The North Wales Weekly News

[Br A FAMILY DOCTOE.] AN IMPERIAL MATTER. Wealth can exist in other forms than pounds, shillings, and pence. A stout and healthy Englishman is an asset of national wealth. If he has a étout and healthy wife his value goes up, and if he has a stout and healthy family he is a public benefactor. Do not forget this when you are trying to understand fiscal policies from the v street- corner orators. I won't have you coming to howl at me about Free Trade or to screech my head off about Tariff Reform. You see to it that all the babies born in the year of Grace 1911 grow up into broad-backed, deep- chested, rosy-cheeked, leather-lunged, stout- hearted men and women, and I'll guarantee that old England will keep her place at the head of the nations for a bit longer. -0:

BEST FOR BABIES. I do not like to talk about infant mortality tou much. It is a great mistake to expose evils and eradicate them; they should be hushed up so that no one knows they are there. Nothing will induce me to hurt your feelings by reminding you that in some of your large towns the infant mortality is as bad as 200 in every thousand infants born. Hush, let the Evil One work his wicked will; cover up the disgrace. I only want to whisper in your ear very quietly that a re- cent inquiry into the matter has proved be- yond all doubt that the children fed on mother's milk have a much better chance of life than those fed on artificial foods; the babies fed on foods bought in a shop died in far greater numbers than those nourished I from Nature's source. Mother's milk is a divine invention, its wonderful composition is the outcome of the wisdom of the Creator of the Universe. On every hoarding- you are implored to try Somebody's Patent Food. the invention of a celebrated chemist. I say to you, Try Mother's Milk, the invention of God. -0:

A TALK TO LITTLE GIRLS. Little girls, will you please read this? I want to teach you to love the kind nurse who comes to your school to try and make you nice and clean. Whenl she looks at your hair, will she be made happy by finding it is beautifully clean, or are you going to make her unhappy by coming to her with a head that has been neglected? How I wish that all the little girls in the schools would make this week the grand week for cleanliness Come now, let us make up our minds that we wili get full marks for cleanliness and a good character from nurse. Brush your hair thoroughly, comb it again and again with a very fine comb, and if it is necessary ask mother to cut off some of the hair with scissors. We want to make you happy, and no little girl can be really happy unless she is clean. Please try hard this week, little girls, for my sake and for nurse's, because we love you and would like to do you good. -0:

THE CASE OF ALFRED JONES. Have I told you about my friend Alfred Jones? He is always coming to see me about some ailment or other. Yesterday he came in, and when I asked him what he com- plained of he said h:■ was feeling funny. So I took down my medical dictionary, letter F, to see what the treatment was for feeling fumny, but as I raised my hand to the book- shelf I happened to notice Lis linoers heavily stained with nicotine. So I sug- gested that by feeling- funny he meant that he woke up at night with a pain in ins suit-, that he puffed when he went upstairs, that he broke out in a sweat when he walked, had a poor appetite, and lacked energy. Alfred replied that I was correct. Whereupon* I told him to give up cigarettes altogether for h and let m" know how he got on. "What, no medicine? exclaimed our hero, aghast. "Not a drop, unless you would like a taste of that cane standing in the corner, for making yourself ill." I always like to provo to Alfred that I can cure people with- out those everlasting drugs. I am very fottil ol him, and I think he is fond of me. and he is sure to be round again next week with something else wrong. -0:

HORRORS.* When you put a poultice 011 a child's chest to relieve the pain and distress of an attack of bronchitis, be sure you make it light. I have seen heavy poultices weighing on a child's chest like a ton of lead, and every time the poor little thing's chest heaved in breathing it had to lift the extra weight of the poultice. Poultices must be light, and never placed so as to impede the breathing. I am not a great believer in those linseed horrors; they soon get cold and clammy. I know that my old friend Aunt Maria is a strong advocate of them because she saved her husband's life with a poultice, whereas the poor old fellow just scraped through in spite of the discomfort the poultice gave him. Try it for yourself; lie on your back in bed and put a heavy cushion with a book on top of it on your chest; you will soon appreciate my objection to a poultice. -0:

WARM AND LIGHT CLOTHING. Next time you go to a hospital take a long careful look at the child in the cot, who is suffering from broncho-pneumonia; you will see that the clothing is warm but very light. It is a hindrance to recovery to have the chest compressed by the weight of a vest, two flannel nighties, a sheet, three layers of blanket, and an eider-down quilt. A warm room, window open at the top, light cloth- ing, and careful, regular feeding will pull the patient through so long as you have a good doctor—and what doctor is not good ? -0:-

COUSIN MARRIAGES. With regard to the question of cousins marrying, may I offer these few remarks for your consideration? Suppose the whole family has been wonderfully healthy for generations, then the union of the same stock in the two healthy cousins will almost certainly result in healthy offspring. But suppose a man is descended from a grand- father who had some taint capable of being handed down to later generations, that taint may be dying out in him, and a union with a healthy woman from a different stock may counteract what slight taint there may be in him, and the childreni will be healthy. But if that man marries his cousin, who had the same grandfather, the union of the two tainted stocks may concentrate and intensify the unhealthy strain in their offspring. Therein the danger lies. o:

CAUSED BY THE COLLAR. Boils on the neck often come from the fric- tion of the collar, especially when the collar begins to grow whiskers in its old age. Small boils are often seen exactly 011 the line of the chafing of the collar, and the neck is always a masculine neck. Ladies are spared the annoyance of boils on the back of the neck. Hence the treatment is to wear a lower collar or to go without one altogether. These boils-may start from very small spots, blackheads, which might have been removed by a more frequent application of soap and hot water. The discharge from one boil leads to another, a'1ld so on. If matter has formed in the boil there is nothing for it but to submit to a small operation and have trie matter let out; you will sleep better after it. Boracic lint, wrung out. of boiling water, is the best application. The lint should be changed every two or three hours. Before matter has formed, an ohitoneni. colled :1111- moniated mercury ointment is the best thing to nut <xi .0

Flint Castle for Territorial Headquarters. The General Officer Commanding-in-Chief the Western Comamnd has authorised the removal of the headquarters of the 5th Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers from Hawarden to Flint on the ground that it is more central for mobilisation purposes. In anticipation of the transfer, it is understood that the War Office sanction had been re- ceived to the purchase by the Flintshire Territorial Association of the historic Flint Castle, land the expenditure of a sufficient sum has been authorised to meet the cost of adaptation. Flint Castle was built by Edward I.

.1,1.1 1 .1 1.1 III 11 ■ !■ ——^—I—M J LIFEBUOY SOAP Every day, in Every home, Everywhere 1 —there are lives to be saved by £ "*• T^tL,'e*w" 1$vLdl I K glvmg sPec"lc- Soap, Deodoriser, igpP "5" jR Disinfectant all in one, administering f vSjHff Health and Cleanliness at one oper- w <m» I ation and at one price-the cost of I I ordinary soap. For the Toilet-for the Bath-for the Sickroom-for all I I I House cleaning-for Cleanliness in every form. I TIle name LEVER on soap is a guarantee of Purity and Excellence. '} 1 L —- I— ■! I—■—II—■—■LIU ■

Miles of Floods. I SEA INVASION IN NORTH WALES. WOMEN AND CHILDREN RESCUED IN I BOATS. Exciting incidents have taken place at Foryd, situated between ..l" and Abergele, owing to the exceptionally high tides and the breaking through of the sea into the low- lying lands. The whole of the district at one time formed part of the Rhuddlan Marsh, but was reclaimed by the Rhuddlan Marsh Em- bankment Trustees, who erected embank- ments at various points. The high tide and rough seas during Friday night caused great havoc. The embankment had been broken through by the rough weather of Thursday, but throughout Friday night further damage was done, and the country was flooded for miles by the inrushing waters. Fortunately the London and North Western Railway Company have been able to protect their main line, having erected from Foryd Station to the River Clwyd a wall sufficiently high to keep back any inrush of sea water, while on the sea front at Foryd they have built a massive sea-wall at a cost of many thousands of pounds, and this joins with the wall which protects the main line. However, to the east of the railway de- fence works the embankments of the Rhudd- lan Marsh Commissioners proved useless, the waves breaking over them. The camp- ing grounds of the Territorials and boys' brigade near Foryd Harbour were quickly under water, and the inrush carried away a quantity of turnips and other roots from the farms, and on Saturday carts were to be seen collecting these from the edges of the flooded marshes. From Foryd Harbour a goods line runs to join that of the Vale of Clwyd, and passes under the main Chester to Holyhead rail- way by a deep cutting. The water surged down this line, completely flooding it, and a goods train was nearly submerged. In several railwaymen's cottages close by the water rose several feet in the kitchens, causing the families to take refuge in the upper storeys, while their live stock had to be quickly removed from outhouses to places of safety. EXTENSIVE DAMAGE. The only means of escape when the tide was at its height was by means of a ladder placed from an embankment to the upper windows, and while the male members of the families sought escape this way, a boat had to be brought from the river to rescue the women and children. As the tide went out, the water raced from the garden and inter- iors of the houses like a mill stream, only to return with the incoming tide. In parts the ditches and roadway were like rivers, and it is stated that the tide has been the highest and roughest experienced for 20 years. In one stack yard alone it is calculated that upwards of Cioo damage has been done, the sea water having broken through the walls surrounding the place. The large tracts of pasture land have also suffered con- siderably, and it will be a long time before the land recovers itself. Fortunately, the farmers were able to remove their sheep to a place of safety ibefore the highest tides were experienced, but their root crops have been in places washed out of the ground. Considerable damage has also been done to the highways, while the trucks on the goods line to Foryd Pier will require overhauling and repairs, the water having bulged. the floors and swollen tthe woodwork. The water is now gradually subsiding from the land, but the culverts are taxed to their ut- most capacity. The embankment in places is laid almost flat with the surrounding land. At Rhyl the western portion of the pro- menade was washed with dashing spray, which was carried across the 30ft. roadway into the building sites beyond. It was im. possible at times for pedestrians to walk along the front, and a large quantity of gravel and shingle was depostied on the asphalted promenade. Rhyl itself suffered no damage.

His Tenth Appearance. IMPUDENT THEFT AT RHYL. At a special Police Court held at Rhyl, on Monday, Mr. Elwy Williams, presiding, Thomas Jackson, a rag and bone gatherer, of no fixed abode, was charged with the larceny of a quantity of lead piping and biass fittings, valued at £ 2 25. od., between the 14th and 15th instant, from two houses in Vale-road, Rhyl. The prisoner pleaded guilty to the charge. Sergeant Dempsey said that he and P.C. Oldfield made inquiries concerning the lead piping and discovered that the prisoner had sold it to a local marine store dealer. He was arrested about 7 o'clock on Saturday night last at Rhuddlan, but when charged he denied having committed the theft, and said that he knew nothing about the matter. lie was subsequently conveyed to Rhyl, and upon being shown the pieces of brass he re- marked I admit it now. The two houses in question were unoccupied. He could not say how the prisoner got inside the houses, but they found the back yard doors open and the back door of one of the houses as well. Mr. John Hughes, of Vale-road, said he had just bought the houses, and that when he last saw them they were all right. Inspector Pearson said that the prisoner had been up nine times before. He had been given a month for assaulting a female at Conway. He had also been sentenced for stealing a barometer at Colwyn Bay, and had been given six months for stealing a gas meter at Rhyl containing a sum of money. They had complaints of such a thing taking place at Rhyl, and in another instance the stuff had been rolled up ready to go down and it would cost a pound or two to put it up again. The Chairman, addressing the prisoner, said that they knew of nine of his offences, and probably there were twenty-nine which they did not know of. They felt very sorry that thev could not punish him more severe- ly, seeing that he was evidently a pro- fessional thief and tramp. There was no doubt about that, so they had agreed to send the prisoner to gaol for six months with hard labour. The Prisoner: Thank you, your worships.

I FASHION OF THE WEEK. ♦ I A SMART NEW COSTUME. The very smart and attractive costume whiuh forms the subject of our sketch this week is quite an ideal garment for regular winter wear; that is to sky for dressy winter wear, such as ( calling, &c. It is carried out in fine cloth bf j medium weight and superfine quality, the sur- face having almost as lustrous and beautiful a "a finish as satin. The colour is the extremely fashionable shade of blue known as Hussar blue. The coat is of the modish length, that is to say, it just comfortably covers the hips and no more. The front crosses over j net a little to the left and fastens with buttons and loops, the buttons being covered with the cloth. Down1! the front of the coat and all round the bottom runs a band of braiding, which is worked in fine black silk soutache, the design being a very elaborate and much modified Greek key pattern. A neat little turn-down collar of skunk finishes the neck, the collar coming right up to the base of the throat. The sleeves are of a very moderate size and are finished at the wrist by bands of skunk to match the collar. The coat is lined throughout with ivory satin. The skirt, though simple, is very pretty and smart. It is, of course, out on fairly narrow lines, though it it by no means exaggeratedly scanty. Down the middle of the front runs a plain panel. On each side of this panel, and reaching nearly to the knee, comes a band of braiding which matches that on the cost, though the pattern is, of course, on a very much larger scale. This smart toilette is com- pleted by a toque of black velvet and a big muff of wkunk. Paper patterns can be supplied, price 9Ad. Patterns cut to measure are charged Is. 3d. Enclose remittance, and address to Miss Lisle, 8, La Belle Sauvage, London, E.C., who will also be pleased to receive suggestions and to illustrate designs that are likely to be of general use to the Home Dressmaker. 00-

The Attack on the County Schools. PROFESSOR HENRY JONES'S VIEWS. In pursuance of a resolution passed at their last meeting, the Carnarvonshire Edu- cation Committee are now taking steps to inquire into the educational canditions of the county. At a meeting of the Committee on Thurs- day it was announced that Professor Sadler, who had been applied to to undertake the investigation, had found it impossible to accept the invitation, and a reply to the same effect had been received from Professor Henry Jones (Glasgow). In his letter Prof. Jones said:- I have read the report of the Board of Education, to which you allude in your letter, and I have come (very reluctantly) to the conclusion that the situation is not such as to justify me in accepting the in- vitation of your Committee. It is, in my opinion, much too grave. I do not know whether it is true or not that the highest aim of education has been missed,' or that the present system is the cause of a wooden and unintelligent type of mind,' or that teachers from excessive re- gard for examination results, or preference I for easy subjects, do not make a study of their pupils and teach them.' In either case the situation is much too grave to leave me any reasonable grounds for believing that I could be of real practical use to your Committee. If the charge is true, then the worst kind of education is being given; if it is not true, then grievous injustice has been done to those who are responsible for and engaged in conducting intermediate edu- cation in Wales. No inquiry that I could conduct would be sufficiently complete and thorough and no suggestion I could make would have sufficient weight to bring about the changes required. "The question seems to me to be national in its character, to concern the deeper in- terests of Wales, and to be soluble only after much deliberation on the part of those who are much more closely acquaint-ed with educational affairs in the county as a whole than I can be after ray long absence." In view of the refusal of Professor Henry Jones, it was resolved that further inquiries be made as to a suitable person or persons to undertake the investigation and report, and that the report of the Board of Educa- tion upon the intermediate schools of Wales be considered by the Committee at meet- ings to be specially convened for that pur- pose.

HEAD AND HAND. What the Worker Needs. If the man who works with his hands does not sleep soundly, or if he wakes up tired in the rnornt-ig, it is because his brain is underfed. Dr. Tibbies' Vi-Cocoa gives you sound, wholesome sleep if you take it for supper. If you wake up tired in the dark, cold morning, Vi-Cocoa for breakfast will warm you and send a glow of vigour through all your body, because it is a brain food as well as a body food. It brightens the wits and strengthens the sinews too. If you ask -why Vi-Cocoa does so much for the brain and hand worker the answer is easy. Vi-Cocoa is the best of cocoa, but it is more than cocoa. It has cocoa, kola, malt and hops in iÍlol to soothe the nerves and clear the head, feed the body and help the digestion. That is why you must ajsk the grocer for —it makes all the difference. Every grocer sells Vi-Cocoa in 6d. packets and gd. and i6. 6d. tins.

Health of the Children. EXCELLENT CARNARVONSHIRE SCHEME. Dr. Richard Williams, of Bangor, the county oculist, has submitted an excellent scheme for a Medical Relief Fund to the Carnarvonshire Education Authority, which has the approval of the School Attendance Committee. The teachers of the county are asked to co-operate. The idea is that each infant should contribute a halfpenny per month and the older scholars one penny a month. In submitting his proposals the following letter was written by Dr. Williams:- Since my appointment to examine and treat the elementary school children in the county I have noticed (as I had previously noticed in the course of many years' hospi- tal work) that the parents, owing mainly to lack of means, have great difficulty in many cases in procuring the glasses and other remedies which I feel it is my duty to pre- scribe. In some cases, no doubt, when the parents' means is not so restricted, there is an unwillingness to find the money, and this necessitates an inviduous and an un- pleasant investigation on the part of the Medical Officer of Health, or some other person, not to mention the cost thrown up- on the ratepayers, and a certain amount of demoralisation engendered in the parents by the receipt of what virtually amounts to charity. It has therefore occurred to me that means might be found by which these evils may be avoided, without on the one hand, trench- ing on the slender resources of the parents to any appreciable extent, and on the other without having to resort to the funds at the disposal of the Education Authority to the extent of a single penny. My scheme consists in getting THE PARENTS TO SUBSCRIBE to a fund to the extent of one penny a month or one shilling a year. This fund might be called The Child- ren's Medical Relief Fund," or some other suitable designation. It is difficult to con- ceive any considerable number of parents, either unable or unwilling, to spare that small sum in view of the fact that they obtain their children's education free. And yet. it can be easily demonstrated that that sum, small as it is, can be made to provide not only glasses but treatment for many of the ailments, such as throat affections, from which so many of the pupils suffer, and which incapacitate them from competing with their fellows. Thus, in any school with an average at. tendance of 200, there would accumulate a fund of ,Cio by the end of the first year, and supposing there were 50 such schools in the county, there would thus be a fund of £ s°° available for the purposes indicated. In any given school the proportion of child- ren requiring medical assistance would be comparatively small-say 10 per cent.—and the contributions of the 90 per cent fortunate ones would come to the assistance of their more unfortunate comrades, and the fund would naturally acquire the charac- ter of a true charity as defined by the poet, blessing them that give as well as "them that take." The immense possibilities of THE PRINCIPLE OF CO-OPERATION in connection with the schools are therefore, I think, obvious, and it only remains to put the principle to the test of practice. For this purpose the approval and sanc- tion of the Education Committee are of course essential, for without virtual com- pulsion, which the education Authority alone can secure, the success of any scheme would be impossible. It has been suggested to me that the co-operation of the teachers, upon whose goodwill, next to the Educa- tion Authority, the success of the scheme would depend, would be difficult to obtain inasmuch as the duties already devolving upon them are onerous. In view of this possibility, I have taken upon my- self to enquire in two or "three dif- ferent centres as to the possible attitude of this hard-worked body of public servants, and the reply of one of them was charac- teristic of the rest, that the teachers will agree to anything that is reasonable." I have therefore no doubts on this score. Moreover, it is evident that whatever fac- ilitates their work must be also to their in- terests, inasmuch as anything that enables the children to put in a more regular at- tendance, must improve the position of the teachers. Again, the practical establishment and working of such a scheme would in- volve very little expenditure, and the little expense which would be incurred would pro- perly fall upon the fund itself. It seems to me THE ADVANTAGES of such a scheme would be threefold;- (I) It would relieve the Education Author. ity of the responsibility of finding the means to pay for the remedies ordered. (2) It would secure a much more satisfac- tory result of the treatment of the cases confided to one's care. (3) It would remove the taint of pauper- ism or charity from the parents. I should like to add that the above plan need not in any way affect the relations of general practitioners and their patients, in- asmuch as such parent must be a free agent as to the choice of practitioner to call in. If you consider these are results worth striving for, I shall be glad if you will bring the foregoing remarks before the Edu- cation Committee at their next meeting, and if they should take a favourable view of the plan further details can be arranged on a suitable occasion.

Mr. Justice Eldon Bankes. The Honourable Society of Cymmrodorion will hold its annual dinner at the Whitehall Rooms on Monday, December 12th, when Mr. Justice Eldon Bankes, an old member of the Society, will be the guest of the even- ing. Twenty-five new members were elected at the last meeting of the Council. The number included Mrs. Edward Davies, Plas- dinam; Mrs. David Davies, Llandinam Hall; the Dean of Bangor, and Sir Court- en av Mansel. For the first night of the winter session the Council have secured an address by Mr. Arthur Acton, of Wrexham, whose discoveries of Roman buildings, &c., at Holt, have for some time created great interest among archaeologists.