The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1881-12-03 00:00:00

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Our :A'oithon 0.7,.,01:mp0utt.

(We deem it right to state that_ we do not at all time:
Identify ourselves Nlith our Correspondent's opinions.

It was inevitable that the engagement of marriage
which has been entered into by the youngest son of
the Queen should attract considerable attention not
only in this country, but throughout Europe. That
fierce light which, according to Mr. Tennyson, beats
upon the Throne, shines with startling brightness on
those who are associated with the discharge of the
duties devolving upon that high position, and throws
out into bold relief those actions which tell of the
emotions of man's heart and the spirit of his life. The

little details of personal history which pass unheeded
in the careers of men accustomed to the world's
rush and throng, become invested with interest when
connected with members of the Royal family. Prince
Leopold,. the only unmarried son pf Her Majesty,
will be twenty-nine years of age on the 7th of April
next. The Princess Helena Frederica Augusta, of
Waldeck- Pyrmont, who has been betrothed to him,
is the fourth daughter of a sovereign prince of the
German Empire, and rules over a population of 54,000.
The capital of the Principality, Arolseu, has not more
than 2,500 inhabitants; and in the castle of that town
the Princess of Waldeck has lived a simple and
almost a secluded life. By this matrimonial alliance
the relations of our reigning Hoselwith those of the
Continent will be considerably extended. The Prin-
cess Helena, who is twenty years of ag4, has a brother
and four sisters. One of the latter is married to
Prince William of 'Wurtemburg, and another to the
King of the Netherlands. Her mother is a sister of
the Queen of Sweden and Norway.
This, as will be seen, is a very material addition to
the previous number of connections owned by the
members of the Queen's family. The Princess Royal
is the daughter-in-law of the German Emperor, and
two of her children are married to representatives of
reigning German houses. The Prince of Wales is the
son-in-law of the King of Denmark, a brother-in-law to
the King of Greece, and a brother-in-law to the Empress
of Russia. The Duke of Edinburgh is a brother-in-law
to the Emperor of Russia. The Duke of Connaught
is a son-in-law of Prince Frederick Charles, one of the
most distinguished commanders in the German army.
The reigning Grand Duke of Hesse is a son-in-law of
the Queen, and so also is one of the Princes of
Schleswig-Holstein. By the forthcoming Royal union
added to the others, the Queen of England will be con-
nected by the ties of marriage not only with the
Emperors of Germany and Russia and the King of
Denmark, but also with the Kings of Holland, Sweden,
and Norway.
When the Princess Helena of Waldeck comes to
London, her Royal Highness will be introduced to a
community widely differing in its characteristics from
ths little capital of Arolseu, with its less than three
thousand people. Life must glide along like a peace-
ful stream in an unpretending and quiet place such
as that ; while London witnesses a ceaseless change
going on in its midst. To-day is not as yesterday,
arid to-morrow will be different again. Whether
it be the busy City or the suburbs, whether the
wayfarer passes through Fleet-street or Cheapside,
Hampstead or Sydenham, Belgravia or Bow, he
will find alterations constantly in progress. It is
inevitable that this must be so in the home of
four millions of human beings. New railways in
some directions, and new streets in others, continually
denote the way of improvement's march. Take for in-
stance the new thoroughfare which is being made
between Charing Cross and Tottenham Court-road.
This has doomed a part of Soho, which little more than
a century ago was the Mayfair of the British metro-
polis. Excepting the Italian colony of Hatton-garden,
it had more continental associations than any other
part of London. Even within the memory of ?nany
now living Soho was one of the most frequented and
aristocratie of the west-end portions of the capital. It
presented such a sight as may now be witnessed on
any fine afternoon in St. Paul's churchyard, with its lines
of well-dressed people, gazing in at the shop windows.
But not only is a considerable portion of Soho to be
removed, but the whole of Newport Market as well,
now famed principally for its refuges for homeless and
destitute children.

The population of a very fair-sized town-40,000
inhabitants—is yearly added to London; but while
these additions are made, entire communities dis-
appear. Travellers who arrive in the metropolis on
the Midland Railway never fail to be impressed with
the vast extent of its terminus at St. Pancras, with
its enormous span of glass roof, and its grand hotel
attached.- The terminus, the hotel, and their
approaches now occupy an immense area, whereon
half a generation ago stood the homes of tens of
thousands of people. The district was familiarly known
as Somers-town, and it has literally ceased to exist.
Possessing an individuality of its own, it was known
far and wide, not only in town, but in country; and
many a provincial visitor to London had the curiosity
to make a brief inspection of Somers Town. Yet it
has been utterly obliterated from the map of the
capital; and where its inhabitants have gone, no one
knows. They are dispersed as completely as were
those of Baalbec and Palmyra. It seems to be the
characteristic of a great and growing town to destroy
all individual features, such as those cif Somers Town
a few years ago and Newport Market now. One part
becomes more and more like another, and a street here
very much resembles a thoroughfare there. In fact,
taking the northern and the southern suburbs of
London, one might drive for miles without recognising
any characteristics to distinguish north from south,
Middlesex from Surrey.

Included in the number of applications to Parlia-
ment for next session and in the long list of private bills,
is one which, should the plans be carried out, will add
greatly to the architectural beauties of Parliament-
street, the main thoroughfare leading from Charing.
cross to the Palace of the Legislature. New buildings
are to be erected for the War Office and the Admiralty,
and these are to occupy an area of 112,000 square feet,
with a Whitehall frontage, another façade running in
the line of the garden wall of the Admiralty and com-
manding the Horse Gnards Parade ; while a third, the
west front, will be on the site of Spring Gardens
Terrace and the end houses of New-street By this
new erection the War Office will adjoin the Horse
Guards, an arrangement which will materially contri-
bute to the public convenience, seeing that those
establishments, both of which are closely associated
with our military administration, are now some
distance apart, one being in Pall Mall and the other
in Whitehall.
The long list of private bills is indeed one of the
sigas of a revival in trade and of the advent of another
period of industrial and commercial enterpriseo Most
f the principal railway companies are promoting im-
portant sehemes of extension. With a view of opening
up agricultural districts, and of affording further
transport facilities to towns, new lines are to be con-
structed in almost every part of the country. A
perfect network of fresh lines is proposed for the
metropolitan counties in particular ; and so far as
London itself is concerned, there is a project for
uniting by a series of link and loop lines all
the railways converging on London. Various electric
light companies are also seeking extensive powers.
Indications multiply that the utilization of elec•
tricity as a lighting, heating, and motive power
will in the near future turn a large amount of
capital into a new channel. Its application to
tarts and manufactures promises to give to industry
such an impetus as it has not received since
that wonderful development of the railway system
which has taken place within the past five-and-
thirty years.
Not the least conspicuous indication of approaching
Christmas is the great Cattle Show at Islington,
where, at the Agricultural-hall, in the first week of
December, the best animals in the kingdom are col-
lected for inspection. Her Majesty is generally an
exhibitor ; and so also is the Prince of Wales, who
amid all his engagements is never better pleased or
more at home than when he is paying a visit to the
Agricultural-hall ;or better still, when he takes a
prize. The first week of December in London is
what is known as the farmers' week. Advantage
is taken of the presence of such a large number
of agriculturists in the metropolis to hold a number
gatheringa in which the cultivators of the soil
are directly interested. First there are the meet-
ings of the Smithfield Club itself, under whose
calspices the exhibition is held. Then there is the
Royal Agricultural Society, whose exhibition is always
held in some great provincial centre in the full tide of
-summer, but the annual meeting takes place in Cattle
tShow week. The Farmers' Club, too, has its principal
gatherings at the same time ; indeed the main thorough-
fares of London present unmistakeable evidences of
the presence of the tillers of the soil, their healthy,
looking faces -strongly contrasting with the general
run of those whose appearance testifies to their re-
sidence in a smoky city.

The attention which has lately been directed to the
German Emperor, in consequence of the infirm condi-
tion of his health, points to a figure which has long been
con-ipicuous one in European histmy. It is worthy
of remark that Prussia has taken a foremost place
amongst the nations since the present Emperor
came to the throne twenty years ago. In the
time of his pzedecessor Prussia was a second or
third-rate power, and at the epoch of tile
Crimean War, she was much blamed for her
timid and vacillating policy. It was that same
war that gave Sardinia ;he opportunity, which was
seized by Count Cavour, when he joined the
Western alliance, and secured the active sy,m-
pathy and support of England and France for his
idea of a United Italy, the results of which we

see to-clay. When King William came to the
Throne of Prussia, in 1861, he set steadily to
work to make his country a great military Power.
The system of compulsory service is one of the
strictest in Europe, and it has enabled Prussia
first to drive Austria out of Germany, and then to
defeat France. What effect it has upon the industry
of the people is seen by the stream of emigration
which sets from the shores of the Fatherland towards
those of the United States ; but this is a secondary
matter of consideration to a Sovereign whose sole
notion was to create a colossal military power.
The Emperor is nearly eighty-five years of age,
and although twenty-two years older than our own
Queen has not reigned half so long. At the
age of seventy-three he put himself at the head
of the German armies to repel the French in-
vasion directed by the late Emperor Napoleon ; and
55 years before that he had been in France with the
army of occupation which proceeded thither after the
Battle of Waterloo. That was 66 years ago—a
period of activity compreszed into a lifetime which it
is given to but few mortals to witness.