The Weekly News and Visitors' Chronicle for Colwyn Bay Colwyn Llandrillo Conway Deganwy and Neighbourhood

THE CROWNING SCENE." ONCF ,ga; 'n we have to take np our pen to deplore and condemn the manner in which the business of Cviv/yn Bay and Colwyn is conducted at the District Council. Surely there are many besides ourselves among the ratepayers of the district who deplore the constant succession of violent scenes which are now looked for, all over the country, as a concomitant of the monthly Council meetings A jocular friend of ours once remarked Well, its all right, put it in the papers it advertises Colwyn Bay." There is some truth in that, it does advertise Colwyn Bay, but it advertises Colwyn Bay in a very undesir- able manner. When Mr H. M. Stanley was on his way to Carnarvon a few years ago, a number of boys of all ages crowded round the first-class carriage in which he was seated, at Menai Bridge, for the purpose of obtaining a good look at the famous traveller. A fellow-passenger, with a view to opening up a conversation with Mr Stanley, observed to him, after the train had started, That is the penalty of being notorious, Mr Stanley." Notorious," growled Stanley, notorious is the term applied to a thief." And it is not fame but notoriety that Colwyn Bay is obtaining by the constant publication of the "violent scenes" which occur with monoton- ous frequency at the monthly meetings of its District Council. Well, notoriety is not a desirable thing to have attached to one's name, or place of residence, and-on this account alone, —these scenes are to be deprecated. But there is a far more serious aspect of the case, which ought to be brought to light in the interests of the ratepayers." As our readers are probably aware, when any great public work is under- taken by a District Council, the money for carry- ing out that work, has. as a rule, to be borrowed, and interest paid on it. There are certain firms who make it part of their business to advance money required for such purposes, and their rate of interest is fixed upon a consideration of the security offered for its repayment. Naturally these firms will gladly advance any reasonable amount of money to a Municipal Corporation or District Council, at a low rate of interest, where they find the security irreproachable, and the management of the local public affairs in the hands of capable men. We have no hesitation in saying that the security available for such pur- poses in connection with Colwyn Bay is perfectly satisfactory but we have not the same confidence in regard to the capabilities of its administrators and it is only too likely that the capitalists of whom we have spoken, will base their opinion of the Capacities of the Local Government Body of Colwyn Bay, upon the newspaper reports of their proceedings. We put it to our readers. What opinions of our local rulers are these firms likely to form from a consideration of their doings as reported in the daily papers ? Is it likely, or even possible, to be a favourable opinion ? We think not and, it it should be an unfavourable one, it cannot be expected that any money that may be required, will be advanced at as Iowa rate of interest as that charged on money advanced to public bodies who have a reputation for conduct- ing public business in a businesslike manner. Consequently, should these capitalists feel bound to lend the required money at an advanced rate of interest, owing to the muddle and confusion characterising the methods of doing their public business in the case of any particular Local Government Body, the ratepayers of the district governed by such a Body, will be directly saddled with an unnecessarily increased expenditure, the direct outcome of the mismanagement of public business by its representatives on District or Municipal Council, as the case may be. Hence the imperious necessity of a strict and business- like performance of duty at all such Local Govern- ment Bodies. From what we have already said, and from a consideration of the discreditable mismanagement of public business, as seen during the last twelve months at the Colwyn Bay District Council, of which we have over and over again complained in these columns, without, apparently, affecting the slightest improvement, it will be seen that, in regard to the borrowing of money urgently required for the carrying out of important public works, the District Council of Colwyn Bay is heavily handicapped, while the ratepayers in the District are in some degree of (if not in imminent) danger of having to pay the piper for such dis- cordant music and ungainly dancing as has been the laughing-stock of a large portion of the country for at least the last twelve months, and, on these grounds, we, as representing the rate- payers (though it has been said that our circula- tion is limited and likely to remain so "), feel it incumbent upon us once again to condemn, in no equivocal terms, the disgraceful mismanagement of public business characteristic of the Colwyn Bay and Colwyn District Council. Almost every meeting of this Body supplies texts from which to preach sermons of this kind. The Standing Orders are habitually ignored, and that in the most outrageous manner. It is the rule, and not the exception, for two or three members to speak at the same time while, at almost every meeting of the Council, matters not on the agenda are brought forward, discussed, and even voted upon. Almost as frequently, motions passed at a meet- ing of the Council, are rescinded at the same meet- ing,-a grotesque perversion of order which is simply incredible to members of other similar Bodies. We have a clear recollection of one meeting at which at least two (if not three) motions passed at that meeting, were rescinded at the same meeting. Add to these the continual utterance of gross and vulgar personalities, and a fair picture of the manner in which the Colwyn Bay and Colwyn District Council transacts the public business, is complete. We are stating nothing new in stating this. We have said the same thing frequently before, without a single dissentient voic being- raised against our accusa- tions. Are the ratepayers of Colwyn Bay and Colwyn content with such a condition of things, content to allow it to go on for ever ? The remedy is absolutely in their own hands, and no power in the constitution can remedy it for them, unless they apply that remedy themselves. It is not for us to point out that remedy. It is one which lies in their own hands, and which they themselves only can apply. We must now revert to a subject which we had noted for consideration after a perusal of our re- port in last week's issue of the proceedings at the last ordinary meeting of the Colwyn Bay District Council, in the course of which Mr Blud moved:— That this Council, after reviewing the History of the Cowlyd Water Scheme, is satisfied that the Rev Venables-Williams no longer represents the views of the majority of its members or the rate- payers in general, and so calls upon him to resign his seat on the Board." As our readers will remember, that meeting of the Council was marked by a series of scenes of a violent character, some of which preceded, and one was associated with, Mr Blud's motion. During the course of the preceding scenes, personalities of a regrettable nature were indirlged-in, most of them quite unrebuked by the Chairman, to whose laxity in the chair we now, as we have previously done, attribute a considerable share of the dis- order which regularly obtains at the Council meetings, and it is undoubtedly a serious failure, on the part of the Chairman, that he has not, and does not, more stringently enforce the rules (not to say the amenities) of debate, while he is in the chair. No doubt Mr Thomas Parry has the best intentions in the world, but facilis descensus Averni, and good intentions are of little use apart from good deeds, especially in a case of this kind. However, we have said enough on this point, and doubtless Mr Parry will have further opportunities of ruling the Council in a far different manner to that in which he has ruled it in the past. Well, Mr Blud moved his motion, and read a speech in support of it. As our readers are aware, there has been a long standing agitation against the Cowlyd Water Board, on the ground of alleged mismanagement, and what is aptly described, in Mr Bevan's words, as the crowning scene," was consummated at the last ordinary meeting of the Council. Mr Bevan was not re- ferring particularly to this agitation, as far as we can judge from our report of his remarks, when he said Mr Chairman, I think, sir, with due deference to you, you have allowed this matter to sink, from a discussion of a matter of policy, into a personal attack on the Chairman of the Cowlyd Board [Hear, hear], and, whatever gain we have derived from the advent among us of nc;w members on our Council, I feel convinced, and I say it with regret, that they have considerably lowered the tone of discussion on this Board, for* during the last twelve months it has descended to nothing but personal bickerings and quarellings [hear, hear], and this is the crowning scene." But his words apply very well, for, in fact, if not in intent, Mr Blud's motion was undoubtedly "the crowning scene in the agitation against the alleged mis- management of the Cowlyd Water Scheme, by the Cowlyd Board. We need not say much about the violent language used by Mr Blud when the Rev W. Venables-Williams left the room on Mr Blud being called upon by the Chairman to move the motion of which he had given notice, but we observe with regret that that language was not rebuked by the Chairman. That regret is tempered by the satisfaction we feel on reading that the Rev J. G. Howarth, a gentleman who cannot be suspected of undue partiality for the Rev W. Venables-Williams, strongly condemned Mr Blud's violent language, and called upon him to "withdraw" the phrase "moral coward" flung by Mr Blud after the retiring Chairman of the Cowlyd Water Board, and added the very sensible observation, in reply to a remark of Mr Blud's, that a man is not obliged to remain to be insulted." We imagine our readers will cordially endorse Mr Howarth's remark, and as cordially condemn Mr Blud's fierce outburst. Let us revert then to a consideration of Mr Blud's speech, which, be it remembered, was not made on the spur of the moment, but was the outcome of careful thought, and written down. But, be- fore dealing with the speech itself, we must, we fear at the risk of wearying our readers, once again recapitulate the main features of the subject on which Mr Blud based his motion. Some six or seven years ago, the question of a new water-supply for Colwyn Bay was mooted, by someone. It does not matter a pin who. Later on, that idea took the larger form of a Scheme for a Joint Water Supply to the Districts of Colwyn Bay, Conway Rural, and Conway Urban. The Local Government Bodies of each of these Districts conferred together on the subject, and the outcome of their deliberations was the decision to combine together for the pro- curing of a joint supply, at the joint cost of the Districts concerned, the object, of course, being economy. That idea was deliberately adopted by all the Districts named, after plenty of discussion; and ultimately a Provisional Order was obtained, authorising the carrying out of such a Scheme, and creating an Authority or Board, under the title of the Cowlyd Joint Water-Supply Board," to carry out and administer such Scheme. That Board consisted, and still consists, of members of each Constituent Authority, elected by each Con- stituent Authority to represent their particular Constituent Authority on (and collectively to form) the Joint Water Board. The members elected by the Colwyn Bay Local Board, were the Rev W. Venables-Williams, Mr A. O. Walker, Mr John Porter, and the Rev Thomas Parry. The other Districts similarly sent representatives (whose names for the moment escape us), and, altogether, these representatives formed the Cowlyd Joint Water Board. As in the case of every other public Body, one of the very first acts of this body was to elect a Chairman, and that body of gentlemen, among whom, be it remem- bered, were Messrs A. O. Walker, John Porter, and Thomas Parry, all representing Colwyn Bay, deliberately considering it the best thing thing to do, and after asking, like Mr Bevan, Who was or is more fitted, by knowledge, by experience, and by business capacity, than our worthy Vicar, to occupy the post of Chairman of the Cowlyd Water Board?' unanimously elected the Rev W. Venables-Williams to be the Chairman of the Cowlyd Water Board, and, we may add in passing, that Board, in spite of its changes of membership, has ever since retained the Rev W. Venables-Williams as its Chairman. The Board then went on with the work for which it was called into existence, and has since made many mistakes, costly mistakes,—mistakes which have delayed the completion of the Scheme far beyond the time originally anticipated, and increased its total cost to an extent a long way beyond the amount originally estimated. It may at once be said that it is certain that no one regrets these mistakes, these delays, and this increased expenditure, more than the members of the Cowlyd Board themselves, all large ratepayers in the District, and all equally liable to be rated for the support of the Scheme. Well, after a time, a very curious phenomenon in connexion with this Board began to be observed, and it took the form of some of its members, as it were, withdrawing themselves in effect from all responsibility in connexion with the Board as far as mistakes, delays, and increased expenditure, was concerned, -gat b eriti g up their robes about themselves, and dissociating themselves from its blunders, and mismanagements, and increased liabilities. These would-be seceders then took up an attitude of accusation, and began to publicly condemn the Board (of which, let our readers not forget for one moment, they were, and had from the beginning been-in at least one case,- members), on account of these mistakes, delays, etc. The Rev Thomas Parry, Chairman of the Colwyn Bay District Council, took a prominent part in this movement, and last December publicly made a series of what Mr Blud has described as grave and serious charges against the Cowlyd Board. With Mr Parry's remarks on that occasion, we subsequently dealt in a leading article, in the course of which we invited Mr Parry to reply to certain questions, the burden of which was Did he or did he not, vote for doing any of the things for doing which he, in that speech, condemned the Board?" Mr Parry has not thought fit to reply to our queries, but, at a sub- sequent meeting of the Colwyn Bay District Council, Mr Blud moved a motion calling upon the Chairman of the Cowlyd Water Board to say whether he had any answer to make to the grave and serious charges publicly made, at a public meeting, by a public man, against the Cowlyd Water Board. The Chairman of the Cowlyd Board not being present at that meeting, no reply was made to Mr Blud's challenge except by Messrs John Roberts and John Porter, who, while admitting that the Board had made mistakes, assured the Council that they had been made unwittingly. We dealt with Mr Blud's observations on that occasion, too, and asked Mr Blud as we had previously asked Mr Thomas Parry, to define these "grave and serious charges," and let the ratepayers know what was meant. As we have already said, Mr Parry did not vouchsafe us any reply. Mr Blud, however, was not so reticent, but he was equally unsatis- factory, for his only reply was that he did not value our opinions that he did not" consider our paper was an independent organ, but merely the mouth-piece of one man and that our circulation was a limited one, and likely to remain so"; "grave and serious" allegations these, indeed, but still not exactly what we asked for, and not in the remotest degree reflecting on the Cowlyd Water Board. The next scene in the drama we are discussing, was played at the last ordinary meeting of the Colwyn Bay and Colwyn District Council, when Mr Blud moved the motion and read the speech we have already referred-to. Now it might be supposed that at last our request for a defining of the grave and serious charges" said by Mr Blud to have been made by Mr Thomas Parry against the Cowlyd Board, was about to be acceded-to, especially as Mr Blud had written his statement, and based upon it a demand for the resignation, by the Chairman of the Cowlyd Water Board, of his seat on that Board. But we are again disappointed. Mr Blud's speech contains the assertion that the ratepayers, if asked, would immediately denounce the Scheme as the most costly and most unsatisfactory of all Schemes connected with the District that the Rev W. Venables-Williams, on his own showing, was chiefly responsible for that Scheme that the Rev W. Venables-Williams has again and again boasted of the Scheme as being one of the finest in the Kingdom; that the Rev W. Venables- Williams had said that the Provisional Order only cost £6 8s iod, and in saying that did not com- prehend what he was talking about that these Provisional Orders did not contain compulsory powers, and that hence followed actions for trespass and costly litigation that the majority of the Cowlyd Water Board declare that their responsibility for a supply of water finishes at Sarn Mynach, though it was called a "Joint Water-Supply Board that Conway practically has almost full control of the main and of the main supply, and, from last summer's irregular and precarious supply at Colwyn Bay, might be judged what was to be expected from Conway that, though it had been said that the water could not come to Colwyn Bay because there was a great leakage somewhere, or because the pipes were corroded, it had been discovered that the water was never allowed to come; that, judging from the reports of the proceedings at the last meeting of the Cowlyd Board, the Chairman (the Rev W. Venables-Williams) did not support in any way the demands of the Colwyn Bay repre- sentatives; that he (Mr Blud) had moved that a copy of all documents relating to contracts, etc., in connexion with the Scheme, should be supplied to the District Council, which request had never been complied with; that the Chairman of the Cowlyd Water Board had never consulted the Colwyn Bay people at all in this matter; that, had he done so, the Colwyn Bay people would have demanded an independent supply that he (Mr Blud) need not go into the working of the scheme, inasmuch as the Chair- man of the Council had laid it bare, before a town's meeting, in all its ugly nakedness, and showed how the ratepayers' money had been recklessly squandered that the scheme was corruptly conceived, born in sin and shapen in iniquity and that he (Mr Blud) believed that, in moving that vote of censure, he was voicing the opinion of the people. Now we don't believe that. Mr Blud may think he was voicing the opinion of the people," but we think he was merely voicing the opinion (however unwittingly) of a small but loud-mouthed clique of men, whose. ignorance of the details of the Scheme is only equalled by the relentless acrimony with which they have per- sistently condemned it and its author. However, it was on the series of statements we have just summarised, that Mr Blud based his demand for the resignation, by the Rev. W. Venables- Williams, of his seat on the Cowlyd Joint Water Board We refrain from expressing our own opinion of Mr Blud's demand, but we may say that it is not surprising that the Council promptly rejected it, by 5 votes to 2. In the whole of Mr Blud's carefully prepared indictment, there is not one single count on which an impartial jury would dream of convicting and, though it may savour of rudeness, it is none the less correct to describe it as balderdash," pure and simple. We do not consider it worth dealing with phrase by phrase, being confident that our readers have seen through its shallow pretence of solidity, its hackneyed trickery of phrase, and its bombastic peroration. We do not say of it, as Mr Blud said of the Cowlyd Water Scheme, that it was cor- ruptly conceived, born in sin, and shapen in iniquity," but we do say that there was never a more pointed illustration of the saying mons. parturiens nascitur ridiculus tnus. We need not offer any remarks in defence of the Cowlyd Water Board or of its .Chairman. Messrs John Roberts and George Bevan defended the absent Chairman with a manly vigor and straightforwardness which is refreshing to read. It is to be regretted that Mr Thomas Parry did not take an equally definite position in the controversy. Mr Parry has all along been one of the most bitter and outspoken assailants of the conduct of the Cowlyd Water Board. Yet here, when there was a grand opportunity of clinching his arguments against the mismanagement .of which lie has so long and so loudly complained, he feebly stands neutral, and declares that, being an interested party, he will not vote one way or the other If Mr Parry believed that the conduct of the Cowlyd Board deserved censure, the manly part would have been to have shown the courage of his convictions (as, we are bound to admit, Mr Blud did), and vote for Mr Blud's motion. If he did not believe in them, he should have voted against Mr Blud's motion. The course he actually took, was most unsatisfactory under all the cir- cumstances, and does not tend to the enhance- ment of his reputation for courage.

Prudential Assurance Company, Limited. We have not the space in the present article, to go fully into the history of this great institution, but the fact is well-known that the Prudential holds the highest position among the Life Assu- rance organisations of this country, and has by far the largest number of policy-holders of any Life Assurance Company in the world, they num- bering at the end of 1895, no less than 11,648,069. The position is indeed a proud one.-As shewing the magnitude which the business of this great Company has reached we quote from the annual report in our present issue for the year ending December 31st, 1895, which shows that in the ORDINARY BRANCH.—The number of Policies issued during the year was 61,450, assuring the sum of Z6,285,260, and producing a New Annual Premium Income of £ 342,478. The Premiums received during the year were Z2,304,013, being an increase of Z226,057 over the year 1894. The Claims of the year amounted to £ 572,289. The number of Deaths was 4,479, and 218 Endow- ment Assurances matured. The number of Policies in force at the end of the year was 414,137. INDUSTRIAL BRANCH.—The Premiums received during the year were £ 4.352,625, being an in- crease of £ 108,401. The Claims of the year amounted to Z 1,797,688. The number of Deaths was 196,507, and 1,418 Endowment Assurances matured. The total number of Policies in force at the end of the year was 11,682,748 their average dura- tion is nearly seven and three-quarter years. The Directors have made more than one at- tempt to deal with the difficult question of old age pensions for the Industrial classes, and they are happy to state that the special tables combining assurance with a provision for old age, which they issued in September last, have met with con- siderable success. At the end of the year the number of Policies in force under these tables as the result of three months' working was 169,791, producing an Annual Premium Income of £ 62,974. Combining the figures of the two branches, it will be seen that the premium receipts were £ 6,656,638; the claims paid, Z2,369,977 the number of deaths, 200,986; and the 1636 endowment Assurances matured. The assets have been increased during the year L2,702,085, and now standat the enormous sumof £ 23,915,890. No better evidence of the confidence of the people in the Prudential can be furnished than these stu- pendous transactions and but for the fact that the Agents are the Company's loyal servants, and the policy-holders its staunchest friends, such results would be altogether impossible. As a supplement to the last report, a by no means small book has been issued, containing a list of the securities in which the funds of the Company are invested. This occupies forty pages, and is unique in the information it gains to the public, many hundreds of municipal and other loans are here set forth which shows that, from Orkney in the North, to the Isle of White in the South, and from Bodmin in the West, to Sunderland in the East, there is scarcely a single town of im- portance in Great Britain which has not borrowed from the Prudential. The romance of figures given in the report, while bewildering in their almost incomprehensible magnitude, are flattering to our national instincts, which impel us to regard with pride and admiration the transactions of this truly national Life Assurance institution.

Conway Rural District Council. At the above-named District Council's monthly meeting, at Conway, on Friday, March 6th, the Chairman (Mr J. Da vies, J.P.) presided. The other members present, were County-Councillor Hugh Owen, and Messrs Robert Evans, Richard Jones, E. Williams, G. O. Jones, and W. F. Jones the Clerk (Mr T. E. Parry), the Surveyor (Mr Hugh Jones), and the Sanitary Inspector (Mr Elias Davies), were also present. THE HIGHWAY SURVEYOR'S REPORT. The Highway Surveyor's report was read as follows Pant, Talybont, Conway,—To the Chairman and members of the Conway Rural District Council.—I beg to submit the following report for the past month 1. The materials for wheelbarrow by Mr J. Hughes, Talycafn, were satisfactory, and I gave him an order for 11. 2. I feel it my duty to draw your attention to the Proprietors of the Pyllau Cochion Mines. They have, by carting heavy loads of metal, considerably damaged the roads, and thus enhanced the cost of re- pairing same, as the parts they use have no good foundation. 3. Again, with respect to the Cowlyd Water Works, they also have greatly damaged a road within the District by dragging large pipes, each weighing about 3}. tons, along it; consequently, the road, for about a mile, is greatly out of repair. 4. I further believe that I ought to draw your atten- tion to what might have been a very serious accident, and which happened to one of the teams engaged in carrying gravel for repairing in the Parish of Cae- rhun, on the 25th inst. While the team was going in the direction of Roe Wen, and not far from Pont Ddol y Castell, one of the horses became restive, and, owing to a gap on the right side of the road, horses and man fell down a steep cliff. It is almost a miracle that either man or horses escaped with their lives; as it was, one of the horses was injured, and the cart and gear were shattered. 5. I gave orders for a mark for the wheelbarrows &c., the mark being 'C.D.C.' (Signed) HUGH JONES, 29th Feb.. 1896." It was decided that the Clerk be instructed to write to the Pyllau Cochion Mining Co., and the Contractor for the Cowlyd Water Works, asking them to put the roads in repair. It was also resolved that the Clerk write to the Carnarvon- shire County Council, drawing their attention to the dangerous state of Pont Ddol y Castell. Mr Robert Evans asked the Surveyor whether it would not be advisable to get the steam-roller on a certain road at Llysfaen, and, the Surveyor having replied in the affirmatively, it was decided to hire the Colwyn Bay steam-roller. THE SANITARY INSPECTOR'S REPORT. The Sanitary Inspector's report for the past month, was as follows High Street, Conway, 3rd March, 1896.-To the Chairman and Members of the Conway Rural District Council,—Gentlemen,—I beg to submit as my Report tor, the last month Llysfaen pai-ish.-I received complaints from Col. WhIte, of Havod, and Miss Palin, Tanllwyfan, on il-unt of insufficient water supply. I went to Colwyn Bay, and told the Inspector that he must aend water up that night, which was done. If water #a« 's^»t up to the top of the Parish two nights a #eek, it would be a sufficient supply. Caerhun Parish.—I am in correspondence with the owner of Gerlan Terrace, Roe Wen, upon which I Save previously reported. I received a letter from fljtr Griffiths, the owner's solicitor, stating that he would be down this week, but he has not yet been. I would recommend that proceedings be taken against Misa Griffith, Llican, as the receiver of the rents. There is no privy or ashpit, and, before the evil can be remedied, proceedings must be taken. Penybont Cottages.—These cottages are in a very bad state of repair, and I have served Mr Pritchard, Bangor, with notice to erect a combined privy and ashpit, according to plan delivered, in 28 days from service of notice. Parish of Penrhyn. I have visited the above- named Parish about three times a week, and it has now a proper supply of water from the Cowlyd main. I have dispensed with the use of the Mission Room. One Nurse left last Tuesday fortnight, and the other will only remain this week, as the one case will be eu convalescent. I beg to recommend that the labourer be kept there for three days a week for the {i^eaent, to clear privies and ashpits. Parish of Gyffin.-I have visited the cottages called Barracks, and found two of them empty, and the re- maining tenant will leave at an early date -I am, Gentlemen, your obedient servant, K. DAVIES." LLYSFAEN WATER SUPPLY. Some discussion took place with regard to the Llysfaen water supply, Mr Robert Evans stating tbat, if a fever broke out at Llysfaen, similar to that at Penrhynside, it would be a very serious matter. They at Llysfaen had not had, he might almost say, any water for the last three weeks. The Parish Council had applied to the Colwyn Bay District Council, and to the Joint Water Board, but to no purpose, and, at their next meeting, on the 9th inst., were going, if this Council would not do so, to apply to the Local Government Board, for an Inquiry into the matter. Mr Evans also asked the Inspector why he had gone to Colwyn Bay abont the water supply. The Inspector Because Colwyn Bay is the proper place, and the only place whence we could send the water up to Llysfaen. Mr Evans Yes, but they could not do that without pumping. The Inspector Oh, yes they did it the night I went there. There is enough force in the Cowlyd water to go up to Llysfaen without pumping, if only Colwyn Bay would close some of the valves on their main and, if they did that for two nights a week, there would be no complaint from Llysfaen. Mr Robert Evans then proposed that the Council should send to the Local Government Board, stating that, owing to the Cowlyd water- supply to Llysfaen having to pass through the Colwyn Bay Urban District Councils main, which is entirely under the control of that Council, there was an insufficient water-supply at Llysfaen, which was a very serious matter, referring the Local Government Board to Articles 13 and 20 of the Cowlyd Water-Supply Board's Provisional Order, and asking their advice in such matter. Mr W. F. Jones seconded, and the motion was carried. GERLAN TERRACE. It was resolved, on the motion of Mr G. O. Jones to proceed against the owner of Gerlan Terrace. PENYBONT. /Resolved that no action be taken at present. I PARISH OF PENRHYN. It was decided, on the motion of Mr R. Evans, that the labourer be kept on at Penrhynside for the present. PLANS. The Inspector submitted plans of Houses, for Mr H. Hughes (Erskine Terrace) at Talysarn, and they were approved. MEDICAL OFFICER'S REPORT. From the Medical Officer's Report for the month of January, it appeared that the death-rate in the District was as follows :—Conway Rural District, 4*7 per 1000 per annum Glan Conway District, 15*9 per 1000 per annum. PENRHYNSIDE SEWERAGE. The Clerk said that there were some of the Penrhyn Parish Councillors averse to accepting the tenders of either Messrs Sheffield and Evans (Rhyl) or Messrs Jones and Ellis (Colwyn Bay), for the sewerage works at Penrhynside, because Mr T. Bugbird's tender was lower, and they thought it better to accept Mr Bugbird's tender on that account; but they had no power to do so without the consent of the District Council. Mr Robert Evans thought that the best course would be for this Council to accept one of the two recommended (at the last meeting) to the notice of the Penrhyn Parish Council. After some discussion, Mr G. O. Jones proposed, and County-Councillor Hugh Owen seconded, that Messrs Jones and Ellis's tender be accepted subject to the sureties being satisfactory, and this was carried unanimously. INFECTIOUS DISEASES HOSPITAL. The Clerk presented the report of the Council's representatives at the conference of Authorities with regard to the proposed Joint Infectious Diseases Hospital, from which it appeared that the conference had decided to erect a Hospital, subject to its being situated within three miles of the centre of the Penmaenmawr Urban Council's District. Messrs Robert Evans, Edward Williams, and Richard Jones objected, as the Hospital would be too far from the other portions of the Conway Rural District. Mr W. F. Jones thought that the Council had better join with the other Authorities now, as they would, sooner or later, have to get a Hospital for the District, and he thought this the best and cheapest opportunity. He proposed that the Council join the other Authorities to have a Hospital. County-Councillor Hugh Owen, seconding, said that, if they went in with the other Authorities at present, they would save a great deal of the rate- payers' money. For example, take the outbreak of fever at Penrhynside, what a lot of money had been expended, which, if they had had a Hospital, would have been saved. If another outbreak were to occur in the District, it would be a very serious matter for the Council. On the motion being put to the meeting, it was lost by 3 votes to 2. GLEBE LANDS ACT. The Clerk read a notice received from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, to the eftect that they intended to sell the Glebe Lands in Pentre- foelas, Eglwysrhos, Llangwstenin, and Caerhun. In reply to County-Councillor Hugh Owen, the Clerk stated that the notice was sent in case the Council would like to buy some of the land, for allotments. It was decided that the matter be left on the table. APPLICATION FOR WATER. With regard to an application for connecting his premises with the water-main, from Mr Hugh Jones (Penrhyn Isa'), it was decided to support the Penrhyn Parish Council in their refusal to entertain the application. THE RATE. The Clerk having stated that he could not, owing to his not having received any information from the late Highway Authorities, give an exact estimate for the rate for the next year, said that, so far as he was abl judge, a 6d rate would be sufficient. Several members objected to this amount, as the expenditure in their parishes did not warrant such a heavy rate. .i-Couiicillor Hugh Owen moved that the rate be J. 6d in the £ He thought that they had better be on the safe side, and, by the time of making the-- next rate, the Clerk would be able to give an exact estimate. Mr W. F. Jones seconded. Mr Robert Evans proposed that the rate be 3d in the The original motion was, however, carried. ACCOUNTS. The following accounts were presented and re- i commended for payment:—Infectious Diseases Notification (Dr T. L. Kenrick-Davies), £3 6s 6d Principal and Interest (Bank of England), £$3 6s 2d Advertisement (Messrs Lee and j Nightingale), C12 12S.