Papurau Newydd Cymru
Chwiliwch 15 miliwn o erthyglau papurau newydd Cymru
16 erthygl ar y dudalen hon
Fly Killer.
Fly Killer. A gentleman claims to have discovered a remedy for flies in the common sweet pea. We give it for what it is worth. In the rear of his store was spread a newspaper, and on the paper had been placed a bunch of sweet peas. At least a thousand dead flies were lying on the paper in the immediate vicinity of the bunch of flowers. I threw these here by chance," he continued, and in about ten minutes I happened to notice that every fly that alighted on the flowers died in a very short time." Even as he spoke a number of insects which had stopped to suck the deadly sweet had toppled over dead. They alighted with their usual buzz. stopped momentarily, quivered in their legs, flapped their wings weakly several times, and then gave up the ghost.
Domestic Hints.
Domestic Hints. Flour absorbs odours, and should not be kept in a place where there are unions, fish, vegetables, or allY odorous substances near. To clean marble, common salt is one of the best agents. It requires no preparation, and will remove any incrustations or deposits at once. To remove paint or mortar stains from window glass, rub a little vinegar on the spots. To prevent cakes sticking to the tin, place the tin on a damp cloth when it is removed from the oven. Grease spots in carpets may be removed by wash- ing them well with a solution made of a little soap mized with a gallon of water and half an ounce of borax. To keep irons from rust, wipe them: occasionally "With a little beeswax applied with a soft cloth.
Influence of Food on Milk.
Influence of Food on Milk. Perhaps on no subject in the range of dairy husbandry is there wider diversity of opinion than an this question. It is universally conceded, how- ever, that feed exercises a marked influence in determining the quantity of milk yield from dairy cows; so much so that the yield of a dairy herd is in manv cases directly proportional to the nutri- tive value of the ration given. The dairy functions of the cow are never developed to their maximum capacity except by liberal and intelligent feeding. To be sure it requires something more than liberal feeding to make a good dairy cow in all cases, but one thing the dairyman may rest assured, vie., that no really good dairy cow was ever pro- duced without it. The good docs not come by chance or accident. She grows spontaneously. I Y. She begins milking at about two years of age, and when surrounded by favourable conditions continues to develop and grow in milk-producing capacity until the age of seven. It then takes seven years of constant, careful work after birth to make a dairy cow what she ought to be, and many of our best cows represent at least a hundred years of intelligent selection and breeding before birth. Daring all this tii-,lefeed exercises a dominant in- fluence in the development of dairy function and increasing milk-giving capacity. The quantity of milk, then, is directly dependent upon two principal factor-—feed and hereditary training or force. Feed is simply the raw material from which the cow, as a delicate organization or a machine, make- the first product of the dairy, milk, and, other being equal, the result are always in favour :of the cow capable of utilising the largesi amount of this raw material. The importance, then, of liberal feeding, and the cow having large digestive capacity, is readily apparent. -40
The Asters.
The Asters. The varieties of the China or annual aster are now very numerous-almost too much so, in fact. One of the finest types is the Victoria, which affords large and handsome flowers of various colours, the petals being broad and reflexed. This class grows to a height of 18in. or 2ft., and is still one of the best for show purposes there is also a form of this with a much dwarf er habit-about 1 foot. Another favourite type is the chrysanthemum- flowered (dwarf). These only grow about lOin. or 12in. in height (more or less according to the rich- ness or otherwise of the soil, the treatment, etc.), and produce numerous very neat and well-formed blossoms of a good size and very rich and varied oolours. The" Comet" aster is a favourite class just now, the curled and twisted petals forming a flower not unlike that of some Japanese chrysan- themums, in form, at any rate. These grow from 12in. to 20in. in height, and may now be had in several colours, such as the pure white, rose, rose and white, and lilac and white (striped), blue, etc. For early blooming the usual way is to sow the seed towards the end of March, or the first week in April, under glass, and in a very gentle warmtii. The seedings are picked out into other boxes, or into beds of soil in a cold frame, when ready, and finally planted out in May or June. Where there is no glass the plants can be raised in rather deep boxes, filled rather more than half full of soil (with good drainage), and covered with a square of glass each. Place these in any sheltered spot cut of doors, and keep the soil moist; when the plants appear tilt the glass a little and give more and more air until they are fit to go out. Or the seed may be sown directly in the open ground ilie third or fourth week in April, and the plants either simply thinned out or transplanted
The Farmer's Daughter.
The Farmer's Daughter. Of all the people engaged in agriculture it is probable that the brighest and most hopeful at this moment is the farmer's daughter. Ten or twelve years ago, when it was first being realised that depression had come to stay, it was usual to point the finger of reproach at this interestng person. In his palmly days the farmers had spent much money to make his girl a lady. She was smartly dressed, she could play the piano more or less skilfully, she knew a little French and German and Botany, and altogether she was no bad copy of the young lady of the Hall. Old- fashioned folk said :— That wasn't how her grand- mother made money. My word! She had her bunch of keys at her girdle and either a basin of poultry food or a broom in her hand. She was an expert at cooking and making preserves, and the cows, hens, turkeys, geese, pigs, and chickens were as much to her as her babies. But the daughter, why she is only an animated fashion- plate." It is no longer possible with any degree of justice to describe the farmer's daughter in that way. She has risen to the occasion as no one else has, and promises to be the saving factor in the situation—a good reason surely for considering her case. A short time ago I was speaking to an in- telligent girl of 13. She is the daughter of an Essex farmer, and goes by season ticket to an excellent suburban school, where she keeps head of her form and wins all the distinctions possible. You will have to become a writer," I remarked to her in jest. If I were ever so rich I'd like my daughters to be able to earn a living at a pinch," said her mother. Oh, I have made up my mind what I am going to do," said the daughter; when I leave school I am going to Reading College and coming out as a dairy expert." It was all the more pleasant to hear this because her school companions are decidedly of the town, belonging to families of well-to-do city people with ven- different ideals. Yet she was exactly typical of her class. Into whatever part of the country one goes the same thing is heard about the girls—they are enthusiastic about country life. Whether they are in Hertford or Essex, Wilts or Gloucester, Yorkshire or Northumberland, they are keen to learn all that appertains to the farmhouse. But a dozen years ago they were perfectly in- different to rural charms or hated the country. What has produced this remarkable change? Proffesor Gilchrist, the able head of the Agricul- tural Department of Reading College, talking it over when I was there, said it was because a beginning had been made in the right way—namely by rousing the interest of the girls. They were not solemnly told to return to the ways of their grandmothers, and carry their butter and eggs to market, and learn to haggle over a farthing. The old humdrum occupation was suddenly transfigured by new light. To make the best butter, for instance, is a clean and beautiful scientific opera- tion, and altogether the treatment of milk is a I matter of skill and knowledge. Again, the girl is being told that it is foolishness to make only a few pounds of butter, and carry them for sale" to the nearest market—a thing which educated and cul- tivated farmers' daughters would not do. The great essential to success is to work on a larger scale and to contract for large quantities. All this seems to open up a new career. If you consider the manv different kinds of feminine employment there arc few to be compared to that in connection with a dairy. The winning of the girls for this work is a great point gained in the revival of agriculture. It is very pleasant at Reading College to see them. not always listening to lectures nor working from books, but actually engaged in the hard labour of their calling. They make the cheese and the butter, and not only so. they wash and scrub and clean up afterwards, looking all the time none the less pretty in their white overalls.— MORNING POST.
THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION.
THE TEMPERANCE QUESTION. LBY A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.] The annual festival in connection with the North Cardiganshire Temperance Associa- tion, to be held at Aberystwyth next week, naturally leads our minds to the problem of Temperance reform. And yet we candidly confess we approach the question not with- out some amount of diffidence and vexation of spirit. When we remember that over sixty years have elapsed since the great temperance wave swept over our county, and then we recall to mind the many great, even stupendous efforts made during that period to bring about a greater degree of sobriety amongst our people of all classes, we have to admit that the success which has been attained is barely commensurate with the labour expended. How many Temper- ance revivals have we seen in the last half century; how many orators, whose eloquence has rivalled that of Demosthenes or Cicero, have stirred enthusiastic audiences on this theme ? And still the drink traffic remains at the present day, in spite of all reformers, the most potent, the most deep-rooted amongst the many interests of our country. The annual drink bill has reached an amount at which the mind reels, and the Trade" has an in- fluence over large portions of our population, in comparison with which the influence of our religious leaders seems but as an atom. In many towns the man who can command the greatest number of votes in a municipal or school board election is very often the local brewer or the publican. He may be a man of no learning and an unmitigated nincompoop, and his opponent the most intelligent, the most well-read, the most religious in the community, but the brewer had at his beck and call a power which simply Liughs at the forces his opponent may bring into the field. The fact is that the drink traffic, as Charles Lamb said of his household goods, "have planted a terrible fixed root," and it is quite possible that it will not be rooted out except with blood. Calling to mind these things, and in view of the enormous difficulties attending all attempts at Temperance reform, is it to be wondered, that there are times when the most ardent reformers contemplate any progress being made with something like the blankness of despair? And yet there come moments when we think that we observe the golden streaks of a better dawn for the cause of Temperance. Such is the present time, and we have no doubt that the speakers next week will refer to this at the meetings of the Temperance Festival. The moment is opportune. It is well known to our readers that the present Government some time ago appointed a Commission to investigate the whole problem, and Lord Peel was named chairman. The Trade was well represented on the Commission- too much so we think. About a couple of months ago, a rupture took place between Lord Peel and the majority of his colleagues; and an impression got abroad that enormous differences divided the Majority report and the Chairman's. The truth is this it is not the amount of disagreement, but on the contrary, the vast amount of agreement between the two reports that is of note- worthy significance in the whole matter. That there should be disagreement was nat- ural from the very constitution of the Com- mission, having on it such a large preponder- ance of the representatives of the drink trade but the real and substantial agree- ment of representatives of contending inter- ests, in a very large number of important recommendations, is a fact well worth the attention of our readers. It is extremely satisfactory to find that the Majority report —that representing the Trade "-admits that the number of licences in England and Wales is in excess of the requirements, and it distinctly says that in congested areas, a large reduction is much to be desired, and for the immediate reduction of these licences they have a scheme to propose. We may, perhaps, not all agree with their proposals in the scheme, but no one can deny that, if the reduction could be effected, a great deal would have been done to check the social and domestic misery that arises from drunkenness. All the Commissioners agree that when a drunken person is on or leaving licensed premises, the publican must prove that neither he nor his servants knew the person to be drunk. The case of Monmouth- shire is dealt with by the reports, and has for some years past been accustomed to look upon this county as a part of Wales and not belonging to the predominant partner." It is so for the purposes of the Welsh Intermedi- ate School Act, and if the question of Sun- day Closing had applied to Monmouthshire as it does to Wales, we should not have heard so much from enemies of the Sunday Closing (Wales) Act as we have in the last few years. On this important point again, the Com- missioners agree. They hold that Sunday closing should be extended to Monmouth and also that the hours of sale on Sundays in England should be reduced, and those who are acquainted with the state of English towns on the Lord's Day when the public houses and tap rooms are open, know full well what a boon this would be to our English neighbours. Another reccommenda- tion is, that clubs should be so registered and regulated that no individual member must be interested in the sale of liquor, and that the police should have a right of entry under certain conditions. We believe that if this were effected and enforced by law, an enormous advantage would be gained in the improved habits of sobriety of men who now belong to bogus clubs and drinking shebeens An important recommendation deals with that impious fraud, the bona- fide traveller." The report recommends that the privileges of the so-called bona-fide traveller should be limited to certain selected houses with an extension of the statutory distance to six miles. The Com- missioners so far from being dissatisfied, with the Welsh Sunday Closing Act, thoroughly endorse it, and do not recom- mend any altertion. Amongst other points of agreement we find the following Sale to children under sixteen to be prohibited, and persons sending children to be liable to penalties no inquests or other courts to be held on licensed premises common lodging- houses not to be licensed seamen's boarding houses to be regulated; disqualification of members of the trade from serving on watch committtees, a very important point. There is one very important factor in the problem on which either the majority nor the minority report seems inclined to offer any recommendation, we refer to the grocers licences. This is to be regretted, for the vast amount of drunkenness arising from this source alone can scarcely be calculated. But we are not inclined to carp in view of securing the other great objects, which we hope are now within reasonable distance of being attained. We think that the present Government will be guilty of the grossest neglect of duty if they do not bring in next session a bill dealing with the Liquor Traffic, when the Royal Commission, appointed by themselves, are agreed on so many matters of such vitual importance. Hence our hope that these streaks of dawn are the harbringers of a glorious day
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE.
SCHOOL ATTENDANCE. IR. E. GRAY, M.P., SPEAKS OUT. Mr. Ernest Gray, M.P., who was the principal speaker at the Conference of the Teachers of North Wales at Wrexham on Saturday, dwelt at length on the question of school attendance. There was, he said, an easy way of securing a larger contribution from the central exchequer to the schools of Wales, and that easy way rested in the hands of the school attendance authorities. Let them improve the attendance 15 per cent., and they would get the money they wanted, and many other good things in its train. In England and Wales there were on the registers 5,600,000 children, of whom 4,500,000 odd were in the schools, and the rest were away every day-some ill, some necessarily employed he was prepared to give half-a-dozen separate excuses-but by far the great majority of them either illegally employed or loitering about, learning mis- chief faster than they learnt good inside the schools, and dragged in occasionally to do harm to the children who had been attending regularly. In this matter Wales was un- doubtedly a sick man. The communal schools of Paris had 93 per cent. of the boys, and 92 per cent. of the girls in regular attendance. Scotland had 84 per cent., England 82, Wales 76, Denbigh 72, Ruabon 69 (laughter). He had no doubt, if he made a little further inquiry, he could go a bit lower down still. The English counties showed eighty-one and a half per cent., the Welsh counties 75.8, the English boroughs 83, and the Welsh boroughs 80.7. Taking the figures how they liked, the Principality compared unfavourably with England. Somehow, although nobody failed to deplore this state of things, school boards would in- sist upon neglecting the interests of the great majority, to deal tenderly with the weaknesses of the few. Even in Wales 70 odd per cent of children were in regular attendance at school, and it was only a minority, although a large one, who were defaulters. Every teacher knew that the children who were absent were nearly always the same children. The larger number were seldom away, and the smaller number were almost constantly away. For some reason or other the local authorities would not execute the law as it stood, and even if they did it was not satisfactory and ought to be improved (applause). He could quote a number of witnesses, but would only adduce one, because he was on the platform, Mr. L. J. Roberts, inspector of schools for the dis- trict, who reported to my Lords that in rural districts the attendance officer was often a pluralist, whose least important duties, as they were the least remunerative, were considered to be those of school whip. Attendance would be even more unsatis- factory than it was but for the many in- genious devices adopted by resourceful and D enthusiastic teachers to attract pupils to the school (applause). The chief cause, above all others, the speaker went on, for the low attendance was the apathy of parents and the public (cheers). Other inspectors in Wales could tell the same sad tale of schools not filled, and of wasted money. What were the causes? Often the local attendance authority had a jurisdiction over too small an area. The members of the authority were in close friendship with those who often attempted to, and often did, break the law. They hesitated to fulfil their duties, and feared that if they did so their seats would go to less diligent folk at the next election. Personally he would like to see the whole duty of enforcing attendance taken from the local authority and placed under the direct control of the central authority at Whitehall. The attendance officer should be appointed by the State, and paid out of the local rates. Many examples of the same system were to be found at the Local Govern- ment Board, where it worked well. The whole object of the local authority who ap- pointed a pluralist who looked round the district at odd intervals when he had a few moments to spare, seemed to be to leave the thing alone, and let the parents gang their ain gait." At Geneva time was not wasted in registering the attendance of children, all being supposed to be there. The children absent were registered, with the excuse, and if a child was absent two half-days in a month without a reasonable excuse-let those think of that who saw the ten noughts in their registers every week—(laughter)— notice was served upon the parent to appear before the educational authority—not the police court, because these cases were dealt with away from the surroundings of the y "I police court, and the parents were fined five francs the first time and 50 francs for the second offence (applause). If in Geneva a family happened to be that of a foreigner the Canton had a right to expel the whole family, bag and baggage, from the Canton for not sending their children regularly to school (applause). The empty benches toler- ated day by day in this country would not be permitted on the Continent, where they would be regarded as so much money put into the gutters. The parents of Munich regarded defaulters as damaging their own children by retarding their progress in school, for there was no parent there who did not realize that the pace of the class was regulated by the child who attended with average regularity, whereas the pace of the class ought to be regulated by a very much higher standard. In France the name of the defaulting parent was posted on the door of the town hall as that of one who was failing in his duty to the state. Instead of fining the defaulting parent half-a-crown, which could be paid out of the last week's earnings of the child, the continental people took care it should be sufficiently heavy to cover far more than a child could earn during the period of absence (applause). People told him they admitted that Wales was a bad third in the matter of attendance, but asked him to look at the diffi- culties of reaching the schools. He had yet to learn that there was any more difficulty in Wales than in Cumberland or Westmoreland. Granting that there were difficulties, the local authorities, the attendance committees, and the magistrates, should recognise them, and, therefore, strain every nerve to see that no child was unnecessarily absent, though they were bound to admit that a certain number would be necessarily absent. To try to convince him that the attendance of 69 per cent. in the neighbouring parish of Ruabon could not be improved was a task that nobody could succeed in. Surely such a parish could do better than in some of the most difficult portion of the Highlands of Scotlands. The Scotchman realised the advantage of educa- tion. The Scotchman also did not mind paying for his education, some of the High- land districts being prepared to pay a school board rate of 6s. 8d. in the pound. This low percentage of attendance might be very easily increased, and sufficient money might be secured to attract to the schools of Wales the best teachers that the training colleges could turn out, to furnish them with the very best apparatus the publishers could supply, and to make school life to the child a pleasure instead of a misery, as it often was under the present conditions. But if they could not get sufficient money by sufficiently enforcing the attendance of those who were under the present law bound to go to school, he would suggest that they all should unite in the efforts Parliament was now making to raise the age at which children were legally exempt from school. We were supposed to have compulsory education up to the age of 14, but even on the Statute Book the moment the word 11 fourteen was mentioned there appeared a number of exceptions. A large number of the children came out of the schools at eleven years of age. The year before last there were just over 605,000 children between the ages of 10 and 11 on the registers. This year those children ought to be found between the ages of 11 and 12. Nothing of the sort. No fewer than 21,000 of them escaped. Taking the next year of age, there were last year upon the registers 578,000 between the age of eleven and twelve. They ought to be in school now between the age of twelve and thirteen, but 78,000 of them had disappeared. Of the children between the age of twelve and thirteen on the registers last year- namely, 495,000-no fewer than 286,000 escaped. Thus more than half of those who were therebetween the age of twelve and thirteen htd gone between the ages of thirteen, aid fourteen, and yet theoretically the countrj was supposed to have compulsory attendance up to the age of 14. Was it not time the country took some steps in advance of the Act of 1870 and 1876 (applause)? In 1891 the ag&for the factory half-timer was raised fronpfcen to eleven, and the country had to -vait until 1893 before the domestic ialftimer could be got up to the same level. Not a single step had been made forward from 1893 to 1899, ani he hoped Wales would exercise tin whole of the influence it could bring to bial- upon the representatives in the House d- Commons, no matter on which side they night sit, to pass the bill for rais- ing the age for exemption from school from eleven to tvelve (applause). Possibly some of them wlo had watched the progress of the Bill through the House of Commons might be atxious about the way in which the last amendment of that Bill was likely to operate in rural districts. A compromise was effected between the supporters of the measure and those who desired some special exemption for the agricultural districts, and it was arranged that if the local authority- the school board or the school attendance committee—elected to adopt a by-law under which the children should be retained, not to the age of 12, but to the age of 13, then they might require those children to make no more than 250 atttendances during the year. He knew many of the newspapers had declared tint this would be a step backward instead of forward, but, so far as he could discover from the most careful inquiry, if they required 250 attendances between the age of eleven and twelve, that in itself would be a great improvement upon the number of attendances nowmadeby children between those ages who were past the exemption stan- But when there was thrown into the bargain the fact that these same children were to stay between the ages of 12 and 13, the improvement upon the present position became very material (applause). Further —and here was a chance to secure a little more monay for the district-he understood that, if this bill, which had now gone through the Committee stage, became an act of Parliament, the children who made 250 attendances would be technically known as half timers, and would earn grants as if they had attended 375 times (applause). Given this reform, there was no doubt whatever that the Education Department would be forced by applications which they would necessarily, owing to the increased number or half timers, receive from rural districts, t) reduce the number of times that the school must be open to a figure slightly below 40C in districts where the bill came into operation, and thus enable the man- lagers to .eliminate from the calculations some of these attendances where the bulk of the children were absent from some general cause. It would be a great boon to cut out, for instance, three or four of the most stormy days of a year, when only five or ten per cent. tome into the school. It would be a great advantage indeed to be able to cut out out from the attendance say a week at the commtncement or the end of a holiday, when agricultural activity prevailed in a district, and where it was next door to impossible to get the children into school. Given these concessions to the rural districts there coud not then ^be a shadow of an excuse fo the local attendance authority neglecting to discharge the law. At the present tine the magistrates said they could not conv:ct parents who wanted their children ai home at times when their assist- ance was S3 important. In reply he would say that ihe scheme gave them what was required. The high attendance in places like Switzerland and Saxony was secured by realising trat during a portion of the year, the parents might justly claim their children at home to help them, and by turning round and saying to the parents that their children must attend with absolute regularity in the other port:ons of the year (applause).
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A large aad representative gathering assembled at the offices of the Local Government Board on Wednesday on the occasion of the presentation to Sir Hugh Cwen, late permanent secretary, of a silver tea and coffee service, with illuminated address and ring for Lady Owen, Ion his retirement. Mr. Chaplir, in making the presentation, referred to the valuible work Sir Hugh had done for the State, pointing especially to the fact of the Minis- terial appreciation, as shown by the signatures in the address. His career was a splendid example. It was unique. He retired, after fifty years' service, with the affectionate regard of every man of that department of the State.—Sir Hugh, who was received with rounds of applause, replied briefly on behalf of himself and Lady Owen. He valued the costly presents, but he valued more the affectionate regard of his colleagues.
[No title]
The Baptist Twentieth Century Fund is now well on its way; the first list of subscriptions has been published for R,35, 006. A commencement has been made in Lancashire, Mr. Kemp, of Rochdale, having contributed £1,000 and Miss Kemp Eloo. Mr. G. W. Macalpine, of Accington, contributes P,500, and the Rev. Charles Williams, of the same town, £ 50. The Rev. C. F. Aked, of Liverpool, has promised £50, and the Rev. J. E. Roberts, B.D. of Manchester, Z20. On Tuesday a largely- attended meeting of the Council of the Congrega- tional Twentieth Century Fund was held at the Memorial Hall, London, the Rev. Guinness Rogers presiding. A good deal of enthusiasm was evinced. Mr. Albert Spicer, M.P., was elected chairman and Dr. Rogers vice-chairman of the Council. Mr. Arthur G. Hooper, of Dudley, and Mr. C, W. Toms, of Wandsworth, were appointed treasurers. A great demonstration in connection with the fund will probably be one of the features of the autmnal meetings in Bristol. The Rev. Ebenezer Lloyd, senior curate of St. Paul's, Llanelly, has been appointed assistant missioner in the Diocese of St. David's. Those who are acquainted with Mr. Lloyd's past history, his knowledge of English and Welsh, ability, and thorough devotion to the work of the ministry, must feel that he is eminently fitted for the im- portant work he now undertakes. A model student at St. David's College, where he won the highest respect of the college staff and his fellow-students, he was ordained to the curacy of Lhvynypia, where he made himself a name as a conscientious and hard working priest, his labours being greatly ap- preciated by the parishioners. At Llanelly his career has been equally successful and equally productive of good results, and Churchmen and Nonconformists alike deeply regret his leaving the parish and the town. Mr. Lloyd, it is understood, will leave Llanelly in about three months' time, and will reside at Carmarthen, as being a more convenient and central place.
VI.—HOLY TRINITY CHURCH.
[NOTE.—We have pleasure in stating that a short article will appear here weekly from the pen of Philip Sidney. It will, as a rule, deal with some topic of local interest other than the purely theological and political. Communications for the writer's consideration may be sent to him c/o Editor. "Welsh Gazette."] VI.—HOLY TRINITY CHURCH. The pleasure of worshipping in this really noble building is much enhanced from the fact that the true principle of free and unappropriated seats is adopted. All are treated alike, no difference in the sight of God between rich and poor, high and low, well dressed and shabby. There are no pews, some with puffy cushions and gilt nails, others without; a simple and remarkably comfort- able chair is at the worshipper's use, as well as a hassock for kneeling purposes. The floor is com- posed of wooden blocks, set in cement, thus insuring a mimimum of noise with a maximum of warmth and comfort. The newly erected chancel has increased, in no small degree, the interior beauty of the church; an uninterrupted view being obtained from font to Communion table. Many offerings, memorial and otherwise, will doubtless be made as the years roll on. The Vicar and Wardens will do well at this early stage to draw up a list-of such things, not necessarily for publication, but to enable pious donors on enquiry to see what is wanted, at what cost, and in what style. Uniformity is certainly not beauty, on the other hand glaring incon- sistencies in style and colour must be avoided if the beauty of the interior is to be preserved and increased. There are many things which may be added,—a light, elegant rood screen (if with the rood so much the better), chancel gates, oaken clergy and choir stalls, a reredos, a Jesse or Ascension window for the east end, hymn boards, and electric light installation. I recently saw in a London church a list of "Wants," with approximate prices, un- assumingly posted in the porch, where all who run can read. At present the Communion table is neatly backed with hangings, and surmounted with the words, I am the Bread of Life." For the Con- secration services the table had a handsome white and gold frontal, and on the super table were a simple Cross and several vases of flowers. The octagonal stone font—a memorial offering by the way—has on its panels the sacred mono- gram, I. H. S., and representations of the Cruci- fixion, ladder, nails, crown of thorns, &c. It is good to see that the font is sufficiently large enough to permit of the total immersion of infants, should parents desire to have the ordinance so administered. In connection with the due and orderly decora- t ions of a church let me say a word here as to what can be accomplished by perseverance and tact in wood carving classes for the long winter months. In a rural midland parish, which yearly sends many visitors to Aberystwyth, a start was made some years ago by the rector's daughter, who, in a room at the rectory, gathered together a few lads who knew absolutely nothing about the use of tools but were quite open to be taught some handicraft to brighten the usual monotonous life of work and sleep. Failures of course there were, some did not care to persevere, and so dropped out but a nucleus was formed, and little by little has worked on, and acquired a love for the recreation. Pre- sently, small objects began to be shewn, carved door plates, inkstands, stools, coal boxes, &c. One lad in particular seemingly at first sight the most unlikely bit of raw material, developed a marked passion for the work. So much was this the case that he marked his entrance into manhood's estate by carving a walnut currule chair, from a South Kensington model, which gained for him the first prize in a stiff contest, and he was pleased to bestow the result of his three years' labour upon the writer, who long before that had started the lad on his career by giving him his first set of tools. Which is the better for a lad, beer, billiards and shop door standing, or a handicraft at his fingers' ends, which shall make his evening a time of joy for him ? Is there no one in Aberystwyth who will make a similar experiment next winter ? Fancy what a small class of boys and men might accomplish for the glory of God, the joy of their own lives, and the decorations of their churches, chapels and houses.—Verb. sap. The sermon at Holy Trinity on the evening of my visit was preached by the Archdeacon of Cardigan, who gave his text (S. Mark xvi. 16) both from the authorised and from the revised version of the Scripture, shewing the two readings, 'He that believeth not is damned,' and He that believeth not is condemned.' Much as we arc deeply at- tached to the authorised version, still, on the other hand we cannot close our eyes to the value and generally better translation of the revised, and it is pleasing to note its gradual growth in the use of the Established Church. The choir gave good account of itself and its master, and was immensely helped by the organist's proper use of his instrument. The anthem, Seek ye the Lord with its well rendered opening solo, was worthy of its place in the service. In bidding God speed to the Church and congre- gation let me add one word of public appreciation of the successful and perfect arrangements which the master hand of the vicar, and the unassuming but all important carrying of them out by his hard working curate and his courteous officials. PHILIP SIDNEY.
A Statesman's Advice.
A Statesman's Advice. Earl Spencer urges all Liberals to insist upon the establishment of the School Board in all dis- tricts, and all moneys to elementary schools should be paid through the Board. This was the more necessary because the clerical managers of many of these schools held doctrines which were repug- nant to the children who used them.
The Country Vicar.
The Country Vicar. The "Manchester Guardian" says that "the aver- age country vicar cannot manage a school at all. Since the abolition of the examination schedule he has been like a ship without a rudder. He already already has a diocesan Inspector to tell him how the Scripture is taught, now he is moving heaven and earth to get an organising master who will give him a schedule full of noughts and crosses."
The Country Teachers.
The Country Teachers. Mr. Rankine, H.M. Inspector, has a good word to say of the rural teacher. He comments as follows: The country teachers as a body deserve well of the community. Patient and unobtrusive, they do their best to work up the human molecule. No class has a higher sense of duty. We never find them idle they have plenty to do. If town teach- ers suffer from large classes, country teachers suffer from too many."
Country Holiday Examinations.
Country Holiday Exam- inations. We are in hearty sympathy with the protest of a Times" correspondent against the scheme put forward, apparently by the promoters of the Children's Country Holiday Fund, for examining, after their return, the poor children who are sent into the country by this fund, and finding out how much they have learnt and how much they have used their eyes." It was hoped by all who had noted the evils of the old system of "payment by results," that the examination craze had been un- dermined; it would be the height of follow to allow it to be revived in this insidious and mischiexous form. Quite enough of it still remains in ordinary school work; in the name of common sense and charity Jet it not be allowed to spoil the too short period of recreation possible for these poor children. Written answers to cut and dried categorical ques- tions of a presumably geographical and botanical nature, may spoil a holiday, but will not make a scholar. It is careless freedom, and joyous inde- pendence of tabulated results that gives zest to a child's visit to the country. He may safely be trusted to use his eyes, and to revel, if left alone, in pure delight, drinking in through the very pores of bis skin new impressions, which, if allowed time to fructify, will be attended by far more beneficial results than any which he tested on paper. THE SCHOOLMISTRESS.
LLANDYSSUL.
LLANDYSSUL. THE WESLEYAN* AXXUAL TRrp.—The church worshipping at Peniel had their trip to Lampeter on Monday the 6th inst, where the annual Gymanfa" was held. The weather was most favourable and the attendance very large. THE UNITARIAN TRIP. The Sunday School of the Graig Chapel also had their trip to Lam- peter on Wednesday, the 7th inst, where the annual gymanfa of the Sunday School Union of the district was held this year. They had a very delightful day. The different schools were well represented, and the "gymanfa" as usual, was a complete success throughout. OBITUARY. We have to announce the death of Mr. John Thomas, Bryn'rallt (late of Penrhiw), which took place at his residence on Sunday, the 11th inst. at the age of 80 years. The Christian character of the deceased was well known to many friends in the district. The interment took place on Wednesday at the Llandvssul Parish Church.
Advertising
CAMBRIAN RAILWAYS. NONCONFORMIST CHOIR UNION FETE AND CONCERT, CRYSTAL PALACE, JUNE 17TH; GREATER BRITAIN EX- HIBITION, EARL'S COURT. On FRIDAY. JUNE i6th, 1899 Cheap Excursion Tickets WILL BE ISSUED TO LONDON Third Class Fares for the l'rom Times of Double Journey. starting. 3 Days 6 Davs P-m- Tickets. Tickets. Aberystwyth 12 30* Bow Street 12 401 *Llanfihange! 12 45 f *tc Borth 12 501 "S. ^16S. 6d *Ynyslas 12 55) I Glandovey 1 7 t 10s ) Machynlleth 1 35* 17s. Corris 1245 "'<• «• Cemmes Road 1 45 Llanbrynmair. 157 10S. V Ific Carno 2 1U Llanidloes 2 5\ } Dolwen 2 11 Llandinam 2 18 -i £ } Caersws 2 24 IDS. Moat Lane 2 32 Qg Newtown 2 47 1 -# C fAbermule 2 561 r lOS. Montgomery 3 3/ Children under 3 years of age, free; above 3 and under 12, half-price. Carriages will run through to London (EUSTON) PASSENGERS RETURN FROM LONDON (EUSTON) AS UNDER Three Days' Passengers at 8.50 p.m. on Monday, June 19th. Six Days' Passengers at 9.45 p.m, on Wednesday, June 21st. Passengers for Ynyslas and Llanfihangel alight at Borth on the return journey. fPassengers for Abermule go forward from Welsh- pool at 9 10 a.m. on the return journey. All information regarding Excursion Trains and Tourist Arrangements on the Cambrian Rail- ways can be obtained from Mr. W. H. GOUGH, superintendent of the line, Oswestry. C. S. DENNISS, General Manager. Oswestry, June. 1899. WEEKLY AND FORTNIGHTLY EXCURSIONS. Commencing Wednesday, May 24th, and every Wednesday in June, July and August, Cheap Weekly and Fortnightly Tickets will be issued from Aberystwyth, Borth, Aberdovey. Towyn, Dolgelley, Barmouth, Harlech, Portmadoe, Cricc- ieth, Pwllbeli, Machynlleth, Llanidloes, Rhayader, Builth Wells, Newtown, Montgomery, Oswestry, Ellesmere and Wrexham, to London (Euston and Paddington), available for the return on the following Wednesday or Wednesday week. Similar Tickets will be issued from London dur- ing the same period, available for return on the following Monday, Wednesday, Monday week or Wednesday week. C. S. DENNIS, General Manager. Owestry, May, 1899. CAMBRIAN RAILWAYS. WEEK-END TICKETS are issued every FRIDAY and SATURDAY from all L. N. W. and Stations in LONDON TO ABERDOVEY, ABERYST- WYTH, DOLGELLEY, AND BARMOUTH. Available for return on the following Sunday (where train service permits) Monday, or Tuesday. For full particular see small hand bills. CHEAP WEEK END EXCURSION TICKETS ARE NOW ISSUED ON EVERY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY TO "•Birmingham, ..Wolverbampton, Walsall, Peter- borough, 'Leicester, ♦Derby, *Burton-on-Trent, ♦Stafford, "Coventry, Manchester, Preston, Black- burn, Bolton, Leeds, Dewsburv, Huddersfield, Liverpool, Birkenbead, Wigan and Warrington FROM Oswestry, Llanyraynech, Llanfyllin, Montgomery, Welshpool, Newtown, Llanidloes, Machynlleth, Borth, Aberystwyth, Aberdovey, Towyn, Barmouth, Dolgelley, Harlech, Portmadoe, Penrhyndeudraeth, Criccieth, and Pwlheli, Similar tickets are issued from Aberystwyth, Borth, Aberdovey, Towyn, Barmouth, Dolgelley, Harlech, Penrhyndeudraeth, Portmadoc, Criccieth, and Pwllheli to SHREWSBURY. ♦Tickets to these Stations are not issued from Welshpool. Passengers return OH the :Mondayor Tuesday following issue of ticket. THO U S A N D-M I L E TICKETS. The Cambrian Railways Company issue FIRST CLASS 1,000 and 500 MILE TICKETS, the coupons of which enable the purchasers to tidvel between Stations on the Cambrian Railways during the period for which the tickets are available until the coupons are exhausted. The price of each is £5 5s Od 1,000 miles, and £2178 6d, 500 miles being about per wik. Application for the 1,000 or 500 mile ticket must be made in writing, giving the full name and address of the purchaser and accompanied by a remittance, toMrW. H. Gough, Superintendent of the Line, Cambrian Railways, Oswestry (cheques to be made payable to the Cambrian Co. or order), from whom also books containing 100 certificates for a nthorising the use of the tickets by purchasers' family, guests, oremployeescanbeobtained, price 6d each book; remittance to accompany order. C. S. DENNISS, General Manager, Oswestry, March 1399. -o.; Business Notices. TAILORING ESTABLISHMENT, 13 pIER STREET, AllERYSTWYTH. DAYID JAMES. Suitings, Coatings, Trouserings, &c., in the best fashion and at reasonable prices. Cricketing and Boating Suits made to order on the- Shortest Notice. FOR WELSH WOOLLEN GOODS GO TO ROWLAND MORGAN, j LONDON HOUSE, ABERYSTWYTH. WM. THOMAS, COAL AND LIME MERCHANT. ABERYSTWYTH. BRICKS, SLATES i PIPES of every description always in Stock. DAVID MORGAN, DRAPERY AND MILLINERY ESTABLISHMENT, 18, pIER STREET, ABERYSTWYTH. DAVID EVANS, WATCHMAKElt, JEWELLER & OPTICIAN, 39, GREAT DARKGATE ABERYSTWYTH, (Opposite the Lion Royal Hotel,) Invites your attention, to his Choice Stock of JEWELLERY, Comprising all the Latest Designs and mast Fashion- able Patterns in GOLD, SILVER, PEBBLES & JET SILVER PLATE SUITABLE FOR PRESENTATIONS. GOLD AND SILVER WATCHES IN GREAT VARIETY. .4 H. H. DAVIES, PHOTOGRAPHER, PIER STREET, (Removed one door above.) ABERYSTWYTH. HH. D., having removed to larger premises, • begs to inform the public generally that he is now enabled, with the be ter facilities at his disposal, to execute all orders p omptly. In thanking his numerous patronisers for their kind support in the past, he trusts that his care and attention will merit a continuance of the same. MRS. M. E. DAVIES, CONFECTIONER. pIER STREET, ^BERYSTW YT U HA\ ING given up the Confectionery business, JLJL begs to thank her numerous customers for their past support and to state that she will still retain her DINING ROOMS which she trusts will continue to receive a share of pubHc patronage. I. AND G. LLOYD, COACHBUILDERS, ALFRED PLACE, ABERYSTWYTH. Carriages made to order on the shortest notice. Experienced Men kept for all Branches. CARRIAGES FOR SALE. SUMMER FASHIONS. C. M. WILLIAMS BEGS respectfully to announce that he is now- JO showing a good selection of NEW GOODS SUITABLE FOR THE PRESENT SEASON. HATS AND BONNETS. NEW MILLINERY. FEATHRKS AND FLOWERS. RIBBONS AND LACES. NEW DRESS MATERIALS. NEW GOWNS AND SILK SCARFS. NEW SILK UMBRELLAS, &c. NOTED HOUSE FOR STYLISH HATS AND BONNETS. SPECIAL ATTENTION PAID TO MOURNING ORDERS. GENTS' NEWEST SHAPES IN nATS AND CAPS, TIES, SCARFS COLLARS, CUFFS, &C. Inspection respectfully invited. C. M. WILLIAMS, GENERAL JQEAPERY ESTABLISHMENT. 10, PIER STREET, ABERYSTWYTH.