The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-16 00:00:00

East London Industrial Exhibition.

Last evening a public meeting was held at the Beaumont
Institution, Mile-end-road, for the purpose of receiving a
report from the local co,,,,rnittee which had been formed to
carry out this object, as to.takg such steps as might be
deemed advisable for cArrying that object to a successful.
result.

The meeting was numerously attended, and was presided
ever by Mr A. S. Ayrtott, m.p.
The Secretary read a report setting forth what had been
done, and which stated that, while there was no appearance
of lack of exhibitors, thegreat difficulty the committee had
to contend with was the want of a suitable place for such an
exhibition. They couldsee no means of getting out of that
difficulty except by 1110 erection of a public industrial hall.
They had not the capital to do so at once, but they believed
that under proper arrangements they could do so by means
of shares held princiPalli by themselves. The chief object
of the present meeting, %erefore, was to invite philan, hro-
pists and leaders of the 'various benevolent movements to be-
come contributors to tb:S guarantee fund, which it was pro
posed to raise for the plrchase of a site, and to pay a small
per tentage upon tho amount guaranteed for preliminary
expenses.
Mr AYRTON, m.r., in opening the proceedings, said it
was unnecessary for hint at this time of day to say anything
in favour of exhibitiont That had been done over and over
again, and better than he could do, But at the same time,
the exhibition which they were met to further was of a dis-
tinctive character. The great exhibitions they had witnessed,
while they displayed the skill and industry of the country.
and ho might say of the world, there was nothing in them
to show their connection with the working men who had
constructed and prepared the articles they contained. The
exhibition they now, however, wanted to establish was to
form a connecting link between tho employers and employed
by affording to the latter an opportunity of displaying to the
public tho products of their skill, ingenuity, and industry.
They were told by the report that it was impossible to ob-
tain a building of sufficient capacity for such an exhibition,
and he thought anyone who know the extent Of the Tower
Hamlets would at once admit sunk to be the case. In regard
to a site, they fortunately had one in the very centre of the
Tower Hewlett he meant Bethnal-green. It was said to be
public property, and being so it could not be turned to better
account than to appropriate it for publio purposes.

The Rev. Mr SOLLY then moved a resolution to the effect
that the report be adopted, and seeing that up to the present
time the committee have not been able to carry out the pur-
poses of the exhibition from the- want of a larger public
building than the cast at present contained, that they there-
fore called upon philanthropists and others to put forth their
energies towards obtaining the same in the ]test possible
way, and that the central committee be empowered to take
all necessary stops to carry out the same. •
The Rev. INlr ROW SELL having seconded the resolution,
it was unanimously adopted.
Mr G. M. MURPHY next moved that the meetiug was of
opinion that Bethnal-green would be the most central and
accessible situation for the proposed institution, and that
the committee be requested to wait upon the trustees in
order to solioit the grant of that site on such terms as might
be hereafter agreed on.
The residution was seconded by Mr Fan, and unaui.
meusly adopted.
A cordial vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the
proceedings,

Yesterday evening the fourth annual meeting of
the patrons, friends, end members of this institu-
tion was held at the roems, Duck-lane, Wcstmin-
ater. The establishment was opened in Iheember,
1860, was eel irged in the following year, end re.
enlarged at the end of 1883. It has been plecsd io
anion with the Society of Arts and the Metropoli-
tan Association for Pi ()cawing tho Education of
Adults. It is open every evening, Sundays in-
clusive, end comprises a social club room for coffee,
smoking, &e., a penny bank, an enrolled Friends
of Labour Lieu Society, a temperance society with
a sick fund for members, a barrow club for cester-
tnorgsre, a cricket club, reading, writing, and
ciphering classes, a Bible class, a singing class, a
labour registry, lectures on interesting subjects, and
facilities for draughts and chess. A large number
of periodicals aro supplied for the use of members.
A weekly subscription of one halfpenny only is
required of members. Numerous regulations are
laid down for the preservation of order, and the
ordinary details of the club are managed by a com-
mittee of 12 members. No less than 1050 members
had been enrolled on the books, but the number
actually existing is about 700, the average attends
ante weekly being about '240. The following is the
balance sheet for the year 1864:—" Penny Bank
deposits, £Bl 4s Id; withdrawn, £B2 17s Si; since
the commencement, January, 1861—deposits, £232
Is 9d; withdrawn, £215 Is 3d. Labour Loan So.
ciety, 75 members. Amount of stock, £ll2 14s
24d; loans panted during the year, £228; amount
in circulation since commencement, £748 183 ld.
Temperance Society Fund (let a werk)t Re-
ceived £7 ss; paid in sickness, £5 lls
34d; balance in hand, £7 9s Bid. Barrow
Club (for costermongers). Fifteen members have
become proprietors of their barrows since Ootober,
1862, cost 50s each, instead of going on all their
lives paying is 3d and is 63 a week for the hire of
one. On the present occasion the meeting was largely
attended by members, who appeared principally in
their working dresses ; conspicuous in a place set
apart for them were a number of representative
members of temperance societies, who wore ribauds
and badges distinctive of their order. The chair
was taken by Sir It. W. Carden, who was supported
by the Rev. J. B. Owen, M.A. ; the Rev. W. Con.
way, hector of St. Margaret's ; Rev. J. Wright,
NI A.; J. G. Gent, Esq., Secretary of the Ragged
School Union; Mrs Cooper, Miss Adeline Cooper,
the foundress of the institution, and several other
ladies and gentlemen. The proceeding commenced
by the singing by the assembly of the 67th Psalm,
followed by prayer delivered by the Rev. Mr Owen.
The secretary, Mr E. Stephens, a member of the
club, read the report, which stated the continued
success of the institution both in regard to the
carrying out of its objects—that of affording means
of recreation to working men, and promoting good
feeling and kindly intercourse amoegat that body
in the district, and in the advancement of each of
the special advantages offered in the penny bank,
temperance, and labour loan societies, the lectures,
&c., while the utmost order had been preserved,
as an instance of which not a single work or perioa
dical had heen lost from the club-room. The read-
ing and writing elasseil had been found to be of
great benefit to members. Regret was expressed
that, in consequence of the improvements which
were in contemplation, the building in which the
club was located was about to be pulled down, and
there was a difficulty in obtaining a new site for
the erection of another. Special thanks were given
to Miss Adeline Cooper, the foundress and steady
benefactress of the institution.—lhe Chairman, in
his epening remarks, dwelt strongly on the benes
fi's 'which had been conferred on the institution
by Miss Cooper, expressing his great regret at the
prospect of the club-room being swept away in
,he march of the so-called improvements -in
the district, and urged the necessity of
providing lodgments at the most moderate rent for
the working classes, an object which Was much
overlooked and neglected, a want which was by no
means supplied by the establishment of what were
called model lodging-houses, and he enlarged on the
manifest advantages which were presented to the
body for whom it was established by this club, the
beat test of which was to be found in its success in
its every department. Addresses were also delivered
by, the Rev. J. B. 0 wen, the Rev. W. Conway, the
Rev. J. Wright, Mr J. Payne, and others; after
which a vote of thanks to the chairman and gentle.
men who had attended was moved by Mr E. Bays
iiss, a blind member of the club, who was followed
by other members. "Rule Britannia" was then
sung by the meeting, and the proceedings were
ooncluded with the benediction.

HEALTH OF LONDON.

(From the Registrar-General's Report.)

The deaths in London, which had risen in the week that
ended the 19th November to 1,742, and in the two fol-
lowing weeks had fallen to 1,677 and 1,624, further de-
clined last week (ending the 10th inst,) to 1,522. During
the last four weeks the mean weekly temperature of the air
has not fallen below 42 deg ; last week it was almost 45 deg.

The average number of deaths hi the 49th week of ten
years, 1854-63, is, with a correction f)r the increase of
population, 1,467. The present return exhibits an excess
of 55 over ths estimated number.

The deaths referred to scarlatina were 69—they were less
numerous than they had been in many previous weeks.
Typhus, bf which 89 fatal cases were ree,,rded, shows a
higher number than any other zymotie'lisease. There were
65 deaths from measles, and 11 from smallpox.
Eight deaths from measles were returned by the registrar
of Kensington-town, 4 in the sub-district of Christchurch,
Marylebone, 4in Bow, Of those from typhus, 7 occurred
in the Shoreditch district, 6 in Bethnal-green, 9 in Rother-
hithe and Greenwich districts, 4 in Plutustead.

Fhthisis (or consumption) was fatal in 154 cases, bron-
chitis in 200, pneumonia in 97, and heart disease in 75, The
first two diseases were very near their respective averages.
welve nonagenarians died in the week—namely six men
and six woman. The two oldest wne a man 95 years, and
a woman of the same age.
No less than six cases f murder or manslaughter wars
registered, 4 of which were cases of infanticide.
On the 6th inst , at 47, Old Pye-street, Westminster, a
female hawker, aged 29 years, died of destitution—parturi-
tion and exhaustion (4 days).

A woman wearing crinoline received fatal burns from her
clothes taking fire.
Last week the births of 1,020 boys and 941 girls, in all
1,961 children, were registered in Landon. In the ten
corresponding weeks of the years 1854-63 the average
number (corrected) was 1,886.

At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height of
the barometer in the week was 29178 in, The reading:was
30.21 in on Sunday, and fell to 29.45 in on Thursday. Tho
mean temperature of the air in tho week was 41.9 deg,
which is 4 deg above the average of the same week in 43
years (as determined by Mr Glaisher). The weather was
unusually warm. The mean daily temperature was above
the average on six days, and on the seventh was not below
it. The highest day temperature was 531 deg on Monday.
The lowest night temperature was 35.9 deg, and occurred
on Friday and Saturday. The range in the week was 17'8
deg, The difference between the mean dew-point tempera-
ture and air temperature was 3'l deg. The mean degree of
humidity of the air was 89, complete saturation being re-
presented by 100, which point was nearly attained on two
days. The wind blew from the south-west till the Saturday,
when it changed to south-east. There was no rain, except
the six-hundredth of an inch on Thursday. Friday was a
very fine day at the Observatory, with a clear blue sky and
bright sun ; but fog prevailed on low grounds, and in parts
of London it was remarkably dense. •
During the week ending the 10th December, 157 births.
(those of 71 boys and 86 girls) and 134 deaths (those of 76
males and 58 females) were registered within the municipal
boundaries of Dublin. Its population in 1861 was 254,808,
and extended over 3,808 statute acres.

The deaths in Vienna, as returned by Dr Glatter, were
301 in the week ending the 3d December, when the mean
temperature was 39.9 deg, that at Greenwich having been
43 4 deg.

* This return is supplied by the Registrar• General of
Ireland,

AN OLD GOOSE.—The Salem Gazetle tells the
following goose story :—" A young spring goose was exhi-
bited in Salem mrket by John Bradstreet, of Topafield
on Tuesday, weighing 1714 This was one of Pout, hatched
by an old goose 78 years of age, The average weight of the
four was 151be.'

We earnestly hope that those important organs
of the general press which have joined us in de•
nouncing the facilities afforded by many cther wise
respectable j )urnals to the advertising quacks for
ventilating their obscenities and Spreading their
nets, will not desist from the useful work now so
well begun. Public opinion is fairly aroused, and
if the subject be not allowed to fall into oblivion
by neglect a most wholesome reform will surely
be eff.-cted. But it must not be forgotten that the
influence to be overcome is a very powerful one.
The amount of money expended by the propels-
tors of " Satin Friends," " Vital Regenerators,"
and " Guides to Manhood," in advertising their
harmless wares, is very great, and no doubt to
many a struggling journal the sums so received
constitute an inducement which pleads very ur-
gently for the continu-ince of a practice which is so
largely lucrative. But if the attention of the gene.
ral public be sufficiently awakened to the vile nature
of this traffic this inducement will cease, for the
lois of circulation and the loss of character incurred
by journals which shall continue to defile their
columns by the announcements, will more than
counterbalance the direct profits of the paid inser-
tions. There is no reason that we can see why it
sho ild be considered much less disgraceful to print
this sort of obscenity than it would be to introduce
it into written correspondence or ordinary conver-
sation. The journalists who permit their columns to
be so abused are undoubtedly the eccomplices of those
whom they freely denounce is their leading articles.
We willingly suppose that many have been unaware
of the extent to which these men go; of the wicked
falsehoods which their books isystematical:y incul-
cate as truths; of the cunning with which they
pander to the curiosity of youth, and the artfulness
with which they sow the seeds of the habits which
they describe; of the ingenuity with which they hint
dangers, distort natural conditions into indications of
disease, and sound alarms so numerous and so well
devised that only thoise who despise and distrust them
can rise from the perusal of their books without
fear and trembling, and the impulse to seek advice
from some of their crew. Those who yield to that
impulse suffer not only in pocket. but in morale.
They are led to believe that which endangers their
peace of mind and destroys their sell-respect.
Thousands have suffered not only pecuniary de-
spoilment, but mental terlurc and moral self-abase.
meat under their hands. There are many impore
tant:organs of the press, in the metropolis and in
great towns, which have not yet seriously faced this
question; but we earnestly hope they will be in-
duced to take part on the side which honour and a
regard for the public warfare and for public de-
cency and morality demand. The profession will
have seen with great satisfaction that the plain
appeal which we penned a fortnight since has
found a wide echo, and has been largely endorsed
by the press. But persistence in this course is
essentially necesssary to such a measure of success
as will materially affect the present disgraceful
state of things. That journal must be considered
defiled, and unfit for circulation in the families of
decent men, which does not reject these advertise.
ments.—The Lancet.