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all matters relating to its management, and it was resolved that 
the limit of 100 Members should be exclusive of the Honorary 
Members; also that the old rule of not admitting the press to 
the Meetings of the Club should be adhered to. 
The Treasurer read a statement of accounts which, after 
payment of some outstanding debts of about £20, shewed a 
balance to the credit of £49 19s 8d, and he strongly impressed 
upon the Club the necessity of strict economy, and the Council 
were requested to consider what could be done to limit the 
expenditure. 
The Field Meetings for the year were fixed. Chipping 
Sodbury, June 2nd; Huntley, June 30th; Edgeworth, July 
28th; and Nailsworth, August 25th. 
Before giving a resumé of the work of the Club during the 
past year, permit me to express my heartfelt thanks for the 
loyal and generous support I have received. The Field Meetings 
have been largely attended, and there has been an evident 
desire on the part of the Members, to supply, as far as possible, 
the loss we all felt at the absence of our old President, Sir 
William Guise, and each has endeavoured to do his part to keep 
up the character of the Club. 
The first Meeting took place on June 2nd, at Chipping 
Sodbury, and the Members assembled at the Yate Station, 
where carriages were taken to the Eggshill Colliery, which, as 
Mr Stone, the Manager stated, had been worked by the early 
coal-miners. They had discovered in the shaft the remains of 
a very interesting old pump, made of hollowed-out oak timber, 
and which he exhibited to the Members. Mr Wethered said 
the part of the pump was the suction, and the adoption of it 
marked an epoch in the industry of the country. In the early 
days of coal-mining the difficulty in getting rid of the water 
was so great that in the year 1610, Sir George Selby informed 
Parliament that the mines at Newcastle would not last for the 
term of their leases of 21 years. Mr Wethered explained the 
various pumps which were afterwards introduced to lower the 
water in the pits; and in 1712 the first Newcomen Engine was 
erected which solved the difficulty, and the present pump must 
have been before that date. 
