Page:Notes by the Way.djvu/162

 92 NOTES BY THE WAY.

rooms were hired for business purposes at New Jonathan's in Sweeting Alley, and the place was called " The Stock Exchange " " which is to be wrote over the door." The brokers, however, determined to have a building of then- own, and on the 18th of May, 1801, Mr. William Hammond, the chairman of the then Committee of Management, laid the foundation stone of the Ex- change which has since been so considerably extended. The Daily Telegraph mentions the curious fact that the stone was lost during the rebuilding in 1853-4, and when it was discovered in 1883 it was found to contain a plate with the subjoined inscription :

" On May 18, in the year 1801, and 41 of George III., the first stone of this building, erected by private subscription, for transaction of business in the public funds, was laid in the presence of the proprietors, and under the direction of William Hammond, William Steer, Thomas Roberts, Griffith Jones, William Grey, Isaac Hensley, Jo. Brackshaw, John Capel, and John Barnes, managers ; James Peacock, architect. At this aera, the first of the union between Great Britain and Ireland, the public funded debt had accumulated in five successive reigns to 552,730,924?. The inviolate faith of the British nation, and the principles of the constitution, sanction and secure the property embarked in this undertaking. May the blessing of the constitution be secure to the latest posterity."

The building was opened for business in March, 1802, the sub- scription being ten guineas, payable annually. The members then numbered 500. The present number is given as 4,673, each paying 40?. per annum. Among notable visitors have been the Prince of Wales in 1885, the Duke of York in 1897, and Lord Kitchener after the taking of Khartoum.

GIPSIES AND LONGEVITY.

1901, May 25. The Brighton Herald of the 18th of May states that Sammy

Gipsies and Lee, the " Gipsy King," said to have been the father of Gipsy Lee

longevity, the famous fortune-teller at the Devil's Dyke, has just died at the

age of 103, having been born in 1798. He claimed the distinction,

of which he was very proud, of being a thoroughbred gipsy, a real

" Romany chal." He leaves a sister who is 102 years of age.

��CO-OPERATIVE TRADING.

1901, June 8. The first Congress of the Co-operative Union held in the new

Co-operative century deserves a note. The meetings commenced on the 27th

Congress. of May at Middlesbrough, when Mr. Joseph Warwick (the President)

mentioned some interesting facts as to the growth of the movement.

The Union was started in 1844, when twenty-eight men combined

together ; their capital (which they pooled) was 281. Their trade

in the first year was 710Z. At the close of last year there were

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