Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862.—­Even as Birmingham may be said to have given the first idea for the “Great Exhibition” of 1851, so it had most to do with the building thereof, the great palace in Hyde Park being commenced by Messrs. Fox, Henderson & Co., July 26, 1850, and it was finished in nine months at a total cost of L176,031.  In its erection there were used 4,000 tons of iron, 6,000,000 cubic feet of woodwork, and 31 acres of sheet glass, requiring the work of 1,800 men to put it together. 287 local exhibitors applied for space amounting to 22,070 sup. feet, namely, 10,183 feet of flooring, 4,932 feet of table area, and 6,255 feet of wall space.  The “glory” of this exhibition was the great crystal fountain in the centre, manufactured by Messrs. Osler, of Broad Street, a work of art till then never surpassed in the world’s history of glass-making and glass cutting, and which now pours forth its waters in one of the lily tanks in Sydenham Palace.  Many rare specimens of Birmingham manufacture besides were there, and the metropolis of the Midlands had cause to be proud of the works of her sons thus exhibited.  Fewer manufacturers sent their samples to the exhibition of 1862, but there was no falling off in their beauty or design.  The Birmingham Small Arms trophy was a great attraction.

Explosions.—­That many deplorable accidents should occur during the course of manufacturing such dangerous articles as gun caps and cartridges cannot be matter of surprise, and, perhaps, on the whole, those named in the following list may be considered as not more than the average number to be expected:—­Two lives were lost by explosion of fulminating powder in St. Mary’s Square, Aug. 4. 1823.—­Oct. 16, same year, there was a gunpowder explosion in Lionel Street.—­Two were killed by fireworks at the Rocket Tavern, Little Charles Street, May 2, 1834.—­ An explosion at Saltley Carriage Works, Dec. 20, 1849.—­Two injured at the Proof House, Sept. 23, 1850.—­Five by detonating powder in Cheapside, Feb 14, 1852.—­Thirty-one were injured by gas explosion at Workhouse, Oct. 30, 1855.—­Several from same cause at corner of Hope Street, March 11, 1856.—­A cap explosion took place at Ludlow’s, Legge Street, July 28, 1859.—­Another at Phillips and Pursall’s, Whittall Street, Sept. 27, 1852, when twenty-one persons lost their lives.—­ Another in Graham Street June 21, 1862, with eight deaths.—­Boiler burst at Spring Hill, Nov. 23, 1859, injuring seven.—­An explosion in the Magazine at the Barracks, March 8, 1864, killed Quartermaster McBean.—­ At Kynoch’s, Witton, Nov. 17, 1870, resulting in 8 deaths and 28 injured.—­At Ludlow’s ammunition factory, Dec. 9, 1870, when 17 were killed and 53 injured, of whom 34 more died before Christmas.—­At Witton, July 1, 1872, when Westley Richards’ manager was killed.—­At Hobb Lane, May 11, 1874.—­Of gas, in great Lister Street, Dec. 9, 1874.  —­Of fulminate, in the Green Lane, May 4, 1876, a youth being killed.—­ Of gas, at St. James’s Hall, Snow Hill, Dec. 4, and at Avery’s, Moat Row, Dec. 31, 1878.—­At a match manufactory, Phillip Street, Oct. 28, 1879, when Mr. Bermingham and a workman were injured.