Abergavenny Chronicle

USK BOARD OF CONSER- I VATORS. EFFECT OF POLLUTION ON FISHING. I A meeting of the Usk Board of Conservators was held at the Town Hall, Abergavenny, 011 Thursday, Mr. Reginald Herbert, of Clylha, presiding. There were also present Mr. ih. Rickards (vice-chairman), Sir Arthur Herbert, Col. Sandeman, Col. C. H. de Winton. Mr. f 0. i T\-lcr, Mr. \V. F. P;\TY de Winton, Capt j. 11. 11, Evans, Mr. B. W. Powlett, Mr. W. Llewellyn, Mr. Arthur Graham, Mr. F. D; Dickenson, and Mr. II. E. Grey. Col. Williams was elected to fill a vacancy 0:1 the Board, and Mr. Morris (representing the Buekland Estate) was elected on the Executive Committee. I The Rate Increased Expenses. I The Clerk (Mr. If. S. Lyne) said that the rate last year was 3s. in the £ The difficulty they had in fixing the rate seemed to depend almost entirely on the staff they were going to have and as to whether they were going to give them an increase in wages, which matters had to be con- sidercd by the Executive Committee. His estimate of the receipts and expenditure showed that there would be a deficit to be made up by rate of £SR(), A sate of 3s. b the l would just do it if they used up their last year's balance of over f )00. A Gd. rate would being in hoo. If they used up flieir balance they might be faced with a rate of 5s. next year. They had been working with a very small staff, but now they were -practically up to their pre-war staff. If they worked with the same staff as last year and on the same wages they could go on comfortably ] with a rate of 3s. The whole thing turned on wages, Mr. Grey What wages are they getting The Clerk said that the average was about 34s., but some of the men had cottages at a very low rent indeed. Mr. Grey said that he put it down at 37s 3141. with allowances. Sir Arthur Herbert said that it would be better to give cash instead of perquisites, and the wages would look bigger. Mr. Grev said that he calculated the increase necessary at £ 130. He moved that a rate of 4s. in the £ be levied. If they did not they would have to make a rate of 5s. next year. Cnpt. Evans seconded and it was carried. I Reports on Fishing An Average Season. In his four-monthly report for the Monmouth- shire district, Head Water Bailiff Shah Farr stated that the spawning season for salmon closed very unfavourably, but as a set off against so few spawning fish those that did come in had an exceptionally good period, and taking the spawning season as a whole the results might be quite up to previous seasons in the yield of smolts. Naturally the number of kelts were few. With tegard to salmon rod fishing, the returns for March only gave eight fish, weigliiug 152-4-lbs., but even this showed a slight increase on the same mouth last year, when the take was three, weighing 54las. April opened much im- proved, and about the middle of the month anglers got busy, with the result that 36 fish were killed in the Monmouthshire district, weighing 6261 lbs., and in the Crickliov.cl! district five, weighing 74-nbs. This again gave a small increase over April last year. The largest fish killed to date was one of 32lbs. taken at Llanover. The weather conditions at the opening of the trout season were dead against sport, but the conditions improved in March and April. The hatch of fly was fitful, and there was no continuous rise for two hours or more, and, as might be expected, no heavy baskets were reported, although the daily catches made 'an excellent average. The most satisfactory part was that trout were really plentiful. The waters below Usk were showing a very much improved stock of trout, probably owing to the restocking which took place some years ago. There did not seem to be any falling off in the migration of smolts, and after the warmer weathef set in the numbers were quite con- spicuous, ) Head Water Bailiff Win Riggs, in his report for the Brecon district, stated that the weather was most unfavourable after the opening of the trout season, and when it got a little warmer the stone fly came out and rather spoilt fly fishing. He saw several trout at the commencement of the season in poor condition. The river, to all appearance, was well stocked with trout. The weather had been too cold for salmon fishing, only four fish having been caught. A good I many fish spawned in the main river, and a good I many salmon pink had been observed in the riv^r On the proposition of the Chairman, seconded by Col. Sandeman, it was decided that the January and May meetings be held on the third instead of the second Thursdays and that the time of the meetings be arranged to fit in with the train service. National Control of Fisheries. I The Clerk reported on a national conference of Boards of Conservators, held at Manchester, where various resolutions were passed. One resolution was that there should be a Board of Fisheries separate from the Board of Agri- culture. At the present time, said the Clerk, agriculture came first and fisheries nowhre. Another resolution was that all fisheries should be brought under national control, through a Board of Fisheries and the Boards of Conser- vators, in order to secure more cohesion. A third resolution was that the new Board should be given full power to deal with questions of pollution, and a fourth that a scheme be pre- pared for a national association of fishery boards. On the proposition of Capt. Evans a resolution was passed supporting the establishment of a separate Bpard of Fisheries. Tar Spraying and Its Effect on Fish. I I- z ? I I- I.- The Clerk said mat the question had been raised as to the damage done to fishing interests by the tar spraying of roads. He had been in correspondence with the county surveyors of Monmouthshire and Breconshire as to what steps they were taking to prevent pollution. They had had no complaints for some years past. The late Capt. Phillips went into the question, and he said that if distilled tar was used and there was no tar spraying on bridges he did not think that much damage was likely. He was informed that distilled tar was being used in Monmouthshire and Breconshire, and that no spraying was done on bridges, or immediately adjoining rivers when the weather was wet. A member asked if it had been established that crude tar was objectionable to fish. The Clerk said that they had tried some ex- periments with crude tar, and it turned the fish up very much quicker than distilled tar. They only tried it in small streams* and in bottles. Col. Sandeman said that he had read a report of a fishery which was destroyed entirely as a result of tar spraying. Capt. Evans Hitchin and it is a water which used to teem with fish. Mr. Grey said that the pollution of the river caused by the dipping of sheep killed the fish for miles. The Chairman said that the dipping compound was crude poison. The Clerk said that they had not had a com- plaint with regard to dipping for eight or nine years. It must not be thought that distilled tar was not deleterious. Mr. Grey said that where the overflow from the dipping tanks ran into the brooks they could see that it had killed the grass. 1- What Becomes of The Smolts ? I The Clerk reported mat representations had been made to the Local Government Board and the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries with regard to the pollution at the mouth of the river, caused by the Newport sewage., In jjeply to questions, he said that the Board had not so much power in dealing with pollution in tidal waters as in non tidal waters. The Chairman said he was strongly of opinion that not one per cent, of salmon-pink ever got down to the sea. He had usggested that a certain number of salmon-pink should be marked and put into the river below Newport, so that they would see if they came back up the river again. Capt. Evans said that it would kill them to be taken down to the mouth of the river at once. M They went gradually and they had to prepare themselves., A member asked if ,v.-wage did harm to the fish. Mr. Grey said that he had seen the ifsh gather- ing where the sewers emptied into the- Tafi, and they rolled about as '.hough fthey liked it. The Clerk said that the pollution which did harm to the fish was that which took all the oxygen out of the water so that they c>>uht not breathe. Mr. Powlett It is all a question of having enough pure water to dilute the sewage. The Chairman- said that there were millions of salmon-pink in the river, but they could count, the salmon which came back on the fingers of their hands. He did not think that one in a. thousand came back up the river. Mr Rickards said that Newport sewage accounted for that. Salmon Returns. The Clerk leval the salmon returns fur the past two months, as follows :—March—Monmouth- shire, 8 fish weighing Iy!lhs, compared with three weighing 54-lbs. Brecon shire, no fish caught.. weighing 6121hs) compared with 32 weighing 514lbs. Breconshire, 10 weighing i^lbs., compared with 15 weighingz801hs. The stop-nets only caught four salmon and one sewin. The Chairman Do you get a return of all the fish caught.? The Clerk said that each water bailiff made a return for his own district. There might be an odd fish left out, but they added 5 per cent., and other Boards did much the same thing. The Chairman It is rather an expensive business. What do we spend £ 2,000 a year for ? 4 iL

ABERGAVENNY BOARD OF GUARDIANS. CHAIRMAN'S 82nd BIRTHDAY. The fortnightly meeting of the Abergavenny Board of Guardians was held on Friday. Col. W. Williams presiding. There were also present Mr. H. J. Gwillim (vice-chairman), Mrs Hiley, Revs. H. Morice Jones and D. F. Walters, Messrs. John Baynam, Chas. Thomas, Robert Johnson, E. W. he wis, Jas. Harrison, Wm. Biggs, Alfred Edwards, F. O. Price, Robert Workman, Roger Morgan, Wm. Jones, W. Morris, M. J. Knight, Morgan W. David, Joseph Griffiths, S. R. Tliorne, N. Pullin, Walter John- son and loseph Howells. Soldiers In The House. In reply to a question, the Master stated that one demobilised soldier had been in the caasul ward, while another one was in the infirmary. A Blunder? Mr. S. R. Thorne moved the rescinding of a resolution passed at the last meeting that the whole of the Board should form the House Committee. Mr. Joseph Howells seconded Mr. Wm. Jones said that from the standpoint of business they should have some standing orders to guide them. His experience of public bodies was that 110 motion could be rescinded until six months had expired, but here they were proposing to rescind a resolution at the succeed- ing meeting. The Clerk said that they had no standing orders. Some time ago the late Clerk was in- structed to obtain copies of standing orders from other boards, and he obtained several. If they decided to have standing orders they had plenty of material to work on. The Rev. D. F. Walters said that Mr. Howells had stated that there were some regulation printed, but he (Mr. Walters) had never seen them. Mr. Howells said he believed that the Clerk had a copy of the rules and regulations. Mr. Morgan David said that what Mr. Howells probably referred to was that when the House Committee was constituted there was a good deal of disagreement about it It was ruled that the committee was constituted according to the regulations of the Local Government Board, but he was surprised to find that thev had gone in direct opposition to the Local Government Board. The Clerk said there was nothing in the regulations to stop the Board constituting itself the House Committee, if it wished. There was nothing as regarded numbers except the clause the Board do not think it desirable that the committee should consist of too large numbers. The Vice-Chairman supported the rescinding of the resolution because he thought they would get a better attendance at the meetings. In reply to Mr. Pullin, it was stated that the number of the House Committee was at present eighteen. Mr. Morris said that it did seem most ridiculous that a resolution should be pas.d at one meet-I ing and be rescinded at the next. They would appear most ridiculous in the "yes of the public. He thought they should have some standing orders to prevent such procedure. He moved that the former resolution. stand. t'he Rev. D. F. Walters said that if, on reflection, they found that they had made a mistake, the sooner they rectified it the better. If they had made a blunder they should put it right, and lie thought the common-sense of the Board would prevent any unnecessary resolutions being brought forward. Mr. Harrison said the fact that a committee was appointed suggested that it should not be composed of the whole of the Board, but only of a portion. He did not vote for the resolution at the last meeting, but after consideration he thought they ought to rescind it. Mr. Jones said that he wanted them to have some regard for dignity. He thought they could get over the matter by deciding that 12 members of the Board be appointed on the committee. They could do that without re- scinding the resolution. After further discussion, the motion to rescind the resolution was carried. The Rev. Morice Jones gave notice of motion that in future the meetings of the Board com- I mence at 11.30. The Chairman's Hospitality. I After the meeting, Col. Williams, in Oelebra- tion of his 82nd birthday, entertained the members and present and past officers to lunch at the Priory, where Mr. and Mrs. Holding served an excellent meal. The veteran Chair- man was somewhat indisposed and unable to stay till the end of the proceedings. Though it was his wish that there should be no speeches, a hearty vote of thanks was accorded to him at the close for his hospitality, on the proposition of Mr. Robert Johnson, seconded by Mr. Pullin, and supported by both old and new members, all of whom expressed the hope that Colonel Williams would be spared for a long time to preside over the Board. The Clerk was in- structed to send a telegram to Col. Williams congratulating him on his birthday.

LLANGATTOCK. I OBITUARY.—On Wednesday night Miss Maggie J Bevan, of Penrhiw Farm, Llangattock, passed away after a short illness, at the age of 33. She I was the second daughter of Mr. John Bevan, who on Thursday (the following day) buried his third daughter, Miss Louisa Bevan. Two deaths within one week from the same home-both sisters—is tragic, and general sympathy is felt for Mr. Bevan, who himself still suffers from the effects of a bad accident. Only a few years ago his wife died, and last year a son, Mr. Lewis Bevan, succumbed to an illness contsacted in America. The funeral of the elder sister, Miss Maggie Bevan, took place at Bethesda Congre- gational Church on Saturday afternoon, and was largely attended. One of Mr. Bevan's sons, Mr. Tom Bevan, was severely wounded in France.

CRICKHOWELL I FAIR-The annual pleasure fair was held on I Monday. Very little stock was offered for sale, but there were more pleasure attractions than usual. Quite a large number of people visited the town. I CRICKET.—Practice i$now going on at the nets and matches are being arranged by the secretary, Mr. R. P. Griffiths. The team will largely be experimental, as there must be new players in the side.

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