The South Wales Daily Post

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1S96. NOTES <&TcOMMENTS I Swansea may congratulate itself on the fact that it has furnished the Welsh Unionist party with a leader in the Uouse of Commons. The appointment of Sir John Llewelyn as chairman of the Welsh Unionist members in the House of Com- mons is a compliment as much to the town as to the hon. member. e

The good people who recently foregathered at Swansea and Llanelly for the purpose of guiding the Government ar.^ht over the Armenian difficulty, should studiously avoid reading the Blue BooiC issued last week. That is, unless they are prepared to suffer mortification and to learn I humility. What becomes now of their sage conclusion that since British inter- ference had failed Russia should be invite i to take Armenia in haw-. The Bine Book shows that, as far back as June last year, before the Unionists entered into office, Russia had not only refused to occupy Armenia, but had also dared any other power to do so. Far from sympathising with the Armenians, Russia regarded them as pestilential follows regarded them as pestilential fellows" who stirred up strife for political purposes and, in the language of Prnice Lohanofi, She would never tolerate the creation m Asia Minor of another Bulgaria." When people set about the task of teaching a Government its duty, they should make sure that they have at least an elementary knowledge of the facts. The promptings of the Leart are wholesome enough, when regulated a hitie by the head. Fore-ign policy governed by emotional gasps would have horribly de- I structive results. -+-

The supineness of the Corporation in dealing with the criminal inellieiency of the Swansea lire Lrgadein respect of appli- I ances would naprn to suggest that it is wait- ling for that first-elconflagration which will demonstrate at once the unwi-dom of the responsible authority, and the impo- tence of the local means for fighting fire. Within three days we have had three considerable tires in the district, and for aught anybody knows to the contrary the fourth may come soon, and may be more destructive than the three combined. Meanwhile the authorities maintain their attitude of masterly inactivity. The members of the Council have reason to pray for the continued immunity of the borough from the big fires, for, when one comes, no language will bo able to do justice to their neglect of the repeated appeals made by the chief-coLst-ab'o for ili efficient engine. —-

The public will probably know before the day is out whether the Tramway Bill is to be withdrawn or net. We hope it will be withdrawn in any case, and ior this reason. Time is required to grasp the significance of the modifications made in the original agreement. it may be found that an agreement satisfactory to the company cannot possibly be satisfactory to the ratepayers, airel as a blunder may have serious consequences we must avoid patching up a bargain in Las; e to repent ) of it at leis:u e. I We do net imagine the ~urm:: e far irom the truth, which attribute-: all thu difficul- ties to the fr.c-t that tiio tram.vay directors alter the settlement of the 17th Decembe; received fresh light on the subject of electric energy, in the negotiations sight seems to have been lost of one important factor—the loss of electric energy between the point of production and the point of its application to the driving of the trams. The Electric Lighting Committee M apparently assumed that the measurement of the article, so to speak, was to be made at the generating station, while the tram- way company assumed that it was to be made after undergoing the process of transformation at their depots. The question whether the Corporation or the company should bear the loss of the leakage between the two points was left undetermined. And yet this question is so important that once raised it is likely to be a serious obstacle not only to the present scheme, but to every other future scheme of the same character. Thi-; will be realised when we say thai the loss of efficiency in transforming electricity from a high pressure alternating current to a low con- tinuous current, and in storing it in accu- mulators, is estimated to be quite 50 per cent. In other words the corporation will have to produce two units for every unit! available to thu company for propelling the cars, so the latter has either to pay od. or -id. per unit—the price at the generating station being L^-d. or ^D. per unit— or the Corporation, if the measurement is to take place at the Tramway Depots, will receive only lei, or Id. per unit, when the ostensible charge is exactly double. Having regard to the material effect of +,US, YIOINT on the terms of the bargain, ;A is reasonable to conclude that T,Lne rock upon which the scheme has been wrecked was really that oi the price to be charged for the electric p'ov» or, It is obvious from the speeches made at the statutory and ward meetings that the Electric Lighting Committee did not anti- cipate this difficulty, nor the demand of the company to have the transformers and accumulators provided at the expense oi, the Corporation. No provision was made for the latter item in the estimates, and as it represents A sum of about £8,000, we must assume that the original idea was that the company should furnish them. Altogether the points in dispute cover so much ground, and have so important a bearing upon the whole scheme, that the withdrawal of the Bill is almost demanded in the interests of the ratepayers. I Should this event happen, and should another scheme of tramway purchase be proceeded with, the interval might profit- aoly be employed in considering whether the scheme of electric lighting should not be overhauled. One is tempted to believe that the Electric Lighting Committee prepared their scheme with the-single view of providing light, for which purpose the alternating high pressure current system may or may not be preferable to the low tension system. We may now recall the fact that when the proposal to apply electricity to the propulsion of the Swan- sea tra.ms was first made public, practical electricians at Swansea and elsewhere de- clared that it would bo impossible to do so with the system about to be adopted by the Corporation. This definite line of cleavage in the 'I opinions of the supporters OF the borough scheme and their critics promised an interesting sequel. Both sides claimed a triumph when the details were disclosed, I for while the Electric Lighting Committee announced in effect" We can and will j suopiy motive power to the tram\\ ay by the eiectric system about to be adopted by us, I their critics retorted, Yes, but you only do so by transforming your alternating high current into A low continuous current. As the transformation is responsible for the loss of efficiency, and as the loss of efficiency is probably the chief obstacle to a mutually advantageous agreement with the Tramway Company, the Electric Lighting Comm: ttee may, after all, have to consider the expediency of substituting I for their high alternating current system, the low tension system advocated by most of their expert critics. -4-

THE TINPLATE TRADE. "UT PROSIM'S" MEW OF THE I PROPOSED STOPPAGE. We are in receipt of an interesting and important contribution from Mr J. Rhys Samuel ('' UT Prosim "j, in which he dwells at same length upon the present condition of the trade, and suggests somo remedies. Mr Samuel writes:—' W (j are taught by men or commercial status that the value ef a com- modity is at all times governed not only by the actual demand, but also by the method which the vendors adopt to sell; hence the production (0)[ any article ia limited, and the wags-rate fIIf the producer regulated. This vier; is shared by many employers as well as employees in the TIN-PLATE trade of tioutii WRales, and to au extent is acted upon bv a few manufacturers und advocated by the majority of the workmen. J et there is a. monopoly of trade maintained BV some of the most wealthy tin-plate capitalists under circumstances familiar to us all. The I weakest must go to the wall, and thus the big question or thu survival ot the fittest is opened up. The ue'. result of this policy is that those who are employed by the weak makers are either thrown out of employment or are forced to accept a reduction ia WAGES, which wili enable the employer to produce tin-piates and sell them at a remunerative price. This bciug done, the most lortuuatc manufacturer SEIZES the opportunity of de- manding the 611UC privilege from THOSE in bis employ, and thus Wtj find the keen competition CONTINUED on tbe same lines as before, and Lnaiiv a crisis is readied. 'J his ailecis the men as a body, AND maybe some OI. tuo LIIOST honourable masters are driven to insolvency. This has been going on in the tin-plate trade during the last four years, and now VtC are passing through a period of stagnation more SERIOUS than has ever before been experienced in the annals ot tin-plate making in bouth Wales. This has been brought about by sueli CAUSES as a bad reputation 0:' the make, American tinkering with tariff, a little European competition, and inferior quality of tin-plates manufactured on a iarge scale IN the United States. In view 0; such a. serious outiock the questiou naturally arises: Will a reduction in wages improvo the present situation R* I believe WE c.M SAY without hesitation that this csurse, which was even advocated by the loaders of the men twelve months AGO, proved a. disastrous failure. Labour and capital are 1J.r far in closer touch in this country than they are in America, on account of the hitter's connection with the government of the United States. Capitalists are always well defended by tho | legislation of the country; lieues w« find nearh every strike is won by employers for reasons too NUMEROUS ia mention at this POINT. THE iuU o l action of biackieg I labour AND RIIN-CR N roiice iiavo ruined many of the \est iabc. ur organizations in the States, and on investigation we find that during the last ten yes rs 80 per cent, of j tha skilled and unskilled workmen of the United States have b«e» "cdueed consider- ably in their wages owing to the complicated causes which are against the. n, the result of a corrupt governmeat. Their best, leaders are confined within prison walls; and, although they nay their senators and congressmen 5,000 d oliars a yean labour has not beer, yeL. repre sented in either House. At the beginning of last \ear year, our tinylate workmen ii:< South Wales and in America were out on strike against reductions, but at that tima ti »e tinplater^ of the mother country yielded to a. request for various lOMueiaons in wages. On receivirg the news in the States—Ironda le and Elwooa City- t IUpiattl workers hf.d to give in on similar lims, ivi-.e^'jas; they had held the masters at uay for a lew mouths previous without anv suppoi't from tneir Union. A few months later the tin-plate workers had another reduction torced upon them, the masters maintaining 1.1 thoirara.ii meuts that the working men 0[' Wales had! ungrudgingly accepted the terms o ftiie masters although paid much lsss wagesi than they were paying the men in the States, But the tin-plate workers of bouth Wales, through a combined action,aideu by expericm .td leaders, and an old organised union (with all its defects.), managed to recover the full list OL '74 all rount, wheireos the tin-platers of the United had no hojes of recovering the iG-? per cea h. nor the 35 per csnfc. reductions they had accepted during the mev.smi t,wo years. Therefore, I I maintain that, if reductions are griRted in Vnis country, no matter when nor how Lhpy are recovered, it is only the means of giving í the American manufacturer every impel,us, to reduce the wages of his men on the other side of the ocean, and, there- fore, the two countries are under-rating eaeh .Uf_ other in the cost of manufacturing tin-plates. If another reducti-u will be made in the men's wages in South Wales we have every raiisoo to believe that another concession would be demanded off the men in the States, and as their means of support are very limited whilst on strike, a good number I of them, especially the most intelligent and induttrious, would prefer sailing back to I Yv'aies rather ihan undervaluing their labour in a foreign laud. This, however, would not improve matters in the least, as there is a great deal of surplus labour in America already, If an international union could be formed, and a thorough understanding arrived at between seIDe of the delegates of convention in the States and the executive members of the union at home, a very strong bulwark would thus be set up to maintain the wage rate at home and abroad. There are many of the meiabers of the Tinplate Workers Union still working in different parts of the States. There is one feature about the American tinplate trade wmch would tell m some measure against sueli an international uniou; viz., the mixing up ot Jews, Dutch, and even American Irish with Lhe IVelsh and English, who are working as tinplaters in the ) States. Nevertheless tbis little difficulty could soon be sautied. In the nuiLching nulls of tke States there are a number ot sheet milhnen working at present iu the tinmills, although they never saw tinmHis before the trade was introduced to America, They are easily made acquainted with the system oi matching owing to its similarity to that « £ the slicot mills, but to their credit may it be statad the majority of thete men are trade umcnistsofthebehtfypo. I cau peisonally vouch for a number of the leading represen- tative men .eing anxious for such an inter- national union, evau if it were onty for the purpose of maintaining the present wage rate o:i both sides of the Atlantic. if negotiations of this kind were practically put to the test there is nothing to lose thereby, but much may be galLed, An official lettar by the general secretary, with othor correspondence, would develop the idea from its present state of embryo, and may lead to an understand- ing which might beuolit both masters and men this side of the ocoan, Mr C. M. Stuart, with whom I had some Ii personal connection in the tin-plate trade of the United States, and who '.8 now interested in the firm of E. jMorewosd and Co. in Gas City, 1nd., gave a very fair and interesting interview to a press representative some weeks ago at Llanelly, and in his remarks corroborated the evidene;; given by me re the ¡ tin-plate trade in America after my return, This is mere satisfactory te us as he 18 con- i i nected with the manufacturers, and that some | of the American tinplate managers have attempted to criticise my remarks on the trade iu the States during my stay there, In this interview Mr Stuart stales that the production ol tinpiates in America is not the main eau.e of the stagna- tion in the South Wales tinplate trade at present, and at the same time glvea a very cerieet idea or the average make of American tin mills. The most important, point at is,.ue is this, that ine reports which come from across the water must not be looked upon at all times as sound and reliable. Again, we 111 rid that the Americans are saving a. good deal of the cost which we incur by buying direct from the factory and "at depending 80 u.uch on merchants. lie saving attached to buying aud selling direct from factory to I firm will save more to many of our manu- facturers than 20 p'jr>eant. reduction (in the wage* of die men. A well-known authority states that in order Vo meet the | American competition, even witbout taking noto of possible reductions at j American tm-plato works, it would require a reduction of wages in Wales of 30 per cent. before plates cculd be sold at I 7s lC £ d f.o.b., Swan-ea, or, in other words, 16s. out of every pound now paid. Again, whilst the American Convention of employers and employes meet in order to regu- late work and wage. we understand that the main body of our <jmp!o;,era at home refuse to discuss the ho>ding ol such a conference with the men.

i THE P()ST uiAliY. TDK 7 KMI'IU?:; TWO ]!<:1'1'OL'i.,ldTF:e3 every evening: and 9 o'eiork. 'Feb. 17.Annual banquet of Swansea ami Distr-ot Licensed Vietuvllerb Association at Royal Hotel Swansea. Feb. IS.—Annual Soiree St. Gabriel's Church; tea 6.2,ù p. HI" aHd concert 8 p-m. Feb, J8 --5r. Helen's Old jtfoys annual re-union at Grand Hotel, at 8 p.m. Feb. i!).—Sale of hairdressers' stock and furniture at 1,416, Nealh-iOiid, Halod, by Mr. A. M. Davies, Feb. 13.—Meeting oi member* and supporter:, of Sv. a u8PaCanine Society at the Market ii«3taurant, Oxford-street, at H p.m. Feb. 20.—Sale of the Xluatre Royal, S.Y.IlLiea, at Mackworih Hotel, by Mr. W. H. liees. Feb. 20 and. 21.—Grand Bazaar aû Canaan Congrega- tional Church, Foxhole. Feb. 26.—sale of ground rents and properly at Royal Hotel, 1 v Mr. W.J. Feb. 26.-—Annual general meeting of Swansea I'rovi- j deut Uispensary at I'ieton-plaee.

SWANSEA TIDE TABLE. I IDlE. HEIGHT OX SILLS. lvliite oi Wales X-ioi tu South Dock. !?cok. Ooek. F !■;]!. A.' l. i-.M, A.V.. 1>. ,M. I'.M. p- 57TM. if. M P. i. r. J. l. s\ i !7_ 8 V a 20 oi G Mj 0 24 0 2"i 6 118-111:. (; 2õ I- 29 4 io 4 ill 10 Ijj—'W, a 1 9 15 :o 1 28 4 22 4 20 10 20-T. 30 :> 48 28 G US 11 20 li I'j 6 21- -F. Ij 4 10 i.9 26 H 2b ( i* 0 17 !■ 22-y. it 6 11 45 2D 2 23 9 17 a 16 oi 2J, .sii. i'.< 3i 23 111 il l'J Io 0i 24—M. 1 2Z 2 7 24 Z 24 6 '»8 6 17

i Parsons' Prize Paraxon Onion. 1330 Parsons' I'.nagon Onion, 6d. pocket. 43 £ 0 Parsons' Paragon Onion, Is. 4d. per oz. «-380 I .fursone, Seedsman, Swau-ea. 42SU

FOOTBALL NOTES. .1' V .J .£. 'l. i, C It [BY lilE KELT."] Tho gate atAberavon was several points better than that record. oue or tilt; previous wee' and the people who paid their money got, its full value. It was a really good game, creditable sdike to victors and vanquished. This, the first defeat suffered at home by Aberavon, need not discourage tl1e iatt- r. lL was the fate of the 'Bravou lads to encounter the All Whites when tue latter ace in the full flood 0f a big revival. [Swansea were fortunate in getting a goal to the good at the very start. The moral c1T0eè of this was immense. Notwithstanding the manifest- superiority showed by the winners in the second half, 1 cannot help wonderiug what might have happened if the referee had allowed a try when W. Kees ran in before the game was three minutes old and the t'bqt at goal had been successful. Football is a I game of chances aud>mischance. aud a trifle fre- quently determines the character of the whole game. Prophesying is a precarious business, but 1 venture t. say that, iÏ tile ADeraven team be kept together, Wales will next season have to count ¡ with another first-class combination. The chief strength of Aberavon iies forward and at half, li one or two of the shirkers who played piano on the scrummage in the second half received the order of the chuck, and their places were taken by honest scruminagers, the pack would be an exceptionally formidable one. KuL merely iu pushing, but in the higher branches of scrum- maging. Nothing could be neater than the way they served the halves during the first 30 minutes. As the i all was seut out agam andagamto Jones, and the Jameses were compelled to hold a watching brief, the thought kept coming to my mind, Here's food ior the critics who wa.it to discover that the Jameses are over-rated. Even now, I trembie to think what the verdict respecting tue halves would have been had not the All bite forwards tired out their opponents and given the Brotners a chance of shining. The effort Vij/oif tll2 spectators was great. 111 the first half the verdict hii'ig iu the balance, aud among the local contingent the opinions was general that the Jameses had found their match. But by the time the game was over few people doubted the superiority of the Swansea pair. Not that the latter played a whit better alter the interval; ic was simply because the forwards gave them chances (ionied in the first half. Kever was ttle absui:1te dependence uf the ualvcsou the forwan.1s mure convincingly demonstrated. The Swansea threequarters shaped admirably. Proscott 15 tue bcist centra l've seeu acting ior bwausea this season. He is less dashing than iiichards, but plays more with his head, aud has a better notion of Lis duties. Bancroft was seen at his best ou Saturday, bur, 1 prefer him at his old place. Much ot 1118 work at Aoeravon had the ll1:r.s of the tuli-baek. Nowadays, tue three- quarter makes his bursts through or fails; he aeid-Ki runs across the fiehi on tile off chancs of netting around. Earlier ill the, season we baù to deplore the waste of bùod wina men who were kept among the unemployed. At lI..LJeraVOH, the centre play—especially ou tile rigl1t-vas stronger than h U ou the wing. Tile Aberavon qUHtette impressed me not so much by what they did, but by what they might do if better combined. Their centres rarely gave toe wings a fair chance. Tiley wore otteu than not ignored the golden rule that a back must get up to his man before [.as-ing. Mere chucking across tile field wh0n the Lacas are standing still is not a part of the Welsh game. The four have weight and puce, and, with practice aud ex- perience, m good company 'uou1d develop into a quartette difficult to hold once fairly started. One theory explanatory of the defeat offered after the game was that tue allegations ol rough- ness had taken the heart out ol the Aberavon tackling. Now, if was certainly not in tackling that the homesters failed, ihat was keeu enough to satisfy most people. Only once was the line crossod, anù Jd that case tbe backs were Oèlt- tricked, aud never came within reach of Prescott, who got over. 1 can appreciate, however, the sensitiveness of the Aberavon meu to the ailegu- lions. Tuey have au up-uill fight, and with £.),,0 laid out on the new ground very naturally resent that which is calculated tu add to ihe.ir ulfh- t uues. Neath teok a hot t;t: Llanelly, who were confident oi winuiug. The huge crowd accompany- ing them deueted how the feeling ran. Tukiu- this into account the score would seem to suggest that "Forward" was a severe critic ot the I! Scarlets on Saturday. To run out wioh a clear lead if it couple ot goals WI,,11 Badger aHa Ciitf Boweu abseut looks a creditable teat anyhow— 10. points ic is tu" best wiu scored by the iscartets agaiust the deft olack brigade this season. :,1r. Harry Bowen, who retcreed iu the match, tells me that the Morriston team played a really cliaiung game ou bacurday. Bancroft is unlikely to turn out for the county asfamst Lancashire on Wednesday. He rese.nts— and very rightly, too, 111 my opinion—the selec- tion by the committee ot Her.16.110rgau as cap- tain. "Usually tue team appoints its skipper, and I considering the exceptional expenence of W. J." and the fact hat Morgan 1.la. not even been selected tor Wales, this action of the committee is more than a trifle" oph." There was mere than met the eye in the report current on Saturday that the Jameses were uot going to Aberavon. As one who did all he knew -l0 ,'t the lads reinstated, I hope to find them above being spoiled by popularity. The hint is kindly meant, and should be received ia the same "plr.t. "Forward" writes :—The result of last Satur- day's matcu at Stradey might easily be taken <is an Judication that the Seal lots are on their feet again, and that they have only to play up as they did against Neath to pull olf aii the remaining matches this season. Those who tow the match, and who had seen Llanelly play In the earlier part of the season, will tell you that idanelly must show infinitely better form if they have any real intention oi winning tui ir next match at St. Helen's, it may be true that we dtd catch an occasional glimpse of the erstwhile dash and brilliancy, but it was a very faint glimpse, and tuere was scarcely one round of passing'on Saturday that couid be put in the -ame .street as one of a dozen of their glorious performances at the be^iuni*;g of the season. What mav be tue cause 1 uon't pretend to kuo. nor would*it be wise just now to attempt even a I'uess, though it might possibly prove to be a good one. The absence of Badger and Cliff Bowen meant something to tho Sciiriets, buti not such a io. when their p!a.ces were lideu by two capital ) players such as Llewellyn Every and Mergan Williams. The latter is an exceedingly smart and capable mall on the wing, aad 1 do not hesitate to repeat what 1 wrote "u Saturday, that he was the best of the Llanelly four ou the day's form. But I am not going to enter into uidi- viilual criticism, and must content myself with vague generalities. Alter what I saw in tho .i Weekly San" on Saturday, 1 was very much taken aback at the sight or Mr. Oweu Badger limping lamely across the held. The London weekly3stated m one para-raph that "Mr Badger. the famous Llanelly thieequaiuei', is lying dan- "Rrousiv ill at his residence. ii the Sun" "oes ou Ul this way people will soun cease to look Hp oil it an au autucrity in football matters at any rale. A prominent member of tke Llanelly Corn- nutcee, who songbt,. and was granted t.. "privilege" of sitting in the pre^s-oox—only until half-time— told me that Badger would probably play again this season. Personally, 1 should be sorrv to see niua turn out for the one reason, aud the*very sufficient one, that he will scarcely be lit to i-tand the lease roughness or untuliu". A .other interesting item is the rumour that Joe Da', i-. sintends applying lor his transfer at once so as to be able to play for Liaueily against Swansea next Saturday. What takes the gut olf both these little items is that they are only rumours, in which truth seems but a very minor iutreùitmt. It would make a tremendous differ- ence to the Llaneliy team if tue old Neath custodian transferred his affections, because the weakness of Llanelly throughout the season has been more pro-jounced at full back than in any- other position. The enthusiasts down the lino simply went wild with delight over the magnifi- cent exhibition of Joe Davies at Stradey, and all seemed to sigh for the day when he would be wearing the Scarlet colours. Pegasus writes — 1 am giad to near tha:- Will Rees's services have beeu requisitioned toi the match agaiust Lancashire, lie is a sterling | turee-quarter, and with his pace aud twelve and a liaii stone weight will no doubt justify his Hclecaon. Ilees is the fastest and heaviest three- quarter playing ia Wales, and should opportunity offer be is bound to score, Dall JOiles, he all know, has played against Lancashire before, and will again give a good account of hmiseit." Toibach Rovers want Fixtures with Junior Teams—15 to 113.—Apply D. L. Mori, Margam Copper Works, Taibaeh. Clam. ^iodgZ-tiO

FOOTBALL OAT- for breakfast and Supper, FuOXUALL i JAf's pi event indigestion. FOOTBALL OA'iSj Cull, :.till l'liosphaies and. Nitrogen Í"OV'l' HA.L L OA'1: prevent Corn, Uheiunptisiri. j FOOTUALl. OATS prevent Dyapepia, Cis.uisioii. KjtfCOKU SAl.AiOiM CUl'Ll'/fri. tSXllllilTIOS SALMON. Fo WLL'ii S L (JJNtCH TO .V G UES

¡ | THE POST BAG. I — — -4*- "The unemployed question is far moro important than a dozen tin-plata scheme** So says Councillor Mog Hopkia. There is reason to believe that the in Saturday's South Watt's Daily News on the Swansea Police-force fairly represent* the views ot the eiiief-consiaJjla, Capta^ Colquhoun. The following letter was sent to a teacnor in a iocal board school last week:—"Dea* sir,—Pleaso for to exeuse my boy iroto scratching hisself. He's got OD a new Welsh flannel shirt." Not long a;{o there was a weman living at Cwmbwrla who was of such ampia propof" tions that her husband couid not hug her all at once. When he teok one hug hs made a chaik mark, so as to know whtsre to commence the next time. Opinions in some Swansea cireles are divided as to the kind of stick the North Pole is, A man of weight at one of the clubs was positive it is not abeve twelve feet fli^h and more slender than his leg, for he had seen a picture of it with a. flag on the top. The action of Swansea footballers iø appropriating Y sospan faeh,' is unlikely to lead te an action to enforce the copyright. At Llanelly, thers are hundreds of people prepared to part with their rights in it with- out a twinge. They are tired of heing chaffed about it. lt i- am not to l«f- these fellowS starve." heroically exclaimed Councillor Morgan Hopkiu, pointing to a number of the unemployed. Its nice to hear a butcher speak like this, and when the gallant coun- cillor walked away he looked as if he waS going to slaughter foad for a thousand. A Continental tour is being organised ia connection with the Swansea Liberal Club. It will take in Paris, Brussels, and Lucerne. May such ventures prosper. The more people of this country travel the more Coi" servative the latter becomes. A sailor who is a Radical in politics is a curiosity- A gentleman on a tour through South Wales happened to be in Swansea, on tb8 Sunday, and, heing acquainted with minister in the town, he accompanied him to church, which, to his great surprise, was very thinly attended. As they were returning home he ast.ed his friend if there were many Dissenters in Swansea. There are nunaerou* absanters, was the reply, Swansea journalism is asserting itself, JJrc Max Wright, one of the mest popular of fost men has just .gone to take a position on the South Waifs Daily News, for whieh there were aLout 200 applicants; and nexL, week Mr Lee Mulier, an equally popular Leader man, jeins the staff of the H'es^ro Mail tot a special kind of werk. Beth are likely to do credit teoar loeal journalism. Naasen's alleged discovery of the North Pola does not seem to have greatly impressed some people. "Tut! tut! U observed one well-known Sswansea public mai' when the fact was mentioned to him on Friday, "not/ that he has found the North Polo, what is he going to do with it?" We might suggest that it could ba used to stir up the Swansea town councillors. A Swansea correspondent sends us tha following programme of a circus in Bombay: 1. Some horses will make a very nood tricks. 2. The klewn will come and talk with that horses, therefore audience will laugh himself very m uch, 3. The lady vil! walk on horses baek aDd horse is jumping very much also, 4. That kiown will make a joking werdø and lady will become too angry, therefore klown will run hirrseif away. 5. This is the very good gimnastiks. 6. One man will walk on wire tight; he HI doing very nicely because he is prcfesser of that, THE SECOND BIRTH OF THE "SOSPAN." Mae'r Sospan faeh wc6li adgyiodi, A Llanelly nawr mewn hedd; Fed BeTl Divies aï gwm¡,eini Wedi meiddi Caatellnedd. Y sospan faeh, ar ben y pet, 1 50spall !?ch, ar ben y post. A ■■ Cress" wedi emti Kv.m bach ALBION. 54. Brynn10r-rùad, Llanelly. The deg-story fiend is again with us. He writes to say that when he plays the German national Bong, Wacht aua Rhein, his for terrier leaves the room, and that the latter regards The Dutchman's leetle dog, as a reSeation on its honour, and howls. We suspect that the dog would howl at any- thing our correspondent attempted on th* piano. It is clearly an animal ot: good tasts. When the lire at. Singleton was brought under, Captain Colquhoun is reported to b;¡,TO said, Looi{ out for another two fire¡¡-.LIH¡1 invariably visit Swansea in threes," The vz-f next morning there was a serious outbreak io Orange-street, and on Saturday the trio w»* made complete by tho destruction of the Ship and Castle, Mumbles. Now that the custo* has been observed, may we hope for a sur- sense for Do good timo to come. It is reia'ed that a sergeant was drilling a squad of militiamen at the S wansea and one of them, who hailed from a village near Neath, did not know his right band from Lis left. The sergeant proceeded to teach him, and after holding them out several times, he seemed to have some idea, of which was which, "Now," said the instructor, "hold them in front of you, and twist them round quickly, one over the olher. Stop. Now whicii is the right and the left ?" At'el? staring at them a moment, ho said, 1 J!> biowed if I know now; I've gone and J.Il1.>cJ them." Mr Justice Day does not in the present- year of grace look a jocular judge, but lie w** very fond. or his joke when at the .Bar. A local solicitor, for whom the then Mr Day, Q.C., | had been very successf.il in common eases, took him specially into the AumiiaHy Court as a leader not very long before Dav was made one ot her Majesty's jnoges. Tiie action was one arising out of a eolliSI°" which occurred in tho entrance chain'19 to Swansea Docks, and was tried be!«l'a the then President of the Admiralty Court" One question in dispute was as to wueLp.,r 3 fog which hung over this chaanei was defl5* or not, and one of the witnesses was lb* harbour clerk at Swansea, who was su»- monad to produce the record kept at tj¡ca hat hour offices of the weather. Mr Day wag, ooposcd to one of the leaders of the AdniiC»,tf Court (the late Mr Mvburgh, Q.C.): — Mr Myburgh: My lord, to prevent further controversy as to the weather, i IS,a- as well at once say that I intend to call tll" clerk of the harbour at Swansea. Sir Robert I'hiiiimorc: What Jo you sa:, Mr Myburgh > is Mr Day: My lord, my friend says '»3 f'oing to call the clerk of tne weathei Swansea. (Loud laughter.) Mr Mvburgh: My learned friend, I\lr Dav; if he will permit me to say so, seer- UJ forget where he ts, and appears quite u¡J:lu¡S to realise that he is not now cracKiug hut little joke before one of his common juries. Sir Robert iiailmiore: Ob! pray- let cl | gst oa.