JUBILEE BONFIRES.
[To THE EDITOR or THE firsoraron."] Sia,—In your article on the " Jubilee Bonfires," you say that there is no record whether Lincoln responded to the signal rocket sent up on the night of June 21st from the Worcestershire Beacon, and "sped the message on o'er the wide vale of Trent." May I assure you that Lincoln did its part right nobly in this particular, and if the London papers contain no notice of the fact, the fault is not ours P The central tower of our Cathedral was brilliantly illuminated with the electric light (thirty-two arc lights being fixed to the battlements and pinnacles), shining like an imperial crown from " its sovereign hill " through all the country round, being seen as far as Peterborough and Ely to the south, and Doncaster and York to the north, and sending its message of Jubilee far into the Midland counties. Owing to an unfortunate explosion at the manufactory, the supply of rockets promised to several centres failed, and the chain of signals was interrupted. At 10 o'clock, however, a signal rocket was sent up from the Broad Tower of the Minster, and was continued every quarter of an hour. The beacon-fires on the surrounding heights were immediately lighted. Between thirty and forty were visible from the tower, including "the sign" from " Belvoir's lordly terraces." Though it could not be seen from Lincoln, I believe "the star came out from Ely's stately fans" " broader " and " fiercer " than was possible at the time of the Armada, by the aid of the then undreamed-of electric agencies which we called into operation so successfully at Lincoln.
May I add, with reference to the want of "record," that particulars of the signal light, and other details of our Jubilee celebration, were " wired " and otherwise communicated to the London daily papers P But for some inscrutable reason, Lincoln is, as a rule, " boycotted " by the London Press, and while places far inferior in size and importance secure notice, our ancient and loyal city is the victim of a conspiracy of silence, and suffers accordingly in credit. Parton sepultre distat inertia estates virtue.
—I am, Sir, &a,
The Precentory, Lincoln, June 28th. EDMUND VENA.BLES.
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