Cabs, Cars, and Carriages.—The hackney carriages, or four-wheelers, of this town, have the credit of being superior to those used in London, though the hansoms (notwithstanding their being the inventions of one who should rank almost as a local worthy—the architect of our Town Hall) are not up to the mark. Prior to 1820 there were no regular stands for vehicles plying for hire, those in New Street, Bull Street, and Colmore Row being laid in that year, the first cabman's license being dated June 11. The first "Cabman's Rest" was opened in Ratcliffe Place, June 13, 1872, the cost (£65) being gathered by the cabman's friend, the Rev. Micarah Hill, who also, in 1875, helped them to start an association for mutual assistance in cases of sickness or death. There are sixteen of these "shelters" in the town, the cabmen subscribing about £200 yearly towards expenses. As a rule, the Birmingham cabmen are a civil and obliging body of men, though now and then a little sharp practice may occur, as in the instance of the stranger who, arriving in New Street Station one evening last summer, desired to be taken to the Queen's Hotel. His luggage being properly secured, and himself safely ensconced, Mr. Cabby cooly took the rug from his horse's back, mounted his seat and walked the animal through the gates back to the building the stranger had just left, depositing his fare, and as calmly holding out his hand for the customary shilling as if he had driven the full distance of a mile and a half. The fares laid down by the bye-laws as proper to be charged within the Borough, and within five miles from the statue in Stephenson Place, in the Borough, are as follows:—

s. d.
For every carriage constructed to carry four persons, for the first hour, or part of hour 3 0
For every additional 15 minutes, or part of 15 minutes. 0 2
For every carriage constructed to carry two persons, for the first hour, or part of hour 2 6
For every additional 15 minutes, or part of 15 minutes 0 6
Any person hiring any carriage otherwise than by time is entitled to detain the same five minutes without extra charge, but for every 15 minutes, or part thereof, over the first five minutes, the hirer must pay 0 6
By distance:--
Cabs or Cars to carry 2 persons not exceeding 1-1/2 miles 1 0
Per 1/2 mile after 0 4
One horse vehicles to carry 4 persons, not exceeding 1 mile 1 0
For any further distance, per 1/2 mile after
Cars or Carriages with 2 horses, to carry 4 persons, not exceeding 1 mile 1 9
Per 1/2 mile after 0 9
Double Fares shall be allowed and paid for every fare, or so much of any fare as may be performed by any carriage after 12 o'clock at night, and before 6 in the morning.

Calthorpe Park, Pershore road, has an area of 3la. 1r. 13p., and was given to the town in 1857 by Lord Calthorpe. Though never legally conveyed to the Corporation, the Park is held under a grant from the Calthorpe family, the effect of which is equivalent to a conveyance in fee. The Duke of Cambridge performed the opening ceremony in this our first public park.

Calthorpe Road was laid out for building in the year 1818, and the fact is worthy of note as being the commencement of our local West End.

Calico, Cotton, and Cloth.—In 1702 the printing or wearing of printed calicoes was prohibited, and more strictly so in 1721, when cloth buttons and buttonholes were also forbidden. Fifty years after, the requisites for manufacturing cotton or cotton cloth were now allowed to be exported, and in 1785 a duty was imposed on all cotton goods brought into the Kingdom. Strange as it may now appear, there was once a "cotton-spinning mill" in Birmingham. The first thread of cotton ever spun by rollers was produced in a small house near Sutton Coldfield as early as the year 1700, and in 1741 the inventor, John Wyatt, had a mill in the Upper Priory, where his machine, containing fifty rollers, was turned by two donkeys walking round an axis, like a horse in a modern clay mill. The manufacture, however, did not succeed in this town, though carried on more or less till the close of the century, Paul's machine being advertised for sale April 29, 1795. The Friends' schoolroom now covers the site of the cotton mill.

Canals.—The first Act for the construction of the "cut" or canal in connection with Birmingham was passed in 1761, that to Bilston being commenced in 1767. The delivery here of the first boat-load of coals (Nov. 6, 1769) was hailed, and rightly so, as one of the greatest blessings that could be conferred on the town, the immediate effect being a reduction in the price to 6d per cwt, which in the following May came down to 4d. The cutting of the first sod towards making the Grand Junction Canal took place July 26, 1766, and it was completed in 1790. In 1768 Briudley, the celebrated engineer, planned out the Birmingham and Wolverhampton Canal, proposing to make it 22 miles long; but he did not live to see it finished. The work was taken up by Smeaton and Telford; the latter of whom calling it "a crooked ditch" struck out a straight cut, reducing the length to 14 miles, increasing the width to 40 feet, the bridges having each a span of 52 feet. The "Summit" bridge was finished in 1879. The Fazeley Canal was completed in 1783, and so successfully was it worked that in nine years the shares were at a premium of £1170. In 1785 the Birmingham, the Fazeley, and the Grand Junction Companies took up and completed an extension to Coventry. The Birmingham and Worcester Canal was commenced in 1,791, the cost being a little over £600,000, and it was opened for through traffic July 21, 1815. By an agreement of September 18, 1873, this canal was sold to the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Co. (otherwise the Sharpness Dock Co.), and has thus lost its distinctive local name. The Birmingham and Warwick commenced in 1793; was finished in 1800. Communication with Liverpool by water was complete in 1826, the carriage of goods thereto which had previously cost £5 per ton, being reduced to 30s. For a through cut to London, a company was started in May, 1836, with a nominal capital of £3,000,000, in £100 shares, and the first cargoes were despatched in August, 1840. In April, 1840, an Act was passed to unite the Wyrley and Essington Canal Co. with the Birmingham Canal Co., leading to the extension, at a cost of over £120,000, of the canal system to the lower side of the town. There are 2,800 miles of canals in England, and about 300 miles in Ireland. The total length of what may properly be called Birmingham canals is about 130 miles, but if the branches in the "Black Country" be added thereto, it will reach to near 250 miles. The first iron boat made its appearance on canal waters July 24, 1787; the first propelled by steam arrived here from London, September 29, 1826. The adaptation of steam power to general canal traffic, however, was not carried to any great extent, on account of the injury caused to the banks by the "wash" from the paddles and screws, though, when railways were first talked about, the possibility of an inland steam navigation was much canvassed. When the Bill for the London and Birmingham Railway was before Parliament, in 1833, some enterprising carriers started (on Midsummer-day) an opposition in the shape of a stage-boat, to run daily and do the distance, with goods and passengers, in 16 hours. The Birmingham and Liverpool Canal Company introduced steam tugs in 1843. On Saturday, November 11, they despatched 16 boats, with an aggregate load of 380 tons, to Liverpool, drawn by one small vessel of 16-horse power, other engines taking up the "train" at different parts of the voyage. Mr. Inshaw, in 1853, built a steamboat for canals with a screw on each side of the rudder. It was made to draw four boats with 40 tons of coal in each at two and a half miles per hour, and the twin screws were to negative the surge, but the iron horses of the rail soon put down, not only all such weak attempts at competition, but almost the whole canal traffic itself, so far as general merchandise and carriage of light goods and parcels was concerned. "Flyboats" for passengers at one time ran a close race with the coaches and omnibuses between here, Wolverhampton, and other places, but they are old people now who can recollect travelling in that manner in their youth.

Canal Accidents.—The banks of the Birmingham and Worcester Canal, near Wheeley's Road, gave way on May 26, 1872, causing considerable damage to the properties near at hand. A similar occurrence took place at Aston, July 20, 1875; and a third happened at Solihull Lodge Valley, October 27, 1880, when about 80ft. of an embankment 30-ft. high collapsed.

Canal Reservoir, better known as "The Reservoir," near Monument Lane, a popular place of resort, covers an area of 62A. 1R. 5P., and is three-quarters of a mile long. Visitors and others fond of boating can be accommodated here to their heart's content.

Cannon.—The first appearance of these instruments of destruction in connection with the English army was in the time of Edward III. in his wars with the Scotch and the French, the first great battle of historical note in which they were used being that of Cressy, in 1346. The manufacture of "small arms," as they are called, has been anything but a small feature in the trade history of our past, but cannon-founding does not appear to have been much carried on, though a local newspaper of 1836 mentioned that several 250 and 300-pounder guns were sent from here in that year for the fortifications on the Dardanelles.

Cannon Hill Park covers an area of 57a. 1r. 9p., and was presented to the town by Miss Ryland, the deed of conveyance bearing date April 18th, 1873. The nearest route to this Park is by way of Pershore Road and Edgbaston Lane, omnibuses going that way every half-hour.