The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1888-06-02 00:00:00

LONDON CORRESPONDENCE,

[We deem it right t,o state that we do not at all times identify
ourselves with our Correspondent's opinions,)

With the in-coming of June has been in-
auprated a development of railway enterprise
which places England still farther ahead than she
has hicherto been of the nations of the world in
regard to the point of speed. When the Great
Northern Company some years ago commenced
mating an express from London to Edinburgh in
nine hours, and to Glasgow in ten hours and
twenty minutes, it put the_ other trunk lines
connecting Scotland with the English metropolis
upon their mettle. First the Midland and then
the London and North-Western ran trains to both
Edinburgh and Glasgow in ten hours; but
towards the end of May, the last - named
company announced that henceforth it
would do the journey from "London to those
cities in an hour less. The challenge was
promptly taken up by the Great Northern,
which intimated the very next day that the
duration of the trip to Edinburgh would from
the Ist of June be shortened to eight hours and
a-half. This is a truly marvellous speed, and it
is difficult to see how it can ever be made more
brief. Of course, it revives memories of bygone
days, when a journey to Edinburgh was con-
sidered by a Londoner to be done in really
quick time if it came within a week, and of those
a little farther back, when, as handbills still in
existence testify, the running of a coach from
York to London, which occupied only four days
on the road was considered almost a miracle of
speed. With such examples before us, even the
hardiest prophet will scarcely venture to foretell
where this race will end.

One of the most interesting open-air spectacles
which London in summer time presents is the
meet in Hyde-park of either the Four-in-
Hand or Coaching Club. Primarily the idea
is to keep alive that love of coaching
which was once so great among our
money classes, but which died away with
the introduction of railways, only to be
revived again within the past few years. But
really such occasions are fashionable functions,
at which may be seen all the well-known people
in society, together with a large number of on-
lookers who have no lot or part in that inner
circle of all that is wealthy and aristocratic. The
fine vehicles, with their splendidly-appointed
teams, are items in the show, but only items after
all • for, as in the case of all such gatherings of
fashionable folk during the London season,
the people mainly come together simply to
see and to be seen, and it is surprising
how many excuses they find to this
end. Yet even those who know nobody,
and do not wish to, can glean much that is
pleasurable from a coaching meet. In the first
place, it always takes place in Hyde-park at a
time when it is in the very height of its varied
attractions; and in the second, the youth and
beauty of many of those ladies who grace the
coaches are always attractive to the eye. It is
no wonder, therefore, that such gatherings are
always watched by a large crowd.
It is reported that the Queen intends during the
corning few months to announce an alteration in
one important regulation which affects the winter
Drawing-rooms. The rule always has been that
ladies—presenting themselves at these functions
should be clad in a low-cut dress,- and a high
dress was permitted only in cases where a medical
certificate was presented to the effect that the
wearing of a low one would be prejudicial to the
health. But during the winter season, and when
the carriages have had to wait for hours outside)
Buckingham Palace in a bitter blast, this regula-
tion has been felt to be not merely irksome but
to the delicate positively dangerous; and
although it was not a point against which,
under the circumstances, protest could be
made, whispers of discontent had long been rife.
These appear at length to have reached her
Majesty's ears' and the effect is stated to be
that, for those drawing-rooms which are held in
the more winterly months, the rule will be
modified. Should this prove to be the case, it
will be interesting to note how many of those
who either present others or aro presented them-
seves will take avail of the royal concession.
Those who dwell on the banks of the Thames,
and particularly those who live on the lower
reaches, have frequently complained of what they
considered the carelessness of the men in charge
of such powder barges as were moored in the
river. It is obvious, of course, that carelessness
in regard to such a matter might involve a
catastrophe which it is almost appalling even to
consider. A single spark from a pipe might be
the means of starting such an explosion as might
lay a great portion of London below bridge"
in ruins; and it must, therefore, be a comfort to
all those who live near to know that it
has been arranged that the Government
shall employ and pay a watchman on board all
the powder barges, there being a relief night and
day, so that constant vigilance shall be exercised.
There will thus be what there has never been
before—a body of watchers directly responsible
to the Government for the proper security of
these barges; and it may consequently be hoped
that the old and not altogether groundless
fears will now be allowed to die away.
One of those social questions, which appear
small when compared with some of the burning
topics of the day, but which are great in
their effects upon a large number of
people, is the employment of discharged
soldiers. In those days of short service the need
of some organised system to the end is increas-
ingly felt, and a National Association for the
purpose was formed two years ago, which by its
latest report appears to be making fair headway,
though, perhaps, not quite so great as the worth
of its work cleserves. During the past year, it
appears, branches have been formed at Man-
chester, Liverpool, Nottingham, Hull, and New-
castle-upon-Tyne, while nearly 3500 men had
been registered by the various offices
of the association, for over a thousand
of whom employment had been found,
that being double the number of the
first year. The Government is assisting the
movement with a small contribution from the
Imperial funds, but what is wanted is a more
general public recognition of its methods and aims.
There aro many situations which a thoroughly
trustworthy discharged soldier could excellently
fill; and as long as we have a volunteer army
organised on the short service system, it is neces-
sary for its complete popularity that the public
should assist in doing something for the men
after they are discharged.
During the week which follows upon Whitsun-
tide, the great friendly societies of the kingdom
are accustomed to hold their annual assemblies
in.various parts of our principal towns, and to
many persons beyond the bounds of their member-
ship their proceedings cannot fail to be of
interest. It is one of the best signs of modern
England that the spirit of organised thrift is
spreading among the working classes. For a
long period the taunt was thrown, and with
justice, at our toiling population that they did
not undertand what thrift meant. With
them it was not quite "easy come, easy
go," to use the old phrase, for certainly it
never was with ease that they earned their
livelihood; but what they took from their em-
ployer they spent with a readiness which left
them nothing to fall back upon when the prover-
bial "rainy nay" arrived. Much of this spirit
still lingers, but much of it has been eradicated;
and it is to the influence of the great friendly
societies, coupled with the institution of a sav-
ings bank practically in every village that this
is mainly due. No better thing could happen
for the future of the English people than that its
mass should be imbued with the necessity for
exercising thrift; and all agencies which tend in
this direction deserve encouragement even from
those who may never directly be benefited by
them. _ _

The check which was administered by Lan-
cashire to what looked like the all-co.n quering
car3er of the Australian team has herghtene
i d
the interest that will generally be taken n the
cricket season of 1888. Had the Australians con-
tinued to sweep everything before them, the
matches in which they took part would have
come to be looked upon as a foregone conclusion,
and that would have been a pity from every
point of view. As it is, the exceedingly striking
start made by the Australians, coupled with their
sudden arid unexpected check,hasarousedpopular
intei est ia their progress to a degree which would
scarcely have been thought possible. Before
the team arrived in England those who were
presumed to know everything about the game
and its players, all the world over prophesied
that it would be found to be the weakest that
the colonies had sent us. This forecast has been
singularly upset, by events, and it now looks as
if it is about one of the best we have seen. The
necessary consequence is that its doings will be
watched with increased general attention the
whole season through. A. F. R.

HIS DIAGNOSIS.—" Got a cold, Hyson ?" inquired
Mr. Orrice Root of young Hyson, the other day; "tell
you what will stop it in five minutes—" but Hyson
interrupted him. "I had a cold," he said, "at the be-
ginning of the week. What-I've got :now is a five-
minute cure that a fellow gave me on Monday. Looks
liko a cold, though, don't it?