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NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. ix. MARCH s, 1902.

who also thought of the poor who are always with us. The inscription records that

"Cornelius Vandon lieth here borne at Breda | in Brabant a soldiour with K. Henry at Turney } yeoman of the gard and usher to K. Henry. Ji. I Edward. Q. Mary, and Q. Elizabeth of honest and vertuous lyfe a careful man to poor folke | who at the end of this toune did buyld for | poor widowes 20 howses of his owne cost." The monument has a half - length figure of Vandon in the dress of a Yeoman of the Guard, curiously but effectively carved. Round the effigy are inscribed the words, "Obiit Anno Domini 1577. Buried y e 4 th Sep 1 ' Aetatis suae 94." Upon reference to the ' Will Book of St. Margaret's, Westmin- ster,' for the year 1577 we find this entry :

"Cornelius Vandon, born at Breda, in Brabant, yeoman of the guard, and usher to their Ma ties K. Hen. K. Edw d the 6 th Queen Marie, and Q. Elizabeth, he did give eight almshouses in Pettie France, next to the end of St. James-street, for the use of Eight poor women of the parish and did also give eight other almshouses near S' Ermin's- hill, by Tuttle side, for the use of eight poor widows of this parish."

Again quoting from the vestry report of 1890, we are told that the

"'Charity Book of St. Margaret's' refers to the Petty France houses as having been founded ' for relief, succouring, and harbouring eight poor women, who in time of sickness, as need should require, might help to keep and attend such as should be diseased within the parish of S' Margaret, Westminster,' the intention being, according to some, to provide nurses in the time of 'plague' or other visitations, when few would undertake the office of nurse, to the increased distress and suffering of poor people."

The ground and almshouses at Petty France were bought by the vestry, under the powers given by the Westminster Improvement Act, in 1850, for 2,992/., and in 1852 land was bought in Carlisle Street, Lambeth, for 450^., and the following year two new almshouses, each containing eight rooms, were built, at a cost of 950^., for four poor women, and the balance invested. There was a continual buying, selling, and reinvesting of the funds in order to increase the usefulness of the charity. The almshouses were at last let "at a fair occupation rent," for the support of visiting nurses among the poor. In 1879-83 SOL was the average rent derived, but three years later it had dwindled down to 371., and next year the London and South-Western Kail way paid 2,000/. to the trustees for the purchase of the site and the almshouses, and they ultimately demolished them for the widening of the line, the funds being now administered by the Westminster Nursing Committee. W. E. HARLAND-XLEY.

71, Turner Buildings, Millbank, S.W. (To be continued.)

LEATHER FOR BOOKBINDING.

HAVING perused with much pleasure the report of the committee on this subject, I feel that the moral to be drawn therefrom is still an open one, as it was in 1859, when I read a paper upon the subject of the ' Library : Books and Bindings,' with regard to their preservation and restoration, in our great room at the Adelphi, the discussion on which was adjourned and gave rise to much corre- spondence.

Things have not greatly changed since that period, for the adage that there is " nothing like leather" still exists, and for highly ornate bindings, decorated by the use of hot metal tcwls, no other material is so beautiful, though its endurance can be measured by time.

All leathers seem to be equally good if used in their primitive state and not tampered with by the dyer or by the bookbinder ; but then we should lose the glorious hues of the dyes and the beautiful forms of the marbles, and this particular! j r applies to calf, which is the most used and the most tampered with, though it takes time to develope the cause of this. Calf is often washed with oxalic acid, or polished by hot irons, when shellac varnish might have been used ; but even then the joints at the back of the books may become brittle, and they alone rely upon the hempen cords on which the book is sewn, and which are drawn into the boards.

With regard to hogskin, that is a material which is to be commended in its undyed state, and though it cannot be worked upon in gold, it seems to be less affected by worms, and, if undyed, to continue to be fairly sound at the joints.

To illustrate this, I would note that I have two saddles that have been most enduring, one of which is at least fifty years old. Noting its great durability, and hearing that it took dye well, I ordered a set of dining- room chairs to be covered therewith, with, alas ! the result that in five years these covers perished, and became as tinder. I send you a sample of this material that has been kept free from light, air, and gas fumes. If you will put this in an ordinary room, and under the same conditions, doubtless it will become the same.

As a further evidence of the effect of time upon russia, I send you a writing-case that is seventy years old, from which may be seen how light, air, and heat have affected the same externally, whilst internally it is per- fect. I forward also a thin green russia