The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-10-04 00:00:00

Our lonbrin aoutsponbent.

Ore damn tt tight to state that we do not at al Mel
delft ourselves with our Correspondent's opinlonsd

After his long journeyings in the western world, th
Ettalt of Persia has returned to his capital amid the
• othusisetic rejoicings of the people. At a diatance of
fur miles from Teheran his Majesty was met by all
I ;le foreign legations, who were ace rupanied by an
il2.ruense procession, headed by a large body of , mei
If the people in the provinces are as loyal
ea those iu the capital, the l'er,ian monarch will have
o cause to regret his prolonged iolt to Europe, and
rhould his acquaintance with western civilization have
the effect of introducing into Persia a more beneficent
code of laws than that previously in existence, the
whole population will hive occasion to rejoice at the
change.
- • -

- -
The rapid extension of steam power application to
the different departments of industry lends some in-
terst to the law with respect to the passage of road
I,comotives over bridges, which is admitted to be in an
unsatisfactory condition. Especial attention has been
drawn to this subject in the report of a parliamentary
tommittee, issued some time after the prorogation. It
&meas.' that if a nett.* is affixed to • bridge, intimating
that its strength is insufficient to carry weights beyond
the ordinary traffic of the district, the driver of a
locomotive must not pass over it without obtain-
ing the consent of the road surveyor, the bridge
master, or the persons liable for the repair of the
structure. We have now been assured, on the
uuthority of • the committee, that the power of '
stoppage is vexatiously, or, at least, capriciously used,
for no definite or certain method Is adopted for deter-
mining the weight which ordinary bridges are capable
of bearing. A suggestion is accordingly made that
this evil should be remedied by inserting in the notices
the maximum weight the bridges will safely bear.
Should the driver of • locomotive and the authorities
differ, an appeal may be made to the Secretary of State,
who is bound to appoint an officer to determine the ques-
tion. Whileuponthistopic I may mention that &glaring
anomaly exists concerning the liability of those who
damage bridge& If one of these structures is broken
down by • locomotive propelled by steam, the owner
is bound to pay the cost, but if the bridge is injured by
any weight drawn by horses, the cost of repair falls
upon the ratepayer!. For instance, if a boiler weighing
15 tons is sent over the county bridge, drawn by 15
horses, and the structure is broken down, the owner
of the boiler has nothing to pay; but if the same boiler
is sent over a bridge with an engine weighing eight
tons, and that boiler breaks through the bridge, he
would have the whole expenses to pay. The result
is that owners of locomotives, drawn by steam, before
sending them over idg ee, test the latter by enormous
loads drawn by horses.

During the holiday lessen which is now drawing to
a close, many of those who lave visited the Continent
must have contrasted the accommodation in the
Channel steamboat' with the expectations which have
been held out respecting the model construction of Mr.
Bessemer. At a recent meeting of the Academy of
Sciences in Paris, M. Duprey de Ldme, the eminent
French Navy constructor, exhibited the model
of • steamer which he proposes to build, for the trans-
port between Calais and Dover, of the trains themselves,
with passengers and luggage on board. This scheme
had been previously broached, and rejected as im-
possible. M. Mine, however, had himself studied
the conditions of the port of Calais, and has arrived at
the conclusion that the experiment may be tried. The
new steamess, according to his model, would be con-
structed to convey seventeen railway carriages, in
the proportion of fourteen for the passengers, and
three for their luggage. During the voyage the
passengers could leave the carriages and promenade
upon the roofs of them, or along side galleries. An ob-
jection has been raised on the ground of tonnage, but
this is not considered fatal. Such • train at most
would weigh 526 tone, and many of the transatlantic
packets convey a heavier freight. I once heard a
gentleman declare that such were the miseries of the
passage across the English Channel, he would rather
encounter a voyage over the Atlantic than run the
gauntlet of the 21 miles of sea passage between Dover
and Calais' .

Some years ago we heard a grest deal of a proposal
to conattuct a submarine railway between England and
France, but partly on account of a want of capital to
float so vast • scheme, and partly because of the out-
break of war between Fr illet and Germany, the
question has lately been in abeyance. It is now
revived, and its advocates claim for it the merit of
practicability. It is to be the joint work of English
and French engineers, and is to consist of a subterra-
bean gallery, connected on either side with the great
railway lime. The projectors say that they want no
financial assistance, but they ask for a perpetual and
exclusive privilege to secure them against competition.
The subject has been under the notice of the Govern-
ments of both countries, and the French Minister
of Public Works has sent round a circular to the
Prefects asking the opinions of the Chambers of Corn.
mecca throughout the country respecting the merits of
the scheme and the advisability of carrying it out.
There seems te be some hope that the new Law Courts,
which have been promised so rasny years, are at length
to be commenced. The Act of Parliament autho-
rising their constriction was passed in 1865, but up to
this time nothing has been done except a clearance of
the site on the north side of the Strand. Acres of
ground have there lain desolate for more than six
years, during which time the place has been enclosed
by a large hoarding on which has been displayed •
large number of advertisements. The architect's
plans, as they were prepared two years ago,
are now to be carried out, with the excep-
tion of a few decorative details which will not
affect the external symmetry of the structure. An-
other contemplated metropolitan improvement is
the removal of Newgate Prison from its present posi-
tion in the heart of the city, to one of the suburbs. It
Is an anachronism that this gloomy pile should have
to long remained within a stone's throw of St. Paul's
Cathedral, and in the very centre of a rich and suercantile population. The ground on which it stands
would now make an enormous price, and the removal
of Newgate from the city would give unmixed pleasure
to all classes.

Despite the greatest opposition and prejudice the 1
consumption of preserved meats has wonderfully
creased since their first introduction seven years since. In
1866 only 43 tons, value £321, were imported, whilst
this year it reached 17,518 tons, valued at 090,700.
One of the many reasons why It did not become as
popular as it deserved was that the first 'applies which
came to this country were greatly overcooked, thus
spoiling the favour and quality of the meat. The late
supplies, however, have not exhibited this fault, and
the consumption of it increase" every year. It is now
In use in many of our workhouses and gaols, and in the
majority of cases has been very well liked. At the
present day, when the question of our food supply is
exciting the greatest attention, it is only right that
every means should be made use of to increase the
supply and thus diminish the cost. In many parts of
South America and in Australia hundreds of thousanda
of wild cattle roam freely over the trackless wilds, and
many thousands are annually killed for the sake of the
horns and hide, the carcase being left behind. This Is
as great an extravagance as that shown by the Indian
when he slays a fine deer merely for the sake of its
tongue. When one considers this great waste, the
thought is bound to arise that some of it could be tone
Melly ntibsed, and therefore every effort to spread
the consumption of Australian meat ought to receive
the greatest encouragement.
From time to time we hear of the safety of Dr.
Livingstone, and when such intelligence is brought,
the whole nation seems se if it wished to hear no better
news; for as it is true, as Shakespeare says, "One
touch of nature makes the whole world kin,' 143 It is
true that the mention of the name of David Living.
done touches a chord of sympathy in every English
heart. When, some years ago, word was bright to this
pountry that the hardy explorer had perished in an
encounter with a horde of barbarous savages, England
mourned as one man: but when news was brought to
us proving that this story was, happily, untrue,
then all felt a sense of deep relief. The services he
has rendered, both as a missionary and as an explorer
we incalculable, and richly deserve our warmed
thanks. It is probable that Livingstone will arrive in
England next year, and he will then have been absent
about ten years. The Let time he was in this country
wes in the summer a June, 1864, after an abem.ce of sir
yews and a quarter. A hearty welcome was accorded
to him by the whole British nation, who claimed
him as the greatest African discoverer thrt had ever
lived, and the Bath meeting of the "British Association
for the Promotion of Science" that year entered
Into • long history of his valuable dhcoveries. There
is no doubt that when next he comes among us he will
receive quite as hearty, if not a heartier reception
than he did nine years ago.
Rumours of an impending dissolution of Parliament
bay., been Lirculated freely in London during the put
few rims. The pee ent II ice of Commons, it will
he remetnbered, wine elected in November, 1868, so that
It has already seen five sessions. It would not have run
lb natural Ixturee, according to the Septennial Act,
lentil November, 1875, but it Is rare indeed for a Par.
'lament to expire by efflux of time. The oldest Par.
Bement of our own day was that which assembled at
the call of the late Lord Derby on the 7th of June,
1859, and was dissolved by Lord Palmerston on
albs 6th of July, 1865, having lasted mix
ran end two months. It was mote reemitio

able by contrast with its predecessor, which
did not enjoy an existence of two years, having
been summoned in May, 1857, and dissolved in April,
1859. This is the eight Parliament of Queen Victoria,
and as her Majesty's reign has extended over a period
of 16 years, it givee an average existence of rather more
than fonr years to each. The Parliaments have been
longer Used than the Ministries which have ruled in
Downing-street, for no less than twelve Governments
have b2en called to the councils of the Sovereign since
she ascended the throne in Jute 1837. One curious
fact connected with the histogy of Parliamentary life
during the reign of the Queen is that in only one
case has the I.egislatnre heen dissolve 1 by the
Minister of whom it wai tutumuned. This
was the Parliament elected en the accession of
her Majesty, when Lord Melbourne was Prime
Minister, and it was dissolved by that statesman four
years later. In no other instance has a House of
Commons been scattered by the Premier under whose
auspices it was elected. The Parliament of 1841 VIM
called by Lord Melbourne and dissolved by Lord
Russell; its successor was summoned by Lord Russell,
and dissolved in 1852 by Lord Derby; the Parliament
elected in that year was dissolved in 1857 by Lord
Palmerston. And so on up to the last general election.
The Minister who summoned a Parliament appeared
to have a certain kind of affection for it, which made
him reluctant to perform the happy despatch upon an
assembly to whom he had been instrumental in giving
an existence.