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30.-Repairs executed at factory for Holborn customers

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Promissory note made by his father,

due 4th Feb., 1904

The new firm took over no liabilities of the partners, and T. Brown guaranteed his book debts. The promissory note forming part of his capital was collaterally secured, and if it is discounted the cost is to be paid by Brown. The profit of each branch is to be found and divided as follows:

Factory, rds Harris, 3rd Brown.
Holborn shop, rd Do. 3rds Do.

Only one set of books is to be kept, and one balance sheet is to be made. You are to find the state of their affairs at the end of January. £ s. d. Jan. 2.-Opened a banking account and paid in 425 O Transferred goods from factory to

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Partners' drawings, Harris

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All payments by cheque, and all money paid in, unless otherwise stated. Write off proportion from values of leases for one month. Stock at factory, £600. Do., Holborn, £190. (The answer to the above paper will appear in our next issue.)

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Wages Fittings Paper, etc. Discount Carriage Drawings...

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FOR TYPISTS, AND SHORTHAND AND OTHER
JUNIOR CLERKS.

BY THE AUTHOR OF "ELEMENTARY LAW FOR
SHORTHAND CLERKS AND TYPISTS."

I. TERMS USED IN CONVEYANCING (CONTINUED). Conversion. This word as a legal term has more than one meaning. It is used in reference to the sale of property and the receipt of the purchase price in cash-which is a process of converting into money something that is not money; and it is used in reference to certain events in which real estate is said to be "converted" into personalty.

It is to the first of these that the expression met with in abstracts of title, in which wills or settlements are set out -"power to postpone conversion "-refers. A testator who leaves his property or any special part of it to trustees on trust for some purposes that will at some future time involve the sale of the property, may either frame the trust for sale so that it can only be exercised at that future time, or he may frame it so that the trustees have power to sell (with or without the consent of some other person) immediately, or at any time after the testator's death, and if he does not desire to make a sale compulsory immediately after his death, he usually adds a clause empowering the trustees to postpone a sale and declaring that until the sale actually takes place, the property concerned and the income arising from it are to be held on the same trusts as are in the will declared concerning the investments directed to be made with the money realized by the sale, and the income that those investments will produce. The latter method is generally preferred by modern conveyancers, except in those cases in which special reasons exist for depriving the trustees

of all power to sell until a specific event has happened. This can best be explained by an illustration.

"

Mr A., who is the owner of some freehold and leasehold houses, some Government stock, and some shares in certain public companies, instructs his lawyer to prepare a will for him. He wants his wife to have the entire income of his estate until his youngest child has come of age, then onehalf of the estate to be divided among his children, and the income of the other half paid to his wife during the remainder of her life, that half being on her death divisible among the children. His idea is that no part of his house property or other investments shall be sold until his youngest child comes of age, and that then one-half shall be sold, the other half being retained till his wife's death. To his surprise he receives a draft will rather longer than he expected, and on reading it he finds that he is made to give everything to the trustees with a direction to "sell and convert into money' the whole or so much of his estate as shall not consist of money, and later on in the draft he sees the power to postpone conversion. He thinks this a roundabout way of dealing with the matter, and sometimes concludes that it is another illustration of the wily solicitor's propensity to lengthen documents in order to "make costs." But the solicitor had some good reasons for the method he has adopted. If the trust for sale had been so worded as to prevent the trustees from selling until the youngest child happened to come of age, and were then limited expressly to disposing of one-half only of the estate, the trustees might be called upon, when they did sell, to prove by strict evidence that their power to sell had arisen, and also that they were not selling more than one-half of the estate. To prove that the youngest child had actually come of age would involve proving by statutory declaration, with certificates annexed, the marriage of the testator and his wife, how many children they had, when each of them was born, and the deaths of any of them that would otherwise be the youngest. In this way it would be shown when the youngest child came of age. To prove that the trustees were selling one-half only of the estate might be difficult and expensive. By giving a trust for sale, nominally exercisable at any time after the testator's death, all these questions are avoided. The trustees' right to sell cannot be challenged, and assuming that there is nothing in the state of the testator's title to cause additional expense, the sale may be carried through at a minimum cost to the estate. The following specimen form of a "Power to postpone conversion " will help, perhaps, to make the explanation a little clearer.

CLAUSE IN WILL AUTHORIZING POSTPONEMENT OF

CONVERSION.

I empower my trustees or trustee at their or his discretion to postpone the sale and conversion of my real and personal estate [or of my residuary real and personal estate] or any part or parts thereof for so long as they shall think fit and I declare that the rents and any annual income to arise after my death from such part or parts of my [residuary] estate as shall for the time being remain unsold and unconverted shall be paid and applied in the same manner in all respects as the income of the investments representing the moneys produced by such sale and conversion would for the time being be payable or applicable under the trusts herein before declared if such sale and conversion had actually taken place

[NOTE. This form is varied in certain cases. Some practitioners think it desirable to insert (and particularly where the nature of the personal estate renders it possible that a loss of capital may be the result of postponing realization of any specific securities, as for instance, stock or shares of trading companies) an express stipulation that the trustees "shall not be responsible for any loss incurred by reason or in consequence of their postponing the sale and conversion of any part or parts of my said estate"; others refer specially to the precise security they have in mind, and exonerate the trustees from all liability in regard to that.]

When there is a trust for immediate conversion of real estate into money, although it is qualified by a power to postpone conversion, or even by an express authority to retain the real estate unsold, that real estate is treated for

certain purposes as if it were no longer real estate. It is deemed to be converted and is impressed with the character of personalty. The importance of this will be appreciated when it is borne in mind that if a testator gives real estate specifically to a person-as for instance, if he leaves a freehold house to a brother, and that brother survives the testator and shortly afterwards dies intestate, the freehold house will pass to the brother's heir-at-law. If, on the other hand, the testator had directed the house to be sold and the proceeds paid to his brother, and his brother had survived him and died intestate before the house was actually sold, the brother's heir-at-law would not take the house. It would belong to the brother's next-of-kin. That is to say, it would pass as personal estate, because by reason of the trust for conversion, it would be treated for the purposes of transmission as if it had been converted, and as if what really passed was not land but money.

Still another use of the word "conversion" occurs, though not in conveyancing practice, in legal work. When a man, having money or goods in his custody belonging to another, spends the money, mixes it with his own, pays it into his own banking account, and draws on it for his own purposes, or disposes of the goods and appropriates the proceeds, he is said to have converted the money or goods to his own use. In ordinary cases the meaning of the term "conversion" in this connection is clear enough, but there are cases that come so near the boundary line as to give rise to nice questions as to whether there has been really a conversion or But it would hardly be useful to enter upon a discussion of these points here.

not.

(To be continued. Commenced in No. 1.)

FOREIGN COMMERCIAL EXERCISES.

GERMAN.
65.

SOUTHERN PACIFIC.

Von glaubwürdiger1 Seite wird gemeldet3, dass die Verwaltung der Southern Pacific Railway beschlossen habe, die Emission einer 4 proz. Anleihe von $ 100 000 000 zu befürworten, die innerhalb3 25 Jahren vom Tage der Ausgabe an9 zu pari konvertierbar sein 10 soll10. Keine offizielle Erklärung wurde bis jetzt dieserhalb gegeben, aber es ist wahrscheinlich, dass die Emission den Shareholders bei1 einer günstigen Gelegenheit vorgelegt13 werden wird.

Die Frage, welche die Direktoren der Southern Pacific zu entscheiden1 hatten, war die15, ob sie auch in Zukunft den gesamten 16 Gewinn für Verbesserungen verwenden17 sollten oder ob jetzt der geeignetels Augenblick gekommen wäre, eine Anleihe in19 beträchtlicher Höhe1 auszugeben, damit auf der ganzen Linie grössere Ersparnisse als gegenwärtig erzielt20 werden könnten. Es handelte sich mit anderen Worten darum, klarzustellen, ob sie nach Sachlage der Dinge zur Emission einer 4 proz. Anleihe in Höhe von $ 100 000 000 berechtigt ist, auf welche die jährlichen Zinsen24 $ 4 000 000 betragen würden. Dies alles nur deshalb, um eine Verbilligung in den Transportkosten zu erreichen, die Gesellschaft auf25 die gleiche Höhe26 wie die mit ihr konkurrierenden Eisenbahnen bezüglich27 ökonomischen Betriebes zu bringen. Die Alternative besteht demnach darin, auch künftig die Gewinne zu Verbesserungen zu verwenden, eine allmähliche Verbilligung der Betriebskosten anzustreben und die Verteilung von Dividenden an die Aktionäre auf unbestimmte Zeit hinaus aufzuschieben.

Die konservativere Methode wäre natürlich, auch ferner die ganzen Gewinne zu Anlagen31 zu verwenden. Aber eine ähnliche Erklärung könnte bei allen Kapitalsausgaben der verschiedenen Kompagnien gemacht werden. Würden sie alle ihre Gewinne nur für die Ausgestaltung ihrer Betriebsanlagen verwenden, so würde es sich als unnötig erweisen, neues Kapital hineinzustecken34, und die Aktionäre hätten sich mit der Zukunftsdividende zu begnügen.-Berliner Finanzund Handels-Zeitung.

I trustworthy, reliable; 2 source; 3 announced; 4 direction, directors; 5 resolved; 6 loan; 7 recommend ; 8 at some

time within; 9...9 at par; 10, 10 is to be; II with reference to this; 12 at, on; 13 laid before, submitted; 14 decide; 15 the (question), the (one); 16 whole, total; 17 apply, devote; 18 suitable, appropriate; 19...19 in considerable height, of considerable amount; 20 aimed at, attained; 21...21 the question is; 22 it, the direction, the directors; 23, 23 in consideration of the state; 24 payments of interest, interest: 25 reach, attain, effect; 26...26 on an equal height, on an equality; 27 with reference to, in the matter of; 28 therefore; 29 gradual; 30 distribution; 31 laying down of plant, "betterment"; 32 maintenance; 33 prove; 34 to introduce; 35 content.

ENGLISH VERSION OF LAST WEEK'S EXERCISES. FRENCH.

63.

Labiche was not fortunate in the theatre with his tradespeople. After his hatter, his tailor involved him in a disappointment which, however, did not appear to have been much more annoying to him.

He had put a vaudeville in rehearsal at the Palais-Royal in partnership with Lefranc, a play in which the principal part, played by Ravel, was that of a very elegant young man, so elegant that, in the course of the piece, he was asked the address of his tailor. Labiche had necessarily given (Ravel) the address of his own one (Labiche's). He was young at the time, rather short of funds, and as he owed money to the tradesman in question, he really hoped that this advertisement would make him patient.

But Lefranc, who was still less wealthy than his friend, had reasons still more ... elevated, although of the same kind, for being agreeable to the man who kept him in clothes. Consequently, he had long dreamed of secretly replacing the name of Labiche's tailor by that of his own. On the eve of the performance, he sought out Ravel and proposed to him to make this substitution on the next day, but, up to the very moment, to keep the most absolute silence. Ravel agreed to everything. Everything was now settled, and, on this understanding, Lefranc sent his creditor orders for the first night's performance. Observe that, on his side, Labiche had also sent some to his (creditor).

Next evening the curtain is raised. The two collaborators are in the wings. Each of them is anxiously waiting for the name which is to postpone the falling due of his debt, who knows? let him off, perhaps... At last! here is the scene! here is the passage !......!

Ravel named neither Labiche's tailor, nor Lefranc's... He named his own!

He also owed money!-Society of Arts Examination Paper. SPANISH. 64.

Now, in my old age, I rarely take pleasure in changing the order which I have long since established in my manner of living, and I base this unwillingness upon the fact that I have never abandoned my principles a single day in order to break through my system, that a most sincere repentance did not follow the vanity of my deluded hopes. A relic, lingering with what appertains to the ancient ceremony which our ancestors had adopted in their behaviour, sometimes obliges me to accept certain invitations, the declining of which would appear to be extremely ill-mannered, or at least a ridiculous affectation of delicacy. In bygone days I used to walk up and down those streets to look for subjects for my articles. Engrossed in my own thoughts, I caught myself laughing like an imbecile at my own ideas, and moving my lips mechanically; an occasional stumble would remind of the fact that being a poet or a philosopher was not the best condition to enable one to walk the streets of Madrid.

1. We have accepted your draft to the order of Señor B. 2. Payment will be made in three months' time. 3. The delay in despatch has embarrassed us greatly. 4. The insurers must pay the general average in full.

5. As for what concerns the insurance, be so good as to apply to our Madrid house.

6. We beg of you to arrange freight for Bilbao.

7. I count upon your indulgence to excuse the slight delay in replying.

8. The drawers not having remitted the necessary funds, the drawee has allowed the bill to be protested.-Society of Arts Examination Paper.

HOW MR HERBERT SPENCER DICTATES.

The February number of the World's Work contains an article by Mr George Iles on Herbert Spencer, in the course of which some interesting information is given, we believe for the first time, as to Mr Spencer's methods of work. It is well-known that in late years it has been Mr Spencer's practice to dictate his books to a shorthand writer. It appears that it was as far back as the year 1860 that he first adopted this plan. It was then that he began the composition of his "First Principles." "He was," writes Mr Îles, "spending the summer by the shore of a Scotch loch. His habit was to dictate for a quarter of an hour, then row for an equal period, with the object of so stimulating the circulation of the blood as to carry him through another fifteen minutes' dictation, and so on throughout the forenoon. Neither then nor afterward has he worked in the afternoon." This original but highly effective method of intermingling dictation with physical exercise was resumed in later years, but the physical exercise took a different form.

When his health fell to a low ebb, he would go, we are told, to a racket court in the north of London, and play with the man in charge, and dictate in the intervals of the game. One of the most abstruse portions of the "Principles of Psychology" was, we learn, composed in this strange way. The author narrates the practice the philosopher pursued during the preparation of his volumes on the Synthetic Philosophy. He used to leave his house shortly after nine o'clock each morning, walk to Kensington Gardens, his head slightly bent, his pace rapid, his mind absorbed in meditation. At ten o'clock he was again in his "workroom" at home, and then began his daily tasks of dictation. First came correspondence, the " onerous demands" of which made him often rebellious; next came his regular work, "The which he usually dictated steadily till one o'clock. dictation was continuous, there were no interruptions, and only brief pauses. The panorama of thought unwound itself slowly and apparently without an effort. In resuming his task, he seldom needed to be reminded of the last word spoken, and he never changed his calm, sitting position in front of the grate." He never "patched," neither did he reconstruct or begin again. The matter "seemed to have been long familiar to him, and only to be taking its final shape before his eyes." Rarely during his dictation did he use notes.

Mr Spencer has himself told us in one of his most recently published essays, that he found the practice of dictating to an amanuensis tend to prolixity. Against this fault he seems always to have been on his guard, and it was the fear of verbosity that appears to have been his chief reason for revising the transcripts of his own amanuensis. "At the end of a week or two's dictation," writes Mr Iles, "he would begin revising his pages. His sole objects were greater conciseness and precision of language. There was much substitution of short phrases for long ones, but there were no wholesale excisions and few additions. His works might have been printed from his dictated manuscripts and shown no other defects than redundancies." Some information is added as to Mr Spencer's rate of composition. Apparently it never was rapid, though considering the character of the matter and the style in which his works are written the rate can hardly be regarded as slow. On good mornings he would produce 1,000 words. Allowing for time occupied in revision, arrangement of material, and intervals on account of illhealth, the daily average for a whole year is not more than 330 words. It is mentioned that in 1879, when recovering from a serious illness, sitting under the trees in Kensington Gardens, Mr Spencer dictated his autobiography to an amanuensis-surely the first time that such a work has been dictated in such a place!

LITERARY NOTES AND GLEANINGS.

The postponed publication of "Hazell's Annual for 1903," although occasioned by the lateness of the Parliamentary session, is in one respect a distinct improvement. The book now contains the complete history of the year 1902, a fact which will render it much more serviceable for reference in the future. It would be desirable to have the change of the time of publication to the middle of January made permanent.

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The new edition of "The Encyclopædic Dictionary" which Messrs Cassell and Co. are issuing at the popular price of 6d. weekly, is making substantial progress. Thirteen parts have reached us, and these cover the first five letters of the alphabet, complete the first volume, and form an instalment of substantial service for purposes of reference to all who have been so well advised as to subscribe to the present serial issue. Among many excellences not the least which Encyclopædic Dictionary possesses is that of being especially pleasant to the inquirer for purposes of reference, this end having been achieved by the excellent arrangement of the matter, with an avoidance of crowded and closely packed columns which weary the eye and detract from the appearance of the printed page. The supplementary section brings the record of English words absolutely up-to-date, and includes such very modern terms as etheric telegraphy and expansionism, with illustrative extracts.

CIVIL SERVICE NOTES.

BY A CIVIL SERVANT.

At the examination for sorter telegraphists, on 27th Jan., the essay subjects were :-(1) Write a letter to a friend describing two new books, and advising him to read them. (2) The greatest events of the Twentieth century, so far as it has gone. (3) The bicycle as a necessary and as a luxury. The majority selected the third. The arithmetic (1), time one hour, contained twenty questions requiring a knowledge of weights and measures, metric system and fractions. The second paper gave six problems in proportion, percentages, and very elementary mensuration. The orthography exercise was a grotesquely misspelt passage of 17 lines on the Spaniards and the Indian pearl divers, and the tabular statement of the usual type.

The geography will probably decide which are the successful candidates, the chief questions being: Describe four routes from London to the Continent. Describe the position and account for the growth of Birmingham, Glasgow, Belfast, Chicago. What colony or part of a colony has a climate closely resembling that of Great Britain? Carefully describe the points of resemblance, and detail its products. The map given was India, and the four chief rivers, about half-a-dozen towns and mountain ranges, and the Portuguese or French possessions, had to be marked.

LONDON.

A joint meeting of the Teachers' Section and of the Typists' Section was held at the St Bride's Foundation Institute, Bride lane, E.C., on Saturday, 24th Jan., Mr E. A. Cope in the chair. The following elections to the London District of the Teachers' Section were announced:-(Member), Mr F. W. Munt (Melbourne). (Associate), Mr J. P. Toms (Norwood).

Dr Macnamara, M.P., and Mr Marshall Jackman, Chair- INCORPORATED PHONOGRAPHIC SOCIETY. man of the Parliamentary Committee of the National Union of Teachers, are preparing and will immediately issue under the auspices of the National Union of Teachers a work designed to assist members of local authorities in carrying out the new Education Act. This work, which will be issued from the offices of the National Union of Teachers, 67 Russell sq., London, W.C., will give a detailed and exhaustive account of the powers and duties of the new local authorities under the Act, and the official effects of its operation in every part of the country. Practical hints as to the staffing of schools, the question of school managers and their duties, scales of salaries for teachers, the question of the condition of the fabric of the buildings, etc., will all be dealt with, with the view to rendering practical assistance to those who will have to administer the Act.

The publisher of Collier's Weekly, Mr P. F. Collier, is about to set up a publishing business in London. Mr Collier proposes to secure work from the best English writers, and he also intends to float an English edition of his periodical. Mr Collier is reported to have said lately that in his opinion "Great Britain produces the ablest writers who use the English tongue," but he thinks the American methods of mechanical presentation are in advance of ours.

Under the title of "Parliament; a Gossipy Guide to the Palace of Westminster," Mr Fisher Unwin will shortly publish a pocket volume written by Mr Alfred F. Robbins. The book is intended to be a guide to the every-day scenes and usages of Parliament both animate and inanimate; and it will deal less with the structure of the Palace of Westminster than with the active life that passes therein.

Messrs Passmore and Alabaster have issued at the popular price of sixpence a new edition of Spurgeon's well-known work John Ploughman's Pictures," which we need hardly explain is the companion volume to "John Ploughman's Talk," and enjoys an almost equal popularity. The author enforces with homely humour and plain speech valuable moral lessons, and many truths which are as old as sop are given a new application. The book is fully illustrated and produced in good style.

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Mr J. W. Poole (Chairman of the Typists' Section), then gave a lecture on Shorthand and Typewriting.' In the course of an interesting address, the lecturer described and illustrated by means of lantern slides the arrow-headed or wedge-shaped letters of Mesopotamia, and the hieroglyphics of Egypt, and referred briefly to the suggestions that a sort of shorthand existed among the Hebrews. An account was given of shorthand among the Romans, and its subsequent history. The address, which lasted nearly two hours, and was illustrated throughout by a large number of finely prepared lantern slides, concluded with a series of striking illustrations of drawings-some of them quite elaborate and artistic productions-made on the typewriter, and composed entirely of arrangements of typewriter characters. The lecture was heard by a large audience, and the proceedings closed with a hearty vote of thanks to the lecturer.

ANNUAL SOIRÉE.

The annual soirée of the London Districts took place in the large hall of the St Bride's Institute, on the evening of Saturday, 24th Jan., when a musical program was provided that occupied, with an interval between the first and second parts, nearly three hours and a half. Songs were given by Misses A. M. Mitcham, R. E. Kerridge, N. Pyle, and N. Charles, and Messrs W. H. Squire-Moore, H. W. Hill, T. Bishop-Gill, W. Stracey, and R. Dennant, the last named "bringing down the house" with his splendid voice. There were duets by Mr and Mrs Squire-Moore, pianoforte solos by Miss R. Little (who officiated with great efficiency throughout the evening as pianist), violin solos by Mr C. Wilkes, cornet solos by Mr Webb, and a wonderful ventriloquial sketch by that clever performer, Mr J. Warren, assisted by his 'companion" Marmaduke. The hall was crowded to its utmost capacity during the evening by an audience that highly appreciated the succession of excellent items provided for their entertainment.

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A fox which had been often hunted, was on each occasion lost at a certain spot where the hounds could not recover the scent. At last it was found that the wily animal jumped upon and ran along a clipped hedge, at the end of which was an old oak tree, hollow in the middle. Into this hole the fox crept, and kept close hidden till the alarm was over. But the retreat of this clever animal was found out, and Reynard was driven from it and killed.

The fox shows great craft in the selection of its lair, and at

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times the spot chosen is a very strange one. A fox has been known to drop from the edge of a precipice on to a piece of rosk that jutted out below, from which it got into its den. At times the animal's den has outlets from which it may escape in case

of need.

The fox appears many times in Holy Writ, but the animal of which Samson caught three hundred, and sent them into the corn of his enemies is thought to have been not the fox but his first cousin the jackal. The allusion to the foxes that spoil the vines points to the fondness of these animals for fruit; some authors even assert that they are also fond of honey. The two striking allusions of Our Lord to the fox show that this animal had a reputation for cunning among the Jews, and also that it was a burrowing creature.

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