thought my liberties quite safe, and have often felt that any day I might be brought up to the bar for judgment. But I escaped, even when I was writing for the _Town Crier_, and have escaped since. But let me not boast. Before these lines are read my ordinary clothes may be required of me. On the shelves of my small library are some bound volumes of the early numbers of the _Birmingham Town Crier_, in which are some pencil marks. If I should sooner or later have to retire to live _en pension_ at Winson Green, or at the Bromsgrove or other Union, I hope to be able to take these cherished books with me to look at from time to time, and to keep green my memory of past pleasant days. XII. ITS VARIED AND ODD TRADES. If some outside people were asked to name in three lines the three chief trades of Birmingham they would probably answer by saying "Guns," "Hardware," and then, perhaps rather puzzled, might add "more guns." This, however, would be a very bald and incomplete reply, and would denote a somewhat benighted idea of the productive resources of Birmingham. Gun and pistol making form a very important industry in the city, and one ward--St. Mary's--is the happy hunting ground of small firearm makers. All the same, gunmaking is not the be-all and end-all of our manufacturing activity, and is, indeed, only one of the many and increasing trades that thrive and progress in the midland hardware capital. It is, indeed, a distinct advantage for Birmingham that it has many different trades, and if some are depressed and slack others may be active and prosperous. Hence, there is generally business doing somewhere. It is the misfortune of some towns and districts to be devoted entirely to one or two industries. For instance, take Manchester. If the cotton trade becomes depressed or paralysed Cottonopolis soon becomes a starved-out city. Then there are textile towns, boot and shoe boroughs, pottery districts, &c., &c. Birmingham, however, is pretty smart at taking up new ideas, and does not let new manufacturing industries go begging for a home. A certain number of trades languish and die out owing to change of fashion and to certain articles becoming obsolete. Snuffers and powder flasks, for instance, are not in large demand in the present day. A limited number are still made for travellers and for remote countries that have not cartridges, the electric light, or even incandescent gas, within their reach. Brass and pearl button making used to be important industries, and tons of such wares used to be made in Birmingham in the course of a month.