FROM THE ARCHIVES

25 YEARS AGO A consortium of Scottish miners has been told that it can operate Monktonhall colliery, near Musselburgh, from early in the new year – bringing the chance of a revival in the Scottish coalfield. Recruitment of 187 miners for Monktonhall will begin in January, and it is confidently anticipated that the first coal will be brought to the surface later in the year. 50 YEARS AGO Mr Franc P. Martin, the post office telegraphist whose talent as an artist reached its full development in Glasgow, has died in Wishaw. He was 84. He came to Glasgow as a youth from Anstruther, his native town, to work in the post office in George Square, and during the South African War he served with a yeomanry regiment. He combined his post office duties with his painting until the beginning of the Second Word War. One of his posters advertising the night telegraph letter was exhibited at post offices throughout Britain. 100 YEARS AGO The building in Hope Street, Glasgow, formerly known as the Savoy Theatre, which has undergone extensive alterations, will be formally opened this afternoon by the Lord Provost, Sir Thomas Dunlop, Bart., as a picture house, with the title of the new Savoy. The proceeds of the opening matinee will be given to the fund on behalf of the Princess Louise Scottish Hospital for Limbless Sailors and Soldiers at Erskine. 150 YEARS AGO Glasgow Magdalene Institution-The annual meeting of the friends and subscribers to this institution was held in the Religious Institution Rooms yesterday afternoon. In the course of the past year there have been received into the Parson Street Home and the House of Refuge 57 young women. This number, added to 75 who were resident in the two Houses on 31st October, 1865, gave a total of 132 who have been under training during the whole or part of the year.