Page:Notes by the Way.djvu/87

17 NOTES BY THE WAY. The birthday number gives an account of its progress, the articles being written by Sir Arthur Arnold, its first editor ; Mr. Horace Voules, of Truth, its first manager and second editor; and Mr. Aaron Watson, of The Newcastle Daily Leader, its fourth editor. Portraits of these are given, together with a most speaking likeness of its third editor, Mr. Passmore Edwards. It was in June, 1875, that Mr. Passmore Edwards purchased the property, and for twenty years he was its editor. Mr. Edwards brought with him considerable practical knowledge, having already founded two papers, The Building News and The English Mechanic. Under his control the paper increased in prosperity, and he determined that the entire profits should be devoted to the public good. He has thus established Free Libraries, Convalescent Homes, and Homes for the Epileptic. The number of buildings thus provided amounts at the present time to sixty. In doing all this Mr. Edwards states that his "purpose has been to protect, nurture, and build up the weak, and to afford ampler opportunities for the strong to do the best for themselves and for the community." Among the early contributors were Frances Power Cobbe, the Rev. H. R. Haweis—one of whose articles on Mr. Bradlaugh began "There is no God, and Bradlaugh is his prophet" Mr. William Black, Mr. John Macdonell, and Mr. George Shee. It would appear, as the result of a series of investigations conducted by the staff, that the building which has been the home of The Echo for the past thirty years was the house in which the works of Handel were printed and published. A study of the front of The Echo building reveals the sign of the harp in two prominent positions over the windows. For particulars see Grove's 'Dictionary of Music and Musicians.'

One word should be added as to the very careful manner in which this birthday number has been produced. It is a worthy memento in every way of a wonderful enterprise in the world of newspapers.

OLD LONDON.

An interesting suggestion as to memorials of old London has been originated by Mr. John Latey, of The Penny Illustrated Paper. Mr. Latey proposes that, in order to preserve the finest specimens of architecture, as they are taken down for necessary alterations they should be sent to the garden at the South Kensington Museum, and there be reset so as to form a street. Mr. Latey regrets that Temple Bar, the old "Bell" Inn in Holborn, and the ancient "Tabard" should have been lost to London, but states that "time-honoured buildings enough yet remain the row of gabled houses in Holborn by Staple Inn, St. John's Gate, and Cardinal Wolsey's Palace in Fleet Street to form, when time is ripe to remove them, a desirable Old London street."