The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-10-29 00:00:00

OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

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

November is so traditionally the month for
the occurrence of London fogs that when we
dwellers in the metropolis were enveloped in a
very thick specimen of the class a few days ago,
while still only in the month of October, we felt
somewhat aggrieved. Our spirits were not
heightened by the fact that the fog in question
was what Mr. Guppy in "Bleak House" called
"a London particular," varying in colour from a
rich orange to a deep black, and lasting during
several of the morning hours. None but those
who have had experience of the hindrance to
business caused by such a visitation, to say
nothing of the personal inconvenience and often
of the physical pain, can quite understand
why Londoners should make such a fuss about
fogs. It may be argued that, as they are to be
expected every winter, those who are subject to
the nuisance should be prepared for it, and
should be patient under it accordingly; but
that is a "counsel of perfection" which it
is almost impossible for ordinary mortals
to adopt. Many of us, for instance, are
certain to be troubled with influenza
as often as the winter comes round, but that
does not at all make us love the complaint the
snore or prevent us from gambling abundantly
when we are smitten with it. And so it is with
fogs. Londoners have to make up their minds
that from proximity to the Thames and the
Essex marshes, and from the vast volumes of
smoke that are continually pouring into the
atmosphere, fogs must continue to be an anneal
visitor in the winter season; but it would be
beyond human nature to have them descend in
all thair thickness around us, and not utter a
word of complaint.
There is something almost ludicrous in the
appearances of "bathing statistics" at the very
period we are bewailing the prevalence of fog,
but those of us who love an ocean or a river
bath during the summer must not forget that
there are some of our brethren who love it
during the winter as well, and who daily descend
into the water with as "much strictness as if the
practice were a religious observance. As far
London is concerned, most of the open-air
bathing, whether in summer or winter, takes
place in the Serpentine, the so-called river which
38 to be seen in Hyde Park. From a series of
statistics which have been made up to the middle
of October, it appears that during the previous
twelve months there had been over 111,000 bathers
in the mornings and more than 94,000 in the even-
ings, thus showing that over 200,000 persons had
availed themselves of the authorised bathing
place. Naturally during the colder months the
number is very small, but, as has been indicated,
there are a few who, throughout the year, take
their dip however cold the weather may be, and
even when the ice has to be broken to allow
them to enter in. But the number of these
extreme devotees to the cause of water is
decidedly limited, for on a recent day there were
only fifteen of them, though that, it may be
admitted, was a smaller total than usual even on
a freezing or foggy morning:. • It is when the
summer comes on that the real value of the bath-
ing facilities in the Serpentine is to be appre-
ciated. " Tens of thousands who would never
otherwise bathe then find their opportunity;
and from 5 health-giving point of " view
nothing better could be imagined for
the whole population than that such facilities
for bathing should be multiplied.
London parks are put to a variety of uses, and
the free bath system -in existence in Hyde Park
in the far west, and Victoria-park in the far east,
is far from the least praiseworthy among them.
This is a usage which:is mainly availed of in the
summer, as is also another, of which ordinary
i
people little know, because- t is enshrouded by
the darkness. It has lately been pointed out in
more than one quarter that hundreds of persons
sleep nightly during the summer on the grass of
sorne of our parks; but, now that winter is
setting in, these are driven from their accustomed
refuge, and Trafalgar-square sees a great
proportion of them. Within the past
few weeks the condition of that note-
worthy open space—" the finest site in
Europe," as Sir Robert Peel once erroneously
called it—has, both by night and by day, at-
tracted very general public attention: and both
the politician and the philanthropist, to say
nothing of the policeman, have opened their
minds on the subject. The nuisance of this
open-air sleeping in the very heart of the richest
portion of the metropolis, has at length reached
a head, and the authorities are taking a very simple
and yet equitable method of nightly" clearing
the square." As all admit, it would be monstrous
merely to drive the wretched outcasts away at the
point of the truncheon, and, even if such
a process were allowed, it would only serve to
intensify the evil, seeing that the miserable
creatures would be swept from a spot where
supervision was easy into streets and alleys where
much-mischief might be worked. But the police
are now nightly making the round of the square
with a trricheon in one hand and a rslief-ticket
in the other, and are offering the alternative te
each of the sleepers. When help is thus brought
• direct tp.them there is no excuse for refusing it;
and it-will be generally conceded that in this
matter the constabulary have acted well.
By a strange coincidence it was on the very
eve of the anniversary of Trafalgar that the
old Victory, Nelson's flagship, was found to
be in a dangerous condition. It is now
evident that unless some more perfect
• method than has hitherto been adopted
can be devised for preserving her, the most note-
worthy ship still standing on the Naval List will
so continue to crumble as to promise to sink at
some unexpected time. Such an end might in
the nature of things seem fitting, but it would
be felt as almost a personal calamity by every
Englishman who feels a shred of pride in the
great achievements ot our history. The Victory
Is inseparable from the fame of Lord Nelson and
Trafalgar, and to those proud of the glories of
England- the spot on her deck upon which the
hero died will be sacred, and the masthead from
which first flew...tha. immortal signal, "England
expects that every man will do his duty," will
ever be regarded with an interest not untouched
• with awe. . There is a suggestion that, as it is
evident that the old ship will not be able much
longer to keep her hull above water, she should be
removed to a dry dock specially constructed for
her, so that our children and our children's
children may see for themselves what manner of
vessel it was that carried Nelson to victory and
to death. And as her timbers have felt the beat
of the wave for now 120 years, it must be seen of
all men that some such method will have to be
adopted if they are to be saved from falling
apart.
In the same week as Portsmouth was being
troubled with rumours concerning the unsafe
condition of the Victory, which lies at her
doors, she was the near neighbour of some naval
operations, the fruit of which may have an
important bearing upon the future. For in
Langston Harbour, near Portsmouth, there has
lately bean going on a series of attacks and de-
fences which have supplied lessons of high inte-
rest to naval men. What with the increasing
forces which can be pent up in the torpedo, with
- ' the development of was fare which may come
• from the extended use of the machine gun, and
—with the added importance attached to the
" search light," as used to detect an enemy's ad-
vance, our sailors lie‘— had thrown upon them
• during the past few year si a heavy responsibility.
'No One quite knows whitt a naval battle under
present conditions would be like. The vast and
• complicated machines which are the war-ships to-
day are admittedly experiments, and, with all their
hugeness, their construction is so delicate that
the rough-and-tumble of warfare might throw
them out of gear to an incalculable degree the
moment they were most wanted. For these
reasons the experiments in Langston Harbour
have been of great moment. Sham fighting can
never teach all the lessons of real warfare. but
some points may be suggested by the fOrmer
which will prove of lasting value; though all will
hope that the day is far distant when they will
have to be tested in practice.
. Renewed attention is being drawn to the
advisability of tree-planting in our streets and
highways, for this is a subject which appears
to be treated spasmodically by:local authbrities,
who require to be frequently stirred, in
order to . keep them up to the mark.
Those who •would pooh-pooh the matter on the
ground that it is a mere question of resthetics,
with whiqh..practical hard-headed men have no
need to bother themselves, may fairly be asked .
to. remember that it is not only for cesthetic, but
Mr -sanitary reasons that tree-planting is Bug-
, Fasted:. An authority on the subject states
that; apart from the elegance and beauty of the
spruce pine, Wellingtonia, silver fir, deodar, and
others of the conifer, this tribe exercises a most
beneficial influence on health from its balsamic
'4. Odours, while it -.likewise acts as a disinfectant
and purifier- of the atmosphere by a combination
of its elements with the oxygen of th 3 air
to a degree not generally
certainly not generally know, and
appreciated. This
is a point which the most practical of us
may fairly consider, and it is one that is certain
to be urged upon the local authorities. More
and more trees are planted in our towns yearly.