The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-07-02 00:00:00

Our Yonbon Contspoilinnt.

[We deem ib right to state that we do not at all times
identify ottrselyes with our Correspondent's opinions.

The sudden and unexpected appearance of a bril-
liant comet in the north-eastern sky has attracted an
extraordinary amount of attention. The supernatural
is at all times of absorbing interest, and the human
mind is attracted far more towards the unaccountable
and the mysterious than to that which is clear and
defined and comprehensible. The sun, the moon, and
the stars we know to be bodies of varying degrees
of solidity; but what are Comets, whence do they
come, where do they go, and what' mission do
they fulfil in the solar system ? Questions like
these are certain to occur at the appearance
of one of these erratic visitors in the firmament.
The most magnificent of these heavenly wanderers
which is remembered by the present generation is that
which looked down upon our earth in the autumn of
1858. It was seen by the inhabitants of these islands
in 1264, and it was estimated that its tail was a hundred
degrees in length. It reappeared in 1536, and its return
was predicted for August, 1858. And sure enough it
came back. On the 2nd of June in that year, Pro-
fessor Donati, an eminent Italian astronomer, first
observed its approach, and it was then about 228,000,000
miles from the earth. It continued to come nearer
for more than three months, and from the end
of September to the middle of October was nightly
a splendid spectacle. Its tail was forty millions of
miles in length, stretching from the horizon to the
zenith; it was nearest to us on the 10th of October, and
on the 18th narrowly escaped coming into collision
with the planet Venus. Night after night the people
turned out in crowds to gaze upon it. Although ts
tail extended over nearly half the distance of the
earth from the sun, it was of such ethereal lumi-
nosity that the bright star Arcturus was seen
plainly shining behind it. We were thus
presented with the remarkable fact that while
in London twenty yards of fog are sufficient to
obscure the sun at noonday, Arcturus could be clearly
seen at night through a million miles of comet tail!
After remaining in our latitudes more than four
months, Donati's comet, as it is called, left us for the
boundless realms of space, to come back again about
the year 2138, once more to look down upon our
continents, our Mends, and our glittering seas.
The perils of a body like the Earth coming
into collision with a comet have often been the
theme of speculation ; but should such an abnormal
occurrence ever take place, those who have studied
the subject assure us that the comet would
fare second best in the struggle. There might
be a displacement of some of the waters of the
sea; but the earth would hold her own and pass on.
There is little doubt that on Sunday, the 30th of
June, 1861, our planet actually passed through the
tail of the great comet which visited us that year;
but beyond the fact that it was a day of extraordinary
and unwonted beat no inconvenience was experienced
by the inhabitants of our globe. What it might be
like to pass through its nucleus is probably another
matter, but to our finite vision the chances seem
to be in favour of some disagreeable terrestrial
disturbance. Associated with the movements of the
most recent of our celestial visitors was a brilliant
pyrotechnic display which took the form of rocket-
like meteors, flung off from the body of the comet
during its passage along the northern horizon. It
was really a welcome guest in our skies; it formed a
new serration, and reminded the gazers that there
were other snbjects to talk about besides the Eastern
Queetion, the Irish Land Bill, the affairs of Tunis,
and the possibility of future troubles in the Transvaal.
The London season may now be said to have reached
its climax. In one week the number of engagements
has been something extraordinary. A Levee by the
Prince of Wales at St. James's Palace, a State Ball at
the Palace of Buckingham, a Grand Military Tourna-
ment at the Agricultural Hall, Aristocratic Cricket
Matches at Lord's and at Kennington Oval, Polo and
Pigeon Shooting Matches at Lillie Bridge and Hur-
lingliam, an Old English bazaar at the Knights-
bridge Riding School, following closely upon one
at the Royal Albert Hall, dances, receptions,
"at homes," parties, balls, garden entertainments,
such was the round of life in fashionable London. On
one of these evenings the Prince of Wales took the
chair at the annual festival dinner of the Royal Cam-
bridge Asylum for Soldiers' Widows, founded in
memory cf the late Duke of Cambridge, father of the
preesnt Cenninandenin-Chief of thd British army. It
is one of our most excellent charities, and the result
of the Prince of Wales's appeal for funds was a re-
sponse in the shape of a subscription list amounting to
£2,485. A good chairman at a charity dinner is an
acquisition which the committee of management al-
ways endeavour to procure, in order to give prestige
to the occasion, as well as to increase the funds.
The supply of fish to London has at length•become a
question to command the attention of the Court of
Cortieeen Council and of the Metropolitan Board of
Works. It has also attracted the notice of the New
York Press, which declares that with a market more
easily accessible than Billingsgate, millions of pounds
of salmon packed in ice cculd be sent to London from
America that can now never reach us. Billingsgate
Market was established when the supply of fish to the
metropolis was all brought up the river; and it seems
now to be recognised on all sides that the anachronism
of the central fish mart for three millions and a half
of people being a long way from every railway ter-
minous in London, and approachable on the land side
only by narrow and tortuous streets, should come to
an end. The Court of Common Council have appointed
a Committee of Inquiry into the matter, and have
collected evidence to show that there is a great waste
of valuable food because would-be purchasers cannot
reach the market in time in consequence of the gorged
condition of the thoroughfares leading to it. A vacant
space of ground in Farringdon-street, belonging to the
Corporation, and near the Dead Meat Market in
Smithfield, has been suggested as the best site for the
central fish mast. That is close to one of the stations
of the Metropolitan Railway, which is in connection
with most of the great termini in London.
The great Volunteer Review at Windsor on the 9th
July will be one of the most numerous gatherings of
our citizen army ever witnessed at any time. It
is expected that 30,000 men will pass before the
Queen on that occasion. Although this spectacle has
hen delayed by a year after its legitimate date—for
it was last year and not this, that the force attained
its majority—the Review will be regarded by the
Volunteers as the appropriate celebration of the
movement coming of age. There were many
in 1859 who thought it would be as transient
as it was sudden. Rigid military authorities
criticised what was then described as civilians
playing at soldiers, and confidently predicted
that the new pastime would lose its popularity
with its novelty. Many politicians laughed to
scorn the fear of invasion which had given to the
institution its original impulse, and expected to see
volunteering speedily die out, as it had done at the
beginning of the century, What, perhaps, few were
prepared for, was that the movement would take firm
root and expand until it would be recognised as a per-
manent element in the national life, and would be
regarded by soldiers and statesmen alike as a material
part of the defensive strength of the country. The
volunteers have taken their duties seriously, and have
made good their claim to a hearty recognition of their
services.

The calibre of the ships that are to compose the
future Navy of Great Britain has lately formed the
subject of inquiry in the House of Commons. At
present the largest and heaviest ship in our fleets is
the Inflexible; but it need scarcely be said that the
Italian navy contains much bigger vessels. Speaking
of our naval force generally, there is no doubt that the
proNem which the Admiralty have to consider is not
an easy one. The requirements of a first-class mari-
time force are now of the most multifarious character;
and the idea that we must be careful not to in-
dulge in diversities of type is one which those
who are responsible for our battle-ships cannot
for a Moment entertain. This was illustrated in
the recient launch of the Polyphemus, one of th 3
most wonderfully-shaped vessels that ever glided into
the water from the stocks. A host of problems con-
nected with naval armaments await their settlemen
by the terrible experience of actual warfare. What a
seafight will be when two great Naval Powers come into
collision is more than the wisest can foresee. At Tra-
falga.rthereweie engaged se venty-one.ships of war ; but
the imagination almost refuses to conceive of the con-
sequences of a conflict between such a number of
floating batteries, rams, and torpedoes in the present
day.

A noteworthy characteristic of the past few years
has been the establishment of Societies for the preser-
vation of ancient buildings, monuments, and what is
called "Folk Lore." Two of these have just held their
annual meetings in London. Over the Society for the
Protection of Ancient Buildings which was held at
the Westminster Palace Hotel, the Minister for the
United States presided. His Excellency, well known
as an author and humourist, delivered an eloquent
address, pointing out the interest which Americans
had in the preservation of the veneral)le relics
of Old England. The sympathy of all cultivated
citizens in thu United States was with this society,
and he felt sure that if material help was necessary
from-the other side of the Atlantic it would be forth-
con;ink. The other meeting, held within a day or
two, was that of a society for the collection of
Historical Folk Lore. In many of the cottage homes
of England there are proverbs, narratives, and
stories which have been handed down by the voice
of tradition ago aftor ago, tolling of the quaint and

curious customs of past centuries, but which are
gradually becoming obliterated amid the hurry and
the turmoil of modern life. The Folk Lore Society
believe that there is much valuable matter in these
old proverbs and recitals, and are making an effort to
rescue from oblivion such as have not yet passed out
of mind. It is somewhat refreshing to find, amid the
bustling competition of these later days, an extending
desire for the preservation of venerable objects which
tell of a less degenerate timq and of a period in the
history of nations when human existence was longer
because there were fewer emotions to stir man's heart,
and less excitement to wear out the spirit of his life.