Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder

ENEMY REPULSED WITHj HEAVY LOSS. | i Splendid News from Petro grad. Petrograd, Tuesday. Good news has been received from Hussian headquarters to-day. The Ger- mans have been hurled into the Bzura with great slaughter after being per- mitted to cross the river by the Russians, who hold immensely strong positions on the right bank. An obstinately contested engagement which resulted successfully for the Russians occurred between Raw a and Oponzno. Similar successes has attended I .perations in Galicia. 0 The enemy sustained a severe reverse tt Jodlow, near Tarnow in the region of Dunajotz. The garrison of Przemysl mustered in sufficient numbers to make final despair- ing attempt to break through the invest- ing lines, but were drinn back suffering terrible loosen. That we are on the eve of the surren- der of the fortress is confidently believed in military circles here. Breslau's Hasty Flight. I Moscow newspapers vividly describe ?hat is probably the Brat n?ht of its kind in history between a detachment cf H1Lian seaplanes with the Breslau. When the cruiser atiempted to hdl and capture a launch off the Kher?n light- house, near Sevastopol, 61Hhknly, likd a flight of falcons, seaplanes rose above the bay, while simultaneously Russian cruisers put out. The Breslau's speed helped her a little. for our airmen easily overhauled her, dropping lxunbs from great altitude on her decks wher" they exploded, but it was impossible to estimate the extent of the damage. The Breslau steered at fuil speed for sea. making desperate efforts to leach the. seaplanes with her gunfire, but the airmen appeared to be invulner- able, and after pursuing the enemy for several mill*, returned in safety to Sevastopol. Inaccurate Information. Petrograd, Monday (received Tuesday). —The Russian staff has issued the fol- lowing announcements— lu view of the malicious information as to the situation of otir at-wies and their strategic position, widely disseminated during the fast few days iu Germany and Austria-Hungary, the Russian General! Staff considers it its duty to inforu. Russian society of the action it lias taken and of the inexactitude of the informa- tion about our forces which has been circularised by the hostile press. The adoption by us of a more limited line it. the result of the unfettered deci- sion of the military authorities. This fjuite natural change of plan was caused by the concentration in front Jf. .is of very considerable German forces. The decision, moreover, has other ad- vantages. of which it is, unfortunately, impossible for the moment to give an explanation to the public, owing to military reasons.— Press Association. 11 Repulsed with Heavy Loss. Petrograd. Tuesday.—An official mes- sage issued to-night states: — On the left bans. of the Vistula yester- day, bet-ween the lower course and the River Pilieia. there were a series of obstinate combat#. Generally speak ityj. the German at- tacks were repulsed with heavy loss to I lie enemy. Our troops evacuated only some insignificant districts, falling back to more advantageous positions. Our counter-attacks threw back the' German units which had crossed the B/.ura. the ourniy losing many killed, and nine machine guns.—Press Associa-1 tion. MINES iN GULF OF BOTHNIA o Three Neutral Fitilard, off Coast of Finland, Petrograd, December 10th.—Much ia- dignation is expressed in Finland over the new breach of International Law committed by the Germans in the Gulf of Bothnia, which has resulted in the de- struction of three steamers, belonging to! a neutral Power. The Germans lIave sown a great number of mines all along he narrow fair water used by vessels Alteri ng Menteiuota, near Hjenaborg, in snch a manner that no ship could miss them. The mines are arranged close to the surface, and are so near <o the shore that some of the inhabitants of Mentiluto have been ablr; tl) witnes the hlowlng up of a vessel. Une of the clerks era-j ployed at the Krogius Bureau war-, await-i mg the arrival of the steamer Fverilda, and from the shore saw the vessel in the distance. He went to inform the office l authorities, but when he returned a fpw minutes later the ship bad disappeared, saving no trace. The catastrophe was; iomplete in a couple of minutes. I The Swedish steamer Luna was leaving it the same time with a cirnic) of eggs and :H)rk. The Everilda incident occurred in fall view of J lie Ltiua, and th" captain of, the latter ship hastened to the tssL-taiieei of the crew of the stricken vessel. They1 had just placed the captain of tbe Everilda on the deck of the Luna when another terrible explosion took place. The Luna had struck a second mine. At approximately the same spot, where the Everilda and Lnna were sunk the Norra Soveriz struck a mine shortly after and sank immediately with all on board. A steamer hurried out to the scene, but no survivors were found. Happily, the number of passengers on board wall, small, but the lost steamer bad a full cargo.

PUSHING ENEMY BACK. I Paris, Tuesday.—As the l'ocevt com-1 muniques have shown, the fighting in i'rance and Belgium has lately been in- creasing in violence. It is etated on excellent authority that a general offensive was taken in earnest three or four days agD Taking advantage of the fact that the best Ger- man troops had been transports to the Polish frontier, the Allies decided on a bold forward movement. They have hitherto mad", exceedingly rood progress, though they may expect to encounter more formidable resistance in a week's time, when the Germans are Kpected to bring back their reinforce- agents from the East. Enemy Soldiers Breaking Down. I Amsterdam.—The Berlin correspondent of the Nieuwe Rotterdams* he Courant" described the serious effect of the war on the morale of German ofifcers. Cases of nervous breakdown are frequent. They are encountered everywhere—in hospitals among the wounded, and in the streets, and even, among the un uniformed public. In the cafee there are many oiffcers who have returned to Berlin to recover from exhaustion or wounds, and who re main hanging on there because their nervous condition does not allow of their return to the front. At this moment there are 3,000 officers fcn Berlin unable to return to the front. They were recently called together ami strongly admonished in the Emperor's uame to pull themselves together and act to allow themselves to remain too Long out of the service of the Fatherland. Complaints are also- made of negligence In dress, even by officers wearing the Iron Cross: The Kaiser insists on officers presenting a correct appearance.— "Times War Telegram.

OFFICIAL COMMUNIQUES. French. PARIS. Wednesday. The following <.?icial c?rnmuuiquc was issued this afternoon:— I n Belgium we progressed slightly yes- j terday between the sea and the road from Nieuport to Westerdc, whilst rn the region of Stennstracte to Bixchoote, where we have captured a wood, houses ) and a redoubt. To tho east of Bethune we have cap- tured, in collaboration with the British Army, the village of Gwenchy-ies-la Bassee, which had been lost. in the region of Arras a thick fog has been the means cf making both the enemy and ourselves relax our activity. To the east of Amiens, on the Aisne, and in the Champagne there were artillery duels. In the region of Perthus-les-Hurlus we j have captured, after a lively carror- ade and two assaults, the lost positions of the line partially conquered on the 21st. The average gain is one of 800 metres. In the. last trench taken we captured a machine gun section, men and material, and a violent counter-attack wns re pulsed. We have also progressed to the north- east of Beausejour, where the e?nir.y again counter-attacked without succc I-J, A sensible advance has been made by our troops in the Bois-de-la-Gruric along a front of trenches extending about 400 metres, and the forward movement extencs to as far as 250 metres. We have blown up by mines, German lines, and occupied the excavation made by the explosion. The fighting continues around Boureilles. The important results reatised yester- day morning do not appear to have been entirely maintained. No noteworthy incident has occurred from the heights of the Meuse to Up\3J' A I sa". R ussian. In Eastern Prussia the Germans have been repulsed on the line Neidenberg- Soldau-Lauremfcurg. In Poland the Germans have been abie to get a footing on the lower Bzura to the north of Sochacjew. More to the south they have reached the river i Rawka at Boiinow and have gone be- j yond Skaesniewice, to the East. I Austro-German forces are marching into; Poland along a front which extends from the south-east of Piotrlow to tliol West of Nidda in Galicia. They have reached Dunajee and have occupied a! line Grybow-Sonigrow-Sanok. The attempt of a sortie by the garrison of Przcmysl has completely failed. -———————

CHASEO TO HELIGOLAND. News of what part the British Fleet' plaYNl when the Germans made a raid. on Scarborough and other towns on the Korth Coast is gradually leaking out.. Some of the sailors who were engaged in chasing the Germans were given 4S hours' leave, and one of them, when spoken to, said they were off on Wednesday, when they had the message that a number of German boats were bomharding the Yorkshire coast. In- stead of rushing south to get at the Ger- mans, the beat he was u11, as well as, ot hers,, steamed across the North Sea to in a gentle south-eastern slope to- wards Heligoland. By this means they intended getting between the Germans and Germany and compelling them to I light before thev got home if ever they did. Lost in the Mist. I Unfortunately there was a thick mist on at the time, and they could not see very far ahead. They had also to be cautious because they had to look out for mines and submarines. The British scouts were well ahead, and as they got to Heligoland they signalled that the Germans had just got round the Heligo- land Bight, w here, of course, it was not sftfo, to follow. From all he could gather it was a case of "nip and rUll," so far as the Germans were concerned. never had a narrower escape, because if the British bouts had m!ld, ¡' for a point about seven miles more south than they did they would have intercepted the Germans. As it was, the Germans could thank the mist for their I lucky escape. Adverse Criticism Not Justified. I Since he was home he had heard some II adverse comment about the British Fleet in this matter, but these were by people who did not know all the circumstances. The men on his bhip were all jubilant when they had news of the raid and realised that at last they were to have a pop at the Germans, and it was really painful to sec their feelings when they knew that the Germans had been able to I' skedaddle off. But we'll get them," he concluded.

KING AWARDS V.C. TO LIEUT. I HOLBROOK. The London Gazette" last night con- I tained the following announcements:— His Majesty the King has been gra- ciously pleased to approve of the grant of the Victoria Cross to Lieut. Norman Douglas Holbrook, Royal Navy, for the conspicuous act of bravery specified below For most con- spicuous bravery on December 13, wlie-n, in command of the submarine Ell, he en- tered the Dardanelles, i-uci, notwithstand- j ing the very difficult current, dived his vessel under five rows of mines aud tor-: pedoed the Turkish battleship Meesu- diych, which was guarding the minefield. Lieut. Holbrook sin-^ssrded in bringing the BJ1 safely back, ^"iough assailed by gun- nre and torped<>o,ts, having been sub- merged on one occasion for nine hours. His Majesty the King has been gra- ciously pleased to approve of the grant of the Victoria Crosw to and to becond-Licut. Jam Leach, and to Secotid-Licut. James Leach, 80-16, Sergeant John Hogan, 2nd Battalion Manchester Regimelit, for their conspicuous bravery specified below: For conspicuous bravery near Festubert on October 29, when, after their trench had been taken by Germans, and after two attempts at r "apture had failed, they voluntarily <k> on the afternoon of the same day to recover the trench themselves, and, working from traverse to traverse at close quarters with great bravery, they gradually succeeded in re- gaining possession, killing eight of the enemy, wounding. two. and making sixteen prisoners. n. S. 0. The King has been graciously pleased to give orders for the following appointment to the .Distinguished Service Order in reo- spect of the undermentioned officer, who was second in command of the submarine Bll. which, torpedoed the Turkish Battle, ship Messudiyeh in the Dardanelles on December 13: Lieut. Sydney Tbornhill Winn. The President of the French Republic has bostowed the decoration of the Legion j of Honour on the undermentioned ofifcers, > with the tipproval of the King, for their J gallantry during the operations hetweon August 21 and 30 with the Expeditionary .Force: Croix d'ofSccvr—-Lieut.-Col. (now tem- porary Brigadier General) R. H. K. But- ler, 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers. Croix de chevalier-Capt. J. J. O'Keefe, M.B., Royal Army Medical Corps. Promotions From the Ranks. A further War Office announcement an- nounces the promotion to cevond-lieuten- aueiea of 49 non-commissioned officers for eervice in the field. Of these commissions *2 w ere distributed amongst Royal Horse, Royal Garrison, and Royal Field Artillery men. Twenty-eight V.C.'s. Twenty-eight V.C.'s have now been awarded during tbe preceHt war. I ?, i-be preseiit w-ar.

WHY MENIN WAS NOT OCCUPIED. Though Sir John French was db;- 0 pointed because Sir Henry Rawiir- Son felt himsslf unable to carry cut his orders for the 7th Division to seize and occupy the important strategical point of Menin on October 13th, the Field-Marsha! none the less previously referred to the services of the Division, when holding or: to the Ypres position before ho could reinforce it with the First Corps in terms of very high :i praise. If we want any confirmation jj of these words, the 7th Division can point to the feet that when it was withdrawn from the fighting line to rc- fit on November 21st it was found that) in the infantry alone out of 400 officers who set out from England six weeks previously only 1!1 were left, and out of 12,DCa men only 2,335. Forty-four ofifcers alive out of 400: The foregoing: is an extract from an article by f Scrutator," in Truth," telling the 1: tcry of the 7th Division. The article goes on: Although wo have never been told so officially, it is generally 111ldentood tbaf the 7th Division and 3rd Cavalry Division were sen I to Flanders to act as the advance guard of Sir John French's Army which was in process of being transported to the northern extremity of the Allies" left flank, in order to carry out the Field- Marshal's plan of invading Belgimll and bringin.g relief to Antwerp. When Sir John French heard of the surrender of Antwerp he directed Sir Henry Rawlinson to give a hand to the Belgian g-arrison, whn were escaping through Bruges and Ostend, and then withdraw the 7th Division to a position eaSt- of Ypres extending from Zandvoorde to Zonnebeke, the 3rd Cavalry Division prolonging the line northwards to Lange-j marck. This was done on October 16th. and 11Gre the 7th Division had to remain tilli the 21st, holding some six miles erf front i against the attacks of a force which must: have been at least four times its strength. 1 An Order Unfulfilled. It was as much as the division could do to hold the position, and when the Field- Marshal ordered Sir Henry Rawlinson to seize Afenin the General judged it better to hold the order in abeyance owing to the battalions being so weakened by losses as to be unfit to take the offensive I outside the defensive position they were guarding. As a matter of fact, Menin was not at that time in occupation of the enemy, and it ie reasonable to suppose that Sir 1 John French was justified in giving the l order he did, and that Sir Henry Rawl- 1 inson was wrong in not carrying it out;; but, however that may be. it is quite certain that if the 7th Division had been allowed to make the effort officers and men would have responded to the call with the, same spirit which marked all their 6ulwoquent conduct when standing with their backs to the wall at Ypres. A Difficult Situation. I  A SNDOMINAW general wno rezxmc-6 for whatever reason to carry out the orders of his superior always incurs a hoavy responsibiHty. but this should not deter him from declining to obey if be has acquired information not in posseefdon of his superior when ho issued his instruc- tk>r>s. Judging from the carefully chosen words of Sir John French in his de- spatch, there seems to have been some conflict of opinion between himself and his subordinate in regard to this point, for lie atcd that 'he wae well as aware as Sir Henry Rawlinson of the approach- ing presence of large bodies of the enemy's troops from the east and north- east, and had taken this into considera- tion whe* ho ordered the 7th Division to occupy Mervi. The Field-Marshal knew that the divi- sion had been somewhat weak,-nca by continuous marching and fighting eince its landing in Belgium, but having re- gard to the vital importance of the ser- H:e ordered he did not think that thp duty demanded was more than could be undertaken. What we have to bear in mind is that Sir Henry Rawlion acted as he judged for the best, and no officer in a position I r-f responsibility can do more than this. If he jnade a mistake-and this must re- main a matter of opinion-It was nothing more than an error of judgment commit- ted on the spur of the moment, and no blame can be fastened on him for this. for did not Napoleon tell us that he is the bwt genera? who makes the fewest mistakes ?

THE CHILIAN ACTION. [The following letter (published by I the Daily Mail is from an engineer- commander of the Chilian Navy who was in England at the outbreak of war, tie outbreak- of war waiting o take over the destroyers which were being built for the Chilian Government and which were retained by the British naval authorities, tho I Chilian crews being recalled.] We have arrived quite safely. We reached Coronel (a Chilian port) on Octo- ber 30 at 10 p.m. and unfortunately we have been the cause of a terrible battle. All the German cruisers that were about the Indian coast, running away from the Japanese Fleet, came to this coast, and, I being aware of the arrival of this I)c,at,l. they tried to catch us, but the English tleot, composed of the cruisers Good Hope., Monmouth., and Glasgow, and tliq trans- port Otranto, cut them off. Eight Powerful Cruisers. I I I i iiere was a terrible battle twenty miles oat of Coronel which turned out badly for the English fleet, due to the number of the Germans. They were about eight in number, and as powerful as the Good Hove, which was the biggest of Uie English vessels. ) Wo knew nothing about the result tilll next day, when three German cruisers railed at Valparaiso and gave the, news of the. battle in' which the Monmouth and the (tood Ifopo were sunk. All Cbitiins have been very much upset by tho result of the battle. The Germans rendered no assistance to the two English ships, and the crews perished mercilessly. They give the excuse of bad weather and a dark night.. When the Chilian authorities knew the ] fact it was too late, and the ships they vent to cross ths spot found no clue of the boats ar.d their crews. After some days they say that the Glasgow and the Otranto left for the Falklands.

AUSTRIAN SAILORS DEFEATED. I Nish, Wednesday—The following official communique is issued to-day:— A strong detachment of Austrian sailors under the command of an officer, made a fresh attack on the 18th inst'against our transports ou the Danube near Prahovo. "Vigorous counter-attacks by our forces repulsed the enemy, and the routed Aus- trian sailors escaped to Turn Severin. Our troops have been given instructions to prevent such attempts on the part of Austrian sailors by lorce of arms.

1 1 II TheWAR -1- í e FOUR QUESTIONS II I TO EMPLOYERS 1. AS an employer have I x 1. you seen that every fit man under your control j has been given every op- Ii )?as blaen given every j 1 portunity of enlistlng 2. Have you encouraged your men i to enlist by offering to keep their I positions open ? j 3. Have you offered to help them in any other way if they will serve; their country ? 4. Have you any men still in your employ who ought to enlist ? Our present prosperity is largely due I to the men already in the field, but to II maintain it and to end the War we must have more men. Your country will appreciate the help you give. More men are wanted ——— TO-DAY I What can you do? I GOD SAVE THE KING. T 1 J —

 INTERESTING LETTER FROM THE I FRONT. P.C. Pringle, a member of the Port Talbot Police Force, serving with the 1St Grenadiers 7th Division in France, writing to a fellow officer at Port Talbot saylS: Thank you very much for the a y 6 I parcel and long letter. It was like re- ceiving a X5 note when I got them in the trenches. If you notice I am not writing on the paper you sent me as someone pinched it, and left mo the envelopes. They'll have anything if you don't watch them. The cigarettes came in just nicely, and I must thank you all once again. At present everything is going down alright. The weather though is some- thing awful, and it keeps being wet and cold, so you can guess what it must be liko when we are in the trenches. It is water everywhere, and it takes good boots to 'nand in it. We have had enow and about a week of hard frost. I have been fighting with the battalion in three different places, and this place has been! the easiest up till now. The German trenches are not very far. I Fusilade of Tins. They have been having games with 1 us lately. Several times they have thrown tins filled with mud at our trenches. On fine nights they sing and shout and play mouth organs. When they hear our Maxim go off they hoot I and shout. What takes the bun, they even wave shovels when our chaps make a miss and shout, "Yoii can't hit me I" Some of them are daring. As a rule the I beggars fire like Maxims at night, but in: the morning you can ju?t hear a few ? rounds fired. I wouldn't mind if they I' keep as quiet as they have been lately. Just at present things are very much easier for us, as the weather is so bad. We go into billets ever so often. We make up for lost time with plenty of milk, bread and butter, and a good sleep. I expect there are a few going now. Plenty of men to take OUT places. The iihondda boys must be hot stuff, going up tho road with mouth organs. Best j wishes to the boys in the station." H We have had a taste of pudding from Queen Mary*, and it was alright, but I'd i sooner have a taete of my wife's pud- ding," said Pte. Joifn Cullen, of the let! Somersets, at present with the Expedi- tionary Force at the front, in a letter which has been received by his wife, Mrs. j Carrie Cullen. j He save: You say in your letter that you hope we are getting a rest from the firing line. The rest we get is this. III the trenches for a week, 'hen out for two days rest. The trcnches are, up to our waist in water, and as for mud and slush, there is no end of it. Then the rest: we come out of the firing line about half a milo or a mile. We did once have a rest in a town, but that is stopped. You also asked me in your letter how long it j ie going to last. Well I must say it is going to laet a long time, the same as I I said in my first letter, and I don't think T will be far wrong wishing it was finished to-morrow, becaua~: I'm about I fed up with it. It would be different if it vras fine weather. "Thero are a good many poor fellows laid out about 20 or 30 yards in front of our trenches now, whom we can't get in. 1 because the Germans are only about 80 or 90 yards from us. Wo managed to fetch one poor fellow in the other night. He had been cut there about, six weeks. We searched hie pockets and we found a letter from his wife, who "was glad to think he was all right, and still living. I So you can see the end of one. I should not like to end like that if it is to be. I should at least like to be found just after: then they could give you the news, but I hope, and trust in God. that I shall b' n??u-?d for yen an? the chi.Idr?n. ?though I baye bcea very luckv, thmk 'rod. We have had a bit of pudding from Queen Mary. It was all right, but I'd sooner have a bit of yours or a bit of cake." I Speaking upon the subject of warm clothing, Pte. Cullen save that this was 'I really wanted, as they did not often have a change. "In the first place," he 6ay«, Edward asked me if I wauted a rig out of woolen clothing. I didn't hove Any time then to have them, as we were chasing the Germans for miles, and they were too much to carry, and there was no time to change. The men that are homo are very lucky to be out of this terrible war for a month or so. although this is the quietest we have been in since we have been out here. There has not been much fighting, only sniping and a few shells coming over this last few we?kp. The worst day ever I spent was on my birthday. It rained that day more than ever it did. We were in the trench like drowned ra t s when one of my mates said: There's an awful day." That put me in mind of something. Then I it came to me. I asked the date, and one said the 11th. "Oh," I said. "No wonder it's raining, it's my birthltay." They all called me an unlucky fellow. I said: "II don't know, I reckon I'm one of the lucky ones to be where I am to-day."

| PONTARDULAIS HERO'S WELCOME. Private, Arthur Hill was met at Pont- ardulais railway station last evening by thousands of the townsfolk and carried shoulder high through the streets, amid tremendous enthusiasm, the Pontardulais Silver Band playing martial airs. There were -ncre people present than when Lord L, berts visited the town some years ago. --u_

PONTARDULAIS BOY SHOT. David John Edwards, 1.2 years of age, the son of John Edwards, blacksmith, Pontardulais, was admitted to the .Swan- sea Hospital on Tuesday at 7.45 p.m., suffering from wounds in the head. David was accidentally shot by another boy, who was playing with an air gun. He was attends to at the Hpif:Q.1 by Dr. Gabe, and detained.

 MR. MASTERMAN'S   REPLY. ——— I 1 ? WILL VISIT THE DISTRICT AFTER I ? CHRISTMAS. i We understand that the officiate of the I j Lheral Five Hundred of the Swansea j District have been in communication with | Mr. Masterman with regard to hi? adop- 'ion as Liberal candidate for the divMioa to fill the vacancy cauwd by the retire- [ ment of the Ri?ht Hon. Sir David Bryn- i mor J one»s. | The right hon. gentleman states that be appreciates the invitartion extended to him, and proposes to visit the constituency I to confer with the leaders of the party Ii immediately after Christmas. I POSITION COMPLICATED. 1 Reply to Morriston Delegate Wha I Objected to Procedure. ?ev. T. W. George, NNÜh, one of the oldest campaigners in the Swansea dis- trict, in an interview with a Leader reporter, had something to bay about the. objections of Mr. Edward Harris to the I adoption of Mr. Masterman, and also with regard to the letter of Mr. Phillip to a conteiiii),-)rary. There is. he points out, or o Liberal Association ini Neath or in the constituency. The first I meeting at Neath—that on Saturday week—was simply a meeting convened by 1.11r. Morris, solicitor, and Alderman Hopkin Morgan. An invitation was ex- tended to Liberals in all parts of the Swansea District to send representatives. It was the largest meeting of Liberals in the constituency eiuee 1905. A certain order of procedtire was put to the meet- ing and determined upon unanimously. The representatives of the various dis- tricts were sent back after having decided upon the method of pro- cetli,.re--to get names submitted to them for nomination as a suc- ceeding meeting the following Saturday. Every district complied with the resolu- tion of the Grst meeting, and all t e re- presentatives cae to last Saturday's mN'tmg with their nominees. The d?- trict which Mr. Edward Harris repre- f?uts had nominate in arcordanc? with the resolution. They had no right to question the method of procedure, having adopted it. All the objections now are beside the point altogether; if they had any objortions to make, they should have made them at thf1 first; meeting.) But Mr. Edward Harris was not at that first meeting at all. so how could he ap- prove of cr object to anything done there? The situation is very complicated. but not more so than it was in 1905, when Sir David Brynmor Jones fought Mr. Hedley, and my suggestion is that if Mr. Masterman will stick to us, we will etiek to him."

COUNCIL7S DILEMMA. A meeting of the chairmen of the Stand- ing Committees of the Swansea Council on Tuesday considered the question of the authority's contribution to families of em- ployes enlisting in the Forces. Mr. H. McDonnell presided. The originM minute was that employes be reinstated on return with no loss of position or emoluments, and meanwhile to receive full salary or wages, less any amount he may receive from the Govern- ment." Alderman T. T. Corker's recollection was that at the time of passing the resolution the Council was discussing the; working men and not the officials. Colonel Sinclair said the resolution Vias arrived at too hurriedly in view of the importance of the question, but he under- stood that it would affect all the employes. He did not think the Council realised what it was doing. The Town Clerk was perfectly clear that the resolution was an accurate in- terpretation of what the Council passed. It would be realised that officers were to be included when it was remembered that the decision followed a letter from the Municipal Officers' Association. The Ex-Mayor was perfectly certain that the Council would not have taken the action it did if it realised the position. He felt certain that the borough archi- tect would not have expected his full salary of < £ 500 per annum. Mr. Matthews thought there was no doubt that the Council meant the work- ing men when it passed the resolution. The Borough Treasurer said that if they I were starting de novo he would not hesitate to advise half pav all round as more advantageous to the smaller-waged men, and less so to the higher. By this arrangement, too, the married man would be better off than the single man, and the total cost would probably be less. The. total cost per week had varied, but was last week £ 78 Its. Sd., or about Jt!4,000 j per annum. I, Alderman Merrells: And that is going I to single men and high officials Enlisted Under the Scheme. I The Treasurer replied that the bulk of ¡ these were working men, and £ 42 of the JC78 was to the po l ice. In some case there was no doubt that single men were better off under the scheme, than previously. I'he difficulty was that the men had enlisted under this scv eme. Alderman Merrells said that workmen were of the opinion that the Council? would make np the difference between! the wile's allowance and the previous pay. without touching the soldier's pay. Colonel Sinclair thought there was something wrong with a system that favoured the single men as against the married. Eventually, a sub-committee- was appointed to consider tbe position in its many aspects, the borough treasurer to report to the committee and draw up a I scheme.

WAR CAUSES FAILURE. I "Under the winding-up order mad against Hedley's Collieries, Co., Ltd., whose office was at 92, High-street, Pont- ardawe, Glam., the summary and ac- counts and report of the Official Receiver I in Companies' WiDding-l'p has been issued. The accounts &lcd fhow gross liabili- j ties .?99,626. of which S?,105 is un-¡ secured, and an timatl surplus in assets of ?15.576. After meeting the lia- b:liti<? of Hie company there is a total deficiency of t¡j8,783 to the contributories. The comply was regitered in March, 11)4t to acquire the business of the Hed-1 ley's Collieries Co., with the collieries i known as the Coity, Bettws. and Hag-Ian, Colliery, together with the assets and i liabilities. The capital wa3 C70,000, in- creased in July, 1905, to 2100.000. Up to 1910 a profit wae made on the working, but in the next three years there was a loss of £25,157. The coals ] for the most part were shipped to France, bat on the outbreak of the war, the bugi- ness was stopped, and the collieries were I closed down in August lafft. To this fact I the failure of the eompanv was attri- buted. The value of the Raglan Colliery is put at £30,000 as a going concern.

NEATH WORKERS HELP DEPENDENTS. At the Galvanising Works, Neath, on i Saturday, the Workmen's War Fund was distributel among the dependents of their fellow workmen now serving the colours. When the war broke out the men. with the consent of the management, allowed 5 per cent. of their wages to the fund, with the result that £i2 was distributed, which wc.r?pd out to nearly a it for each dependent. This is in addition to the 1. a week and Is. for each hi1d generously ?pllc-wed by the nuumgem t-

WALES AND THE WAR MRS, LLOYD GEORGE ON THt COUNTRY'S RECORD. Writing on "Wales and the War in the "Daily Chronicle" to-day, MTP. tloyd-GeorgF, sa.ys.—If one may judge from the steady si ream of shirts, socks, mufflers, and mit- tens which is tJowiug: into Downing-street, the women of Wales are as eager to make a. record for themselves as the men folk havo thready done. For. although it would bo difficult to tell the total number of Welsh- men now serving in the Army or the Navy, we do have the figures for recruiting since the beginning of the war, and tiiese show, i a.m proud to bay, that, in proportion to her population, Wales has at last beaten Scotland as" the best recruiting country of the United Kingdom. In the fit two mc-utlis of the war she sent 40,000 men into the Army. That 111 itfceJi is :1, whole corps, but, towards the end of September, a small provi«ioiia,l commit- tee summoned to Cardiff the wonderful biisiiieee conference of peers and working men, soldiers, and civilians. Churchmen and 1\ olloonformi"t6, who came to the conclusion that, \,Ta.Jœ ought to start afresh and raise .1 new army corps of her own. It was m this way thai our National Executive IR- cvniting Committee came into being, and ? should think that such &. oommitt-ee waA something unique in the way Of com- mittees. Its purpose was nothing short of carrying through for the Welsh counties the arrange^ -inont-s for mismfr. organising, feeding, and clothing their country'* little army, tire expeme being 1,)ort,e. by the War Office, to whom, when oomp'.ete^l, the corps WIlE to he handed over for higher training. Their aim was t4 rai&e three Army divi- sions, made up of 12 battalioue of in- fantry, two field end one sipnail company of Royal Engineers, three field ambulejices of the Royal Army Sledioai Oorpe. and one divisional train, and one reserve park of the Army Service Corps. According as they came from North Ws.les, Mid-Wales, or Sr u-th Wales, the new infan'tj-y recruits baTO where po«6dbl>e. heeT! formd. into freeh bat- talions of the Royal Weieh Fusiliers, the Welsh Regiment, or the Soruti WaJes oBr- derers, namee of which most have done much to attract their latest xnemhfrs. Of the three, the youngest ie She Welsh Regiment of Mid-Wal«=. which is now dose upon, two cen- turies old. It h.6 taken part in the fiMt Afghan War. and it foughrt at Alma. Inker- man. e.nd through The siege, of Sebastopol. Both the South Wales Borderers and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers were raised in March. 168?. ami both of them, curiously, won fame in Flsuider* aA the very beginning of their history. The Borderers served Kibrough the fit siege of Xa.mur in 1695. a.nd from then down to the splendid heroism of Borke'n Drift it bae brought greater and greater re- nown to W alee. I need say nothing of the Royal Welsh Pusiliens, famous all over the world, beyond recalling the faot that their first fighting was aleo in Flander* and that, besides Samur. Lille and Douai are places in the present war where the Fusiliers long ago won renown. With such a tradition behind them, to say nothing of the part which the sons of Wales have already played in this war. it is not surprising that. in leag than threa months, the new Army Corps should bo rapidly approaching its full war strength. The men are now in training at Llandudno. Colwyn Bay. and Bhyl, and. upon the whole, they are comfortable in their Quar- ters. But I hear that many of them are in sore need of tbe little things which make such a big difference to soldiers in training. A few days ago I appealed in the news- pa-p&r for comforte to send to them and. a" I have said, there has been a very ready response, chiefly in the shape of shirt*, so-ks, mufflers, and mittens. We should like more and more of these, and tobacco and pipes as well. I say "we" because, in the meantime, the women of Wales wh, can do most good in the matter ba, formed ourselves into a central commit,t-o to organise the distribution of comfort* the Welsh troops.

SEASONABLE GIFT. The Mond Nickel Co.. Ltd.. ]iFrrP rfre- sen ted each workman over 21 years of ago with 22 with the compliments of the season," while those under 21 have each received 1. At a well attended meeting of the em. ployee of the Mond Nickel Company, th* following resolution was u-naninimsl v passed That we, the employee of the Mond Nickel Company wish again to tender our heartfelt thanks to the Com- pany for their continual kind considera- tion of their employes during this and other festive seasons. And we also, on behalf of our fellow workmen and their wives, tender our best thanks and appreciations of your generous treatment to those of our number who are serving their King and Country, whom, we feel quite confident, will be cheered and encouraged in their strenuous duties by the thought ftfat their loved ones at home have been cared for by eruch a considerate and liberal company. Trusting that the preeent year will be the most successful year in the anzals of the company, We are, your truly, on behalf of the employed. (Signed, by 6ix of Hie oldest employes). .es )

SWANSEA MEMBER AND RED CROSS Sir,—I should feel much obliged if yo* will inform the public and thank Sil Alfred Mond, through the columns of tlx Leader and Herald," for the magni. ficent gift of X10 towards the equipment, etc. of tho Skewen and Neath Abbey Brigade of the British Red Crose Society. Thanking you in anti cipation.-Y otir* etc. William Davies (Chairman of Committee).

DEATH OF A SWANSEA VALLEY MAN IN THE STATES. News has jflst reached here of the death, in Cumberland, Wyoming. U.S.A., of Mr. William Gibbs. He was a native of Allt- wen, Swansea Valley, and left his native land in the seventies. His family connec- tion'; are numerous in that quaint little village up the vallay. 'He spent the niajor portion of his life in the Western States of America, and at thb time of his death held a responsible position under the Union Pacific Railway Company at Cumberland, Wyoming, at which piace he met with an accident in one of their mines, which caused his death six days later. lie is survived by two brothers, Mr. John R. Gibbs (late of Morriston), now of Cleve- land. Ohio, and Mr. Rees Gibbs, of Provo, rtab, and a s ister, Mrs. Sarah Williams, Cumberland, Wyoming. He leaves a widow and eleven grown-np children to mourn his lose. Deceased was 55 yeafs of age. -<"

THE TINPLATE EMBARGO. When the leakage of Welsh tinplates tft enemy countries became manifest, the manufacturers cheerfully agTeed with the necessity of the Government's prohibi- tion of export to Scandinavia, Denmark and Holland, but were of opinion that under license export should be permitted to customers of the genuineness of whose commercial requirements there can be no (ioubt. By dint of much negotiation, the manu- facturers have now secured practically nil they desired in this direction, and the result is important from the point of viertr of employes well as employers, inasmuch ns 700 or men in the Swan- sea district nh-ne would undoubtedly have had to be dt-penscd with not lthc concussions been obtained.