The London Welshman

Notes from South Wales. (From our Special Correspondent.) The National Eisteddfod. The fact that no competitor for the bardic chair at the National Eisteddfod was deemed worthy of the prize, and the circumstance that there was a deterioration in the second choral singing, has induced some hasty critics to state that the National Eisteddfod is "degenerating." That the critics are hopelessly wrong will be amply shown at next year's gathering in Carnarvon. The Financial Result. If there will be no surplus on this year's National Eisteddfod, it will not be through any fault in the management, which has been ex- cellent. On the opening days the attendance was not what it ought to be, but it was a mistake to hold the gathering on Bank Holiday week, which is the period when large numbers of the Welsh public leave their homes for the seaside and other resorts, Eisteddfod or no Eisteddfod. "Emotional Boilers." Professor Morris Jones, in his comments on the bardic competitions was very sarcastic at times. He remarked that one of the com- petitors, "Gideon," had "magnificent verses," but the ode was written with inexcusable careless- ness." Professor Jones translated one of the lines as follows It is a pity for a strong man to waste his emotional boiler." In a comment on this observation, the Dublin Freeman's facrnal remarks The Saxon has evidently been at it again. Strong man and boiler' are unmistakably Saxon taints." Welsh at Cardigan. Although Welsh is extensively spoken at Cardigan town, the Welsh language does not figure in the curriculum of the local county school. In his recent report, the Inspector remarked It is to be regretted that Welsh finds no place in the curriculum of the school situated in a district so thoroughly Welsh." This is a very surprising fact and unsatisfactory. The Ferndale Band. In my last week's Notes," I stated that the splendid Ferndale Band had already won seven first prizes in various competitions this year. The Ferndale Band also won the first prize at the National Eisteddfod, and three first prizes at Aberystwyth, in the course of the past week, bringing up a total of eleven first prizes during the current year up-to-date. A really good record this. Tea and Cancer. I notice that at a recent conference of sanitary authorities in Colwyn Bay, a medical officer of health stated that immoderate tea drinking was one of the causes of cancer. Cancer, or not, the great bulk of the people will still go on having their cwpaned 0 de two and three times daily. Football Preparations. Already there are preparations going on for the coming football season in South Wales. The London Welsh figure on the Cardiff club's list of fixtures, but not on Swansea's. The report that Mr. Percy Bush, the clever Cardiff half-back, will play for a London club, is premature. Mr. J. C. Jenkins, a well-known Newport forward, is likely to play for the London Welsh, as he is going to the City to undertake the management of the Welsh Club. The New Zealand Team will visit Wales and play at either Swansea or Cardiff. "The Flower Maiden." In reading Harper's I noticed a very pretty Poem by Mr. Ernest Rhys. As, doubtless, ftiany readers of the LONDON WELSHMAN have not seen the same, they will, I am sure, bear reproduction in this column :— They could not find a mortal wife, And made him one of Sowers Her eyes they made of violets, Wet with their morning showers. They took the blossom of the oak, The blossom of the broom, The blossom of the meadow sweet, To be her body's bloom. But they forgot from mother earth To beg the kindling coal They made for him a wife of flowers, But they forgot the soul." Automatic Meals. A London morning journal remarks :—" So great has been the success of automatic restaurants in European cities that the penny-in-the-slot refreshment room is to go into active competition with the ordinary restaurants in London. A catering company is now arranging to open three automatic cafes in the fashionable shopping districts. When these are established, the system will be extended rapidly to other quarters." Of course, one cannot expect the editors, or any members of the staffs of London daily newspapers to admit that Welsh towns are ahead of the Londoners in anything, but it is a fact, nevertheless, that the automatic restaurant has been established in South Wales for several years past. There was a large one established at Swansea long ago, and there has been one in Cardiff for the past year or so. Both at Swansea and Cardiff they have proved very popular. The diner in the automatic restaurant is con- fronted by a long row of machines in which the viands are temptingly displayed behind plate glass. A penny dropped in the first slot will bring about a cup of tea, in others coffee, milk, sandwiches, &c. Who is He? H. W." of Porchester Gardens, W., writing in Saturday's Daily Mirror, states Some few years ago, I was in North Wales, and in the village where I was staying there was an hotel with a public bar, kept by a man who was a fully-ordained clergyman of the Church of England. He had been curate at the parish church of the same village, and had given up the church for the bar.' He used to serve out beer to his old parishioners."