The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-12-20 00:00:00

A oereipay
atibit pbiai
sh f
ords

which took place at Bow Chuioo
few days that mu log tin
Ely—affiiiiii,rue an op inunity oi
setyffig • te. words deeicriptcve of a krauts& which if
the glory of that important thoroughfare. The tern,
"Cockney " is often used, but proi.erly speaking, it
applicable only to those who have been born within
the sound of Bow Bo Is. The graceful and stately
nteeple, 221 feet in height, rises like a lighthouse, big'
above the roar and bustle of the human tide which e‘..
ceaselessly ebbs and flows beneath; and at intory.els
the mellow ramie of the bells inibeard even above the
noise of the rushing London traffic. ['be tradition is
that the site now I coupled Ly the shuich, as at kit
Paul's and Weatinienter Abbey, was formerly flint of
a Roman temple; but although we have BO preof
of this, it is certain that a church of some kind
has stood here for at boat eight hundred years.
Bow Church l first mentioned In the reign
of William the Conqueror, and in all probability
le was conetrutted soon after the Battle of Hastings
made the Normans masters of this fair land. The pre-
rent edifice was commenced in 1671 by Sir Christopher
Wren, five sears after the Great Fire had devastated
the Loudon of that day. Its mawive entrance gate and
Its smoke-begiimed walla stand out in striking contrast
to the splendid shops of Cheapside, and as its chimes
ring out upon the troubled air for week-day service,
they speak of another world to only a comparatively
few out of the animated stream which all day long
fl.iws up and down between Peel's statue and the
Mansion Howe. But in an evening, when the city is
silent, and the noire of the traffic in bushed, pleasant
enough are the sound of Bow Bells, for they seem to
remind the listener of bygone age., and to typify the
fate of the busy crowds which have thronged Cbrapside
for centuries. They have rung out ov.r generations of
merchants, and city clerks, and tradesmen, and still
remain to tell the fle.tng multitude below what
shadows they are and what shadows they pursue.
Although a London fog has its comic side, it has
also an intensely serious one.. That which settled
de.wn upon the nietropolie for several days of lent week
was one of the densest and moot persistent which we
nave had for years. To say nothing of its effects upon
the anhappy animate is the Cattle Show, the loss
which it occasioned to the community of London must
have deen incalculable. Look at the total suspension
of traffic upon the river day after day, and ask what
thst means to the extensive industry employed in con-
nection with the passenger steamboats. Take again
dock labourers, and the class if men who obtain •
livelihood by the navigation of bargee up and down
the Thames with the tide. If these people van earn
nothing for nearly a week, we may be sure that their
wives and families suffer, and that their Christmas
will be shorn of much of its anticipated gratifications.
The inconveniences of the fog were nid, however, con-
lined to the broad and ample eream which divides the
two counties of Middlesex and Surrey. Omnibus traffic
had to be materially curtailed, and if fewer journeys are
performed, of course less money is earned. The name
observation applies to the tramway cars, which, when
not actually taken off, accomplished tteir distances
very slowly, and amid the continuous shrieking of he
drivers' whistles. Many a cab proprietor, rather than
run the risk of having his hinnies crippled, preferred to
keep them in his stable, and so had to submit to a loss
of income. Then there was a large diminution of
revenue upon the metropolitan and suburban lines of
railway, for the engine drivers had to be so cautious
that a considerable proportion of the trains never ran
at all. And what of the vexation caused to millions
of human beings who were compelled to live, move,
and have their being in a suffocating, smoke-laden
atmosphere? But the most serious aspect of this
visitation was the sacrifice of life which it involved.
Eight or ten [eosins drowned in the ducks, five or six
in the Regent's and Surrey canals, as many more in
the river, and several knocked down and killed by
vehicles in the streets—such are some of the shocking
results of the fog which last week enveloped London in
Its fatal folds.

The numerous railway accidents whic't have taken
place during the past fur months have led to the
establishment of an association for the protection of
railway and general passengers. The payment of one
guinea confers the advantages of membership, and the
object of the organization is to assist those who belong
to it, and who may meet with accidents while travel-
ling, to prosecute their elaini4 for compunsati di before
the law courts, The association proposes thus to pro-
et persona of limited income, and to prevent their
f rears from being serauoved
di..fare taking proceeda.gs agaMat any reilway corn.
pally for damages a prima facie ca.a have to be
made out, and if the otb,ers of the association are
satisfied with the simple and corro*nrated statement
of facts thus furnished, they web take up the matter
rind carry it through without any cost to the injured
pence.

For several months past a statue of Sir James
Outraai has stood in front of the Athenmum Club,
where it has been an object of interest and curiosity,
as well as of criticism. Many who have seen it will
regret to learn that it is to be packed up and carried away
to Calcutta. There is something in its appearance
which is refreshing after gazing at the smAe-blackeoed
images which, more especially ia winter, a id no much
to the gloom of this fog- bouod city. It ham been
hursurotkly suggested that some other statue should
be sent to Celeutta with which the people there would
be equally satisfied. There is, for instance, the statue
of the Duke of York, overlooking St. Jamea's.park,
with the lightning conductor—a prominent object—
stickkg out of his Royal Highness's head. From its
sooty appearance, it would be none the worse for a sea
voyage.

The weekly meetings of the Royal Geographical
Society are atteoded by numerous and distinguished ,
audiences, and eeldom has a more illustrious gathering
been asetubled there than on the o .casion of S r
Samuel Baker's adds ess on the result of his expedo
tion into Central Africa. Amongst the vieitors were
the Prince of Wales, and the Duke of Edinburgh,
the former taking the opportunity to say some very
complimentary things of the intrepid traveller
and his wife. The amount of information con.
veyed at these meetings is very grest. Only very
lately Captain Moresby, R.N., gave the com.
pasty the benefit of his experi-nce on the south
eastern coast of Guinea, not • very lively subject on
the surface, it must be confessed. But the effect of
these explorations has been to make tome important
corrections in our charts, to discover a new paesage
which will greatly shorten the voyage from China to
Australia, and to give the public a number of interest-
ing facts reepecting the races who inhabit that part of
the world. One or two .of tije speakers advecated our
occupation of the Wand OA • means of civiliaing and
protecting the tribes from each other, and of preventing
the Dutch or any other European Power from es-
tablishing themaelves in too close proximity to our
Australian col mica But this was not generally
endorsed, seeing how unfortunately one protectorate
of the Fantees upon the Gold Coast hes Droved.
The joint committee of the Corporation of Londen
and kb. Metropolitan Board of Works, whit: was
formed to carry out the liberation of certain bridges
high up the Themes, have Leaned a report showing the
progress already made in the work. The committee was
constituted in 1869, and in four years, by the exercise
of *Mgr parliamentary pea ere, th-y has e freed King aton,
6tuine% awl Kew Bridges, and are now
applying to the legislature for authority to raise funds
for liberating those at Hampton Court, Chingford, and
Tottealsam Mille, the two last-mentioned being over
the Ewa It is explained that these, like the other
bridges, would bag have been freed had it not been
for the delay occasioned by the heavy claims on
the port of some toll owners.
A eislossal scheme of meteorolocal observation,
proposed by the late Captain Maury, is to be put into
partial observation from the Ist January next. In
actiperelans• with • recommendation from the Meteor°.
Otengreis of Vienna, arrangements have been
made by lie United States to join with the Thomism
and Turkish Governments in instituting a mutual inter-
change of one daily report, taken at the same hour at as
many stations as possible throughout the three terri-
tories. The co-operation of other nations is expected, and
in the interesta of commerce and agriculture, as well as
of science, it is hoped that these anticipations will be
realized. According to the report of the chief signal
officer of the United States, no important storm oc-
curred during the past twelve months, in the regions
Included in the syetem of cautionary signals,
without proper and sufficient warning of Its
approach and direction. Such is the progress of
practical meteorology that the percentage of verifi-
cations was high enough to give an almost mathm
matical certainty to the ru!es of forecast. In many
localities farming Is satisfactorily conducted almost en-
tirely with reference to the atmospheric condition,
announced by the official 'reports as being likely to
occur.

The terrible sentence passed upon Marshal Bazaine
by the Versailles Court Martial has created • profound
impression, and even amongst those who judged his
conduct most xeverely there was a general hope that a
man who had risen from such a humble poeition as
that a private scldier might escaie the loom which
nearly slaty years ago was meted out to Marshal Ney,
who wog shot for treachery to the Bourbon canoe, by
joining Napoleon on his escape from Elba. What extra-
ordinary vialesitudes do we see presented in the career
Macidahon aod 8,.=! When the war broke out