Rhondda Leader Maesteg Garw and Ogmore Telegraph

Letters on any subject of public interest are cordially invited. The insertion, -of a letter does not necessarily mean that the Editor agrees with the views im- pressed therein. Correspondents should write on one side of the paper only, and no letter will be published unless the writer sends his name and address, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith.

Open Letter to Dr. A. G. Tribe. "A Ratepayer's" Challenge. Sir,—I am pleased to note your answers at a meeting held at the Treorchy Old Boys' School' on Tuesday March 23rd, to "A Ratepayer's" questions in the Rhoii(Ida Leader" for March 20th. In reply to the first question, you said that no scavenging refuse was dipped into the river, but it was true that refuse was tipped in that particular area, viz., the footbaH field, near Ainon Chapel." Quite true, Doctor; but it was in the 1906-07 contract that the refuse was tipped at the football field. In the 1907- contract, the refuse was tipped into the river behind Ainon Chapel, and if care to f*elect a member or two of Council to investigate the question, -A- Ratepayer" will meet you at any tune with witneeases to prove that refuse WajS tipped aa stated last year. In reply to the second question, you ?aid that double payments were only made tor the month of November, No'.v. Doctor, you know that payments were made for the months of October and November last, and were it not for the fact that a member for No. 3 Ward detected these Payments, the amounts would probably have been paid to this day. Why endea- vour to cast the blame on a junior clerk ill another department, when youi knew full well that the responsibility for this blunder rested entirely on the Health Department? It only goes to substan- tiate the Auditor's charges that you have no checking system. I am prepared to give, and have sent Two Guineas to the Editor of the Rhondda Leader," to be paid towards the Forth Cottage Hospital if it can be. proved that no payments were made to the scavengers of two districts ot your Ward for October and November last year of monies which were not due to the said contractors, and I am prepared to submit the matter to the decision of your colleague, Councillor W. P. Thomas, and Councillor Walter Williams, of Ward No. 3. In reply to the third question re con- i tracts, I am again prepared to submit this matter to Councillors W. P. Thomas and Walter Williams, or any member you may choose, and if "A Ratepayer" is proved to bo in the wrong, I am prepared to hand over a, further sum of Two Guineas to the Porth Cottage Hospital. If your statements prove to be inaccurate, I shall leave it to your generosity what sum you. shall contribute to the above inistitution.Youi-s, &c., A RATEPAYER.

Why not a Dramatic Society for Rhondda? To the Editor of the" Rhondda Leader." Sir,—The last public uterance I heard Previous to joining the profession of which I am now a humble member, was to the effect that there was sufficient dramatic t&lent in the Rhondda Valleys to form a Dramatic Society, and that it was liigh time steps were taken to provide an out- let for the histrionic powers of the in- habitants of the Valleys. Over twelve Months have elapsed since those remarks Were made, and although the gentlemen who made them are men whose names are household words in the Valleys, there lB still no such society in existence. I in all reasonableness, why? We have i°ng been renowned for our male voice choirs and our choral societies, and have late years made rapid strides with our brass, bands, and, in a smaller degree our orchestral societies. Again I ask, why no Dramatic Society? It is not for lack of talent or lack of public support, as

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The Progress of Man. Soci list Lecture at Tonypandy. I The last of the series: of lectures pro- moted by the Marxian Club Blaen- clydach, was delivered at the Theatre Royal, Tonypandy, on Sunday evening, by Mr. Dan Irving, Burnley. Taking as his subject "Socialism and How We Live," the speaker said that this was at the bottom of all other ques- tions, and although men had been on the earth for very many vears, this question was still unanswered. Still, many attempts had been made to answer it. In the first period, man found himself in the company of animals, and .they sup- plied him with food. As man increased and animals decreased, another means of subsistence had to be sought for, and the system of agriculture was introduced. This change came about not because the people desired a change, but because they multiplied, whereas their means of sub- sistence became scarcer. Even to-da v we were being driven to Socialism, whether we liked it or not. 1 ben followed the period of the serf,,4, and it was at the period which followed the serfs that people flocked from the country to the towns, and followed their crafts for the purpose of obtaining; food. Dealing with children, the speaker said that a child was regarded asi of added value to a tribe, but he did not think that ehiloren were regarded in very much the arae liight to-day. A great many v. ere looked ir-on as. burdens, but it would itut be lOng before every sane man would Lok upon a child as a, child of the ccm- • •• "ity in a much greater degree than it was the child of its parents. 1 -its. The. speaker, then went on to deal with existing conditions of labour, and said that the capitalistic system had- evolved sirii cl production, from simplicity to. a very high complexity. The earth was the storehouse of all raw material, because it produced everything that man. required. and civilisation would be .greatly advanced when they realised that the. earth could no longer be .private: -property-

Welsh PSace-Namet. The Alps of Glamorganshire. Malkin, who toured the Valley in 1803. before the sylvan beauty of its glens, woods and dales was marred by the industrialism of to-day, not inappro- priately termed the towering heights around the source of the Rhondda, the Alps of Glamorganshire." These Alps attain, their highest point in Craig y Llyn, which runs in an easterly direction from near Resolven in the Nedd Valley on to Hirwaun Common in the Cynon Valley. From this ridge, here nearing 2,000 feet above the sea, level, branch off four spurs, forming a series of almost parallel ridges, which are known towards the middle as Cefnau." The main ridges are Cefn Gwyngul," between the Cynon and the Rhondda- Fach Cefn. Rhondda," be- tween Rhondda Fawr and Rhondda Facli; and Coin Mawr (the great ridge), between the Nedd and the Avail. The mountains between Rhondda Fawr and the valleys: of the Corrwg and the Ogwr have no cefn) because of their irregu- l larity. I The two outlying ridges, Cefn Mawr and Cefn Gwyngul, when continued, meet at Craig y Llyn and form almost a right angle. Within these two arms are found the ],).! ziell it, or the Highlands, to dis- tinguish them from the "Fro." or marsh- land lying along the Channel. The highest points around Craig y Llyn --Cam Moesa., Mynydd y Beili Glas, and Craig y Bwlch—-must at one time have formed an important strategical point, for here meet the boundaries d three ancient Welsh kingdoms, Morgannwg. Brycheiniog, and Dynefwr, and of two dioceses, Llandaff and St. David's. Says the Rev. John Griffith, in his article, Talcen y Byd "—a happy designation for this ridge At that intelflstate cockpit the interests of Glamorgan have always been well guarded by this escarp- ment. It was to Morgannwg the angle of greatest resistance and a flying wedge of great strategic value." "It took the Norman lord of Cardiff (i.e., the Clares) two centuries, to annex Talcen y Byd' to his estates; that is, the latter never knew a Norman lord, and its final annexation by an Anglo-Norman was accomplished by an astute statesmanship accomplished by an astute statesmanship on the one nart, and by the operation on the other part of a natural law which eventually resulted in the re-conquest of the Vale by v Byd/ a conquest the nature and extent of which may be seen in the fact that the most thoroughly -to. beginning of the last century, in senti- ment and speech as thoroughly Welsh as anv part of Wales." Not only did this ridge act as a great I fighting plateau, but it served also as a dividing barrier between the people of South Wales, as far as speech is con- cerned. It is the central point from which branch off the boundaries of the Gwentian and Dimetian dialects with their various sub-dialects.

Malkin's Description of the Rhondda Heights. Leaving the historical and geographical significance, let us quote Malkin when he describes their natural beauty:—"Its mountains are not so high as those of Breconshire, but they present in a greater degree the appearance of Merionethshire by their extreme abruptness, which im- parts an air of wildness to the country, and of elevation extending the reality to them. The parish of Ystradyfodwg ex- hibits such scenes of untouched nature as the imagination would find it difficut to express. These mountains are not im- properly termed the Alps of Glamorgan- shire, where the rocks and hills are bold and more fantastical in their appearance than in any other part of the country, while the sides of ina-ny are clothed with an inexhaustible opulence of wood."

"The Go,eepi Valley." Mr. Cliffe wrote of the Valley in 1845 thus:—" We shall never forget our first impression of Ystradyfodwg.. When we had walked about half a mile over the hill, the clouds, which had been down on the hill, began to lift, and suddenly the Green Valley unfolded itself before us, with one of those exquisite effects peculiar to mountain scenery which a Claude could not transfer to canvas. The valley stretched for a distance of eight or ten miles between two nearly parallel lines of hills, broken by a succession of cliffs of singular beauty, apparently terminated by a vast Alpine headland, and feathered by trees or copse of wood to its summit—a mountain chief (Pen Pych) keeping, watch as we descended. The emerald greenness of the meadows in the valley below was most refreshing. The scenery, when ex- plored in detail, realised the first impres- sion. The air is aromatic with the. wild flowers and mountain plants. A Sabbath stillness reigns. It is the gem of Glamor- ganshire."

The Hills and Peaks In the Cefn Gwyugul (1,142 feet) range are Twyn y Briddallt (1,630 feet), Panwen Garreg Wen (1,397), Mynydd y Bwllfa (1,630), and Graig y Bwlch. In the Cefn Rhondda" range, starting lw near Porth, are Mynydd Troedyrhiw (1,100), Mynydd Penrhys (1,017), Mynydd Tyntyla (1,419), Mynydd yr Eglwys (1,567, the chief point of Cefn Rhondda, Moel Cadwgan, Mynydd Tynewydd, with Cam Bica (1,692), Penbilhwcan, Y Foel (pro- nounced V Fol). Mynydd Ystrad-ffernol (or ffyrnol), and Mynydd Beili in the Craig-y-Llyn ridge. In the range which skirts the western side of the Valley, we have at its upper- most end, in a north-westerly direction, J Cam Moesa (1,921), Cam Goch, Cefn Tylebyrch (1,756), Mynydd Blaenrhondda continued in Penpych, Cam y Wiwer, Cefnnantygwair, Bachgen Carreg (1,628), Mynydd Tyisha and Craig y Ddelw, Mynydd Tvlacoch (1,587), Graig Fawr (leading to Mynydd Llangeinor), Mynydd y Maendy, Mynydd y Ton, Mynydd y Bwllfa, Mvnydd William Meyrick (1,769), Mynydd PwJl yr Hebog (1,301 i, and Mynydd Penihiwfer (1,128). Books to be reviewed, and accounts of Welsh societies, &c., should be addressed: The Welsh Correspondent, c/o The Rhondda Leader,' Toifypandy." ——

The Government of the Rhondda. Public Meeting at Ton. A public meeting was held at the Ton Boys' School on Thursday last under the auspices of the Pentre Trades and Labour Council, when addresses were delivered by Councillor Tom Harries, Edward Jones, and Tom Evans. Mr. Dd. Thomas Maindy Road, presided, and dwelt on the changes that had taken place in local government in the Rhondda during the past 20 years. Mr. Tom Harries said that he felt es- pecially grateful to the Pentre Trades and Labour Council for bringing the ques- tion of Labour J.P.'s to the front. The Rhondda, in this matter, .said Mr. Har- ris was more neglected than any other part of -the country, for whereas in Moil- mouthshire, several Labour J.P.'s had recently been. appointed, no such appoint- ment had been made in the Rhondda since 1886, when Mr. T. P. Jenkins was elevated to the magisterial bench. Proceeding to deal with the need of more Labour representation on the Dis- trict Council, the speaker said that this was absolutely essential in order to give effect to the. laws passed in Parliament for the bettering of the conditions in industrial communities. Whatever one's politics, said Mr Ha iris, one was forced to admit that recent Parliamentary legis- lation was Socialistic in its nature. The speaker then went on to deal with the Auditor's Report, and said that the posi- tion of the Gas and Water undertaking was not so bad as it was reported to be. Considerable profits, he said, were made on Gas and Water, but these were swal- lowed up in repayments of loans contrac- ted for the acquirement of the under- taking. As to the consolidation of rates. the speaker said that the Labour repre- sentatives on the Council would not rest satisfied until all the collecting depart- ments were under the direct contra of the Council (api),Iau-,se) Councillor Edward Jones explained, at some length, the procedure in putting the Private Street Improvements Act into force. The rateable value of the land in the Rhondda., which stood at £ 2,428, said Mr. Jones, had not been changed for the last 200 years, whereas the rate-a bIe value of properties, houses, collieries, etc., had reached the enormous total of £ 620,404. Although there was no change in the rate- able value of the land, its value had gone up immensely, and he pleaded that land- owners, who derived such ample revenues from the land, through the industry and speculation or others, should pay a more equitable proportion to the local rates (applause). Councillor Tom Evans, sub miners agent, Penvgraig, commenting on the Auditor's report, said it had created a fl-ive, but when examined was not such a terrible document- after all. He must say that the Rhondda Council conducted their business too much, upon family lines, like the family affairs of the old Rhondda- Glorans (laughter). He agreed that the Auditor had given them an eye-opener, but he (Mr. Evans) had always .spoken against the duplication of the work of the Council, and the sub-contracting by the rate collector. Principles were more to him than men, and if they could get reforms without injuring the employees, he for one would always be in favour of such reformation. He did not go to the Council to secure sinecures for people, simply because they had held positions for 20 or 30 years. He was prepared to compensate them, but not to give any prospective value (hear. hear). By the end of the year, the Rhondda people would have the satisfaction of seeing the reforms enumerated by the auditor an accomplished fact (applause).

Coliiery Trouble at Llwynypia. Over 200 Men Idle Disaffection continues among a. large number of the workmen employed in two seams at the No. 2 Pit, Glamorgan Col- lieries, Llwynypia. Over 200 of the men have been idle over a month, and there are prospects that this number will be augmented in a few days, as others are said to be similarly affected. Some time ago it was tacitly agreed to give a trial to the price list in operation at the Naval Colliery, Penygraig, which is owned by the same combine, and the men contend that certain allowances for standing cogs," &c., made at the Naval in re- spect of abnormal places are not observed at the Glamorgan Colliery, resulting, it is alleged, in the workmen being unable to earn anything like a proper wage. It is contended on behalf of the men that they accepted the price list on the implied understanding that in regard to the extras indicated the same conditions' should obtain at the Glamorgan Colliery. Jt j.\ c .a" "'w'" _81. appeal's" tnat. tne management rule that this extra work is not necessary at this colliery. The men have, on the advice of their agents, been putting down tools owing to these differences, and are being financially supported by their fellow workmen.

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Rhonddaites have proved their talent in many an elocutionary-competition, and the general public always rallied to the upport of local talent. The only reason I can assign for the non-existence of a. Dramatic Society is the lack of an initiator, and this fact was pressed home to me very much during mv last sojourn in the Rhondda. Now far be it from me to assume a capacity CIL T air: pa ill- fully aware I do not possess, for after my brief experience I feel) more conscious than ever of my imperfections as an exponent of the noble art of expressing man's greatest emotions, yet, to show my interest in local enterprise and my devotion to my art, I am prepared to do my utmost towards assisting the formation of a Dramatic Society. I will, therefore, enumerate a. few of the conditions which I consider necessary to success. First of all, everybody cannot play leading parts, for even if there are a dozen people equally capable, it is obvious that they cnanot all be allowed to play that part on the same night; so first of all we want people prepared to give full attention to the smaller parts, and if we decide to produce Shakespearean plays we would need people willing to act without speaking, or, as it is termed in the pro- fession, walk on." We would need either that every individual be prepared to make or hire their own costumes, or that some public-spirited gentlemen should I give pecuniary distance to the society. With regard to the actual production tor the first performance, we should need people prepared to stand as guarantors for expenses in case the initial effort is not a, pecuniary success. We would re- qunie for the actual performance people of all heights and of different facial characteristics. We should, perhaps, want singers, and would certainly need people with good voices for the strong heroic parts. It would not be necessary for the majority of the society to have had any experience before the public; in fact, some are better without, being freer of mannerisms. Besides those taking part on the stage, we would need somebody to attend to the business arrangements in front of the house during the perform- z;1 ance. I shall be at home during Holy week, and would be pleased to hear from all interested with a view to holding a pre- liminary meeting to discuss the advis- ability of giving a performance next winter. I would be obliged if those. writing would mention sex, height &e. and if men, whether in ustaclie 'd" or clean shaven, voice powerful or other- wise, whether desirous of comedy or heroic parts, if prepared to walk on and not play at all, or play the smaller parts. I would also be pleased to hear from those willing to assist in the management and financial side of the society. With the hope that this appeal will find an echo in many willing minds and hearts,- I remain, yours sincerely, ,1' ERNEST G. COVE. c/o Wm. Mollison's Theatre Royal Shakespearean Co., South Shields.