The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1873-10-11 00:00:00

E4e ,Stourtrarge (Asertter.

SATURDAY. OCTOBER 11, 1873.

CURRENT TOPICS.

. .
The members of the Buninightun Midland
Institute have hitherto been extremely fortunate
in securing the services of eminent men as Presi-
dents. Amongst them we find Charles Dickens,
Professor. Huxley, Dr. Mayfair, and Canon Kings-
ley—men whose talents have won them fame
wherever the English language is spoken. And,
certainly, the present President—Sir Henry Raw-
linson, K.C.8., D.C.L., L.L.D., P.R.S., scholar,
addict., traveller, and statestuan—is no unworthy
sueeessor to them. He distributed the prizes to
the suecessful students and delivered his inaugn-
rtd address on Monday evening last. He com-
menced his address by showing the advantages to
be derived from a study of history and geography,
and described the rapid strides which bad been
made of late years in the acquisition of knowledge
concerning the early history of the world, front
the cuneiform inscriptions in the Assyrian Royal
annals. He showed that the study of geography
and history was a most fascinating and valuable
pursuit, and that it was owing to the sacrifices
made by adventurous explorers in the pursuit of
this knowledge that the world was constantly
becoming more civilized He stated that it was
only within the last fifty years that there had been
in England a systematic study of geography.
The Royal Geographical Society of London, which
bad done so much to stimulate discovery, was only
founded in 1830. He then referred to the nume-
rous and important discoveries that had been
made under the auspices of the society in Africa,
Australia. and other places, anti pointed out that
civilisation invariably followed in the track of the
explorer, and that countries which had hitherto
been uninhabited and unknown were DOW full of
British anti other European colonists, and were
constantly affording new fields for the enterprise
and rowing nonidation of the British Isles. In
speaking of Japan and China, he showed that the
former had made a sudden spring &oat the ear-
bitrisin of the Middle Ages to the conventional
refinement of the nineteenth century Perhaps
one of the most interesting statement's made by
him, however, was that when lie made reference
to the travels of Baron von Riehthofen in China,
which had brought to light the wonderful coal
fields of Shansi, which are calculated to extend
over 400,000 square miles, anti "to be capable of
supplying the wh,,le world, at the present rate of '
consumption, for thousands of years to come."
The key-note to progress. in this part of the East
had probably been struck by the measures now in
contemplation for laying down a railway at Pekin,
as Lb present to the Emperor. There can be no
doubt that this—the thin end of the wedge—will
soon have such an effect on the Emperor of China
and his people that it will not be long before this
vast territory is opened to European enterprise
and commerce. We can only earnestly hope that
this result will be achieved before long; for there
is no doubt that if our countrymen are only
allowed to get it, they will not be long before they ,!
find the means of bringing some of the Chinese
superfluous "black diamonds" to our own coun-
try. where thcre is at present such a scarcity of
the article. The rest of the address consisted of
a graphic description of what Wits done in the
cause of geographical science in Africa by Mungo
Park; and later by Burton, Spoke, Grant, Baker,
and Livingtone, and showed that the two latter
were actuated as much by a desire to suppress the
inhuman traffic in slavery, as by a thirst for geo-
graphical knowledge. The whole address was an
exceedingly interesting one, thoroughly worthy of
the gentleman who delivered it; and—without
making any invidious comparison—was quite up
to the standard of those given at the same Insti-
tute by the eminent men who had previously
occupied a similar position.

There has been a great deal said lately about
the speedy decadence of England through the
exhaustion of our iron and coal-fields, and much
has been made of an allegation that the Americans
were underselling UB. The English iron and coal-
masters are, however, proving themselves quite
equal to the occasion, and it will not be from the
lack of any enterprise on their part if these
gloomy forebodings are verified. Not content with
ransacking Elba and starting lines of steamers to
bring constant supplies of ores from Spain, they
are now purchasing extensive mineral tracts even
in New Zealand. Gentlemen largely engaged in
ironmaking and mining at home have already pur-
chased in New Zealand freehold estates containing
12,380 acres, or nearly 20 square miles, whereon
there is a coal and ironstone area extending over
8,700 acres; and they are now completing nego-
tiations for a lease of a further separate tract for
mining purposes. On the property already ac-
quired there is an outcrop within ten feet of the
surface, and one seam is estimated to contain no
less than 123 million tons of coal. The coal has
been tested and found to be suitable for smelting
as well as steam purposes. It burns freely, gives
• great heat, leaves no clinker, and, having no
trace of sulphur, sends out very little smoke. On
some portions of the estate coal has been proved
20 feet thick at a depth of only about nine yards,
and at one portion of the out-crop 11 feet has been
penetrated
without finding a bottom. Ironstone
also been found on the surface, which yields
50 per cent, of iron; and there would seem to be
every reason to conclude that the iron band will
be found overlapping the coal measures. Portions
of the ore yield 62 per cent, of fine iron. It is a
brown hematite, and from the great outcrop-- I
larger than any known of equal quality in Eng-
land—would appear to be in plentiful supply. It I
is capable of waking capital steel, for the tests '
to which it has boen submitted after smelting de-
monstrate this. Flux for the stone is at hand in
the limestone which is found on the surface of the
block, and seems to be in ample supply. Again,
next to the footwall of the coal-seam there is a
layer of fire-clay of great merit. The richest
sample of ore appears to be in a calcined state,
and could be sold readily in Cumberland at 308 a
ton. Now, to bring it to this country from New
Zealand would cost hardly 6s a tc,u, and it is a low
estimate to set down 10e a ton as the profit of im-
porting this ironstone from New Zealand. It 18
evident from this that New Zealand is likely to
prove a real "mine of wealth" to this country,
and that it will materially help us to stave off the
evil (Ely when—according to Macaulay—a native
of that country is take his "stand upon a broken
area of London Bridge to gaze on the ruins of St
Paul's."

Reuben Waldron, nailer, who was convicted of
assaulting his wife at the Halesowen Petty Ses-
sions, of Saturday last, is one of those brutes
who, by their conduct, make us doubt whether we
have—in this nineteenth century—achieved so
much progress in civilisation as we are fond of
boasting that we have. Of course he was—as is
generally the case in affairs of this kind—intoxi-
cated; and, having divested himself of his jacket
and waistcoat, the unmanly ruffian commenced to
thrush the woman whom he had sworn to "cherish
and protect." He knocked her down and kicked
her several times on the face, until she was" satu-
rated with blood." From the evidence of the poor
woman—who was in such a condition from his
Violence that she was hardly able to answer the
questimui put to her—it appeared that he had re-
peatedly assaulted her. We are sorry to say there
are is great number of husbands of the Reuben
Waldron class in this district, and we thoroughly
coincide with the remark of the Magistrates to
the effect that they were sorry they could not give
him a much heavier punidnuent than the six
months' imprisonment to which he has been sen-
tenced.

The working men of Birmingham seem deter-
mined to give one of their own class a trial, as
their representative in Parliament. The working
man selected for this honour is a Mr. Gilliver,
who was chosen by a majority of trades' delegates,
ot a meeting convened for that purpose. The
Birmingham men have looked the financial aspects
of the question boldly in the face. and are pre-
pared to meet them. A meeting of Vie Birming-
ham Trades Council was held on Wednesday night
hod, for the purpose of making further arrange-
ments in the promotion of Mr. ttilliver's candida-
ture at the mit general election. Trustees were
appointed for the special Parliamentary Fund
which is to be raised in connection nith the move-
ment, and a committee was appointed to make the
necessary arrangements for holding a large public
mooting in the Town Hall. Mr. Gilliver briefly
addressed the meeting, and pointed out how very
desirable it was to make sure, from the very out-
set, that the working men generally would sup-
port a candidate of their own—one who should be
able to tell their own tale in Parliament, with
their own voice. There could not possibly be a
better field than that offered by Birmingham—
Cori whence has sprung so many reforms —to test
the vexed question of working theit's Parliamen-
tary representation, and whatever are the resells,
the affair Will be watched with the keenest inte-
rest, by all classes throughout the comitry.

The prosecution of some of the Birmingham
proeers for selling t.iak adulterated with "earthy
and sandy matt and iron filings,' has been
looted on another stage. At the hearing or the
am on Wodaseduy. 11r. Hill, the borough unalpt,

was subjected to a severe and lengthy examina-
tion by Mr Rowlands, the solicitor for one of the
defeil,lants, and many curious statements were
madv as to the sort of compound people some-
times buy and drink under the name of tea. The
cases were once more adjourned, in order that
samtles of the tea might be analysed by Dr. Has-
sall,,of London, a well-known authority upon such
matters. The prosecution excites an interest far
beyond Birmingham, both amongst grocers and
the general public.

The threatened strike in the nail trade has end-
ilenb collapsed owing, it is said, to the arrival of
a contingent from the hop gardens, several of
whom at once took out iron at the ola prices.

A full meeting of the Board of Arbitration of
the inaufactured iron trade of the North of Eng-
land, was held at Durham, on Wednesday last.
The Board sat all day, when Mr. Kettle said he
w 2113 prepared to make an award, but should prefer
to give his reasons for the decision he came to in
writin,. This decision will he known in a few
days.