The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-02-17 00:00:00

THE THANKSGIVING,

In London, on Tuesday, at a conference between
the Guildhall Reception Committee and the Court of
Aldermen it was arranged that, in conformity with
precedent, a deputation composed of the Lord Mayor
and Sheriffs, four of the Aldermen, and eight of the
Common Councilmen, all mounted on horseback,
should receive the Queen at Temple-bar, and thence
escort Her Majesty to the CathedraL The Bar,
in honour of the occasion, is to be thoroughly cleansed
and decorated, under the direction of the City Archi-
tect, after a design which he has submitted to the Re-
ception Committee, and in such a way that but for its
local associations might probably render it somewhat
difficult of recognition. The embellishments, besides, are
to be so arranged as to be available for purposes of
illumination in the evening. Again, within the rail-
ings of St. Dunstan's Church, Fleet-street, command-
ing a view of the reception ceremony, at Temple-bar,
the Corporation mean to provide as many seats as
possible, and also to throw an imposing triumphal
arch across the entrance to Ludgate hill, between
the Waithman and Wilkes Obelisks. It is like-
wise understood that the somewhat unsightly via-
duct of the London, Chatham, and Dover Rail-
way, at that part of the route, will be decorated
bythe company for the occasion and that the
orporation have undertaken to erect seats for 400
or 500 people on a piece of vacant ground belonging to
them at the north end of Blaekfriars-bridge, in addi-
tion to the seats for 1,500 or 2,000 they mean to pro-
vide at the eastern entrance to the Victoria Embank-
ment. The arrangement at present is, so far as re-
spects the civic authorities, that in addition to the
Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress and each of the
Sheriffs and a lady, the members of the Court of Alder-
men, about 25 in number, and each of the Deputies of
the Court of Common Council, about 30 in all, will each
be provided with a ticket admitting himself and a lady
to the Cathedral, as will also the high officers ot the Cor-
poration, 40 or 12 in number. A question was asked
whether the various reception committees in the city
would be allowed to place poles for purposes of de-
coration in , the roadways, and whether the in-
habitants would be permitted to stretch banners
across the streets from house to house. Mr. Bed-
ford, the chairman of the Commission of Sewers,
replied that those were not matters with which
the Commission had anything to do, but that poles,
being not only dangerous, but obstructive of the public
view, would probably not be allowed. The question
of banners rested entirely with the inhabitants them-
selves. Various applications as to the temporary re-
moval or otherwise of house scaffolding on the occasion
were afterwards decided, the rule being that where
possible and without danger the scaffolding should be
removed, but, if not, that it should be made ornamen-
tal and protected from use by sight-seers.

The Rev. W. J. Bettison, Vicar of Harwich, writes
to propose that a thanksgiving service for the recovery
of the Prince of \Vales should be celebrated not only
in St. Paul's, but in the other churches of the United
Kingdom. He feels that there will be many paro-
chial clergymen who like himself will be anxious to set
aside that day for the same object, and who would
desire to have their churches opened and to have
a Mimilar service for their own congregations.
In the great majority of parishes, however, the efforts
which the clergyman may make to render the service
worthy of the occasion will be of no avail unless full
; opportunity is given to the parishioners to attend the
service. Ile would, therefore, propose that on that
day not only in London, but in the provincial towns,
all public offices, all banks, and all shops should be
closed. In those towns where Tuesday is the market
day another day taight be chosen.

a whistle half-a-wile off better than if you were close to I
it.
George Naylor, engine driver, in the employ of the
Midland Company, said he was driving the 8.45
Northern express by the scepe of the accident at the
rate of forty miles an hour. It was a foggy morning,
and he could not see further than twenty or thirty
yards, and the steam from the up Bedford train made
It worse. He heard a smash like the breaking of an
iron bar, and a crashing under the engine wheels, and
seeing the last witness by the side, thought that the
platelayers had left something on the line. On reach-
ing Bedford the carriage inspector called his attention
to some human flesh, blood, and hair about the engine
and break van.
The jury returned a verdict of "Accidental death."