rescuing hundreds from the paths of dishonesty and wretchedness, but as
its work was in a great measure taken up by the School Board, the
society was dissolved Dec. 17, 1877. Mr. Thos. Middlemore, in 1872,
pitying the condition of the unfortunate waifs and strays known as
"Street Arabs," took a house in St. Luke's Road for boys, and one in
Spring Road for girls, and here he has trained nearly a thousand poor
children in ways of cleanliness and good behaviour prior to taking the
larger part of them to Canada. A somewhat similar work, though on a
smaller scale, is being carried on by Mr. D. Smith, in connection with
the mission attached to the Bloomsbury Institution. In both instances
the children are found good homes, and placed with worthy people on
their arrival in Canada, and, with scarcely an exception all are doing
well. The total cost per head while at the Homes and including the
passage money is about £16, and subscriptions will be welcomed, so that
the work of the Institutions may be extended as much as possible.

~Chimes.~--The earliest note we can find respecting the chimes in the
tower of St. Martin's is in a record dated 1552, which states there were
"iiij belles, with a clocke, and a chyme."

~Chimnies.~--Like all manufacturing towns Birmingham is pretty well
ornamented with tall chimnies, whose foul mouths belch forth clouds of
sooty blackness, but the loftiest and most substantial belongs to the
town itself. At the Corporation Wharf in Montague Street the "stack" is
258 feet in height, with a base 54 feet in circumference, and an inside
diameter of 12 feet. About 250,000 bricks were used in its construction,
which was completed in September, 1879.--Householders of an economical
turn must remember it is not always the cheapest plan to clean their
chimnies by "burning them out," for in addition to the danger and risk
of damage by so doing, the authorities of Moor Street have the peculiar