Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder

KAISER LIKENED TO FREEBOOTERI AND PIRATE. Paris. Thursday.—Writing in the "Petit Journal," M. PiShon says the Germans will no doubt be very proud of their ex- ploits, which nevertheless are utterly use- less from the strategic point of view, and cannot, influence in any way the condi- tions of war. Women and children killed and a royal residence bombarded. These are the results which have to be counted, but it is evident that they would have appeared more satisfactory in the eyes of the Teuton aviators and more particularly is. tbe eves of their Government if the boi;abs had claimed more victims amongst the peaceable population, and especially if the Royal Family had succumbed to the attempted assassination of which it was the object. I Freebooter and Pirate." I Expert as the Germans are in the orga- nisation of slaughter, their resources are limited, like those of all criminals, and the attempt will be repeated. It will be repeated until the hour of chastisement, which win bring the authors of this inter- minable sefies of crimes and atrocities to justice. The "Matin" say? it is rather the act of an assassin than of a belligerent to send during the night. an airship to bom- bard an ancient family residence where the Emperor had once been the guest of his grandmother, and to attempt to murder, during their sleep, not only the King, but the Queen. Princes and Prin- cesses. In bombarding open towns the Emperor has become a freebooter and a pirate, but when, with bomb43, he seeks to destroy the old manor house where, in his infancy, he received maternal caresses, then it is not only a bandit Wid murderer at wort, but in a way a parricide. His ) work is not finished, and he is quite cap- able of avenging his mishaps by bom- barding tne mausoleum of Frognior- All the Paris panera this (Thure- I day) morning publish long leading i articles, on the bomb alVack on the East: Coast, and express the unanimous opin- ion that the raid in n<k vvfty constitutes' a military act, but is dimply another ex- ample Germany'4 disregard of the right of nations. Zeppelins, it is added. flew over open tovyns where there were I no military or n val establishments of any kind, actuatNl solely hy the object of I inspiring fear, and they have not hesi- tated to commit ,n criminal act. The Figaro declares that eueh acts, j instead of inspiring terror, will only I serve to'increase the general indignation and strengthen the resolution of the enemies of Germany. The H Echo de Paris" and several either papers emphasise the fact that there is not a single belligerent but oGn- eiders the heavens as having been pro- faced by the Germans.—Renter. The ma jority of the American morning papers publish leading articles on the raid. All scathingly rebuke Germany for. a wanton att8cl..

MANY TRENCHES TAKEN. PAHIS, Thursday, From the sea to the Lys there were artil-j !ery duels. From the Lys to the Somme, on the plateau of Notre Dame de Lorette, there took place during the night of the 19th and 20th the y f, To the south of the Somme and of the ) Aisne there were some artillery en- gagemenis, in the course of which we silenced the enemy's batteries. In Southern Champagne to the east of; Rheims, in the region of Plosnous les Marquise Moronviiiers, we have demol- ished the German earthworks and [ obliged him to evacuate his trenches, and caused an explosion of an ammu- nition depot. To the north-west of Bausejour we have made progress in capturing by surprise three of the enemies stations where we are now installed. To the north of Massiges our artillery has I gained the upper hand. There is no change in the Argonne. To I the south-east of St. Mihiei, in the! i-crest of Albremont, we have taken 150 i metres of the German trenches and! repulsed a counter-attack- To the north-west of Pont-a-Mousson, in! the Bois le Pretre, the enemy succeeded by a violent counter-attack, in retaking some r metres of trenches captured by us dut.i;,g th-e preceding day. We, how- ever, maintained our position solidly on the whole. In the sector of Thann (in the region of Siiberiock, Harimannsweilherkop) our: infai)try action has been in progress) since the ijight of the 19th and 2Gth. We r progressed slightly over extrermiy diffi- cult ground. i ■—i ■■ ■■

ALLIES COME TO BLOWS. I Turkish and German Offipers Quarrel. I CAIRO, Thursday. Since the last communique, issued on January 12th, further intelligence re- ceived from reliable sources, shows that the German officers who have been com- missioned to drive the Turks against bgypt become more and more pessimistic as to the results of the venture. I They have, in fact, urgently submitted l to Constantinople that the expedition should be postponed until the organisa- tion has been improved and the forces at their disposal have been reinforced con- siderably by trained troops. The only reply received, however, was that.no delay could be entertained, and the advance must be pushed on at all costs. An Egyptian subject, who has just managed to escape from Syria, where he was in the service of the Turkish Govern- ment, reportifthat not only do the German officers think the Arab and Turkish sol- diers will kill them if they fail in their attack on. Egypt, but the Turkish officers also consider themselves doomed, .since they consider that they will all be shot by British troops or killed by the Arabs when I t;.he failure they fear is realised. Difficulties for Turks. I As the concentration of the '?urkish Army in Southern Palestine progresses,! thf dinlcuities of an advance through thel de?.rts of Sinai grow more apparent. A. long march over the desert sands is difh-1 cult for men. and it is even more so for, artillery, whUe it is absolutely impossible' to transport heavy guns to the firing line. The Turks must advance over opeu, ground, with no cover of any description, and absolutely exposed to the fire of heavy guns, battleships, ritles and machine guns. They could certainly antrench, but such an operation would be to) no purpose since, without exposing then^jelves to the same fire, they could not advance, while on the other-hand they could not remain in the trenches with neither food nor water. Doomed to Failure. I With the most willing troops in the world, therefore, the attack against such strong HJsi hOllS must fail, and in this case the Turkish Army, forced on by German officers, will probably collapse. Already fre fights between Turkish and German offioers, and quarrels that have arisen between Arabs and Turks about camels, have caused many casualties. There is no doubt that the attack will fail, and once dcalivei-edi it cannot be repeated, as the invading army must inevitably melt way, while those who manage to escape from the firing line will 00 driven by hunger and thirst to surren- der. Thus the only way that the Turks will enter Egypt will be as prisoners of war.—Press Association War Special. Cairo, Jan. 19,Ri-fugoes from Pales- tine report a steady concentration of Turkish troops in the Beersheba region, about 40 miles from the frontier and 150 miles from the Suez Canal. They' ave with them many German officers, who appear to be much less confident of suc- cess than the Turks, especially Djemal Pasha, are reported to be. Jewish refugees, who continue to arrive, report that DjemaFhas ordered all stamps, badges, and similar tokens used by the colonies to be destroyed by the colonists within 15 days, and lie has threatened to execute all who disobey. Cases of robbery and the beating of Jewish settlers are also reported, thnugh the native Jew? gavp the German officers a most friendly reception on their arrival at Jerusalem. The economic condition of f.) J country I is goin- from bad to worsq.- Times telegram. Cats Commandeered. I Cairo, Tuesday.—The convent of Mount Carmel, Palestine, has been occupied by the enemy, also houses in the vicinity "f i the railway station. Wood is now beint; used as fuel on the Syrian railways from motives of economy. I learn that In many cases German officers in Syria give their military com- mands in French, which is the Euro- pean language most generally under- stood by the people. In Lebanon and Damascus cats are being commandeered, not to form the last line but to protect the vast stores at the depots from the incursions of rats. 1, ————— I

COUNT ARRESTED ON SECRET I MISSION. Paris, Thursday.—The "Echo de Paris publishes a telegram from Chateauney (Dept. Ille et Vilaine) stating that 'some 60 German oiffcers who are prisoners of war, and have hitherto been interned ati the Castles of Fougeres and Vitre, were removed on Saturday to a fort at Chateu-i neuf, where they will remain until the end of the war. Among them is Captain: Prince de B-adowitz, son of a former Ger- I man Ambassador in Paris. j According to a Geneva message, the: Turin newspaper Stampa annoiiiec-s that Count Von Keller, a German officer of high rank, has been arrested aboard! the liner Duca d'Aosta by a British war-! ship and taken to Gibraltar. The Count was stated to have been on a secret mis-j sion to the United States and provided with a forged American passport.—Press i Association War Special. I -O!DO

THE SJEGE OF PRZEMYSL. I Petrograd, January 20th.—The follow- ing official announcement has been issued here:— During two months of the siege of Przemysl the Austrian captures only amounted to four machine guns and about 60 prisoners. Even this loss of troops was incurred in an engagement where two Honved regiments fell on a Russian company which had advanced too far and could not be reinforced in time. On their part in repulsing sorties by the garrison, frequently made by consider- able forces, the Russians made prisoners 27 officers and 1,906 soldiers, and captured seven machine guns, 1,500,000 cartridges, a mile of rails, and a large quantity of arms. In order to convey some idea of the Austrian losses it is only necessary to state that in two sorties the garrison in the regioTi of Bircza had more than 2,000 I killed and wounded, among them being I many officers. After this defeat there were no further sorties in this region.— Reuter. I

KAISER DEFIES THE WORLD. I .Amsterdam, Jan. 20.-A Berlin telegram I states that the follownig is the text of a message that the German Emperor sent the Grand Duchess Louise of Baden on Monday;- Many thanks for the wishes for to-day's anniversary of Ihe great historical event at Versailles, in which your, late uncle I was the prime mover. It was his keen appreciation of national strength that gave this world-famous gathering of princes such an impulse of enthuDiastic homage towards the first Emperor, whose* task of defending his country fegainst the world now falls on me. I, as the head of a united Fatherland, supported by the whole of the German nation, will victoriously I fulfil this patriotic task. God with us.— Wilhelm.-Reiiter. ————— —————

FORGOTTEN BLOWN UP BRIDGE. I Amsterdam, Wednesday.-—The Tele- gxaat learns from Haelen that last Mon- day night a German goods train of six wagons of potatoeb for the German Army ran into the canal from Hasselt to Turn- hout. A' bridge acroes the canal had been re- cently blown up by the Germans for stra- tegical reasons, and they apparently had forgotten to inform the railway authori- ties. Six corpses of soldiers who guarded the train were recovered yesterday, pud eight are still missing. The earne paper learns from Peer that Landsturm soldiers yesterday left for the western front and will be replaced by others coming from the front.—Reu^r. ■ i ■

BRITISH AVIATOR KILLED. Parjs, January 20th.-A. Voisin biplane, I piloted by a Frenph sergeant aviator, I named Laffon, accompanied by Captain Chinnery, of the British Royal Flying I Corps, fell to the ground while flying over Paris yesterday. The machine struck the ground oil the Quai de Javel, opposite r Auteuil. Captain Chinnery was instantly killed and Sergeant Laffon died later of his wounds in Boucieaut Hospital. The petrol tank took fire and the machine was destroyed. ——-—-

CAPTAIN AUBREY SMITH. J A supplement to the London Gazette on Wednesday night contained the fol- lowing notices:— Welsh Regiment, 14th Battalion (Swan- sea).—James Aubrey Smith to be captain; dated December 14th. ■" — t II

MOTHER OF DEAD SOLDIER I APPEALS TO GURADIANS. An old woman of sixty, whose son had I been killed in the war, applied for assistance to the Relief Committee at the Swansea Union7 Offices Thursday. She ex- plained that she had been receiving 7s. a week from the Prince of Wales' Fund, and an allotment of 2s. 4d. a week from the War Office before her son's death, but these allowances had now been stopped. It transpired that the son was illegiti- mate, and the woman had no other means of support. Tears came to her eyes when I her son's death was referred to. Mr. R. Williams: If she is entitled to I support: before hif death, why isn't clie entitled to it afterwards? It is very hard I lines for a woman to come here after having her son killed. The Chairman (Mr. Hy. Rogers): This woman bad been receiving 7s. a week from I the Prince of Wales' Fund, and now he is killed they have stopped it. That is wrong in principle. I think it is a pity these funds were entrcs?ed to anybody but Government officials-that thJ| should be I administered by amateurs. w The otker members agreed with this ex- pression of opinion. I Mr James, the relieving officer, said he l did not knew whether the War Office had stopped the allowance because the son was illegitimate, but he would find out- Mr. David Grey objected to the term 1rring money," applied to the War Office; allowance, as it savoured of,Monte Carlo, I (Laughter.) The Chairman: It is a War Office term, and you had better complain to them. I It was left to the relieving oiffcer to j relieve in kind ajid make enquiries of the authorities- )

I SWANSEA COUNCIL. I A I THE COST OF STREET IMPROVE-. 1 MENTS. Several important matters came before i the Swansea County Borough Council atj their meeting on Wednesday afternoon, the Mayor (Alderman Dan Jones) pre- I siding. Soldier^' Dependents in Want. I Mr. David William*, in moving the adoption of the Health Committee's report, referred to the quarterly report of the Medical Officer of Health, who directed attention to bad cases of soldiers' and sailors' dependents who were in. want of special food ordered by the doctors, and the result had been they had spent YL-,2 6s. lid. There were 39 babies and 11 mothers. He wanted the Council to sanc- tion this expenditure before they made application to the Local Government I Board for a grant in aid. The Council agreed, and the minutes were passed. Street Womenctatufe. I Alderman T. Merrells, in moving the adoption of the minutes of the Highways Committee, said he did not agree with the recommendation to give the Deputy Borough Surveyor an honorarium of 1:100, because they had paid his chief full salary during his illness, Mr. W. W. Holmes expressed his great surprise that the committee had practi- cally reinstated a minute which would/ substitute the name of Myrtle-avenue for Le Breos-avenue. He should have thought the Highways Committee woulti have had some regard for the historical interest of the name of Le Breos, and also for the wishes of the whole of the inhabitants in the street. He moved that the minute be delated. Mr. Laugharne Morgan seconded. I Aid. T. Merrells said the only reason the Highways Committee had for altering the 'I name was to avoid confusion. "We have a De Breos-^treet," continued Aid. Mer- rells, and the difference between Le Breos and De Breos—I don't know how to pronoimoe these foreign names." (Laughter.) Ald. Morgan Tutton: Foreign ? Tyranny I Aid. Merrells also referred to <the recom- mendation to delete Nyanza-terraee. which was part of Brynymor-creecent, and said there were ten different ways of describ- ing one thoroughfa-re in Swansea. Ald. Morgan Tntton said the houses in Nyanza-terraee were not tacked on to the other houses, but the houses in Brvnmor- crescent were tacked on to the houses in Nyanza-terraee. He suggested Ald. Mer- rtills should get used to pronouncing the names. They were not difficult. MI. Alex. Sinclair said it was nothing short of tyranny to change the name of the street against the wishes of the whole of the residents. If they were going to ring the changes on Walnut Tree-avenue and Myrtle-avenue and other roads, why not have a Cherry Tree- avenue or a ooseberry Bush-avenue, or something of that sort. (Laughter). The amendment was carried by 19 votes to three, which means that the namea of the thoroughfares in question will stand as at present Estate Agent's Purchases. I The Town Clerk presented a statement showing contracts for street improve- ments negotiated by Mr. F. E. Tunbridge (the estate agent î- including bargains not completed. The following is a sum- mr.ry.- Costs, Purchase Fees and Money. Expenses. £ s. d. Z S. d Neath-road 3717 15 0 704 13 10 Carmarthen-road 553 10 0 142 5 0 Penfillia-road 602 17 8 79 16 0 Glantawe-street and Slate-street 730 0 0 47 4 0 Woodfield-street 110 0 0 28 9 0 Eaton-road 191 0 0 33 16 0 Clydach (or Sway) Road 1360 0 0 59 17 0 Wassail Square 965 (1, 0 17 2 0 Market-street 475 0 0 15 1 5 0 Llangyfelach-road 91 10 0 7 7 0 Clase-road 44 15 0 2 2 0 Nelson-street Y sgolrstreet — — Pleasant-street — — Worcester-place 1750 0 0. — Temple-street .12100 0 0 — 4 £22694 7 8 £ 1138 6 10 Councillor's Criticism. I Dealing with the returns. Mr. Parker said he wanted to approach the matter in the right spirit. He wanted to assure Mr. Tunbridge he had no personal ani- mosity against him. The figures he saw on the pay sheet of September 12th see-med to him to he abnormal. It showed some £ 2,000 paid to Mr. Tunbridge and he therefore asked what had been done for the money. So they had three reports now before them—the Borough Estate Agent's, the Town Clerk's, and the Borough Treasurer's. He should like to congratulate Mr. Tunbridge on the very excellent bargain he made with the Highways Committee. Referring to the Town Clerk's summary, lie would like to ask what tUe item "osts. fees and ex- penses" £1.133 6s. lOd. was? The Town Clerk: Vendors' costs as far as ascertained. Mr. Parker: That docs not give Mr. Tunbridge's fees. Then it does not give a true position of the cost of the pro- perties. The Town Clerk: It gives what the Council asked for. It does not give Mr Tunbridge's fees, of course. I was not told to give them. Statements Compared. I Mr. Parker said according to Mr. Tun- bridge's statement £29,335. worth of pro- perty h.d in eighteen months, been dealt with. according to the Town Clerk's £ 23.832. Regarding the gas works item of £ 6,62", in respect of which, according to the borough treasurer's return, Mr. Tunbridge's fee was < £ 26 5s., he ventured to suggest that Mr. Tunbridge had nothing to do with this property except valuing until he became the Council estate agent. If so, would any member say that £2£ 5s. was a reasonable sum for a man to negotiate for £6,627 worth of property ? So he said the £ 6,627 should come out of the statement. As to the Temple-street item of X12,100-, thev would see fees of .£50 in connection with this. The same remark applied to this 118 to the gas works, and he said the £ 12.100 should come nut of the statement of improvement schemes. The total was thus reduced to k9.-221 12s. 8d.. As toO Ne^th-road, the total land purchased and not paid for up to December 24th was £ 1,634 17s. 5d.. and the expenses < £ 1,117 lis. lOd. j Penfilia-road, value <= £ 626 17. Sd., expenses < £ 409 12s. 6d.; Clydach or Swav-rpad, value < £ 1,678. expenses X130 Is. 6d.; Carmarthen-road, value £ 392, expen&es £ 453 9s.; Eaton-road, value < £ 229, expenses £ 128 14s.; W assail-square, value < £ 965 10s., expenses .£.43 2s.; Llangyfelach- road, value £ 91 10s., expenses X57 7s. The Mayor: I cannot follow this state- ment. t Value v. Expenses. I Mr. Parker said to secure the total cos' he was grouping together the solicitor's and surveyor's fees and Mr. Tunbridge's fees. As to Temple-street, the ex- penditure had not been fixed, but i860 had bean paid as a valuation fee. Bathurst and Wellington-street had a blank under the heading of « value of pro- perty," but expenses were R-N 5s.; Glan- tawe-street, value X20, expenses .£147 3s. lOd.; Slate-street, value unstated, expene" £12 Ilk. Clase-road, value « £ 40 las., ex- penses < £ 46; Woodfield-street, value .£110, expenses .£.6.i 18s.. final settlement with Mr. Tunbridge when he became est"  a?emt, .S?; out of pocket diab-se-eut?%  .£30 8e. Value of property, £ 5,738 10s. 3d.; expenee% ;M.ftl I 5s. 8d. He protested that the Council oright to have known of Mr. Tunbridge being asked to make valuations at fees of 100 guineas, I 525 gruneas, Ac. There were three eeparate arrangements with the &u b-eommktee. and as far as he was concerned he would not again aapport plenary powers to any com- i mittee unless they knew something of the amourrtL likely to be involved. Why did not the estate agent do some of the work involving the additional costs, because he understood he was appointed to save out- side fees? Mr. Tunbridge's Salary. Now that Mr. 'runbrie was the estate ) agent, what was to be done in acquiring property? Were they to aak another pro- feaaiona? adviser ? If Mr. Tunbridge earned over f;2,000 as a professional ad- viser in eighteen months, it was not fair to ask him to give his wiiole time for -2400 per annum. (Mr. Ttmbridge: Hear, hear.) He brought the matter forward as a public duty, because he would not like to spend his own money in the way it had been spent by the committee. It had practically cost' £ 40 or more for every .RIOO f-h(- v had bought, and they were not at the end of the extensions. Aid. Devonald, referring to the Town Clerk's statement, pointed out that in one case the property was purchased for V-), and the costs and fees amounted to .£11 lis. These Wondrous Bargains." Aid. Morgan Tutton said he was some- what staggered by all these figures. There were other cases be-ides that men- tioned by Aid. Devonald whore thej costs, feee, etc., exceeded the valife of the property. Had the Council the sa neb on from the Local Government Beard for all these specific amounts and, if so, how were they covered ? He was rather OUT-! prised that the Finance Commitf-ee had not called attention to the amounts be- fore. He wished stbe Council to understand that the Estates Committee had no 1. sponsibility for these transactions; they were carried out by another committee. If the Estates Committee had had to do with these wondrous bargains the Coun- dl would have known all about jt. In regard to the Worcester-place property and th Gas Works property, he knew rlie transactions were properly sanctioned by the Council, but he did not know about the other cases. He remembered on ore occasion certain gentlemen went '¡ post haete to Llandovery Mr. D. J. Davies: To a point of order, J Mr. Mayor, Mr. "Leeder acted in that transaction and not Mr. Tunbridge. An "Urgent" Business. Aid. Tutton: I didn't say Mr. Tun- bridge did. I know the Town Clerk and! Mr. Leeder went up post bac-te to pur- chase an enormous amouat of property on the ground that it was so urgent that we were going to run trams around there I in a week or two. The Town Clerk, replying to Ald. Tut- ton's questions, said there was no sanc- I tion from the Local Government Board for the transactions, which were carried out under the Act of 1912 authorising im- provements. Ald. Tutton: What about borrowing powers ? The Town Clerk: None are required, air. Aid. Merrells said he wanted to justify the action of the Committee that had taken over this matter. After the re- marks of Mr. Parker with regard to Mr. Tunbridge, he could only conclude that Mr. Parker was aiming at the Com- mittee over which he (Mr. Merrells) pre- sided. Mr. Parker: I disclaim any intention of that sort. Alderman Merrells' Reply. I Ald. Merrells: I don't take it in any I personal form. In regard to the proper- ties in Neath-road, etc., he proceeded, the time allowed by Parliament was not sufficient to allow Mr. Jenkins to do it himself, and they, therafore, obtained outside assistance. The valuation of pro- perty had been made by Mr. Tunbridge. When the Committee later engaged Mr. Tunbridge to negotiate, he came up with a report that he could acquire this pro- perty for a certain figure. And the same process" as adopted in all cases. Proceeding, A Id. Merrells declared that since Mr. Tunbridge's appointment Wo. perty had been purchased by the Corpora- l tion 40 times more cheaply than ever before, and that proved how wise it was for the Corporation to have a man like Mr. Tunbridge to act on their behalf. In five instances Mr. Tunbridge had effected purchases of land at Is. 9Jd. per yard, in ¡ one case at 2s. per yard, in six instances at Is. Old., in ten cases at 5s. 5d., in nine at 3s. Id., in ten at 4s-, in 27 at 10s., and in 100 cases at £1, and eo on. Mr. Tun- bridge's knowledge in regard to the acquisition of property had saved the Corporation a sum at least equal to the amount paid him in fees. In 62 cases contracts had been made to the satisfac- tion of the Town Clerk without the inter- vention of any other solicitor or anyone iclse requiring fees; in 47 cases without 04ny surveyor's charges, and in five cases without legal or surveyor's charges. What Might Have Happened. I He would give the Council a few in. stances showing what might have happened lif things had gone on as in the past. In one instance of £ 15 purchase inonev the solicitor's costs were £ 20; in another case of £ 40 purchase money the costs were !22 Is.; and other cases were: £,1,7 purchase money, S25 costs; M2 pur- chase money, Ell 18s. 4d. costs; £200 pur- chase money, C7,0 costs. The committee's one anxiety through- out had been to avoid, if possible, claims or the other matters going to arbitration. They knew from past experience what a terribly costly business arbitration pro- ceedings had been. If arbitration had been resorted to in tbese. ca-ses, the fees Mr. Tunbridge had been pa-id would be in- significant in proportion to the costs in- curred. lvf r. Tunbridge had done his duty in preventing cases going to arbitration. In some oases the estate agent had recom- nended the committee to pay more than he actual value of the property in order to 6ave the costs of arbitration. The average worked out at about 6 per ceijtt. paid to Mr. Tunbridge on the property acquired by him- The Committee Satisfied. I If the committee were simply at the alerey of the other parties and had not the exceptional help of Mr. Tunbridge, they would not get off half so well as they did. He could assure the Council tba-t everything had been done in such a way "hat the Corporation had been saved a arge sum of money. Every member of the Highways Committee was perfectly satisfied with the work done by Mr. Tunbridge. i Aid. D. Davies said that if tbey started from the point where Mr. Tunbridge was engaged and went over theork to the presen t time, the results were .satisfactory, but that was no criterion to go by. When they compared the amount of the cost with the amount of the purchase money, they were comparing two things which had 'lothing in common. The procedure which had been adopted he thought was a good procedure. He believed the properties had been acquired well and on excellent terms for them. But .with regard to tho pro- cedure followed in the case of (kifitle- street it was as bad as it pos- sibly ooiild -b e. His objection was that the Council was not from the beginning kept informed of wbat had been done.* If the Council had known they were committed to an outlay of R30,000 on outside improvements they might have greed to it and they might not* A Costly Mistake, Alderman Miles drew attention toO the number of interests that were involved. In some eases there were no fewer than half-a-dozen interests—hence costs might be considerably larger than the value of the property. Mr. D. J. Davies said Mr. Parker asked why, then, our officials did not carry out this work. He replied that they were inm powers under their Bill of 1912. deferring to on? case in Gladstone- street in which .£9i was involved, he said vJiat arose through a mistake on the part 'If one of their officials, Replying to Alderman Davies, he said he thought he and Mr. Parker would agree that the amounts paid for improvements in outlying districts constituted a bargain eompjvred with what the Corporation had paid for previous improvements. Mr. McDonnell said he thought the £30,000 had been well spent on bye- ways and bye-mads, which had been absolutely a disgrace to Swansea. Effect of Publicity. 1 Mr. D. Williams said he was satisfied by previous experience that the best possible work had been done for the Cor- poration. He thought, however, that much damage had been done by giving publicity to this question, and if the Cor- poration had no confidence in the com- mittee which they had appointed they should turn them out. Mr. Milbourne Williams said hw thought they ought to congratulate Mr. Parker, who had gone to all this trouble himself in what he considered was the interest of the ratepayers. Per- sonally, he thought the work the com- mittee had done was very good work, and he had confidt.Vce in both Mr. Tunbridge and the committee. Mr. Parker said he did not: que<?tk)n the work of eiti.cr Mr. Tunbridge or the committee, but rh2 appointment of Mr. Tunbridge should have been ma3e known to the Council, and also the amount they were going to pay lIr. Tunbridge. The Highways Committee's minutes were then passed.

DACIA'S VOYAGE. American Opinion Favours Great Britain's Attitude. New York, Wednesday, Jan- 20.-Tho (eston, Texas, correspondent of the- United Pres^ telegraphs that local busi-I uess men interested in the Dacia's cargo state that the ship will sail this evening for a German pott. Telegrams from Washington indkate that the Administration ië; still unceastais what attitude to adopt. Within Her Rights." The New York Tribune" has no hesi- tation in upholding the British Govern- ment in its determination to seize the vessel should she attempt to make a Ger- man or Dutch port. The British refusal. to permit the Daeia to clear for Rotter- dam comes as no surprise. Great Britain is entirely within her rights, especially iit. view of the precedents created by America in the past on the question of strict neu- trality and contraband. We believe the Allies are within their rights, because tlle purposes of the shippers are not only to avoid seizure, but to raise money. If th» Dacia is permitted to make the voyage unmolested, dowm? of other vessels will follow, thus giving Germany huge sums at money. The New York Sun takes a Rimilat view, and urges the question of the Dacia's bona fides being settled as soon a*, possible in the Prize Courts. No Justification for Complaints. The Herald" says: No justification! can be found for the national complaint against the refusal of Great Britain is cover the Dacia's voyage to Rotterdam. with a safe conduct permit and a promise, of immunity from detention. The British Government are entirely witiiin their sea rights in desiring a settlement of the ques- tion whether bona fides were exercised in the Dacia's transfer from the rmall otoi the American flag." The "World explains the situation forcibly as follows: The imprisoned merchant marine of the German Empire. -•vhich is to-day a liability, would, if it could be turned into cash, be an asset. Since war is war, we believe that the Allies are within their rights when the assume that such transfers are prompted' not only by the purpose of avoiding seizures but also of getting money. Tbo position of the Government at Washing- ton ou this point has not been altogether clear. They seemed to encourage the ex- periment with the Dacia, yet. the Insur- ance Bureau refused to take any risks oat* the ship."—Reuter.

LOCAL COLLIERY DISPUTES. About 1,000 colliers stopped work oflfc Wednesday in the Western District, viz. 450 at Tirvdail, Ammanford, and 550 tI Brynhenllys, Cwmtwrch. The disputes are quite ceparate.. At Tirydail the trouble originally? arose on a demand by the hauliers fot an advance ill wages, and the whole of the men came out in sympathy. Negotia- tions were entered into, and the men were asked to oome back on the old terms pending consideration of th<» hauliers' claims. It was asreed that' work should be resumed, but, on pre- senting themselves at the oolliery. the men state the management demanded a. new condition, namely, that they should. concede Day." A mass meet- iDg of the workmen was held, and it -wat decided not to give up their m,>nt) holiday, with tiie result th?t work ]u},. been indefinitely suspended. Tirydail i# about the only colliery in the Amman. Valley district where Mabon's Day iS observed. I oryruiennys uispute Settled. The strike at Brynhenllys Colliery ha* been, settled, the men returning to woric to-day. With reference to the Tirydail Colliery. Ammanford, the men are still out, but a meeting has been arranged to- day to endeavour to effect, a settlement.

APPALLING LOSSES TO GERMANS I AND AUSTRIANS. ) Copenhagen, Jan. IS.-The last fivel Prussian casualty lists published contain j respectively 7,901, S,335, 8,169, 8,881. and I 3.478, making 36,764 officers and men killed. wounded, and missing, and bring- i ing the total of the 136 lists of Prussian j losses up to 877.107. To these must be added 136 Bavarian. 92 Saxon. 9i Wurtem- berg, and 14 Navy lista. The total German losses to date may be reckoned at about two and a quarter mil- lions. Copenhagen, Jan. 18.—A private mes-j sage from Vienna states that up to the) present 100 official casualty lists have been published. These give the follow-! ing totals:Officers killed, 2,263; wounded, 8,980; captured, 628. Men killed, 40,827; wounded, 231,160; captured, 9,502. These do not include the casualties during the last two months.—Exchange Telegraph Company. Amsterdam, Jan. 18.-A telegram from Budapest states that the trained Land- sturnl classes of the years 1875 to 1881 inclusive, besides younger Landsturmi men in the city of Budapest, have been called np to join the colours on the 21st I inst.-Reuter.

CANON GWYDIR'S WILL. Mr. A. J. Puntan, solicitor, of 12. Fisher-street, Swansea, who acted in legal matters for the late Canon Gwydir, rector of St. David's, Swansea, writes us in refer- ence to the late Canon's will, published last week. The Rev. Canon Gwydir," be says. It entrusted me with legal matters in. which he was ooncerned. and I enjoyed his full confidence in such affairs. It has come to my notice that some people have expressed surprise that Canon. Gwydir should have been possessed of any property at ali, seeing that, as a religious", he had taken the vow of perpetual poverty. The monies mentioned in the will were simply vested in him subject, to' a moral obiigiation on his part to devota the same. subject to certain conditions, to certain religious purposes. It is within my own knowledge tbati Canon Gwydir did not directly or in- directly receive any personal benefit from such monies. I am prompted to writa this explanation purely in justice to the late Canon's memory, so that it may clearly understood that he had done no- thing inconsistent with his vow of poverty, as might be wrongly inferred from the will."

Lieutenant Otto Kochn. the German officer who rbcently escaped from the pneoBfrs' camp at Dor<the?:er by con? ?c,ali.g himsf If in a packing-<?8e and v" discovered by accident at Tilbury Docks, has been transferred to Ryde. It is understood that no court-martial will .1 now be held. Co!onfl Block, the officer commanding at the camp, ha? reeig,,d. and has T?n su¡:eded by Colon" Owen. R.F.A.

TERRIFIC BATTLE IN A SNOW-STOM Paris. Tliursday.-The "Petit Parisien" says:—We are now able to give details of a success obtained by our troops in the region of Albert, south of Thiesval, on the night of Janaury 19th-20th, which was mentioned in yesterday's communique. Snow was falling in large flakes, and the! Germans thought the moment was propi- i tious for an attack. After a violent. canonading by their 75-milimetre guns, they hurled themselves from the trenches and opened fire on our troops, but the reception which they got soon broke their rush. Our 75's in turn now began to thunder, and our shells ploughed bloody furrows in their ranks. At the same time, protected ,gallant in f an. 'rv' by our artillery, on- -gallant infantry' charged with the bayonet. The defeat of the Germans was soon complete, and they retreated in disorder, leaving piles I of dead upan the' field. 1