The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1874-12-26 00:00:00

" into non child is born,
Unto no a son is given,"

so familiar in the churches.
There are other ways of looking at this festival be-
aides that which surrounds it with sentiment. Besides
being a happy season for all, there is a large number
of industrious persons who would not get through
the year but for the additional work caused by
the arrival of Christmas. The month is to them
what the harvest is to the agricultural labourer.
The extra demand for labour of all kinds is really
enormous. To nay nothing of the immense quantities
of provisions and delicacies which are poured into
London by every railway, and which make such a
tempting display in the shop-windows, a great variety
of intellectual fare is also supplied to all classes of
the people. In order to furnish the Christmas enter-
tainments, authors, printers, artist., and engravers
have had their hands full for weeks. What an amount
of money and of Ain the festival roust employ!
Think of the number of Christmas cards which are
transmitted through the post at such a time—of the
Christmas stories of all degrees of literary skill—of the
beautifully-illuminated Christmas gift-books —of the
Christmas numbers of the weekly papers, and by the
mast of other ways in which we are reminded in print
of the return of the tleaBoll The loss of such a cele-
bration would be a serious blow to thousands of hard-
working people, who now by its agency are enabled
to pull through the year. There is another light in
which its annual recurrence may be regarded as a
boon. There it is that those who are fortunate in
possessing a full share of this world's goods, take a
delight in inventing pleasant surprises for those who
are less favourably situated, and give a pragtical
application to the saying, "More blessed ''tis to give
itian to receive !" This desire to du good takes various
shapes. Sometimes a substantial gift, carriage paid,
arrives by Parcels' Delivery; at others the deposit of a
five-pound note accompanies a shake of the hand, and
the expression of a good wish. Some of the kindly.
dispesesi take a pleasure in supplying large numbers of
poor children not only with physical comforts, but
with intellectual amusements 811 well. They are
amply rewarded by the delight which the young
people manifest in the games which enterprising
and benevolent tradesmen invent and bring out just
now, or in either of theatrical entertainments
which are prepared especially to suit their taste, and
to excite their laughter.
In London, for a fey tnight prece ling Christmas
Day, the pavements in the Mall thoroughfares are

impassable on a fine evening, so great is the throng of
people who have issued forth to view the manifold
glories of the shops. Every year seems to add to the
artistic nature of their content* and to the variety of
their attractions. The displays made by the provision
merchants, and the printsellers, and by the vendors of
tilts sd sill descriptions, are scanned admiringly. The
waren are laid out so as to suit the income of all, and
very few need go without a reminder of the season to
which all look forward. If you cannot afford a hamper
of god things at a guinea, the accommodating purveyor
will let you have one at five shillings, and the poorest
have, by putting by their stray pence for wesks past,
been able to get together at least that PHIP.:. If you
wish to have souse idea of the huge qpintities of
provisions sent up from Norfolk and Suffolk,
pay a visit to the goods station of the Great
E wtern Railway at Einhopegate, and note the
piles of hampers full of turkeys and the barrels of
Whitatable oysters. Or, if you do not care for that
euvl of the town, and are aristocratically inclined,
make s journey to the Great Western terminus at
Paildingt n where you will find dead geese literally
in thousands, whichbave been sent up from the fertile
counties stretching away towards the setting sun,
served by that important broad-gauge corporation.
An extra staff of officials has been put onittieach place
to deal with the immense amount of additional work
which Christmas produces; the roof rings with the in-
structions shouted forth by a host of voices ; and as
: fast as the huge vans of the Pamela' Delivery Cum-
patty roll out laden with packages for distribution in
! neighbouring streets and in distant squares, the in-
coming trains rapidly fill up the gaps again, and for a
time the work of clearing off the multitudinous supply
of hampers might well appear to those employed
therein an ahrurt interminable task.
There must be something substantial about a
festival which is celebrated by people of such different
languages, and such widely-varying climes. Empires
may rise sad fall, nations may grow great and sink
into decay, dynasties may dazzle the world with the
glory of their deeds, and then suddenly suffer anni-
hilation and effacement, generations may spring up
and pass away as shadows from the plain, but Christ-
maa goes on for ever. To the dweller in the mansion
and in the cottage alike it brings p.y and sunahine.
I's the halt and to the maimed, to the denizens of deaf
and blind asylums, to the parila of civilisation in the
streets and in the workhouses its mystic influence is
felt as a healing and a balm. To the jaded City man,
who now casts off the cares of this world for s few
hours, the midnight strains of the Christmas minstrels
are indeed welcome, for they seem to tell of times
which have long fled away, when the pushing and the
bustle of to-day were unknown. Even to the un-
trained mind of the rustic there b. soothing effect in
the sound of Christmas chimes, for 'its they die away in
the realms of boundless apace, their melody speaks of that
other world of which the herald angels sang so long ago.
"A Happy Christmas!" then, to all our readers—
joy to the children, pleasant reunions to long-separated
friends and relatives, a fraternal feeling amongst
various classes, a common patriotism to the inhabitants
of these islands, a dream of peace for the nations, and
whatever else may be in harmony with Him whose
mission was one long example of doing good. As the
bells ring out o'er hill and dale, awakening the echoes
of tha glens, and bringing back happy memories to the
residents alike in the cities and in the hamlets, as the
smoke ceases to ascend from the factory, and the
plough lies silent in the furrow; and as kindly
greetings are exchanged, and gifts bestowed, let us
hope that hearts will have been knit together, and
that all will have been glad with an innocent joy
which has left no sting behind. Above all, lea .he
great occasion itself be steadily kept in view—
• "

" Earthly friend& may change and falter
Earthly friends may vary ;
Christ was burn (who cannot alter)
Of the Virgin Mary."

So the meteorologists were right, after all. They
have been predicting for weeks that the present winter
would be more severe than any which ha a been ex-
perienced since that terrible one which ushered in the
year 1871. At that time the vast host of the German
army encompassed the French capital, and had done
so from the 20th September preceding. When the
German forces first sat down before Paris, it was con-
fidently anticipated that a city containing nearly two
millions of people could not hold out more than a
week. But when month after month went on, and it
was found that the great place, notwithstanding the
circle of iron drawn round it, still held out, it was
universally admitted that those who were responsible
for the provisioning of the city had made very good use
of their time. But that terrible winter played sad havoc
with the hopes of the besieged. The intensity of the
cold, the scarcity of fuel, and the scanty supply of
food rendered capitulation more and more inevit
able slay by day ; and impelled M. Jules Fevre, on
the 24th of January, 18;4, to seek an interview with
Count Bifsrnarck at Versailles, with a view to a surren-
der. Of course it was quite as cold for the besiegers as
for those within the beleagured walls, but they had the
whole country open to them from which to draw sup-
plies, and so had an abundance of clothing and of vic-
tuals. The cold atmospheric wave which has just passed
over Europe, has been the most persistent since that
time of bitter memories in France. From all parts
of the Continent accounts have told of the piercing
weather. Stay! there are one or two exceptions. At
San Remo, where the Empress of Russia is now stay-
lug; at Cannes, which was the favourite resort of the
late Lord Brougham; and at Nice, where Archbishop
Manning has just been sojourning—all upon the shores
of the Mediterranean—people sit as usual with open
windows, noting the progress of the myrtle in
December, and rejoicing in the presence of perpetual
spring. If the sands of that tideless sea were only a
little nearer to um, they might be almost as crowded as
are those of Ramsgate in August.
A great city visited by a snowstorm presents a spec-
tacle of helplessness little short of pitiable. Those
fleecy flakes, so emblematic of innocence, and the
descent of which is Watched by the children with no
much delight, play sad havoc with locomotion, and
interfere with business to an extent well-nigh incal-
culable. The omnibuses, if they run at all, are com-
pelled to proceed at such a pace that an enormous
waste of time is involved; the cabman is perfectly
indifferent whether you hire him or not, for at
even an enhanced fare he is fearful lest his
horse should break his shins, and even the trains
feel their way cautiously along, for in very cold weather
the wheels fail to " bite " the rails OA they should do
in order to make a pace which is safe. As to walk-
ing thraugh the slush, no convict could be condemned
to a greeter punishment. Perhaps the persons who
regard a snowstorm with the greatest horror are the
contractors who are responsible for keeping the streets
clean. They are fined neavily if this is not done, and
when, at an hour's notice, there is such a fall of snow
as that which descended last week, the clearing away
of this impediment to locomotion becomes almost a
matter of impossibility. Scores of carts and hundreds
of men are wanted at a moment's notice, and it is often
a difficulty to know where to get them. On Blackfriers-
bridge, for instance, where the gradients are steep, and
where it is of the utmost importance that the snow
should not accumulate, a large number of men are em-
ployed, all night long, shovelling away the snow, and
casting it by tons into the Thames, whose dark, sullen.
looking waters are rolling through the arches beneath.
But if every bridge and every street are not clean for
the morning traffic, look out for the shafts of polished
sarcasm from the daily papers. This ought to have
been done, and why that wasn't attended to,
;sasses comprehension. What could the autho-
rities have been thinking about? They manage these
things better in France; and really—yes really—a
. .

snowstorm in the winter is a contigency which should
have been provided for. Now I have often thought
that all this is very fine from gentlemen in easy chairs,
carpeted rooms, and in front of nice fires. No con-
tractor can-keep a staff of a thousand labourers always
in his employment on the chance that once in five
years they will be called upon to deal with a sr.ow
storm. When such a visitation does come, depend
upon it the contractors are not asleap ; they do their
beet to cops with a sudden emergency, and have no
more power to impress men into their service than of
calling spirits from the vasty deep, or of regulating the
action of the tides.

on the management of lunatic asylums, attention is
called to this matter, and the Commissioners assert
that there is probably no single deficiency more
detrimental to the well-being of the insane, be they in
public or private establishments, than want of occu-
pation. A listless and apathetic exixtence, tending to
encourage delusions, will often frustrate the best-
directed efforts of science. There ehould be no diffi
culty in providing constant occupation for patients of
all kinds, and by this means the monotony of such a
life need not be felt to such an extent sole now too
often the case.
•

The agitation for the free opening of the Tower of
London has produced some effect, although not all that
its promoters had hoped for. The Lords of the Treasury
have intimated that they are willing to take into
consideration the suggestion for the free opening of
the building on two days of the week, Monday and
Saturday; but at present they do not wish to be
deemed as in any way pledged to adopt the prop sal.
It is, however, satisfactory to know that the proposal
is to.be considered, for ita reasonable nature cannot
fail to be recognised.
Amongst the useful projects to which the Lord
May or has devoted his attention, is the establishment
of a training ship in the Thames. The object is to
prepare boys for the merchant sei vice; and not only
street Arabs, but poor and respectable lads also,
would be taught the rudiments of seamanship. The
cost would have to be borne, in the first instance, by
private subscription, but experience proves that insti-
tutions of this kind soon become, to a great extent-
self-supporting. The Lord Mayor, in presiding over
a meeting at the Mansion House in support of this pur:
pose, doubted whether the recent terrible loss of life
in the winter gales was not to some extent attributable
to inefficient seamanship. There can be no question
that since the introduction of steam, less knowledge
of sailing is required by the crews, and that very often
men are taken on board with no special qualification
for their duties. In the interests, then, of navigation
as well as of philanthropy, we may wish well to the
Thames training ship, and I am glad to see that the
proposal has received the sanction of the Government.
The importance of the move made by the Midland
in abolishing seoond-class carriages is now seen in the
reduction of fares and the increase of accommodation
,on some of our most extensive northern lines. True,
these companies do not sweep away the second-class,
but they will carry them for less money, and, more-
over, will add materially to the comforts of third-class
passengers. The new year will therefore open well
for the humbler class of railway travellers. A penny
per mile for express speed and cushioned carriages is
what never could have been expected even two. years
ago.