The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-02-02 00:00:00

TITE STOURBEIDGE OBSERVER.

tutes was held on Monday night. Lord Lyttelton oc-
cupied the chair.
Mr. C. Evers, secretary, read the report of the
Mechanics' Institute which was as follows :

OFFICEIS TOR 1878 : President: The Right
Flonourable Lord Lyttelton. Committee : Messrs.
George Green, John Pagett, John Buckler, William
Stanley, J. F. Muckley, J. Barratt, N. Pearee, F. H.
Joseelyne, W Thomson, T, Butler, and the Rev.O. R.
ro)tham. Treasurer : Mr. J. laylor. Secretaries ;
I‘l4:ssrs. C. Evers end E. Brazier. The preshle_t,
vice-presidents, treasurer, and secretaries are niewbers
o t_4,- committee exqficio. . .

MElmEns.—The number of members varies but little
,m last year. We have had during the past year 51
aannal aud 94 quarterly members, making a total of
1.11 ; Ist ye ir the total was 148.
FIYAN'CP: —The receipts inc!nding a balance of £l4
14,, brought forward hava amounted to £Bl 75.91 and.
to expnd.t are ha, been £72 24, le,ving a balance •7
£) 5s 91 inthe treaspw's bands,

_
i-trann-o linen --T .e following yapers and neri d -
ols 1.1..ve been ;ak. n : " The T
" Standard,' "Daiy ' Pali Mali Gaz
" irmingham Daly Post," " Birninghain Daly
G,izette," and the " Daily Mail." Weekly :
"Illustrated London News," " The Graphic,"," Punch,"
" Fun," "Judy," " Saturday Review," " Land
and Water," Worcester Herald," " Birmin:zhank
Journal," " Aris's Birmingham Gazette," "Thu 'Nor-
cestershire Chronicle," " The Engineer," "
Counties Express," " Brierloy Hill Advertiser.,"
" County Express," " Stourbridge Observer." ,Quarter-
ly : " Westminster Popular Science Review." Monthly :
" Art Journal," " Fortnightly," and " Contemporary"
Reviews, "Nineteenth Century," " Blackwood," " Corn-
" Macmillan's," and the "Gentleman's," " All the
Year. Round," " Chambers's Journal," " Fleraid of
Peace,"" Science Glossql," and " Animal World," The
committee beg to thank the proprietors and others who
peas, ntipapers gratuitously.
LIBIAALY.—rhe Librarian' reports the is,ue of
books to have been 3,023, agg dust 2,937 In
the previous year. Sixty-five new books have
been aided and 3 vole, of periodicals bolded
up. The Lord's Day Rest Association have presented
" Sunday, its influence on Health " and 11 vols, of blue
books have been rece.ved from the Patent Office. A
box of books belonging to the Worcestershire Union of
Institutes was at the Institute for two months. For
the gr,ater convenience for reference your committee
have transferred from the Library to the Reading Room
the following works, viz. :—Chamber's Encyclopcedia,
10 vols. ; Haydn's Dictionary of Dates, 1 vol; Parfia-
m(mtary Gazetteer, 4 vols.; Cyclopcedia of Literature,
3 vols. ; Dictionary of Mechanics, 2 vole, ; Dictionary of
A.,--ts and Manufactures, 4 vols. ; Dictionary of Uni-
versal Biography, 1 vol.; and Commercial Dictionary, 1

THE CLASSIES.—The committee have pleasure in re-
porting that the elasses continue to be fairly pro -
porous. At the elcro of last session in May the usual
exauiinatious extending over five evenings were held
and the reports of the examiners were on the whole
s,tisfactory. On these reports book prizes were
awarded—in all 44 volumes, which were distributed at
a meeting held in September. the Hon. and Rev. W.
Lyttelton who had ktndly undertaken to preside on
the oecasion. being prevented from doing so 14 a severe
domestic bereavement.

Ittinhers of some of the classes went in also to the
Society of Arts' examinati.rins and three of them ob-
tained second &ass certificates, two for arithmetic and
one for book-keeping, and three others succeied in
obtaining the Society's certificate in commeroitti knuw-
ledge

'lle present session commenced at the beginning of
October, the teachers and subj, cts being as follow :
The Rev. Ij Sherrard, Latin ; Mons. de Vit, French ;
Rev. W. Manning, English grammar and couiposTitimi ;
Nlr. W. G. G sddard, mathematici ; and Mr. T. R
Southall, bookskeeping•
The Latin Class opened with 9 students ; French.
30; English, 9; Mathematics, 16; and Book-keep:lig,
13.

At the request of several persons a class for French
Conversation was formed under the direction of Mens.
de Vit with 22 students.
The Debating Class with the Rev. W, Manning, presi-
dent for the session, meets fortnightly.
The committee desire to record once again an expres-
sion of their sincere gratitude to the gentlemen who so
kindly continue to officiate as teachers for the zeal and
ability with which they devote themselves to the dis-
charge of their duties.
PENNY BANE—At the annual meeting of this branch
.4 the In,ti•u.ion held on the 14th Sep ember it
was repo ted that upwards of I,OOU depositor:,
were making use of the Bank, that £535 9s 4d had
need deposited and £547 19s 3d repaid during
the year, arid that a balance of £199 13s 8i was
s,aedieg to the credit of depositors in the Post Office
Savings Bank.
It is gratifying to your committee to know that the
nutribier classes of the town h,ve this medium of taking
oe of their pee.
LECTUREB,-I'he fdllowiug iecLures and entertain•
(bents have been given :—fin the 31st January a
lecture by Mr. Parkin on " Six years experience
of an Emigrant in the Southern States of
America and in Canada, with. desciptions of
Southern and Cahadian towns and scenery, &c., &O."
On the 26th February a lecture by Rupert Kettle, Esq.,
on " Physiognomy" with 'blackboard illustrations, tha
the 18th October a lecture by Mr. Frank Curzon on
" Our Faces and how we have come by them." On the
10th December a lecture by Dr. Cosens on the
"History of Turkey and Mahometanism." Two popular
entertainments have also been given.

MISCELLANIOIIO.

An ordnance map of the district about 25 miles round
itourbridge has been purchased and placed in the Read-
ing Room.

A deputation from your Institute attended a con-
ference of the Worcestershire Union of Workmens'
Clubs aud Institutes at Bewdley in May, and also the
auilual meeting of that body at Dudley in October.
Mr. T, Robinson read the report of the Working Mao's
fustitute which wa,. as follows :
OFFICERs Eon 1878.—President: Mr. M. Palfrey.
Vicee-president : Mr. J. Weirdo. Secretaries : Messrs.
I. Robinson and J. Cook. treasurer: Mr. J.. Snort.
MEMBERS.

Lhe buniber of members now upon the books is 276
including 20 annasi members, betng a decrease upon
.tie previous ye..r of 25.
If INANCE

The income for the "pet yur including a balance of
£7 is Sid, brought forward amount's to £4# 93 lUid and
the expenditure to £4O 133 6d, leaving a balance in hand
of £3 163 40.