mines, the women and younger children are making nails at home. The population now is estimated to number about 35,000.
Walsall, about ten miles north of Birmingham, is one of the most important and populous towns in Staffordshire. It is a Parliamentary borough represented by one member in the House of Commons, and is a place of historical interest as well as of manufacturing enterprise and material prosperity. It came into the ownership of the great king-making Earl of Warwick, and with his other estates made him a prince of wealth in the land. He was a good specimen of the old baronial hospitality which is such a romantic element and aspect of the feudal times. There is no wonder at the size of the great porridge pot at Warwick Castle, if what is chronicled of him is true. The historians writing soon after his time affirm that he served up six oxen daily on his table besides other provisions. But in his boast of setting up and putting down kings, he was put down himself and out of life at Barnet by King Edward IV, who took also possession of his great estates, including Walsall. His countess wandered about the realm in great distress and frequent want. The town arms are the Bear and Ragged Staff which have figured so many centuries in the history of the Warwicks. Indeed the town is a historical centre, bearing the record of many interesting events.
