The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-11-20 00:00:00

Our Puha aorrtspoubent.

r.we_ deem It right to statt that we do' not at all times

Cdentify ourselves-with our Correspondent's opinious.)

One of the features of the mayoral elections
this year was the numberof gentlemen specifically
appointed to the civic chair as "jubilee mayors.'
It is taken for, granted that some special cere-
monies will attdnd in every part of the King-
dom upon the celebration of the Queen's
Jubilee; and it is assumed in many quarters
that some special honours will be awarded to
those who distinguish themselves as leaders in
the celebrations. For these reasons, many'
municipal councils this time resolved to choose
as mayors not only their most distinguished
citizens, but one who in some marked fashion
might be said to be connected with the occasion.
A striking proof of the continuity of our
municipal life is afforded by some of the results.
In more than one case a mayor has been chosen
who held the same honourable office in the year
her Majesty ascended the throne, while in others
the new mayor is a gentleman who in 1837 was

upon the same town council as that which in
1887 he will preside over as mayor. It
may be that the expectations formed of unusual
honours to be distributed will be found to be too
high; but even if that be so, the credit of being
mayor in the jubilee year is not lightly to be
esteemed. For it is a year which will long be
remembered by all who shall participate in its
rejoicings; and the mayor will be identified in
the popular mind with the festivities which mark
his year of office.
Even in such go-ahead times as these, old
customs are kept up in a fashion which must
seem strange to the "intelligent foreigner!'
Many of them which had been allowed to sink
almost into desuetude have recently been
revived, for the popular love of antiquarianism
is distinctly on the increase, and all who wish to
see history made generally understandable should
rejoice accordingly. One of the old customs
which is being revived in some ancient towns
which had almost forgetton it is that of "beating
the borough bounds." In ancient times this
was a ceremony somewhat feared and yet greatly
beloved by the youth of a community, for at
certain boundary marks some boy would be
whipped in order to enforce the memory of the
place upon him, and would then be presented
with half-a-crown in compensation for his pains.
In these times of ordnance surveys and carefully
prepared maps, the object of such a ceremony
has largely disappeared; and yet it is at once so
quaint and so interesting that it would be a pity
to see it disappear into forgetfulness. Even in
London—where every boundary is of necessity
carefully marked, so great is the value attached
to each piece of land—the boys of Christ's Hos-
pital are every year to be seen "beating the
bounds" of certain parishes adjacent to that
ancient and honourable foundation; and the
spectacle of the beadles with their wands of
office solemnly leading the procession, and the
boys withtheir canes endeavouring to as solemnly
do their part, makes up a picture not easily to be
forgotten by any who have once seen it pass
before him.
After every Lord Mayor's Show some one or
other takes pains to ask whether it is likely to
be the last; and this year the question has been
put more frequently and with greater loudness
than usual, because of the unpleasant prognostica-
tions of riot which heralded the ceremony's
approach. But threatened institutions like
threatened men live long, and it is not impro-
bable that many a Lord Mayor's Show will
yet be provided to confound the prophesies of
those who have so frequently prophesied the
speedy disappearance of the institution. It is
interesting to note that the Show, as a street
procession, is essentially modern. For centuries
it was the custom of the Lord Mayor to go by
water to Westminster, where there sat the
barons of the Exchequer' before whom he had to
be sworn. And it would be a most popular
action on the part of any coming chief magis-
trate of the City to revive this idea. A water
pageant would be a new thing to most of us,
and its very novelty, to say nothing of its
picturesqueness, would command very general
attention. In the days of our forefathers, such
displays on the Thames were common, and in
our own times they could be so devised as to
give much pleasure to a far larger number of
spectators than ever before could gaze upon
them, because of the magnificent Embankment,
which would afford 'vantage ground to tens of
thousands. The idea is by no means as unlikely
to be adoptod as it at first might appear, and the
first Lord Mayor who practically takes it in
hand is certain to receive very hearty popular
approval.
- Mention of the Thames Embankment serves
as a reminder that as yet this winter we have
not heard as much as sometimes we have of the

_
outrages which are by some supposed to mark
that structure at night. Many who have had an
extensive acquaintance with the finest piece of
engineering London has seen, doubt whether
a large proportion of these supposed
outrages did not find their origin in
the minds of sensational journalists.
Not a few can tell of having walked from end to
end on many a winter's night without being
molested or disturbed in any way; and it seems
a pity that so great a prejudice should have been
created against so noble a thoroughfare. The
fact is that in London, as in every large town,
the wayfarer by night must exercise what the
law calls "due diligence." Thieves abound
wherever men do congregate, and, if we are to
avoid their attentions, we must keep our eycs
open. But given reasonable precautions the
ordinary traveller is as safe on the Thames Em-
bankment as he would be in any thoroughfare
of the metropolis, and it is really time that the
fact should be emphasised. As matters stand,
one of the noblest walks England can show is
comparatively deserted, at the time it looks its
most picturesque, because of a panic-fear which
has no substantial basis, and which ought by
those who know better to be dispelled.
The Law Courts are again in full swing, the
long vaeation having come to an end, and any
visitor to the Royal Palace of Justice—as Mr.
Street's great edifice in the Strand is
officially but never popularly called—can-
not but be struck with the number of
persons who appear to have nothing to do
except listen to trials. The state of attendance
in the various courts differs, it is true, according
to the degree of popular interest aroused by the
case heard; but there are many folks who are
constantly in waiting, and who can by no sketch
of the imagination be considered to have busi-
ness there. But it is the same wherever one
goes in London. Let any who are incredulous on
the point stand upon London-bridge when a
passenger steamer is about to start, and it will
be perceived that a large number of persons who
have no intention to travel, and who have neither
friends nor connections on board, crowd the side
of the structure, looking almost as eagerly at
every detail of the start as if their lives de-
pcmcioa i}a onrrg -CtIleSS. red., II iI bho ~onersrt,
for this is, that, in such an immense
city, there must always be a vast number of per-
sons who are out of work or who live on their
wits, and to whom amusement of any kind, even
such feeble amusement as this, is worth having.
But, whatever the reason, the number of those
who appear to have nothing better to do than
watch what can only be called the trivialities of
business life is extraordinary to those who see such
singular exhibitions of curiosity for the first
time.
It is a good sign when railway companies feel
that trade is so far upon the mend that they can
Afford to lay out money in improvements. Hard
times have a wonderful faculty of tightening the
purse strings, whether these belong to private
traders or public companies; and the moment it
is seen that a railway, after a spell of depression,
begins to build fresh stations and improve its
old ones, it may be taken for granted that
the hard times are regarded by those who have
reason to know as temporarily, at least, at an
end. The happy omen is that that these signs
of improvement are to be seen in various parte
of the country; and, though the recovery from
a long period of depression may be slow, there is
good cause for believing that it will be sure.
This is more than even comforting, as it comes
at the commencement cf winter, which is always
a sufficiently
.trying time to the poor. If tho
weather continues mild and trade goes on im-
proving, the winter will be the least disastrous
recent years have seen. Even more depends
upon the former condition than on the latter;
and this is a fact for which theorists upon
poverty often fail to make sufficient allowance.
Tens of thousands of those who live by out-door
occupations would be reduced to temporary
penury by a hard frost, who would scarcely be
appreciably affected by a winter which was a
mild one.
The death was announced a few days since of
a Bristol gentleman who was stated to possess
the largest and rarest collection of bibles in the
world. This was a distinction indeed, and book
lovers of all kinds will look with eagerness to see
whether such a valuable collection will be dis-
persed. Book collection has becom e a more general
hobby than it was, but in its higher forms it is
getting distinctly more expensive. Hundreds of
pounds will not now suffice to procure works for

which only tens, or it may be units, were con-
sidered enough a century since. And, as the
appetite grows with eating, in this as in every
other hobby, those who once adopt it had better
make up their minds to spend a good deal before
they can put it down, even if ever they can put
it down when once it has taken hold of
them. Stories are common among book-himters
of great bargains and glorious "finds," but ono
is inclined to suspect that some of these wondrous
stories have taken much of their colour from a
lively imagination. It may be given to a few to
secure great bargains over old books, but the
general run of bibliophiles have to pay dearly for
their whistle. Bookhunting is an innocent and
sometimes even an excing pursuit.; but the man
who denies that it is Zostly can scarcely have
followed it to the full. A. F. R.