The Carmarthen Weekly Reporter

Carmarthen Volunteer Company. ANNUAL DINNER AT THE BOAR'S HEAD HOTEL. PATRIOTIC AND BELLIGERENT SPEECHES. A WORD ABOUT THE DRILL HALT. The rrnual Volunteer dinner was lieM at the Boar's Head Ilotei, C'nn:lt;1\;n. ou F'¡ll,y (the 24th insi). Mayor C'fr H. Brunei White) occupied the chair. There were also present:— Captain Turner, Lieutenant; Keone, Quaiter- Maeter Wiliiams, Captain Buckley Roderick, Lieutenant A O Norton, Lieutenant James John, IL. C G Browne, Rev A F Mills, together with the majority o? the members uf the corps, and a 'argo a»U3ter ct Chilian friende. The dinner, which was caterpd it Mrs Cave's test style, having beeu duly di3posed of, "THE QUEEN." The Coairmn proposed the tiast cf The Queen," which was received with musical orders, the solo being taken by Mr E. Cjlby Evans. OUR PRINCE. The Chairman, in prorosing thi toast of the "Prince an J Pdnccsa of Wales aDd the rest of the Royal Fdmiiy "said that they had endeavoured to get the Prince to come through Carmarthen on his way from Aberystwith. If ho had only been at the station, Carmarth-n would have been thsre to give him t). hearty welcome (applause).—.This toast was also drunk with musical honours. THE CLERGY AND MINISTERS. Secant II. J. Jonoj said he had a toast to prnpco^, to which, he felt certain, they would all readily respond. I: was to his mind the most important toast on the iist, since the gentlemen to whore they we e d ling that h'. nour were gentlemen, whose influence we lelt all the days of otir lives. If they were not the first professional gcntlerren with whom WJ came in contract when we were ushered into ti.e world, they were c-rtainly the sfcond. Ihey were with us when we are married tnty were with us in our social circles thev were with us at the festive board they were with us when we had run our race, tg fes that tie -were carried out and buried decently. They were always glad to see the '■ Bishop' clergy, and ministers of fall denominations present at gatherings of this kiuci (applause). It gave him great pleasure to propose t,;ie toast, and he was ^!ad to see two lepreaentaiive gentlemen present to respond. One cf these who would respond was the hIghly csteemtd cha; lain connected with the corps. They all regained very hig':l)' the good work which the c.ergy and minsters of all dfuinanitions d.d in thetovii. They were very thanklul for any success which had attended the iahours of these gentlemen in the past, and wished them Cod Speed in their work in tlia future— hoping that thoy would ex;:¡s;icl\0.! a hundred per cent more success than they had already done. He had, therefore, great pleasure in giving them the toait of the Bishops, tlorgy, and miuisterc, cf all deuoinm itions and couplicg wi!h it the names of the Rev C. G. Browne and the Rev A. F. Mills. The toast was dunic with much enthusiasm. The Rev C. G. Brown, in responding, said thnt he thought it a very happy thing that at gatherings of this i;iud—not only there, but throughout the country that this toast was very rr, rely forgot'en. and that it was conspicuous by its presence. That showed that there was a dp conviction in the mindii of the pyr,p!e that we could not separate things secular from things sacred, and that the welfare of the country in secular matters is bound up in its \voi £ .ire. fhat convictioL hld animated our forefathers, and he hoped that it would for many genet ations animate the hearts of our successors. The ROT A. F. Mills, in responding, said he heartily endorsed tho words f-pokcu by the Rev C G Brown. He was exceedingly glad to be there that evening, and he was glad that ho was invited annuady to meet them, although it always seemed very ill aid nervous as ho was —(laughter)—10 confront so many red coats, and so many badges, and eteeterita, indicating the close connection of those preser.t with the military system. But as ho re'.ongtd to a fraternity which was sometimes called the i. hureh Militant," that consideration infused a little courage into him. lie was very g'ad of the manner in which the toast had been proposed by Mr Joues--whose words were in harmony with that respect and reverence which were al ways shown in Carmarthen to the clergy and ministers of all our Churches, lie had beta iu Carmarthen between four and five years, aud he begged to testify to the courtesy which he had met on all hands He saw that someone iu one of the Cardiff papers that morning had asked the question, Is life worth Jiving in Carmarthen?" He did not know who tho scribbler was but if he (the RiV A F Mill?) were the editor he would not pay a farthing for io. Some of thote present had lived in various towns in England, Scotland, and Wales, and were able to compare one towp wi;-]L ztr;ottier aud he thought that Carmarthen would bear comparison in every respect with any agncuituc-al town cf the size in G-reas Britain (applause). There was a remark ia that little note to the effect that they were very fond of giving pre-pts to the young men Sunday after Sunday but that when the Sunday was over tli, y did nothing more for them. He (the Rev A F Mills) thought that the young men who wanted runre than Carmarthen was giving them might help themselves. Carmarthen had a Scientifio Initiation Carmarthen had a Workmen's Club and Carmarthen had its Volunteer Corp3. If the young men wanted more excitement than could be got out of these, then Carmarthen had natural teuaties uosurpaesed in Lhe kingdom. There was plenty of place for angling, cycling, boating, and similar sports (applause I," ttle young mcii-iasto--d of waiting for half-a-dezvn to carry them on their backs—set about helping themselves, they would show them- selvt s worthy of the help which the local gentlemen would give them. lie was delighted with the respect v.liich had always beer, shown to him and ali his brethren in the ministry in the town since he had coma amongst them. They had worked together well. In every to,'ll iliny did not work together as well as they did in Carmarthen end he would venturs to say that they were doing a little good in spite of the criticisms hurled against them, lie quite agreed with what the previous speaker hud waid as to .he impossibility of divorcing the fc-ecrdnr from the Sacred. He had always found that those who had sympathy with whClt was called Sacred, generally did the greatest amount of good work in the Secular line and in public afLirs he would venture tJ say that they could not bring forward half-a-dczen men during the last century who had had no sympathy with the clergy, and who had been very great helpers of our country, The Fana-, remark applied to tho higher things (f life they would tiud that the most devoted, the most generous, and the most self-sacrificing souls were those who lived in tho hope of the future reward which the Maker had promised to bestow on those who served Him. He hoped that it v. ould never be tried in this country—as it was in France a hundred years ago-to divorce that wHch they called Sacred from that which they called Business. Mr J. D. Evans then sang The Yeoman's Wedding," in fine style. i; THE ARMY AND NAVY." Mr J F. Morris said that ou this occasion it again became his high privelege to propose the tOi1."t of the" Navy and th3 Army." lie had not the pleasure of also proposing the "Reserve Forces" because that would be left to a gentleman who would be hetter ablo to deal with it than he was. He had gl':¡t pieasure in proposing tho toast of the Xavy and A-my because it was a toast which, iu any company of Englishmen, was received with great enthusiasm. The members of both services were entitled to the best thanks for their services in the past and their prospective services in the future. As the poet Campbell had said :— Britannia needs no bulwarks No towers along the oteep. Her march is o'er the mountain waves, Her home is on the deep. (loud applause). If those words were true in Campbells days, they were true at the present moment. The Navy of England is pre-eminently the Navy of ho World and Lhe British sailor is a tnr that sticks liko pitch to his duty" (laughter). In the i nagn which Great Britain had, and in the gallant men who manned them she had the best guarantee of her Own safety and of the peace of the world (applause). With such ships and such men they could rest assured t" -t Britannia would be ready for any emergency. In the" thin red line thf.) second line of defence— they had a force ot whom they had a riJIlt to be proud. The Biitish Army had upheld the fame of England in every part of the world and had writ large "ot the glorious roll of fame, names which would last through the ages (applause). He thereft,re, asked them to drink with enthusiasm the toast of the Navy and Army. This t'>as: was drunk with enthusiasm Se'geaut-Major WarJ sang The Soldier in fine style, [Ind received a prolonged encore. Captain Turner, in responding, thanked Mr J. F. Morris for the mauncr in which he had proposed the toast and tho company for the manner in which they had recoived it. It was very hard for him to have to respond for the Army when he was only a member of that c. untried force" thi) militia (laughter). It was donbly hard to have to respond after such excellent speakf rs as the Rev C. G. Brown, Rev A. F. Midi, and Mr J. F. Morris Public speaking was the one thing which they did not teach A-cmy oincers. To night Mr Morris hsul proposed the toast of the Navy and Army he much preferred, however, the "Naval and Military Forces of the Crown because then he could touch all round. Last time ha touched upon a very tender joint; and it he fouod that no stops hud been taken in the matter by that time twelve- month, he should refer to it very strongly. With regard to the Army he could not do belter than refer to what the Commander-h-CLicf had said rorne twelve-months ago—that tho British Army was never in a better condition than it was at the present moment. In considering the condition of the Army it was no good going back to the days cf the Peninsula and the days of the Crimea. In those days soldiers were like machines; at the present day soldiers had to flunk as well as to obey, fhings lld made very rapid stride during the last quurtc-r cf a century. To him, of course, the Army was his home he had ten in it from his youth upwards. lie reinombered the time when any youth wh » entered the service was regarded as lost—bidy and soul. lie rr rnnLtbtred an old sergeant-major who thought the Army was ruined when they did nway with flogging aud gave the men coffee (laughter). It would astonish that sergeanf-major if he were alive, to EC9 the coffee the men go" now. Although the Army was so small, the Principality did not give its quota It was no good making speeches-except to the ladies (laughter). He believed that in the future it would be the ladies who would fill the Army—in more ways than one (laughter). Ho did not believe there was anyone present who remembered the Fiihguard invasion but mot of them had read of it. He did not think, however, that invasions were an unmixed evil; we have been so long without P.il invasion that the ladie3 had beguu to think it was a nuisance to have an army at all. They were mining for anyone's eon to serve but their own — anybody's brother but their own. He thought the Volunteers a most glorious body of Englishmen they took to the service for love cf it. He considered it the duty of every Englishman to learn the use of arms it would be better fvr them in a case of a national emergency to have s'ich knowledge than to become —like the Gibennitescf oH-hewers of wood and drawers of water for tha warriors. Carmarthen did not furnish the Army with one-tenth of the number she should. He always thought it a pity to see so many fine young men in the Volunteers he should like Captain Goldsmith to let him have some them for the Army. He got very fc-v from Car- marthen even for the Militia most of the militia came from Glamorganshire — doubtless a good many of them were Carmarthenshire men who had gone to the works lie had tried to got hold of them from the country but he had always failed. It was ail very well to do as the farmers did in the o'd days to sit in the corner and diÍnk a a glass and say Oh, we've wen another victory (laughter). It was no good talking Hire that, if they had done nothing to win the victory. In the old days to be in tho Army was to have somewhat of a dog's life but now, ho did not know of any profession open to the ordinary man in which greater future prospects could bo obtained. Men if they made up their minds to stiok to the Army, could retire at a very early age on almost euough to live upon. It would be well therefore for the young mea to consider whether it would not pay them better to join the Army than to stick to their shops or their other businesses for the rest of their lives. Se 'gt.-Major Ward then responded to the encore by singing, Recruiting (iu character). Mr J W Forbes, in responding for the Navy, said he could endorse what Capt. Turner had said— that the Army end the Na*y were to-day in a better position than they had ever been bdoro. Our ships surpassed anything which could be produced in any other part of the world—both in material and in nnnibfr. Oar guns were equal to anything which could be produced and our munitions of war were quite as good. There was one thing, however, which ought to be looked to-and that was the personnel- of the Navy. It was all very good to have the ships an 1 the guns but we required the men to work them. Since 1889 there had been 71 ships added to the Navy. A large complement of men might have been expected to have been added at the same time but instead of that only 100 men were added to man the 7l ships. During the next two or three ynirs we should be adding 40 more ships to the Navy; aud the First Lord of the Admirni'y £ ta;ed that he intended to add 4.900 men to the Nary during the same period. Eveu if that wer" done, the Navy would not be properly manned. It might be said, Oh we can draw upon the Reserve It was, however, very doubtful if we could. The Reserve would have to be drawn from the Mercantile Marine, where they would be required in tinao of war to s'tpply the country with food and with raw materials for manufacture. It wns to bo remembered that onr Commerce must bo maintained ac all times. If the Naval Reserves were withdrawn from the Merchant Service, the latter would be left in the hands of foreigners. It was to be doubted whether the trade of tho country would be secure in hands. At the present, time we could build a first-class battleship in two years bllt it took a much longer time to train the seamcu. It took five years to train a seaman— from tha time he entered as a boy until he was rated A.B. Therefore, the sooner the Admiralty opened their eyes and began to train men for tho Nmy, the better. It was no good shutting our eyes to the fact that we were undermanning the Navy. The quality of the men was nIl right but there was not euongh of them. A few months ago we had to cull out a Flyiug Squadron and it took us all our time to man the tsr.ips. It was very well for the officers to say that we could man a fleet if we wanted. They could not do so without withdrawing men from hips in Commission. If wa wanted to bo as safe in the future as we had been in the past, we should keep, an eye to th9personnel of the Navy. It took a great deal to make a seaman 1 ow in former years such an intricate system of machinery had not to bo worked as was necessity now. A vfar-ship at the present day was a box cf machinery. It required a considerable amount of experience to work the ship and the guus even the steering was tfone by machinery now. At the present time 50,000 men were required for the Navy. If the reserves were to bo of any use at all, they w^uld be required to rill up the casualties- which would occur in action. \V,t1 the modern mi thods of naval warfare. it would not bo a few lives lost; it would be a whole ship's company going down ati a time. Men were required there- fore not only to man the navy, but also to provide against casualties. Pee D it Thomas then contributed a song in first- claBS style. '■ THE VOLUNTEERS." Mr Thomas Jones, in proposing the toast of the Volunteers." sail that it was a very long time fi!Cd he ¡ccame I H¡luut,pr. 1.1 fact, he became one at the time there was a scare of French invasion. Th:) invasion nevor came off but they must remember that the pcopla of this country — whom the French called a nation of shopkeepers— were prepared for any emergency. And at the present day, we were perfectly ready for them. For— We don't want to fight; But by Jingo if we do, got the ships We've got the men got the money, too. (laughter and applause). He would ask some of them to refer baek to their memories, and consider what the old volunteer system was. The volunteers at the present day were in a much better position than he was when he joined. In the old days they had to pay for their uniforms and to meet their other expenses. Now, the volunteers had that provided for them. In the old days, they were, perhaps at a better advantage than the volunteers were in these days, because the gentry of the neighbourhood came forward and subscribed liberally to their support they gave prizes for shooting, elc. The volunteer force was very popular and nothing was too much for the gentry to do for them. He just remembered a little story he had read—in Smith History of the Peninsular War. A poor little drummer-toy was t en prisoner and was brought before the Emperor Napoleon. Tho Emperor was very anxious know whether the English had retired or not. The little boy answered, Sir ;I have never heard cf it the English army never retires they hgnt to the bitter end applause). At the great lines of Torres Vedras, Napoleon, and bis best marshals strove against Wellington and utterly failed. He (Mr Thomas Jones) believed they were going to do the same thing again. If they were wanted, there were o'd veterans who would he to the front (applause). They would come to the front; they could not bo expocted to do everything but they could fight yet (laughter), lie was one of those who .came prepared to do his duty to Queen and country. He thought it the duty cf every Englishman to do what he could to proted his country ngainst foreign invasion and aggression. He thanked them for allowing him to propose the toast he was now getting old in the service but he had great pleasure in proposing the toast of the Volunteeers." Captain Goldsmith, in responding, end he bed fceiii a Volunteer officer for three years, and he thought they had impoved in many respects. They were not perfection yet, but he thought they coulJ go on improving. The Volunteers had a very serious duty to perform they knew the war scares which there had been la'.ely. It was not play it was not a question of putting in so many driils; it should lie a tcrious work — a^ it wen el be if the eountry were invaded. He wished to 5ay a word a rout the cncampmeiu he hepou tVcry man would g) to camp this year. He thought the 1st Volunteer Battaii >n ot theWot.sh Regiment had picked up very wdl; he had done his best to keep them u r to th3 thnes but there W3 room for improvement ye t. He thanked Mr Thomas Jones Lr the manner in which he had proposed the I. Captain Buckle*}* n¡¡>dck said h' thanked Mr Thomas J;mes f. r she man- er in which he had yr^j»03fd the toast, gn the company in ar.tieipath n for the maniier in which, they woulu receive it. As a volun'eer he had "ne thing to complain of, and that was that the jirant received from the Govern- ment as net Bullicitnt. Thty were expected to d") great things they had heard that night of the great things expected of our Navy. In case great drafts were made fur our Army ior foreign service, the country would be altojjeihei dependent upon the Volunteer for-c for p-otection. If they were expected to become efficient and to beo" acquainted with field-pest duty and tactics tiny would require to have a much longer gran" The volunteers supplied the force which would rtherwi-'c have to be raised by conscription. If tit ie was one poit:on of military duty in which the Volunteers excelled the Araiv, it was in shooting There Were some Artillery Officers present, anel ii th?y did not knew from experience they knew from teaching that within ftnooLnig ci 1 -1 itico ot infantry, artillery could Le a good deal KiiOok< d about. The horses and men could be thinned out a good deal before the guns could be got into position. It was very necessary for the Volunteers to keep up their shooting abilitie- which would after all be the mainstay of the force. He had seen in a local paper some adverse criticism of the shooting of the Carma. thcn Company he was sure that the Carmarthen men well able to shoot and that they could improve very much in their shooting if they wished He hoped that the Club, which had been re-started this year, would put their shouldsrs to the wheel, and endeavour when the annual competition came rour.el to hold their own. lie should endeavour to insist on every man who was able to sh' ot going to practice. They tad in that town quit? a-; much leisure time as in other towns, and it they liked to practice they could turn out quite a3 good sluts. There were other officers who had to respond to th1 toast, End he would leave it to them to tell what a grand force the Voluntec.s were. Being of rather a modest disposition, he] did not like to do so (laughter). Lieut A 0 Norton said he would respond, although the toast had not been diunk at all and that he did not SC0 that the gentlemen present were half- drunk (laughter). He considered shooting the most important part of voluuteers' training. Wo were in pretty hot water at;, the present time, bath in Africa and India. S iJl ho thought that the Volunteers, and the Army and Navy would be quite capable of opposing any foa which might be called against them. Lieut James John said he would best consult the wishes of those present if he simply said that he thanked Mr Thomas Jones for the manner in which he had proposed the toast, and tho company in anticipation for the manner in which it would be received. The Chairman said that he had not forgotten to ask to compauy to drink tiro toast. His intentioa was to allow the officers to respond first and the a to ask the company to receive the toast with musical honours. Mr T Conwil Evans then rang ,l The Bugler Mr J F Morris reeiied How Bill Adams won the Battle of Waterloo and Licu Keene gave an Irish comic song, which was welt rendered and received a prolonged encore. THE TOWN AND TRADE." Captain Buckley Roderick said that lie had beEn askeel to propose the next toast—the "Town and Trade of Carmarthen." He did not know why hs had been called npon to propose that; he had told the gentlemen who were arranging the toast li?t that he knew nothing whatever about it. Tne latter'a l'cply was II Oh j that is all right" (laughter) With regard to the Corporation he would say that he was a frequent reader of the Carmarthen papers (laughter) Abcnt three years ago, the English language appeared to be utterly inadequate to deocriOe the Corporation. Whether it was that tlHt they had now got some goccl men on the Council, or that they had elected good mayors—(applause) — he knew not but those com- plaints seemed to have vanished altogc.hsr. That was all he had to say about tho Corporation. With regard to the town, it J1,.d an appearance which any visitor ce.tainly describe as r.11 ancient one (laughter). Things generally in the town appeared to be of that character. He was sure that noni of them were too proud of their anciont borough; some of the principal streets were situated in back lanes (laughter). He thought that the town might be a improved, and that the Corporation might turn their atten ion to widening th plincipal streets, o tlut the gentleman farmers who rode up and down the streets on fair days mibht have more room, and so that those wtiO upended buying a horoe might hove room to turn him. With regard to the t:ado, tlioy had the tin. phte works. He thought, however, that tin-plates were a bit off" just now (daughter). lb believed th.tt the com- merce of tire town was mamiy dependent 1<11 agriculture. Agriculture, too, had been in a bad way, but with a little legislation and with a lew fiae S'lo.mers, they might lock for a fairly prosperous t ree. At the last fair in Carmarthen lie saw tenant farmers au; illb cattle, and they complained that Hô was very glad to hear the complaint, and lie hoped the tinners would have money enough to pay £ 2 a bead too much for them (applause; lie wished the Town and Trade of Carmarthen evc.y prosperity, and had pleasure ur propping itie coast. The toast was drunk with enthusiasm. Lieutenant James John, iu responding, said that those responsible for the toast li^t might easily have chosen an older member of the Corporation than himself to respond to it. He would eudeavour to respond iu two parte. First of ad, he would say for the Corporation that he did not think they were as bad as the local press endeavoured to paint them. Next of d, he would say that the tradesmen of to- day would compare favourably with the tradesmen of past generations and that probably trade was as successful to-day in Carmarthen as it had been for a very considerable time. One could only hope that trade would go on improving in Carmarthen that new industries would crop up and that we should see the streets wi leud by pushing them back a bit, and narrowing those behind (laughter) Captain Buckley Roderick complained of how narrow the Carmarthen streets were. Why didn't he look at Lluiudiy (laughtar). Why, they had not in the whole cf Llanel y such a street as Lammas- street (renewed laughter). Carmarthen had been built in the old days when things were different from what they were now (applause). Llanelly was I. mushroom which had sprung up; an I why hadn't she built her streets wider? (laughter). Mr Jamci Morgan then sang Alice, whore art thou 7" Mr Gwyn Davies gave a fine rendering of a negro song and in response to an encore gave a burlesque recitation, How I won the Victoria Cross "THE DONORS OF PRIZES." Captain Goldsmith proposed the toast of the Doners of Prizes." He considered it a pleasmt task to have to have to refer to those who had given prizes for hooting. He thought rifle shooting a most important thing. As an adjutant he outfit perhaps to consider drill first and fore- most; but the man who could hit the mark was after all the mui whom they had to consider. He would a word or two abotu artillery as he saw so many artillery officers present. He thought the artiilery the rn j&t useful branch of the service. been risked what he con- sidered the three most important points for the artillery to observe. The officer said the threo most important points were (I) to shoot well, (2) to shoot well, (oj to shoot weil. Now-a-days, drill was subordinate! to shooting to say, that a mau could shoot without going through a certain amount of arid was. of courts", absurd. A certain amount of drill had to bo gone through; but after all shooting was the more importuut. He con- gratulated the battalion ou the high position which they oooupied 021 the list. The. were the fifth in the Western District which comprised 20 battalions They were a long w -y at the top of the Regimen- tal Dislrio\ They WA.-O the GUDII foe the whole kingdom t!nt was not quite so high as they had He had often visited the butts at L'aneUy wheu the shooting was iu progress. He nad gouo there last year and competed against three men —neither ot wnoin hnel been placed in the Llnneby second team. Everyone of them beat him. He was, therefore, rattier annoyed (Laughter) but it (showed that the Llanelly shooting wna not all on paper. The shoot- ing of the Llanelly Company was very good this vcar; he only wished that the headquarter s Co was good. He did not care for any company more than another so long as they shot wdl; it WHS all the same to him whs th'r they were K or X or Y or even Z (laeghter). If every man set to work with the idea of becoming a marksman, he would he doing something towards a grand cause. Then when the day came, every bullet would have its billet and we would not be behind-hand with the Boors or any other people who were good shots, but wo should be in front of them. Shooting was everything nowadays in conscquenec of the great improvements, which bad been made in fire-arms the formation in the field would b3 pretty loose, aud every man vv >u!d be hit to elepend upon himself. He oped, therefore, that every man would do what he could do to improve the shooting of the Company (applause). He had, therefore. much pleasure in giving the toast of the Donors of Priz?a." This toast then duly honoured. THE DRILL HALL. Lieutenant Norton, in proposing the toast of the -i Vi>i;ors," said Ire did not know at all how they could get on at all without the Visitors. He thought there were as many visitors present as volunteers. He had heard nothing ot the Drill Hall that eveni: g. If the visitors would take the matter up they might give the Volunteers a Drill Hall. The Volunteers would bo only too happy to oecvpy it and to drill there. lie thought the coming summer would be a good time to start the movement he believed they would have the support f the town and neighbourhood. lie hoped that before next motrth they would hare called a meeting fg-ther for the purpose of getting a D.di Hall. Mr Lewis Giles then sang" IIo Jelly Jenkin and Private II. J. Lewis gac his unique whistling song.