in by asses.
With their Yankee doodle do,
Yankee doodle dandy."

~Municipal Expenditure.~--Fortunately the population of Birmingham is
going ahead rapidly, and the more the children multiply the more "heads
of families" we may naturally hope there will be noted down as
ratepayers by the heads of the gather-the-tin office. The cost of
governing our little town is not at all heavy, and when divided out at
per head of the inhabitants it seems but a mere bagatelle. Mr. J. Powell
Williams, who takes credit for being a financier and man of figures,
said in 1884 that the totals of our municipal expenditure for the past
few years were as follows:--

In 1879 it was L354,000 or 18/3 per head
" 1880 " 343,900 " 17/5 "
" 1881 " 361,500 " 18/0 "
" 1882 " 374,000 " 18/4 "
" 1883 " 385,000 " 18/7 "
" 1884 " 385,000 " 18/3 "

The bachelors who live in apartments will surely be tempted to begin
housekeeping when they see how low a sum it takes to pay for all the
blessings conferred upon us by a Liberal Corporation; but what the Pater
of half-a-dozen olive branches may think about the matter, is altogether
a different thing, especially when he finds that to the above 18/2 per
head must be added 2/7-1/2 per head for the School Board, and 1s. 2d.
per head for the Drainage Board, besides poor-rates, Government taxes,
gas, water, and all these other little nothings that empty the purse.

~Murder and Manslaughter.~--It would be _too_ black a catalogue to give
all the horrible cases of this nature which the local journals have
chronicled in past years, those here noted being only such as have a
certain historical interest.

"Tom and Jack."--"See _Executions_."

Sergeant William Cartwright, of the Coldstream Guards, was killed in
Townsend's Yard by a deserter, September 13, 1796.

A desperate attempt was made to murder a young woman in Bull Street in
the evening of a fair day, June 9, 1797.

Philip Matsell was hanged August 22, 1806, at the bottom of Snow Hill,
for attempting to murder a watchman.--See "_Executions_."

A Mr. Pennington, of London, was murdered at Vauxhall, Feb. 6. 1817.

Ashford, Mary, May 27, 1817, murdered at Sutton Coldfield.

F. Adams was murdered by T. Johnson, in London 'Prentice Street, Aug. 5,
1821.

Mr. R. Perry was killed in Mary Ann Street, by Michael Ford, December 6,
1825. Execution, March 7, 1826.

J