The Carmarthen Weekly Reporter

CARMARTHEN I WEEK BY WEEK. There is certainly a lack of dwelling-house accommodation in Carmarthen. Some of the militia hands who came upon Saturday night had to put up with rather close quarters. -til some cases it, would appear from reports that twenty- and even thirty—found accom- modation under the same roof. • it is a very peculiar thing—although I suppose the builders know their own business best—that there are so few working-class houses to be procured in Carmarthen. The tidy workman's dwelling at about tiO per year rent is a kind of curiosity here. It is either a slum or a mansion which is to be had. Y ou pays your money and you takes your choice." And if you have not the money, neither have you the choice. # Witli all duo respect to the people who can jiflord to pay a rent of X50 a year, they would not be half as big a loss to the com- munity as would the people who pay £ 10. A hundred workmen earning—say— £ 1 per wejk are of incalculable more good to the town than ten people who have incomes of £:)00 per annum each. The British work- man is not a man of much wealth but he pays for all be gets—down on the nail. I know that it is very, very bad form to say so but its true all the same. This is decidedly one of the things which they do better in Llanelly. In everything which is undertaken there, the workman has to be considered—and is considered. Some folks in Carmarthen seem not to know the difference between a workman and a street corner loafer. The steady workman may not have an university education but he is a man of superior intelligence compared to the average middle-class citizen. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the Ratepayers' Association, which the workmen of the town intend starting, will be a genuine workmen's affair which will decline to bo bossed by anybody. If the work- men are not jealous of one another, and allow that feeling to obstruct everything else, they can mane themselves a force which will have to be reckoned with. The nearest approach we have to workman's represen- tation in Carmarthen is that some of the Pliillistines in a burst of magnanimity will say an occasional good word of the workmen —at election times. There arc, undoubtedly, men of talent on tho Carmarthen Town Council but as for the rest—I could pick a number of men equally as intelligent out of any squad of platelayers or stone-breakers. The Cor- poration is too much of a clique altogether. If it were leavened with another class, it might not, indeed, be much of an improve- ment; but we may rest assured it would not be any worse. The Corseinon collier who came into a grocer's shop in Blue-street and tried to frighten the people into giving him tobacco made a slight miscalculation. He got no tobacco nor will lie be allowed to use tobacco for the next month. People in Blue-street are not to be "bluffed." Those who wish to paint the town red had better begin somewhere else. i The female gipsy who hit the Ferryside policeman over the head with a ginger-beer bottle came up at the Hall on Saturday, and put in as a defence that she was the mother of thirteen children." Extraordinarily large families do not, however- in the eyes of the Carmarthen bench, at any rate—constitute an adequate defence for a breach of the peace. She got 14 days for drunkenness another 14 days for the assault 1; and narrowly escaped getting another month for having thirteen children. Two people were convicted in Carmarthen last week of assaulting tha police and each of them had "a month." A policeman is not to be lightly tampered with. However, you can always assault your wife for the moderate sum of 40s and costs. Therefore, if you must assault someone, let it be your wife. This is urged not upon the principle of "fiat experi- mentuin in corpore vili," but upon the simple ground of economy and personal convenience. I 1 The Chamber of Commerce has not Deen able to do much but they have at any rate done their best. In regard to a Recreation Ground they appointed a committee to confer with a committee of the Carmarthen Town Council. As might be expected—when the Town Council had a finger in it- nothing has been heard of the committee since. All the horrors of baby farming pale IrdW'e the number of innocent committees which have been burked by the Town Council. # The polico made a regular raid on tho local taverns on Sunday; and from information received, I am enabled to state that some of our licensed victuallers will be defendants at the Guildhall on Monday next. They are charged with breaches of that much-condemned piece of legislation- the Sunday Closing Act. '>I< Friday was May-day. In the good old davs, maidens used to go out and wash 10 the morning dow and catch snails. zn Nowadays they read Trilby and ride on bicycles. :Ii # A bold attempt was made on Monday to enlist a respectable and well-conducted dog in the Royal Artillery. One of the Shonis," who was staggering under the weight of his kit," attempted to put his Sunday-Church-parade-cap on this inoffensive canine. The dog however, reiected the offer, whilst a look of the most profound scorn illuminated his mobile countenance. Her Majesty's uniform is not to 1Jo thrown to the dogs-if the dogs them- selves have any voice in the matter. The Guardians are being hauled over the coals because there is not a proper supply of water to the House." The Board has decided to make application to the Town Council for a better scheme. The water- scheme mania after his downward career seems destined to end his days in the workhouse. What a melancholy termina- t.o:i to such an erstwhile glorious career i *# iIf The demand for a public field in Carmar- then has assumed a much more serious aspect than a desire for a Recreation Ground. There appears to be an imperative need of a field for horse and cattle shows. If that is not provided, the shows will be simply held elsewhere. If they are removed, they will never come back. And if this happens, Carmarthen—the biide of the Towy—will be nothing better than a woman with a past. The "ancient borough of Carmarthen is all very fine; but there is just a possibility of being a trifle too ancient. What we want to be is a little more up to date. Antiquity has no cash value nowadays except in the case of the life of a relative with plenty of money. < Another event which a strong effort will be made to take away from the town is the Assizes. Of course, Carmarthen has all the accommodation necessary, and is more accessible than Llanelly but, at the same time, the Carmarthen people should wake up to the fact now and see that their side of the case is properly heard. The authorities at Carmarthen are of pretty much the character of the waggoner, who lay'down and called upon Hermes to pull the waggon out of the rut. I often wonder whether the lotus is an article of diet in this neighbour- hood. No matter how well intentioned the Chamber of Commerce is, they cannot do much to hurry on the G.W.R. in the improvement of the railway accommoda- tion at Carmarthen. If the whole Board of Directors were killed at the crossing, some- thing might possibly be done within the next century. Under ordinary circum- stances, we may as well make up our minds for a wait of a few thousand years. The master of the workhouse said on Saturday that it might be years before the Council went in for a proper water scheme. It may. In fact, it is like Kathleen Mavourneen. "It may be for years, and it may be for ever." This town is managed on Kathleen Mavoureen lines altogether. A black flag of unknown design flew from the pinnacle of St. Mary's Retreat during the end of last week. From its general appearance, I should say it was the "Jolly Roger but I am unable to speak with any degree of authority on the point. <5. # Things are going from bad to worse in the Carmarthen Corporation. The quarterly meeting of the Finance Committee was held on Monday for the transaction of important business. Out of the twenty-four members there were present five, viz. :-The Mayor, Mr Walter Lloyd, Mr John Lewis, Mr Howell Howells, and Mr W. Spurrell. Of all the members who so strenuously insisted that the whole Council should bo on the committee, there were present none—but 19 absentees. The young ladies who bought love powder and dragon's blood for their mystic performance with reference to their sweethearts, have been visiting the chemist's again. One, I hear, has heard from her charmer," but the other is still without her beloved. Hope on, dear girl! Burn more of the composition, and if you have faith, he may still come-whethor you burn it or otherwise! There is a tree in a secluded rural lane near the town which affords a nice shady retreat for study. One of our embryonic pedagogues, who was hidden away there on Tuesday, saw a sight which was not particularly conducive to study. Two young folks, possessed of two hearts that beat as one," sat under the leafy shade; and the subsequent proceedings may be more safely left to the imagination than described by my pen. This was a case of being" up a tree with a vengeance. The lire-bell rang out about 11 p.m. on Tuesday, and crowds thronged to the fire in Water-street. The conflagration was caused by an inhabitant of the lodging house let fall one of the sausages which he was frying for his supper into the grate. The fat being in the fire an unusually grate. The fat being in the fire an unusually large puff of smoke went up the chimney and thus gave rise to the alarm. No lives were lost. The "Washing Competition" at the English Congregational Schoolroom has I proved successful. A much more interesting 0 event would be a face-washing competition —the materials to be 6 lbs of I: oft soap, a tub of water, and six corner-boys." V* The Rev A. Fuller Mills said at the Press dinner on Monday evening that ho had a great respect for all pressmen from the Editor down to the Devil. He was not aware what the distance was between those two functionaries, but he included them all. The distance is not very great, but there would be no distance at all between them if some well-wishers had their own way. # Bishop Mostvn preached on Thursday week before a congregation not one-fourth of whom were members of his own faith. He was then, indeed, a Bishop in partialis infidelium. The new translation of fiat expcrimcntum m corpore viii :-Let there be no more experimenting by this vile Corporation. J Tobias TWISTER.

-4' The Great Need of the Age Is some scientifically arranged preparation which is some j, ith the prevalent diseases of this WlU which vvill be certain1to do good when fairly S which will be equally adapted to the needs of the Unt and workman, the professional man, and he merchant ana worni w.b3 T the clerk, theiotory hand, the miner,' and student, tn It should be, too, such a pre- the roadside labourer. injurious ingredient3) and paration as c impunity by tho weakly which may be take well a8 by the stronger child or the delicat « y digcovery WOuld deserve to constituted man- { Medicinal Preparations, Invaluable Boon to Sufler, proved to be satisfactory. ^his world- Quinine Bitters, the £ rong]y recommended for renowned medicine l Debility in any f°rin» affections of the chest, Ueoimy Depression of Spirits, etc. each. See the on s £ !np. *°a Bottle, as there are numerous imitations. PftopRIETORS QUININE BITTERS MANUFACTURING Co., LIMITED, LLANELLY, SOUTH WALES.