Llais Llafur

t .+.+.+. i ❖A RED LETTER EVENT! i t ♦ That, in short, sums up f Lewis Lewis & Co.'s I > t I Winter Sale r f "J -.Jr- .<J+ In thousands of homes in West Wales, this Event i is eagerly looked forward to, for it represents an + ? opportunity for economical buying of Drapery, £  etc.,  surpassed h d  I.. | etc., that is surpassed nowhere, and is rarely J equalled. V -"0' ::xx:>-o-c:x.c- v ? Mac enw Lewis Lewis yn nglyn a Sale, fel ag yn nglyn a phob peth ya y Siop, yn ddigon o wysH y ceir bargelnion digyffelyb. ? I ? ?.?-??<t-«. ?<<.???t**<< << «K?<.t**t?t*t<*??tt*«?<t*t <. ?<???. ? .?  i 27, 28, 29, HIGH STREET, I S-WAN S AD S-W ANSEA i v JL LEVlIS LEWIS (Swansea), Ltd. ee George Scale, Crown Stores, PONTARIMWE, FOR WREATHS, CROSSES and II SPRAYS. ] Made at Short Notice. I Also a Large Stock of FLOWER PLANTS. 0 .———. Nat. Tel: 028. <

Germany from Within. I lsobted ?m the Outside 'i World, Depression of Public Feeling. I A neutral journalist, who is a trained observer, has just returned after spend- ing a prolonged period in various parts of Germany, and contributes to the 'Daily Chronicle' a graphic account of his im- pressions and experiences. He states :— The scarcity of men is so noticeable in Germany that the impression is left that the male contingent of the whole empire is already exhausted. The railway stations are gloomy all the way from the frontier to the German capit- al. Here and there one can only see small groups of soldiers with their war equipment. But they are either old men who can hardly bear their equip- ment, or very young boys of doubtful fitness for military service. There are no porters to be seen at the stations, and the traveller is obliged to attend to his own luggage. All trains are militarised, and very often passengers are requested to leave the carriages and wait for the next train. Owing to ttils lack of men trains run with long delays. Rolling stock and other material is very poor. Also the absence of motor-cars, taxis and motor busea has its origin in the lack of men., as well as the scarcity of petrol anl benzine. Restaurants and refresh- ment rooms at the stations are now closed, and very few trains carry sleeping-cars and dining-cars. All along the railway line one can see numerous munition factories working day and night. Workers are getting from 10 to 15 marks per day. Wagons laden with war material are a common spectacle along the railway line. YEARNING FOR PEACE. On reaching Berlin the visitor gets the impression that it is a dissolute city; there is more vice and degra- dation than was the case in Paris be- fore the war. The appearance of the German capital is still gay, but one is struck by the fact that the public opinion is very much depressed. The spirit of the people is really broken. One can see few soldiers in the streets, and their face denote a great lack of confidence in their strength. No one talks about victory at the present juncture, but everybody is dreaming and yearning for peace. It is easy to see that Germany- is hastening to ruin. She is not yet at the end of her tether, of course, but one can perceive manifest signs of ex- haustion. The violent desire for peace shown by everyone is a significant sympton. Oone sees clear traces of at- trition and weariness all over Ger- many. Had it not been for her organ- isation, which is really marvellous, a,nd for her iron discipline, revolution would have already broken out all over the Empire to stop the war. But the measures taken by the military power are so energetic that no one dares to move, lest he is shot or imprisoned for life. NO MOURNING ALLOWED I Mourning is absolutely prohibited in Germany; no wounded or crippled soldier is allowed to walk in the streets of the capital and of important towns. They can only show them- selves when they are able to wear their uniforms in quite a. military way and with all decency. One does not see warworn a,nd dishevelled soldiers in Berlin. All those on leave from the front have immediately to change their campaign uniforms for clean ones. Living in Germany is fearfully expen- sive, and a small room in a modest board- ing-house cannot be rented for less than five or six shillings per day. Breakfast and fire cost two shillings extra. What Germans cailled breakfast now consists only of a cup of bad coffee and a slice of brown bread made with potatoes andi straw flour with a thin coat of butter made with beef fat. Good hotels are charging now from 16 to 18 shillings per day for the room only. No lunch can be had for less than five shillings, and no dinner under seven shillings, however modest they may be, and either in second or third class restaurants. The best scientific talents of Germany are engaged in discovering substitutes for everything that is lacking, and up to the present they have succeeded in many things excepts petrol and benzine. Wine is comparatively cheap. Bread is made of potatoes and straw or saw-dust flour, a.nd one cannot obtain a piece of bread with- out handing in the corresponding ticket. Everything tends to show at meat, milk butter, cream and lard are becoming ex- hausted, as tickets for these commodities too, have already made their appearance in Germany. Prices are rising steadily, and in a disquieting manner, and the people's anger rises in proportion with the rise of prises. Some, riots have al- ready occurred in different parts of Ger- many, but they have been suppressed with a firm hand, and rioters have been threatened with death penalties. Dealing with the publication of news, the correspondent says that nothing un- favourable to the Germans becomes known to the people, and attiibutes this as a proof of of the good organisation in the enemy's country. The military confiscates every newspaper and letter bringing bad news, thus leaving the German people in the greatest ignorance of what is go- ing on outside the empire. ENORMOUS LOSSES. I Recruiting all over Germany is going on very actively, and the 1918 class has al- ready been -called up for training. Men are admitted from 14 to 65, and even unfit men are compelled to join the army or to work in the munition factories. The movements of the troops are carried on very slowly; oontingents of about 100 men are sent to France only from time Sto time. The supply of men is becoming a difficult problem. for Germany. Opinion is pessimistic about keeping up the. effi- ciency of the troops. The losses have been enormous. Ger- many alone has to provide not less than 100,000 soldiers per month to replace casualties at the different fronts. The casualties in officers alone at the two principal fronts total about 150,000. Up to October last 350 lists of casualties were published officially in Germany, with a total loss of two and a half million men, the Prussian a-nd the Bavrurian. losses be- ing the greatest. The daily losses are so great that Germany is becoming very anxious about men, as every fit man is already on active service, and Germany is struggling to call every man she legal- ly can, in the hope to mobilise even 16 per cent. of her total population. The final classes of the second ban of Land- sturm are being incorporated daily to their regiments. Many of these men ap- pear to be from 45 to 50 years of age, and their physical appearance seems very weak and unsoldier-like. Even Boy Scouts of 15 and 16 years have already been called up. But in spite of these ef- forts the reserves of men are becoming exhausted. 3,000,000 IN TRAINING.. I Still, Germans say they have at present ) three million men in training who will be ready next spring, though they con- sider that from this contingent only two millions will be quite fit for fighting. Another fact which causes great anxie- ty is the lack of good offioers. Munitions, on the other hand, are plentiful. Large quantities of copper reach Germany from Sweden, and all war material factories are working day and night. To make up for the lack of metal all the nickel coins have already disap- peared and substituted with iron coins coated with zinc. All the copper coins have found their way into the munition factories. To conclude, the lack of men is easily detected by Ike fact that tramway con- ductors and collectors are women wait- ers in cafes, restaurants and hotels are either very young boys or old men. All the public works are carried on by women and young girls. These facts go far to break the morale and spirit of the people and to depress public feeling to a great extent. The people bear their losses sadly. These add- ed to the prostitution and vice prevalent all over Germany, and the disquieting proportions which the rise in prices is assuming, create a situation which can- not be tolerated for more than a few months longer.

COALING AT SEA. t There are a .large number of British battleships guarding the shipping routes on the high seas which must not relax their vigilance for one moment. On this account some means has had to be devised to supply the vessels with coal without the necessity of steaming back to port. As the wardens cannot come to fetch their fuel, the fuel has to be taken to them, and by means of a very ingenious device tons of coal can be transported on to our battleships whilst they are tra- velling without their activities being in any way interfered with. A collier packed to the hatches with coal gets into touch by wireless with a battleship whose bunkers need replenish- ing. On sighting the mother vessel tlle supply ship manaeures until it is about 40J feet astern of the battleship. The collier then dispatches a small boat which carries cables, one set of which stretches from the masthead of the supply vessel. The lines are paid out as the boat ad- vances, and when it reaches the warship the cables are made fast on the port and starboard sides of her stern. The lines being brought to the required tension, the two ships travel in a straight line fas- tened together, whilst from the mast of the collier to the deck of the warship stretches a transport cable for carrying coal bags. Sacks of coal in loads weigh- ing a ton, are hoisted from the foot of the collier's mast to a platform at its head, below which a net is spread to protect deck hands from falling pieces of coal, which might happen to come loose before the sacks are dispatched. By means of wheels running on the cable the load is forced by automatic winches along the sloping transport line at the rate of 3,000ft. per second. On reaching the deck of the battleship the load is auto- matically released, and the transporter starts on its return journey to the col- lier. This apparatus enables sifCty tons of coal to be carried every hour across the gap of water separating the supply ship from the battleship. The great ad- vantage of the system is that both vessels during the operations can move at the rate of twelve knots per hour. The move- ments of the loads of coal are controlled by two transport winches mounted on the collier, a single lever operating the forward and backward journeys of the carrying device.

PIANOFORTE AND ORGAN TUNING. REPAIRS of EVERY DESCRIPTION First Class Work, Moderate Charges. PIANOS TUNED FROM 3s.6d. JAMES TARR, I Compton Terrace, Y stalyfera HERBERT ROGERS, PRACTICAL SANITARY PLUMBER, GAS AND HOT WATER FITTER, GLANRHYD nOAD. YSTRADGYNLAIS All orders promptly attend to. i —It wil.1 pay you to MR VISIT Peqhale's GREAT SALE Wonderful Bargains in Men's Raincoats 20/=, Men's Suits, fr om 20/ Boys' Raincoats from 6/11 Boys' School Suits, from 6/11. 232, High St., Swansea

BRITAIN'S MEAT BILL. Some idea of the enormous quantity of foreign meat conslimedlill Great pritain may be gathered from the returns of foreign and Colonial meat received in Liverpool during 1915. In the last quarter 331 meat vessels ar- rived, carrying 2,285,168 sheep and lamb carcases, 115,133 pork carcases, 518,49C boxes of meat, and 2,055,000 quarters of beef. This shows an enormous increase in pork compared with the first quarter, but a decrease of over 1,000,000 sheep and lamb carcases and 1,000,000 quarters of beef. The decrease is to some extent due to the difficulty of securing ships and to the fact that the Government has taken over many of the regular carrying vessels. ——————

LLANELLY VICTIM OF GERMAN CAMP TREATMENT. News has reached Llanelly of the death of Mr. Clifford Lewis, a young man who suffered great hardships whilst detained for a. year in a camp for prisoners of war in Germany. Lewis was a civil prisoner in Paderhom, Germany, for a year, and was released' last August in a. practically dying condition, and quite beyond the.- hope of recovery. Deceased was about to leave Austria at the time of his arrest, being detained* on the eve of his departure. Whilst in the prisoners' camp he contracted tuber- culosis, from which he has now died. He was the son of the late Mr. E. Lewis, schoolmaster. His elder brother is in the trenches, and another in training at Porthcawl.

CLERGY AS SOLDIERS. The Bishop of London has received a deputation of the unbeneficed clergy, who. presented a petition signed by 1,000 Lon- don clergy of military age, asking that the clergy should to be allowed to enlist or take up such war work as they might be considered most fitted for. It was suggested that the various dio- ceses should be organised so as to release as many as possible for war work, and that the Bishop should oensider whether it would not be possible t4, waive the- rule which prohibits clergy from serving in the ranks. The Bishop gave the depu- tation a sympathetic hearing, and pro- mised to send a written reply. ————— ————

MILITARY FUNERAL AT BRYNCOCK A large concourse of people assembled at the fuimral on Monday of Private- Issaiah Edwards (R.A.M.C.), whose death from dysentery was recently re- ported in our columns. The remains, en- folded in the Union Jack, were conveyed to Dyffryn Churchyard by a detachment of the Neath V. T. Corps, under the di- rection of SeTgt.-Major Percy, who were preceded by the firing party, formed from A Company of the 50th Provisiona- Battalion, commanded by Sergt. T. Rees. The officiating clergy were the Rev. J. C. Thomas (vicar of Dyffryn) and his col- league, the Rev. A. R. Da vies. The llsutil Welsh and English hymns were sunf" anil the church organist, Mr. Joseph Thomas, played a requiem, and the "Dead Mari, in "Saul. After Benedict'on. tlu..€e» volleys were fired over the n lined grave, and the "Last Pogf <)\ v~ bugler followed. ————— —————

FATAL CAT'S SCRATCH. I At an inquest on Mary Elizabeth. Jc-ne., (37), of Rhyd-y-Mardy House, Gorseinon, deceased's husband stated that his wife had been scratched by a cat, and suffered pains in the arm. Dr. Trafford Mitchall attributed death to septic pneumonia and. peritonitis, brought about by Wood poison. ing through the scratch. Verdict accord- ingly.

W. A. WILLIAMS, Phrenologist, oan be consulted daily at the Victoria, Arcade (near the Market), Swansea Primed am Published by "Llais Llafur" Co. Ltd., Ystalyfera, in the County of Glamorgan, Jan. 8, 1916

TEN THOUSAND MILES OF TRENCHES I A dispatch from Mr H. Warner j Allen, special correspondent of the British Press with the French armies, says:— The western boundary of the Allied lines which protect a front of 500 miles, with a maze of well over 10,000 miles of trenches, is a natural one, and it is easy to understand how the trenches of either side—the Germans no doubt have their 10,000 miles of trenches as well as the Allies-star. from a line so clear and definite as the cost of the North Sea. It has been said that a man could enter the great ditch, which is the rampart of civilisa- tion, at the North Sea and could make his way along it always below the level of the ground, until after many days ho came out on the Swiss frontier. Strictly speaking, the feat is an im- possible one, as the continuity of the trenches is broken in consequence of geographical conditions, but for prac- tical purposes it is a sufficiently ac- curate expression of fact.