diapason, clarion, and boureon and dulciana, the whole requiring 702
pipes. In the "solo organ" the principal stops are the harmonica, krum,
horn, and flageolet, but many of the stops in the swell and choir organs
work in connection with the solo. In the "pedal organ" are 12 stops,
viz.: Open diapason 16ft. (bottom octave) wood, ditto, 16ft., metal,
ditto, 16ft. (bottom octave) metal, bourdon principal, twelfth,
fifteenth, sesquialtra, mixture, posanne, 8ft. trumpet, and 4ft.
trumpet. There are besides, three 32ft. stops, one wood, one metal, and
one trombone. There are four bellows attached to the organ, and they are
of great size, one being for the 32ft. pipes alone. The Town Hall organ
had its first public trial August 29, 1834, when the Birmingham Choral
Society went through a selection of choruses, as a kind of advance note
of the then coming Festival.

Orphanages.--The first local establishment of the nature of an orphanage
was the so called Orphan Asylum in Summer Lane, built in 1797 for the
rearing of poor children from the Workhouse. It was a very useful
institution up to the time of its close in 1852, but like the Homes at
Marston Green, where the young unfortunates from the present Workhouse
are reared and trained to industrial habits, it was almost a misnomer to
dub it an "orphan asylum."--An Orphanage at Erdington was begun by the
late Sir Josiah Mason, in 1858, in connection with his Almshouses there,
it being his then intention to find shelter for some three score of the
aged and infantile "waifs and strays" of humanity. In 1860 he extended
his design so far as to commence the present Orphanage, the foundation
stone of which was laid by himself Sept. 19 in that year, the building
being finished and first occupied in 1863. In addition to the
expenditure of L60,000 on the buildings, the founder endowed the
institution with land and property to the value of L250,000. No
publicity was given to this munificent benevolence until the twelve
months prescribed by the statute had elapsed after the date of the deed,
when, on the 29th of July, 1869, the Orphanage and estates were handed
over to seven trustees, who, together with Sir Josiah himself, formed
the first Board of Management. At his death, as provided by the trust
deed, seven other trustees chosen by the Birmingham Town Council were
added to the Board. The inmates of the Orphanage are lodged, clothed,
fed, maintained, educated, and brought up at the exclus