taut (appointed in 1860) was Captain Mclnnis, who retired in 1870, having received bodily injuries through being thrown from his horse; he was succeeded by the present Adjutant-Colonel Tarte. The first uniform of the corps was a grey tunic with green facings, and a peaked cap with cock's feathers; in 1863 this was changed for a green uniform with red facings, similar to that worn by the 60th Rifles, with the exception of a broad red stripe on the trousers. The trouser stripe was done away with in 1875, when also the cap and feathers gave place to the busby and glengarry, the latter in 1884 being exchanged for the regulation army helmet, and soon perhaps our boys will all be seen in scarlet like their brothers of the Staffordshire battalions. At no date since its enrolment has the battalion been free from debt, and it now owes about £1,300, a state of affairs hardly creditable to the town which sends out yearly, some half-million firearms from its manufactories. The annual balls did not become popular, the last taking place in 1864; bazaars were held October 14-17, 1863, and October 24-27, 1876; athletic displays have been given (the first in May, 1865), and the cap has been sent round more than once, but the debt—it still remains. At the Volunteer Review, July 24, 1861, before the Duke of Cambridge; at the Hyde Park Review, June, 1865, before the Prince of Wales; at the Midland Counties' Review at Derby, June, 1867; at the Royal Review at Windsor in 1868; and at every inspection since, the Birmingham corps has merited and received the highest praise for general smartness and efficiency; it is one of the crack corps of the kingdom, and at the present time (end of 1884) has not one inefficient member out of its 1,200 rank and file, but yet the town is not Liberal enough to support it properly. The first march-out of 720 to Sutton took place June 21, 1875, others joining at the camp, making over 800 being under canvas, 744 attending the review. The camping-out at Streetly Wood has annually recurred since that date; the first sham fight took place June 20, 1877. The "coming-of-age" was celebrated by a dinner at the Midland Hotel, January 29, 1881, up to which time the Government grants had amounted to £26,568 143., the local subscriptions to £8,780, and the donations to £1,956 Is. 3d. The Birmingham Rifle Corps is now known as the First Volunteer Battalion of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, having been linked to the "Saucy Sixth," under the army scheme of 1873.—See "Public Buildings—Drill Hall."
Von Beck.—The Baroness Von Beck was a lady intimately connected with the chiefs of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, and appears to have been employed by them in various patriotic services. In 1851 she visited Birmingham and was a welcome guest until "someone blundered" and charged her with being an impostor. On the evening of August 29, she and her copatriot, Constant Derra de Moroda, were arrested at the house of Mr. Tyndall and locked up on suspicion of fraud. Her sudden death in the police-court next morning put a stop to the case; but an action resulted, in which George Dawson and some friends were cast for heavy damages as a salve tor the injured honour of M. de Moroda.
Wages and Work.—In 1272 the wages of a labouring man was just l½d. per day. In Henry VIII.'s reign labourers' wages averaged 4d. per day; skilled workmen 5½d. per day. The penny at that time was equal to a shiling of the present day, and would, relatively, purchase as much. In 1682, the Justices of the Peace assembled in Quarter Sessions at Warwick fixed the rates of wages to be paid to the several classes of artificers, labourers, and others, as enjoined by a statue of Elizabeth. From their order then made, we find that a master carpenter, his servants, and journeymen, were to
