Part 55
_Wire_.--Wire-drawing, which formerly had to be done by hand, does not appear to have been made into a special trade earlier than the beginning of the 18th century, the first wire mill we read of being that of Penns, near Sutton Coldfield, which was converted from an iron forge in 1720. Steel wire was not made till some little time after that date. The increased demand for iron and steel wire which has taken, place during the last 35 years is almost incredible, the make in 1850 being not more than 100 tons: in 1865 it was calculated at 2,000 tons, in 1875 it was put at 12,000 tons, while now it is estimated to equal 30,000 tons. In March 1853, a piece of No. 16 copper wire was shown at Mr. Samuel Walker's in one piece, three miles long, drawn from a bar 6/8ths in diameter. Originally the bar weighed 128 lbs, but it lost 14lbs in the process, and it was then thought a most remarkable production, but far more wonderful specimens of wire-spinning have since been exhibited. A wire rope weighing over 70 tons, was made in 1876 at the Universe Works, of Messrs. Wright, who are the patentees of the mixed wire and hemp rope. Birdcages, meat covers, mouse traps, wire blinds, wire nails, wire latticing, &c., we have long been used to; even girding the earth with land and ocean telegraph wire, or fencing in square miles at a time of prairie land, with wire strong enough to keep a herd of a few thousand buffaloes in range, are no longer novelties, but to shape, sharpen, and polish a serviceable pair of penny scissors out of a bit of steel wire by two blows and the push of a machine, _is_ something new, and it is Nettlefold's latest.
_Wire Nails, Staples, &c._, are made at Nettlefold's by machinery much in advance of what can ba seen elsewhere. In the nail mill the "Paris points" as wire nails are called, are cut from the coil of wire by the first motion of the machine as it is fed in, then headed and pointed at one operation, sizes up to one inch being turned out at the rate of 360 a minute. In the manufacture of spikes, the punch for making the head is propelled by springs, which are compressed by a cam, and then released at each stroke; two cutters worked by side cams on the same shaft cut off the wire and make the point. A steel finger then advances and knocks the finished spike out of the way to make room for the next. Wire staples, three inches long, are turned out at the rate of a hundred a minute; the wire is pushed forward into the machine and cut off on the bevel to form the points; a hook rises, catches the wire, and draws it down into the proper form, when a staple falls out complete.
_Wire Gauge_.--The following table shows the sizes, weights, lengths, and breaking strains of iron wire under the Imperial Standard Wire Gauge, which came into operation March 1, 1884--
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Size | DIAMETER | Sectional | WEIGHT OF | Length | BREAKING STRAINS on | ------------| area in |----------- | of | ---------------- Wire | Inch Mille- | Sq. |100 Mile | Cwt. | Annealed |Bright Gauge| metres | Inches |Yards | | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------ lbs. lbs. yds. lbs. lbs. 7/0 .500 12.7 .1963 193.4 3404 58 10470 15700 6/0 .464 11.8 .1691 166.5 2930 67 9017 13525 5/0 .432 11. .1466 144.4 2541 78 7814 11725 4/0 .400 10.2 .1257 123.8 2179 91 6702 10052 3/0 .372 9.4 .1087 107.1 1885 105 5796 8694 2/0 .348 8.8 .0951 93.7 1649 120 5072 7608 1/0 .342 8.2 .0824 81.2 1429 138 4397 6595 1 .300 7.6 .0598 69.6 1225 161 3770 5655 2 .276 7. .0598 58.9 1037 190 3190 4785 3 .252 6.4 .0499 49.1 864 228 2660 3990 4 .232 5.9 .0423 41.6 732 269 2254 3381 5 .212 5.4 .0365 34.8 612 322 1883 2824 6 .192 4.9 .0290 28.5 502 393 1644 2316 7 .176 4.5 .0243 24. 422 467 1298 1946 8 .160 4.1 .0201 19.8 348 566 1072 1608 9 .144 3.7 .0163 16. 282 700 869 1303 10 .128 3.3 .0129 12.7 223 882 687 1030 11 .116 3. .0106 10.4 183 1077 564 845 12 .104 2.6 .0085 8.4 148 1333 454 680 13 .092 2.3 .0066 6.5 114 1723 355 532 14 .080 2. .0050 5. 88 2240 268 402 15 .072 1.8 .0041 4. 70 2800 218 326 16 .064 1.6 .0032 3.2 56 3500 172 257 17 .056 1.4 .0025 2.4 42 4667 131 197 18 .048 1.2 .0018 1.8 31 6222 97 145 19 .040 1. .0013 1.2 21 9333 67 100 20 .036 .9 .0010 1. 18 11200 55 82 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
_Yates_.--At one period this was the favourite slang term of the smashing fraternity for the metal used in their nefarious business, the spoons manufactured by Messrs. Yates and Son being the best material for transmutation into base coin.
~Trafalgar.~--See "_Nelson_" and "_Statues_."
~Train Bands.~--The Trainbands of former days may be likened to the militia of the present time, but were drawn from every parish in the hundreds, according to the population. A document in the lost Staunton Collection, gave the names and parishes of the men forming "Lord Compton's Company of Foot for the Hundred of Hemlingford" in 1615, being part of the "Warwickshire Trayue Bands." Birmingham supplied six men armed with pikes and six with muskets; Birmingham and Aston jointly the same number; Edgbaston one pike; Coleshill three of each; Sutton Coldfield. four pikes and six muskets; Solihull three pikes and four muskets; Knowle the same; Berkswell two pikes and five muskets; and Meriden one pike and two muskets. These Trained Bands numbered 6OO men from Coventry and the county in 1642, besides the Militia and Volunteers of Warwickshire, which were called up in that year. These latter mustered very strongly on the days for review and training, there being at Stratford-upon-Avon (June 30) 400 Volunteers well armed and 200 unarmed; at Warwick (July 1 & 2) 650 well armed; at Coleshill (July 4) 8OO almost all well armed; and at Coventry near 800 most well armed--the total number being 2,850, making a respectable force of 3,450 in all, ready, according to the expression of their officers, "to adhere to His Majestie and both Houses of Parliament, to the losse of the last drop of their dearest blood." These fine words, however, did not prevent the "Voluntiers" of this neighbourhood opposing His Majestie to the utmost of their power soon afterwards.
~Tramways.~--These take their name from Mr. Outram, who, in 1802, introduced the system of lightening carriage by running the vehicles on rail in the North of England. The first suggestion of a local tramway came through Mr. G.F. Train, who not finding scope sufficient for his abilities in America, paid Birmingham a visit, and after yarning us well asked and obtained permission (Aug. 7, 1860) to lay down tram rails in some of the principal thoroughfares, but as his glib tongue failed in procuring the needful capital his scheme was a thorough failure. Some ten years after the notion was taken up by a few local gentlemen, and at a public meeting, on December 27, 1871, the Town Council were authorised to make such tramways as they thought to be necessary, a Company being formed to work them. This Company was rather before its time, though now it would be considered, if anything, rather backward. The first line of rails brought into use was laid from the buttom of Hockley Hill to Dudley Port, and it was opened May 20, 1872; from Hockley to top of Snow Hill the cars began to run September 7, 1873; the Bristol Road line being first used May 30, though formally opened June 5, 1876. The Birmingham and District Tramway Company's lines cost about £65,000, and they paid the Corporation £910 per year rental, but in May, 1877, their interest was bought up by the Birmingham Tramway and Omnibus Company for the sum of £25,000, the original cost of the property thus acquired being £115,000. The new company leased the borough lines for seven years at £1,680 per annum, and gave up the out-district portion of the original undertaking. That they have been tolerably successful is shown by the fact that in 1883 the receipts from passengers amounted to £39,859, while the owners of the £10 shares received a dividend of 15 per cent. The authorised capital of the company is £60,000, of which £33,600 has been called up. The Aston line from Corporation Street to the Lower Grounds was opened for traffic the day after Christmas, 1882. The Company's capital is £50,000, of which nearly one-half was expended on the road alone. This was the first tramway on which steam was used as the motive power, though Doune's locomotire was tried, Jan. 8, 1876, between Handsworth and West Bromwich, and Hughes's between Monmouth Street and Bournbrook on July 2, 1880, the latter distance being covered in twenty-five minutes with a car-load of passengers attached to the engine. The next Company to be formed was tha South Staffordshire and Birmingham District Steam Tramway Co., who "broke ground" July 26, 1882, and opened their first section, about seven miles in length (from Handsworth to Darlaston), June 25, 1883. This line connects Birmingham with West Bromwich, Wednesbury, Great Bridge, Dudley, Walsall, and intermediate places, and is worked with 40-horse power engines of Wilkinson's make. The Birmingham and West Suburban Tramways Co.'s lines, commencing in Station Street run, by means of branches from several parts, to various of the suburbs:--1st, by way of Pershore Street, Moat Row, Bradford Street, and Moseley Road, to Moseley; 2nd, by way of Deritend, Bordesley, Camp Hill, along Stratford Road, to Sparkhill; 3rd, leaving Stratford Road (at the Mermaid) and along Warwick Road, to Acock's Green; 4th, striking off at Bordesley, along the Coventry Road to the far side of Small Heath Park; 5th, from Moat Row, by way of Smithfield Street to Park Street, Duddeston Row, Curzon Street, Vauxhall Road, to Nechells Park Road; 6th, in the same direction, by way of Gosta Green, Lister Street, and Great Lister Street, using "running powers" over the Aston line where necessary on the last-named and following routes; 7th from Corporation Street, along Aston Street, Lancaster Street, Newtown Row, up the Birchfield Road; 8th, from Six Ways, Birchfield, along the Lozells Road to Villa Cross, and from the Lozells Road along Wheeler Street to Constitution Hill, forming a junction with the original Hockley and Snow Hill line. The system of lines projected by the Western Districts Co., include: 1st, commencing in Edmund Street, near the Great Western Railway Station, along Congreve Street, Summer Row, Parade, Frederick Street, and Vyse Street, to join the Hockley line; 2nd, as before to Parade, along the Sandpits, Spring Hill to borough boundary in Dudley Road, and along Heath Street to Smethwick; 3rd, as before to Spring Hill, thence in one direction along Monument Road to Hagley Road, and in the opposite direction along Icknield Street to Hockley; 4th, starting from Lower Temple Street, along Hill Street, Hurst Street, Sherlock Street to the borough boundary in Pershore Road, and from Sherlock Street, by way of Gooch Street, to Balsall Heath; 5th, by way of Holloway Head, Bath Row, and Islington to the Five Ways. The whole of the lines now in use and being constructed in the Borough are the property of the Corporation, who lease them to the several Companies, the latter making the lines outside the borough themselves, and keeping them in repair. The average cost of laying down is put at 50s. per yard for single line, or £5 per yard for double lines, the cost of the metal rail itself being about 20s. per yard.
~Trees in Streets.~--Though a few trees were planted along the Bristol Road in 1853, and a few others later in some of the outskirts, the system cannot be fairly said to have started till the spring of 1876, when about 100 plane trees were planted in Broad Street, 100 limes in Bristol Street, 20 Canadian poplars in St. Martin's church-yard, a score or so of plane trees near Central Station, and a number in Gosta Green and the various playgrounds belonging to Board Schools, a few elms, sycamores, and Ontario poplars being mixed with them. As a matter of historical fact, the first were put in the ground Nov. 29, 1885, in Stephenson Place.
~Tunnels.~--The tunnel on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal, near King's Norton, is 2,695 yards long, perfectly straight, 17-1/2-ft. wide, and 18-ft. high. In the centre a basin is excavated sufficiently wide for barges to pass without inconvenience; and in this underground chamber in August, 1795, the Royal Arch Masons held a regular chapter of their order, rather an arch way of celebrating the completion of the undertaking. The other tunnels on this canal are 110, 120, 406, and 524 yards in length. On the old Birmingham Canal there are two, one being 2,200 yards long and the other 1,010 yards. On the London and Birmingham Railway (now London and North Western) the Watford tunnel is 1,830 yards long, the Kisley tunnel 2,423 yards, and Primrose Hill 1,250 yards. On the Great Western line the longest is the Box tunnel, 3,123 yards in length. The deepest tunnel in England pierces the hills between Great Malvern and Herefordshire, being 600ft. from the rails to the surface; it is 1,560 yards in length. The longest tunnels in the country run under the range of hills between Marsden in Yorkshire and Diggle in Lancashire, two being for railway and one canal use. One of the former is 5,434 yards, and the other (Stanedge, on the L. & N.W.) 5,435 yards long, while the canal tunnel is 5,451 yards.
~Turnpike Gates.~--At one time there were gates or bars on nearly every road out of the town. Even at the bottom of Worcester Street there was a bar across the road in 1818. There was once a gate at the junction of Hang'sman Lane (our Great Hampton Row) and Constitution Hill, which, baing shifted further on, to about the spot where Green and Cadbury's Works now are, remained till 1839. The gate in Deritend was removed in August, 1828; the one at Five Ways July 5, 1841; those at Small Heath, at Sparkbrook, in the Moseley Road, and in the Hagley Road were all "free'd" in 1851, and the sites of the toll houses sold in 1853. In the "good old coaching days" the turnpike tolls paid on a coach running daily from here to London amounted to £1,428 per year.
~Union Passage~, at first but a field path out of the yard of the Crown Tavern to the Cherry Orchard, afterwards a narrow entry as far as Crooked Lane, with a house only at each end, was opened up and widened in 1823 by Mr. Jones, who built the Pantechnetheca. Near the Ball Street end was the Old Bear Yard, the premises of a dealer in dogs, rabbits, pigeons, and other pets, who kept a big brown bear, which was taken out whenever the Black Country boys wanted a bear-baiting. The game was put a stop to in 1835, but the "cage" was there in 1841, about which time the Passage became built up on both sides throughout.
~Vaughton's Hole.~--An unfortunate soldier fell into a deep clay pit here, in July, 1857, and was drowned; and about a month after (August 6) a horse and cart, laden with street sweepings, was backed too near the edge, over-turned, and sank to the bottom of sixty feet deep of water. The place was named after a very old local family who owned considerable property in the neighbourhood of Gooch Street, &c., though the descendants are known as Houghtons.
~Vauxhall.~--In an old book descriptive of a tour through England, in 1766, it is mentioned that near Birmingham there "is a seat belonging to Sir Listen Holte, Bart, but now let out for a public house (opened June 4, 1758), where are gardens, &c., with an organ and other music, in imitation of Vauxhall, by which name it goes in the neighbourhood." The old place, having been purchased by the Victoria Land Society, was closed by a farewell dinner and ball, September, 16, 1850, the first stroke of the axe to the trees being given at the finish of the ball, 6 a.m. next morning. In the days of its prime, before busy bustling Birmingham pushed up to its walls, it ranked as one of the finest places of amusement anywhere out of London. The following verse (one of five) is from an "Impromptu written by Edward Farmer in one of the alcoves at Old Vauxhall, March 6. 1850":--
"There's scarce a heart that will not start, No matter what it's rank and station, And heave a sigh when they destroy, This favourite place of recreation. If we look back on memory's track, What joyous scenes we can recall, Of happy hours in its gay bowers, And friends we met at Old Vauxhall!"
~Velocipedes.~--We call them "cycles" nowadays, but in 1816-20 they were "dandy-horses," and in the words of a street billet of the period
"The hobby-horse was all the go In country and in town."
~Views of Birmingham.~--The earliest date "view" of the town appears to be the one given in Dugdale's Warwickshire, of 1656, and entitled "The Prospect of Birmingham, from Ravenhurst (neere London Road), in the South-east part of the Towne."
~Villa Cross~ was originally built for and occupied as a school, and known as Aston Villa School.
~Visitors of Distinction~ in the old Soho days, were not at all rare, though they had not the advantages of travelling by rail. Every event of the kind, however, was duly chronicled in the _Gazette_, but they must be men of superior mark indeed, or peculiarly notorious perhaps, for their movements to be noted nowadays. Besides the "royalties" noted elsewhere, we were honoured with the presence of the Chinese Commissioner Pin-ta-Jen, May 7, 1866, and his Excellency the Chinese Minister Kus-ta Jen, January 23, 1878. Japanese Ambassadors were here May 20, 1862, and again November 1, 1872. The Burmese Ambassadors took a look at us August 14, 1872, and the Madagascar Ambassadors followed on January 5, 1883.--Among the brave and gallant visitors who have noted are General Elliott, who came August 29th, 1787. Lord Nelson, August 30, 1802, and there is an old Harborneite still living who says he can recollect seeing the hero come out of the hotel in Temple Row. The Duke of Wellington and Sir Robert Peel dined at Dee's Hotel, September 23, 1830. The Duke's old opponent, Marshal Soult, in July 1833, seemed
## particularly interested in the work going on among our gun-shops. Lady
Havelock, her two daughters, and General Havelock, the only surviving brother of Sir Henry, visited the town October 8, 1858. General Ulysses Grant, American Ex-president, was soft-soaped at the Town Hall, October 19, 1877.--Politicians include Daniel O'Connell, January 20, 1832. The Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli, who visited the Small Arms Factory, August 18, 1869, was again here August 22, 1876, immediately after being raised to the peerage as Earl of Beaconsfield. The Right Hon. W.E. Gladstone was welcomed with a procession and a "monster meeting" at Bingley Hall. May 31, 1877. The Right Hon. R.A. Cross, Home Secretary, honoured the Conservatives by attending a banquet in the Town Hall, Nov. 20, 1876. Sir Stafford Northcote, then Chancellor of the Exchequer, came here Oct. 19, 1878, and was at Aston, Oct. 13, 1884, when the Radical roughs made themselves conspicuous. Lord Randolph Churchill was introduced to the burgesses, April 15, 1884; and has been here many times since, as well as the late Col. Burnaby, who commenced his candidature for the representation of the borough July 23, 1878.--In the long list of learned and literary visitors occur the names of John Wesley, who first came here in March, 1738, and preached on Gosta Green in 1743. Whitfield preached here in Oct., 1753. Benjamin Franklin was in Birmingham in 1758, and for long afterwards corresponded with Baskerville and Boulton. Fulton, the American engineer, (originally a painter) studied here in 1795. Washington Irving, whose sister was married to Mr. Henry Van Wart, spent a long visit here, during the course of which he wrote the series of charming tales comprised in his "Sketch Book." His "Bracebridge Hall," if not written, was conceived here, our Aston Hall being the prototype of the Hall, and the Bracebridge family of Atherstone found some of the characters. Thomas Carlyle was here in 1824; Mr. and Mrs. Beecher Stowe ("Uncle Tom's Cabin"), in May, 1853; Sir W. Crofton, Oct. 9, 1862; M. Chevalier, April 28, 1875; Mr. Ruskin, July 14, 1877; Rev. Dr. Punshon, March 19, and J.A. Froude, M.A., March 18, 1878; Mr. Archibald Forbes, April 29, 1878; H.M. Stanley, Nov. 6, 1878; Bret Harte, April 7, 1879; the Rev. T. de Wilt Talmage, an American preacher of great note, lectured in Town Hall June 9 and July 7, 1879, on "The Bright side of Things," and on "Big Blunders;" but, taking the brightest view he could, he afterwards acknowledged that his coming here was the biggest blunder he had ever made. Oscar Wilde, March 13, 1884. Lola Montes lectured here March 2-4, 1859. Dr. Kenealy was here June 26, 1875. The Tichborne Claimant showed himself at the Town Hall, August 26, 1872, and again, "after his exile," at the Birmingham Concert Hall, Jan. 12, 1885.
~Volunteers in the Olden Time.~--A meeting was held October 5, 1745, for the raising of a regiment of volunteers to oppose the Scotch rebels, but history does not chronicle any daring exploits by this regiment. Playing at soldiers would seem to have been formerly a more popular (or shall we say patriotic) amusement than of late years; for it is recorded that a local corps was organised in August, 1782, but we suppose it was disbanded soon after, as in 1797, when the threatening times of revolution alarmed our peaceful sires, there were formed in Birmingham two companies, one of horse and one of foot, each 500 strong, under the commands of Capt. Pearson and Lord Brooke. They were called the Birmingham Loyal Association of Volunteers, and held their first parade in Coleshill Street, August 15, 1797. On the 4th of June following a grand review was held on Birmingham Heath (then unenclosed) to the delight of the local belles, who knew not which the most to admire, the scarlet horse or the blue foot. Over 100,000 spectators were said to have been present, and, strangest thing of all, the Volunteers were armed with muskets brought from Prussia. The corps had the honour of escorting Lord Nelson when, with Lady Hamilton, he visited the town in 1802. At a review on August 2, 1804, the regiment were presented with its colours, and for years the "Loyals" were the most popular men of the period. Our neighbours do not seem to have been more backward than the locals, though why it was necessary that the services of the Handsworth Volunteer Cavalry should be required to charge and put to flight the rioters in Snow Hill (May 29, 1810) is not very clear.--See also "_Train Bands_."