We have received a copy of the Juno number of
The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, an entertaining shilling magazine lately started by the staff of the Bank of England, who are evidently not so aloof from the world as they may seem to be. It contains some lively articles and illustrations, and promises to give space in future numbers to the history of the Bank. Mr. A. G. Rowlett recalls the days when dividends were paid only to the stock- holders who attended in person. Not till 1878 was a dividend sent by post ; even now a few veterans call at quarter-day for their money, though personal attendance was forbidden, except in special cases, in 1910.
" Few now in the Bank can remember the courtly, white- haired old gentleman with Gladstonian collar and white choker —a typical Early Victorian—who refused to recognise Mr. Goschen's conversion of Consols from 3 per cent. to 2i per cent. He always appeared on the same day and at the same hour, and asked for his Dividends on 3 per cent. Consols. When told they were now 2} per cent. he shook his head, walked to the middle of the Office, looked at the clock, compared the time with his gold hunter, and then walked slowly out. This pro- ceeding he repeated regularly each quarter for about fifteen years until he died, and his Stock and Dividends—a considerable sum—which had in the meantime been paid over to the Com- missioner for the Reduction of the National Debt, were re- claimed by his Executors."
As five million dividend warrants are now posted annually, it is just as well that the recipients do not have to resort to Threadneedle Street.
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