The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-11-13 00:00:00

Our frau Corrtspodtnt.

IWe deem it right to state that we do not at all titres
klentify ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions.
It will not be very long now before. we siall
again be beginning to talk of the University
Boat Race, for that is the first great social event
of the spring, and it always provides a good deal
of material for conversation beforehand. Already
the boating men of each university are com-
mencing to speculate upon the possibilities of
the "eights," and soon we may expect to hear
something which will point to most, at least, of
those who will take part in this popular annual
competition. But this is far from the only
matter which will occupy the thoughts of those
with a taste for athletics during the next few
----- months. •Football is again asserting its ascend-
ancy, especially in the North of England; and
its votaries, heedless of bruises or breakages,
are pursuing their pastime with a vigour which
amply proves how much they are in love with
it. _ The game, however, is only for those who
are Strong of nerve and active of limb; it is not
one'-to be enjoyed or to be recommended to
those who are timorous or weak. It is essentially
a pastime for the strong, and although accidents
often occur during its progress, there is no neces-
sity to condemn the game outright because of
that fact. Casualties sometimes mark the pro-
gress of a cricket match, but what Englishman
would care to see cricket sacrificed on that
account?

The rapid manner in which the popularity of
football has grown within the past five or six
years in certain parts of Englard. is a phenomenon
which might almost engage the attention of the
social philosopher. It goes without saying that
the game, as a game, is almost as old as history
itself; but a few years ago it seemed suddenly to
spring into an amplitude of life which hitherto
had been denied it. As year by year went on that
sudden rush of popularity grew and strengthened;
and many a cricket club which had gone into
debt for a fresh piece of ground or a new pavilion,
and did not see its way to raising the necessary
amount, turned the fashion to account, and
wiped off their liabilities with the money taken
at the gate at football matches. Nowadays
several provincial evening papers publish a "foot-
ball edition" late on Saturday afternoons, in order
to provide the most recently telegraphed infor-
mation on the subject from various parts of the
country. And the personal popularity of the
players is an equally marked feature of this foot-
ball phenomenon. A team which has proved
victorious in a hard-fought field, and for some
notable trophy is welcomed on its return home
by bands and banners, and by cheering thousands.
How long the tide of fashion in athletics will run
in this direction one cannot venture to
prophesy; but, while it continues it is well worth
notice.

Attendance at a good concert is not the least
pleasant way of spending a winter evening, and
we in London have an abundant variety of good
concerts offered for our selection. Every taste
is provided for. The extremely classical, the
moderately classical, the Wagnerian, or the lover
of mere melody can equally find opportunity for
delight in the many programmes laid before him.
In our suburbs many an excellent concert is
given during the winter, but naturally the best
are those which take place in the great halls of
the West-end. The unfortunate part of it is
that these are so far from the homes of many
who would like to be present at the concerts, and
it considerably lessens one's enjoyment when a
long journey home has to be made after it is
over, especially if the night is wet and raw, as
winter nights frequently are. But your musical
enthusiast will risk all that and much more in
order to be present at some harmonious feast,
which he could not find provided for him elsewhere.
It is easy to see at a concert which is the
enthusiast, and which are mere attendants for
fashion's sake. The true musician looks down
upon the latter as a being whose presence is to
be tolerated, but not admired. But something
is due to the fashionable visitor, after all, for
everyone acquainted with the matter will con-
cede that if the fashionable visitor did not put in
an appearance, and a very numerous appearance,
at such gatherings many of our concerts could
not be held.
Domesday Book having had a "celebration,"
which could scarcely have been deemed possible a
few years since, so greatlyhas the popular interest
in antiquarianism increased, more notice than
usual is likely to be taken of the forty-seventh
annual report of the Deputy-Keeper of the Public
Records, which was published a few days ago.
Non o but those who have given some attention
to things antique can tell how full of interest it is.
Those who have given no such attention are apt
to talk of the study as a "dry-as-dust "one, but
nothirg could be farther from the fact. It is just
the details which an antiquarian can extract from
the mustiest documents that give life to history.
A man with a keen eye for such details is able to
present a far clearer picture of the occurrences of
the past, than one who treats all of them as
mere rubbish-heaps which time has accumulated.
It is, therefore, gratifying to see that antiquarian
societies are increasing in number and strength
all over the country. By their agency many
doubtful points in the history of our ancient
towns are being rendered clear, and facts are
preserved which the destructive hand of time
might otherwise have blotted from living memory
for ever. Good is done by stimulating local as
by stimulating Imperial patriotism; and those
- who areinclined to fling a stone at antiquarianism
should first take the trouble to ascertain what is
real antiquarianism. The chances are that the
stone would not then be thrown.
There has always been a good fashion in Eng-
• land of successful men endeavouring to benefit
the towns in which they have been born or in
which their prosperity has come to them by giving
sums of money wherewith to found local institu-
- - tions of permanent benefit. Many a hospital in
• this country owes its origin to such means, and the
example is so excellent that one is always glad to
notice when it is followed. A recent and very
striking instance of this kind has occurred at
Glossop, where one citizen has offered f:5000 to
build a hospital and four times that amount
wherewith to endow it; another has intimated
his intention of erecting and endowing public
baths; while two more have added to all this by
presenting 2000 a piece towards a free library
and town hall. Such munificence displayed
by so many slt one and the sam 3
time is rarely seen ; and one must
heartily hope that the result will jegtifv
all the expectation of those who have so
generously come forward. The good which such
men do lives after them; generations of a future
which will regard our deeds of to-day simply as
history, will look at such deeds as those as living
things. And in centuries to come the names of
the donors will be remembered with as much

gratitude as the announcement of their liberality
has evoked to-day.
Emigration naturally ceases to be active durin
•
the winter, but many a man in England is look-
ing forward to seeking better fortune abroad in
the spring, and it is, perhaps, during the winter
that emigration gets most talked about. For
various reasons, many will rejoice that a stronger
stream is setting towards Canada than has pre-
viously been the case. The opening of the trans-
Continental railway, which runs from the shores of
the Atlantic right through the mighty central
" prairie and onwards over the mountains until
its course is stopped by the waters of the Pacific,
has done much to help this movement, for it has
opened up a vast country, filled With virgin soil,
and only awaiting the arrival of skilled husband-
men to turn it to the most prosperous account.
Few people in -England, except those who have
had to gain practical acquaintance with the
matter, are aware how vast a country Canada is.
Not merely is she as large as the Continent of
Europe, but she could hold a population of a
thousand millions, and then be less densely popu-
lated per square mile than the least lensely-
populated country of Europe. These are facts
which in themselves tell of the great possibilities
of • our growing colony, or, rather, congeries of
'colonies across the Atlantic; and they are worth
bearing in mind when people talk, as people
sometimes do, of the world becoming rapidly
over-populated.
A member of Parliament for a Lancashire con-
stituency pointed out a few days ago a danger
attending upon our present system of popular
elementary education, which is worth considera-
tion. He stated that, although a great benefit
had been derived from the Education Act, and
that is a point which no one with a full know-
ledge of the facts would be likely to attempt to
controvert, the elementary teaching was
theoretic, and taught the children too little of the
nobility of labour, tending to make clerks rather
than artisans. Any who move much among
business men in London will recognise the truth
which lies at the bottom of this observation.
The market for clerks is rapidly growing over-
stocked, and parents who think to do well for their
boys by putting them into that line should reflect
whether they may not do them far hotter service
by having them taught a trade. There is room
for a great many clerks, but there is also room
for a great many artisans, and the unfortunate
thing at present is that the former need is much
too clearly recognised, and the latter scarcely at
all. A revulsion of feeling is bound to come

when the clerk industry has grown more over-
stocked even than to-day, and that revulsion
should be prepared for by all prudent parents
now. A. F. R.