s laid the foundations of a good name, which is
better than all his riches--a name which the working men of his native
city will be slow to forget. It is with the establishment of the Great
Western Cooking Depot that Mr. Corbett's name is most prominently
identified. That institution, we believe, owes its origin to a very
simple and quite an accidental circumstance. While reading in the
_Cornhill Magazine_ the account of a scheme that had been launched by a
lady in England for providing poor and destitute children with food,
Mrs. Corbett was struck with the idea that something of the kind might
be attempted in Glasgow. She mentioned her thought to her husband, and
asked him if, out of their abundance, they could not do something to
relieve the wants of those to whom the lines had fallen in less pleasant
places. Mr. Corbett entered heartily into the project, and determined to
set apart a certain sum, to be vested in the way that his wife might
deem most likely to do good. At last, the idea of a cooking depot was
broached. Mr. Corbett foresaw with the eye of a political economist, as
well as with the eye of philanthropist, that the best and most effectual
means of doing good to the poor and needy in Glasgow, was to assist them
to help themselves. Upon this principle he resolved to proceed. Nothing
in the shape of the "Great Western" was at that time in existence. Mr.
Corbett sent a messenger to London and elsewhere with the view of
gathering information that would assist the carrying out of his scheme;
but nothing could be found to meet exactly his conception of what a
cooking depot should be. Proceeding, however, upon his own views of the
requirements of the city, he invested L300 in the lease and fitting up
of a cooking depot at the Broomielaw, beside the Sailor's Home. It was
given out that the establishment was to be conducted upon the principle
of supplying provisions at as nearly prime cost as possible. A tariff of
charges was prepared, contracts were entered into with butchers, bakers,
and other tradesmen, and the experiment was thus fairly launched. It was
a great success. The Americans have faith in the "almighty dollar." Mr.
Corbett had an equally firm belief in the efficacy of the "almighty
penny," as a circulating medium. He took care that, so far as it was
practicable, nothing should be sold for more than a penny. A bowl of
porridge, that might satisfy a hungry man for breakfast, was to be had
for what Montague