The London Welshman

Notes from South Wales. (From our Special Correspondent.) Workmen's Wages. During the hearing of a County Court case in West Wales, the other day, a certificate was handed in showing the wages of the defendant, a local steelworker, to be £23 2S. id. per month. An annual wage of £277 5s. od. for a steelworker is not at all a bad one. In Ye Olden Times. The other day, whilst looking over the file of the Carmarthen Journal (one of the oldest papers in Wales) for the year 1830, 76 years ago, I came across the following reference to a London execution. It will probably interest many readers of these notes, so I give it here "At 3 o'clock on December 31st, 1829, the following four convicts forfeited their lives to their offences at the usual place of execution in front of Newgate,, viz., W. Newitt, for sheep stealing, S. Sandford and T. Leslie, for burglary, and T. T. Maynard, for an extensive forgery upon the Custom House department." The law was much severer in the old days evidently. It is curious to think that people who stole sheep 76 years ago were hung. Cardiff and Lloyd=George. The suggestion of the Western Mail that the Right Hon. D. Lloyd-George should receive the freedom of Cardiff city on the occasion of his forthcoming visit in connection with the local Cymmrodorion banquet is being well taken up. It is felt that inasmuch as Mr. Lloyd- George is the first Welsh speaking Welshman to attain to the dignity and importance of Cabinet rank, the event should be fittingly celebrated by the extension of the honour alluded to from the Corporation of the largest and most progressive place in Wales. The leading local Conservatives, in addition to the Liberals, are in favour of the suggestion, for, however much the former may differ from the political views of Lloyd-George, they recognise in him a patriotic and able Welshman who has brought great fame to his country. A "Discordant Note." The only discordant note to the suggestion, so far, is a protest from the Adamsdown Con- servative Club." For the benefit of readers of the LONDON WELSHMAN, who have never seen "the Adamsdown Conservative Club," I may explain that it is a poor-looking little shanty in a back street of Cardiff, adjoining the Saffron Hill" of the city, i.e., the salubrious retreat of the Italian ice-cream men and organ grinders. The protest" of an obscure shanty of that kind is too laughable for words, and beneath contempt.

Easter Holidays. WHERE TO STAY IN WALES. LLANDUDNO.—St. George's Hotel. LLANGOLLE N'. -Edwards' Hand Hotel.

YSGOLORIAETH ELEAZAR ROBERTS. Priodol iawn y gallwn alw sylw ein cydgenedl yn Llundain at waith y gwladgarwr sydd a'i enw uchod. Edrychir arno-ac yn briodol felly-- fel prif gychwynydd (pioneer) cyfundrefn y Tbnic-Solffa yng Nghymru, a threuliodd lawer o amser i ysgrifennu ac i roddi anerchiadau yma ac accw ar hyd a lied y wlad i gychwyn y gyfundrefn newydd. Credai Mr. Roberts yn gryf ynddi, nid yn unig am y gwelai gyfleustra i ddysgu caniadaeth, ond hefyd am y teimlai y gellid gwneuthur daioni, moesol a chrefyddol, ymhlith y Cymry drwyddi. Deil i gredu hyd y dydd hwn y dylai y rhai sydd yn llafurio yn y gwaith yma wneuthur hynny, nid yn unig er mwyn pleser a boddhad iddynt hwy eu hunain, ond er mwyn canu meddwdod a phechodau eraill allan o'r wlad. Yr oedd safon Mr. Roberts yn hyn o beth yn bur uchel, ac amcan pennaf y symmudiad presennol ydyw dal y safon yma i fyny a cheisio adgynyrchu y sel a'r gweithgarwch ynglyn a chaniadaeth y cysegr,-yn arbennig fel yn nyddiau euraidd y gyfundrefn yn ein gwlad. Yr ydym yn llawn hyderu y sicrheir cronfa gref, fel ag y gellir sefydlu nifer o ysgoloriaethau cerddorol yn dwyn enw Eleazar Roberts, a bwriedir yr ysgoloriaethau hyn yn arbennig ar gyfer gwerin Cymru. Mae y pwyllgor sydd a'r trefniadau hyn yn ei law yn cynrychioli pob rhan 0 Gymru, yn grefyddol a gwladol, ac yn eu mysg y mae prif gerddorion ein gwlad ac y mae y cydymdeimlad, llwyraf a'r symmudiad ymhlith pob dosbarth. Hyderwn yn fawr y rhydd Cymry Llundain a'r cylchoedd bob cefnogaeth i'r symmudiad trwy danysgrifio yn ol y cylchlythyr sydd yn barod wedi ei anfon allan. Bydd yn bleser mawr gan yr Ysgrifenydd Cyffredinol, Mr. D. Pryse Jones, Newborough, Anglesey, anfon unrhyw wybodaeth ynglyn a'r symmudiad ar dderbyniad gair drwy lythyr, neu anfonir copi o'r cylchlythyr i unrhyw un sydd heb ei dderbyn.

ELECTION POETRY. So great was the interest roused by the late Election that we read of old men raised from their beds to vote, and school children blossom into political poets. As an authentic instance of the latter, the following is an interesting specimen from a young school-girl politician of 14 in the S.W. district THE GREAT AWAKENING. Oh John Bull is awake at last, The country's heard the awful blast, For the Election. Poor Joey's kicking with the pain, Because he ne'er can push again, What we oppose with might and main I mean Protection. The polling day is almost here, The Liberals will get in, 'tis clear, At the Election. The ladies all around do fly, We hear their knock, we heave a sigh, If they are for, as am not I, The cause Protection. The placards are in windows all, The blue, the red, the big, the small, Before Election. As I pass by I look, and add An extra red I feel quite sad, Their state of health must be so bad They want Protection. M. D. H.

Graduates of the Welsh University. It was reported that a newly-appointed master on the staff of a West Wales County School was a graduate of the Welsh University," but that he could neither read nor write Welsh. It is curious to find Graduates of the Welsh University entirely ignorant of the language of the Welsh people. There are many such graduates undoubtedly. If a man is a graduate of the Welsh University," he certainly ought to be able to speak the national language. Bleeding M.P.'s. One of the great trials of the Member of Parliament is the attempts of certain constituents to bleed" him. He is expected by some people to subscribe freely towards every cricket team, football club, charities of all kinds, genuine and otherwise, and so on and so forth. This kind of thing is very unfair, and it was pleasant to find a manly statement from Mr. William Brace, M.P., on the point, at a public meeting which he addressed at Whitchurch a few days ago. It seems that, although Mr. Brace has only been M.P. for South Glamorgan for a few weeks, he has already received a basketful of begging appeals for money. Mr. Brace em- phatically declared that he would thoroughly do his duty to his constituents, but he certainly would not be "bled." The Experiences of Others. It would be interesting to know how many basketfuls of these begging appeals Mr. Llewellyn Williams, M. P., for example, has had since his election ? A good many, I daresay. The Car- marthen Boroughs had a bad reputation in this respect some years ago, but, perhaps, there has been an improvement since then. I well remember the late Mr. Gwilym Evans' straight- forward remarks on the point at Llanelly, and the consternation they created throughout Wales generally. It is taking a mean and dishonourable advantage of M.P.'s to pester them in this manner, and is playing politics very low. There are still a large number of bread and butter politicians evidently about, and many vote against an M.P. at the election simply and solely because he may not have responded to their appeals for money. Interesting Mems. According to the Pembroke County Guardian, Mr. J. Jenkins, blacksmith, of Lower Solva, has grown in his garden a carrot of a mammoth size, weighing i lb. 12 ozs. The Guardian asks, Can any amateur gardener beat that ? I believe it will be a difficulty to do so, Mr. Guardian. According to the Radnorshire Standard, the largest pig killed in the district for some time was bred and fed by Mr. Walter Price, butcher, Level Crossing, Llandrindod. It weighed 53 stone 3 lbs. The Standard describes it as a huge pig." It was. The Brecon and Radnor Express chimes in with the interesting remark that Mr. Gittoes, Pistill Farm, Boughrood, is the first in the district to provide lambs which will be fit for Easter. Easter lamb will make a fine dish. The South Wales Daily Post has a chatty note on the Welsh Sunday School as a seminary for the acquirement of Welsh, and I am pleased to notice, on the authority of the journal in question, that there is plenty of good Welsh at the Swansea Sunday Schools. A good deal of snow fell in various parts of South Wales this week. It was a curious picture to see snow, primroses, marguerites, and other flowers in some grounds-a strange blend of winter and spring. There was a Welsh law suit heard in London this week wherein neither plaintiff nor defendant could speak English, and their evidence in the language of Wales had to be interpreted. The Daily Express heads its note on the incident as A foreign tongue." Foreign tongue for- sooth Where was the editor of the Daily Express born that he should exhibit such pro- found ignorance? Sir W. H. Preece will be the guest of the evening at the Swansea Cymdeithas Gymreig's St. David's Day banquet. Mr. Lleufer Thomas, barrister, will preside over what promises to be a very interesting event.