The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

1 DENBIGHSHIRE IDUCATION COMMITTEE. HE INTERMEDIATE SYSTEM. bEENCE BY MRJ. E. POWELL DC 8r RUTHIN AND HOWELL'S SCHOOLS. (From Our Reporter). siting of the Denbighshire Education .00 was held at Chester on Friday. The ing was chiefly interesting fox the speech of lr J. E. Powell, the ohalIman of the Inter- iiate and Higher Education Committee, who, me of the members of tlio Joint Education vmittee for the county, had a share in the ■jng of its intermediate education scheme, vho replied to reoeat statements by the of St- Asaph, At the last meeting of —U+tioc it Avas etabe<d that the joint ccni- SI K oonaido-ring the question ^of Howell s -'high, in conjunction with the quee- ^vki'ing' secondary education in that 7 rM««. srirle. wbo are at ^rts&ent deprived ■ 5ie benefits of the Intermediate Education Net. His reference in the speech at the pre- tMjt meeting to that school, when considered f-pj-wiiat was stated at the previous usee ting, t be taken to imply that the Joint Education Aj-yuttee are moving with the object of re- a>: ng tlie question of that school. Ef e Chairman o £ the Education Committee. ..■Sir W. G- Dodd. presided at the meeting, and ifcbe other members were Mr J. E. Powell Mr Ch-istmsw Jones. Mr J. Wilcoxon, Mr John AVen. Mr F. A. Sturge, Mrs J. R. Powell. Mr JQromar. Dr. J. Medwyn Hughes, Pro oasor J- jTlJoyd. Mr Simon Jones Miss Gee. Col- C- "klainwaring■ Mr John Roberts, Mr W- J. C lame, Mr E- W- Thomas, Mr R- A. Jones, Gomer Roberts. Mr Rennet Jones, and Mr B. Bury; with Mr John Roberts (Joint Ssc- dry), Mr J. C. Davies (Organiser). and Mr •4 n. Wiles (Surveyor and Architect). THE MAGISTRATES AND SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. ALLEGED INADEQUATE FINES: ABER- GELE BENCH CRITICISED. At a previous meeting the Lla.njrwBt District Committee engaged a soHcitor to conduct prcee- iutior-1 for non-attendance, aind they sent the jill to the Education Committee, who, while bey agreed to pay it in that instance, decided ilwiit no further expenses should be incusrred in orwfessianal fees without the authority ol the Committee. The Afcteodanee Committee now reported that th-ey had received a letter from DVlr J. E- Humphreys stating that the Llanrwst (District Managers did not regard with aiuon. Tfavour the restriction placed upon them in tihe 'rT^ttp.r of engaging profess;onaJ assistance- The Committee reeolved*that they could not see their w-av to depart from tlneir previous resolution, with regard to this matter, and they had furtiher ;resolved that the secretaries be instructed to .vrit,c" to the Joint Police Committee calling their Ittentiap to the inadequacv- cf the punishment Japosed by justices in some ct the petty Bes- sirvnai divisions in non-aitent'itnee caaes- the motion to confirm these rropesitiona. John Roberts (join.t secretary) advised that most effective way of carrying out the ob- of the second resolution would be to ask 5 vans, as the legal adviser of the Committee, ') attend the courts where inadequate punisih- ant had been impeded, when the next prcee- ati(>Tn were instituted. vai-.d to express to the —lu i; the desire of that committee. < THE LLANRWST POINT OF VIEW. iMr W. J. Williams, alluding to the first ol two resolutions, said that the question arose V pm the case in tbeir district where a solicitor id been engaged in a certain nuinber o: prose- ttont), aod b.e resolution which the Attendance I 't torn it tee had passed did not meet the object stihe Iiaarwst District Managers at all. It i i said that it was necessary to get the con- L" of the Education Authority before a solici- 3l was engaged for a prosecution, and the ob- -tion to that -which the Attendance Committee's oiiition did not meet art all, was that there uid be eo mu,6h delay caused by having to ,-Gain the permission of the authority. The •nana[Tors' meeting might decide upon a prose- nation and there might not be a meeting of Education. Commit tee for a month, and then i, • migthit not be another meeting oi Hue <-5omrrutfoe* month- The Attendance penmss—— thfi reoolution about their would meet the diihculty, but n (lIU wut, GIJ su all. SMALL FINES AT ABERGELE. Mr J. Wifcoxon said that the second resolu- tion was passed because of a complaint that the at Abergele were BO small that they did not ailect the aitenid'ajice of the children, and #that the parents did not care whether tney kept I <fcear children at home or not- The Committee felt that they had not got the sympathy of ho Abergele Bench. Dr. Medwyn Hughes said that they were much ore likely to get that if tbev got Mr Evane to take a repwemntation before the Bench, instead ( sending them a letter criticising their action. kVith regard to the ,Iolrit Poke Committee he ^♦nbmitted that they had no jurisdiction whatever oyer the roagisitTates. MR THOS BURY'S PROTEST. Mr Thcp. Bury said that he was sorry the recommendation had been brought forward at all. because it appeared1 a reflection on the .magistrates- This was not a new matter, and 'the magistrates were well aware of the working o: the Act, amd they must be guided bv the cir- cumstances of the parents in each case, and by Other facts in giving decisions- It was a reflec- tion upon them to pans such & resolution, and > he did not think that the clerk need be troubled to attend before the magistrates- If the Com- mittee could show that the leniency had been carried on for a great length of time, and tihat there was a persistant imposition of small penalties tfsere might be some ground for the compl aint- -MORE PROSECUTIONS. MORE LAXITY." Mr Simon Jones remarked that hia experience [Iras that the more prceecutions there were the more laxity woukt there be found on the part trvo attendance officers- Mr G. Cromar agreed that it would be pos- sible fo*- the oierk to attend before the benches referred to-Ruabon and Abergele. He recol- lected very well that they were troubled ianîè same way about cither benches- For Wrex- for instance, there were comrrkygfe there, and ham, but Mr W. R. X;ë; aiHj askod for co- stated the Ocoamrtrtee then there had' been a operation, affairs ^kr^'AMENDMENT AT ABERGELE y, J- WiSmxcci: Mr Evans bas been to Aber- KAc-. aud there is no amendment there—no al- teration. whatever. Mr J. E. PQwell, who had moved fihat a. l&t- ter be seat to the Abergele and Ruabon magis- trates, withdrew in favour o. a motion by Mr f>ornar that Mr Eviiz be requested to attend at th" courta when there are further proae- curtioca- Mr Bury again protested, and Dr- Medwyn Hughes remarked that there was "10 mtemtion far Mr Evans to go away with the -,an-a of remonstrating with the magistrates con- nÍng the past delinquencies, but merely to .,ay tlio matter before them and ask for their co-operation for the future. Tl¡¡e.re were two votes for an amendment by Mr Bury to delete the entire matter from the ■nunntes, and the proposition of Air Cro-mar was then carried by the votes of thø remaining J^ojbcrs- 6 DENBIGH IN A SCRAPE. \jlr John Roberts (Henilan) said his local fi)m.-ni,t,tee had taken it that tljey had authority engage legal asatsanoe. and Chey had done ] He did not kaow -vrifiether they « d <Ione right or wrong. ^haicinan; I am afraid you hare done longiy (kmghter)- Mr John Roberts: How is that ? I take it that you have transferred ail authority with re- H atten<ia^oe to the district managers, »f there are restrictions co their work they •vroaot carry it out. ft: Chaiwrsan: We have not extended to them ^gaging of professional aasistance. The at- ^ctaaoe. ca-a appear as a rale, and when rcwre ]» special need for Legal aaeistance thev aj>piicatk>a to as. Mr John Roberts;. Tbe objection to that is fchat the time goe* < The Ob..irmaIl said that the Denbigfa case was ,on all &Xwa with that at laam-wst. Sir Rennet Jaaes pointed out that legal a »statx>e was to be employed in cases at Goiwyn and Wrexhaav ^? he k» those cases an appli. °!L. assistance had been received, end the Committee allowed it. case mentioned by Mr J°CW^rU vWe hav done it (laughter-y Tito Chairumn YOU will wait until you aro "waehed, per (Ja.nt). I HEADMISTRESS APPOINTED. „ M-ISS GEE'S QUESTION. «tc. ffr"oWI"*c«ndidate3 were interviewed with 4+ df 'l. 40 "Kl1" application for the post of r lhe Peny«r«'Ji Infants' Cooncil n -t qJu A. Huc^hee^ Brvnsi«ncyn Ktt& Robe««- Bodaeron, antl Misa Mary Thomas, Iryfants' Coancvl ie.-ic-I. Kwlrt^yn. E»eh ea;>r'idal:^ after the ^I qu^onsW t e Chairman, w« by l abstainer, and 3h: w,s- When askM i„ 'What dutls* ai»e took the most intCTftai, ^f(«s Roberts replied without hesitation, "The Miøs Roberta replied without hesitation, "The -'HX. 1JL Welsh language." In response to the inquiry as to why she desired a change, s,e stated she felt cooped up at Ruthin, and desired to meet her f llow-tcftchers more often, and it wad not al- ways possible to attend the meetings from Ruthin. This statement secured the keenest appiob-icion of the members from the Wrexham end, but rather non-pluised the Ruthin mem- bers and those from the Vale of Clfl'vd. Miss Roberts secured nine votes, and Miss Thomas seven. Tne resolution that Miss Roberts be appointed was then put, and earned unanmously. "CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY." The Chairman, in informing Miss Roberts of I her appointment, said lie had the (.'easure to say that she had been elected unanimously. I When the lady had retired Mr Sturge objected to the statement that tr-e elaciio i i'sd byn t nanimous. It .ee ned a Fer" j rotPnce, be- cause in reality the election was not unanimous. That expression should n'jt, in his cjririirn, ho used unless there was ro voting lor c.t\.u candi- dates. It was not fair to the other Candida es. The Chairman said it had been their custom to make the statement if the substantivo resolution was unanimously agreed to, as was the case on that occasion. Mr Sturge: It would be better to say, "You have been elected by a majority vote," if any- thing as to the voting i-s said at all. The Chairman: I will bear what you say in mind, and on a future occasion I &hall ask for the instruction of the committee as to what I am to do. THE BRYMBO SCHOOL. It was reported that arrangements were made j for the removal of the committee's property from the Brymbo Schools to the temporary school buildings on December 31st. Mr Bury protested against a committee being given power to spend money in this case without confirmation by that authority, and the Chairman replied that the case was an urgent one, and that commit- tees were not usually allowed power to act. Mr Simon Jones asked whet, er there was any brighter light dawning with regard to the school buildings, to avoid the district boing put to the expense of new schools, but Dr. Medwyn Hugnes submitted that the question was out of order, and the Chairman, while he did not wish to make any secret about the matter, said he was obliged, as his attention had been called to the question of order, to rule that the question was out of order. The matter was therefore dropped. MR POWELL'S SPEECH. A REVIEW OF THE INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL'S HISTORY. Mr J. E. Powell, in moving the adoption of the report of the Intermediate Education Com- mittee, said his mind went back thirty years, an i to the group of men in Wales wno deter- mined that the country should get no rest until there was established a link between the ele- mentary school and the college. The result was that in 1885, Mr Mundella prepared a scheme covering the whole of Wales, and in that scheme was a provision which was not being overlooked in these days, that there should be a board of education for Wales. The Intermediate Education Bill ws introduced in 1889, under Lord Salisbury's Government, and on the back of it were the names of the late Mr T. E. Ellis and Mr George Kenyon. From its inception intermediate education in Wales had secured the sympathy and co-operation of all classes and creeds in the Principality. Whan the Bill be- came law a joint committee in each county went to work to frame a scheme under the Act, for the setting up of sooondary schools in their own area. The Denbighshire Joint Committee, who comprised the laSe Mr Gee, the late Capt. Grif- fith-Boscawan, thfe Warden of Ruthin, Mr taj goed Jones and himself, had fi v ey <?a r s o fha r d work in f ram tug their scheme. By 1894 lt_^va"'3 ready for submission to Parliament. I-hey provided in the scheme for the incorporation of the old grammar schools, and they also provided a separate scheme for dealing with llow ell 3 School, Denbigh. Tne two constituted a_har- u..LL:- -) \.Xi.n.'V"- monious whole. They naa at rvuwiui ham Schools ear-marked for a special purpose. In both Greek was to be a compulsory subject. Then they .had two schools, one at eaclt e.nd of the countv^ on tho girls' side, set apart as spe- cial schools. These wore the Wrexnam Uuls se School and the Howell's School, Denbigh. But the House of Lords, led by the Bisliops, did what Le believed had resulted in a great mis- for une to thi county. Ruthin Grammar School and Howell's School, Denbigh, were excluded from the sc .eme. Educationally this had ra- llied in a. loss to Ruthin, and in regard to tho town of Ruthin he believed it had n a g wvous loss (near, hear). The exclusion of Howell's School, Denbigh, had been a loss to tkr, town in the some way. The county schools lial been provided to supply the means of se- condary education to the w. ole of the boys and girli in the Principality. He contended that that work had been done, and done wen (ap- Dlau?e). The Central Welsh Board, set up mix* AtfMK-mant hptwMn the counties, tion of the county schools, had providea one curriculum and one examination, which had bean accepted in lieu of the preliminary examinations of the following bodies: The General Medical Council, the Incorporated Law Society, the Welsh Matriculation, the Royal Institution of Archi- tects, the Institution of Chartered Accountants, Civil Engineers and Surveyors, the Pharmaceuti- cal Society, and the Board of Education. That proved that the schools were realty giving a sound education and a broad culture to the children. The Bishop of St. Asaph, in a recent letter, referring to schools outside the scheme, and particularly to the Ruthin Grammar School, wrote: "No doubt the curriculum is broaaer tnan that of the county schools, and therefore, edu- cationally, more inclusive, and therefore much more valuable." He (Mr Powell) ventured to think that the Dishol-) would accept results in regard to the older universities in this 4 imection During the past 13 years 13 scholarships had beesn taken from the county so;ool at ,^exl?a?Vf tho older Universities—Oxford and Cambridge. Out of these five were in mathematics, five- in claMics, and three in science. Six of the qchoi- arships were open to the kingdom, and four were open to Wales alone, Ruabon County School had secured an exhibition at Oxford, in history, and Abergele had secured a scholarship at Cam- bridge. and an exhibition at Jesua College, Ox- ford" A CHALLENGE. Thus the County School* of the County were able to do, first of all, the general work of edu- cating the young people the <7 work of life, and they wore also broad eccttgh to^ the special work that provided a. of boJ to the older universities. county had not the County School sys+e* comparisons had been made comparifo^n^ttre to ask: "H" Ruthin a made heiafiar to that of the County Schools in .^respect?" He did not know of any record by Ruthin School. Possibly it might be there. The school was mentioned as a school outside the intermediate system, dointg certain work. His answer was to show what the County Schools were doing, and .to ask for the record of Ruthin (hear, hearV With regard to the general work dono by the County Schools in Denbighshire, in 1896, the number of pupils in those EchooJs was 403, and last year the number was 899. This proved that the parents realised what was being done for the children, and that the schools were fulfilling the function for which they were d«- signed. Moreover, real intermediate work was being done, and they were not overlapping with the elementary schools, for out of the 899 in the County Schools last year there were only 28 chil- dren under 12 years of age, while over 17 years of age there were 87 children (hear, hear). In the Wrexham district nine per cent. of the popu- lation was in the County Schools, as compared with ten per cent, in the Berlin Schools, a.nd ten per cent, in Scottish Schools. Girls were treated equally with boys, and there were nearly as many girls as boys in the schools (hear, hear). That ho thought proved that there existed a love for education for education's own sake. Through- out, all had been working together, and he trusted they would continue to do so. Month a.fter month they faced new difficulties, and criticism they were quite prepared to have. He believed that time would prove that the course they had taken was the right and the proper one (applause). Mias Gee said she had much pleasure in se- conding the adoption of the reports which Mr Powell h-id, moved. She was delighted to hear his speech. She wished, however, he had em- phasised the point that, although Scriptural in- struction had been given to all the schools of Wales, they had never had any religious diffi- culty (hear, hear). She would like to add that, out of the three mixed school in the county, there were five girls who won the honours cer- tificate, and onJy one boy (laughter and a.p- plause). The motion was carried. SINGLE SCHOOL AREAS. The Chairman stated that he hoped they would receive not later than the end of the year the grant from Government for the building of schools in single school areas, and it would be neceseary for the committee to meet at an early date in January in order to give instructions for the building to be commenced wherever the grants were received for. THE DENBIGH GIRLS. A resolution was submitted from the governors of the Denbigh County School, in which they made application for a. grant from the Educa- tion Committee to enable the governors to assist girls from the school to attend a County School. Mr John Roberts (Henilan) said that tKe Edu- cation Committee were, it was true, considering another scheme, but in the meantime the Den- bigh governors thought something should be done to help girls from the Denbigh district. The Denbigh girls, were unique in the whole of Wales, at they had got no advantage under the Intermediate Education Act during the whole of the 17 years sinee the Act was passed. Tho ChoHrmaix said that Mr Roberta was not in order in speaking on that matter then, but it Buffbt be put oe the agenda for the special :1- =--=.. meeting in January, when Mr Roberts could state his ideas in regard to it. The matter then dropped. APPOINTMENTS, The following, among other appointments, were made at the rate of salary set opposite each name:-Arthur Simpson, Art. 50, Colwyn Bay.BoyB' C. School, JB60 per annum; Sarah F. Davies, certificated assistant, Ruthin Mixed C., vÙ pcx annum; Robert II. Williams, Art. 68, ditto., 240 per annum; and Kate Evans, Art. 50, Derlbigh Frongoch Girls' C., JE50 per annum. RESIGNATIONS. The following resignations were reported :— Llanfairtalhaiarn Council Schools, Miss L. H. Jones, Art. 50; and Abergele Girls' School, Miss E. M. Morris, Art. 50. DENBIGH COUNTY ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS. Mr E. J. Roberts, hon. secretary, sent the fol- lowing resolution, passed at the annual meet- ing of the Association, held at Colwyn Bay, on September 21st, viz.:— "That this meeting of the Denbighshire Coun- tv Association of Teachers respectfully asks, the Denbighshire Education Committee to provide a scale of salaries for all grades of teachers, and to receive a deputation consisting of teachers in the service of the committee and union repreeen- tative& A reply was directed to be sent that as a con- fererce between representatives of education authorities in North Wales is to be held in the ir.ning of the New Year 'o ccs;der the question of teachers' salaries, the comrnittee are of opinion that no useful purposo would be served by receiving a deputation prior to the c pg hog COLWYN BAY HIGHER, EUSMENTARY SCHOOL. A letter from the Bc-a-rd of Education remind- ed the Authority that the retention of scholars in this school for a fourth year, and the exten- sion" under Section 22 (2) of the Education Act, 1902, of the limits within which instruction may be given in the school under the Elementary Education Acts, have only been sanctioned by the Board until the 1st July, 1908. It was resolved that the letter be referred to the Joint Education Committee. I/LANFAIR D.C. CHURCH SCHOOL. The Ruthin district managers recommended an increase in tho salary oi the head teacher of this school. A Teply was sent that the commit- too regret the application of the head teacher cannot be entertained at present. RUTHIN COUNCIL SCHOOL. An application from the head master for an increase in salary was deferred until the next revision of salaries. EMERGENCY STAFF. Mr Charles Leeds, formerly head teacher at the Trevor School, was employed on the Emer- gency staff, at a salary of JB120 per annum. Mr Leeds wrote with regard to travelling ex- penses between Trevor and Rhas, where he is now engaged, assisting at the Rhos Senior C. School, and was informed that emergency teach- ers are only allowed travelling expenses to and from the several schools at which their services may bo required. LLANRWST CHURCH SCHOOL. The correspondent sent the National Society form of agreement for the perusal of the com- mittee, and asked them to accept its terms, and fill the form in respect of the head teacher. It was decided to reply that the oom.mitteo have adopted a form of agreement of their own, and consequently they regret they cannot adopt any other form of agreement. COLWYN BAY COMPLAINT. ALLEGED ABUSE OF THE ATTENDANCE OFFICER. A letter from Mr E. Bithell, attendance officer, Colwyn Bay, was road, relative to the abusive treatment he alleged he bad been subjected to a.t Old Colwyn, while executing his duties. It was resolved that a communication be sent to the Colwyn Bay district managers, stating that the committee feel that the attendance officer must b3 protected, and that measures should be taken to prevent a repetition of tuch treatment of tho officer, and expressing the hope that the managers will not hesitate to take proceedings against the persons complained of if they think such course advisaJble, and that in the event of this being dono they be authorised to employ such legal assistance as they think necessary. CAPRICIOUS REMOVALS AT LiLANRWST. Mr J. E. Humphreys wrote that his managers suggested, that English and Welsh pamphlets of the circular re "Capricious Removals," issued by the L. E. A., in August, be printed and cir- ciliated amongst all the schools in tho county o ba,'¡""n f. f V,a ko-raflt The suggestion was adopted, and copies of the circular will be printed and sent to tho at- tendance officers to take to the various schools in the county. ERBISTOCK N. P. SCHOOL. u t u^*1" Wa^ rcs^ frotm tho man*agera, dated the 6th inst., stating that they hrid' decided to oonuply with the suggestions contained in the report of the County Architect, which is printed on page 3 of volume 156. COLWYN COUNCIL SCHOOL. The Cowyn Bay district managers intimated that they arc of opinion that tho Carnarvonshire J^uoa-tion Authority should be called upon to provide a new school of their own in the parish of Llysfaen rather than a joint pchool, as there M sumcient accommodation for the children of Colwyn in the Den-bighshire. school. The Secre- taries stated that they had rcoeived the follow- ing letter from the Carnarvonshire Education c onimtttpe:- l k6? 'n^orm y°u that your communication with reference to the overcrowding at the Col- wyn Council School was referred to the North Carnarvonshire Enquiry Committee for conside- ration and report. The correspondence is to brought before a conference of the two "at,hori- ties."

WINTER ^fiiNGS ECZEMA. !z.itred 40 Seasons Now Cured by Zam-Buk. Winter eczema is the worsit skLn-eoourge known. Mrs Frances Wakefield, of 6, Hastings Place. Stfattorn. Cirencestor. suffered with it for no less than forty years. Her case seemed hope- less, but Zam-Buk again, rising superior tJo all has at la<3t boan the means of ending her misery amd restoring to her that priceless boom—a, healthy Blkin, Mrs Wakefield, who is 56 years of age, was interviewed by a local reporter, ajxl said:—"I be,an to suffer with the droadifui winter cczenna when I was 15 yeaijs of age. It used' to come an every winter. The joints of my arms and knees, as well as my shins, were covered with a thick white ooaIe, wllioh-dt-rp,d-off and-was replaced by otilner scales periodicilly- "It has beqn hereditary in our family, but I have suffered worse than any of the others. I ocold not find anything to cure me. I have been under some of the best doctors, and some years ago I had to go to the Infirmary at Glou- cester. wthteme I was attended by tohree head physicians. I stayed for two months, but their 'cure' was c¡gly temporary. For years I used some stuff that eased me a bit, but this winter it did taot seem to do it any good- The disease wap worse than ever. At last I thought I would tory Zam-Butk. When I first put the balm on I oould not detect mucih improvement, but I kept an with it, and got a sooon.d box. Dy this time I could side that the dreadful complaint was dy- ing away, and the pain and irritation got less and less. I continued the dressings far several weeks, encouraged all the time bv steady im- provement, and .now I am oompleteW cured-" Yon cannot afford to neigiect the first signs otf rou^rhmess and (soreness so ready to n.opear at tha time cf the year. Zam-Buk, the world's moat marvellous skin cure, is sold by all che- mists art Is lid' or 2s 9d.

FLINTSHIRE MAGISTRACY. MORE APPOINTMENTS WANTED. On Friday, Hawarden Rural District Council dis- the question whether more magistrates are not I required in the Hawarden Uisfcrich Mr J. Millington moved: "That the Council draw' the Lord CSiaaceQor'g attention to the aeed of more magistrates in Hawarden and other parts of their rural area. I He pointed out that no matnstrates lived in or near Hawarden. The same thing applied to other villages. It was a pit too that their chair- man (Mr William Frayer), had been lost sight of while the authorities had been distributing honours to freely in the country. He suggnded the following should be placed on the Commission of the Peace:- Kinnerton, Mr Fryer; Hawarden, Mr W. G. 0. Glad- stone, and Mr Hugh Davies; Aaton, Mr E. Sydney Taylor; and Smflg croft. Mr Samuel Manley. Mr J.Jm WrigHW who seconded, asked what where the qualifications for appointment as a magistrate. The OJerk: Respectability (laughter). It was also suggested that the growing district f Shotton urgently required new magis The motion wad carried unanimously, and thd name of Mr S. Viekers, for Shotton, was added to the suggested names. Wken Replying to AJverttae- ||

xnent*. f>l«ase menttem B "THE PIONEER." I Mama.

,L. «"A. PUBLIC WHIST DRIVE AT RHYL. IN AID OF THE T.A.A. On Thursday, a wihcA drive was held1 at the Town HaLL Rhyl, in aid of the funds of the Town Advertising- Association. It was the most successfuil ever held in Rhyl, and the credit for this is duo to the untiring efforts of Mr R. Sykes, who, on this occasion, was assisted by Mr P. J. Aahfic-ld Mr A. A. Good'all, Mr A. Prit- chard, and Mr J. D. PoLkinghorne- The hall had bean effectively decorated by Measxs Fred Roberts and Co-, and the miudio for the dance, whidh followed tihe drive, was supplied by an orchestra, of which Air Collins was leadier. and Mias Mabel Hughes the accompanist, Mr C. De Quinoey kindiy lena'ing uie muaiflt The oiece&sary turiiiluire and otaer articles had been lent by Mxo Walton. the Paiiace Company. Mrs Thomas (Imperial Hotel). Mh» Mitchell. Mr Cooper, Mr Philip Tnomas, Mr Yv aiiia (W ymn- stay Hotel). Mr 11'. p. Arthur (George Hotel). Mr Gone (Bee Hotel), Mr Rogers (Mona Hotel). Misu Mathews (Gostignae). and Mistj Williams a (Oakieigh), Mrs W. E. Jones, assisted by M.ra Sykc*s, paw to the whc-lo of tine catering, wnd in alio seryin.g they were assisted by the following: Miss Edige. Mr (Jooper, Mr Sherman Jones, Mrs Wdliis, and Mesarja W. Guininer. C. Hubbard. J- P- Jones B. Jones, H- K. Osborne, W. H. Wilders, W. A. James. W. Simcock, F. Beedi, and E. E. Vaughan, who acted as stewards- Valuable prizes wore offered fora Limeriok competition, and a noteworthy feature were the prizes offe-rod in the whist d'rive for highest score in fhst and second halif. In addition to the nxizes for the grand taltal there were prizes for a drive duxinig the dance for the riion- dancers.- Prizes were presented by the fallowing —Mr A- Thhyodcwffi Jones, Mr R. Sykes, Mr H. Sandoe, Mr W. R. HuES, Mrs Ashfield, Mr A. Cheetham. Mr P- J- AshlieJd, Mr Huglhie Hughes, Mr Kerfcot Hughes, the Bon Marche; Measire Smith Bows, (per Mr R. Sykes), Mr J. P. Jones (Wellington-road), Mr Allen Jones, Messrs Paiethorpe's Ltd! Messrs McLardy and Co. (per Messrs Tayak and Co), Mr Hober Howard, of the Princebra Cigar Co.. Measra Valentine and Co- (per Messrs Tayak), Mr E- K- Cteborme, Mrs Imgham» Mr W. Gunner, Mrs Wedgwood. Mrs Sykes and a friend. Messrs J. H. Ellis and H. ii- Tilby were tihe judges for tlho Limericks, and Mr J. H. Ellis, in announcirng the [results of the competition, said it was a source of congratulation to all oanoeirned that there was such a magnificent gathering. Mr Sykes and those w.ho were affió- ciated with him were deserving of all praise for orga.nising sudh. a furet-on. Not onJy was there pleasure (and dt was surprising how the whist drives had taken hold of the popular fancy), but those who patronised them wore. doing good to themeraives as well as to ttib town, as tine pro- coeds were to be devoted to the Advertising Association- They ogulid rot do better than oombine business with pleasure, and while enjoy- ing themselves they helped to make Rhyl bet- ter known (hear, hear)- He hoped that the number of people living in England who did not know the advantages of Rhyl would1 yearly become smaller- The more the town was ad- vertised the betteir it would be known, and the more prosperous would it become. Mr Sykes had worked exceedingly hard. and was desorv- ing of all oredit- He hoped that the whist drive was the forerunner of many similar func- tiorp, for it was a pleasure to see so many enjoying themselves in such an innocent way (hear, ihear). That they wanted to acVertiao Rhyl was well-known to residents. He had often fhad letters addressed to him as "Mr J. H. Ellis, Ryde," but they always came to him, which proved tha.t the Pest Offioe knew all about him and Rhyl (laughter)- The Lime-rick competition luad been a good one. and tiho prizes were awarded by the numbers cm the tickets as fouiow;:—1. Mr S. Jones; 2. Mrs J. p. Jones; 3, Mrs Polkinghorne; 4, Mr W. E. Jomefl; 5. Mr A. Jonie^; 6. Mr C. Hubbard; 7, Mrs Ditahfield1; 8, Mr W. Jones. Mr H. A. Tilby announced the results of the wihist drive, and in doing so he said he hardly knew wihat to say. as the mere mention of the name of Mr Sykes made ali other remarks inr audibilo for a tirrae on account of the applause That he JAIX Sykefs) had worked hard wentt witihout saying, as the success of that gathering was all that could be desired- He hoped lbhat that assembly would! induce them to take a great interest in the Advertising Asso- ciation, and that when those present could say a good word for jt, or do something to Iurthcr its objects, they would do (so. In Rhyl they had done their beat to raise funds. but much more could be done, and ea- pecially when they xmlisdd that at Llandudno something like £ 600 per annum was raised, and at Colwyn Bay the sum was £ 400- He congratulated Mr Sykes and tlhose who had The prizes were then awarded ap fcLIK)WO: Ladies': 1, Miss Vaughan oones, 188; 2, Madame Dore, 180; 3, Mm Wallas, 177; 4, Mra W. E. Jones; 5. Miss Befse Topliss. 175; and, the bcoby, Miss R. Wainwrigiht, 132. Gentle- man: 1, Mr E. C. S-heringdan, 176; 2, Mir R. WilLi-ama, 175; 3. Mr R. B. Slinn, 173; 4, Mr Lliew- B- Evans, 172; 5 and 6, Mr W. WilEs amd Mr W. Jones, 171. Mr A. G. Brooks should have taken the first with 186, and Mr GoUtetraw the aooond with 174. but they both withdrew their claims- Mr Williams took the booby with 132. In the prize for the first and second roundu 'highest scores the ladies were Mra W. E. Janes with 97. and Mifis Vaugihan Jones and Miss E. Williams with 97. Gentle- men, Mr A. C. Brookes and Mr Fred Gold- etnaw. 94. In the short whist drive during the dancing the winners were:—Gentlemen 1. Mr R Oldham. 142; Mr Fazakerley auid Mr S. Jonep tying for second' with 140. -Ladies': 1, Mits D- Tudor. 152; 2, Mriss ¿L. Beaumont. 144. Mr AdhfieLd prop<W^ a vote of thanks to Mr Sykes for orgarwiihg the whist drive, and ccsi- g.ratuJated Aun on tihe success. *5ykes iretuainied thanks, and al^o proposed 1.1 vote of thanks to Mr Tilby and Mr Ellis for their services- Mr Sarson P-P-oood thanks to the donoim of the prizes, wfcjle Mr J. D. Polkinghorne moved a vote of thanks to the ladies who had assisted in the refreshment dbpartment, specially men- the service of iwirs Williams (Oaldeigh), Mire W- E. Jones, amd Mrs Sykea- The proceedings closed with a hearty vote of toanka to band.

HOLYWELL COUNTY SCHOOL ANNUAL PRIZE DISTRIBUTION. The aranual prize distribution in connectioa with, tihe Holy weill County School took place on Friday mght at tho Aaaemibily-hall, which w-oa crowded. Mr P. H. Roberts (vice-cliairman of the court of governom) presided and delivered a brief opening address- The headmaster (Mr J. M. Edwards, M.A.) then read has annual renort, in which he re- ferred to the great loss they had sustained by 6 the death 07 Mr J. L. Muapratt chairman of tlhie court ctf goverrYD-i-s. Durin,g the year the soliool had been enlarged by the addition of two large classrooms, a manual i-nst-ructian-roortii1 and a cookery-room, and the whole neighbour- hood was to be complimented upon the acoom- modation now afforded- Tho school year started with 153 pupils- He impressed upon parents the necessity of letting their children begin their secondary education not Later than t'he age of 12. The headmaster added—"I firmly believe that the time is at hand when the Central Welph Board eJbould revise C-.rir schedule off work. Umdler the present conditions there 13 a damgor of overworking the pupi-lis of our Welsh county schools- Owing to preesune of examina- tions children have no opportunity of develop- ing in other direotionsi-" An add was them delivered by Pro'eaaar Lewis Janes, Bengor. After congratulating the sdhoal upon the exceedingly creditable charac- ter of the report of the year's work, he said that at a similar function which he had attended the previous iiiight at Criodeth -org of tihe speakers complained there -,N-as a great deal too much talk about odkimtim in Wales at the preeontni-omsit. That complaint was, ho thought, a juistifiablp one- What was wrong with tiheir system was the congestion caused by a multiplicity of eo- called organising and administrative bodiep. Neither the teachers nor the children got", under existing conditions, fair nJav Thev ought to give the-teachers more freedom of ini- tiative and a marie elastic curriculum, so that they could really educate and not cram their pupils. He was quite sure it was false economy to penalise the teachers in any way, either by underpaying them or giving them a too exten- sive curriculum to cover- Let them trust tihe teachers a little more, and cease to harass tliem by a multitude of irritatinig regulations and1 by indmcrnmnato advice- Professor Jones then re- ferrwd to the njeoessnty of guod mading. ,The prizes were then distributed by Mxs Johnson Jones, after which the plypils perfarm- ed scenes from "Macbeth-"

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SMITHFIELD FIGURES. The Smtfchfield Show is now past for an- other year, and some of the results of this show are worth considering. There have been none of the enormously heavy animals this year that we have seen in byegonc ycar3, but all the same there is the usual run of immensely fat animals that the or- dinary practical man has no use for. Tho very Iea--itst animal in the whole show was a South Devon under 3 years old with 18 cwt. 3 qrs. 21 lbs.; the lightest a Shorthorn Dexter-Kerry with 7 cwt. One breed is thus practically twice as heavy as the other. IliL- heaviest sheep were the Lincolns, on* pen of three "euhers (22 months old) waigliod over 10 cwt.; on the other hand a pen of Welsh Mountain of same ago were nnder 2} cwt.—one breed being thus about four I times as heavy as the other. Among oiga a pen of two mountains of bacon of the Lai-ge White breed, weighed over 11J cwt. (1 nder one year old), while at the other end of the scale we had two Tamworths at about G cwt. (same age). DIFFERENT OPINIONS. Of course mere size and weight do not mean quality," and so the prizes did not go by this, but to the ordinary farmer size and weight go for a good deal. A curious state of matters arose at the meeting the champion beast of the show was not first of its class. Now if an animal is first in its class it ought to be the best for the cham- pionship contest, or per contra, the cham- pion of the whole show ought to be best iu its class, but this was not so on this occa- sion. Of course this hitch was wholly due to the fact that two different set! of judges settle the prizes, but it is curious that; such n clash of opinions never occurred before. It will bo ncccssary before another year to make a rule that only first prize animals shall compete for the championship, so that there can thus be no room for dificreucoy of opinion. A FARMER'S PARTY. This column has always been non-political, and the writer flatters himself that no reader suspects on which side his political ideas lie. He may therefore offer some re- marks on the movement which is being in- augurated to form a farmers' party in Par- liament. The time is not ready for such a movement just now, and it would be better to leave it over for a year or two. It might have been tried with some hope of success, say ten or twenty or thirty years ago, and it will be tried with success after a few years again, but not just now. The reason is that there are some subjects before the country now that in the olden days would have been settled with dirks and whingers in a civil war; we do not run civil wars in the twentieth century, but until these mat- ters are settled it is useless to try to do anything else, or form any new parties. PARLIAMENT AND AGRICULTURE. There is great need for such a party, for although farming is the most important in- dustry in the nation, either as regards the number of people employed in it or the money represented, it is one of the worst treated by Parliament, no matter which government is in power. At the present time however, there are some matters of infinitely more importance to the nation, and behind which there is a tremendous intensity of feeling, and any new party that tries to split votes at an election will itself be wrecked. The present writer has done his little best for over thirty years in helping on the improvement of agricultural legisla- tion, and will help again when the time comes, but the time has not come yet. LIQUID MANURE. What we are to do with the liquid manure of the homestead is becoming a greater trouble as the years go on. Certain vision- ve bandied the stuff them- of liquid manure tanks, and carting out the liquor on to the fields: certain others who have gone to the expense of tanks, pumps, and carts, have retired from the business in disgust. The writer knows of scores of farms where the tackle is lying idle and will never be used again. The late Sir John Lawes long ago declared that it would never pay to use liquid manure so long as nitrogen- ous manures could be got at reasonable prices. THE TRENCH SYSTEM. Usually the drainings of the homestead are allowed to run into the nearest ditch: this will be put a stop to sooner or later for sanitary reasons. It is therefore necessary to get rid of the stuff the best way we can, and the best way is on the same principle as town sewage is now dealt with. If a fiiece of grass land Jbelow the homestead is aid off with a few parallel trenches across the slope at a dead level contour on the catchment" plan, and the liquid run into the top one, allowed to overflow and spread itself over the surface till it is caught again by the next trench, and so on, it will be found that the ground soaks up the liquid and purifies the residue in a wonderful iran- ner. If the soil is porous very little land will be needed for this bacterial and filter- ing system, but a larger area will be re- quired if the soil is stiff clay. Weedy rub- bish will be apt to grow, but that cannot bd helped, as the object is to get rid of the sewage, or to so purify it that it can be al- lowed to run into a brook. A NEW ROOT CROP. A very large number of our regular farm crops have been introduced into this coun- try within the last 150 years or so, and it is pretty certain that we have not rcached the end of our tether in this line, and that there may be many more new ones yet to come into the regular farm list. The writer haa just come across a new one introduced into his locality by a neighbour, to which he would like to call attention, as it gives a promise of great things. It appears to be a hybrid between the thousand-head kail and the kohl-rabi, and the story of its in- troduction is interesting. One of the reli- gious orders expelled from France has set- tled in Germany: the writer's friend on a holiday there saw the crop growing, entered into conversation with the foreman priest, learnt what it was, got a few plants, brought them home to Essex, dibbled them out, and now they are growing finely and are being reserved for seed. CHARACTERISTICS AND USES. The characteristics of the plant are that it is practically a kail with a thick, fleshy, luscious stem, like an elongated kohl-rabi. During summer the leaves can be stripped off the stem and used, while the tuft at the top is left. This latter can also be re- moved if the root" is required for clamp- ing purposes, but otherwise the plant as it grows is an ideal one for sheep-folding, or feeding green to milk cows. The stem is soft and juicy, and can easily be pulped if nec- essary. The monks claim that the plant ia their own production, and call it Chou Mocllier," but as the seed is offered in French seed-catalogues it cannot be very rare in France. It is the first time the writer has heard of it, however, and there are so many points in its favour for south- country farming that it is worth while at- tcmpmg to spread the use of it. P.S.—The author will be glad to answer any questions arising out of this article if they are addressed to him, c/o the Editor.

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