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each having a distinct individuality-the Birkbeck for sciences and art, the City of London College for commercial education, and the Northampton Institute for technical subjects. The Charity Commissioners were disposing of the City Charities, and we applied for help. At that time we had a debt of about £2,000 upon this building, which had cost about £16,000, and it was part of our application to clear off that debt. We got that cleared off and received an endowment from the Trustees of the City Parochial Charities of £1,000 a year, as the Birkbeck did also. Yes, in the early years of the College we charged low fees, but not quite so low as we are able to charge since we have received this grant of £1,000 a year. The College never was a self-supporting institution in the sense of the students' fees paying for expenses, but always had to depend upon voluntary subscriptions from outside sources.

We have become more independent now. We still, however, get as much help as we can from City firms, but we are not so absolutely dependent upon subscriptions as formerly. But there is an exception to that, in one respect, because just now we are undertaking an important extension of the building, and raising funds for this purpose. We have acquired additional premises, which will give us the whole quadrangle excepting one corner warehouse. You will see from the circular we are issuing how we are raising the money."

From the circular to which our attention was called we give the following extracts:

"By reason of a grant of £15,000 from the Mitchell Trustees, conditional upon a sum of £10,000 being raised by the College, the Governing Body has been enabled to undertake a large scheme of extension in connection with Commercial Education. Adjoining premises have been acquired at a cost of £18,000, and their adaptation will cost a further sum of £7,000. Assurances have been received from the Trustees of the City Parochial Charities and the Technical Education Board of the London County Council that the additional sum for maintenance will be provided.

"The scheme undertaken provides for the establishment of— (4) A Day Commercial College in which students in a two or three years' course will receive a thorough training for commercial life in principles and knowledge.

(B) Day courses for the study of the chief commercial subjects. (C) Day classes for training in the more clerical commercial subjects, i.e., writing, typewriting, shorthand, book-keeping, etc. (D) Grouped Courses for Evening Students-(a) Commercial, (b) Banking, (c) Insurance (Fire, Life, Marine), (d) Accountancy, (e) Secretarial, etc.

(E) Instruction for Evening Students in Foreign Languages, Commercial Methods, Documents, and Institutions, and Commercial subjects generally.

"The capital cost will be £25,000, towards which the Trustees of the Mitchell City of London Charity grant £15,000, conditional upon £10,000 being raised by the College. The contributions already received to meet this condition amount to £7,000."

A very gratifying feature about these subscriptions is the handsome manner in which old students and City firms, etc., have come forward-Sir Edward Clarke 1,000 guineas, Messrs Werner, Beit & Co., £1,000, while the Corporation of London and the City Companies have subscribed liberally. In respect to equipment, the City of London College, like the Birkbeck and other institutions, is indebted for the excellence of its equipment on the technical side to the generous grants of the Technical Education Board of the London County Council.

So much for the past history, present position, and prospects of the City of London College as an institution. We must reserve for another issue an account of its work. (To be concluded.)

TEXTING.

Many requests reach us from correspondents anxious for information and advice with reference to "texting" as employed for legal purposes. Texting means the art of writing German text-a mode of writing once common, but long since generally discarded in favour of the modern cursive handwriting, the letters of which are less difficult to form, and can be formed more rapidly and joined to one another more easily. Among lawyers, while the ordinary "round-hand," rather smaller than the "round-hand" of the ordinary school copy-book, is used for engrossing, and has superseded the old " engrossing hand," German text is still retained in use to a limited extent. It serves two purposes. First, it is ornamental, and there is a lingering feeling among members of the legal profession that documents turned out in their final form should have an artistic appearance. Secondly and chiefly, it is useful. It is so employed as to enable the lawyer to put his hand at once on any part of a deed that he desires to consult. The commencing words of every distinct section of a deed being texted, stand out prominently and catch the eye; and it is safe to say that it is the utility of the practice that has led to its continuance. Typewriting has made some inroads on the use of texting, the beginnings of clauses in deeds being "printed" conspicuously in capitals, and in many cases rendered still more distinct by spacing between the letters - a practice that may be commended. But typewriting has not been adopted for parchment (except on a very small scale), and for various reasons great numbers of legal documents are still "engrossed" by hand. Texting therefore is very far from having gone out of vogue, and the young lawyer's clerk finds it desirable to add this accomplishment to the others that make up the stock-in-trade of his calling.

Those who seek to become proficient in this special art should obtain one or other of the copy books in which specimens of German text are included. Little books are to be procured containing the capitals and small letters of various "ornamental alphabets." In these books will be found usually "German text " and "Old English" as well. It is worth while to compare the two and to notice the differences that exist between them. What is sometimes seen in the slovenly engrossments and copies that issue from a few legal offices, is not pure German text or pure Old English, but an unsatisfactory and inartistic mixture of the two. Care should be taken to master German text, which can soon be acquired by anybody who has a good control of the pen. Any one accustomed to linear drawing will acquire the art of texting very quickly.

Texting can be accomplished with a gold or a steel pen, but it can be managed very much better by means of a quill-and one that is not too flexible. "Texting quills" may be obtained from law stationers, and at least two should be obtained-one with a broad point-broader than an ordinary J pen-for capitals, and the other, slightly less broad, for the smaller letters. The beginner should practise on tough paper or on "brief" having a somewhat rough surface, and if he can get waste pieces of parchment for the same purpose he should avail himself of these also.

One difficulty in forming unfamiliar characters is that of achieving uniformity in the size of the letters. The tails should not straggle, one g being half an inch in length and the next a fourth of an inch only. One t should not tower above the line and the next be only slightly taller than the e or o, or other small letter that follows or precedes it. To cultivate habits that shall render these unsightlinesses impossible, it is a good plan, before beginning to write, to rule lines on paper. There should be two inner lines between which all the small letters are to be written, the tops of them being written so as to touch the upper of the two lines and the bottoms so as to touch the lower of those lines. Above the upper of the two "inner" lines should be drawn another line to indicate the height which the capitals are not to overtop; and it may be as well at first to draw a fourth line underneath all the others to indicate the lowest point which

the tails of letters possessing a lower appendage are to extend. After a little practice the upper and lower lines may be discarded: but it is desirable to continue the use of the two inner lines until perfect proficiency has been attained.

In the first instance, the alphabetic characters should be formed carefully. No attempt should be made to form them quickly. A certain deftness will come with practice, but "texting" is necessarily a comparatively slow method of writing, and nothing is gained by hurrying over it-especially when practising. When the alphabet has been mastered, the student should practise with the actual phrases and expressions that are usually "texted." A list of the principal of these is given below. There are others occasionally represented in the same way, but they are of rarer occurrence. The parts generally texted are the commencing words of a deed or agreement, the first words of each important section or division of a deed, and the endorsement of the name or description of the document. The following is a list of the more common expressions that it is the practice to "text" in legal documents:

At the commencement :-This Indenture; Agreement; Memorandum of Agreement; Know all men by these presents; To all to whom these presents shall come; This is the last Will and Testament; This is a Codicil; Abstract of Title.

In the body of a deed or agreement:-Whereas; And Whereas ; Witnesseth; Now this Indenture Witnesseth; And this Indenture also Witnesseth; Now these presents Witness; It is hereby Witnessed; All that; All those [at the beginning of the parcels]; To Hold; In Trust, Upon Trust; Provided; Provided Always; Provided Also; And it is Hereby Declared and Agreed. Indorsements:-Admission; Agreement; Acknowledgment; Assignment; Appointment; Attornment; Articles of Clerkship; Articles of Partnership; Bond; Building Agreement; Charge; Codicil; Covenant; Composition Deed; Conveyance; Debenture; Deed of Arrangement; Deed of Covenant; Deed of Dissolution; Deed of Partition; Deed Poll; Disclaimer; Enfranchisement Deed; Equitable Charge; Equitable Mortgage; Further Charge; Indemnity; Lease; Letters of Administration; Licence; Mortgage; Marriage Settlement; Power of Attorney; Probate ; Reassignment; Release; Separation Deed; Settlement; Surrender; Transfer; Will.

At the end of Deeds :-In Witness; As Witness; In Testimony Whereof.

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Messrs Henty & Harris's invoice Freight and shipping charges paid Insured as before, premium and stamp My claim re Ganymede admitted.

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able on the 15th November. Received for a/c of Cross & Co. bills of lading for wool, per Lady Harriett. Accepted Messrs Cross & Co.'s draft in favour of Wilson & Hill Messrs Ord & Co., Manchester, advised that they had been requested by Messrs Harold & Son, of Melbourne, to hold at my disposal for a/c of the latter firm the sum of Informed Messrs Ord & Co. that I would value on them on the Ist November for this amount at 1 m/d. Paid salaries, etc., two months Rent paid to 30th September

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OESTERREICHISCHE SÜDBAHN.*-Hinsichtlich1 der ausländischen Gerichte2 aber könne der ungünstige Ausfall3 eines solchen Processes nach den Erfahrungen der zahlreichen ähnlichen Processe gar nicht zweifelhaft sein. Dr Eibuschitz hat nunmehr die Verhandlungen mit dem für alle Prioritäten aufgestellten? Curator Dr Gross benützt, um seinen alten Plan neuerlich aufzunehmen. Er hat diesmal als Besitzer von 4proc. Prioritäten eine Eingabe an das Handelsgericht geleitet 10, in welcher um Aufstellung eines besonderen Curators für die 4proc. Prioritäten ersucht wird. Die Eingabe verweist12 darauf, dass die Möglichkeit bestehe, die Südbahn werde in dem mit dem Curator abzuschliessenden 13 Uebereinkommen als Gegenconcession für die von den Besitzern der 3proc. Prioritäten einzuräumenden 16 Zugeständnisse16 ein bindendes Goldversprechen abgeben". Hierdurch erscheinen nach Ansicht des Einschreiters18 die Rechte der Besitzer der 4proc. Prioritäten gefährdet 19 und eine Interessencollision für die verschiedenen 20 intabulirten Prioritäten gegeben, welche die Aufstellung eines zweiten Curators erfordere21. Diese Eingabe wurde vom Handelsgerichte dem Prioritätencurator Dr Gross zur Aeusserung22 übermittelt23. Letzterer hat nunmehr sein Gutachten abgegeben, welches in eingehender Weise ausführt, dass eine Gefährdung der Rechte der Besitzer der 4proc. Prioritäten nicht vorliege, zumal sich die Rechtslage für diese Prioritäten garnicht geändert 28 habe, und dass somit auch keine Interessen collision vorhanden29 sei. Das Gutachten schliesst 30 mit dem Antrage31, die Forderung um Aufstellung eines zweiten Curators abzulehnen32.-Der Kapitalist.

I in regard to; 2 courts of law; 3 result, event; 4 experiences; 5 by this time; 6 negotiations; 7 set up, appointed; 8 taken advantage of, made use of; 9 petition, address; 10 conducted, brought in; 11 sought, solicited; 12 * The first portion of this article appeared on 7th November.

speaks of, refers to; 13 concluded; 14 coming to an agreement, agreement; 15 make room for, allow, permit; 16 admissions, concessions; 17 deliver, hand over, transfer; 18 person intervening in a law suit; 19 endangered; 20 different, various; 21 would render necessary; 22 utterance, decision; 23 transmitted, handed over; 24 particularly exact; 25 explains in detail; 26 is within measurable distance; 27 legal position; 28 suffered any modification; 29 in existence, likely to arise; 30 concludes; 31 proposition, proposal; 32 to decline.

ENGLISH VERSION OF LAST WEEK'S EXERCISE. FRENCH.

IIO.

A CIRCULAR.

The district superintendents of police in the city of Paris have just received a circular from M. Lepine referring to financial laws recently promulgated. Among the cases provided for by these laws we will mention the following, as likely to be of interest to our readers :

Firstly. Every individual who shall be caught fraudulently introducing foreign tobacco shall be condemned to pay a fine as heretofore, and also to an imprisonment of from six For a second offence this penalty will days to six months

be from one month to one year.

Secondly. Regulation of the exchange of the new nickel twenty-five cent. pieces, of which there will be coined to the value of ten million francs. By the end of this year there will be four millions of them in circulation.

The new coin will be 24 millimetres in diameter and will contain 980 grammes of pure metal in every 1,000.

This new coinage cannot be used in payments otherwise than as small change to an amount of five francs. Thirdly. The registration duty appertaining to sales of house property which is now 2 fr. 50 per cent. is raised to 5 fr. 50. On buying a house for 100,000 fr. it will therefore be necessary to pay 5 500 fr. in addition to the various expenses of sale, notarial acts, and mortgages.

Fourthly. The registration duties relating to receipts for property deposited as security, whatever may be the form of the document, are abolished.

Fifthly. The law of the 27th May, 1888, which condemned the tenants of premises used for gambling, punished the delinquents with an imprisonment of six days.

The new law remains the same, so far as concerns gambling. But "souteneurs"—it is the first time this word has figured in a decree will be punished by an imprisonment of from three to twelve months, a fine of from a hundred to a thousand francs, and by being interdicted from residing in the city for a period of from five to ten years.-Le Journal.

LEGAL TERMS, PHRASES, AND
ABBREVIATIONS

FOR TYPISTS, AND SHORTHAND AND OTHER
JUNIOR CLERKS.

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

IV. MISCELLANEOUS TERMS (CONTINued). Open Contract.—When a solicitor prepares a contract for the sale of property, he is careful to insert in it a number of special stipulations. Thus he provides, among other things, that the title is to commence with a deed of a specified date, that requisitions on and objections to the title as deduced are to be delivered within a specified time, or are to be deemed waived if not delivered within that time, and he names a specific date as the day on which the purchase is to be completed, and provides for payment of interest on the unpaid balance of the purchase money from that date up to the actual day of completion. Where there happens to be some difficulty in proving a fact relating to the title, he expressly mentions the difficulty, and stipulates that the

purchaser shall not require proof of the fact, and shall not make any objection by reason of the absence of proof. There are various other conditions commonly inserted, and certain provisions that become necessary owing to the peculiar circumstances of the case. A properly drawn contract puts the purchaser in possession of enough information to prevent him from raising objections which the vendor can foresee and which he knows that he is unable to remove, and it provides also that if any objections or requisitions are made which he is unable or unwilling to remove or comply with, he may, if these objections or requisitions are insisted upon, cancel the contract and return to the purchaser any deposit paid by the latter.

Frequently, however, a vendor and purchaser will sign a simple memorandum, which amounts to a binding contractthat is to say, a contract which either one of them can compel the other to perform-but which contains no special stipulations as to commencement of title, date of completion or otherwise. The contract may take some such form as the following:-A., the vendor, writes, signs, and hands to B., the purchaser, a note stating "I agree to sell to you my freehold house known as Fairlight, Hastings road, Brixton, for £800, and acknowledge to have received £80 as a deposit this 24th June, 1903." And B., the purchaser, signs and hands to 4., the vendor, a note stating "I agree to purchase from you the freehold house known as Fairlight, Hastings road, Brixton, for £800." Having done this they have entered into a sufficient contract-sufficient for the purpose of being enforceable. Such a contract is customarily described in the legal profession as an " open contract," the meaning being that it is a contract which leaves open all those points which would have been determined by special stipulations in a formal contract such as a solicitor would have drawn up. Sometimes an open contract puts a vendor to a great deal of trouble and expense. For instance, as he has made no stipulation as to the deed with which his title is to commence, he is under an obligation to show a good title to the property for forty years. This he may be altogether unable to do, or he may only be able to do it by incurring the expense of getting an abstract from some previous owner, or of getting together the facts which will enable him to deduce a forty years' title. And there are other inconveniences to which he may be put which would have been provided against by a well drawn formal contract.

Where there is an open contract, the only special conditions that can be relied on as regulating the sale are those contained in the Vendor and Purchaser Act, 1874 (37 and 38 Vic. Cap. 78), and the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act, 1881 (44 and 45 Vic. Cap. 41). Those provisions apply also to any more formal contract, but only so far as a contrary intention is not expressed in the formal contract, whereas in the case of an open contract, they apply absolutely and entirely, and govern the whole transaction.

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

PITMAN CYCLING CLUB.-The Pitman Cycling Club, which, at the commencement of the present year, was formed among the present and past students of Pitman's Metropolitan School, Southampton row, London, have had a very successful riding season, and are starting their Winter program on Wednesday, 16th Dec., with a Cinderella Dance at the Crown Room, Holborn Restaurant. Phonographers who would like to attend this social function are requested to communicate with the Hon. Secretary, Mr J. J. Young, at the School.

BRITISH MUSEUM STAMP COLLECTION.-The magnificent collection of postage stamps bequeathed to the Trustees of the British Museum in 1891 by the late Mr T. K. Tapling, M.P., can now be seen almost in its entirety by the general public. The very rare and highly valuable stamps will be shown only on special application and under certain conditions, but they do not amount to many, probably about 100, including such philatelic treasures as a pair of the famous "Post Office Mauritius stamps, valued at something like £3,000. specimen was lately sold in France for £1,500.

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SCOTTISH COUNTY COUNCILS AND

COMMERCIAL EDUCATION.

The County Councils for Midlothian and Linlithgowshire have for the past two or three years given instruction in commercial subjects in the evening classes held under their auspices at different towns in the counties named. During the present session classes are being conducted at Bathgate, Broxburn, Bo'ness and Linlithgow, by the Linlithgowshire County Council, and at Mid-Calder by the Midlothian County Council, which are meeting with a large measure of success. Miss Ella Haig (Edinburgh) has been appointed teacher of typewriting at Bathgate and Broxburn, and at both places the County Council have arranged for an adequate supply of New Century and Densmore typewriters for the use of the pupils. The shorthand classes at Linlithgow and Bo'ness are under the charge of Mr D. Macara, F.I.P.S. (Edinburgh), who has about 50 students at various stages under his charge. The shorthand class at Mid-Calder is a thriving one, and is being conducted by Mr W. Herd, Edinburgh The opening lecture, delivered by Mr G. McAdam (Edinburgh), was on "The Life and Work of the late Sir Isaac Pitman." The lecture was illustrated by lantern views, and was evidently much appreciated. The chair was occupied by Mr J. Bryson, Chairman of the County Council, who in his opening remarks spoke of the great advantage to be derived from an acquaintance with shorthand. It may be mentioned that the students number about 30, and that the present is the largest shorthand class in this town since the classes were instituted. Several members of the County Council are taking a lively interest in the work of the classes, and the other evening Lord Torphichen, one of the members of the Council, paid a visit to the class-room and addressed a few encouraging remarks to the students. He informed them that he would be happy to present fountain pens as prizes to those who showed the most marked progress during the session.

CIVILIZED LIFE WITHOUT NEWSPAPERS.

On 10th November Mr E. A. Cope gave before a large meeting of the members of the Walthamstow S.W.A. an interesting lecture with this title. After referring to the important part which newspapers play in the life of the modern man in civilized communities, and pointing out that the civilized man might be defined as a newspaper-reading animal, he took his hearers back to the days of ancient Rome, and discussed and explained the various means by which in those days several purposes that are served in our own time by the newspaper press were served then. The story of how wants were advertised, announcements made, the proceedings of the Senate communicated to the people, how literary productions were made known and their merits discussed, how news was collected and disseminated, and how the "Acta diurna populi Romani" was established as a journal that the people came out to read, afforded opportunities for many glimpses into the daily life of the Roman citizen, and many striking contrasts between the life of to-day and the life of the past. Mr Cope drew special attention to the mass of information on the subject in various French works, and notably in M. Gaston Boissier's recently published book entitled "Tacite." The address was highly appreciated by the audience, and a hearty vote of thanks was awarded to the lecturer.

AN EARLY SCHOOL OF SHORTHAND.

Apparently there were schools of shorthand as early as the third century, and in Egypt. A recently-discovered papyrus which Dr Grenfell described at the meeting of the Egypt Exploration Fund on 13th Nov., was a contract between a shorthand teacher and a gentleman who wished one of his slaves to acquire the art. The fee was 120 drachmæ, forty to be paid on apprenticeship, forty at the end of a year, and the balance when the slave was proficient. Shorthand writing was then presumably not so easy of attainment as it is now. -Daily Chronicle.

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At last the first day of re oicing arrived, and the young man presented himself with the other knights at the castle. Nobody knew him, and he wore a red suit of armour and rode a chestnut horse. When the princess threw a golden apple among the knights, he caught it and was at once lost to view. On the second day he had a white suit of armour and a grey horse. Once more he caught the apple, but not stopping a moment rode away as fast as he could. The king became very angry at this, and said that he who caught the apple must show himself and give his name. He told his people that when the apple was thrown down for the last time, they must catch the strange knight and hold him by force.

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