The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-08-09 00:00:00

tit stouriribge eioerber.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9, 1873.

CURRENT TOPICS.

The inspection of the first bat talion of Worcester-
shire Volunteers, took place in Hagley Park, on
Monday last. This is the first that has taken
place under the new cotnanding officer Colonel
White, and although the weather was very un-
favourable there was a good muster upwards of
600 being present. We understand that at the
conclusion, Colonel White expressed himself as
satisfied with the bearing of the men, and the
general way in which they had acquitted them-
selves whilst performing their evolutions. He,
however, objected to the talking which took place
in the ranks. This is a matter in which volunteers
are generally blamed by officers who have been
connected with the regular forces. Doubtless, now
that the Colonel has called their attention to this
fault they will do all they can to remedy it. We
are anxious to see everything which detracts from
the soldierly bearing of our volunteers eradicated,
and we feel confident that a little attention to
this matter will have a very beneficial effect.

The purchase of the "Public Hall," at Brierley
Hill, by the Local Board, although "virtually at
an end," to use the words of the Chairman, still
eontinues to cause a considerable amount of ill-
feeling between some of the members. In dis-
cussing the matter at the meeting on Monday
last, language, certainly "more forcible than
polite' was that most in vogue, and some of the
members, not satisfied with imputing interested
motives to those who were mainly instrumental in
causing the purchase to be mule, also insinuated
that they were guilty of speaking anything but
the truth when they rejected the charges made
against them. Matters at length came to such a
crisis that Mr. Wood (one of the members) left
the room; and shortly afterwards the Chairman
vacated his seat, and protested that he would not
remain to be insulted any longer. Some other
"wordy warfare," however, ensued, and in answer
to a remark of the Chairman, Mr. Grove retorted
that he knew of no " ignoramuses" there except
the chairman himself, and told him that they
could easily dispense with his services at that
Board; they bad dispensed with his Chairmanship
for two years previously and thought they could
do so again. The Chairman rejoined that he
could not retort upon him (Mr. Grove) by com-
parisons, bemuse they were odious. He (the
chairman) never blew his own trumpet. All that
we can say is that it is a very "pretty quarrel as
it stands ;'' and has done a great deal towards en-
livening the hitherto somewhat tame proceedings
of the Board. What a pity it is that the days of
duelling have passed away; and that the means
of cooling each other's blood by sword or pistol is
denied to the belligerents. In America, even now,
they might settle their differences by having "pot
shots" at each other with six shooters; but in
England such persuasive arguments are not
allowed to be put in force, and consequently the
squabbling promises to be interminable. In look-
ing calmly at the matter, one can hardly help
feeling a slight pang of regret for the days when
an " If" was your only peacemaker.

Mr. Joseph Arch, who has been looked upon as
the" Saviour of the Agricultural Labourer," bade
farewell to them at Banbury on Monday last,
preparatory to leaving this country for America.
He stated, with honest pride, that the Union had
not only raised the wages of the agricultural
labourers three shillings a week, but had also
elevated them morally and intellectually. He
told them he was going to make a tour through
America, with the object of finding the most
suitable place for men of their class to emigrate
to, and told them that some of the farmers had
said they hoped the ship he sailed in would sink.
Upon hearing this, a labourer cried out, " It
never will." He (Mr. Arch) believed the labourers
would have the franchise before the farmers had
tenant-right, and if the farmers behaved well to
the labourers the latter would vote for men who
would secure tenant right to the farmers. One of
the speakers told Mr. Ar2h that the prayers of the
labourers would "follow him in his journeyings,
and they hoped God would bless him wherever he
went;" to which there was a hearty response of
"Amen," from all present. The parting was a
very affecting one, and it was with some difficulty
that he at length tore himself away from his warm-
hearted friends and admirers.

If there be any truth in the old adage that
"Coming events cast their shadows before," the
occurrences at the respective elections of members
of Parliament this week must have been as full
of fatal import to the Gladstonian administration,
as was the handwriting on the wall to Belshazzar.
The first of these was at Greenwich, the town to
which the present premier owes his seat in the
House of Commons, and it was no doubt thought
by some to be a great piece of hardihood on the
part of a tory to contest the borough. "Fortune
favours the brave," and in this instance she re-
warded Mr. Boord, the Conservative candidate,
with such an unequivocal victory that although
there were no less than five opponents against him,
he polled more votes individually than the whole
of the five collectively. The five Liberals polled
3,820; Mr. Boord polled 4,523, giving him a
majority over the Liberal poll of 705. The next
election took place nearer home. It was for the
representation of East Staffordshire, the two
candidates being Mr. Allsopp, of Burton-on-Trent,
and Mr. Jaffray, of Birmingham. The former
gentleman rested his claims principally on the
fact that he was a thorough Conservative; whilst
the latter gave his adhesion to the Liberal party.
Mr. Jaffniy, is one of the proprietors of the Bir-
mingham Daily Post, and, of course, had the
advantage of having his own paper (which has the
largest circulation of any daily piper in the Mid-
land Counties) to enforce his claims. The seat,
too, had been previously filled by a gentleman
holding opinions identical with those he advocated;
so that there were grounds for supposing that
they would send a "Liberal" again. Notwith-
standing all these advantages, however, Mr.
Jaffray was defeated by a majority of over 900.
When it is borne in mind that Mr. Hartley, the
Conservative candidate who contested the seat
last year, was beaten by a majority of 700 by Mr.
M'Clean, a Liberal, it makes the victory more
astounding. We cannot wonder that the Post is
"astonished at the result ;" after having so con-
fidently predicted an easy victory for Mr. Jaffray
on the preceding day. After such victories as
these, we think that the most prejudiced sup-
porter of the present Government must see that
it is doomed, and that the" Conservative reaction,"
which has been so long talked about, has set in
at length with a vengeance.

FOUR railway acci.lenta in four dap, is the most
convincing prod that the " exctusion season "
has set iu with unusual severity. [ho first and
most fatal of these in its results took place at
Wigan, on Saturday morning last. The train
left London on Friday night at 8.5 and reached
Wigan at 1.18 next morning. It was an un-
usually heavy one, consisting of two engines,
22 carriages, and three vans, and was running
at the rate of 35 or 38 miles an hour. Just
when entering Wigan Station, at a spot where
two t• facing" points —that is points which
faced the advaneing train—the accident took
phtee. About two-thirds of the train aised the
points safely, but six or seven of the last
c irriages wero by some ILI thrown on to the
si ling up which they w.oit with terrfic velocity,
and coming into collision with the platform
wcre literally smashed into atoms. Ten persons
w..ro killed on the spot and thirty injured ;
aoionest the former being Sir John Anson,'
baronet. The second ,iceident occurred on the
Lancashire and Yorkshire and London and
North-Western Joint Railway, betwten Ashton
and Manchester, on Mon lay afternoon last. The
and Liverpool train which rims express
from Ashton to Manchesteroind is due at the
I itt. r station at 1.35, ran into a coal train at
Clayton Bridge Suiti, n, whieh was then in
process of shit ,tin 2. The expless was twenty
minutes Ith hind ti e, said the signals wire
wrodust it on ae..entit of Co: shualing operations
going on at the a..atton. 'rat 8.411414 vere ob-
served by the driver of the exur..ss, but in con-
sequence of the slippery stale of the rails he
was unable to pull up in time to ,cert a collision.
Four coal wagons belonging to I lie Lancashire
and Yorkshire Company we, ,u the main line
mid were travelling at a sow rate of speed right
ia the teeth of the [Oval dug express, which
w is a London and North-Western train. Al.
though at the time of the ‘.!,llision the ,peed of
the exprt s miu been n-titt:ed to six miles an
hour the conision must 4. ii e Ic ii feniful. The
healers of the I.assmg, trai w. re completely
wrenched city, and tho t W.1:4 thrown off
the line. Oue of the cell wagons was shattered.

Many of the pasaengers in the express suffered
severely by the shock, and no fewer than
eighteen were reported to the stationmaster.
Only three or four, however, were seriously
injured, including Mr. Alderman Dowsing and
Mrs. Dowsing, Hull. Two or three were taken
to the hospitals. The others were able to be
forwarded- to their homes. A third collision
also on Monday occurred at Glasgow; and the
news of thefourth quickly followed. This latter
happened on Tuesday afternoon on the Great
Western Line, between Salisbury and Wilton.
Seven persons were dangerously hurt b. y it. and
several others received minor Injuries. The
line is a broad guage single one, and
.on Tues-
day, by some cause or other, the train, which
was due at Salisbury, was thirty-six minutes
late. The station-master at Salisbury, on the
time for the luggage train to start from that
place becoming due, telegraphed to Wilton, a
distance of about three miles, for him to stop
the train from Bristol until the luggage train
arrived there. The station-master at IA Mon
telegraphed that the line was clear, and that he
wasthen engaged in getting a van belonging to
Blondin (who had given an entertainment at
Wilton Park the previous day) on the railway.
Meanwhile the passenger train from Bristol
went on to Salisbury, and on his becoming
acquainted with the fact, he threw off his coat
and rushed after the train, endeavouring to
stop it, but without effect. The two trains
came into collision between Wilton and Salis-
bury, a few yards from a large bridge spauuing
the railway, and one of the guards and a fireman
jumped from the train on to the bank, by which
means the guard saved his life, as hi a carriage
was smashed entirely to match.wood. Five
persons were hurt very much, all of whom are
in Salisbury Infirmary. The guard of one of
the trains is not expected to live. Two of the
carriages of the train are entirely smashed to
pieces. as was also the last of the luggage vans;
and both of the engines were very much injured.
It is considered that r 2,000 will not cover the
damage. The line was completely blocked for
some time. The real cause of most of these
disasters is not far to seek. There cannot be
the slightest doubt that the extraordinary pres-
sure brought to bear on railways in the vast
increase of passenger traffic at this season is the
primary cause of these catastrophes. When it
is borne in mind that notwithstanding the in-
crease of work at seasons like the present, there
is no corresponding increase in the number of
officials employed on the respective lines; one
can easily imagine how it is that the over-
worked estidayrs may easily in the bustle, ex-
citement, or fatigue, make some slight mistake
which may bring death and injury to the pas-
sengers, and pecuniary loss to the companies.
Unfortunately, there is no remedy at present
for this state of things. The pleasure-seeking
public will still continue to go on " trips," be
there never so many aecideuts ; and the railway
companies will go on without making any extra
addition to their respective stalls to meet the
emergencies of the time.