The Sun.
London, England, 1868-02-06 00:00:00

THE WORKING BEES.

The little woodcut which lies before us as we
write tells of another year having gone over the
head of an institution whose unbroken career of
success has been for more than a quarter of a cen-
tury chronicled in these columns: The well-known
beehive, and the rapidly growing figures, belong to
our old friends, the Provident Clerks' Association.
Within a very recent time it seems to have sprung
from a small, compact institution, whose merits
were little known and by no means appreciated as
they deserved, into one of those " great facts"
which the energy and enterprise of our fellow-
countrymen now and then put forward to show
what English intelligence and English self-reliance
can achieve.
We never meet their placards on those vast
hoardings which are covered with the announce-
mentsofthem m
of every a kindo among
theof
lcooum dp.
saonui
ay ; we hear but
littled g
trumpets
of the commercial world ; that their advertisements
are on a very moderate scale, the figures of their
balance sheet plainly show ; and yet, in this plain
and unobtrusive career, they have contrived to get
together an income exceeding £70,000 a year, and
a solid invested fund of TIIIIEE HUNDRED AND FIFTY
THOUSAND POUNDS. From what was stated at the
annual meeting, too, it is clear that the business is
not only a large but a profitable one, as the bonus
now about to be declared will not only equal but
exceed, any of its predecessors. When the crash of
the past two years is taken into account, and when
we consider how many of the first class of offices
have found it necessary to reduce their bonuses,
and in some cases to suspend them altogether, it is
indeed satisfactory to find an institution whose
past history is a guarantee for its sound and pru-
duent management able to show a clear realised
pmeso a
re than 10,000) are ass
profit of more than fifty thousande pounds wholly
l
interest, its
divisible among the assured. Such an institution
must have before it a great future, and although
nor could the
members
heemtitle s
(who
htoh the
now
wffice number implies
sfouentdt
eimn
eevery
policies"
otfh e
theh
country,nol
or the heavy
insurances of the wealthy merchant be better placed
safely and so
;I:gs of the clerk
thanp r
o fi tianb
layn a
guarssocdi
eadt i o n
thewchaircehf
lh asas
and the tradesman.

We are much pleased to find that the directors
have associated with this office a guarantee associa-
tion, which, though entirely distinct as to its capital,
&c., is nevertheless worked so far in harmony with
the life office as to benefit in a very large degree the
members who are able to avail themselves of the
advantages held out by both institutions.

MI?. BRIGHT'S POETIC QUOTATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF TIIE SUN.

SlR,—The lines quoted by Mr. Bright, and of
which he avows his ignorance as to the author, are
from Lord Byron's " Lara " :
" Within that land was many a malcontent,
Who cursed the tyranny in which he bent.
That soil full many a wronging despot saw,
Who worked his wantonness in form of law."
This is only one of the very numerous instances
in which Mr. Bright, the teacher of nations, the
rectifier of the Ministry, has shown his utter igno-
rance of very common portions of English litera-
ture.

I am, Sir, yours, &C.,
J. w. WORTHINGTON.

Feb. 5, 1868.

THE CATASTROPHE AT Bow.—yesterday Mr.
Humphreys, coroner, held an inquiry at the Loudon Hos-
pital relative to the fall of the smoke-shaft at Messrs.
Farman and Son's dye-works at Bow during the storm of
Saturday last, by which Eliza Thompson, aged 54 years,
Agnes M'Cormick, aged 44, and Grace Drumming, aged
38, lost their lives. The inquests on the two last-men-
tioned women wore opened at the Clay-house Tavern,
Bow. The deceased wore the wives of dyers, and wete
employed at lkiessrs. Farman's works on Saturday last,
when a shaft of some 40 feet high fell upon
the roof of a
building, and crushing it in killed them, and seriously in-
jured some others. The shaft it appeared was old. One
witness remembered that it was repaired and 5 feet added
to its height seventeen years ago ; another said that 10
feet was added to it about four years ago. There were
iron ties as braces at the side, but it did not appear that
any had been added after the structure was raised in
height. Ultimately the inquiry was adjourned, in order
that the evidence of a competent and impartial aurveyor
might be obtained as to the condition of the structure of
the shaft.