RESIDENCE AT NEATH 245 



business, as many of the farmers were very poor; some could 

 not speak English, and could not be made to understand what 

 it was all about; others positively refused to pay; and the 

 separate amounts were often so small that it was not worth 

 going to law about them, so that several were never paid at all, 

 and others not for a year afterwards. This was another of 

 the things that disgusted me with business, and made me more 

 than ever disposed to give it all up if I could but get anything 

 else to do. 



We also had a little building and architectural work. A 

 lady wanted us to design a cottage for her, with six or seven 

 rooms, I think, for £200. Building with the native stone 

 was cheap in the country, but still, what she wanted was 

 impossible, and at last she agreed to go £250, and with some 

 difficulty we managed to get one built for her for this amount. 

 We also sent in a design for a new Town Hall for Swansea, 

 which was beyond our powers, both of design and draughts- 

 manship; and as there were several established architects 

 among the competitors, our very plain building and poor 

 drawings had no chance. But shortly afterwards a building 

 was required at Neath for a Mechanics' Institute, for which 

 i6oo was available. It was to be in a narrow side street, 

 and to consist of two rooms only, a reading room and library 

 below, and a room above for classes and lectures. We were 

 asked to draw the plans and supervise the execution, which 

 we did, and I think the total cost did not exceed the sum 

 named by more than £50. It was, of course, very plain, but 

 the whole was of local stone, with door and window-quoins^ 

 cornice, etc., hammer-dressed ; and the pediments over the 

 door and windows, arched doorway, and base of squared 

 blocks gave the whole a decidedly architectural appearance. 

 It is now used as a free library, and through the kindness of 

 Miss Florence Neale, of Penarth, I am enabled to give a 

 photographic reproduction of it. 



This reminds me that the Mechanics' Institution was, I 

 think, established by Mr. William Jevons, a retired merchant 

 or manufacturer of Liverpool, and the uncle of William Stan- 

 ley Jevons, the well-known writer on Logic and Political 



