The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-05-08 00:00:00

FALL OF A HOUSE.-GREAT LOSS OF

LIFE.

The Timm of India gives the following particulars of the
fail of a large house in the native town of Bombay, while
200 or 300 were there assembled to greet ono of their
nobles :

On Friday afternoon, about four o'clock, the second
floor of a house belonging to one Laljee Ludda,
situated at Don Tar Third Row suddenly came down
with a crash. There were about 200 or 300 people in
the house at the time. Amongst the debris the bodies of
five children, all girls, varying from the age of two to
eleven years old, were recovered dead. Several others
were injured more or less. Two women and another little
girl who were seriously injured, were at once removed by
the police to the hospital, the life of one of the three being
despaired of. Amongst those that have escaped with
only a severe shock is his Highness Aga Khan and his
son All Shah, his Highness's son receiving only a slight
wound on the side of the head. A dense crowd of
people principally of the Kojah caste who reside about
thatlocality, flocked to the scene, and as the people were
extricated from the debris, they were at once removed
by their friends and relatives to their own homes. The
floor of the room in which the accident occurred mea-
sures about 18 feet by 16 feet; it was a board and
chunamed floor. There was a wooden beam of the
thickness of one foot by nine inches, which ran across
the centre of the room, and rafters of about the thick-
ness of six inches by three or four inches which went
across about nine inches or a foot apart from the cross-
beam to the walls of the room on each side; the por-
tion that gave way was the one end of this cross-beam.
It was evident that the floor was not strong enough to
bear the weight of the number of people congregated
on it. The outward appearance of the whole house
shows that it is substantially built according to the
generality of buildings in Bombay. The people had
assembled to see his Highness Aga Khan, who was in-
vited by the two occupants, named Allana Mowjee AO.
Taja Heerjeei as it we.s J'crorint day to do
so. The Kojahs, with their wives and children, appear
before him, and after kissing his hand take their de-
parture,

BANQUET AT THE ROYAL ACADEMY.
The anniversary banquet, given by the President and
Council of the Royal Academy took place at Burling-
ton House, London, on Satur4o.veniiag, Sir Francis
I Grant, the President, in the deer, when./ distinguished
company were invitki to partiapate in ,their splendid
hospitalities. The Prince Cf,,Wple, 8,...the Duke of Cain-
..in :bri4ge, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Mi. Disraeli,
'Mr. Ward Hunt, M.P., Sir John Lubbock, M.P., the
Lord Mayor, and Mr. Matthew Arnold were amongst
the speakers.
The Galleries were opened at two o'clock, and many
of the guests arrived early to enjoy the opportunity of
a leisurely inspection of the works of art which adorn
the walls of the Academy.
The tables were decorated with a variety of orna-
ental plate of great artistic elegance, and the dinner,
which was announced at half -past six o'clock, was served
with great taste.

The President, in rising to propoze the first_ _
_ received with much cheering. He said,—Your
Royal Highness, my lords, and gentlemen,—l have
the honour to propose "The Health of Her Gracious
Majesty the Queen "—the honoured head of this in-
atitutieii.loheer%) I think I may safelit affirm that
since the reign of Charles I. no Sovereign has occupied
the Throne who has more consistently encouraged .Art
than Queen Victoria. (Cheers.) In carrying out our
Winter Exhibition of the Ancient masters, Her
Majesty has always given us her corodial support
(cheers); and I hope I may be allowed to remind you
that last year, when we held an exhibition exclusively
of the work of the late Sir Edwin Landseer, the Queen
was so kind as to contribute no fewer than sixty works
by that eminent artist. (Cheers.) For that and other
gracious acts the Academy desire to record their grate-
ful acknowledgments. (Cheers.) I give you, my
lords and gentlemen, "The Health of Her Gracious
Majesty the Queen."
The toast was drunk with all the honours, and fol-
lowed by the National Anthem.
The President.—Your Royal Highness, my lords,
and gentlemen,—The next toast I have to propose is
"The Health of their Royal Highnesses the Prince
and Princess of Wales, and the other members of the
Royal Family." (Cheers.) I beg to assure his Royal
Highness that the members of the Royal Academy are
very sensible of the honour he confers on us by his
presence on this as on many former occasions. (Cheers.)
They especially value the compliment as an additional
proof of the interest his Royal Highness has at all times
manifested in the promotion and encouragement of
Art. (Cheers.) lam glad to say the Prince and the
Princess of Wales, accompanied by the Duke and
Duchess of Edinburgh and other members of the
Royal Family, honoured the exhibition with their
presence on Thursday, and after their usual careful
examination of the works of Art were pleased to express
their approbation. (Cheers.) We cannot but be
impressed by the cordial and zealous manner in which
both the Princess and the Prince fulfil the many
onerous duties which devolv.e on their exalted position.
(Cheers.) We can scarcely take up a newspaper with-
out reading of their Royal Highnesses performing
some public duty or lending their presence for the
support of some charitable institution (cheers), com-
bining as they do this honourable desire to do good
with the most gracious manner—a graciousness which
I venture to say, does not proceed from mere courtly
education, but from the genuine impulses of good and
noble natures. (Cheers.) I give you, my lords and
gentlemen, "The Health of their Royal Highnesses
the Prince and Princess of Wales, and the other
Members of the Royal Family."

The toast was drunk with all the honours.

His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, who was
received with much cheering, said,—My lords and
gentlemen,—For the exceedingly kind manner in which
my health and that of the Princess of Wales have been
proposed-by you, Sir Francis, and received by the com-
pany here present allow me to return my most sincere
thanks. The President of the Royal Academy and the
Royal Academicians may be assured that it affords
us the greatest pleasure on all occasions to come to the
Royal Academy (cheers), to attend their annual exhi-
bition, and to support the Presideut at this most interest-
ing anniversary. (Cheers.) lam sure, Sir Francis that
you and your brother Academicians have no cause to
complain of the Exhibition this year. (Cheers.) lam
certain that all who have any knowledge of Art will agree
with me that this is a very fine exhibition, in no way in-
ferior to any of its predecessors. (Cheers.) For my-
self, I will only say that it affords me the greatest
gratification to be present on an occasion when one
meets with the most distinguished men—men of the
highest position and talent, surrounded by all that is
most beautiful in Art. (Cheers.) I beg to return in
best acknowledgments for the kind manner in which
you have received the health of the Princess of Wales,
of myself, and of the other members of the Royal
Family, and I sincerely hope that on many future
occasions I may have the happiness to be present at
the annual gatherings of the Royal Academy.
(Cheers.)
Glee (four voices).—" Mark'd you her eye of heav'nly
blue."

The President: Your Royal Highness, my lords
and gentlemen,—The next toast I have to propose to
you is "The Army, the Navy, and the Reserve
Forces." With the Army and Reserve Forces I have
great pleasure in connecting the name of our honoured
guest his Royal Highness Field-Marshal the Duke of
Cambridge, commanding the Army in Chief—(cheers)
—and honorary colonel of the London City Rifles, in
which capacity I would ask him to include in his re-
sponse the Reserve Forces. With the Navy I beg to
couple the name of the First Lord of the Admiralty,
Mr. Ward Hunt. I think Mr. Ward Hunt will be in-
terested in seeing the fine picture of the Devastation,
which I understand Mr. Thomas Brassey generously pre-
sents to the nation, to be placed in the Painted Hall at
Greenwich. (Cheers.) I believe this is the first repre-
sentation of an Ironclad that has found a place on these
walls— (cheers) a picture of the Devastation—of
which the genius of the talented artist has made quite
a picturesque object by concealing more than half the
vessel in smoke—(a laugh)—and adorning what re-
mains with a variety of flags. (Cheers, and a laugh.)
I give you "The Army, Navy, and Reserve Forces, '
coupling the Army and Reserve Forces with his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cambridge and the Navy with
the First Lord of the Admiralty.
The toast was drunk with loud cheers.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge.—Mr.
President, your Royal Highness, my lords, and gentle-
men,—l beg to return you my best thanks for the
honour of drinking my health in connection with the
Army and Reserve Forces. While lam sure the
toast which has just been given by the chair is in-
tended as an honour to the profession to which I
belong, I cannot help thinking that artists have a very
great affection for a service which gives them so many
opportunities of delineating their gallant achievements.
(Cheers.) When I look around me in this exhibition
I cannot help thinking that one of the best pictures in
this room is the "Last Roll Call," I think it is called;
and if we look at the other side of the same room
there is another military picture. A young
lady has again this year distingiiished herself
by giving 'us a military picture—" The Square
of the 28th Regiment at the Battle of Quatre Bras,"
(cheers) ; and there is also the picture of a foreign
talented artist in another room, delineating an historic
"Charge at Waterloo." When the profession with
which I am specially connected gives you so many
opportunities of displaying the eminent qualities of
your artists, I cannot help thinking that that senti-
ment in itself must produce some sort of connection
between the artist and the military man which is most
agreeable to myself, and no doubt enhances your re-
membrance of me and those with whom I am asso-
ciated. On this occasion I certainly may congratulate
you on the character of the present exhibition, as his
Royal Highness has already done. (Cheers.) There is
another reason; no doubt, why on these very agreeable
occasions you do not forget the military profession„
While we are all carrying on our various avocations
and daily duties, whether artistic or otherwise, we
must have confidence in the future, and that confidence
can only be insured by having a good strong force to
take care of us should any emergency arise which
requires the services of either the Army or Navy.
(Cheers.) That sentiment, no doubt, pervades your
mind, and I am glad to see that not only are the ser-
vices of the Army remembered, but our Volunteers are
not forgotten. (Cheers.) lam very glad to answer
for them. I thank you very much for the compliment
you have paid to the Army stßi Vie Reserve Forces.
(Cheers.) '
Mr. Ward Hunt, in acknowledging the toast on be-
half of the Navy, said,—Mr. President, your Royal
Highness, my Lords, and gentlemen,—l beg to return
you my most sincere thanks for the way in which you
have proposed and responded to the toast of the Royal
Navy. It will, lam sure, be most gratifying to the
profession to know that that toast has been so well re-
ceived in so distinguished an assembly. When 'I last
availed myself of your hospitality I ventured to com-
plain of what I called the slight paid to the service by
you and your brother Academicans in omitting to de-
pict the ships of Her Majesty's Fleet; but you, Sir
Francis, have now pointed out to me that my complaint
last year has been acted upon, and you have called my
attention to the picture which is before me of the De-
vastation,. (A laugh.) Well, I must say, the artist
has grappled most boldly with the subject. (A laugh.)
He has elected for his -brush about the ugliest ship
in the Fleet—
" Monstrum, horrendum, Informe, ingens, cul lumen
ademptum."
(Cheers and a laugh.) But fortune favours the brave,
and I think on this occasion fortune has acted up to
the adage. You, Sir, have,pointed out that the artist
found it necessary to conceal the hull of a ship by a
cloud of smoke. I believe that in doing so the artist
has acted on the old saying —Ars est celure (xylem.
(Cheers and a laugh.) I think the artist has every
reason to be proud of his performance, and. I Venture
to thank him for his work, which I hope will immor-
talize his name. (Cheers.) I beg to thank you for
the honour you have done to Her Majesty's Navy by
drinking its health. (Cheers.)
The next toast was "Prosperity to the Interests of
Science and Literature ;" and after Sir John Lubbock,
M.P., had responded for "Science,',
' Mr. Matthew Arnold, in returning thanks for " Lite-
rature,"s aid, —Sir Francis Grant, your Royal Highness,
my Lords, and gentlemen,—Literature.'no doubt, is a
great and splendid art, allied to that great and splen-
did art of which we see around us the handiwork. But,
Sir, you do me an undeserved honour when, as Presi-
dent of the Royal Academy, you desire me to speak in
the name of Literature. Whatever I may have once
wished or intended, my life is not that of a man of
letters, but of an Inspector of Schools (a laugh), and it
is with embarrassment that I now stand up in the
dreaded presence of my own official chiefs (a laugh),
who have lately been turning upon their Inspectors an
eye of some suspicion. (A laugh.) Therefore, Sir, I
cannot quite with propriety speak here as a liter-
ary man and a brother artist; but, since; you ,have
called upon me, let me at least., quote to you, and
apply for my own benefit and that of others, some-
thing from an • historian of literature. • 'Fituriel,
the French literary historian, tells us of a colony Of
Greeks settled somewhere in Southern 'ltaly, who re-
tained for an extraordinary length "of tine their Greek
language and civilization. Uoweveriutime,
cupw,aino xemilt last too strong for them; they
began to lose, they felt themselves losing their distinc-
tive Greek character; they grew like all the other
people about them. Only, once every year they as-
sembled themselves together at a public festival ,of

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t°asY-
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their community, and there, in language which the
I inroads of barbarism were every year more and more
debasing, they reminded one another that they
were once Greeks. (Cheers and a laugh.) How
many of your guests to-night, Sir, may remind
one another of the, same ..thing. (Hetrr, hear.) The
brilliant statesman4at the head of Her Majesty's
Government, to whom we shall listtn .with so much
admiration by-and-by, may even bbast that he was
born in Arcadia. (Cheers and a laugh.) To no people,
probably, does it so often happen to have to break
in great measure with their vocation and with the
Muses, as to the men of letters for whom you have
summoned me to speak. (Cheers.) But perhaps there
irs—fi3O one min here, however positive and prosaic, who
th as not at some time or other of his life, and in some
torm or other, felt something of that desire for the
truth and beauty of things which makes the Greek, the
(Hear, hear.) The year goes round for us
amid other pro-occupations; then, with the Spring
arrives your hour. You collect us at this festival;
you surround us with enchantment, and call upon us
to- remember, and in our stammering and imper-
fect language to confess that we were once Greeks.
(Cheers.) If we have not forgotten it, the re-
minder is delightful: if we have forgotten it, it issalu-
tary. (Hear, hear.) In the common and practical life of
this country, in its government, politics, commerce,
law, medicine—even in its religion—some compliance
with men's conventionality, vulgarity, folly, and
ignobleness, a certain dose of claptrap (a laugh) passes
almost for a thing of necessity. But in that world to
which we have sometimes aapired, in your world of
art, Sir, in the Greek world—for so I will call it after
the wonderful people who introduced mankind to it—
in the Greek world of art and science, claptrap and
compliance with the conventional are simply fatal.
(Hear, hear.) Let us be grateful to you for recalling
it to us; for reminding us that strength and success
are possible to find by taking one's law, not from the
form and pressure of the passing day, but from the
living forces of our genuine nature :

"Vivitur ingenio ; cetera mortis erunt.-
(Cheers.)
The President then proposed "The Health of
Her Majesty's Ministers," which toast was received
with loud cheers.
Mr. Disraeli, who, on rising, was received with much
applause, said,—Mr. President, these gatherin
always remind me of those annual pilgrimages which
are made to some shrine adorned with exquisite art,
and in which the pilgrims pay their devotions to
the Beautiful. (Cheers.) Every year these meet-
ings become more interesting because they further
remove us from that period which witnessed the
foundation of this institution, and memory lends
to them its traditionary spell. Modern critics are
fond of discoursing on the position of the British
School in the history of general art; they have
analysed the claims of particular sections of it
and the merits of particular professors, but I think
that to ascertain the character and the efficiency
of an institution, we must take large and general
views. Much less than two centuries ago, when Eng-
land was one of the greatest Powers of Europe, when
it produced statesmen and orators like Somers and
Bolingbroke, when Marlborough conquered in every
field, when we had a poet singing to the nation who in
his style has never been rivalled, when the great
masters of composition in prose were Addison and
Dryden; England, if it wished to transmit a portrait
of any of those heroes, was obliged to import a French-
man or a Fleming. (Cheers and a laugh.) But now I
may say that the British School of Portraiture is ac-
knowledged as among the finest in the galleries and
cabinets of Europe (cheers), and they point now to our
Reynoldses and our Gainsboroughs, our Romneys and
our Laurences, as we point to our Vandycks, our Lelys
and our Knellers. (Loud cheers.) There is—l will
touch on it only for a moment—there is another
branch of art in which I think the English School
may be considered unrivalled, and that is generally
acknowledged—in landscape, whether they imitate
the reality of nature like Ruysdael, or whether they
achieve the ideal and give us all the fancy and splen-
dour of Claude without that academic style to which
he was toe prone. (Cheers.) Perhaps I might on this
occasion refer to another fact—that in this country,
so celebrated for its sense of humour, we have produced
a school of artists unrivalled in the world for the
manner in which they have treated the common inci-
dents of life, and extracted alike its pleasantry and its
pathos. (Cheers.) But while I advert to claims which
all have acknowledged and all respect and admire, I
would here °been e that what has most, in my opinion,
distinguished of late years the English school is the
faculty of imagination (cheers) ; and Mr. President,
you know well that the English artist has developed
that faculty under very great disadvantages. He is not
favoured by a climate of inspiration. (Cheers and a
laugh.) He is not surrounded by a sublime nature. He
does not dwell in cities glittering with symmetry, under
purple skies. (Cheers and alaugh. ) He is not surrounded
by human beings whose flashing forms and picturesque
gestures stimulate his invention and often afford a happy
hint of expression and of grace. (Cheers.) For him
there are no bannered processions parading the squares
and streets of fair cities to animate his fancy amid the
fall of fountains and the carolling of sacred bells.
(Cheers.) No, Sir, he lives in a studio invaded too
often by the London fog. (A. laugh.) If he walks
forth for relaxation he wanders in streets of hideous
monotony. (Cheers and a laugh.) His living studies
are the constable and the cabman. Instead of a pro-
cession he encounters a blockade of omnibuses (a
laugh), and instead of bursts of harmony he is greeted
by the scream of the Subterranean Railway (a laugh)
and the horrible concert of organs and hurdygurdies.
(Much laughter.) And yet this man, by his imagina-
tion, by that divine gift alone, can give us a canvas
breathing with htman passions, in scenes of romantic
loveliness and with every accessory of splendour
and of grace. (Loud cheers.) Sir, I point to this
as a characteristic of the English school; it has,
comparatively speaking, been developed during the
last quarter of a century; it is one which, in my
mind, will assume greater proportions every year,
and will ultimately produce works that in the force
of their genius will be worthy of the countrymen of
Shakespeare and of Byron. (Cheers.) But I must
apologize, for I got up not to assume for a moment the
part of a professor of criticism. (Cheers.) When I
rose it was for a graver duty; it was to thank you for
myself and my colleagues for the great honour you
have done us this day—an honour which you have
accorded on many °cessions to the advisers of the
Crown, but which every year is equally cherished.
(Cheers.) I bail it not as a mere ceremony, but as a
Public recognition that there are relations which ought
to be cherished between the fine arts and the Govern-
ment of the day. (Cheers.) I hail it because on the
part of the Ministry, it gives them an opportunity of
expressing as the responsible advisers of the Crown
their sympathy with those arts which add lustre to
life and soften and elevate the condition of man.
(Loud and continued cheering.)
After the "Health of the Lord Mayor and the
Ancient Corporation of the City of London," had
been proposed, and suitably acknowledged by the Lord
Mayor,

The President then proposed "The Health of the
Distinguished Guests who were present that evening,"
and the Archbishop of Canterbury, in acknowledging
this toast, in the course of his speech, said :—" Sir
Walter Scott, with that common sense for which,
except in the management of his own affairs, he
was as eminent as for his boundless powers of
imagination, of pathos, and of humour, being con-
sulted, by a family friend of his, who was an artist, as
to the best mode of prospering in his profession, gave
this good advice, "Turn your thoughts to the more
practical branches of your profession; not every artist
can be a Titian or even a Reynolds. Take to decora-
tion, and you will make a fortune." The friend found,
in course of years, by following this advice, that the
wand of the wizard had directed him to a golden har-
vest, and very thankfully acknowledged to the end of
his days the good advice he had received. lam not
going to repeat now the very same advice given by Sir
Walter, which might not be palatable to the aspirants
after great distinction; but I wish to point this out—
not every literary man can hope to write an "Iliad "or
a "Paradise Lost,'' not every chronicler can be a Thucy-
dides, a Tacitus, or a Macaulay; but thousands of lite-
rary men, in every age, contribute to the great store of
the world's instruction, and are honoured in their
generation for the benefits they confer on mankind,
without attaining to the highest eminence. Those who
in a practical 'way give themselves to the decoration
of great architectural works, and the embellishment of
our cities or country Palaces, and our innumerable
churches, are following, in their degree, and according
to their power, the example, not only of Sir James
Thornhill, but of R,ubens, and even of Michael Angelo,
and I see nothing derogatory to their position in point-
ing out that they may make ample fortunes while'
they, thus adorn and benefit their generation. I have
spoken of such work in our churches, and I am re-
minded how the sacred profession to which I belong
has ever loved and cherished art. The beautiful is a
pale reflection of the good and the holy. The especial,
Church of which I am a minister has ever loved to as-
sociate its worship with the beautiful. We may not, in-
deed, confound religion with artistic ehthusiaern, but
we endeavour to enlist the service of art as a great
help to true devotion. In the name of the Church,
then, as well as in that of your many guests generally,
I beg to return our best thanks to you, Sir Francis,
and the other members of the Royal Academy.
The Archbishop of Canterbury then proposed in
•
fitting terms, "The Health of the President, and Pros-
perity to the Royal Academy," which toast was re-
ceived with cheer', and suitably acknowledged by the
President.
The company then left the banqueting hall, and
partook of tea and coffee, after which they separated
about eleven o'clock.

FEARFUL OUTBREAK OF CHOLERA
IN INDIA.
The following appears in the Times of _lndia, sup-
plied by its correspondent at Allahabad, dated April
11: —The last official crop and weather report an
nounces "some cases of cholera among pilgrims in
the city of Benares." In Oudh, a cholera panic pre-
vails. Fearful accounts have been received from
Cawnpore, Fyzabad, Jounpore, and Benares. The
railway train turned out eighteen corpses at Lucknow
Dn the Bth. The Benares train, due at Lucknow on
the night of the Bth, reached there on the morning of
the 9th, having been delayed by frequent stoppages
for the removal of the dead and dyixg. The
grand Assoodhia Melts has been prohibited. In Luck-
now, cholera cases are few, only eight deaths having
taken place last week.

CHIMNEY SWEEPERS. —The Earl of Shaftes•
bury's Bill, which is before the House of Lords, pro-
poses to enact that every person carrying on the
business of a chimney sweeper must obtain a yearly
certificate from the chief officer of the police for the
district; the fee to be 2s. 6d. The officer, on being
satisfied that the applicant is of good character
" may " issue to him a certificate; if it is refused, the'
i applicant may appeal to the magistrates, and they are
;to make such order as to them seems just. The certifi-
cate must be produced'on demand to an employer and
to any peace officer. If a , person having a certificate-
is convicted of any ofcenoi Allagrry it-rhifk pg ,y Act of
Parliament"dr ntherWise,l6.Court or Justice may, if
it seems fit, deprive him of his certificate, or endorse
thereon a note of the conviction. The Bill prescribes
penalties for disobedience. The Bill is not to extend
to Scotland.

THE " DEVASTATION " AT LISBON.

The Lisbon Correspondent of the Daily News, writing °
the 26th ult., says
"The Devastation arrived here in company with the
Hercules, and stayed until Sunday, when she left fo,r
Gibraltar. During her short visit hundreds of peoPiie
went on board, and the vessel has been described an
lauded in the principal Lisbon journals. One a the
first literary then of Portugal says that seeing her olle
can hardly describe, but only admire the genilla
and power of man. The King of Portugal, accoin;
panied by Admiral Seymour, visited her, and sever
naval manceuvres were executed. She was mane,
for instance, to roll as if in a *away, by the crew roll; ,
ning all to one side and back again. The kingexpresseu
great admiration for the huge vessel. His Males
also witnessed torpedo practice in company with A.,'
miral Seymour. He afterwards lunched with tze
admiral on board the flag-ship Agincourt. Tbe Ir
Duke also arrived from China, end the river presento
an imposing appearance. During the three weeks aloe
squadron was here the liberty men on shore behaved Wel',
and there were fewer cases of drunkenness and disorderly'
conduct than usual. The squadron sailed for Gib"
raltar on the 26th, the Iron Duke remaining here.''