The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

The Free churches of Walts in 1903. Interesting Review. THE returns of the leading Nonconformist Churches- in. the Principality show that progress has been made in various directions during the year 1903, though in some districts the Sunday Schools are nOL holding their own. Each de- nomination has ids own way of making its re- turns, 'and evidently the Free Church Councils have not yet succeeded in inducing them to adopt tha same form for ire-turns. For in- stance, the returns of the' Calvin-stic Methodists include. tne whole of their Churches in ivrngiand as well as in Wales, and) the various Lancashire p-resfbytenes alone return 13,555 communicants, and tne Loncon Presbytery, wnich has. greatly increased in, recent years, 4,061. Taking the, denomnations alphabetically, the 'Bapt.st churches (inclusive of Monmouthshire, but ex- cluding' theÆ Welsh churches in England) give a total of 950 places of worship (an increase of 14) and oi 851 churches (an incr:ease>ot n). In the former sJtting accommodation is oro- videdi for 355,062. Last year an increase in membership 'of 1,806 was reported; ^his year the net gain is 2,642, ihe: total number of communi- cants being 113,597. Only six churches have failed to send in returns, of which four are i'n North Wales, one in Postm.adoc, and three in Merionethshire. Last year .[he Sunday Schools reported a gain of 330 teachars and 2,560 schol- ars; this year the increase is 158 and 3,498 re- spectively, the totals- being 1'1,925 teachers and 12-6,145 scholars. There are 580 ordained pastors in charge, an .increase of 33, -and 492 lay preachers, an increase of 25. Glamorgan- shire has more Baptist churches than amy other county in the United, Kingdom, namely, 286, folio-wed by LondoI1 with 255. The member- ship in Glamorgan is.. 49,465. The number of students for the Baptist ministry in the col- leges at Bangor and Cardiff is returned at 47, in addit-on to those, who have bean admitted to the "Presbyterian" College at Carmartnen. In the mission field there are fifteen missionaries thus trained, though the North Wales College is still unrepreseriited in the foreign field. No fewer than ten pieJriodicalis are published in the Welsh language -by -the Baptist churches. Of these two are annual, six monthly, one bi- monthly, and one, the "Seren Cymru," weekly. The churches in the Principality have fourteen representatives on the Council of the Baptist Union, .and four ex-officio members. There is a Baptisft Chapel IHuilJàftngFum.d: wiun a capital of ^7,480, and a Ministers-' Provident Fund with an invested) capital of ,C3 229. Dur- ing the year over £ 1,200 has been exp.ended in the erection of new chapels and about £8,000 in improvements, while a still larger amount has been raised for the, reduction of debts. Number of Chapels. The returns cfi" idle, Calvi.nistic Methodist Churches give, the total number of chapels and preaching stations at 1,586, the same dmcrease (seven) a:s last year. The number of churches is 1,379, an increase, of five, as compared! with an increase of 11 in 1902. The communicants (including all the churches in England,) are said to -be 162,284, an increase of 1,951, while the hearers (which include communicants) number 332,566, a net gain of 8,615. In the Sabbath Schools the teachers and scholars are 204,874, a decrease for the year of 1,434. For all pur- posies the. large sum of £322,712 was raised (an increase of £ 16,967). Of this the collections for the ministry amounted to £ 101,040, and for I I missions 613,21-2. Towards the, liquidation of chapel debts the sum. of -f76,918 was contri- buted, leaving an indebtedness of £ 386,914, an increase of ^0,900. Of the 841 ministers, in the Connexion, 666 have pastoral charges, there being 918 churches under their charge. As showing the growth of the English language in Wales, it is reported that there are now 271 places of worship at which the services are held in the English language, with 66,377 hearers (an increase of 3,756) and 20,376 communicants (an increase of 2,384). So that but for the English churches there, would have been a decrease in the membership of 433. The 'Welsh Presbyteries in Lancashire -include Liverpool with 38 and Manchester with 17 churches. Their united membership is 9,557, as compared with 9,812 last year. The foreign mission work of the L Connexion is most successfully maintained, es- pecially in North India, whe.re 'there are 439 preaching stations and 251 churches. The ad- herents now number 16,659, of whom 5,616 are communicants (an increase of 568). In the Sunday Schools there are 825 t,ea-charsaad 16,161 schoalrs. In the United States of America there are 157 churches, 12,000 communican'ts, and 25,000 adherents, and in Australasia four churches, with 198 'communicants. Congregational Churches. The- Congregati-onal .churches of Wales and Monmouthshire with 40 situated in Lancashire and Middlesex, xhave a total of 1,285 places of worship (an increase of 21). The churches con- nected therewith have a united membership of 151,151, an increase for the year of 2,274, of which no fewer than 2,031 belong to South Wales. The accommodation provided is for nearly 430,000 persons. In the Sunday Schools there are 152,774 scholars (a decrease of 710) and 15,479 teachers (an increase of 296). There are 645 ordained ministers in charge of 315 lay preachers. For all purposes the sum of ^207,269 was .raised during the year, including .648,541 for the reduction of chapel debts, leav- ing 6236,256 yet to be removed. New build- ings were erected at a cost of -f47,766. The total value of the church property is set down at £1,446,533. For foreign missions £9,445 was raised', 'also £ 3,082 .for the colleges. Like the Baptists, the Congregational'sts are strongest in Glamorganshire, where they have nearly 60,000 communicants, and in the autumn the Congre- gational Union of England and Wales meet for the fourth time in that county. The Welsh churches in Lancashire rep-art a membership of 3,565, with 21 ordained ministers and 20 lay preachers. In the Sunday Schools are 272 teachers and 2,585 scholars. The returns of the Wesleyan Methodists snow that in the 55 circuits into which •the Welsh churches are divided there are in South Wale's 5,745 full members and 700 probationers; in North Wales 15,477 and 1,803 respectively. The English district (Cardiff and Swansea) for South Wales has a membership of 13,821, with 981 probationers. To theiee must be added the English circuits in North, Wales, which are included in the Liverpool district. There a,re 145 ordained Welsh ministers in the two dis- tricts, of whom no are in North Wales. The a-ciult Bible classes have a membership of 2,050, while 2,770 young people have been- enrolled in branches of the Wesley Guild.

-—— The death .is announced of M.r George Gis- sing, the well-known novelist.

The Arrest of a Llanrwst Solicitor. Jones before the Magistrates. Bail Refused. Mir DAVID Jones, of Llanrwst, who was extradit- ed from the United States on a charge of frau- dulently appropriating trust funds in his custody as a solicitor amounting to over Zio,ooo, ar- rived at Liverpool last night by the Teutonic Scene at Liverpool Lancing MagI:. The extradited solicitor is a short, pleasant- faced gentleman, with a close-cut black beard, and as he walked down [he gangway with a bowler hat on the back off his head and a cigar in his mouth, he presented no appearance what- ever of mental anxie-ty or perturbation. On the contrary, he looked quite comfortable and in good spirits. Directly his foot touched the stage Mr Jones, closely shadowed by hi$stal- wart custodians, pressed through the crowd o'f passengers and porters to shake hands with his 'legal adviser, Mr Humphreys, solicitor, of Llanrwst, .who was a wailmg his arrival. No notice was paid to the little company of detec- tives as they moved off with their prisoner to the C ustomsl-room, where the baggage was in- spected in the usual way, and some delay occa- sioned owing to the mislaying of one Gladstone bag. This was ultimately found, however, and the party .stepped into a four-wheeler at the Pierhead, and drove straight to Lime-street Station. Attempted Escape Co pradicted. Inspector Cartm stated that there was no truth in the story that Mr Jones at temped to escape just before the Teutonic sailed from New York. The prisoner and the officers travelled second cahin, the former being allowed considerable liberty, but his identity was unknown to his fellow-travellers. Inspector Carlin states that the prisoner gave no trouble during the voyage. WTrile on the Liverpool Landing Stage he was closely watc'hed, but not handcuffed. Ar ivaf at Llanrwst. SENSATION IN COURT. [BY WIRE from OUR own REPORTER.] When the train conveying Mr Jones arrived at Llandudno Junction about four a.m.. accused chatted affably for some time with Guardsman Webb, and wbded away the' time before the de- parture of the first train to Llanrwst in company with Mr Humpnreys, his solicitor. Shortly after five, the little party, consist-n.g of Detec- tive Carlin,, Sergeant Lee, Mr Humphreys, and accused, arrived at Llanrwst station, and imme- d'iately pwceeded to the police station ilndis- turbed, it being too early for any crowd to con- gregate. Under the surveillance of Superinten- dent Jarvis, accused spent the remainder of the t'ime tall eleven o'clock chatting happily. Mean- while the townspeople were intensely excited. When the magistrates sat, crowds Unsuccessful- ly sought admission to the court room, admis- sion being 'by ticket only. Mr W. P. Roberts, with his solicitor (Mr R. O. Davies) appeared early. Promptly at eleven Jones, in company with a constable, entered tne court room-, smi'l.ng blandly, and accosting some of his friends in Welsh. He was attired in a navy blue. serge suit, with red tie. Requested to take his place in the box, he briskly stepped u -A ,1), and tc)ok a seit un.iiiv.ite?d. N eaiiwhile he glanced round the room, and nodded to some acquaintances. In due course, the Clerk read out the charge, the offence alleged being converting and appro- priating certain trust money, the property of Mary Hughes, Plasdu. Prisoner made no reply. Mr Roberts, solicitor for the prosecution., then applied for a formal remand of the prisoner until Wednesday nex,t, his reason being that under the circumstances several witnesses would have to be Crown subpoenaed, a process that would en- tail more time than, anticipated. After some discussion, it was decided to re- mand Jones until Wednesday. Mr Davies- Jones, who appeared for Jones, ap- plied for his client's release on bail, but to this Mr Roberts firmly objected, saying Jones had -escaped, knowing that a warrant was issued for bis arrest. Prisoner That is not so, your worships. I hope you will demand evidence in support of that accusation. It is quite groundless. Mr Roberts protested against accused speak- ing, inasmuch as he was legally represented. Supt. Jarvis contended Mr Roberts's statement was incorrect, and it was only fair that the truth should be made public. The 'Bench retired to consider their decision. Interview with the Prisoner. ,Ou,r representative ait this juncture had a conversation 'with Jones. He, replying to ques- tions, said his health was better than ever, ex- cept for a slight attack of influenza. He heard nothing of the report regarding the attempted lescape at New York until his arrival at Liver- pool. The whole thing was- a fabrication. Askedl whether he had seen his wife, prisoner, 'h,,o 1 3--l ha-d h'tlterto bee?n quite: merr replied wilth w tearful eyes, "No, I must not think of her." Returning to court, the 'Chairman stated the magistrates could not permit prisoner's discharge on bail. Mr Davies Jones asked the clerk to note the decision. Shortly afterwards prisoner said: I wi sh to protest against Mr Petit presiding as magis- trate in this case, because I have a letter in his ) own handwriting, stating he will never forgive me. (Sensation). Prisoner was then taken down to the cell, but was afterwards, brought back in order to hear whether the magistrates would consent .to his being detained at the Llanrwst Police Station, rather than at Carnarvon goal, pending the next hearing. Mr Davies Jones contended' that such a cours'a would be necessary, in order to facilitate the proceedings, because his client must be on the spot to gain access to various documents.. Supt. Jarvis said Llanrwst station buildings were unfit for habitation, because there were no facilities to exercise prisoners. He objected to Mr Davies Jones' application on that ground. Prisoner said he would run the risk in. regard to his health, provided he were permitted to re- main at Llanrwst. He was anxious to see his wife and seven children. Replying to Mr Jelf Petit, prisoner said he ob- jected absolutely to that gentlemen sitting on his case. Mr Davies Jones I have no instructions on that point. Accused: Those are my instructions. Take ) them now. ■Mr'Davies Jones said the point could be settled next Wednesday. The Bench eventually decided to permit prisoner to remain in, custody at Llanrwst. W. 1'. Roberts was remanded on the usual bail. )

Estimates Free. IS" Representatives continually in the District. I SPECIALISTS IN lw III T rwi I lilw- VENTILATION AND WARMING V v jrTLJB<?ivJ<L iL JL ? ?LJt Hundreds of, Schools and Chapels Ventilated and Warmed by us in Wales. JAMES STOTT & CO., Vernon Works, OLDHAM. MS. 1 SIMPSON, Tailor, Breeches & Livery Maker, Corner Shop, m Is Opposite Station e N Gat s, L LA NJ 0 THE LATEST WEAVINGS IN Overcoatings, Suitings, Trouserings, A truly superb selection of Woollen Cloths and Tweeds of every description suitable for the wear of Gentlemen. 5445 PBOOK' COATS. E"V"E3SRHSTG- DRESS-

Competitive Meeting at Llanfairfechan. Successful Proceedings on Christmas Day. THE fortieth annual competitive meeiting held in connection with Horeb and Nant C.M. Churches, took place at the Public Hall on the afternoon and evening of Christmas Day. The aft, erridon meeting, which was fairly weli patronised, was presided over by Air, Jones, Castle Stores, while Mr David Griffith, Plas Farm, conducted in a very creditable manner. The following were the awards — Solo for children under 12 years ("Mont. gomery"): Ivor Jones. Solo for children under 18 years, "Tr mwyn dy enw" (Tom Price) Jenny Hughes. Essay on "Paul in Athens:" 0 Mr W. G. Thomas, Bad Enlli. For marking on canvas, "Duw a Digon:" 1, Maggie Grif- fiths 2, Chairlotte Ellis; 3, Nesita Ellis. Chil- dren's choir: Nant Choir, conductor, Hum- phrey Owen, "Y Nant a'r Blodeuyn" (Tom Price), one entry. EVENING MEETING. In the evening Mr J. O. Jones, Stafford House, presided, while Mr R. C. Evans, Brcn-y-Gan, conductedL The hall was crowded. The following prizes were awarded —Piano- forte solo: Dilys Eames and, Mary Hughe's, equal. For a map of Llanfairfechan Merediths Griffith. Party of nine children, "Maidstone" (C.M. Hymn Book): Ivor Jones and party, For sofa blanket: 11ù:s Hughes, Vron Pare. Solo tenor or soprano, "IetsU Cyfaill F'enaid Cu" (Bryan Warhurst) Mr Humphrey Owen, Emrys Villa. Knife box LI-erw-elyn Samuel, Bron Nant. Flanelette .nightdress Miss Wil- liams, Wern. For tune composing: Mr John Thomas, Erw Gron. Woollen stockings Mrs Thomas, Bron Nant. Solo bass, "Y Ddwy Del (,D. Pug'.ie Evans) Mr John, I-Iu,ghes a;nd ,yn, ,ram lIu,hes, efl-ual. ScripruTe exaiii?inati-ons, nn,cl,e,r 21': 1, Nir W. (?. Tlkoma?s; 2, Lle?welyn- Samuel. Scripture examinations, over 2'i 1, John Roberts j Bodhyfryd; 2, W. Thomas, Bod! Enlli; 3, R. Evans, Pear Hill. Chief essay: Mr R. Evans and W. Roberts, Penmaenmawr, equal. During the eventing the Dwygyfychi Choir rendered, "Dattotd mae rhwymau," and were well praised by the adjudicator. The accompanist was Mrs Capt. Lewis, Brook Bank; musical adjudicator, Mr R. 0. Pierce, Valley, Anglesey; literary adjudicator, Rev. W. R. Jone's, F.R.G.S., Llanfairfechan; poetry ad- judicator, "Glan A law." Messrs Hugh Owen, Bodeuton, and John Owen, Emrys Villa, carried out the secretarial duties faultlessly. "Glan Alaw's" adjudication on the englynion are given in the Welsh page.

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