Tons Nominal Value. 62 or 9,595,245 pennies ..  L25,396 17 1 28 or 5,504,382 halfpennies .. 11,469 10 11 10 or 3,884,446 farthings .. 4,096 5 4 ---------------- -------------- 100 or 15,484,043 pieces ..  L40,962 13 4

The same firm has had several similar contracts, the last being in hand at the present time.  The bronze is composed of 95 parts copper, 4 tin, and 1 zinc.

Colleges.—­See “Schools,” &c.

Colmore Row, which now extends from the Council House to the Great Western Hotel (including Ann Street and Monmouth Street) is named after the Colmore family, the owners of the freehold.  Great Colmore Street, Caroline and Charlotte Streets, Great and Little Charles Streets, Cregoe, Lionel, and Edmund Streets, all take their names from the same source.

Colonnade.—­This very handsome and (for Birmingham) rather novel-looking building, was opened Jan. 10, 1883, being erected by Mr. A. Humpage, at a cost of about L70,000, from the designs of Mr. W.H.  Ward.  The Colonnade proper runs round the entire building, giving frontage to a number of shops, the upper portion of the block being partly occupied by the Midland Conservative Club, and the rest of the building, with the basement, fitted up as a Temperance Hotel and “Restaurant.”

Comets.—­The inhabitants were very much terrified by the appearance of a comet in December, 1680.  At Michaelmas, 1811, an exceedingly brilliant comet appeared, supposed to have been the same which was seen at the birth of Jesus Christ.  Donati’s comet was first observed June 2, 1858, but was most brilliant in September and October.  The comets of 1861 and 1883 were also visible here.

Commissioners.—­The first local governing body of the town, though with but the merest shadow of power as compared with the Corporation of to-day, were the Street Commissioners appointed under an Act of Geo. III. in 1769, their duties being confined almost solely to repairing, cleansing, and “enlightening” the streets of the town, appointing watchmen, &c., their power of raising funds being limited to 1s. in the L. By succeeding Acts of 1773, 1801, 1812, and 1828, the powers of the Commissioners were considerably enlarged, and they must be credited with the introduction of the first set of local improvement schemes, including the widening of streets, clearing the Bull Ring of the houses round St. Martin’s Church, making owners lay out proper streets for building, purchasing the market tolls, building of Town Hall and Market Hall, regulating carriages, and “suppressing the smoke nuisance arising from engines commonly called steam engines,” &c., and, though they came in for their full share of obloquy and political rancour, it cannot be denied they did good and faithful service to the town.  The Commissioners had the power of electing themselves, every vacancy being filled