_Clubs._
Under this denomination, the workmen assemble at the public-houses
they usually resort to, and by contributing a small sum weekly, they
raise a fund, from whence, if any member is afflicted with illness, he
receives a certain sum for his support, according to the rules of the
society to which he belongs; every separate club having rules and
orders peculiar to themselves.
_Piddock's Trust._
In the year 1728, William Piddock devised his farm, containing about
nine acres of land, at Winson Green, in trust, for the purpose of
educating and putting out apprentice, poor boys belonging to the
parish of Birmingham, or other discretional charities. It is vested in
the constables, church-wardens, and overseers for the time being. This
estate now produces about I cannot learn what.
The baneful effects produced by spirituous liquors, which has made
such dreadful havoc among the populace in many other manufacturing
towns, is, to the credit of the working people, very little
encouraged.
To the credit of the inhabitants, the spirit of gambling is almost
unknown here; there being more of it practised in many small towns
than there is in this extensive one.
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