Welsh Gazette and West Wales Advertiser

NEW QUAY. The PROPOSED LIBRARY. THB gift of a site by Mr. and Mrs. THOMAS, Frondolau, has given the movement to secure a public library at New Quay an excellent fillip. This generous gift is not only hand- some in itself but is of especial value as it will now enable the promoters to meet one of the main-and often the most difficult-I conditions laid down by that princely phil- anthropist, Mr. ANDREW CARNEGIB. If the movement continues to receive the liberal support now given it on all hands there seems to be no reason why a Free Library should not be an accomplished fact at New Quay at a very early date. It is no longer necessary to urge the need and discuss the merits of public libraries. The day for all that has gone by and the question that now remains is How to get them. Some towns in this district have been at it for years trying to solve this question, and, although having been within an ace of success on many occasions, they are to-day as far off as ever. They are, as it were, doomed to be tantalized by an unrelenting fate-of their own making; for, when opportunity offers the resolve is wanting. We think, however, that the movement at New Quay deserves a better fate, seeing that the inhabitants themselves are doing so much to help it on and we feel aure that, if the commendable unanimity which has characterized it so far will continue to prevail, matters will be speedily brought to a successful issue.

ST. DAVID'S COLLEGE, LAMPETER. FALLOWING to closely upon the auspicious gathering of last Autumn, the annual Degree Day at Lampeter on Friday was not, as might have been expected, attended with that usual outward brilliancy which generally marks this event. The fact, however, that things had to proceed this year in the even tenor of the place should not be construed into any lack of success during the past session; for the Principal's Report shows that the College is not only maintaining its ground but continues to make satisfactory progress. Bishop OWEN, in his speech at the luncheon, made more than one r emark deserving attention. Dr. OWEN expressed the hope that the young men who were turned out from that College year after year would go forth inspired by two aims in life -firstly, intelligent loyalty to the church in which they were to minister secondly, to cultivate to the greatest possible extent, and in every possible way, feelings of goodwil and cordial friendship with their Noncon- formist brethren. To his mind these two aims went together very well. He hoped, Upon another occasion, to touch rather fully upon some of the objects of importance to the moral and spiritual welfare of Wales as a whole, in which Churchmen and Noncon- formists could and, he thought, ought, to co- operate more than they had learnt to do, j even amidst differences of opinion, and even when some of these differences were acute in < character. A temptation to bitterness of spirit on account of differences of opinion was a temptation which should be overcome by every Christian man. A full report of the proceedings is given on another page,

NOTES AND COMEMNTS. The Towyn and Aberdovey District Council had another lively discussion on Friday over the bill of the late clerk. A report is given in another column. Machynlleth fairs are rapidly dwindling out of existence, and that of Friday was but a poor apology. It is idle to rail at the local author- ity while the farmers themselves continue to sell their stock at home to itinerant dealers. The new sea wall of the extension of the Marine Parade at Aberystwyth will be com- pleted this week and the ceremony of laying the last stone will be performed by the Mayor (Mr. E. H. James) on Saturday afternoon at 2.30. The King has promised to patronise the 1 North Cardiganshire Agricultural Society by sending exhibits to its annual show at Aber- ystwyth next month. The entries in the vari- ous classes are already numerous, and the pros- pects of a successful show are more encourag- ing than ever. Great Britain had better see to her laurels. Among those who tendered to the Tregaron District Council on Tuesday for digging a well at Ffair Rhos was Thomas Jones, Canada! Really it is high time that we should cry out for Preferential tariff. Here is an excellent peg for Mr. Chamberlain. The legality of the use of the goad in driv- ing cattle was one of the questions which the Llangollen justices had to consider on Tues- day. The defendant in the case contended that the goad applied to cattle was not more cruel or less necessary than spurs applied to horses, but the magistrates were not convinced, and imposed a fine of £1 and costs. The strike in the woollen trade in South Cardiganshire has assumed a serious aspect. The immediate cause of the dispute is said to be a question of wages; but it is presumed that depression in the trade has much to do with the situation. A mass meeting of about 500 weavers and others interested in the industry was held at Drefach on Monday, and a general exodus to Glamorganshire has already com- menced. We are given to understand that some of the employers have heavy stocks of material on hand, for which they cannot find a ready market, and this fact, naturally, does not make them over-anxious to meet the men. It is quite possible (says the Rev. J. Guinnes Rogers in a letter to the Daily News ") that some of us Nonconformists have not always preserved a judicial spirit in our criticisms, but if we have committed no greater faults than those which Mr. Balfour attributes to us, our mistakes have not been serious. Be it re- membered that we are not philosophic doubters who find so much to be said in favour of every view that we cannot attain to settled convic- tions. We have beliefs-beliefs for which we have suffered, and for which we are prepared to suffer again-and when we see a rude attack upon principles which we hold dear it is possi- ble that we may not be qufck to discern or eager to acknowledge some incidental benefits we may manage to extract from a policy which, as a whole, we resent as unjust and tyrannical. Mr. Balfour, observes Mr. Rogers, gained his position by coercion in Ireland he has sought to keep it by the coercion of Dissenters in Eng- land. The Press Association says that the political gossips who are busy with conjecture as to the date of the next general election have attached undue significance to the fact that the confer- ence of the National Union of the Conservative Association is this year being held about a month earlier than usual. Some Unionist members have been rather disposed, like a number of their Opposition colleagues, to as- sume that the opening of the conference so early as the last day in September is designed to pave the way for a dissolution of Parliament in October or November. The fact is, how- ever, that the date was fixed without thought of any such eventuality. There is reason to believe that the time for the conference and for the Prime Minister's speech in connection with it, was chosen mainly in view of the pros- pect of the autumn political campaign, begin- ning after a shorter period of holidays than has hitherto been usual. A matter of great importance in the fight about education is in the wind. The recent let- ter from the Board of Education to the secre- tary of the Free Church Federation leaves open a door for local authorities for education which are progressive and undenominational to take a strong line on the religious question in administering the schools it opens the door to a possible general withdrawal of Noncon- formist children from Church 'schools, and a gathering of them elsewhere, during the peri- od set apart for religious instruction. This, it appears, can be done wherever a local authori- ty for education make a rule that the registers of children's attendance at school shall be shut at the end of the period for religious instruc- tion, instead of at the beginning, as is now generally the case. Nonconformist children could thus be absented from the "Church" hymn, the Prayerbook prayer, and the Angli- can Bible lesson, attending-meanwhile in some Free Church Sunday School premises for unde- nominational worship and lessons instead. An important point was raised before the Weston (Bath) Bench on Saturday in connec- tion with the passive resistance movement, when the first summonses heard against resist- ers in the county of Somerset were adjourned for a fortnight. The point raised was, had the County Council authority to levy a rate in April in respect of an Act of Parliament which had not come into force? If the magistrates decided that they had, Mr. Long, who repre- sented the defendants, should ask for a case to be stated, because the point would arise in other places and must be settled once and for all. It was asserted that the rate which the County Council had made was bad because they had not at the time become the educational authority. The point affected nearly every rate made in connection with the new Act throughout the country, and was based, it was said, on Counsel's opinion specially obtained by a Bath gentleman for the benefit of his fel- low-resisters. Another phase in the Passive Resistance struggle was reached on Friday, when the first sales under the new Act took place at Wirks- worth in Derbyshire. Printed notices of the sale were not delivered till between 9 and 10 on Thursday night, and the sale was fixed for 9 the following morning. The^ruse, it is sup- posed, was to prevent the public demonstra- tion, and especially to prevent the John Hamp- ten of the movement, Dr. Clifford, from attend- ing. But the police had woefully miscalculat- ed. By 10 o'clock the town was up in arms, as though an invading army threatened. Big handbells were rung and stentorian voices shouted, "Passive registers, awake, awake!" The Postmaster was called upon to specially open the telegraph office, and messages were flashed throughout the country; cabs were chartered, and saddled horses' hoofs soon clat- tered on the limestone road, as messengers hied to Belper and Derby and other residential centres. Never within the memory of the old- est inhabitant has anything approaching such a scene been before enacted in Wirksworth. Welsh Nonconformists in general and Con- gregationalists in particular have not been slow to repudiate the action of Professor D. E. Jones and the majority of the Carmarthenshire Education Committee. Professor D. E. Jones was probably unaware of the full strength of the resentment which his co-religionists feel against the Education Act when he described the policy so deliberately endorsed by the Welsh Free Church leaders as un-Christian, immoral, and cowardly." The storm of indig- nation which his words have since aroused among his fellow-Congregationalists has evi- dently shaken his confidence, for he has just osused it to be made public that had he known the application and use which would have been made of his words he would not have uttered them in the form he did." The campaign con- ducted in Carmarthenshire by Mr. Lloyd George will give the County Council ample op- portunity of knowing what the majority of the ratepayers think of the action of the Provi- sional Education Committee. Should the County Council resolve upon independent ac- tion we shall probably see passive resistance to the education rate offered in Carmarthen- shire on a scale unexampled over a similar nrea either in England or Wales.

MACU YjN ELLTH Eisteddfodic.—The arrangements for the eisteuufoJ to Le xielu afc E^inysfuch oil August 13th arc in a forward state, and the prospects are rosy. There will be six choirs at least in the chief choral competition, and a hard fight is expected to take place for the bardic chair. Fair.—The fair known as Fair Fach yr Haf," was held on Friday last, when a large number of cattle aiil horses were brought to the town. Dealers Offered good prices, and farmers disposed of their stock quickly. The fair was generally admitted to be a very good one. Llwyngwern Quarry.—The chief industry of the district has received a serious blow by the almost complete cessation of work at Llwyng- wern slate quarry. Notices were served on the men some time ago, and these terminated on Wednesday in last week, resulting in about forty or fifty being thrown out of employment. A fatal accident occurred at the quarry some time ago, and the present action is believed to be due to the interposition of the Board of Trade. Most of the men live at Machynlleth, and on Monday several of them left by train to seek work in South Wales. Self Praise.—A correspondent says that the American D.D. has had a welcome set back —thanks in no small measure to the Congre- gational Union-but the itch for notoriety is by no means confined to those vain people who hanker afte rcheap and nonsensical degrees. You may find a symptom of the same weakness in the excessive modesty of those younk clergy- men who can never write a little about others unless they write—at the same time-much about themselves. What can be more repul- sive than those very people who are supposed to teach others the virtue of the beauty of modesty should obtrude themselves in public print on almost every conceivable occasion. Great indeed must be the specific gravity of vanity that it compels people to write as they do mainly about themselves. Accident.—A half-holiday spent at Aber- ystwyth on Thursday last by Mrs. Turner, wife of Mr. John Turner, in the employ ot Mr. Davies, Wynnstay Hotel, had an unfortunate termination. She was alighting from the train at Machynlleth after completing the return journey, when she made a false step, and came down heavily on the platform. Mr. J. Blain- ey, one of the members of the St. John Am- bulance Class, was on the spot, and rendered first aid, the lady being found to have sus- tained a fracture of the knee cap. She was removed to the waiting room, where four other members of the ambulance class rendered as- sistance. Eventually, she was conveyed home and Dr. W. R. Williams was called in. Shooting Competition.—The competition for the silver cup and a cash prize of £ 8 offered to teams of eight from the companies of the 5th V.B., S.W.B., was shot off at the Machyn- lleth rifle range on Monday. Owing to a cleri- cal error, the first competition, held on June 1st at Newtown, was declared a tie between the A (Newtown) Co. and the D. (Machynlleth) Co., the latter being the present holders of the cup. The shooting on Monday was at three distances, viz., 200, 500, and 600 yards, with seven rounds at each distance, but no sighting shots. The total score of each competitor was as follows :-A (Newtown) Co.: Corporal Clay- ton, 65; Private T. Davies, 64; Private R. Roberts, 62; Private Townsend, 58; Sergt. Perry, 56; Sergt. Breeze, 49; Sergt. E. C. Jones, 47; Col.Sergt. Whalley, 30; total, 431. D (Machynlleth) Co.: Sergt. Hughes. 67 ;• Sergt. Sadlier, 59; Private Price, 58; Private Pearce, 56: Corporal Leek, 50; Col.-Sergt. Jones, 45; Private Owen, 42; Private Arnold, 41 total. 418. The A Co. thus won by 13 points. The scores in the tie at Newtown were 466. Bellringers.—The first annual outing of the local guild of bellringers, which was ably or- ganised by Mr. W. iT. Evans, hon. sec., took place on Thursday last, when a visit was paid to Aberystwyth, the journey being made in char-a-bancs provided by Mr. J. R. Dix, Cor- ris. Before leaving Machynlleth, a merry peal was rung on the bells. The party numbered about twenty, and included the Rev. Llewel- lyn Williams, rector; Rev. S. J. Evans, cur- ate; Messrs. R. Gillart and D. E. R. Griffiths, L. and P. Bank (churchwardens); Messrs. Ro- «er Howell. J. Chadwick, David Williams (foreman), T. Hughes (deputy foreman), W. E. Evans (hon. sec), and W. Sadlier (first and for- mer foreman). After a pleasant drive Aber- ystwyth was reached at noon, and an excellent dinner, prepared by Mr. and Mrs. Williams, the Lion Hotel, was partaken of. In the af- ternoon the party drove to Llanbadarn, where a peal was rung on the church bells. After partaking of tea at the Lion Hotel, the mem- bers pa.<ed a pleasant evening in the town. The homeward drive was performed in good time, the outing having been thoroughly en- joyed by all who partook in it. Singing Festival.—The annual musical festi- val ot the "Wesleyans of the Machynlleth and Dinas Mawddwy ciret-its was held on Monday at Machynlleth. In iormer years the festival has been held on a Saturday, but to meet the wishes of the people of Machynlleth it was changed this year. Although this affected the attendance to some extent, yet the number present far exceeded expectations, and the festival proved a success in every way. A chil- dren s meeting was held at ten o'clock in the morning, presided over by the Rev. W. Lloyd Davies, Dinas Mawddwy, in the absence of Mr. Rees Owen, Corris. The hymns sung were Telyn y Plant," Dewch ieuenctyd hoff," Mi hoffwn fod fel Iesu," and Milwyr y Groes." Prizes were distributed to those chil- dren who were successful at the recent Scrip- ture examinations, the chief awards being ob- tained by Miss Annie Pugh, Machynlleth, and Mr. W. P. Williams, Llanbrynmair. The af- ternoon meeting commenced at two o'clock, Mr. Edward Rees, J.P., presiding. The fol- lowing tunes were sung:-Abridge, Fulda, Weber, Elijah, Questatomba, Bullinger, and Caio. An address was delivered by Mr. E. L. Rowlands, Aberdovey, who advocated the for- mation of a musical union, to include all the circuits in the district, including Aberystwyth. The evening meeting at five o'clock was pre- sided over by Mr. Morgan Owen, Dinas Maw- ddwy. The tunes sung were the following:- Liverpool, Nicomachus, Bryniau, Canaan, An- gel's Story, Censorinus, Balducci, St. Sylves- ter, San Remo, Triumphant, Ainsworth, and Lux Benigna. Two anthems were also sung, viz., "Mawl ath erys di yn Sion," and "'Bud- dugoliaeth Calfari." The chairman of this meeting also delivered an interesting address. This year's conductor was Mr. Maengwyn Dar- vies, London, who won golden opinions upon this his first appearance at Machynlleth. The accompanists were Mrs. Hughes, Cwmlline, and Miss Evans, Machynlleth. The secretari- al duties were carried out by Mr. John J. El* lis, Eglwysfach, and Mr. John Davies, Pene- goes, acted as treasurer. Ambulance Class.—An interesting meeting in connection with the Machynlleth branch of the St. John Ambulance Association was held on Thursday evening last at the waiting room of the Railway Station. The gathering was presided over by Mr. W. H. Gough, superin- tendent of the Cambrian Railways, and Mr. John Pugh, chairman of the Urban District Council, occupied the vice-chair, there being also present the Rev. W. L. Williams, Dr. W7 R. Williams, Mr. J. G. Jenkins, N.P. Bank, Mr. D. E. R. Griffith, L. and P. Bank, Mr. Richard Gillart, Mr. T. S. Morgan (station- master), and others. Dr. W. R. Williams, the popular instructor of the class, was made the recipient of a testimonial, in the form of a valuable medical instrument. Mr. Gough made the presentation in a few well-chosen words, and eulogistic addresses were delivered by the other gentlemen present, Dr. Williams making an appropriate acknowledgement Mr. J. George, formerly foreman porter at Mach- ynlleth Railway Station, was also presented with a gold ambulance medallion, in recog- nition of his faithful service to the branch in the capacity of secretary. Certificates and medals were then distributed to the following, who were successful candidates at a. recent ex- amination :-First vear. G. R. Steohenson and S. 0. Evans; second year, Edwin Jones, Ed- ward Jones, J. Blainey. T. Lloyd, and Wm. Jones; third year, E. Lloyd, J. George, D. Thomas. D. P. Jones, and W. Hassell: fourth year (honorarium), J. Richards, R. M. Rich- ards, and W. Venables. During the evening songs were rendered bv Messrs. G. Weavpr and FiWl. Lumlev. On the proposition of Mr. T. 8. Morgan, seconded bv Mr. W. E. Evans (boek- stall), a vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Gough for his kindness in coming to Machyn- lleth to preside at the meeting. Mr. D. E. R. Griffiths proposed a vote of thanks to the offi- cers of the class, and this having been carried, was acknowledge bv the secretary, Mr. G. R. Stephenson, chief goods clerk; the treas- urer, Guard E. Lloyd, and Guard W. Venables. The chss. which. has been a most successful one. has already started training in eamogt for the sIt'oV competition to be held at Montmrapn' in October next. It is to be hoped HI'1t H10V will succeed in lifting the coveted trophy.

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