The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1886-05-22 00:00:00

THE DEFENCE OF LONDON.

At a meeting of the United Service Institution, held
last Friday, at Whitehall-yard, Major-General Sir A.
Clarke in the chair, Major H. Elsdale, RE., read a
second paper on- the "Defence of London and of
England." After briefly summarising the conclusions
of his remarks last week, he said that the question of
the proper defence of London was inseparabl3nbound
up with, and could not be treated apart from the
more general question of the defence of England
against invasion; for any kind or degree of pro-
tection which we might give to our shores, or any
obstacles we might put in the way of an
advancing enemy between the coast and the capital,
were clearly so much protection given to London. A
strong and patriotic Government, with a clear
view of the realities of our position at present,
and the enormous interests at stake, might most
properly carry out the nine successive stages of
defensive peace preparations which he thought neces-
sary at a cost of .E 4,000,000. But they were not all
equally or all at once necessary, and the question of
their comparative importance and of what amount of
money ought in reason to be spent upon them at
present or at any future time could not be satis-
factorily or properly dealt with without a still
further widening of our horizon, so as to include at
one view the requirements of our navy and other
leading defensive necessities of our imperial position
generally. He was not blindly advocating an enor-
mous or extravagant outlay on the defence of London
to the exclusion or neglect of our other requirements.
Did we consider that London should be protected
by special works or did we not? Or were we
prepared to throw upon our navy, or upon any coast
defences, or upon both combined, the tremendous
responsibility of its protection. If we should agree
that it ought to have independent protection, then
should they rest satisfied with a strong defensible posi-
tion upon every side of it, or ought we at once or
at any later stage of our general defensive prepara-
tions to fortify it regularly? Or, how far should we
trust to provisional works to be thrown up in a hurry
whenever the occasion might arise? If something
like a general concensus of professional opinion on
such fundamental points as those could be arrived at,
it would, he apprehended, be a most excellent thing,
and the hands of responsible heads of departments
would be greatly strengthened thereby in dealing with
these questions. The cardinal consideration which
should steadily be borne in mind in dealing with the
cubject seemed to be that the defence of our capital
could not be dealt with or properly treated as an
individual and isolated object. It was of the first im-
portance that the fortifications of Chatham should
be completed, that the passage of the Thames from
Gravesend to Tilbury should be secured by permanent
works on each side, and the coast-line northwards
from the Medway as far as Harwich by land batteries
and by a local force of gun and torpedo boats. The
great naval ports and dockyards must also be secured,
as well as the 16 commercial harbours selected from
those most convenient to an enemy as bases of attack
against London, or most important to secure our com-
mercial marine and the food supply of our population.
It would be a necessary part of our coast defence to
guard the coast-line in certain localities favourable
for a disembarkation, especially on those best calcu-
lated to prevent the enemy from landing, marching
on a neighbouring harbour, turning its defences, and
securing it as a base. In dealing with the question
of the construction of one or two entrenched camps
in Ireland, and by the fortification of the Isle of
Anglesea and Holyhead, for the recall of most of the
garrisons of Ireland, while securing its possession and
reoccupation at any time, Major Elsdale said that in
case of a supreme struggle for our national existence
it would be generally admitted that we could not
afford to leave a large garrison of regular troops in
Ireland as at present. He submitted that the con-
struction of these camps was an intermediate course,
which, while setting free the troops, or most of them,
during the emergency in England, would yet provide
such a necessary basis for the security and early re-
occupation of Ireland as would enable us to tide over
the crisis satisfactorily without incurring the reproach
of abandoning it. He proposed to construct a
number of permanent works to strengthen the first
line of defence round London at important points,
and to construct a set of reserve fighting positions
nearer to the capital as an inner line for the de-
fenders to rally upon and check the enemy in
case the first line of defence was forced. The final
stage in the defensive works was to construct three
permanent entrenched camps to strengthen the de-
fence, and to provide rallying points and bases of
operations for our troops against a victorious enemy.
Major Elsdale then passed to the question of war
preparations, and sketched the seven stages of the
struggle from and after an enemy's landing. In con-
clusion, he made a few observations on some of the
leading conditions which would go far to determine
our success or failure in the defence. The first was
the number of men which we or the enemy could
bring into the field. He assumed as probable that
no enemy would undertake to invade England and
capture London with lees than 150,000 men. To meet
these he calculated that we should probably be able
to bring together a mixed force of about 256,000 men,
more or less, consisting of regulars, militia, reserves
and volunteers, with a very large proportion of volun-
teers; so that although our troops would be in a far
worse condition as regards training and efficiency in
the field, we ought to secure a numerical preponder-
ance. The real and ultimate defence of London in
his view lay in its vastness and in the almost unli-
mited capabilities it presented for street fighting on a
gigantic scale, coupled with the extreme difficulty
of surrounding or investing it, and the fact of its
being divided into two independently defensible
halves by a formidable and very defensible obstacle
in the Thames. If a mere handful, comparatively
speaking, of Communists, the scum of Paris and of
Europe make such a formidable defence of Paris that
they were only overcome by a very large army of
regular troops, after severe fighting extending over
several days, what number of invaders would be re-
quired to take London, supposing the vast city to be
defended house by house by the whole power of
England, directed by our ablest officers, and sup-
ported by all the resources of the country, poured
in by rail on the uninvested side? Whatever view
might be taken of the merit of any proposals which
might have been submitted to their consideration,
this at least might be generally agreed on—that our
capital, the great centre and focus and heart of our
whole vast Empire, ought not to be left any longer
defenceless, a magnificent prize to tempt and entice
any enemy who in the absence of our fleet, or on
obtaining the temporary command of the Channel,
could make a sudden swoop upon it. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. Saunders, in opening the discussion, remarked
that the public at large would hardly be enamoured
with such an enormous scheme of defence, which
must also to a great extent be merely theoretical.
The first point, he thought, to which their attention
should be directed was the defence of their coast, and
the battle for the defence of London and England
should be fought in the English Channel, as'it had in
the days of the Spanish Armada.

Admiral Freetnantle observed that the defence of
this great Empire must be left mainly and principally
to the navy. He would say distinctly that we ought
to have coast defences so as to drive the enemy into
the sea. Further than that he would not be prepared
to go. If any hostile Power were even for a short
time to have the command of the sea, not only
should we lose India, but we should be positively
starved out, so dependent were we upon our over sea
food supplies. He thought that it would be quite
possible, even with the defences which Major Elsdale
proposed, that England might be seized by the
throat by the seizure of Hull and the occupation of
the great centres of production, such as Manchester
and Liverpool—these being in the bands of the
enemy, unquestionably the Empire would be grasped
by the throat; and under these circumstances they
would have to submit to similar terms as if London
itself were seized. He was altogether opposed to the
protection of London by special works.
The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the
lecturer.

"Mrs. Dusenbery, here's an account of fifty boys
found in the hold of a schooner just in from Bremen.
They were thirty-five days without food." "Good
gracious, Mr. Dusenbery ! Why, it's awful! Little
German boys were they ? " "Carboys, my dear."
The Boston Beacon tells the story of a lady
of that city who, last summer, attended a funeral
in a country church. After the singing of a hymn,a
man who was sitting beside her remarked, "Beau-
tiful hymn, isn't it, madam? The corpse wrcite
it!"

GOSSIP ON DRESS.

WiTu the advance of the season the similarity in
the make of morning, afternoon, and evening dresses
bevnnes strikingly evident. They are all built on
much the same lines—that is, they resemble each
other in the matters of long waists and long draperies,
geheral simplicity of style, and absence of unmeaning
and unnecessary details. Such simplicity is the result
of high art, bearing with it the cachet of good work-
manship and artistic feeling. A walking dress, the
creation of a leading French modiste, illustrates the
prevailing style of the best dressmakers and tailors.
It is of very fine indigo cashmere, with fine lines of
embroidery of the same colour; the somewhat narrow
skirt is very plain, having only a foot pleating show-
ing beneath its edge; the overskirt is long, hiding the
other almost entirely, except where it opens from the
waist to the feet, a few folds at this opening forming
a remarkably graceful, but quite indescribable
draping. The perfectly fitting plain bodice has two
points behind; underneath the right hand are more
of these cunningly contrived small folds, which are
rather more full than those in front. With these
exceptions the overskirt is quite plain, the dress de-
pending for its beauty on its marvellous cut and sub-
tile draping pots.

BUTTER yellow is one of the colours greatly affected
in Paris just now; that, a charmingly soft olive green,
a rich chestnut brown, a rose-tinted grey heliotrope
(of which there is a multiplicity of shades), fawn,
and beige divide the honours. A very pretty ball
dress is of the first-named colour in a new make of
poult-de-soie, which is wonderfully rich and good in
quality, falling in beautiful folds. The jupe of this
dress and the long-waisted pointed bodice are of the
silk, and the draperies of straw-coloured lace,
embroidered in yellow silk and tiny yellow pearls.
For veiling satin and silk skirts this silk and pearl
embroidered lace is now greatly used, as are also silk
gauze, silk tulle, and silk blonde.

OF this year's trimmings lace is accorded the first
place, and is employed largely for dresses, tea gowns,
,mantles, bonnets, and hats. A pretty way of utilising
a lace shawl is to drape it thus over a tea gown, the
material being velvet or plush; the shawl, of white or
black lace, has one corner frilled round the throat,
spread out a little over the bust, gathered into a loose
blouse front, and secured below the waist by a butter-
fly bow of the plush; the rest of the shawl is drawn
over the front of the skirt, the corners being either
hidden beneath the side revers of the gown, or caught
into a loose knot behind. The richest brc;:.:ades are
now used for tea gowns, which are fully as elaborate
as dinner dresses, if not more so; the form of gown
worn in the Louis XIV. and Louis XV. periods is in
many cases closely followed, and with excellent
results. Besides the silk and pearl embroidered
trimming laces above mentioned, which have the
merit of novelty, all kinds of beaded and jilted em-
broideries remain fashionable for the ornamentation
of capes, visites, and mantles. Such trimmings are
carried this year to a far greater extent than last,
many of the more stylish summer wraps being entirely
composed of bead work either in black, copper, or
iridescent beads, the material being almost, if not
quite, hidden by them.

A TASTEFUL afternoon dress for a young lady is
composed of brown canvas, with narrow sand-coloured
plush stripes over a brown silk foundation; the
plain skirt has a side trimming of sand-coloured silk
canvas, embroidered in brown silk, which is kept in
place by butterfly bows of reversible satin ribbon,
brown one side and sand-tinted the other; the front
long drapery is caught up high on the right side, to
show the trimming, and falls in long full folds behind ;
the tight-fitting bodice is draped fichu fashion with
the embroidery, and the high collar coral sleeve bands
are formed of shaded brown beads. A brown straw
hat to wear with this costume is turned up with
sand-coloured satin, and has large upright bows of
the reversible ribbon in front, backed with loops of
embroidered canvas, of which material the parasol is
also covered. It may be mentioned, en passant, that
the newest parasol frames have only six, instead of
eight ribs, which not only makes them lighter, but
allows room for the exercise of more ingenuity in
their trimming; they are worn somewhat large this
year, and usually in pale tints of colour—cream
café, the lightest tone, and paille are favourites;
while in black, broche gauze and Chantilly are fashion-
able over plain black or colour corresponding with that
of the costume.

MANY of the most stylish gowns preparing for this
season are in sand colour, which can be worn by either
brunettes or blondes. The material is generally ben-
galine, poult-de-soie, or cashmere, chestnut brown
being the colour more frequently combined with it.
Laine Vitreaux is quite a fresh fabric, and:a very pretty
one it is, too, composed of small check squares with
a sort of trellis work in lace canvas. It should be
worn over a silk foundation, the skirt matching in
colour the deepest shade of the check. A stylish
dress of it is in Indian red and cream over a red silk
petticoat which shows through the lace canvas; in
this the front draperies cross each other, which has
a very good effect, as the fabric is very soft and light,
falling into naturally graceful folds. A mantelette of
the same material, silk lined, is prepared for wear
with
,this dress; it has lace epaulettes on the shoul-
ders, a high ruff round the neck, and is lace bordered,
the long front ends being finished off with red and
cream knots of ribbon, the cream lace shell-shaped
bonnet having bows of soft red silk between the side
quillings. Daintily pretty are many of the new spring
costumes for children, the plain and striped zephyrs
making up charmingly for small people. These stiles
are well worn: a skirt formed of the double pleating
of the stripe is attached to a long jacket bodice of the
same material, this jacket having a plastron, an en-
circling scarf, collar, and cuffs of the plain zephyr.
Another has a plain striped skirt, with a little fulness
at the sides, a jacket bodice of self colour, laced in
front, showing beneath the lacing the skirt material,
which is also employed for the square deep collar and
miffs. Corde de la reine is a useful novelty for chil-
dren's wear; it is serviceable, inexpensive, and makes
up most effectively. An indigo blue frock trimmed
with cream embroidery, the plain skirt having a flounce
of embroidery, and the long bodice a deep collar and
revers of the same, with a full plastron of the material
between the revers. Beige, summer cloth, and ches-
nut brown corde de In reine is a good mixture, both as
regards material and colour. The skirt should be
rather full edged, with a band of the corde, and
I gathered into a long-waisted bodice, the gathers being
hidden beneath a sash tied on the right side
with ends, the cuffs, collar, and revers being also of
the corde. With a biege straw hat trimmed to match,
this is a costume admirably suited for this betwixt-
and-between season, when mothers are afraid to put
their children into cotton and muslin. The ever-
useful serges are used year after year for children's
frocks. A sensible and comfortable form of make for
seaside wear in this fabric is the blouse bodice and
box-pleated skirt with square collar and deep cuffs of
striped blue and red, blue and white, or red and
white flannel. For more dressy occasions a smart
little French model is in bronze coloured epingl6
velvet and greenish grey cloth; the bodice and skirt
are cut in one, with plastrons in front and behind of
the velvet, and full side pleats of the cloth. The hat
is of bronze straw, velvet trimmed, with grey
osVich feathers, and the hose and gloves match the
cloth. Another model is in butter - yellow
Surah and heliotrope cashmere, while a third
is in chestnut brown velvet, with trim-
mings of paille-coloured lace, the bat being
of Tuscan straw, with ribbons and feathers matching
the lace in tint. Children's hats are mostly high-
crowned, and have loops of ribbon hanging from the
top of the crown, set close together in front, and at
the sides, but without trimming at the back; the
lining is of the same colour as the ribbon, in soft silk.
A lovely little bonnet for a quite small child is in very
pale blue crepon, with strings and bows of pale blue
satin. Such a bonnet in pale pink, cream, or white
would look equally pretty. Jackets for children are
mostly long, showing only the bottom of the frock
below them. Shorter jackets have full plastrons. An
effective little coat is in metal blue plush, over a frock
of the same coloured cashmere banded round the
edge with plush; it has a full plastron of Sarah in a
lighter tone, which is secured below the waist by a
plush band, and falls beneath it on to the skirt, its
edge being turned in to complete the bag-like nature
of the trimming; a row of cut steel buttons on each
side oi the jacket serve to finish it off in a stylish
manner.