The North Cumberland Reformer. — 1891-10-29 (Carlisle, Cumbria, England)

NOTES.  Mr Allison, M.P., was here and gave us a rattling good lecture on "Sir Walter Scott" on Tuesday evening; and he is coming to Irthington in a fortnight to give us a political lecture, when he will doubtless reply to some of the delusive arguments— if arguments they can be called—of his opponent. Mr 11. C. Howanl, who seems determined at all costs to ingratiate himself with the electors, so as to be able to mm,ter a respectable following when the long-looked-for election takes place ; but that may now come upon us much sooner than some of us expect. Mr Howard has promised to visit Hallbankgate next Saturday evening; and as these poor " Unionists" will sadly need all the assistance they are ei er likely to get, I don't mind giving them a free advertisement, just for once in a way. It is this—" Front seats reserved for ladies." Well, the Unionist and Primrose " ladies " are welcome to the lot for me, for I should be sorry indeed to deprive them of a proper bellyful of Unionism and the everlasting blessings of Halfourism, for I am convinced that the more of these they have now, the less they will want by and by. I am exceedingly sorry that my quondam friend, the editor of the penny Tory sheet, cannot find something to write about without being under the necessity of (to him) mis-representing it. " Lady Carlisle," we are seriously told," having broken fresh ground elsewhere has left behind her here a band of amazonian orators, who perambulate the villages and perform in the reflected light of her light and example. . . . . With an alarming misconception of their position, they disclaim against rank and wealth. But who would care to hear them, or would they themselves venture upon the career, if they were not the proteges of the great Lady of Naworth ? They come out under the mgis of rank and wealth to decry rank and wealth !" Now, all this may look very fine, and to some may seem very smart; but what on earth does it mean? If it means anything at all it shows on the face of it that the writer knows nothing about what he is writing. " With a charming misconception of his position," he declaims against that which he knows absolutely nothing. When and where, may I ask, has the "band of amazonian orators" "declaimed against rank and wealth ?- The very reverse is the truth. The members of the Women's Liberal Association, unlike their prototype on the other side—the sereand-yellow-leaf dames—have a mission to level up, not to level down. And, as a Tory editor cannot be expected to be a very diligent student of Lady Car!isle's speeches, it is not surprising that he should have failed to find that she "has anywhere dropped a word on this subject" (the household cares and worries of women) although that is the very subject ' which has prominence, and is most sympathetically treated in nearly every speech she delivers. Try again, my boy; this won't do.  Coming back to Mr Allison, it is not surprising that he should be such an enthusiastic admirer of Sir Walter Scott. Of the value of his writings, unlike many biographers, he speaks from experience. It is not every man that can boast of having read the Waverley novels right through, with one exception. Yet they are well worth reading; and as they are about the cheapest literature in the market to-day, young men and maidens would do well to give them a trial, in preference to the silly and pernicious trash that is now pouring from the press in such alarming quantities. Scott may amuse and instruct, but will never do harm.  The winter is coming on apace, but it is feared that it will be a poor look-out in Brampton for those unfortunate enough to be scant o' cash. The coals, such as they are, instead of becoming cheaper when people want them most, are getting dearer and dearer. This is because one firm fondly imagines that they have a monopoly of the business, and send down here waggon-loads of dust and dirt, which at other places is chucked over the banks as refuse, but yet for this they have the audacity to charge the highest possible price. Some enterprising Carlisle carters took it into their heads last week to come over with a few tons of coal, which turned out to be of excellent quality, and actually a penny a hundred weight cheaper than the Fellside rubbish.:Little wonder that they have been encouraged to come again and again. Talking about the letting of the Tweed Mill, there is an impression in some quarters that it will not be let for manufacturing purposes for some time to come because of the scarcity of money. Stuff and nonsense! Money was never more plentiful. Do you doubt it? Well, its not so long ago since sums of £4O and £6O respectfully, were lost in betting transactions in a Brampton public-house. That was told in a Brampton pulpit on the Sunday following, but somehow or other it did not get reported in the newspapers. No, such things like the suicides of Monte Carlo are not worth sticking in the papers; but when £l4O can be spent in gambling, don't tell me that the Tweed Mill can't again be set agoing.