The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-12-18 00:00:00

Our fenbn iforrtspoOtnt.

-We deem it right to state that we do not at all tieB
1 ;ntify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.

The issue of the usual circulars by the leaders of both
parties in the two Houses of Parliament, reminding
their supporters of the opening of the session which is
in store for them, is an event not often witnessed in
the early part of December. As a rule the new year
is generally a fortnight old before these invitations to
Parliamentary attendance appear. Etiquette has laid
it down that the Prime Minister shall lead the way
in apprising the members of the date fixed for the
opening of the business of the‘.Great Council of the
Nation, and that the chief of the Opposition shall
then follow him ; and this has been adhered to
now. A Cabinet Council on the 16th December is
also a rare occurrence, whilst at the same time
being a necessary corollary of the early session
in the way of maturing the measures to be laid before
Parliament. Seldom has the launching of public
business been looked forward to with greater interest,
and
,it has been predicted that the session will be the
most important that has been witnessed since the
repeal of the Corn Laws thirty-four years ago.
Many things have happened since that time;
ministries have been defeated, and Parliaments dis-
solved; and the question which is principally to
occupy the attention of the Legislature has been
more than once before the collective wisdom during
that time. But the exceptional circumstances of to-
day invest the subject with- far more importance than
has been assooiated with it for a very long time;
hence the session is expected to make for itself a
memorable name in history.

The great metropolitan Christmas market speedily
follows the Cattle Show, which this year has been a
very marked success. A finer week in December has
never been known than that which has just favoured
the exhibition at the Agricultural Hall. Mild open
weather, with a total absence of fog, with the thermo-
meter standing at nearly 50, and with the oblique rays
of the midwinter sun shining brightly over London,
were the chief characteristics of the Smithfield
Club Show this year. The cattle market is always
held on the Monday following the close of the Exhi-
bition at the Agricultural Hall. Contributions to
it are made from every :part of the kingdom,—
even far-off Aberdeen furnishing its quota to the
great London gathering. On these occasions special
—trains are despatched from the north of Scot-
land to the capital with the flocks and herds of the
Highlands, the value of the animals sent from Aber-
deen alone being estimated at £50,000. The huge
display of stock at the Islington market is ite last
preliminary to the consignment of the animals to the
butcher, who makes a far more effective display of the
joints in his shop windows at the near approach of
Christmas.

All the ahnanacks tell us that the 21st of December
is the shortest day in the whole year; but this does not
appear to be accurate to the extent which is generally
believed. For instance, on the 11th the sun set at eleven
minutes to four, and this was the earliest sunset of the
year. Atthis point, indeed, the time of the sun's setting
may be regarded as absolutely stationary from Tuesday,
the 7th, until Friday, the 17th instant. On the afternoon
of the 18th astronomers will record a gain of a minute,
so that the long winter evenings then begin to
shorten. On the other hand the time of sunrise will
grow later until the end of the month, that is to say,
ten days after the usually-recognised shortest day.
Thus, on the morning of the 11th the sun rose at one
minute to eight; but on the 31st the sunrise will
be as late as nine minutes past eight. At this
extremity of the day, therefore, we shall not
have turned the corner until the dawn of the new
year, when the sun will rise one minute earlier
than on the last day of the old year. This stage once
gained, the lengthening of the day soon makes a sen-
sible difference. By the end of January sunrise will
be nearly half an hour earlier, and sunset nearly an
hour later than at the turning points, or to speak
exactly the day will then have already lengthened by
one hour and twenty-four minutes.
Once a year the Queen gathers round her at
Windsor Castle all the members of the Royal family
now in this country. The 14th of December is
the anniversary of the death of the Prince Consort and
also of her Majesty's second daughter the lamented
Princess Alice, singularly enough both the day of the
week and the date of the month coinciding. This
year a member of the reigning House is in England
who has not been at these gatherings for some time
past—the Princess Louise, Marchioness of Lorne, who
has been in Europe several months for the benefit of
her health. It is singular to note how the 14th of
December once impressed itself in a very peculiar
manner upon the public mind. Not many of us
have forgotten how, nine years ago the Prince
of Wales lay very ill at Sandringham, so ill, indeed,
that three doctors were constantly in attend-
ance. The bulletins were issued almost hourly ;
they were at once telegraphed through the
length and breadth of the kingdom, and the national
life almost stood still in suspense at the condition of
the Heir-Apparent, for nothing else was talked of just
then. It was about the 10th or 11th of December,
1871, that the Prince's illness reached its climax, and
there was a very general presentiment in the minds of
the people that if he could tide over the 14th his life
would he saved. On the 14th, accordingly, his Royal
Highness was a shade better, and from that day made
progress towards recovery. The connecting of the
date with the turning-point of the malady might be
described by some as a piece of superstition, but that it
was universal there cad:be little doubt.
It would be difficult to say when the heading
"Turkey and the Powers," is likely to disappear from
the daily newspapers. There it has been, a stand-
ing line, for some years past. Perhaps it was most
conspicuous at the time of the Constantinople Con-
ference in December, 1876, when the plenipotentiaries
of the various first-class European States met in the
Turkish capital, and endeavoured to ward off the
then impending conflict between Russia and Turkey.
"Turkey and the Powers" then commanded the
attention of both the continents of Europe and Asia
for some weeks. Then came the war, the startling in-
cidents of which, occurring in swift rapidity, rendered
necessary headlines of a different character. The old
familiar friend reappeared after the negotiation of the
Treaty of Berlin, when Turkey for some time declined
to hand over Bosnia and Herzegovina to the supervision
of Austria. It was as fresh and vigorous as ever at the
time of the Berlin Conference in the summer of this
year, enjoyed a new lease of life through the events
which led up to the cession of Dulcigno, and is now
used apropos of the attitude of Greece towards the
Ottoman Porte. When the difficulty respecting
Thessialy and Epirus has been satisfactorily adjusted,
it may be expected that Turkey and the Powers will
work more harmoniou'sly than they seem to have been
enabled to do since, after a long slumber, the Eastern
Question was reopened five years ago.
"Parliament in the Provinces," or, still to be alli-
terative, "Public Men on Public Affairs," occupies
a good deal of the space in the newspapers during
the recess; indeed a speech by a statesman of the
first calibre is reported at greater length out of Parlia-
ment than in it. It is very seldom that a three-
column speech appears in a debate, one reason
beingithat there are other orators requiring attention.
Another reason undoubtedly is that these recess de-
liverances are the results of very careful preparation.
It is known for weeks that the speech is to be
made, so that it partakes of all the nature of a party
manifesto. N ow the speeches made in Parliament
have nothing like the finish of those in the recess.
They are made for the most part off-hand, and on
topics immediately before the attention of the House.
An interjection or a repartee often gives rise to a
telling retsrt, but its value is scarcely that of the set
speech, which has taken time and trouble to get up,
and in all probability contains facts of material value.
In the latter the sentiments haye been well weighed
and the phraseology carefully considered, which is
impossible in the *hurried conduct and oftentimes the
heated strife of a debate. This is why Parliament
out Of session is frequently a more valuable contribu-
tion to political history than Parliament in it.
At Christmas, if there is an exodus from London of
those anxious to spend the festive season with rela-
tives in the country, there is also an influx of pro-
vincial excursionists, who have an ample field of
exploration before them even in these dark days. It
it true we have no longer with As the summer beauties
of the Horticultural Gardens, or the fancy fetes which
in some of the suburban resorts form the chief attrac-
tion of the long hours. But to those who like good
pictures there are the Winter Galleries in Pall Mall,
in which are to be found the most finished pro-
ductions of the water-colour painters of the day.
Then, again, the public institutions are open in the
winter just as much as in the summer. There is the
Tower, grim and grey, frowning upon the crowded
city marts upon tie land and upon the broad surface
of the river. Far those of an antiquarian turn of
mind there is the British Museum, with its priceless
treasures illustrative of the chronicles of ancient
story, and the museum at South Kensington, interest-
ing additioes to which are constantly being made.
Although it is not of much use to ascend the Monu-
ment on a December day for the purpose of obtaining
a view of London, nor of any avail to go up into the
Cross of St. Paul's for a similar object, the services in
the Cathedral will be of interest to many, no less than
those of the more venerable Abbey at Westminster.
But London is so vast a
place, and its places of recrea-
tion and amusement of all descriptions are so numerous,
that the country visitor will have no difficulty what-
ever in making up his mind as to a selection.
The improvement in the general commerce of the

country, as proved by the most recently-issued Board
of Trade Returns, is a matter for sincere congratula-
tion. Both our exports and imports for November
showed a considerable increase on those of the corre-
sponding period last year, notwithstanding the fact that
the stormy weather we have lately experienced must
have had a deterrent effect on shipments. Besides,
it was in November last year that our commerce took
such a wonderful and almost unaccountable rebound.
The present improvement, being an increase on an
increase, is all the more encouraging, showing as it
does that business has not lost the impetus it received.
a yea ago. The exports of linen goods to the United
States—by far our most important market—showed
an augmentation of £500,000 for the eleven months.
Business across the Atlantic, as on this side, has been
gradually growing better. The exports in November
were 10i per cent, more than in 1879, and 18 per cent.
over those of 1878 ; while for the eleven months the
increases are 17 and 15 per cent. respectively. The
imports again were nearly 12 per cent, over those of
November last year, and almost 50 per cent. more
than those of the corresponding period in 1878, while
the increases for the eleven months are 15 and 11 per
cent. respectively. .These are by far the most
satisfactory returns that have been issued for a long
time.

The reference to stonily weather in the preceding
para.gxa,ph is a reminder of an important step which
has been taken by the Meteorologic 21 Department of
the Board of trade. This departnlnt has for some
years issued Weather Forecasts, and for the complete
set of these forecasts the London papers each paid
£3OO a year. _ After a time the charge was materially
reduced, and now an intimation has been given that
on and after the Ist of January no charge whatever
will be made. From statistics which have been pre-
pared by the Meteorological Department, it appears
that a considerable proportion of these forecasts
have proved correct, and this is a very
.essential fact
in its bearing upon the storm warnings which are issued
at our parts, cautioning coasters against putting to sea in
the face of 'impending bad weather. The predictions
from across the Atlantic of tempests which are to visit
the British and Norwegian coasts, are not at all times
correct, for their course and their destination are often
materially affected by conditions which do not exist at
the time the forecasts are made; but even these
storms, when they do come, are not an unmixed evil.
They break up the cold weather in the Shetlands, and
even in far northerly Iceland; for snow and ice both
give way before the warm breath of the south-west
wind, which disperses the chill and stagnant air, and
scatters its health-giving breezes over lands where all
was before silence and desolation.