The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-05-26 00:00:00

LONDON CORRESPONDENCE,

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

"Summer is y-comen in," as the oldest song
in the English language has it, and all are glad
to welcome the blythe sunshine to which we have
recently been treated. But as it is not quite
summer yet, it is necessary in so variable a
climate as ours to be prepared for changes, for
May sunshines have an awkward habit of being
occasionally accompanied by cutting easterly
winds, which are the more dangerous because,
although coming so frequently, they never seem
quite to be expected. An old-fashioned proverb
bids us, "Cast not a clout till May be out," but
anyone who had worn all his winter clothing
during some of the recent hot days would not
only have been a source of pain to himself, but
an object of derision to his neighbours. Of
course, the sex to which such alterations of
temperature bring the most striking changes
of clothing is that which is conventionally
,
known as the gentler." Men, it is true, can
put on garments lighter both in texture and
colour, and some of the boldest of them may
even soar to the audacious dignity of a white
hat. But it is the ladies who can vary their
• attire the most and a flower garden could
scarcely be prettier than a female gathering all
clad in the costume appropriate to early
summer, which gatherings are common in London
just now, and they are always pleasing to the
artistic eye.
Our Volunteers are now such determined
devotees to duty that they sacrifice their
Whitsun holiday in addition to their Eastertide
in the cause of duty. It used to be thought
that, if they gave up Easter, they did well, for
it is not in these days a pleasure trip, but real
hard work • and the fact that they are ready to
yield the Whitsuntide also, speaks volumes in
testimony to their zeal in the cause to which
they have devoted themselves. A large
number of the metropolitan volunteers
who had received permission to camp and
manceuvre during the recent holiday left London
as early as the previous Friday for their various
destinations. An artillery brigade went to a
fort at Sheerness, there to oppose, in company
with other forces at remaining forts at the
mouth of the Thames, any advance by water on
the metropolis. A marching column of another
detachment of artillery volunteers followed them
later, and some excellent training was accom-
plished in the necessarily brief time allotted for
the work. The North Middlesex Volunteers
meanwhile formed an encampment, and it is to
be noted that this Whitsuntide movement
was not confined to the metropolis, but
that in various parts of the country, and
especially in the north of England, camps were
pitched. No one who has had any experience of
military life will be likely to deny that such a
course of training is the best that could be
devised to bring our auxiliary forces to the
desired pitch of efficiency.
The middle of May sounds an early period for
flower - shows, but when the flowers are
exotics it does not so much matter. In London
at that period, for instance, the Crystal Palace
authorities and the Royal Botanic Society
each opened an exhibition in London,
while the Royal Horticultural Society gave us
one in Temple-gardens; and it would be diffi-
cult to say which was the better worth
the inspection. Unfortunately, rain fell with
exceeding heaviness on the opemng day of the two
latter, and this marred the enjoyment of many
ladies to whom the affairs presented themselves
rather in the light of a fashionable promenade
than a floral attraction. But to those who love
flowers not the heaviest rain outside could
diminish the pleasure to be derived within. The
many and varied specimens of orchids and roses,
begonias, and calceolarias, with even some
modest violets peeping from their home, formed a
scene of beauty not easily to be equalled. Even the
uninitiated spectator could understand the strong
passion which is aroused in the breasts of pro-
fessed orchid lovers by the desire for the posses-
sion of the rarer and more striking varieties; but
the price of these is a fatal barrier to any person
of moderate means securing a specimen. A
hundred guineas a plant may not be striking to
a millionaire, but to the man whose yearly income
is the product of hard work it seems a deal.
In these days, when we hear so Much of the
increasing pressure of foreign competition and
the continued depression of English trade, it is
always pleasant to find some branch-of native in-
dustry which not only holds its own at home, but
continues to assert its supremacy abroad. Of all
things in the world, fireworks is such a branch,
fqr our English pyrotechnists are acknowledged
all over the world as the first in their own line of
business. The latest proof of this was afforded
on the visit of the Queen of Spain to Barcelona,
when the municipality specially commissioned,
Messrs. James Pam and Sons, of London, to pro-
vide a great pyrotechnic display to celebrate the
occasion, the same firm simultaneously carrying
out several miles. of illuminations on the port.
But it is not only to Spain that English
firework makers send their wares. The
• United States, pre-eminent as they consider
themselves in various branches of manufacture,
own their sway, as also do Australia, India, Italy
and France; and considering the enormous di-
ficulties of transport which attend such a busi-
ness, this universality of success is all the more
remarkable.
. _ . .

Just as the Lord Mayor of London is closing
the fund which has been raised at the Mansion
HOll/30 in aid of the sufferers by the recent
Inundations in Germany, news comes of oven
more disastrous floods, which have occurred
in the Mississippi Valley in the United States.
As all who know anything of physical geo-
graphy are aware, the valley through which the
great "Father of Waters" flows has always been
pc"- liarly liable to visitations of this kind; and,
warned of the danger, the skill and inventiveness
of man have been used to the utmost to combat
the strength and destructiveness of nature.
Embankments—or levees, as they are locally
termed—of great size and at an immense cost
have been raised, but, as in so many instances,
nature, when' she once asserts her fOice
overcomes all the obstacles that man has
set in her way. The consequence, when
such a mighty river as the Mississippi burits its
bounds, .can be realised almost without descrip-
Con. Thousands of acres laid waste, hundreds
of people destitute—these are the obvious out-
=ix of such a calamity, which, in its very large-
ness, is apt to stun the imagination. One may
be eer tain that much will be done by outside
help to relieve the sufferings thus caused; but
even then the amount of anguish, involved is
almost incalculable. '

The Queen's birthday, which naturally, of
course, fell On May 24th, Was intended to have
been celebrated by her Majesty this year on
the 26th, but, owing to the Whitsuntide holi-
days, and to the inconvenience that would
have been caused to our most -important
functionaries by the customary official ban-
quets being, held on the last-mentioned date, it
was subsequently resolved to celebrate it on.the
Saturday foll Owing 'June 2nd. It is interesting
to note that the auspicious Occasion will be kept
by the .British residents in Paris on the same

date, instead of on May 24th, as in previous
yeari,-andit.would be well if the official custom
were adopted by• British residents all over The ,
World,
,so that the hearty birthday Wishes always
givn to the Queen Would :come, 4 it . were,
with one voice at one , time . from every
part of -the -universe. -The -occasion this
year is the more noteworthy; because the Queen
liHs now entered upon her seventieth year, she
havinfg been horn in 1819, and her subjects will ,
hope that she will complete it under ;as ,happ
auspices as it has been begun., Her Majesty's
health has of late been more excellent than it
has been for some period; and the better news
which has lately come from Germany regarding
the • state of her illustrious son-in-law has
naturally done much to cheer her spirits.
-To all who are interested in the social well-
being of the poorer and hard-working among
their fellows, it must be gratifying to know that
the People's Palace at Mile-end 18 succeeding in
the object which its promoters have had in view,
of raising the moral and intellectual tone of the
cast and densely populated district in which it
is situate. Only it WO days ago a large swimming
bath, the gift of Lord Rosebery was inaugurated,
and what a boon Such an institution will
prove _in_ a_ neighbourhood of this kind is so
obvious; as not to require dwelling upon. In a
few.months an even greater boon will be added
to the -attractiona of the place in the shape of
technical schools presented at a cost of £20,000
by the Drapers' Company, which will•provide for
500-b6ys
,44.;f_he 'day technical schools and 6000
evenint students. And, as those interested in
the scheme believe in the old saying which
intist,s upon the necessity Of preserving a
sound body as well as of securing a sound
mind,; gymnasium is one of the features of the
institution, and how much this is appreciated is
shown by the fact that it has a roll of 1500 men.
and p5O women, Ths manes set in this fashion.