uors is allowed to be sold on the premises. When counselled to
introduce beer as an adjunct to dinner, Mr. Corbett replied that sooner
than relinquish the principle of conducting the establishment on a
strictly temperance footing, he would shut it up altogether. The good
sense of this resolution has been proved by the results, for despite the
enormous number of working men who frequent it, there has never been a
police case arising out of a disturbance in any of the branches. In
Bradford, some years ago, Mr. Isaac Holden projected a cooking depot on
the principle of the "Great Western," but with this important
difference--that he made it partake of the dual character of a club and
an eating-house by introducing spirituous liquors and games of different
sorts. What between smoking and drinking, the place became too noisy and
rough for respectable men to have anything to do with it, and after
lingering for some months it died an inglorious death, showing that

"Whoever tries
To rob the poor man of his beer."

does a not injudicious thing, so far as institutions of this kind are
concerned. Before taking leave of the Cooking Depot, we may state that
it has been visited by many illustrious personages, who have manifested
a deep interest in its history and progress. Mr. and Mrs. Gladstone,
when they visited Glasgow some years ago, were shown all over one of
the branches, and had the _modus operandi_ thoroughly explained to them
by Mr. Melvin, who has always acted as Mr. Corbett's right hand man. The
Premier was very curious to see the kind of broth that could be produced
at a penny per bowl, and both he and Mrs. Gladstone, after tasting the
soup, pronounced it to be very excellent and wholesome. The commercial
aspect of the institution was, however, its most interesting phase to
Mr. Gladstone, who could hardly understand how such a gigantic
establishment could be made to pay with such small profits. Ultimately
it was explained to him that it was a fixed rule to have a farthing of
profit on every pennyworth sold, to which he replied that "he knew
something of the power of the farthing."

Mr. Corbett was the founder, along with his friend, Mr. Melvin, of the
Working Men's Club in Trongate. He expended a sum of L250 in furnishing
the club, and laid down certain conditions for its management, the most
important of which was that it should be conducted on strictly
temperance principles. Having got such a capital st