The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-04-02 00:00:00

v) ur TrAtnt Corrtsguitbtnt.

We deem it right to state that we do not at all timell
Identify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.]

Easter is now close upon us, and before many
days the first great popular holiday of the year
will be giving enjoyment to hundreds of thousands
of our countrymen. As is usual, one of the ways
In which the season is to be celebrated is by a
review of volunteers in and around London.
This year the ceremony will take place at Dover,
and the official "general idea" of the plan of
operations shows that it will be no mere holiday
task, but the culmination of some days of real
hard work. It is supposed that a foreign army
has effected a landing at Sandwich Bay, and the
Saturday immediately following Good Friday will
be occupied by preliminary operations in which
the attackers will endeavour to seize the high
ground about Whitefield, and the defenders will
be engaged in gathering their forces to repel the
invasion. As a result of the day's manceuvres,
the supposed foreign foe will withdraw, only to
renew their attacks on the Monday, when, with
a force of 7437 men in green and grey, they will
do their best to get to Dover, which will be
defended by 3743 men all in the old British
scarlet. The review will close the operations,
and although these will constitute but a "sham
fight," this will not be such a hollow mockery as
the old-fashioned Easter Monday Volunteer
picnics at Brighton were accustomed to be. For
volunteering in these days is a very serious busi-
ness, and the men have no desire to shirk any
duty that can be fairly imposed upon them.
new departure was adopted a short time
ago by the Foreign Office, which deserves more
recognition at the hands of all interested in the
trade and manufactures of this country than it
has hitherto received. It has always been the
custom of our Consuls abroad to send in
an annual report concerning the trade of
their district, and these documents have been
issued in the form of a Blue-book, or series of
Blue-books, that have attracted comparatively
little attention. Seeing how many valuable
facts were imbedded in them, and how desirable
it was that these should be generally known, it
was suggested to the Foreign Office not long
since that it would be well to issue these reports
separately, as soon as possible after they
arrived, and at a cheap rate, so that they
might be easily accessible to all. The
suggestion was adopted, and has now been some
months in operation, with the result that for a
penny or twopence anyone interested in the
trade of Tunis or Tientsin, Souakim, or Stock-
holm, Christiana, or Crete, or 90 other places,
can obtain the latest details concerning it. There
can be no doubt as to the importance of this
action upon the part of the Foreign Office. The
da)s when people could talk as if it were suffi-
cient to know all about our own wants and to

guess at those of every other nation have passed.
If we wish to retain our trade we must consult

the wishes and even the prejudices of those with
whom we have to deal. And no better way of
finding these out can be suggested than to study
the annual trade reports of our own officials,
drawn up on the spot, and filled with the latest
information.

Proof of the value of such reports can be ex-
tracted from that issued concerning "the trade
and commerce of New Orleans for the year
1886," which is one of the latest published.
This particular document bristles with sug-
gestions to the British merchant and manu-
facturer; and these are not likely to create
the less impression because M. Consul de
Fonblanque does not mince matters, but puts
his points very clearly indeed. The British
merchant is told that, "spoiled by a long career
of prosperity, he is not quick to make changes in
his modes of conducting business, or to accept
the new methods of others;" and that "in
several of the few articles of import left to us,
our merchants err in not putting them up in a
handy and saleable manner to meet American
requirements, and in all others they do not seek
to find out what is required." Our traders are
further informed that if they adhere too closely
to old-fashioned terms they will be cut out by
the Germans, and a striking instance is given in
proof of this contention. And as if to interest
all classes—though with a sort of sorrow the
Consul says, "I have little to report which
would be of a practical use to the British
(umer,"—he warns those who may be tempted
to dmigrate to his district by" pamphlets con-
taining highly-coloured accounts of the beauty
and richness of the land, and promising easy and
quick prosperity to those who would come and
possess it, that the reality is not likely to be
equal to the anticipation. Even such a rapid ,
summary as this will show how much valuable
information is packed into these official docu-
ments.
Periodically a motion is placed upon the paper
of the House of Commons for the removal of the
grating which screens the Ladies' Gallery, and
this session is no exception. Whether time will
be found to discuss the proposal is very doubtful;
but if it can be, it will be interesting to know
what reasons can be adduced for retaining this
curious institution—one of a kind that does not
exist in any other legislative assembly in the
world. Even in our own House of Lords men
and women are allowed to sit together in the
Peeresses' and Distinguished Strangers' Gal-
leries, without any such screen dividing thorn
from ther body of the House; and probably the
only substantial reason that can be adduced for
retaining the grating in the House of Commons
is that it has existed a very long time. It has
been suggested that, as the ladies attending the
debates are the mcFt interested in the question,
their opinions upon the point should be tested,
and that for the next three months a ballot
should be taken of them upon the issue, '
"Do you wish the grating removed F" It is by
no means certain that the answer would be
unanimously in the affirma6ve ; but it is highly
probable that "the ayes would have it" by a
sufficient majority to induce the greater number
of members to vote in the same direction. The
question is one which cannot in any case affect a
large proportion of the population: but in par-
liamentary circles it excites more than a languid
interest, and its discussion by the House will be
awaited, not quite with anxiety, but with a dis-
tinctly pleasureable anticipation. And that
anticipation will be the greater if the ladies
themselves can be induced to indicate their wishes
on the subject.
Now that the season for continental travel is
again setting in, the correspondence which has
-been going on in the newspapers as to railway
robberies abroad is of general interest. It is
complained that on nearly every European line
the theft of passengers'luggage has been reduced
to a system; and a "Queen's Foreign Service
Messenger" avers, as a result of his ex-
perience, that "no cords, locks, or seals are
of any value, and the knowing traveller carries
:Whatever he has of especial value in the carriage
with him. Such an opinion, coming from one
who must have had considerable opportunity of
forming a correct one, has great weight; and it
will be well for those who meditate a Continental
journey to take it to heart. The manner in
which locks are forced is in itself a revelation,
but the most audacious form of such robberies
seems to have been reserved -for Russia, where
the luggage van is set on fire, and the contents
said to have been destroyed. This, in its sheer
impudence, almost touches the sublime, and it is
difficult to see how even the most wary traveller
could take precautions against it. However
watchful one may be, one cannot have his eyes
everywhere, and as Continental travel almost
necessarily involves the carrying of a large
amount of luggage, the anxiety of many a
voyager will not be lessened during the coming
summer by the revelations of roguery which
have just been made.
One of the most distinguished of Continental
travellers is now at Cannes, the Queen having
resolved to strengthen herself for the many
public ceremonies in which she will be called
upon to participate during the Jubilee celebra-
tions by a visit to the Riviera. Cannes will
always have for her Majesty a melancholy
interest, because it was there that her youngest
son, the Duke of Albany, died unexpectedly
just three years since; and one of the Queen's
objects in now visiting the place was to partici-
pate in a service in the church erected for the
English residents in memory of the departed
duke. All her subjects will hope, however, that
sad as the surroundings of this portion of her
visit must be, the net result will be an increase of
health 'and strength to their Queen. For she
will have need of all this during the coming
summer, as the Jubilee celebrations promise to
be even more extensive than were at first
designed. Of late years public ceremonies have
fatigued the Queen with increasing weight, and
her nervous exhaustion after any which were
. prelonged has been painfully visib!e. • But'
recently she has seemed stronger, and
it :,nay be trusted that the duties
she will be called upon to perform during
the coming June and July, will not make too
heavy a draught upon her physical resources.
A few weeks on the Continent may do much to
fortify these against the projected celebrations;
and all will hope that these few weeks will prove
a source at once oi-.health anti Lisppiness to the
Queen.

With the spring come reports of the first lawn
tennis matches of the season, and racquets are
being taken down from their places, balls are
being purchased, and no once more stretched
across lawns by the eager admirers of the game.
It is scarcely surprising that the pastime should
remain so popular, for it gives an opportunity
for the young of both sexes to meet in innocent
outdoor recreation which in no other fashion
could be afforded thorn. Admirers of archery—
of whom there are still many—look down
upon lawn tennis as a modern and altogether
too energetic pastime, and lovers of cricket
are inclined to condemn it because it
takes away from the wicket many a
young man who prefers to wield the
racquet in the company of ladies, to
swinging the bat in sight of men alone. But
those who wish to see "a sound mind in a sound
body" among our young women as well as in our
young men, are not likely to adversely criticise
lawn tennis. The staunch in such matters may
contend that it is but a weak imitation of the
grand old game of tennis, famous in history and
in song; but tennis in its original form is too
exhausting for ladies, and it requires space for
its development which is not easily to be found.
More and more in these times, the necessity for
out-door exercise for women is being insisted upon,
and the more tempting that. out-door exercise
can be made, the more likely is it to be adopted.
And though the stern among us may believe that
it is more- for purposes of flirtation than of
physical advantage that our young men and
maidens love lawn tennis, the majority will hold
that the pastime is a pleasant one, and deserves
all the popularity it so rapidly attained and so
long has kept. A. F. R.