The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-12-06 00:00:00

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I‘..UtY ellessivea ems our Clerresnonsent's *Mons.]
fitt The jhomioarlin has j mpletecl •
odder 70, is to beir:ted ,
three years—that of electing its School B *rd. It is
curious to note that although the members of this body
are elected for the same period as town councillors in
municipal boroughs, the entire School Board remains
In -thee for the whole term, while in corporate bodies
ousdhird of the members retire by - otation every year.
IMO inclined to believe that the plan whertby.one-
tbird of the School Board would have retired every
year, was not followed by the Education Departudent
because of the religions feeling which is Impekte4 into
these contests. Three years is a very fail, breathing
thug but it was felt to be inexpedient for the whole
csidtal to be plunged into sectarian strife every twelve
months. The elections which took place passed off with
remarkable quietude, and in none of the divisions wee
any excitement manifested. The boundaries of the
dietricts were conterminous with those of the parlia-
mentary boroughs, but in apportioning the members of
the School Board, regard had principally been had to
th. population. Tons, while liarylebone returns the
same number of member' to the House of Commons es
' bkiuthwark, it sends seven representatives to theSehool
B ard; while Southwark, • much smaller place, returns
only four. The precise number of member' in the
School Board is 49, and when our Educational Parlia-
ment has once got to work, its proceediegs will be
matched with interest by the ratepayers. Hitherto,
by favour of the Corporation, the weekly meetings of
the Board have been held in the Court of Common
Council at Guildhall, bat this is only a temporary
arrangement, and will cease as POOD as the Board are
aide to enter upon the occupation of their new offi.ce,
which are in curse of construction upon the Thames
I rabankment.

The announcement that the Worshipful Company of
Goldsmiths have given a donation of £lOO in aid of
the funds of the Metropolitan and City Police Orphan-
age, has recalled public attention to the fact that this
said kindred institutions do a great deal of good in a
q-iiet and nnoetentatious way. The very name of the
Goldsmith.' Company is suggestive of glitter and
magnificence, and amongst the fashionable* of London
there are few who have not partaken of their hospitality.
Goldsmith's Hall, at the back of the General Post
(Mice in St. Martin's-le-Grand, Is one of the most
gorgeous edifices of all the City Corporations. It is
In this splendid building that once a year the Lord
Chancellor presides over the venerable ceremony in
connection with testing the value of the coinage, and
known as the trial of the pyx. The whole interior
aspen of the structure has lately been changed by the
addition of some magnificent marbles introduced
In the entrance ball and on the staircase.
The vest arched corriders, the grand and solid
pillars, as well as the pavement of the flier
and the steps, are :lbw composed of different varieties
of castly and beautiful Italian marble, with which the
wadi' themselves are alao faced. On the latter are
exhibitod in profusion many specimens of the quaint
" reacock marble." The balustrades are of solid
alabaster, and at the top of the stairs are four mamive
pe•lestals of onyx. Throughout the place therein, in-
deed, an apearance of massive grandeur. The riof
of the hall and the court drawing-room are of white
and gold, richly and superbly decorated, and the
sentel-pieces are all of the finest white Italian marble,
carved with figures, fruit, and other devices. There
are gilded finishings to the polished steel grates and
firekoru., and altogether taste and splendour thoroughly
harmonise in this magnificent edifice. The Goldsmiths'
Company is of great antiquity, and it administers Its
In- menee pr )per ty with • judicious liberality which is a
grominent characteristic of many other city organise-
tone.

It in sornewhaA remarkable that, although to much
bas been done in London towards providing proper
house accomroodatiin for the working classes, very
little has been accomplished in the way of supplying it
to the middle classes Yet the want ie a palpable ore,
and we may rely upon it that mom efforts to thin direc-
tion will mon be male. It must not be eupposed that
here is a deficiency in the number of humors in the
metropolis, for in any of the suburbs one may see in
abundance the significant window sign "To be lit."
But, as a rule, the rentals of theee dwellings are too
high for persons with Mall fixed inc met, who find it
daily more important that some cheaper method of
living should be devised. The plan of building houtee
In flab ha. been tried with success, but on inch a
Neale of grandeur as to render the experiment of
comparatively little value to far as persons of moderate
Incomes are concerned. l'bere ii, it must aduritts d,
a general prejudice .gain s: Ibis mode of rising, for it is
supposed to savour of the ways of foreign social life,
and is coast greatly regarded with suspicion by the or-
dinary Englishman. It should, however, be re.
membered that the cuetom in quite an roach Scottish as
French. I have heard the existence of • practical
difficulty hinted at, and that is the doubtful profits
whivih would WOMB to the builder for constructing
houses on this plan. It is urged that higher rents
would have to be charged than the middle-class houses
holder can afford to pay. But until a trial in made of
the scheme, It is impoesible to say whether these anti.
clpstions are likely to be realised. •

That the water furnidted to a community should ha
In no way contaminated during the process of distribu-
tion, is of scarcely lies impor.ance than that the supply
should be good and abundant. Considerable doubts
Dave lately been expressed respecting the propriety of
employing leaden pipes for this purpose. It is popu-
larly supposed that the interior of the pipes is liable to
corrosion, and that the water thus acquires poisonous
properties. The subject has lately occupied the attem
tier of the Academy of Sciences in Paris, and the result
of the discussion was to show that there is no danger
of poisoning from the action of any ordinary water
upon leaden pipes. These have been used for this pus.
pose ever since the days of the Romans, without, until
lately, any suspicion of their producing injurious
affects It is a curious fact that well and river water
has scarcely any effect in dissolving lead, owing to its
containing • considerable proportion of salts of lime,
while upon the other hand the action of rain water in
producing corrosion is comparatively rapid.
It is not every visitor to London who cares to make a
journey to th e Eget End, but those who have had ooc &atoll
to do so must have noticed the prevalence of crowded
courts and squalid faces. How an open plot of ground
is appreciated in those densely-populated districts is
seen by a glance at the aspect of Victoria Park on a
rummer evening. A welcome a idition to the free and
open spaces in toad part of the metropolis is likely to
be made. A park of eighty acres, situated clam to
the Victoria Docks, has been offered for sale. Its
owner, a gentleman named Gurney, has long permitted
the residents of the locality to use the land for the
purpose of recreation, and there is now an opportunity
of acquiring it as a permanent pleasure ground for the
we of the people. The market value of the land is
£215,000, and of this sum the ownett contributes
£lO,OOO. Local efforts may, perhaps, add another
£5,000, and the Corporation is asked to make up the
remainder. This they have power to do by an Act

ramped hi the Session before
.last; and no one can

doubt that it would be impossible to devote a portion
of the rich City revenue* to • better purpose than that
of giving • new park to • very poor district, and one
greatly in want of such Institutions.
The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to
Adnaals, ever antir.us to promote the ranee which
first called it into existence, has offered premiums to
the amount of £4OO for ionrovements in the means of
conveying cattle, and, with • view of inducing railway
companies to sconiesce in the efforts to secure a more
humane system of treatment for animals in transit,
'Monista that the coat of the new truck should not be
greatly in exam of those now in use. One of the prizes
°tiered is £lOO to the man who shall prevail on any
railway company to build no lees than fifty of the im-
proved trucks for use on their line. Of course it is
obvious that if the improved trucks were to coat much
more than those now in me, the railway companies
must mike a corresponding !aortaee in their charges
for transit; hence the endeavour of the Society to
have the new constructions as near se possible to the
price of the okl. _ .

The way in which the Factory Acts are enforced in
London has been made the subject of an Interesting
statement by Mr. Redgrave, one af the inspectors. It
may be remembered that in the year 1867 an Act was
passed, restricting labour and requiring attendance at
school in any place where a handicraft was carried on by
any child, young person, or woman, whether in a work-

room or at home. At first 'lig,' t this may have appeared
•somewhat harsh interference on the part of th leegis.
lature with the rights of labour, for th et 0 r, tl.obsands
of homm in the metropolis where evert 11 ore w.irlt of
of every hand capable of performing it is repo red for
the famfly's maintenance. It is no secret that In
Bethenal•green and Spits,Melds, the seat of the match-
Wade, children only two years old are taught to contri-
bute their little pert' towards the more simple pro-
ximo of manufacture; and when, in the Budget of
1871., Mr. Lowe announced his intention of placing a
'az upon matches and fusee., the anticipated impost

cell like • knell upon the ears of it numbers
If the poor people. Naturally enough, Mr. Redgreve
tag found great difficulty in interfering with domestic
show. Objections urged by manufacturers could
away' be met by an appeal to their intelligence; but
n desiring to restrict the efforts of • family earning
surely enough to procure e precarious livelihood, the
uspector found It necessary to use other arguments.
atch.box makers, bruidimakers, taikcares, drew.

makers, Ins., weakling at bon" have ban viited! In
every part of th , capital, and the neceedt7 for work
ing regular hour, has been earnestly Explained to '
N of Mr. Redgrave's staff rho are
'sty might tell seine enggeetive &
'their expert Clearly emonsb, .--
..r: 'timid /so mte psiketted In (lonia*
in aillinated labour; it is important that chile
should be protected, as they are by this statute, from
the tyranny of blush and cruel parent&
The possibility of • (saline in Bengal has more than
once been referred to by the new Lord Mayor, and there
is little doubt that should the wont tears be realleed,
the City of London will come out with • noble sub-
script', fltowarildi the aid of the sufferers. Taking that
part of tile presidency which is threatened, it appears
' that Iv* aa`Yaret welch cantatas I population of
25,000,000, the yield of grain is not expected to be half
an average. The Indian Administration is, however,
working with energy, and has sanctioned an expen
diture of a quarter of a million sterling for the purchase
of rice and the prosecution of public works in the
threatened districts. It is well-known that in came' of
necessity the citizme of Loudon have never been
appealed to in vain, rind if proof of this were needed, I
might cite the experience of the year 1874 when, during
the mayoralty of Alderman Sir Thorned' Dakin, the
immense sum of £200,000 was dispensed front the
Mansinn HOWE, to the starving people of Paris and the
burnt-out population of Chiceigo. . .
. t
The Queen and the two Royal children who yet re-
main at home are again at Windsor Castle, after their
long s .journ at Balmoral ; and, as is usual, preparations
are making for spending the Christmas at Osborne.
It is customary for Her Majesty to remain at her
marine redden.' until the middle or the end o
February, except when she c mem to London to open
Parliament in person, an occurrence which has
happened three times since the death of the Prince
Consort, viz., in 1866, 1867, and 171. It is rumoured
here that the Queen will herself open next !session,
instead of delegstiug that duty to a Royal COMMiSSiOII
and if it should prove correct, the route from
Buckingham Palace to the House of Lords le certain to
be occupied by an enormous mint. In the earlier years
of her reign the Sovereign not only opened Parliament,
but also invariably prorogued it in person. I may add
that the intelligence In the London papers tinder the
heading of " the Court Circular" issuppl ied in what jour-
nalists call "flimsy," every night, by a gentleman
whose sole duty it is to chronicle the movements of the
Court. Before it is sent out, it is regularly submitted
to the Queen's Priva:e Secretary, and the most ecru.
palms care is taken with regard to the exactitude of
the expressions which it contains.

that I