The Cambrian

I I file Cambrian, THURSDAY, DEC. 24th, 1903. NOTES ON MEN & THINGS The Swansea, war monument is expected to be readv by the sxwid week- in February, and the unveiling will take place some day in that month. The marble figures on the fpedestal liave cost no less than JB160, so that they shouid be worthy of the object. At their last meeting, the Swansea group of schools managers decided that the Xmns holidays were to be from December 24th to January 4tlh. The Glamorgan O,ullty Council afterwards considered the matter, and ordered the schools to close from December 21>t to January 4t.h, Of coarse, t-he Council had their way. -+ If all temperance orators used the common- sense which distinguished the address of the Rev. Petter Potter on Monday evening, they would stand higher in the public esteem than tlney do. For one thing, the rev. gentleman advocated legislation to compel the trade to supply "pare beer." Such a measure would do more in the interests of sobriety than any score of the hundreds of laws adopted in re- Latioci to the drink traffic. J Mr. E. Waddington, who is delivering a series of lectures at Swansea this week on the Fiscal Question, is the father of the registration agent of the local Conse.rva.tive Association. Mr. Waddington at one time fought a hard battle in Durham for a parlia- mentary teat, and Ls a veteran in political controversy. It is not easy, as hecklers liave discovered, to catch him tripping, for lie knows his subject "right through." The vis'.t of the Wiftsoua/uis to Swansea- on 0.iTist.nisis D-ty recalls the first visit of the Scotchmen to St. Helen's five seasons ago. One of the vwking halves hud determined to score a try bef re the whistle blew—sonie- t' unig to ta<ve buck witf.i him. He scored a trvv. One could easily trace the route he took to score it. Bancroft's prostrated form by near t.he goal-po.t.s, Ge". Davits n.yt In in. a.nd four others dotted piutuit'eq.relv all the way to the touch-line. And the crowd. Whv tlhey 11 uproariously, aad votod the Scotah-men rail ga.d SI;is. Twas Xnia;- time. Bv the end of the year the overdraft of the Swansea, Corporation at the Bank of England will be close upon £ 250,000; during the next twelve montiis the a.mount is likely to be nearlv doubled, by expenditure upon various schemes. Corporation indebtedne-s is in truth mounting upwards at an alarm ng rate—a circumstance even more serious than the stringency in the money iraiket, which threatens to place difficulties in securing capital, as it is required for works already in hand. The Cray Water Works is eating up money in great lumps; the monthly out- Iltv amounts to between £ 6,000 and £ 7,000. The estimated amount- utm required tOo com- plete this very costly undertaking rangrs be- tween £ 170,000 and" £ 180,000. The prospect for the ratepayers is dismal, since once pro- vision has to be made for the inte:crt ard j s'Jiking fund of the whole expenditure, the I standing cii.rgas of the Corporation will g> I upwards by great leaps. Dr. Gomrr Lewis faYs he always prefers to lecture for Methodists, beca ise they pay better than the Baptists. A Swansea ratepayer is saying that when the County Council sits late it ought to be provided with tea, as in the good old times. He says he doesn't mind paying an extra rate or two. Anyone standing outside the Swansea. County Court at the conclusion of a c ise, can readily tell which side the emerging parties have been identified with. The one side is all amilea, and the other all argument. Madame Paibti attributes her perennial youithfillness, not to any system of hyg:exn-, bat to her lifelong hahft. of "seeing a little bJ'I¿ m t'he cloudiest sky," or, as ehe puts n, "looking for tibe sunshine which is always to be seen somewlvere by the one wiio cares to look for it. "Although the Swansea School Board is becoming defui.ct and the municipality does not seem inclined to tike up the work as scon :M they should do, I only hope the work will be carried on as satisfactorily us it lias been the case by the School Board."— The Mayjr of Swansea. "He has taken an interest in everything and everybody in Cwmbwrla. In time of sick- ness or trouble, he can always be relied' on to assist, without regard to sect or party. 1: call tuiat humanity at its oo"t." -Coun. Grffitihs on Rev. AlJbtun Daviets, late curate of SL Luke's. The Mayor of SW;,I..TO, in distributing the prizes at BrynmåH School, urged those who had not received awards to persevere, and said that when he was at school he only won one prize. "Yet;" h3 continued, "by perse- verance or luck—ciU it what you will—I have received the highest prize a municipal- ity can confer. Mr. Wm. Davies Jenkins, brother of the re- spected ckrk of Holy Trinity Church, Swan- sea, is part proprietor of the "Gloucester City Journal," New Jersey, U.S.A., also a magis- trate. The magistrates out there are elected by papulajr vote, and also perform the duties of a regLstf-ir, at, as a rule, big salaries. .+ Rev. John Phillips, of Carmarthen road Chapel, had good etories to tell at the Alban Davies' presentation. One was of a "ninbter who complained to his fock that another pastor had received a silver tea-set on hav- ing, while IJtJ people luver gave him any- thing. "Oh," was the fervent l'eply of his people, "if you'll leave U6, sir, we 11 give you a golden one!" Mr. Barry Lindon, the eminent baSiJO, who made such a hit at the S'vansea Police Band concert, sang under rather pathetic circumstances. He came straight foom the funeral of his mother, at Neath, and it was c.nly his e igerness to help a good cause which caused him to perform at al-. If possible, lie was in apparently better form than ever, a,nd the reception he obtained could not nave been more spontaneous or hearty. Professor Herkomer was much struck with "Gurnos's" remarkable face- It was at the National Eisteddfod at Llanelly some ten years ago that the two met. "Gurnos" was conducting, and Professor Herkomer sat in the front row, and could not lcep his eyes off the wonderfully expressive face of the many-chaired bard, who was keeping twelve thousand people in the best of humour. After- wards the artist made a sketch of "Gurnos." It is not often tihat a story as inflicted upon the Swansea Council, but Mr. Cadwalludr on Wednesday illustrated a point as to the importance of reading a section of the F.lo- cation Act with the commas inserted by re- lating an dncident in which the sentence Mayor of B- said the inspector was en ass" was made to read as though either of those estimable gentlemen could be regarded as the ass. Mr. P. G. lies, churchwarden of St. Mary's, Swansea, is emulating his vicar as a Sab'oatih pedestrian. To show his sympathy wito Sm ..101m Llewelyn, Btirt., who has done mucu for the Swansea parish church, he, on Sunday. waJked to Penlleig;ier in order to be present at the ceremony of unveiling a window thai the baronet had erected in memory of hit. tliree children. Mir. lies tramped all the way uome again, and he lives to tell tLe .story. It is pioposed to publish a number of vol- umes of the works of Lewys Morris (Llewelyn Ddu Ton), the great-grandfaither of S-r Lewis Morris, the eminent poet of Penbiyn. Several of hris productions were published an the "Cambrian Register" and tlhe "Cambro Briton," but there are as many as eighty volumes of h s works in manuscript an the British Museum, and dt is from tihese manu- scripts that the proposed collection of his works ds to be compiled. --+--+- "Gurnos" had a ready wit. During the N'i'U' irial Eisteddfod at Llanellv last Bummetr "Gurnos," in frockcoat and silk hat, turned in to see a grocer friend of his. While they were talking on the outside of the counter A beggar entered the shop and asked the tr td-es mall fur aims. "You'd better ask the ho-s." taid tht grocer, indicating "Gurnos." Che beggar did so, a.nid "Gurmos" prompMy .said to his friend, "Yes, yes; go to the drawer and give him a. shilling." Amd the surp ';st'd tifjdtcman rather shamefacedly complied Concluding a paper on Arthur's stone in the current "Gower Church Magazine," Rev. J. D. Davies says that everything points to a real interment on the spot of some person of the greatest note. He ouotes historians on the exhumat on of King Arthur's remains at Glastonbury, and says that Taliesin re- garded that monarch's grave as one of the mysteries of the world. We suppose this means exploration parties armed with pick and dynamite journeying down Reynoldstone way and looking for lemains—and trouble. There is of covrse (says the London eoives- ponderot of the "Manchester Guardian") a great deal of lively expectation of the life of "Father Ignatius" which the Baronetss de Bertonche is writing. Her accounts f the relations between the Anglican Ben^lict'ne and certain Welsh Bishops will, it is ex- pected, niaike rather ser.satievn;>l reading. The opinion of many moderate Anglican clergy- men is that the Father coull have been k-ipt in the direct service of the Church as a in:s- eioner if the Bishops had treated him reason- ably. He has always, I believe, been popu- lar with Welsh. Nonconform>ts. Some of our public men do not realis*, we're airaid, what they owe to the reporter. The following is what would have been a faithful extract from a verbatim report of a rather well-known local man's sp.-eeh at a recent ( function: -"Then, and then. if we come if i we co-me to the question, the question of hew r to prepare, that is, prepare for a rainy uav, i let us be up and doing, for who shall tell what is coming 011. We don't know, no—we i don't know what is coming on, not most of < us." Then the long-sufferirig gets hold of a t brilliant effort like that and makes it present- I able. And no one thinks of thanking him s worth a cent. I For ten years of his life, Rey. Pet-er Potter, V'.a'ir of Bishopsto: acted as an estate agent That was before he "went to Oxford." Vicar Potter, oi Bishapston, quoted with- out disapproval in Swainisea on Monday the remark that "Limited liaibi'liiy companies art ttie latest invention of Satan 1" Morr/ston Eisteddfod officials have in the recitation oompt-tit-iou discarded the usual rut of Wdsh ooiinpositioins, Wohey's lamen- tatfoft fiom Shakespeare being the selection. A suggestion IKIS been, made that tlhe SwMt- s-it aildermen should wear rr-bes on the occa- sion of the King'6 visit, and it is not unlikely t !uit a resolution to this effect will be brought before the Coumcil. So fa.r there has been no suggestion that the unemployed at Swansea, call for special methods of relief. Thu hope is enteilained that with the in lies oi new tivmu. „y.- under construction, and with none of the works as yet brought to a standstill, the necessity for reviving the labour bureau will be averted. It is dbu.tful wheitther there is antoitihei town in the kingdom with anything like Swansea's pq.inflation wihicii has a similar number of places of amusement to ahoot-e from over Xm<us. There is the Empire, the Grand, the. Stair, the Palace, Poole's, the Ivor Athletic Club, aaitd Swansea Guardians meet cm Thurs- day. 11k speech of Mr. Bryjnnor Jones, M.P., at the annual prize distribution at the Swan- sea Grammar School was excellent of its kin L but suffered from two defects. It was too long in Lcciipying nearly fifty minutes; and it was inaudible to the majority of the .111, dience. There" wa* a perceptible filing away in the ati^Midance, and unless this is to be arrested the proceedings must be made con- siderably brighter. Merthyr District Council, after initiating thr f/ut-ic, J movement for a.pplying for a mandamus ;iga:inst the Education Deniart- nient, has discovered1 it haD no' power to .spend money upon litigation of this Ascrip- tion, and has fallen out. It woulo be a. good thing for the ratepayers and education if the -nine wholetomc limitations applied also to th > Coi])or-"tions of Swansea. Cardiff, and New port Personal contact with Lord Rosebery seems to have made a Rosaberyite of the Hon. Odo Vivian. If this means that the latter is to follow the Primrose Earl in his wayward course, it is not improbable tliat before long C'oun. Vivian may be found inditing an ap- preciative and appreciated letter to the Salis- bury Club. Lord Swansea is already among the subscribers to the Swansea Conservative Association. The position of the education question in Wales is clearly abo it to undergo a startling changj. Parties are uibout ito exchange places. Hitherto the enemies oif the Educa- t on Act have exercised their ingenuity to the fullest extent in putting otf tIk, appointed day. Now that the Education Department I:a.'< signified its determination 1o defer the appointed day in it-reas where the Education Authority is committed to tho policy of starv- ing the Voluntary Schools, we may expect the Lluerak to make deLav ihe occasion of a grievance. Thus, as in "Ha.mlet," the duel- lists exchange weapons. A newspiper mistake incidentally pro ed the value of advertising on Saturday last. One local print announced that the kick off would 'bj at 3 p.m. whereas it had been fixed for 2.45. The iesjlt was that at the hitter time the attendance was miserably njeagre, whereas by 3 p.m. it had attained the proportions to be expected with a, team like JLK-vonp>ri Albion to be confronted. By the way, it is an indication of the influence of conservatism that bills are etill being printed to announce matches, though not one in the thousand of the spectator,* 'ra.ws his information, from this old-fashioned niediuni of publicity. -+ The legal work of the Swansea Coroor-itijn is being ctrried on un(le, conditions which render the fiction of public control ridicul- ous. London agents draw fees for work .,I.il,h could and should be done in the town clerks office besides the two qualified f-oli- (,itoi,.i in the employ of the Councili there is a public proseeutot and solicitor, and coun- sel arc enip.'oycd for licensing and other work for which the ratepayers have to pay hand- somely, without the representatives f f the hitter having even a voice in the matter. A emioas feature of the business is tlajit any suggestion of public control over the expen- diture of public money in- this regard is re- sented as designed to'"fetter the discretion of the magistrates" by precisely those people who say that in education public control of pubiic money should bo in.iisted upon as a lnaitter of life and death. It is not in France e'nly that there should be a party recognised as "opportunist s." Tine S wainse a Grairanar School and the Swlinser High Sciliocl for Girls aro gloverned by the sanne body, arjd are "intermediate sdhools" witflrin the meaning of the Inter- Wfediaie Education Act. But in the manner of celebra.iirig the dose of the sclhool year ttiiey differ widely. At the Gtammnr Schseol t:he proceediin'gis embrace a detailed report fiom the headmaster, the diistributiiioiii of t.Ip •Prizes won by the scholars and a. series of ^peed.iles. At the High Schocl for Gii'ls there ♦ife no Sf e-thes and no di.'tributifon of prizes. biSt an enteit-ainnieii't carried ovejr two even- irg-! by the pupils ait t'he schocl. There can he no manner of douf:(t as to which plan is the mere popui'ar, cr t'he more agreeable to iih<3 audience. It is a Iniv¿U\lgB to ibe a,blc to purchase a ticket for the or.iie the atiteaijiihnce "f tfh.& general public is visibly falling off at l'ie other. Possibly, when the two schools p:< eoiTupletelv under tliaiei ooritivl of the ^lucaitdon Oc-manAtitee, seleoted. by the Tbwn *Jnc:l, we may iu.ve prize-day griduolily ac quiring Uunt. public importance which it en- jlYl; in C|i>na.J<i -and the United States, where shnrt- w,iti!i all emphasis on the. "short"—ad- aressej are vanied by sfceitdhes, recitations. etc., designed to disclose fliee character of t tea.eliri.ng and the acc'. ir.pliiishmcinlt of ..ilJ. tajigfafe. There, is much left to desire in the existing arrangement a,t Swaaiisea. Tlie "Sheffield Weekly Telegraph" of De- c-tinker 12th contained the foil awing:—Soimc few years ago a Swansea vessel was caught J n terrible gale. The captain had his wife on board, and when the wind was still rising he told her to go down below and sleep, for all was well. He remained on the bridge until tha mate came up will said, "We've done all we can. Hud!l't you better tell the chaps to get out the boats?" ''YŒ, yes, my jad, if y<«ui think so," said the captain, who knew wry well tiie only chance left was whether to go down with the s.hip or :n a small bcait, whidh oeuiain't live ten seconds in that SEKL. The engitveer came up with the news that the fires wore all out. "Very well, my lads," said the capcain, quosdy; "save "-ourselves if you can." "Won't ytu fetch your wife em deck, sir?" sand one of the men. "No!" was the ca'nr reply; "let her sleep, poor old girl. I am going down to have a, smoke. And, sno king by t.he bedside of his sleeping wife he went down with the shcip. The Nonconformists of Morricton are pre- senting an address to the Vicar, who for the paf*t seventeen years has ministered in their midst, which is as creditable to them as to 1 the Rev. Watcyn Morgan. The latter lite proved the possibility of a clergyman being zealous and effective for his own church without alienating the sympathies of the members of other religious causes. j The preparatory work in connection with the next parliamentary election in the Gower Division is M peculiar now as in 1900. On the earlier occasion Mr. John Williams, as a labour candidate, retired' in favour of Mr. Aeron Thoineis, a capita list.. Xow Mr. Thomas appears to be returning the compli- ment bv facilitating the election of Mr. John Williams. In the meanwhile the Liberal As- sooation is either dead or profoundly asleep. The idea of the Swansea Labour Party in the Council in promoting a scheme for the erection, of nine houses on Gibbet Hill, at an estimated cost of a.bout JB200 each, is to furnish local builders with a model of the cottage which working-men should oicupy. Later on, should the scheme prosper, an ef- fort is likely to be made to sat'sfv the re- quirements of the large classs whose means do not admit of the tenancy of a model cot- tage, with adequate accommodation. The David Davieses were very much in evidence at the meeting at (jorseinon on Tues- day last, to further the object of providing n public hall. Councillor Dd'. Davies, of Swan- », was the principal speaker; Mr. Dd. Davies, chairman of the committee that man- ages the existing reading-iooni, moved a. re- solution oledging the meeting to further the movement; and Mr. Dd. Davies, of the Grovesend Steel Works, seconded. Such co- incidents are a good deal rarer than they would appear to be. Swansea footballers will, after the Christ- mas-tide matches, be able to gauge the strength of Scotch football this season. The Watsonians and Edinburgh University are tolerably representative of Scotland, even though neither combination is quite as strong in backs as on former visits. During the last six or seven years, however, the Scotch international teams has scarcely been over formidable, except when performing at home. Even: last season, it was the fearful weather ratlier than the skill of the Scotch that brought about the defeat of the Welsh at Edinburgh. Our distinctive style had not a chance in mat. storm of wind and rain. Swansea's streets and their condition must have earned an unenviable notoriety amongst visitors this year, and at the close of the year they a.re probably in about as bad case as tliev could be—every road a river of t-liree- inch slush, and every pavement greasy with soanv mud. There is but one consolation— tliat the members of the Streets Committee have presumably as much on their boots as other humbler individuals. But one sorely wishes that a few of the hundreds squandered during the kist year or two upon the licensing and Education Act campaigns and similar luxuries of a few faddists, had been diverted purpose of streetp wnprovement. I The Merthyr District councillors who or- iginated the silly idea of a law suit with the Education Department, so as to determine a point which is not of peppercorn value to anybody, have now made another departure, which most people would gladly see imitated by their extremist friends in the Councils of Swansea-, Cardiff and Newport. Finding tha.t thev have no power to use public money for the purpose, they intend to subscribe Merthyr's proportion of the costs the.ntelves. It is to be hopr'd that this spirit will prove contagious—though the fear is perhaps too well-grounded that Messrs. Tutton, Gwilym Morgan and Dr. Rawlings are immune to any disease of that kind. Fighting for a prin- ciple is a. delightful pastime, when the public foot the bill. Swansea Liberals have joined a showy success in the capture of the Hon. Odo Vivian, whose politics have, up to the pre- sent, been a matter affording room for, the I widest conjecture. Lord Roseberv, it wJI be remembered, referred to him at his speech at the Albert Hall, on municipal government, on the occasion of the presentation of the freedom of the borough, in terms of eulogy as indicating the tendency of the favoured classes to identify themselves with useful loc.1 life and labour. The lion. Odo Vivian now announces himself a convert to the latest re- vised versions of Lord Rosebery's Liberalism. There will, in the future, still be room for successful guess-work as to his real political views if he remains a faithful adherent to Roseberyian Liberalism. Two matters referred to special sub com- mittees may lead to reforms capable of prov- ing of material advantage to the ratepayers of Swansea.—one by reducing avoidable ex- penditure, a.nd the other by increasing the revenue. In each instance, however, vested interests interpose obstacles. An attempt is being engineered to prevent the appoint- ment of an estate agent and valuer, by se- lecting Mr. Swarbrick for the position. Suc- cess on these lines means that things will be left as they are. In the same way an effort to reduce the legal work of he Corporation to some semblance of order and method is in dancer of failing, because the exisiing ar- rangement, or rather absence of arrangement whereby solicitors and barristers a.re em-I ploved without consulting the Council is pro- fitable to individuals, and experience proves that personal interests are more effectively championed than the interests of the com- munity, even among bodies deriving their authority entirely from the ratepayeis. "A Ratepayer" grumbles at the darkness prevaLent in St. Helen's-road near the Coun- tess of Huntingdon's Chapel, and thinks a lamp is there needed. As a matter of fact, in principle the two adjoining lamps should suffice tn provide all the illumination deemed desirable, and that they fail utterly to do .so, with the result that a section of one of Swansea's main thoroughfares-] is b'ied in darkness, as inky as that of some ohcure court in the slums, must solely be put down to the fact that there aie no shops either on the site of the Chapel or opposite it to supple- ment with their electricity and incandescent lights the feebleness of the gaslight. In the stretch of the same road from Argyle-street to the eastern end of the Hospital there is just the same utter inadequacy of light at nights, this part being excusively lesidentiul prem:s.e. The contract between the blaze of light from the shops, a.nd the weak yel])nv llicker from the gas-lights, coupled with the thick mud under foot, are two very cogent reminders that the Corporation is not any more elcient than it should be. However with the forthcoming extension of the elee- trie light down tint way, ''Ratepayer's" grumbles will be soothed. In contrast to the gas the electrically-lighted sheets are avenues almost as clear by dusk as by daylight. Criticisms of the gas-lamps there are in abundance, but there can b? none as to the splendid efficiency of the municipal electric ] installation, independent of the add of shops. ]