BIRMINGHAM 659 St. Philip's church, erected in 1715, but lately repaired, is a fine structure in the Italian style, with a tower surmounted by a dome and cupo- la. There may also be mentioned St. George's church, in the decorated English style ; St. Thomas's, a Doric structure ; the Roman Cath- olic cathedral, erected at a cost of 60,000; the London and Northwestern railway station ; Queen's college, which confers degrees in arts, law, and medicine ; the Midland institute, a philosophical institution ; the exchange build- ings, the masonic and odd fellows' halls, &c. Besides the free grammar school and Queen's college, the most noteworthy educational in- stitutions are the blue-coat school, giving ele- mentary instruction to 140 boys and 60 girls ; the Protestant dissenters' charity school, edu- cating 40 girls ; St. Philip's industrial free school, admitting 220 children ; Springhill col- lege, a theological institution of the Indepen- dents ; Sydenham medical college ; and the government school of design. In the vicinity of Birmingham are the Roman Catholic semi- nary of Oscott, and a diocesan training institu- tion at Saltley. There is a public subscription library in the town, containing 30,000 or 40,000 volumes, a society of arts, an odd fellows' liter- ary institute, free libraries erected by the cor- poration, and two reformatory institutions. Of the charitable institutions, the most impor- tant are the general hospital, Queen's hospital, the deaf and dumb asylum, the institution for the blind, and various dispensaries and infirma- ries. There are 34 churches belonging to the establishment, a Roman Catholic cathedral and three or four chapels, and numerous places of worship for dissenters. There are two thea- tres, three music halls, an art gallery, and three Birmingham, England. cemeteries. Birmingham has a branch of the bank of England and six other banks, on the joint stock principle. The savings bank, which was one of the largest in England, has been merged in the post office system. The town owes its rapid growth and great prosperity to the extent and variety of its manufactures. Situated near the centre of England, on the border of a great coal and iron district, with an admirable canal and railway system, it has enjoyed unrivalled advantages. Birmingham has been known for centuries for its iron and steel manufactures, but it has attained its pres- ent preeminence within this century. While there are many extensive establishments, em- ploying a large capital, yet a great propor- tion of the manufacturing is carried on by men of small means, who generally employ their workmen by the piece. The latter frequently work at home, and when they require the aid of machinery hire one or more rooms, furnished with steam power, in buildings which are kept for that purpose. In 1 865 the number of steam engines in the town was 724, with 9,910 horse power, consuming 600 tons of coal daily. There were 1,013 smelting and casting furnaces at work, and 20,000 families were engaged in man- ufactories. The value of hardware and cutlery exported in 1864 was over 4,000,000. At the same time the exports of firearms, glass, leather, machinery, iron and steel wire, plate, copper, brass, zinc, tin, and coal amounted to over 37,000,000. Of firearms 5,000,000 were furnished during the Napoleonic wars, and dur- ing two years of the American civil war 1,027,- 336 were exported to the United States. Be- sides glass manufacturing, glass painting or staining is an important branch of industry.
