The Cardiff Times

"AN AMERICAN PENSIONER" IN TROUBLE. At the Pontypridd police-court on Wednesday —before Mr Ignatius Williams, Mr D. W. Davies, Dr. H. JS". Davies, and Mr Thomas Jones —Thomas Morgan, described as a tramp, was charged with obtaining food and lodgings by false pretences from Mrs Mary Ann Webber, residing in Lee-street, Newtown, near Ponty- pridd. It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner having lodged at the prosecutrix's from September 2nd until the 9th of the month, tcld her that he had been discharged from the Great Western Colliery where he had worked a week, but he paid up for his board and lodgings during the week, when he received his pay on Saturday. He stayed on at his lodgings, returning regularly to partake of hisjmeals. The landlady finding at the end of the second week that he was still out of employment, inquired what he intended to do to obtain a livelihood. Prisoner replied that he was an "American pensioner," and that his quarter's pension was due, and be would probably receive 35% dollars from Washington in a few days. Prisoner wrote a letter to seme person in America, and a letter was received by him about six weeks later bearing an American postage mark. Prisoner informed the prosecutrix that he had received the document he had expected from Washington, but he said it was necessary to have it signed by a magistrate at Pontypridd before he would obtain his pension. A few days more having elapsed, pnsoner explained to his landlady that the "pension form had been signed, and, having borrowed 5d of her to pay the postage to the United States, said the money would be sent from Washington without delay. Some days afterwards he told prosecutrix that his mother was a very wealthy lady having property at Caerphilly, Aberdare, and Merthvr, and that he would communicate with the American Government at Cardiff in respect to the delay in connection with the pay. ment of his pension. Prisoner quitted his lodgings on the 3rd inst., and was arrested on the 5th inst., and subsequently charged with sleeping out at Treforest. He was again arrested on tho 20th inst.. and formally charged at tho lock-up with the effence. Prisoner owed £7 10s to the prosecutrix for beard and lodgings during about 14 weeks. He was committed for trial to the quarter-sessions.

ECCLESIASTICAL. Advent Ordinations at LlandafF. The Lord Bishop of Llandaff held r.n ordination in Llandaff Cathedral on Sunday, when the following gentlemen were ordain^, viz. :— DEACONS.—John Llewellyn Croft, L.D., St. Bavii's College, LMnpcter David William Evam, St. Bees College, Cumberland David Austin Fisher, B.A., S'. David's College. Lampeter James Hughes Jenkins, a literate John Kobero Jones, B.A., St. David's College, Lampeter Thomas Noah Jones, St. Bees College, Cumberland William Jones, a literate Gilbert Cunningham Joyce, M.A., Brasenose College, Oxford; Hiram Smyth Kees, L.D., St. David's College, Lampeter Philip Rees. St. David's College, Lam- peter Charles Roach, Lie. Div., St. David's CoUegv, Lampeter David Harry Thomas, B.A., Royal University, Ireland David Lewis Thomas. B.A., St. David's College, Lampeter David Weatherill, Lie. Th., Dublin University Percy Wonnacott, Chichoster Theological College. PRIESTS.—Jenkyn Edwards, Queen's College, Bir- mingham Alexander Cockburn Evans, B.A., Alerton College, Oxford .John Hugh Evans, L.D., St David's College, Lampeter John Uwen Evans, L.D., St David's College, Lampeter John Ie Geyt Du Heanme, B.A., 8t John's College, Cambridge John William Loftus Tottenham Hopkins, B.A., Trinity College, Dublin John Richard Hosbons, a literate; Griffith Hartwell JoneS, M.A., Jesus College, Oxford; John Gower Jones, B.A., jesfls College, Oxford Kiehard Jones, B.A., St David'? College, Lampeter Richard Jones, St Bees College, CtnaiMtrIand George Guise Lewis, Queen's College, Birmingham William Munro, Edinburgh University; John Folycarp Vakey, B.A., Durham University David Edmund Owen, B.A., 8t David's College, Lampeter; Robt-rt Shelley Plant, L.U., St David's College, Lampeter Thomas Richard Kees, B.A., St David's College, Lampeter Ebonezer Starey, St Aidan's College, Birkenhead Daniel Anthony Thomas, B.A., St David's College, Lampeter Josiah Thomas, a litprate Edwin Tucker, Lincoln Theological College Owen Benjamin Williams, Dur- liam University William Armstrong Willis, Ayersts' Hostel, Cambridge. The Rev Canon Roberts, M.A., was the Preacher and Mr Jenkins was the Gospeller. The Bishop afterwards licensed the following gentle- men to curacies, viz. :— John Llewellyn Croft, to Beaufort; David William Evans, to Tylorttown and Femdale David Austin Fisher, to Dowlais James Hughes Jenkins, to Llan. Keinor John Robert Jones, to Rhymney Thomas Noah Jones, to Dowlais William Jones, to Ponty. pridd Gilbert Cunningham Joyce, to be Chaplain to the Theological College of St Michael and All Angels, Aberdare H ram Smyth Rees, to Afcerystruth Philip Kees, to Gellygaer Charles Roach, to Llantrisant David Harry Thomas, to Ynyshir David Lev.is Thomas, to Rhymney David Weatherill, to St Ger- man's, Roath, CardiN Percy W onnacott, to LIan- wenarth Ultra.

SECESSION FROM THE CHURCH OF ROME. Considerable astonishment, says a cotfespon- dent, has recently been felt in Roman Catholic circles in London owing to the sudden and totally unexpected secession of Dr William >ullivan, of the Seminary, Hammersmith, who is described as having been one of the most eloquent and popular preachers belonging to the Roman Cathohc body in England, and who invariably attracted crowded congregations when he preached at the various large and fashionable churches in the Archbishop- ric of Westminster. Dr Sullivan bas intimated to his friends, by printed letter, that he has lost his faith in the Old Testament, in consequence of the destructive effects of modern criticism, and has therefore forsaken Orthodox Christianity. It has smce transpired that shortly after his secession Dr Sullivan married a wealthy lady of Kensington. # Dr Sullivan is about 23 years of age. His vigour and eloquence were such that his loss will doubt- less be keenly felt in Roman Catholic circles. He is said to have made many converts during the course of his ministry.

CARMARTHEN CHRISTMAS SHOW. The Carmarthenshire Agriculture Society's Christmas show was held in the Provision Market, Carmarthen, on Tuesday, and tho numerical strength of the entries was greater than that of last year, and, generally speaking, the quality of the exhibits was equal to those sent to former shows. The live poultry were the feature. Among these were some winners at the Crystal Palace, Birmingham, and other large exhibitions. The dogs, too, made a good display. The officials were Judges.—Fat stock—Mr W. S. Marsh, P«sny- bedd. Burry Port, R.S.O. Mr Stephens, butcher, Llandilo Mr Morgans, butcher, Cardigan. Dogs, live poultry, pigeons, and cage birds—Mr J. W. Birch, Sefton Farm. Liverpool. Fat poultry— Mr C. Finch, Carmarthen. Dairy produce—Mr F. Weate, St Clears Butter Factory. Roots—Mr Footman, Hafodwen Mr Davie*, Typicca Mr Phillips, Carleon. :5tewards.- Mr DavLd Prosser, Mr E. Lewis, Mr W. V. H. Thomas, Mr W. W. Prosser, Mr E. W. Francis, Mr S. W. Thomas, Mr H. Coysh, Mr J. W. Harries, and Mr Talbot Norton. Hon. auctioneers —Messrs J. Howell Thomas and Co. Hon. veterinary inspectors—Messrs Rees and Rees, Carmarthen. Secretary—Mr D. H. Thomas (of the firm of Messrs Lloyd and Thomas, estate agents and auctioneers), who took great pains in his work.

FIRE AT YSTRADGYNLAIS. About 11.30 on Sunday night, the residents of Ystradgynlais were suddenly arousjd by the announcement that the house of Mr T. Williams, engineer, Pelican-street, had taken fire. A hundred willing hands immediately did their utmost to subdue the flames, but were unsuccessful until the fire had consumed the best part of the furniture. All the family, fortunately, escaped injury, with the exception of Mrs Wil- liams and one of the daughters, who were slightly burnt. The fire is supposed to have originated through the close proximity of clothes to the fire. Mr John Williams, School Board officer, and others rendered valuable assistance, and Sergeant John was early on the scene.

HELP FOR THE SHIP CANAL The ratepayers of Salford on Tuesday decided by 13,335 votes to 3,032 to lend JB1,000,000 to the Manchester Ship Canal Company. A ratepayers' meeting decided against the loan, but this deci- sion has been reversed on a. poll being taken by a majority of 10,353.

A BAD ACT OF BANKRUPTCY At the London Bankruptcy Court on Tuesday it transpired that the receiving order made against Messrs De Murrieta,merottants,bad been rescinded I on the ground that the act of Bankruptcy was bad. The meetins fixed for Tuesday was there- fore struck out. jaMk

I CARDIFF AND DISTRICT 'BUS I COMPANY, LIMITED. On Monday afternoon a well-attended meeting of the shareholders and directors of the above company was held in the Colonial-hall, Cardiff, the liquidator Qf the company (Mr Cbas. Clarke) presiding, the latter being accompanied on the platform by Mr Belcher, solicitor. The CHAIRMAN read a. notice showing that the meeting had been specially called pursuant to the directions of Mr Justice Kekewich, for the purposo of considering and, if thought fit, passing an extraordinary resolution pursuant to section 136 of the Companies' Acts, 1862, namely :— To sanction (in case such arrangements shall be accedeù to bv three-fourths in number ana value of the creditors of the company) an arrangement b tween the company and its creditors for the purchase by James Tucker, of Cardiff, in the County of Glamorgan, of the goodwill of the company and nll its goods and chattels, including 60 horses, 11 busses, harness, and stable utensils, in and upon all and every the premises of the company, and the benefit of all agreements subsisting with the com any, including advertisement agree- ments, and all leases and agreements relating to any stable-yard, and sheds, and offices of the company, and which arrangement the said James Tucker alleges the company has already agreed to. and of which pruperty the *aid James Tucker alleges he has been ill possession since the 10th of October. 1892, in consideration of the Mid James Tucker paying to the ordinary creditors of the company and the debenture holders their debts in full on or before the 31st of December, 1892, and upon the further term to the proceeds of the takings of the company from the 8th day of October, 1892, are to be the property of the said James Tucker, and all liabili- ties of the company with respect of the above property incurred f: om that date are to be paid by the said James Tucker. The CHAIRMAN then said that, with the per- mission of those present, he proposed to read a statement to them, and afterwards a necessary resolution would be submitted for their considera- tion. A SHAREHOLDER hereupon asked why the meet- ing had been called at such an untimely hcur as four o'clock in the afternoon, when, he said, the majority of the shareholders, being working men, could not possibly be present. I The CHAIRMAN I was told the other meetings have been held at the same hour. But not on the same day," answered several of the shareholders at once, and," added I another, I beg to say it is not right to put any resolution in a meeting of this description, where the majority of tho shareholders are absent." (Hear, hear, and applause.) Another shareholder wanted the minutes of the meeting held on tho 8th of October róad out. Th» CHAIRMAN We havn't got them; besides, this is a special meeting convened by order of tha Judge. A SHAREHOLDER It relates to the resolution passed on the 3th of October. The CHAIRMAN I do not deal with that in my statement. Another Shareholder wanted to know how it was that all the shareholders had not been sum- moned to attend the meeting. He had received no notice of it. The CHAIRMAN said that notice was s^nt to everyone whose name appeared on the register. Mr COLLIER demanded an explanation as to why the meeting had been called at such =» peculiar time, when most of the shareholders wore at work. The CHAIRMAN said he could not call the meet- ing earlier, and the reeult of their meeting had to be returned the following day. Mr COLLIER I will be plain with you, sir, and I will tell you to your face it is a piece of jobbery. I do not admire it. The CHAIRMAN I shaH fro on reading my statement. • Mr J. P. JoNES pointed out that they had no means of combatting any such statement in any shape or form. He thought the only business before the meeting was either to confirm or alter the resolution they had already come tc. Mr WEBBEII said he would move that they con- firmed the arrangement between the comjwiny and its creditors for the purchase, by Mr Tucker, of the property and effects named in the resolu- tion quoted above, without reference to section 136/of the Companies Act, with which lie con- tended they had nothing to do. It was a reso- lution similar to the one proposed by himself cn the 8th October, which was seconded and carried almost unanimously. He did not think anything had trapspired during those two months to cause them to alter their minds. The time was scarcely long eno gh for that. It was not so long ago even as the last election. (Laughter and applause.) They were met together that afternoon to do what had been done at the adjourned meeting, hut which, owing to some informality in the circular convening the meeting, had not placed them within the requirements of the Act. They had been called together, therefore, to confirm what had already been done. He did not think it necessary to dwell upon the agreemeut with Mr Tucker, but thought they had done the best thing they could under the circumstances. Ho had made inquiries, and knew that it was only after considerable pressure and after several interviews that Mr Tucker wae induced to agree to the purchase, and he had at first declined. After several interviews he at length acceded to the wishes of the direc- tors and consented to take the assets of the com- pany and pay otf the liabilities to the creditors and debenture holders. He had not seen his way clear to pay trie shareholders, bjat be had dono the next best thing, and bad intimated that if tin could make a profit by putting additional capital into the company he was quite willing to make some compfnsaHQn, to the ,shareholders. (Ap- plause.) He thought they would be qÚlte willing to place themselves in Mr Tucker's hands, and trust to his honour in the future to get somethingm return for their money. He under- stood that so far Mr Tucker, despite every economy, had from the time he took the company over been working the'buses at a continued loss, and they knew very well, and as a. large shareholder in the company, had he thought fit, he might have come down upon the company and shut them up in a monient. He wondered what gentleman in Cardiff would trust them to the extent of JB1,200 and let them go on, so that it appeared to him they bad been in Mr Tucker's hands entirely. Ho had now relieved the directors of their trust, and he thought the course they had taken was the only course open to them. Mr PEASLEY seconded the resolution. The CHAIRMAN was about to put the resolution when a shareholder objected to his doing so until it had been fully discussed. Another shareholder then addressed some remarks to the chairman. when the latter ruled him out of order, saying his speech was irrelevant and insulting. There were cries of Go on," Ho! ho and considerable disturbance. One shareholder asked bow it was, if their deliberations at the Just two meetings had been null and void, that Mr Clarke's appointment as liquidator was still valid. Then followed further disturbance, some half- dozen persons endeavouring to address the chair at one and the same time. Ultimately order was restored, and Mr MILDON said he had come to the meeting with an open mind, but wanted more information before deciding which way he .should vote. He wished to know whether, as Mr Webber had stated, Mr Tucker was a creditor to the tune of £1,200 ? The CHATRMAN To the extent of between J31,000 and £1.100. Mr MILDON I should also like to know the total liabilities. The CHAIRMAN Including debenture-holders, about £2,400. Mr MILDON In that case, Mr Tucker is simply paying out of his own pccket £1,200, and gaying himself to the extent of 30s in the £ bntinuing, he said he wanted to know whether that was reasonable arrangement. Unless he could be convinced of that, he would not vote for it, whatever the consequences might be. Another shareholder said it had been stated in the newspapers and before the judge that the assets of the Company had been handed over to Mr Tucker under value. If that was so, he was not prepared to vote for the resolution submitted by Mr Webber. He thought it would have been wise to have allowed Mr Clarke to have submitted his statement. There were two sides to the ques- tion. and business was business. Mr TUCKER said that if the value of tho estate was more than £2,400 he would pay the creditors up to any amount Mr Clarke could on behalf of Mr Goodyer ———— The CHAIRMAN hera interrupted, saying I must rule you out of order when you make any reference to Mr Goodyer or myself. Mr TccKER I wish to tell you that I will givo to the shareholders any surplus that is beyond 20s in the j3, which, I am sure, every shareholder will like to see paid. Mr WILLIAMS pointed out that were a forced sale to take place in view of thp depreciation of their horses and stock, which was considerable, ho was convinced that instead of realising £2,400, which was necessary to pay 20s in the J3, they would not realise more than JB1,200 or £1,300. Mr JENKINS said that every shareholder was fully aware of the insolvency of the company at its annual meeting. He believed Mr Tucker was paying dearly for the purchase he had made, and he trusted they would confirm what they had already done. Mr WEBBER asked tfie Chairman if he was in possession of the valuations made of the com- pany's property also if he had received any other offer, and at what price ? Mr MARTIN pointed out that they had gladly accepted Mr Tucker's magnanimous offer at the previous meeting, and whilst the liquidator had been appointed to carry out their instructions, he had done all he could to frustrate them. (Ap- plause. ) Another shareholder asked if the venture undertaken by Mr Tucker should turn out a com- plete success, whether he would return the share- holders their money ? Mr TUCKER I can only say that if you have got a better offer than I have made for the estate, if you will present it to me I will guarantee, with the sanction of the directors, to accept it and return the shareholders pro rata every penny that is over 20s in the £ If Mr Clarke has an offer of over £2,400 let him submit it for our con- sideration. The CHAIRMAN I have no offer, and have asked no one for an offer, and those who couple my name with Mr Goodyer's are not justified in so doing. There have been some valuations made, but I based my calculation upon the report of the directors issued in October to the effect that the stock was made £3,500. They proposed to dis- pose of it for £2,400, and he thought they were not justified in so doing. It was pointed out that the Chairman had stated in his affidavit that the estate was worth £2.600. to which he replied that this was in view of a forced sale. Mr Webber's resolution was then put to the meeting, and carried with but two dissentients another resolution being also carried, on the motion of Mr Marsin, condemning the action of the liquidator, in attempting to upsmi the agreement entered into by tho shareholders for the sale of the company's effects to Mr Tucker, the proceedings shortly afterwards terminating.

RUPTURE CURED —J. A. Sherman, Hernia .S'W&lMt. 64. Ohancerv-lane London. Book, 7 st. mo*

GLAMORGANSHIRE ASSIZES. The trials of prisoners at the Glamorganshire AVinter Assizes were resumed at Swansea on Monday, before Mr Justice Lawrance. AN UNNATURAL OFFRNCE. John Mason (22), collier, was indicted for committing an unnatural offence at Llangeinor, near Bridgend. Mr S. T. Evans, M.P., prose- cuted, and Mr Arthur Lewis defended,—Prisoner was found guilty of the attempt, and be was sentenced to nine months' hard labour. THE MAXIMUM SENTENCE. Evan Lewis (35), labourer, was sentenced to two years' imprisonment with hard labour fov attempting to criminally assault a little girl, aged six, named Sarah Haywood, at Llantwit Vardre, in October last. Mr Rhys Williams prosecuted. ANOTHER UNNATURAL OFFENCE, William Jones, collier, aged 58, was indicted for feloniously and carnally knowing his daughter at Llanharran.—Mr Rhys Williams proseouted. The prosecutrix was a fine looking young woman, aged 16 years. Prisoner was found guilty, and the Judge, in passing sentence, said the chargo was a horrible one. He could trust himself to say no more. The sentence would be seven years' penal servitude. AN ACQUITTAL. William Davies, on bail, was indicted for feloniously assaulting and carnally knowing Charlotte Slater, a girl aged 12, at Trealaw.— Mr Rhys Williams prosecuted.—The prisoner elected to be sworn, and after he had given his evidence he was found not guilty, and he was dis- charged. A MAESTEG WOUNDING CASE. William Collins, on bail, was indicted for un. lawfully and maliciously wounding bis uncle, Benjamin John, at Tywitch, Maesteg. Mr Arthur Lewis prosecuted, and Mr David L«wi« defended. The parties were in the Heart of Oak Inn, where prisoner threatened the prosecutor two or three times. Prisoner left tho inn before his uncle, and, hiding behind a cask, jumped out on prosecutor as be came out and struck him on the head. Then, with a stick, prisoner struck prosecutor on the head, inflicting two contused wounds.—The jury, after nearly half-an-hour's deliberation, returned a verdict of "Not guilty," upon hearing which the Judge was understood to make the exclamation, Extraordinary —The prisoner was discharged. The trials of prisoners at the Glamorganshire Winter Assizes at Swansea, before Mr Justice Lawrance, were concluded on Tuesday. ALLEGED INDECENT ASSAULT AT TREHERBERT. George Davies, described as an ex-soldier, was indicted for indecently assaulting Edith Norman. aged 14, at Treherbert.—Mr David Lewis pro- secuted and Mr Arthur Lewis defended. The child said she was sent to her uncle's house where lodged the prisoner, who, she alleged, in the absence of her uncle and aunt, carried her into a bedroom and assaulted her. Prisoner was called and denied the offence.—Mr A. Lewis pointed out the lack of corroboration, and commented on the fact that the child said nothing till a fortnight after.—The jndgo summed up in favour of the prisoner, who wa.s acquitted. This concluded the business.

ALLEGED RAILWAY ROBBERY NEAR CARDIFF. Before the Llandaff justices—Mr J. Guun aud Col. Woods—on Monday afternoon, Herbert Jones, a brakesman, of lladyr, was charged on remand with stealing 19 bottles of ale, the pro- perty of the Taff Vale Railway Company, at liadyr, on the 9th inst.—Mr Vanderpump prose- cuted on behalf of the Company, while Mr J. H. Jones defended.—The evidence of tho T.V.R. Detective,Edwards (which has already been given in these columns), having been read over, he was severely cross-examined by Mr J. H. Jones as to the identification of prisoner. The witness could not be shaken on this point, he contending that he distinctly saw prisoner coming from a truck containing beer on the line at lladyr Junction. He admitted, however, that no beer was found in the possession of prisoner, or at his residence, while ho would not swear that he had taken a single bottle. —> William Jones, a signalman, living at Morgans- town, said that he saw prisoner go into the south signal-box, Radyr, followed by Edwards. The latter accused prisoner of being on the truck but be denied having been there, at the same time picking up some "we:1pon" about two feet long and aiming a blow at Edwards, who had to step back sharply to avoid it. Prisoner was then detained at the signal-box, while Edwards went away for assistance. Prisoner tried to open the door by the. handle, and finding he could not do so, smashed several panes of glass in the door and then escaped.—P. C. Evan Charles Jonfa said that he went, in company with P.C. Lee, on the 9th inst. to the Penarth junction, Radyr, where hia attention was called to a truck which had the tar- paulin drawn back, and there found that eight of the cells were empty in one case and eleven in another. He did not see any loose bottles lying about. Witne-s, with P.O. Lee and Edward)-, went to the prisoner's house on Saturday morning, where he was identified by Edwards as one of two men he saw on the truck the previous night. He charged him with stealing 22 bottleaot ale in company with atjotbqr man, but Jones denied haying stolen the bottles of beer from any truck. He searched the bouse, but did not find any bottles on the premises.—Charles Ray. a lamp boy, called for the defence, said that Edwards accused him of taking the beer on Friday night while he (witness) was in the signal-box. Edwards did not say anything about taking him iu charge. He saw the prisoner walk into the box in a quiet manner.—Mr Jonen having ad- dressed the court for tho defence, the magistrates decided to commit prisoner to Cardiff Quarter Session?, bail being accepted.

A LLANELLY RIGHT OF WAY CASE. An Important right of way case Was beard at the Llanelly County Court on Monday, before His Honour Judge Bishop, in which considerable interest was evinced. The plaintiff was Mr Alderman David Evans, of Llangennech estate, and the defendants Mr Charles Sutcliffe, timber merchant, Nantgaredig, and David Williams, Llangennech, a haulier in his employ. Mr Glas- codine (instructed by Mr W. Howell) appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr W. Denman Benson (instructed by Messrs J chnson and Stead) for the defendants. The plaintiff claimed ,£50 damages for alleged trespass by hauling timber over a private road which runs on the Llangennech estate, between Alltyfran and Trosssrch farms, which was described as being bounded on both sides by fields and plantations of the plaintiff, and separated therefrom by a hedge and ditch. It was alleged that the defendants had wrongfully used the said road for their horses, carts, waggons, heavily laden with timber, which dug up and injured the road, and rendered it unfit for the purpose for which it was constructed. The plaintiff had warned the defendants that as the road was a private one belonging to the plaintiff, aud not a public one, they should not so use it in future. For tho damage done the plaintiff claimed j650, and also asked for an injunction to restrain the defendants from repeating the acts complained of.—The defence was that the pubJio had used the road uninterruptedly for the last twenty years, that therefore there was a public right of way over it, that it had been dedicated to tb-s public, and that it had also been mado a substitution of the old parish road, which, it was alleged, plaintiff's predecessor in title closed up. —The case occupied over four hours, and as the plaintiff's case had not been concluded at a quartsr to 7, it was adjourned to the next court.— Before adjourning the case, Mr Glascodine asked his Honour to grant an interim injunction to re- strain the defendants from doing any further damage to the road before the next court.—Mr Benson opposed, and expressed a willingness on the part of the defendants to pay Is a load.—Mr Glascodine refused to accept this, and his Honour said that tho defendant should put a sum in court. —Mr Benson agreed to pay £ 10 into court to cover any damages that might be done before the next courf, but he eventually withdrew the offer, and submitted to an injunction on the usual terms, viz., that the plaintiffs should pay the cost: of the same should they lose the case.

CHARGES AGAINST CARDIFF POLICEMEN. At a special meeting on Monday of the Cardiff Watch Committee-the Mayor presiding, and Aid. Cory, Aid David Jones, and Councillors Aug. Lewis, T. Andrews, White, E. Thomas, J. Jenkins, F. J. Beavan, and W. Lewis being also present-a series of complaints against the police were preferred by a woman named Mrs Annie O'Connor, living at 13, Hewlett-street, whoso case will be remembered as having been dealt with in the police-court, where she complained of having her boots cut off her feet in tho cell and of general ill-usage by the police. Mrs O'Connor declared that when, six weeks ago, she was locked up for having being drunk, she was indelicately assaulted during the night by a policeman in the cell. She screamed, and he went away. Her body was badly bruised in her attempts to resist her assailant. Mrs O'Connor admitted that she was wholly unable to identify the constable re- ferred to. A detective in the local force con- fessed to the Committee that, in a fit of temper, caused by the complainant kicking him when he entered her cell accompanied by officers on duty at the ?tation,he cut up the woman's boots as thfy lay in the corridor.—The Head Constable said the detective voluntarily admitted to him the offence, and had paid for a new pair of bootd for the complainant.After going exhaustively into the whole matter, tho Committee resolved that the charge of assault preferred by Mrs O'Connor had not been substantiated, and to deprive the hot-tempered officer who hackcd her boots cf a week's pay, besides severely censuring him.

A CHILD BURN TO DEATH. Robert Tomlinson, umbrella maker, was remanded at Manchester on Monday, charged with manslaughter. His wife stated that on Saturday night, while he was attempting to kick her he upset a lamp whiah she was holding in her hands. The lamp fell on one of their children and exploded, and the child was burnt to death. Prisoner states that his wife threw the lamp at him.

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MRS GLADSTONE AND HER I GOOD WORKS. By record of a well-filled past; A heritage it seems to me, Well worth a life to hold in fee. -J. Russell Low,-If. Most things come about naturally, and are the effect of growth so in writing of Mrs Gladstone and the good works she has carried on for the benefit of those who suffer, it is interesting to go back to her childhood, and trace tho beginning of those influences which directed her mind to that form of practical usefulness which causes her name to be well known and beloved by so many English men and women. MRS GLADSTONE'S CHILDHOOD. Mrs Gladstone's father, Sir Stephen Glynne, died young, when his eldest daughter, Catherine (Mrs Gladstone), was scarcely five years of age. Tradition says that he was a very handsome, lively-minded man, and that Catherine Glynne was very like her father. One of Mrs Gladstone ftrsfc vivid impressions is of the fright she got by seeing the mutes who were then the fashion at important funerals standing about the castle while her father lay dead. It gave her early a horror of elaborate and expensive funerals. Her father was succeeded in tho Laronetcy and estates by his eldest son, Stephen Richard Glynne, who was then a little boy of eight. Lady Glytine, who was a daughter of Lord Braybrooke, was left by her husband with the sole charge of the estates and her children. She was a very beautiful woman, possessed of character and activity of mind, well suited for the task which her husband's early death thrust upon her. A GLIMPSE OF CJLDER TIMES. About this time, her brother, the Hon. George Neville, came to be Rector of Hawarden. He had previously been presented to the living by Sir Stephen Glynne shortly beforc his death. The fact th .t he was ordained deacon and priest in one day and! had been actually appointed to tho living before he was ordained, shows the character of the time. The Castle and Rectory arc within a quarter of an hour's walk of each other, and it was an immense boon for Lady Glynne to have btr brother's help in the management of large estates, and in the education cf her two boys and two girls. That Mr Neville war, a man with great decision of character is shown by a story once told by an old man in the neigh- bourhood. This is the old man's story. It was about the year 1813 when Mr Neville came to be CATHERINE GLYNNE (MRS GLADSTONE), 1837. rector. At that date Hawarden, along with a village in Cheshire, enjoyed the character of being the most wicked place in all tho country ronnd. Those were the days of the mail-coaches, and Hawarden, being on the high-road (Telford's Road) between Chester and Holyhead, had the life and joy arising from seeing the m"il-coanb, with its bugle and gay trappings, dash through the village four times every day — two coaches going to Holyhead and two returning daily. Sometimes they stopped at the Glynne Arms to water the horses. Carriages, too, of all kinds passed through the village, as every one going into Wales from Chester had to use this road. It occurred to the men of the village that they could get a good deal of fun out of these circumstances but as their imagination was inflamed with much boor-drink ing, their wit naturally took a very brutal form. It was to collect rubbish of every kind; and whilo they lolled, with pots of beer in their hands, outside the public-houses, their delight was to throw the rubbish they had collected at the carriages passing through. tho village. The old man who told the story was himself a young coachman in these days, and had often suffered at their hands when driving his master's coach their way. A REFORMING RECTOR. When Mr Neville came as rector, he was horri- fied with this «fcateof things. He called a public meeting of tho^ifJagers, and addressed them on tho disgrace brought on tho place by suoh con- duct. He said to them, "I cannot change your hearts, that is something which bas to be done by yourselves, by the help of a Higher tharrl; but I can banish the tt-mptatien to this nxleccnt con- duet so I shall ask my sister, Lady Glynne, to reduce the number ef public-houses, and, to have those which remain shut during those hours on Sunday when the better-disposed are worshipping in God's house, which time; the worst among you take advantage of to behave in this most unseemly manner." Lady Glynne adopted her'brotlier's advice. From that tima the public-houses in the place were always shut during divine service, much in anticipation of the Welsh Sunday-closing Act. So pioneer temper- ance work was begun in the parish. The public- houses were reduced two alone (in their hands) were left—the hotel of the village, the Glynno Arms, and a sort of parlour which was the social resort of those who liked to chat over their papers and a glass of ale. TEACHING THE YOUNG IDEA. Mr Neville also began a system of education for the parish, and set up schools in Hawarden village and in the districts round. It was most difficult at first to get either teachers or scholars. Almost bribery had to be re- sorted to in order to get the mothers to send their children to school; and the aid of Lady Glynne and her young girls was brought to bear in the first place to talk the mothers over and secondly, to got ready a store of frocks, coats, cloaks, and other useful garments, which were given away as Christmas prizes to reward the mothers for their self-denial in giving up the services of their little girls, and the pence which the boys could pick up at scaring crows and other juvenile occupations. It was impossible to get teachers who knew the art of teaching, this being long before the days of colleges for elementary teachers. An anecdote will illustrate these diffi- culties. An old wdman at Hawarden boasted to the writer of this article that she got for many years a Christmas prize for regular attendance at school. Naturally the question was asked. How was it, then, Mrs Catheral, you never learned either to read or write ?" Oh, I never wanted to," she said I never tried to learn, but I liked to get the pretty frock or warm cloak which the Misses Glynne always gave us for prizes at Christmas-time if we went to school regular." Then she added, Bless you you should have seen the prizes in those days—they were worth looking at. None of your books and rubbish, like what the children get in these days." In such an atmosphere of parochial usefulness in its very first inception did the children of Lady Glynne grow up, accustomed to assist their mother and uncle in everything they attempted for the im- provement of the parish. THE OXFORD MOVEMENT. Following on this camo the full tide of the great Oxford movement. At Hawarden, the names of Pusey.-KebIe.,Manning, and Newman wore as household words, for their brothers were then at Christ Church, Oxfcrd, and in the midst of it all, making friends with the leaders of the movement, amongst whom were young Gladstone and many other young men of talent, who were destined to be friends through life of those two bright and beautiful young girls, and, in the casa of one among tha brilliant throng, to become something far nearer and dearer. Thus a happy childhood passed into womanhood, under stirring and elevating influences. The breezes of intellectual and spiritual awakening stirred the air and their pure hearts. Theirs never was a life of mere social pleasure. They entered, it is true, into all the joys which London seasons and other social pleasures brought them. Their beauty and bright minds fitted them to enjoy it all; but behind this and above it all was the intelligence which made them in touch with the spiritual movement of their day—a movement which, when turned into practical channels, brought about, for example, the great work of Florence Nightingale, who revolutionised the nursing in our hospital. The same influence brought about the establishment of homes and refuges, and all the many other philanthropic schemes which have made the last forty years so prolific in works of usefulness and mercy. The fact can never be overlooked that the Oxford Movement was the precursor and cause of many of these works for suffering humanity. It seemed to take up the thread broken by the Reformation, when the common paople suffered untold wrong in the suppression of the monasteries, which were to them hospitals, workhouses, and schools all in one. It must also be borne in mind that at the same time numbers of public schools for the edu- cation of the working classes were done away with entirely, or diverted to the use of the richer classes. Wo thus see that Catherine Glynnc, hav- ing come under the influence of the Oxford Move- ment, was predisposed by it and her early train- ing to take the leading part in the philanthropic work of her day, which she eventually did. In 1839 Catherine Glynne married William Ewart Gladstone, whose brilliant talents already foretold his future eminence as a statesman. The same day that Catherine Glynne married Mr Gladstone, her younger sister married Lord Lyttelton, whose talents were also of no common order. Those who were eye-witnesses cf. that duuble wedding, and of all the wonderfu re- joicings which' the village witnessed on that auspicious day, are now becoming few indeed but nothing used to delight those who had been fortunate enough to witness it more than to find an interested listener, to whom they could recount- the glories which still lingered in their memories in connection with this event. In her married life Mrs Gladstone has had occupation to the full. In her devotion to her husband and, to her children—for she was always the true and care- ful mother, who did not givo over her duties to another, even to the beat of nurses—she did not have to look around her for work to do. Still her sympathy and assistance were from the first available for any scheme which offered to allay suffering, or to aid those who wanted a helping hand of any sort. After her marriage Mrs Gladstone became a centre for philanthropic work of all kinds. She, with Mr Gladstone, was chiefly instrumental in starting the Newport Market Refuge, which is now carried on in suitable premises, and with an industrial school attached, at 46, Coburg-row, Westminster, having first been begun in Soho in 1863. It was Mr Gladstone's idea, for he saw so many friendless wanderers as he went at night between the House of Commons and his home. Mrs Gladstone threw herself into the scheme, and they got a committee formed and the work started. From the beginning until now Mr Gladstone has been President, and Mrs Gladstone a constant and regular visitor. The object cf the refuge is to give temporary shelter to persons out of work and in present distress, so as to enable them to tide over their difficulties, and help them to get into work again. In this object the promoters have been most suc- cessful. They do not take in the practised casual or loafer, whose face and appearance are known to the officials by being brought into nightly contact with them, but the weary foot- sore travellers, who have walked far in search of work, and found none, are always admitted as far as room permits, and having the assurance of a week's lodging free to them, with the prospect of an extension of time if the committee see a reasonable chance of their getting work, they carry on their search for employment with in- creased vigour and cheerfulness. In the course of a single year about 13,000 nights' lodgings, 30,000 rations have been granted, and 309 men and women have obtained employment, or have been sent home to their friends through the instru- mentality of the Refuge. It was soon found advisable to add a boys' industrial school to the work of the Refuge so many cases of boys in distress wera discovered who would certainly drift into a life of idleness and dishonesty if not taken in hand. The managers of the Refuge deter- mined, therefore, to try this novel combination— Refuge and School—which, hazardous as it was thought at its commencement, has proved an entire success. THE CHOLERA VISITATION. In 1856 a sharp epidemic of cholera reached England, and the East of London was severely attacked. Mrs Gladstone came in contact with it in liter regular visits to the London Hospital. Whole families were brought in together, some to die, others to recover parents dying and leaving their children behind them, friendless and helpless. Mrs Gladstone came to their aid she carried away the poor little thing3 virtually in her arms; they were naked, for the only clothes they had, had to be burned she got cloaks and blankets to wrap them in, and carried them with her, and took them to her own house or to lodgings that she had provided. She got her friends to furnish clothing without delay, and she took an empty house at healthy Clapton, where she lodged her orphans. She then set about getting money to provide for their needs and that of other cholera patients. Mrs Gladstone wrote a letter to the Times asking subscriptions for this object, which was heartily responded to, and £ 5,000 was sent to her, with which she was able to keep her little orphans in comfort. And one who saw the sight when she accompanied Mrs Gladstone to Clapton, says she can never forget it. As soon as the door was opened she was surrounded by the children, who clung to her and almost over- whelmed her in their eagerness to be near one they loved so much. CONVALESCENT HOME. Her Free Convalescent Home arose out of the necessities of the sick poor, which were brought to light by this cholera epidemic. Then it was forced upon the notic3 of Mrs Gladstone that many persons who had passed safely through the dangers of this and other forms of acute disease, relapsed into serious and sometimes fatal illness from want of that timely change of air, wholesome food, and com- fortable lodging, which they are unable to find in their own homes. There were other convalescent establishments in operation, but when recourse was had to them for help, it was found that either they were already lull, or that admission was surrounded by such conditions of privileged tickets, weekly payments, and distance, that before these could be complied with, the evils sought to be averted had actually occurred. Mrs Gladstone therefore determined to attempt the establishment of a convalescent home exempt from those difficulties, where admission would be quickly arranged free of cost. In order to execute her design she called to her aid a committee of ladies and gentlemen, qualified by their business experience, their professional knowledge, or their familiarity with the needs of the poor, to co-operate in this work. She wns most suc- cessful. Such confidence did Mrs Gladstone inspire that a start was quickly made in a house at Snaresbrook, the remainder of the lease being made over to Mrs Gladstone and her committee. When the lease came to an end, the convalescents were transferred for a short time to the house? which Mrs Gladstone had at Clapton, but in 1868 a freehold property, known as Woodford Hall, most healthily situated at Woodford, in Essex, was bought by the com- mittee. Here this good work has been success- fully carried on ever since. It is a charming house close to the forest, surrounded by lawns and trees and flowers. In tine weather the house is nearly empty all day long, the invalids from the close and narrow lanes of the City spend their time in the forest gathering witd flowers and breathing in the sweet fresh air, and thus reviving their lost health and strength.. A TOUCHING SYMPATUY AN1) A GREAT DEVOTION. Such is Woodford Free Convalescent Home, which has been watched over incessantly by Mrs Gladstone from its beginning. When in London Mrs Gladstone has for nearly a quarter of a cen- tury gone down to the London Hospital etfery Mon ay morning to examine into the circum- stances of those who apply to go down to Woodford. The clergy and ministers of all denominations in the parishes around the London Hospital have a right to send their sick poor with a note of recommendation, but those who are recovering in the London Hospital have a special claim. The business is carefully gone through by Mrs Gladstone and those who assist her, and the day of going, and the train, arEtall settled right off. Special atten- tion is always directed to the express object of the Home that it is means for those who have been ill, are slowly recovering, I and require for com- plete restoration to health only change of air, good food, rest, and kindly treatment. Every year more than a thousand men, women, and children enjoy the benefit of this retreat. In one year's report I see the numbers are 639 men, 369 women, 70 boys, and 40 girls. The large excess of men and boys over women and girls has revealed the fact that working men are much more liable not only to accidents, but to disease, than the women* are, and this holds good among the children, there being more sickness among the boys than the girls. In this great undertaking Mrs Gladstone has been ably assisted by many devoted friends. It is im- possible to mention them all, but her much-loved niece, Lady Frederick Cavendish, has been her It — I MRS GLADSTONE-PRESENT DAY. j right band in many schemes for the welfare of others, and must, therefore, be specially named. It is impossible to say good-bye to the Free Con- valescent Homo at Woodford without mentioning Miss Simmons, the superintendent for many years. Her brightness, gentleness, and capability mark her out as an ideal mother for such a Home. What it would be without her no one can imagine. To see her play games with the patients is a sight never to be forgotten, for the humour with which they are done and the mirth they create. My readers, too, will like to hear that Mrs Gladstone still delights the patients on her frequent visits by playing dance music to them; her country dances and Sir Koger do Coverley are special favourites. > THE ORPHANAGE AT HAWARDEN. We must now hasten on, as the list of good works is a long one. The next in importance is the orphanage at Hawarden. The origin of it is earlier than the convalescent home. It arose out of the American war of 1862, and the consequent cotton famine in Lancashire. Mrs Gladstone's brother, Sir Stephen Glynne, was then alive, and Mrs and Mr Gladstone lived at Hawarden Castle with him. That winter, when the distress was most severe, Mr Gladstone got over a number of men who were out of work in Lancashire, and gave them work m cutting footpaths all through the park and woods of Hawarden—of course he could not give them work which would displace any of the permanent workers on the estates. At the same time as the men came, Mrs Gladstone had some of their young girls brought over. Her brother, Sir Stephen, gave her the use of a nice old house which stood in the courtyard, and which in old days had been the Dower House belonging to the Ravenscrofts, who in time past had owned Hawarden Castle, then called Broad-lane Hall. The heiress cf the Ravenscrofts had married Mrs Gladstone's great grandfather, Sir John Glynne. This old house Mrs Gladstone converted into a sort of training home for these girls, and put them under the charge of a very charming nurse of her own children, who had lately married. This proved a great success; the girls had all worked in the mills, but they learned quickly something of domestic work, and then Mrs Gladstone got them places out amongst her own friends in the neighbourhood, who thus helped her, and she was able to bring over more girls to be similarly assisted. Some of them were lovely girls most of them married extremely well while in service, and it being now 30 years ago, they most likely have arrived at the dignity of beinggrandmothers. In the autumn of 1867 Mrs Gladstone brought down about a dozen of her orphans from Clapton, and lodged them in another small house her brother lent to her. She put them under the care of a kind widow who had a little hoy of her own. There they dwelt happily, going every day up to the village to attend the infant school. When the Lancashire distress was quite over, and all need of the old Dower House for that purpose was at an end. Mrs Gladstone transferred her orphans to the larger house, and added to their number other children whose fathers or mothers had died in the London Hospital, where she continued a constant visitor, and so knew all about the little children she had befriended. When the Orphanage got properly estab- lished in the larger house, it comfortably accommodated about 30 children. In her work Mrs Gladstone discovered that poor fathers and mothers found it more difficult to provide for and manage their boys than their girls, so the Hawarden Orphanage came to be tilled mostly by boys. They go daily to the parish schools till they are eld enough to bo apprenticed to trades. There is now a whole army of well- doing young men who have been brought up in the Hawarden Castle Orphanage. It is still going on successfully, doing tbo work it has carried on for over 25 years. A HOME FOR YOUNG GIRLS. About 1880 a Home for Training Young Girls for Service was opened at Notting Hill, London, under the management of a committee of ladies. The object of the Home was to take girls under its protection who had bad homes, and were therefore likely to be totally neglected and drift into a life of uselessness and vice. Mrs Gladstone was asked to beAme the President, which she did. The work aone has been excellent of its kind. It is on a small scale, which is much in its favour for the kind of work it does. Only about fifteen girls are in the Home at one time. A few lady boarders are taken in, and this works well for training the girls in the various branches of domestic service. The proud characteristic of this Home is its determination never to despair of any girl, how- ever trying she may be in her first trial of service. The reward is great when a girl who has been unsuccessful in several places at last finds a mistress who understands her, and draws out the best in her, and when she receives praise as a good servant instead of the fapit-finding which has hitherto been her portion. There are now a great number of respectable, well-doing servants who have been trained in this Home. Mrs Gladstone takes great interest in it, and unfailingly helps its funds, which are always in lower water than the valuable nature of its work deserves. It is carried on at 8 and 9, Norland-gardens, Notting-hill, London, W. Mrs Gladstone gives the girls who are in service an annual treat every summer down at tho Con- valescent Homo at Woodford. In June of this year a party of them enjoyed lunch and tea on the lawn there, under the shadow of a rare kind of sycamore, which Mis Gladstone had brought in a flower-pot as a little seedling from an old tree which spreads its ample branches close to her Orphanage at Hawarden. On this occasion Mrs Gladstone told the girls that wh&n she planted it she never thought to live :o long as to see it large enough to shelter a party of forty under the shadow of its leaves. Besides all those works of usefulness and kind- ness already described, Mrs Gladstone has had an active and helping hand in setting a-going many others. She was among that early band who started penitentiary work at Clewer before it took shape under Mrs Monsell's management. That must have been soon after her marriage. To that early time belong the beginnings of the House of Charity for Dis- tressed Persons in London, which is carried on at 1, Greek-street, Soho, London, and which now rejoices in its 46th annual report. Its aim is to help persons not altogether of the working class who have fallen into temporary distress from sickness or other vicissitudes. It is quite free, but those who come must bring a letter of recom- mendation from some one who knows them and this has to be found to be "bona-tide." The House of Charity is a home for every kind of friendlessness and destitution which is not the manifest effect of vice or idleness. Indeed, it would be impossible to enumerate all the various schemes for the relief of human suffering to which Mrs Gladstone has lent a helping hand in the course of her long and active life. Especially do the friends who love her like to dwell ou her private kindnesses, and on the way she faithfully sticks to those who need aid for years and years, until she sees them fairly out of the wood. One of those especially bright examples of her fidelity occurred in the first London Mission, when she proved a help indeed to one in great need, and to whom she is still a loving friend. In time of sickness and distress Mrs Gladstone is always a welcome friend her visits bring bright- ness and pleasuro into the sick-room. Whether her friends belong to the "classes" or the masses, her presence is equally welcome, and her kindness of heart goes out to both alike. All worldly joy, go loss To the one joy of doing kindnesses. Before closing this sketch of her good work?, it is only right to say they each and all depend upon voluntary contributions. Mrs Gladstone has given all she could to their support, but she has had to seek the liberal support of others to keep all these things going and it is wonderful to think that money has never yet failed. We hope what has been will be, and that the useful institu- tions she has inaugurated, or assisted in in- augurating, may never want the generous support necessary 'to carry them on in full usefulness and vigour. M. G. BURNETT.

"A POSSIBLE OARDIFF." Address by Mr Herbert Thompson. At the ordinary meeting of theCardiBLIm. partial Society, held in the Hotel Metropole on I Monday evening, a discussion was opened by Mr H..M, Thompson,on the subject pL A Possible Cardiff." Mr Sidney F. Walker presided over a good attendance of members. Mr THOMPSON said Cardiff might become a noble and interesting city if its inhabitants willed it; and that by the time a baby born this year reached middle age. He asked the members to accompany him into the second Ot. third decade of tho coming century and fancy {him speaking in the year, 1925, and referring to what had passed since the year 1892, if to that latter year what had been called the progress of Cardiff had consisted in adding house to house and street to street to the already huge conglomeration of buildings which formed what was often described as the mother city of Wales. Good had been dpne by the community, but for the most part by sects and small parties.und one rarely found much work achieved by a unity of persons. Water had been brought down to the town from the hills, the Taff and the Ely had been cleared of pollution, and the air contamination had been so vigorously raised that all manufacturers were compelled to consume their own smoke. Two other projects were also raised. On the large open space known as Cathays Park a group of magnificent municipal buildings had been erected, and the Cathays district had so rapidly developed that these buildings wero really in the centre of the town. The other scheme was the lakeising of the Taff by means of a weir. One of tho great advantages which resulted from this was to establish large floating batbs-some for boys and others for girls. Others baths were established in various parts of the town, and two excellent swimming baths were constructed for Canton and Roath. One of the open spaces which they might regard with great satisfaction was that called Newtown Gardens', which were formerly the site of a large gaol. It had been found possible to remove this institution some ten miles into the country. Then country walks were become to bo considered more part of people's everyday lives than formerly. By an arrangement with the landowners, tho paths on both sides of the Taff were re-opened for public use, access being gained to them i,by staircases from Canton bridge. Among the social reforms accomplished was the abolition of the Sunday-closing Act. Even the temperance people, realising that the habits of drunkenness were in no wise diminished by the Act, now turned round and demanded its repeal. Sunday then soon became the distinct day for games and pastimes. A Sunday lecture was given by organised lecturers, organ recitals at the Park-hall, and grand choral works were rendered at the various churches and chapels. The picture galleries, the museum, and the central and branch free libraries, which had formerly been closed to meet the requirements of the assistants' weekly holiday, were now opened byieasonof theextrastaf fwhich had been taken on. There had of course been great re-construction of the ill-drained, badly-constructed houses in the crowded districts, the stretch of buildings between Bute-street and the Canal being now noted for the beauty of its window plants. The Cardiff County Council tiad grappled with tho advertising nuisance, and a bye-law had been passed forbidding bill-posting or hoardings in the town, special arrangements being made for a more artistic system. Mr C. T. VVIIITMELL said what is literally laid at the basis of all theue good things was the common possession of houses and land. They had In Cardiff what he believed they had not in any other part of the country, and that was a free night school. Dr PARR, who followed, referred to the question of Free Libraries, and thought it far more desir. able to improve the district branches than the Central one. Something should also be done, he thought, in connection with our school, and the educational buildings should be surrounded by large open spaces of land. Mr BALLINGER, who spoke on the subject of Free Libraries, said the question of district branches had two sides to it. So long as they limited the Free Library rate they must little the convenience. Mr CHARLES THOMPSON also touched upon the question of open spaces, and added that the best of the land on the south of the present Free Library, which was sometimes used as a fish market, might be very well adapted to more artistic purposes. Dr TREHARNE thought that a more intelligent way of approaching municipal matters—one that would have no connection with Imperial politics —was indeed to bring about many reforms. Further discussion of a interesting nature ensued, r.nd the meeting terminated with the usual votes of thanks.

TRUTH" says A speech delivered by the Roman Catholic Bishop of Salford at a temper ance meeting at Ashton-under-Lyne was so sensible and moderate that it deserves notice. The Bishop suggested that whilst strong beers should be taxed, the sale of light beers not above a certain minimum strength should be encouraged by being freed from duty. This is a doctrine that I have always preached. It is indeed a pity that more temperance reformers are not as. reasonab e and as practical as the Bishop of Salford." A large measure of the success of the Golden Sun- light Ale may be attributed to the fact that it is brewed on these lines, and will compare favour ably with the ordinary high coloured, strong heady ales. It is brewed from malt prepared from tho finest Herefordshire barley, and most delicately flavoured with hops, called "Wor'sters,' but really grown in the rich fertile valleys of Herefordshire. Messrs Watkins and Son, of the Hereford Brewery, are the only brewers of this famous ale, apd it is sold by over 200 agentsin the Nortu, South, East, and West of the British Isles. South Wales oQksa, St. Mary-streec ttorea Weawa.te.street, Ca.rdi ff. i W' lii

Welsh Football Clubs. NEWPORT.—V. [BY "OLD STAGES."] I !«ft off in my last article at the close of the season 1888-89. Passing over 1889-00 and the I MR A. J. GOnm. season following, in both of which T. C. Graham captained the fifteen, we arrive at the most glorious epoch in the history of the club, the ever memor. able season of 1391 92, when the team, bidding defiance to all comers, never lost a single match. As I have pointed out in earlier articles, Newport had more than once been able to boast of an un beaten record, but that was in the early days when the name and fame of the club was more locally than generallj' established With the Invincible. of last season it was different. They were called upon to face taams of firmly founded credit and renown, and disposed of them one after the other in such a fashion as to place beyond all possible probable shadow of doubt that they were the finest team in the world at the close of the season. Gluttons for scoring as were Hancock's famous Cardiff fifteen, their achievements in that line positively pale before the record of the Usk. iders. Thus Hancock's men scored 70 goals and 61 tries against 3 goals and 1 try, while Newport compiled the prodigious total of 77 goal;; and 99 tries against 3 goals and 5 tries. Taken in con- junction with the fact that not a singlo game was lost, this, I should imagine, constitutes the finest record ever compiled. Anyhow, it completely overshadows the figures of Blacklieath in the most suecassful season of the Jjondoners. The best performance of the latter was, I balievo, in 1379- 80, when they played 16 matches, won 14, lost C. and drew 2, scoring 41 goals and 37 tries against 2 goals and 1 try. The season opened quietly and unostentatiously enough with a match at Llandly, played on Sept, 19th, 1891. I had the good fortune io witness that game, and straightway formed n very high opinion of the capa- bilities of the team. But casting one's mind back to that dull September af- ternoon, one cannot help contrasting the marked differ- ence betwoon the estimation in which the fifteen were held then and nore. As the season w6re on, and it began to dawn on the foot- ball %Oorld that the Usksiders werg a very warm lot, the multitude flocked round, and any match in which Newport wero figur- ing nit-ani before- MR YOUNG, NEWPORT. I hand a big gato. But on that day at Llanelly, how different With the exception of myself and about two devoted followers of the club, I don't balieve thara was a single outsider—by outsider I mean non Llanellvite-vre. iient. A series of fine victories over Devonport Albions, Wellington, and Swansea however, raised tho enthusiasm of the multitude, and thereafter, up to the present day, the club have had no reason to complain of the want of an enthusiastic following whether playing at or away from home. Perhaps the most notice- able achievements of the team were in two of the four matches with Cardiff, when, to the bewilder- ment ancl dismay of the Welsh Metropolitans, they succeeded each time in crossing the line eight times, and effectually wiped out the memory of the lickings they sustained at the hands of Hancock's team. A glance at the table below will show even bigger scores than these, Lut then they were piled up against English teams, and in club games experience has taught us not to treat Eng- lish teams as on the same level as our own. Itere is the table :— For Agst Club. "• Placa T T Llanelly Llanelly. 1 2 0 0 Dsvonport Albions Newport 2 2 0 1 Wellington .Newport 4 3 0 0 Swansea ..Newport. 1 1 0 0 Cardiif .Cardiff0 0 ft t) St. Helen's Recreation. Newport. 2 0 .V 1 0 Londen Harlequins .Newport. 1;$?«. A) 1 Civil Service Newport 5 7 0 0 Swinton.. Newport 3 2 0 0 Swansea.Swansea,CO.. 0 0 Cardiif Newport 2 6 0 1 moucestfr. Gloucester., 0 1 0 0 Westtta.rtlepool. Newport. 3 4 0 0 Moselev Newport. 1 2 0 0 Halford' Salford 0 4 0 1 t'tsnarth Newport 0 2 0 0 Old Alerchant Taylors Newport. 0 0 8 0 London Welsh.Newport. 2 1 C (' Penarth .Penarth 2 1 0 0 Exeter ..Newport 4 8 0 0 Cardiif Cardiff 2 2..00 Llanelly Newport, 1 2 0 0 Swansea.Newport.00..00 Moseley 4 6 10 Coventry. Coventry. 3 3 0 0 K.N.E.,Devonport.Newport 5 3 0 0 Exeter Exeter 6 5 0 0 Gloucester. Newport. 4 2 0 0 Swansea.Swansea— 2 0 1 0 Bristol Bristol 5 G 0 0 Ca.rdiff Newport. 3 0 0 0 Penarth Newport S 5 0 0 Aberavon Newport. 14 0 1 Sulford.Newport. 5 5 0 U nn aCl Z A "<wI 'V That much of the credit for this record was due to the captain, Graham, is undeniable. From the moment he assumed the captaincy, in 188S, he evinced the possession of all the qualities that go to make a leader. A thorough gentleman and good honest player, none knew better than he how to combine courtesy with firmnees, and to „omm:uid respect of the men UKdar him. To do the latter justice they backed up their citief with unswerving- loyalty, cheerfully responded to every call made upon them, and paid unremitting attention to the arduous, though necessary, work of trainmg. How well they trained and how successful they were in keeping themselves fit is evidenced by the fact that they were scoring as largely at the close as at any part of the season. But while giving Graham all due credit, and one cannot speak too highly cf Ins service?, mention must be made of Arthur Gould, who worked hard and untiringly both on and oif the field to make the season the glorious one it proved. It is freely admitted in Welsl. football circles that Crould at three-quarter is worth any two men we have, and although the sompliment is a high one, no one can deny that it is richly merited. To him also must be ascribed no sunil share of the credit for the present posi- of the team. During the season the teams were lucky in that the players were singularly free from accident,and 50 the same fifteen were able to plav in most of the matches. The men who figured in the ranks, some, of course, occasionally, deserve to have their names recorded, and here they are :-Back, r. England three-quarter backs, A. J. Gould, Bert Gould, C. Thomas, G. Thomas, Col-man, Dauncey, and L. Heard half-backs, Percy Phillips and Parfitt; forwards, T.C. Graham, J. Hanntn, Bouchier, W. Watts, Henshaw, H. Day, Groves, Pook, and Osmond. Such a magnificent series of triumphs was note of course, allowed to pass unnoticed by the friends of the team, and tlie grand banquet at the end of the season, over which Lord Tredegar presided, will long live in the recollection of all who were privileged to be present. Each mem- ber of the team was made the recipient of a gold watch, bearing a suitable inscription, these having been subscribed for by the townspeople generally. Although no longer an active playing member the devotion to the interests of the team of the ex-captain, Mr Theodore Harding, was also suitably recognised on the same occasion, the presentation to him consisting cf a valuable ring. Over and above th*'se tangible rewards for their exertions the fifteen also had the honour of carrying off the prizo offered by the proprietor of Pearson's Weekly to the be.-t foot- ball team of the season throughout the United Kingdom. Thus ended the season of 1891-2. How the club have fared since is matter of world-wide fame. So far they have played 12 matches, and won the bt.. There are those who profess to believe that the handwriting is on the wall," and* that before the season closes we shall see Newport defeated. All I can say is that, so far, there is absolutely no evidence to support the belief. In the nature of things Newport must one day go under and taste the bitterness of defeat, but that day seems just now as far off as ever. When it does come, mingled with the triumphant shouts of the victors, will, I venture to think, be a feeling of regret—such a feeling as we aU of us entertain when we see a one time champion defeated for the fir8.t time by a younger and more vigorous opponent.

DARING ROBBERY AT NEWPORT A daring robbery occurred at Newport on Saturday evening. It appears that shortly after nine o'clock a youug, fellow, respectably dressed and having the appearance of a seafaring man, went into the shop of Messrs Vaughaii, jewellers, 30, Commercial-street, New- port, and asked to be shown a gold watch and some rings. A watch was selected by the supposed customer, but the rings shown did not please him, and lie asked to be shown some others. Mr Vaughan turned to take down another case of rings, and on coming back to the counter he found that his would-be customer had disappeared, taking with him the egold watch and the tray containing between fifty and sixty valuable rings. Informa- tion has been given to tho jKilice, but up to the present the perpetrator of the daring theft has not been captured.

THE editor of the Medical Annual after a. CM.. fnl examination of Cadbury's Cocoa, ppnouncea it to. I both a food and a beverage of the highest quality 1414

WEEK BY WEEK. -+- The rumour that Bjornson, the great Norwegian litterateur, is about to visit England for the time, is a little premature, as in the letter announcing his intentions Bjornson merely say3 I feel that I should like to spend this Onrist- mas out of Njorvvay, and think I should piefer England for choice." The Scandinavian pocc feels severely the absence of his daughter, who it may be remembered was married a month or so ago to tho son of Ibsen, the equally celebrate" playwright of Norway. It is no:, often that th« pregeny cf two geniuses mate, and the third generation should be an interesting study for thy thooristaoflieredity. Ibsen's new play, Master Builder Solness,_ 13 said to most nearly resemble, among his exi-'i'!o works The Women of the Sea. Some portions of it—and this will be good news for Ibsenites—-are pronounced by some critics to be incompre- hensibb. Mr Edmund Gosse considers that ho has discovered the symbolic sense of this extra- ordinary piece. According to him Ibsen has re- lated in his new work the history of his own literary life. The churches which be at first reared aro his symbolic dramas, Brand and Peer Gynt. Then he constructed houses—social dramas. Now he builds houses with towers—hia last strange productions. Mr Gilbert Coleridge, who has just been appointed Queen's Coroner and Attorney, is the third son of the Lord Chief Justice, and succeeds in these two ancient offices Mr Cockburn, who is a relative of Sir Alexander Cockburn, the late Lord Chief Justice. Mr Coleridge was educated at Eton and Trinity, Oxford, and was called to the bar in 1886. His name is known in litera- ture by a volume which he has recently published, The salary of the office is ill,500 a year, and for generations, perhaps for centuries, it has been tilled by a. relation of the Lord Chief Justice of the day, in whose hands the nomination to the appointment rests. The death is announced of Dc Hawksley, whose great benefaction of £ 30,000 to the Chertsey Industrial Home and Training School for Desti- tute Boys attracted a great deal of public atten- tion. He was one of the most benevolent men of whom the medical brotherhood could boast. Dr Hawksley was himself a sufferer—he limped painfully and walked with a crutch; and his pain warn face and thin, fragile figure, were only too painful evidences of the disease that afflicted lum. His sufferings sharpened his sympathy with tho woes of others. His munificence was great, but it was guided by a discreet intelli- gence. His benevolence came not from an ill- regulated desire to ba bounteous, but was 10-' spired by a noble judgment. A very beautiful and complicated clock has recently been completed in a Schwarzward factory. Besides showing the date, seasons, and many other details indicated on clocks of this nature, the present gives the time at nine different) towns. Every evening at eight a bellman rings for the hour of prayer, and a pious virgin ap- pears in a chapel lit up by electricity to offer up the old Prayer of the Virgin," In the chill night air of December two trumpeters announce the entry of tho New Year when May arrives the cry of the cuckoo is heard, and again in June that of the quail. The sunrise is ushered in by the old German hymn, The Sun Awakes," and a golden sun appears on the dial and at the full moon the fine old hymn, Guter Mond du gehat so stille" (How Silent thou Walk-t, Good Moon} is heard from the belfry.—Invent tun. The report of the honorary secretary of the British Dental Association, who has recently, at at the request of the committee of management, examined the teeth of the boys on the training ship Exmouth, says that 480 boys have been examined, with the result that 118 of them have sound teeth—a higher percentage thin is found, for instance, in thp. district schools," and no doubt mainly attributable to the healthy and hygienic conditiom of their lives. This high per- centage would be increased were the authorities to insist on the use of the toothbrush, and the suggestion is that toothbrush drill should be instituted every night. Nine hundred and thirty- seven teeth required stopping, 391 extracting, and 97 mouths required skilful attention because of the irregular or crowded position of the teeth. It is not generally known that it was through the unsolicited influence of Lord Macaulay that the late Sir Richard Owen was appointed superintendent of tjie department of Natural History at the British Museum. Owen told Lord Macauiay that £800 a year without a house in the museum would be opulence to him. Macaulay stated that it seemed to him to oe a case for public patronage. Such patronage was not needed by eminent literary men or artists. A poet, a novelist, a painter, or a sculptor who stood in his own line as Owen stood among men of science could never be in want except by his fault; but the greatest natural philosopher might starve while his countrymen were boasting of his discoveries. Professor Owen was eventuaHy ap- pointed Sv.lpSriiitende.nt of the Department of Natural History in 1856, with a aalary of £800 per annum. Frank Evershed, most excellent and enthusi- astic of Rugby-footballers, who played for the South on Saturday, first saw the light at Burton- on-Trent on 6th Sept., 1866, He was sent to Amersham Hall to receive his education, and there got little or no chance of giving vent to his craving for the game. But, entered, at University College, Oxford, he plunged into the excitement of the Rugby code with all his might and main. However, although pe, frequently distinguished himself in the Burton Club and in his College Fifteen, he failed to get his Blue. Up to now he had played three-quarter back, but he bethought himself of going up two— that is forward—and he did so with the highest results, for in the first match as a front ranker he scored two tries. So much did he improve that in 1889-90 he was selected as an International, and played inallibrié matches. Last season, too, he again represented his county. The records of the ancient city of Hereford have been found by the Historical Commission appointed to examine them stored up in more than 100 sheepskin sacks. For a long series of years a charge for this sack is regularly found in the_Corporation accounts, the price rising from 8din the days of King Henry VIII. to about 3s 6d within the present century. It is to the sheepskin sacks that the Commission attribute the fact that these materials for a history of the city have been kept almost entirely free from damp and decay. Oil the other hand, these papers were stowed awav in the utmost confusion as to date?, a fact which is attributed to careless town clerks who have been allowed to examine them. But the records had met with worse treatment than this. A woman who had the charge of the old Town Hall before the year 1830 sold many a number of the documents for waste paper, and amongst them the oldest existing council registers, although two volumes of these have been re- oovered. All the papers of the Civil War period are missing. Our new Minister to the Emperor of China, Mr Nicholas Roderick O'Conor, C M.G., is one of tho many distinguished men the United Kingdom, owes to tho Emerald Isle. The joke that al! Irishmen' are descendants of the Milesian kings has no application in his case, for ho is lineally descended from Sir Hugh O'Conor, an acknow. ledged representative of the last kings of Ireland. Mr 1 O'Conor, like so many other men in the diplomatic service, seems to have been every- where. He started at Berlin as an attache ir; 1867, and went from there to Washington back again to Europe, at Madrid, in 1373, be was soor. off to the States again, but only on his way ta South America, where he was secretary at Rio for some three years. He is no stranger to Peking, as he was Secretary and Acting Charge d'Affaires, until the arrival of Sir John Walsham, in 1886. The value of the post is JB5,500 a year. He is a. Roman Catholic, of course, and married five or six vears ago a, cousin of the Duke of Norfolk. There are no telegraph poles in China, says a writer in tho Electrical Review of New York. This is not due to the fact that there are no tele- graph lines, nor because there is no suitable wood or materials which may be used for poles, but the reason is purely a religious one. The Chinese worship their ancestors, and regard their last resting places as so sacred that they deem it a sacrilege to allow even a. shadow to be cast upon their graves. When the linemen of the first) telegraph companies began operations they were greatly embarrassed in their work by crowds of natives, who followed them about, and with the most frightful blasphemies cut down the poles R8 fast as they were erected. For some time it was impossible to obtain any explanation j but at last it was discovered that, in tha more thickly-settled districts cf the Empire, graves were everywhere to be found, and scarcely a pole could be erected anywhere but that at some time of the day its shadow could be seen upon « grave. It was very evident that it was impossible to overcome this difficulty, anl the Chinese Government was entirely powerless in th. matter. So the solution was to bury ths wire* with the ancestors, and the underground system has proved perfectly efficient. One of Sir Richard Burton's most fervent aspirations has been realised, though be has not survived to witness the consummation. Y part ago that most learned and enterprising traveller sojourned for several months at Abomey, in Dahomey. This was in the days of King Gelele, the father of the present King Behanzm. Sir R. Burton's work was the most interesting ever writ* ten on Dahomey. That kingdom was one of the most awful of the many "chambers of horrors" of the African Continent. King Gelele used, if he wanted to send a message to his deceased father, to whisper it into the ear of It slave, whose head was then chopped off that his spirit might Carry the news into the other world. Sir Richard Burton, in his book, expressed the ardent hope that Dahomey might be swept off from the face of the earth. Tho French expedi- tion has made an end of the savage kingdom, though by stern measures. It was at one time hopeful that missionaries would be able to Christianize the darkest kingdom of Dark Africa. Phil Armour, who has just given £300,000 to endow the Armour Institute in Chicago, is one of the big men of the "Garden City "-big physically, financially, and politically. He is also (says the Daily ChrQnicle) one of the most hard-working men in the United States, and the traveller arriving in Chicago by one of the early morning trains, should he chance to pass the Armour office between seven and balf-past, will always see the head of the firm hard at work at his big desk by the wmdow. Mr Armour doef not require or expect his employees to keep the same early hours, and in fact rather prides him- self on being the first to arrive at the office. 'i'be record of his immense business is condensed at far as possible, and placed in an immense ledger, and the inspection of this daily record is his first work each morning. He has four managers, each receiving a salary of £4-,000 per anuum- Whil* it is probable that the successful pork-packer, like Perkyn Middlewick in Our Boys," never passes:), pig without a desire to lift his hat, yet is must not be forgotten that a large portion of his enormous fortune has been made out of railway*