Llais Llafur

Cwmavon Iate i Collector j lenience of Fifteen Months. At Cardiff Assizes en Tuesday, before Mr. Justice Atkin, Henry Dal ies (48), assistant, ovtsrseer, of Cwmavon, was charged on four counts with embezzle- ment, was sent to prison for 15 months in the second division. The riliarge8 were (1) embezzling j divers sums of money amounting to £ 1,0*23 12s. 9d., the property of the overseer of the Poor of the Parish of Michaelstone Low er; (2) making false entries in the collecting book with in- tent to defraud; (3) making false en- tries 'in the monthly statements of the collector cf the poor a.nd special ex- penses rate; and (4) destroying two bank pass books relating to the poor rate aeoount and the special expenses account. Mr. Villiers Meager (instructed by Mr. Edward Powell (Neath), appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. W. Llew- elyn Williams, K.C. (instructed by Mr. Gibson Davies) defended. Mr. Meager, in briefly ou tlining tho facte of the case said that DavieB was appointed assistant overseer for Cwm- avon in January, 1901. His duties were to collect the poor rate and special expenses rate. whilst lie also had charge of the bank pass-books. At the audit for 1917 the prisoner did not put in an appearance, and the auditor wrote him a letter stating there were certain grave irregularities discovered j in hi £ accounts. The audit was there- upon adjourned for Davies' attendance. The total amount of the defalcations was P-1. 023, although since these figures had been made it had been Mo- certained other small sums had ap- pea ml to have been embezzled. From "1901 to If).:h5-f}h!ttt- not been guilty of any defalcations. In 1911 prisoner's salary W.1, £2li! per annum, bnt in April, 1917, it was reduced to £ 160, subsequentiv being in- crea? to £ 200. His Lordship: How much did he collect, per annum ? I jnean, how much was the turnover? Mr. Meager: About £ 6,000. Mr. Meager deferibed the embozz!?- ment as a deliberate one. POLICE ALLEGATIONS. Supt. Ben Evans said prisoner waS": a man of good moral character, and be wielded a considerable influence in Cwmavon and district. "I think from personal inquiries and from what I gather," he added, "I .am inclined to believe this money has been to some extent supporting the propaganda of the Socialist party in the district. Prisoner is a most prominent member, and has been actively interested in propaganda work for the last four years. He is a man who lyts given a considerable amount of trouble and has done considerable amount of havoc to the young growing men of my town." "PREJUDICIAL EFFECTS." Mr. LI. Williams: is that the only thing. you have against prisoner, that j he hrrlds these opinions which are. pre- judicial to the times? Witness: Yes; they have a preju- dicial effect in those times. Mr. Williams:Have you ever pro-! secuted him for'this propaganda? Witness replied that prisoner had been prosecuted for lecturing on the public highway and causing obstruc- tion. His Lordship: Ido not think thab will influence me in my decision. Mr. Ll. Williams asked permission to I' call the Vicar of Cwmavon and other people to testify as to character. His Lordship said it would be no use whatever ns they knew the chan,cter I of the man from the depositions. Dr. Richard Thomas, Cwmavon, said 18 years ago he attended prisoner for tubercular throat. PRISONER'S ANTECEDENTS. Mr., Llewelyn Willi rims said he would endeavour to oxpl,n what wis almost inexplicable— the reason why a man «f j prisoner s character sh'ould have dc- scended to this sad and tr.c position. He was a man of very poor parents, and' since the age of he, had worked at the beal tmplate works to earn his livelihood. He was a man of more than ordinary mental capacity, and during the 17 years he was working there he earned the respect and confidence of his fellow workmen. He was interested in the trade union to which he be- longed and in the course of time he was appointed secretary of the rocal branch of the union. He became dis- trict secretary, and W'lS appointed to the executive committee, and he was appointed vke-^ha.-jr-nan and chairman i in due course. He wielded considerable influence in th ^V ricl. "prJ was elect- to the Gla ^vr.q n CV.untv Council. I Then he suffered from tuberculosis of the throat, and as a result he had to j leave the works, and unfortunately for | I him, took on his present position. Mr. Llewelyn Williams asked his I lord&lup to say that prisoner had not taken the money for self-aggrandise- ment, but had spent it in paying debts he had incurred to give his children a good education. For 14 years he had kept a position without being guilty of any irregularity. During this period he had borrowed money from friends, and when in 1915 his friends came on him to repay the money he began a series of defalcations. Had he faced the position in 1915. lie would have ln a man of clean character. He had this in order to repay his friends. His Lordship It is very distressing to tsee a. man of your position standing where you are. I do not want by word of mouth to add to the pain of your position. It is a sad thing to .see a man who has wielded considerable in- fluence on the members of the com- munity in which he lives charged with an offence like this. It was a serious offence. It was a. case where he had considered whether he would not send prisoner to penal servitude. But he thought justice would be met by ja sentence of 1.5 calendar months' im- prisonment in the second division.

GWAUNCAEGURWEN The drama, "Y Mab Afradlon," was performed by the Hermon Drn- matic Society (under the leadership cf the author, Mr Jason Thomas, Bryn- anion an), .at the Public Hall, on Thure- day, Friday and Saturday evenings. Mr W. D. R-ees, Bnnammaii, pro- vided the music. On Sunday last, Seion Baptist Church held their anniversary ,-e r vices. Rev. Samuel Jones, Tfeherbert, was the special preachor. i [ "The in with the vmggeeiioiw issued by the Welsh Department of the Board of F'1ucatiorl with regard to St. David's Day. May the princpile-s taught bear fruit in the lives and characters of 1.13 coming generation. On Tuesday evening a very well at- tended meeting was held at Carmel Chapel, in connzection with the obeerv- anoo of the Natitonal Anniv(-xsary of St. David's Day. Papers were read by Mr Daniel Thoimas, M.E., D-evon- ia, G.C.G., and Mr William Thomas, C.M., Owmgors. An enjoyable rr/itsieai pTO(rramm« was also provided. Mr Rees Bevan presided, and Rev. B. D. Dawes conducted. The Rev. W. Cr-wys WiHiamH (repre- sentative of the British and Foreign Bible Society) visited tfte di-sTrct on Mond,av evening, and delivered a very interesting and instructive a ddress on the wor'k of the Society. He dwelt extensively on what the Soceity has doine in distributing Bibles and T-esta- mente to the soldiers at the various battle fronts. Although the work has been greatly hampered by the war, still it goes on; acd even now during rite tumult of the WM", the Bible is being translated into hitherto un- known tongues, and scattered broad- cast over two territories. Last year alone it has been translated into seven altogether new languages. Silently, but steadily the Book is finding its wiav over the world. During the three years "OrwyB" has been at- tached to the Society, excellent work has been accomplished. New oi-v,.In-q isationi have be-on formed in various districts, and the collections have beon increased by several hundred pounds. A iuew branch has been formed si; Owmgprs, and collect ion* will be made towiards the Sooiety. The Rev. Clement Evans was elected presi- dent; the Rev. B. D. Davies, treasur- eT; and the Rev. T. M. Roderick (Tabernacle), slaretaxy. Last Sunday a series of temperance meetings were held under the auspices f) tile RecaxaJbi tes, the Rev. R. J. Paterson, U. B.. being the jmrlstvioncr. Mr Patorson is ta.n ardent o<pp orient of tlho state purchase movement, advo- cating in its stead total prohibition dtirin- the war, and during the period of demobilisation. Although Mr. Paterson is a fiery speaker, and his long: experieaice Gal tlio temperanee pat.f(lrm has saturated him with a, sense of super-confident a.uthoritv. the supporter of the srtate purchase move- ment remain exaotly w her they were. COill-gratula.tions to Mr Baden FNans, Ourwen street, G.C.G., son of Mr Johnny Evans, schoolmaster, Tai'r- gw.aith, on his .9ucoess in parsing the London aM trkrula^ien Examination. He ma.tricu?ted .under the Centra j Welsh Board last year. j

Pontardawe Hospitals. I Regrettable Friction Between ( Owners oi Glanrhyd and St. I .Iiii)41 AssuCiaiion. j A meeting of the executive commits U.' oi Lhe St. John Auxiliary War Hospitals took place at Pontardawe on Friday evening, when Mr. G. Griffiths, Capital and Counties Bank, Ystalyfera, presided, in the absence of Mr. Chas. Gilbertson. The chief business dis- cussed was the proposal of Messrs. Gil- lx^rtsoti, omiers of Glanrbyd, to ter- minate the tenancy of that house by the St. John Association, and to con- vert the hospital into a Red Cross in- stitution, to be re-equipped at their own expense. Mr. F. \V. Gilbertson attended the meeting in the absence of his brother, explained the position and the reason for the proposal. They were all aware he said, of the fact that the family had given Glanrhyd to be used as a hospital, and had also given Ynisderw House to the Guardians so that the Workhouse ootild be converted into an infirmary. They had also, doubtless heard that things were not going very well at Glanrhyd, and it was thought desirable that some change should take place. The question of the d ''tors, the matron, and the capitation r,rants were but some of the causes of friction, suggesting that there was lack of good management somewhere. A detcmined effort had also been made to get rid of Mrs. Royle, matron at Glanrhyd, and r-he had now been hounded out— a state of affairs that they as a family felt very much. The new temporary matron, on taking up duty, told the Red Cross girls that their sorvicos WMV no longer required, and she had also taken the management out of Mrs. Royle's hands six days before her notice terminated, although the new matron had come there without credentials of any kind. Mr. Gilbertson said he went immediately to Glanrhyd on hearing of this, and illa,, it should be closed, and that they as a family should re-equip it at a cost exceeding L-500. He had consulted the Pontar- dawe committee, and they had agreed with his action in the matter. Proceeding, Mr. Gilbertson said that a letter he had recei ved from Mr. Her- bert Lewis (secretary of the St. John Association) appeared to indicate that they, the St. John Association, were not prepared to accept the notice. He wished it understood that they all wanted to benefit the wounded, with- out any friction amongst themselves; and the best way out of the difficulty was by converting Glanrhyd into a Red Cross Hospital and allowing the infirmary to remain a St. John insti- tution. This would then enable people -to support whichever they chose. The new hospital would be re- equipped at the Gilbertson family's ex- pense, and would get 3s. a day in re- spect of each occupied bed, and 6d. for each disengaged one. The Red Cross Institution also gave more local a ivto- nomy, and he failed to see why they should submit to being controlled from Cardiff. He had also observed that there was always more friction in dis- tricts in which St. John institutions existed than where Red Cress hospi- tals were maintained. In reply to the chairman, Mr. Gil- bertson said he had consulted the Pontardawe committee because they were nearest, and they had approved of his action. The Chairman ViA the committee members from Ystalyfera and Ystrad- gynlais were very human, and felt that Mr. Gilberta m should have brought the matter before the whole executive, and not .onfined himself to a section. Mr. Gilbertson renlied that he would hive to apologise, h it he waa so upset when he heard of -iie state of affairs at Glllrhyd that &.a acted somewhat rashlv. After Mr. Gilbertson had retired the Chairman asked whether the committee were prepared to discuss the matter then, or adjourn it for a week to as^ to allow them time to consider it. Mr. Ben Williams, Cwmtwrch, said he could not give his vote on the ques- tion that dnv, c ought to consult his committee. Ho also believed that aftr-f all it was a matter that Cardiff should thrash out. Mr. D. J. Bowe.i, Pnritardave, was of the opinion tha: if the committer desired to transfer to the Red Cross, they could do so, ul Mr. Ben Wil- liams disagreed. Mr. Henry Jaine,, Cwmgorse, insist- ed that they had collected the money expressly for the St. -lohn Association. Mr. J. Edwards, Pontardawe, urcrod further inquiry, and suggested that Mr. Gilbortion bo asked to meet them again. Mr. Morgan 3:viM; Ponhrd(}T! said he failed to doe What right they had to deal with the matter nt a1!. And from a legal ,r"Jint of view he failed to see there was any justifica- tion for the cancelling of the tenancy. The tenancy was in the ha.n<¡ of the association, and they had no right to deal with the matter before the in- quiry. Mrs. D. J. Rees, Ystalyfera, asked if the Messrs. Gilbertson were agree- able to an inquiry taking place, but no one appeared to know. Mr. Tom Williams, Ystradgvnlais: They seem determined to fight it out. It was ultimately resolved to ad- journ the matter. The Chairman reported that the Christmas fare at both Glanrhyd and the Infirmary had been excellent. It was also decided that Mr. Her- bert Lewis lie urged to attend to ex- plain why Glanrhyd only received a g.nt of 2s. whilst the Quarr Hospital Clvdach, received 3s. It was expressed that the Glanrhyd Hospital had been equipped by the War Office. Mrs. D..J. R. pointed out that ti- Qurr Hospital had been partly equipped from the overstock at Glan- rhyd, and in that case the Quarr Hos- pital beds were at any rate partially War Office property.

Cb.-s Tour of L('c11 Ci>'iien. The Gwauncaegurwon Elementary Mining Class visited the Tirbach Col- liery, Ystalyfera, on Saturday last. They were coompanied b*- the County Mining Lecturer, Mr. J. Henri Davies, M.E..F.G.S. The Glamorgan Education Committee deserve congratulations on their efforts to enable those who are. or will be engaged in the groat coal industry of South Wales to study min- ing, not only in the lecture rooms and laboratories, but a lso in visiting the best equipped collieries during the winter tseaaon. It is impossible to over- estimate—whether from a scientific, in- dustrial. or the health and life-saving point of view—the importance of the Glamorgan scheme of mining educa- tion. Tho party of pjudents were met at 'V- '?  i liams. tho colliery by -r. D. R. Williams. M.E., the manager, and Mr. Richard Lewis, surveyor. Very neat and accur- ate plans showing in n. pleasing and comprehensive manner the whole of the workings of the mine n,nd the surface features related thereto, were shown and explained at the surveyor's office. There are 1,300 acres of coal to be worked. The coal scams in descending order are, Stwrin, AY hi to, Upper Black, Four Feet, Big Vein, Lower Black, Brass or Peacock, Little Brass. Middle and Lower. The Peacock, Middle and Lower are worked at present. Large north and south faults traversed the undertaking, necessitating the driving of long and expensive hard headings. The bo' 'daries of the colliery, and the position of the work^ies with regard to the suri ico and variations of level OH the roadways above or below sea level, were delineated on the plan. After the examinations of plans the manager (Mr D. R. Williams) conducted the party over the surface. The power house con- tained powerful high-speed steam en- gines, which generated the electric cur- rent for Tirbach and Pwllbach Col- lieries. It was generated at 550 volte, but was transformed to 3,000 volts so as to take it with very little loss over the mountain U> Pwllbach. There are three Lancashire boilers. The coal is washed and sized into eight different sizes. It is hard, clean to the touch, and breaks with a chonchoidal frac- ture, possesses shining lustre, burns with a short fiame, gives off intense heat, and is practically smokeless The party of 15 were divided under- ground. Tho manager conducted one group, and Mr. E. Alexander, M.E., and Mr. W. J Evans the other. The ttirbon fan and the method of revers- ing the air current were examined, and also the self-recording water gauge. After a halt to examine an electric haulage engine, a walk was made from the surface to a fault plane. Here the Big Vein was brought down about 105 yards. A hard heading, dipping nine inches to the yard had been driven to the Lower Vein, and this was ven- tilated by a. small auxiliary fan, the air being oonveyed by means of pipes to the face. The seams between the Big Vein and the Lower were seen. on the sides of the heading. A self-acting incline for a distance of about 300 yards brought coal down from the l/ower Vein to tho main haul- ago road. The roof of the stall i-oads and headings was ripped to make height for the horses, and the material was stowed away in the gob. In many of the working places the comparative- tively soft floor had yielded to the earth movements, and gave rise to small rolls or "horses." The stables were also visited. The party finished their inspection in time to be brought up in the bridle with the miners. A hearty vote of thanks was pro- posed to Councillor D. W. Ditvies, Mr. Williams, and others who helped to make the visit a .success, which was carried with acclamation.

Ammanford 1,0" 0"'<" Ah-eH-ve s^hool-^hddren • are being encouraged to renr S'vunsoi- tramwov emnlayes havf handed in notices. As protest a-T'Snut ■ d roads, a IJana-un1!! resident to pay hie r,tt4-,E. C'am'Hcfbonsb ire ■■ .olaining d 11."]lr1 the d.l.1,i'í t4:* rep: ir