordinary, and
some perilous liod it difficult to accourd foe it. One
reason nnquestionably is that for the first time in the
history of the world, a Tinier of Persia has left his own
dominions for Europe unaccompanied by an army.
Persian monarchs have come to Europe before, but at
the head of vast hordes of soldiers, and with the intention
of carrying war and desolation in their train. Sometimes
they havesucceeded, although only for while ;at others,
such as at the Battle ef Marathon, where 10,000 Greeks
met and defeated 120,000 Persians, their undisiipliued
snaaaee have been easily rated by a small end compact
body of d.dermined men. In some respects Persia has
advanced but little since the days of sacred story
when Ring Ahasnerns (believed to have been
Xerxes) ruled over that Land of the Sun. No roads,
no irrigation, little or no cultivation eta naturally rich
Foil—such are some of the characteristics of the
Persia o to-day. Tbe Romans of two thousand years
ago were further ad ranced in the arts of civillzstion,
fir their roads and their aqueducts especially were
mositerpiecee of mechanical construction. Well,
the Shah of Persia suddenly shakes off the tradition.
of centuries, and leaves for a time the clasaic, dreamy,
t istoric East for the prosaic, bustling, enterprising
'Teat. He has seen the gigantic armies upon the
( 'ontinent ; he has crossed the English Channel amid
the thunder of the heaviest naval guns ever forged in
the world's history. The Shah and his suite have in-
eeed anticipated with more interest to their visit to
I 'ngload than to any other European State. Coming
is soon after the military spectacles in St. Petersburg,
similar displays at Berlin, although on an equally
grand and splendid scale, became rather monotonous.
llut no sooner had they left Ostend, and were
fairly out to sea than the scene changes, and at
the first sight of the convoy of ironclade the
members of the suite could not repress their ex-
clamations of astonishment. They had heart in their
far-off clime of the warships of Great Britain, and
however extravagant might have been their expecta-
tions, the eight of the Devastation must have amply
repeid them. Vague stories, tOO, had reached them of
the vast size and the immense wealth of London, and
they eagerly looked forward to an opportunity of judg-
ing for themselves as to the truth of the reports con-
cerning the giant city. The progamme of arrange.
assists Is certainly calculated to give them a very fair
Ids. of the might and the power of this country; and
no one doubts that they will return to their sunlit
skies favourably impressed by their hospitable re-
ception, and by the industry, the energy, arid the
activity of the never-resting Western World. Of all
the spectacles which have been presented to the Shah
since hi. arrival in England, the naval review at Spit-
head on Monday was the most imposing and the most
suggestive. We cannot vie with either the Germans or
the Russians in the nuignitudeef our armies, but we are
naturally proud of Britain's Navy, although the ships
are by no means the graceful-looking structures of even
twenty years ago. Forty-four iron-clad vessels of
different size., 110Ine of them carrying guns more
powerful than any ordnance ever before afloat, made
up such • fleet as had never gathered at a single
anchorage before, and there can be no queetion that the
Persians will carry home with them a very adequate
Idea of the unsurpassed naval strength of the British
maim.

The announcement made at the Royal Geographical
Society's meeting on Monday evening will give general
satisfaction throughout the coemtry. No one will have
forgotten the long.continued suspense which our-
rounded the fate of Dr. Livingstone, nor the relief felt
by all classes at the intelligence that the intrepid
traveller had been discovered by Mr. Henry Stanley,
a correspondent of the New York Herald. Mr. Glad-
'tone's secretary haa now stated to the Geographical
Society that the Government has granted a pension of
£3OO a year to Dr. Livingstone, to date from July last
graceful act which will he appreciated by all who
take an interest in the triumph of discovery, and in
the progress of civilization.
On these warm summer days some notion may be
obtained of the toiloome nature of the duties die.
Charged by the more hardworking members of the
House of Commons. Take a week's lab mr of either
of the heads of great depaitmen.e. He is usually at
he office by ten in the morning, and en Monday after-
noons the House of Commons meets at fur, surf, as a
rule, sits nine or ten boon without interruption. On
Tuesday afterno m the House aseembles at two, site
until seven, meets again at nine, and generally sits
until one or two on WedLesday morning. At twelve
o'clock at noon of the same day the Speaker is again
In the chair, and business is carried on until six in the
evseini. If the Minister is present at none of
the receptions which are given on this night,
he goes to blo 0f152e on the next morning,
comparatively invigorated. After six hours of work
there he is off to the House of Commons, and perhaps
Is compelled to remain there until two on the following
morning. By two o'clock on Friday afternoon the
House is again at business, works until seven, re'
assembles at nine, and should there not be a count out,
goes on to an early hour on Saturday morning. Later
In the session, when every hour is of importance, mid-
day sittings takes place on Saturday as well, and after
su_h a wi ek one can well imagine how the wearied
legislator welcomes the rest which Sunday brings,
The routine I have here sketched is the same every
year, from the beginning of June until the proroga.
tion—a date which is never postponed longer than is
absolutely necessary for the transaction of the public
burins's.

The question of the fish supply of London is one
which will command attention in proportion to the
high price of meat. Formerly, when all the fish for
the people a the metropolis tame by way of the river.
the situation of Billingsgate market was admirably
adapted for its purport'; but now that it is brought by
rail into King's-cross and Euston-equare from the
north, Shoreditch from the east, and Paddington from
the west, the Inconvenience of sending it to Billings-
gate, which is approached by narrow and tortuous
ways bard by London Bridge, is greatly felt. The ex-
posee of cartage to and from such a distance adds con-
siderably to the coat of the fish, and so the poor cannot
always afford the price asked by the costermongers ;
that which ought to be govt and wholesome food is too
often allowed to decay and spoil. Those who are
anxious to see an improvement in this direction con-
tend for the establishment of a great fish market in
the neighbourhood of each of the principal railway
termini. Look, for instance, at the immense benefit
widen such a plan would confer upon the vast town
which has sprung up within the past few years round
the Great Western terminus at Paddington. At
prevent, when the fish arrive at the station from the
fee west of Cornwall, it has to be hurried off miles
away to the other end of London, there to be disposed
el, and probably brought back again to the residents
of Bayswater and Kensington for sale several hours
afterwards. Similar illustrations might be drawn from
King'saoross, St. Pancras, and Easton-square, each of
which le the centre of a numerous and hard-working
population, chiefly belonging to the middle classes.
The success of the Food Department in the Inter-
national Exhibition proves that the English people are
sot so mush behind their neighbours across the Channel
is popular report might have led many to suppose. It
has become so much the practise to decry our own
systems of preparing the food of the people, that it is
somewhat refreshing to learn that in some respe is we
show an undoubted superiority. It appears from an
authoritative document which has just been Witted,
that while the French still retain the pre eminence in
the preservation of apricots, figs, and oranges, the
English carry the palm fir preserving cherries, green-
gage., and strawberries. We not only excel in the
quality, but in the cheapness of production. It also
sops's..e that of 82,000 tons of raisins aod ccarants ex.
ported from the isles of Greece last year to supply the
wants of the whole world, 45,000 tons were consumed
In this ccuntry, 12,000 tons having been absorbed by
the London market alone. Figs and dates are another
class of popular dried fruits, and the latter are imported
to the metropolis by thousands of tons annually.
It has often been a matter for adverse comment
that the cab service of London is not equal to that
of many a provincial town. Many efforts have been
made to improve it, but with very indifferent Boman.
Some time ago, however, the Society of Arts took up
the subject, and offered substantial prizes for the beet
deacript on of vehicle that could be produced suitable
to the purpoee. As • result many specimens of cabs
have been sent in and shown at the Exhibition, and a
few days ago the judges met there in order to award
the prizes. After an inspection of the vehicles, the
judges agreed that the cabs should be tried in competi-
tion in the west annexe of the Exhibition. On a
future day, after this trial, the cabs will go in proctie
to OA city and back. They will then be shown in
Palace Yard, and evidence of their merits and defects is
to be afterwards taken publicly before the Society of
Arta. These arrangements are sufficiently complete to
ensure a practical test of the experiment, and as the
question is now being dealt with so earnestly, no
doubt that before long London will have a better class
of cabs than it has hitherto possessed. With respect
to the cabman himself, who Is so often the victim of
Indignant expostulation or of unmerited abuse,