The Rhondda Leader

.I!! Rhoqdda School Board. Opening of the New Offices. Increase in the Rate. The monthly meeting of the Rhondda Schol Board was held at the new offices V the Tvnycvminer Hall, Porth, on Monday, Rev. W. Morris, F.R.G.S. (chairman pre- siding. Other members present were — Miss Ada Jones, Rev. Wo Charles. Messrs Dl. Thomas, Jonathan Rees. D. R. Jones, J. E. Jones, Hy. Abraham. Dr. Lloyd. Rev. Thomas Williams, with the clerk, Mr. W. G. Howell, and other officials. The King's Thanks. The Home Secretary wrote conveying the thanks of the King for the -Board loj al and dutiful message expressing sympathy on the occasion of the death of her late Majesty Queen Victoria, and congratula- tions upon his Majesty's accession to the throne. Mr. D. R. Jones thought it would be a gracious act on the part of the Beard to have this reply framed, as a reminder of the good qualities of our beloved Queen who had passed away. He proposed that it be framed, together with the Board's original resolution. Mr. Dl. Thomas seconded, and the motion was unanimously agreed to. Members' Indisposition. The Rev. W. Lewis, R.D.. a member of the Board, wrote thanking the Board for the resolution of sympathy passed by the Moral and Religious Instruction Com- mittee with him in his illness, and wishes for his speedy recovery. He was thank- ful to say he was much better, and able to sit up for a few hours daily, but was sorry he could not attend the Board meetings for some time. The Chairman proposed a vote of sym- pathy with the Vicar, and their pleasure on hearing of his speedy recovery. He hoped the Rev. W. Lewis would be spared for many rears to carry on the work he had been engaged in. The Vicar had been on the Board for the last 20 years, and had attended to his duties well, and had worked exceedingly harmoniously, espe- cially with the Nonconformist ministers who were members of the Board. No Board could shew a better record of har- monious work and opinions than their Board. Mr. Henry Abraham seconded, and en- dorsed the remarks of the Chairman. A letter was also read from the Rev. Rowland Morgan, another member of the Board, regretting his inability to be pre- sent at the Board meeting. He was in- disposed owing to a serious abscess in his ear, which lie had three months ago. and had not been able to go about since.—On the motion of the Rev. W. Charles, seconded by Mr. Jonathan Rees, a vote of sympathy sympathy was passed with the rev. gentleman. The West Ham School Board wrote with regard to the question of relieving the rates, and said that that Board were con sideling what steps should be taken to secure further financial aid from the. State funds. The West Ham School Board sug- gested having a conference of School Boards interested.—The Chairman re- marked that as they had a Federation of School Boards in England and Wales, the matter should be referred to that body.— On the motion of Mr. Dd. Lloyd, this sug- gestion was agreed to. Mr. Towy Thomas, local secretary of the Welsh Baptist Union, stated that meetings of that body would be held at Porth on the loth, 16th. 17th, 18th, and 19th of July, and as they had no spacious hall to entertain the 450 delegates, they requested the use of the Girls' School. Porth for the purpose.—Permission was granted. A request from the Hafod Amateur Dra- matic Society for the use of a classroom at Hafod for practice was referred to the Building Committee. Mr. M. O. Jones. headmaster of Treher- bert school, wrote asking permission to ab- sent himself from school on the morning of the 1st. 2nd. and 6th of May. Mr. D. R. Jones asked if it was under- stood that the pay was to be deducted in those cases. Miss Jones It is not pased yet. The Chairman There is no resolution to that effect. Mr. D. R. Jones: I thought it was passed. The Chairman: It was the Vicar's motion, but it has Been postponed. Mr. D. Thomas proposed that the appli- cation be granted, and the Rev. W. Charles seconded. Mr. D. R. Jones remarked that there were many who would prefer to have their salary deducted when they absented them selves from school. Miss Mary Ann Wright, Llandvssul, was appointed as an assistant at Blaenrhondcla. The New Rate. The Finance Committee submitted their estimate for the half-year ending 29th Sep- tember. 1901. The expenditure was esti- mated at t38,397, and the receipts at £ 27,646. It w'.is resolved to issue a m'e cept upon the overseers for CIS.000. this is equivalent to a rate of 9d. in the £ the present rate being Sid. The Building Committee reported having under consideration the question of the very unsatisfactory condition, sani- tary and otherwise, of the premises of the Pupil Teachers Centre (old National School, Cymmer), and they had asked Mr. H. Abraham and the Clerk to see whether better temporary premises could not be

THE MOST NUTRITIOUS. E P P S 'S a Nt GRA TEFUL-OOMFORTI NG. COCOA BREAKFAST—SUPPER j

secured elsewhere, and to report thereon to the Pupil Teachers' Centre Committee —which committee they recommended h, authorised to do what they thought best in the matter.—The Committee recom- mended that the stables, coach-house, saddle-rom, and hayloft, at Tynycymmer be let. to the present tenants, Messrs. Thomas and Llewellyn, of Cymmer Bridge Stores, as weekly tenants, at the weekly rental of 7s. Od.—They bad had communication.; from Messrs. Walter Morgan, Bruce, and Co., enclosing copies of correspondence which had passed between them and Mr. W- T. Rees re the Llwyncelyn School site. With the view of making another effort to avoid litigation, they had in- structed the Architect to take the levels of the ground at the rear of Primrose Ter- race, so as to see whether it was practic- able to erect a. school thereon, in which case Mr. W. W. Hood had undertaken to see Mr. W. T. Rees in order to escertain whether that, site could be secured.—The Board of Education had approved of the Blacnycwm School site, and the architect had also submitted his plans of the pro- posed new school, which were adopted, and sent to the Board of Education for ap- proval.—The Board of Education approved of the Vestry of Zion Chapel, Pentre, to provide temporary accommodation for 46 boys of the Ystrad Higher Grade School. The architect reported that pro- gress at Pontygwaith schools had been very slow; that at Porth Girls' and Infants' Schools good progressi was being made with the improvements, and the contractor has now done the bulk of the outside work, and that at Mardy Infants' School, the contractor had made fairly good pro gress.-In a later report, the committees stated that the architect reported having taken the levels of the alternative site for the proposed Llwyncelyn School, a plan of which he had submitted. He was of opinion that this site could be made to suit for the erection of the proposed school. The committee therefore recommended that the plan be sent to Mr. Hood, so that he might see Mr. W. T. Rees, as promised. The Finance Committee recommended pavment of accounts amounting to 94,595 8s. 9d. The reports of the attendance officers shewed the average attendance at the schools during the month ended March 22ncl to be 85.3 per cent., as compared with 78 4 per cent. the previous month. The School Managemnt Committee re ported having received the resigijations of the following teachprs, and recommend their acceptance —F. Dange.rn.eld, Ex- P.T' Ton Girls' School E. A. Elston, Ex-P. T., Penygraig Infants' School; Esther Davies, Probationer, Graigddu Girls' School.—The headmistress of Pentre In- fants' School applied for permission to hold an infants' concert, with the view of raising funds for the purchase of a musical instru- ment for the school. Permission was granted.—With reference to the regula- tion adopted by the Board on the 11th February last, re head teachers' places of residence, the Comnrttcc had considered a, communication from the undermentioned head teachers, applying to be allowed to continue to reside, at their present ad- dresses, and setting forth the special cir- cumstances relied upon in support of their requests, viz. :IT. Harris. Pontygwaith Mixed School; E. Jones. Pontygwaith In. fants' School; S. J. Evans, Tylorstown Infants' School C. E. Davies, Mardv Girls' School; F. Thomas. Llwyncelyn In- fants' School and C. John. Stanley In fants' School. The reasons given in each of these cases being, in their opinion, satis- factory, the applications were granted. Porth Master Congratulated. The Pupil Teachers' Centre Committee reported having received a report from Mr. R. D. Chalke, headmaster of the Pupil. Teachers' Centre, upon the result of the last Queen's Scholarship Examination. From this they found that out, of 48 pre- sented for examination, 11 passed first class, equal to 25 per cent. 19 passed second class, equal to 40 per ceiit and 17 passed third class, 35 per cent. Two students of the scholarship class passed the London Matriculation examination in lieu of the Queen's Scholarship, and both had been accepted at Aberystwyth College. So far as was at present known, 23 students had already obtained seats at different colleges. Five pupil teachers passed with .1 exceptional credit in history, 6 in physiography, 1 in geography, and 18 in practical geometry and freehand. There was not a single case of failure, and the Committee desired to express their satis faction with these results, showing as they did a marked imilrovement over those of preceding years, and they recommended that the Clerk be instructed to convey to Mr. Chalke and his staff the congratula- tions of the Board, and to express the hopr that the improvement would be maintained. With reference to those pupil teachers whe passed in the third class, the committer noticed that many of them were teachers who had previously been called before the Committee (some repeatedly) with re- ference to their unsatisfactory work, and they trusted that those teachers who were before them last month will profit by the experience of these above referred to. With reference to the question of the unsatisfactory condition of the temporary premises of the Pupil Teachers' Centre, re- ferred to them by the Building Committee, they had submitted to them a letter from the Rev. W. Thomas, Vicar of Porth, sug- gesting that the Board should provide additional accommodation by constructing an iron building inside the present play- ground, and stating that he would him- self willingly sign an undertaking to pur- chase the structure from the Board at a reasonable cost after the proposed new premises were completed—provided the

->r- SQUIRE'S SCURF POMADE A Guaranteed Cure. 1/6 per pot. EDGAR SQUIRE, HAIRDRESSER, 52, Queen Street, CARDIFF,

When in Cardiff it will pay you to call at SQUIRES' BOOT STORES, Wood Street, Cardiff (Near Theatre Royal), And see his Specialities In Ladies' and Genta' Foot Wean. 352

Eisteddfod Salem, Llwynypia. Ebrill 22ain, 1901. Dymunir cydnabod derbyniad y cyfan- soddiadau canlynol ar gyfer yr Eisteddfod uchod 1. Traethawd—-Y Ddeaconiaeth a'i gwaith—Yr eiddo Un yn Dechreu, Stephan, ac Un a'i Lygad ar y Set, Fawr-3. II. Traethawd—Y Demi a'i Gwasanaeth —Didymus, Aranah y Jebusiad, a Salem- ydd—3. III. Barddoniaeth—Elias ar Ben Carmei -leua,n, Tartan, Calon, Obediah, Eliseus, Obediah (2), Un o luoedd Elias, a Vorlan, neu rhywbeth tebyg—8. IV. Marwnad y diweddar Mr. James Lewis -Er Cof, Adweinydd y Tad, Llais o Oror Llys Hira,eth, Yn Swn y Cystudd Mawr, a Llais Hiraeth—6. Y Llythyr Caru—Peter Ffowcl Elen Jones, Gwilym Ddu, Arthur, Gwilym Jones, Da.fydd, Llewelyn, Ieuan, Wili, Gwendolen, Llew Wyn, Will Bryan, Arthur Wyn, Huw Prydderch, Gwen Jones, Emrys, If on Arfon, Arthur Llwyd, Olwen, Mary, ac Idwal Prys-21. Yr oil yn 41. Yr eiddoch; etc., NATHAN WYN.

Competitive Meeting at Ton. An intersting competitive meeting was held at the Ton Institute on Wednesday under the auspices of the workmen of th.3 Maindy and Eastern Collieries. The president was Mr. John Rees, Maindy Road; adjudicator of music, Mr. Joseph Isaac, Gordon Street; miscellaneous, Mr. E. Jones, The Library, while the duties of secretaryship were in the able hands of Mr. Wm. Griffiths, Bailey Street, Ton. Mr. Dan S. Evans, conductor of the Ton and Pentre Glee Society, officiated at the pianoforte. The competitions throughout were very keen, and a large number con- tested the various subjects. Following are the results —Any solo, a large num- ber competed, and after careful and ex- haustive adjudication, the prize was di- vided between Wm. Davies and friend. For the best speech on "Ffurf deuluaidd Cymry Fu," the prize was divided between Dd. Jones and J. H. Griffiths; essay, "The pros. and cons. for holding the National Eisteddfod of 1905 at Ton the best sent in was by Mr. Wm. Griffiths. Any solo for persons over 40 years of age, Mr. Tom Davies; essay on The advisability of the colliers joining the Ambulance Class," Mr. Griffiths being successful love letter, Mr. Tom Thomas. Maindy Road impromptu dialogue, the subject given being Which is the better Country Life or Town Life." This item proved very interesting, and the prize was divided between two parties. Mr. Dd. Jones and friend, and Messrs. I). C. Davies and J. H. Griffiths. The prize for two verses in poetry was carried away by Mr. Wm. Griffiths. For any recitation, after a, hard tussle, the prize was given to Mr M. Evans, Ton. During the proceedings a collection was made towards assisting two old veterans, debarred from working by their age, one being 75 and the other 7' years of age. Thus a. very interesting meeting was brought to a close with the usual thanks, etc.

N.D.L. at Pentre. A, pleasant meeting was held at Da nix's Temperance Hotel, on Wednesday evening, by the Pentre Branch of the National Democratic League. Mr. Lockstone ne- copied the chair. Mr. Ben Evans, Pen- tre, opened the meeting by a good render- ing of one of the National Democratic League songs,, "A New Marceillaise," the audience joining in the chorus. Follow- ing that, Mr. J. L. Rowlands, Cwmparc. read a paper on the "Need and Policy of the N.D.L." A discussion followed, in which Messrs. Joseph Davies, the trea- surer, Joseph Challinor, secretary W. Pugh, Tom Evans, and W. H. Falland took part. Mr. Falland is a, stranger in this country, having only just come from the United States. He made an able and elaborate speech, showing how the pro- gramme of the National Democratic League was mainly an accomplished fact in his late country. Next Wednesday evening at the same place, Mr. Falland will deliver an address on Utah Its Government and Politics.

Births, Marriages$Deaths The charge in this journal tor the announce- ments of births and deaths is 1/ and for marriages 2/6. Payment for these announce. mentis can be made by stamps or osta.¡ ordwssi

Wesleyan & General Assuranoe Society. The directors' report' of the ^eS^?st ancl General Assurance Society is or a satisfactory character, and shows tna total number of members and P°hey "° at the close of the year was 856.460, a crease of 05,914 on the year, after a ing for lapses; deaths, and surrenders- income from all sources was £ 4. ° v lid., an increase of t.53,664 6s. lid. onreaT year. The claims paid during the ? amounted to £ 225,095 8s. brought up the total amount Pal^Jt the society's establishment to £ 2,oif, 18s. 4d. The total assets of the society^ December 31st amounted to £ 5o6,01 lid., an increase of £ 57,665 9s. the year. zC56,546 have been added to the funds as the result of the year s tr actions. The fact that the total 1 now amount to considerably pverf f re„ million sterling without the aid of s j.. holders' capital demonstrates the ten? able progress of the society, ,w ears July next will have completed sixty y of existence. The Rhondda district claim its share in assisting the pi*osPe. of the Society in the increase of PrelDij0tf income ancl funds, as few centres can a more energetic staff than those repre» ing the Society in this district, un%f? able superintendence of Mr. fhjs Thomas, 63, St. Paul's Terrace, Porth- office is noted for the stra-ightfornvar honourable manner in which it con 1vto its business, and any of our readers g are desirous of making provision fof dependent upon them may rely up°n jf treated with civility and considerati they communicate with Mr. Thoi»a?' district superintendent, or either assistants, whose addresses may "e -jug at the foot of the balance shect^PP^jc^ on another page of this iveek's Leader."

=: A Social Tea at Penyg"gtig. — §t' On Friday a social tea was held ^jjes Barnabas Church, Penygraig. The attending the tables were Mrs. "^je, chert, Miss Davies, Grovefieid j,e- and friends. After tea, the c°nC pr«" gan, and a very good programme Bicg pared. The first item was an °iiv £ lns, address by the Vicar, the Rev. J)f. followed with a song by ^Sj]iiig" Weichert, who rendered "Rosy after' in a most able manner. Mr. BOC. this wards sung The Volunteer gave being very well rendered. Mr. Gne ^icb a recitation, Ship on Fire," a^er Pr' the chief item followed. ivr-ha1^5 Weichert presented the Rev. Mr- fr with a gold watch on behalf of t shippers of St. Barnabas. The w"a ,^| to the following inscription, Prese ^0 the' Rev. Mr. Richards as a token worshippers of St. Barnabas. petef 1901." After a song by the K„eV" » Jones, T'realaw, "This Garden the Gipsy's Warning," by Miss pgtfit speeches were delivered by the ReV'' Jones, Rev. Mr. Williams, 'a by Richards, and Mr. Boulder, follow the song by Mr. Booth. Miss Grief Was accompanist.

Anniversary at Trea^ — necV The half-yearly meetings in with Tabernacle Chapel, Treala gujjcw held on Sunday and Monday. Miss Rosina Davies, Treherbert, E. J. Lloyd, Llandudoch, offiç),ili ea s Monday, Miss Davies again o-cC^j Jo&e j, pulpit, m conjunction with Rev- Mountain Ash. The services the series were deeply impressive; >1 tended by crowded congregation # Geler Jones, Tonypandy, who aSSl0,jt in the devotional part, gave selected hymns in the meetings, a h closing meeting, in a, brief aild eojro appeal, emphasised the fact that its well-merited prosperity the needed help from sympathisers Mr. Davicl, organist, Tonypa"d^'s at the pianoforte during MondW P ings, in the absence of the c^ul" ti^, panistj rendered very valuable a ^j-e^ aid. Amongst those present 1 served the Rev. H. M. Ellis (~" j alaw, and the Rev. T. George (<-0'6 Dinas. At these- meetings thre dates presented themselves f1 ship in this church. It may "e1,1-cS that notwithstanding the u,| c^JL- surround the work in this place, coU' is in a very hopeful condition. tions amounted to over £31.

..ti, -— Children's Service at To^ w i Last Sunday afternoon the v,aS children's miscellaneous service^^J(l at Ebenezer. There was a si) tendance, in direct contrast g occasions, and the different 1 _.jUie thoroughly enjoyed. The l)t0^'lnPe; j1, Y JNetoi VVlad," the Band ot g p lesu Dysg im' Gerdded," es', and Bessie Evans recitation, miss yn dechreu canu," Miss Magg >' recitation, Yr Ysgol Sabbotli >$ Rebecca, Williams solo, f ountain," Miss Hannah tion, Cawn orphwys yn y joii» Elizabeth M. Bo wen; < £ 0$ Bachgeu a'r cywir gwyddau, „ jyjr- j Lewis solo, Yr hen gerddor» affstef Elias; recitation, Mi garvvn r° M.vtll Miss. Gwladys Pierce rec*^e ^a> William Giles Jones solo, am hyn," Master Willie Evai^' ^gie ^9 '•Can y Robin Goch," Missw^" gan; solo, Y Plenty? Hannah Griffiths. A r fhe simultaneous answering to1 £ ds°, in the cymanfa programme satisfactory. The ReV. dings, .11. (pastor) conducted the proce off» Mr. W. T. David presided <1

'00^ Glamorgan couiw Bye-Election- colaoty Following is the result of the held 011 Council bye-elections Vlich were be; Council bye-elect.ions W IC Monday and Tuesday — TREHERBEBT. MgrtJJj Mr. E. Davies, grocer, 656; V Llewellyn, Baglan Hotel, 5 ^ilU^Jjti0^ Williams, saddler, 2. Mr- retiring member, had uoti. r:cat€ to withdraw, but the n° 1 covnifr^ too late, and he thereupo his decision to the electors- ACI1 V j. I ) LLWYNYPIA AND Mr. J. Evans, grocer W-p b&< 1,041; Mr. T. P. Jemkms, J' PENYGRAIG AND lyfr^ Mr. Rees Lloyd, R. Evans, grocer (retiring$

When events of jnjegjj connection with Ch t0 the J i» advertisements be s reater yd f -they are of >™ohX>l» ^<0^ respects than nietTali hv to which we suxrouadea »* i,11Ii8I l

original cost did not exceed something like £ 300. They now referred i he matter back to the Building Committee, so that they might make arrangements for erecting an additional classroom, with office and cloak- room accommodation. The Moral and Religious Instruction Committee lecommended that the distri- bution of prizes (Scripture and Evening School) should take place either in groups or at the respective schools, and that the arrangements, therefore, be left in the hands of the local members Thirty-four prizes would be required for the pupil teachers, of which 18 had been received from Mr. Francis Peek and the Religious Tract Society, and they understand that Mrs. Jenkins, Ystradfechan, had kindly promised to supply the remaining 16. Commemoration of the Removal to Porth. After the work of the Board had been completed, a luncheon was given by the Clerk (Mr. W. G. Howell), on the occa- sion of the opening of the new offices, when the members of the Board, the Clerk's family, and the Press sat down to an excellent repast- The- delights of a well provided table having been indulged in, the Rev. W. Morris, F.R.G.S., in an ad- mirable speech, referred to Mr. Howell's attainment of his majority as Clerk to the Board, having been in their service about 21 vears, first as superintendent and lat- terly as clerk and superintendent. He congratulated him upon attaining his majority, and upon his successful discharge of his duties. The Board had been very fortunate during the 21 years he had been a junior under it. (Hear, hear.) He also congratulated him and Mrs. Howell. He believed they were- now completing their thirtieth year of married life-(hear. hear)—and he thought Mrs. Howell was to be congratulated—it was, he thought, a miracle of grace—upon being able to live with such a. partner. (Laughter.) He hoped the evening and finish of their lives would be the be part. (Hear, hear.) He did not know whether he should join in the congratulations of the members in re- moving to Porth, but the minority were magnanimous enough to yield peacefully, gracefully, and finally to the decision of the majority. They must recognise the prin- ciple that the majority ruled, but that did not follow that the majority were right. (Laughter.) Nevertheless, the minority joined as heartily as anyone in mutual con- gratulations upon having at last ample and adequate office and board-room accommo- dation. They had been for the last 23 years simply shifting, and their accommo- dation had been too cramped by far. The surroundings of the new offices were better than at Pentre; they were more para daisical, and he hoped their proceedings there would become more paradaisical still. having the advantage of such beautiful en- vironments. He was sorry Mr. W. Jen- kins and Mr. Hood were not present, be- cause they, with himself, were the only three members now left who were elected on the first Board in October, 1878 when that great man, Mr. David Evans, Bod- ringallt, was elected as its chairman. He was a man of strong common sense,, strong aspiration and conceptions, typical of the best Welsh ideas of progress, and a, man who did great work for the Rhondda. The Rhonclda had never been able to rise to a proper appreciation of Mr. David Evans. Bodringallt, but he and Mr. Edmund Thomas had gone over to the majority. They three, however, remained. Perhaps some might think especially when they saw the, grey and white beginning to show themselves prominently on their heads, that some of them—two especially—ought to be pensioned off. He did not. know whether there was any provision to pen- sion members—(laughter)—but the officials would be pensioned, and handsomely, too. He would take a retrospective glance over the work of the Rhondda Board, and they would be able to see that they had done substantial work. In 1878 the Board consisted of eleven members. These were increased in 1887 to 13, and in 1896 to 15. They had now 34 schools, with 82 depart- ments, the number of children on books being 23,818. with an average attendance of 19,131. They had done what no other Board in Wales could show, and their re- sults could stand without blush in com- parison with the work of any other Board. They had built no less than 20 new schools, almost one for every year of the Board's existence, besides repairing and recon- structing those schools which were trans- ferred to the Board. The, result of that was that the amount of loans totalled £187,18G, and of that C54,338 had been reo paid, so there remained £ 122,848. He (the speaker) estimated the value of the property of the Ystradyfodwg School Board at £ 230,000. They repaid the capital at the rate of £ 3,171 yearly, which, with the interest of tl,546, made a, total of £ 4,712. The annual payi-neitts now ac- cording to the last estimate amounted to £ 80,000. The salaries of the teachers alone swallowed no less than £ 50,000 annually. They had not done all their work; they had not, yet supplied every locality, and he estimated that before the end of this year they would have con- tracts given out to the value of C,54,000, and occording to the ratio of the tender they had accepted that day, it might be more than that. No one could sav they had been extravagant on their buildings. They had no ornaments or superfluous em- bellishments; they were substantial, and answered their purpose exceedingly well. The Board had been progressive in the best sense of the word. They had been the leaders of the whole of South Wales in regard to many things. They were the very first in South Wales, if not in North Wales, to establish Higher Grade Schools the very first (befgre Cardiff, the metro- polis of Wales) and before Swansea, who always lagged behind in everything— though he was a Swansea, man himself- to have cookery schools, manual instruc- tion, and pupil teachers' centres. But their ideal had not yet, been reached. They had yet a lot to do in the Rhondda, but they had now arrived at, a crisis in the his- tory of education of the country. There was an evil spirit abroad with regard to education, which meant to him the educa- tional flock back. They 'would have to fight for the very existence of the School Board system. The tendency was to abolish the School Board system and merge it into a branch similar to the Roads and Bridges Committee or Asylums Com- mittee of the County Council. He was sorry to see that the National Union of Teachers at their meetings last week had adopted the local option principle. The chairman, and he alone, ill a remarkable speech, made the child to be the most important factor, and the most important object in the whole proceedings of educa- tion. Not only had the judges pronounced

against the science schools, but, worse still, they had decided against the payment of grant in respect of adults in the even- ing continuation schools. More than that, when this matter came before the Master of the Rolls, he gave his finding, and said that not only was it, illegal to pay from the rates to science and evening schools, hue he defined an adult to be a child from 15 to 17. They had decided that even the Higher Grade itself, and all subjects other than elementary, taught in standards 6 and 7, were illegal. The Board should. therefore, join with other school boards in agitating for ^legislation on the lines of the greatest good for the greatest, num- ber. (Hear, hear.) They should do their best for the sake of the children, the character of the country, and future gene- r&tions. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Henry Abraham, in an able speech, felicitated Mr. and Mrs. Howell upon that auspicious occasion, and welcomed the School Board to Porth, where they had now ample accommodation, and delightful surroundings. Miss Ada Jones added her most sincere thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Howell for the en- tertainment, and wished them all happiness in the future. Mr. W. G. Howell briefly responded tc. the toast, proposed by the Rev. W. Moi-r; and said it had afforded him great pleasure to give that luncheon as a kind of com- memoration of the opening of those pre- mises for school board purposes. He sincerely hoped the same amicable spirit and co-operation would prevail in the future as in the past. (Hear, hear.) Mr. D. R, Jones also spoke, and in a comprehensive address referred to the chairman (Rev. W. Morris) as one of the keenest educationists in the country. His (the speaker's) action in voting Jor the removal of the offices to Porth had been criticised, but lie had done so because he thought it was the proper thi-ig- to do under the circumstances, and not that he had any particular regard for any section of the Board. He had considered the question carefully, and in an unbiassed manner.. The abolition of the adult from the evening school would be a sore trial, and a crying injustice to the working classes. They knew of men who had spell" their time for years in public-houses, but by a, kind word they had taken advantage of the opportunities offered by the evening school, and had taken great delight in learning, and had made good progress in their studies. He thought the position should be explained to those young men, who should be told the reason why the Board could not provide education for them in the future.