The Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard

MACHYNLLETHS SANITARY CONDITION. NOT fewer than a hundred of the people who lived at Machynlleth have been mur- dered by dirty water and filth in that town since the subject of improved water and sewerage were first discussed nearly twenty years ago. Over and over again plans have been prepared, inquiries have been held, committees have been appointed, but nothing has been done, and nothing, we believe, will be done unless an epidemic should decimate the population and then, in a panic, the remainder of the people might carry out the Park Common Water Scheme, which has the disadvantage of giving a very I imperfect supply. If we thought the inhabit- ants of Machynlleth were in earnest we would urge the Pandybach or some other scheme where water in abundance and at sufficient elevation for the town could be ob- tained. But we do not think they are in earnest. Whether a sum of X700 should be paid for the water rights so as to obtain the money for an Intermediate Sohool is a question for the ratepayers. What we feel is that the inhabitants of Machynlleth, ruled by a Board of Guardians that has never, even by accident, risen to an adequate conception of its duties, is in no danger of providing itself either with clean water or a system of sewerage. An extra death rate of five or ten per thousand is not a thing to shock the ignorant mind. Besides, neither the members of the Board of Guardians, who are the Sanitary Authority, nor the ratepayers, believe that the death- rate is higher at Machynlleth than it would be if the place were well supplied with pure water and properly drained. We could give details of tilth at Machyn- lleth which would turn our readers sick, but we have dealt with the subject so frequently during the past twenty. years, that we have ceased to take an interest in it. There is no reason why the good people of Machynlleth should not consume their own excreta and pray to GOD to be saved from the ill effects of their dirty habits, but we cannot admire the methods and do 1 A. not hanker after life at Alpetlynil(",Il. i perpetual Chairman of the Board of Guardians has been a costly luxury at Machynlleth-costly in money, in health, and in life, but the people are satisfied, nay, they are even happy. Why should they purchase comfort and life and evade doctors' bills at the cost of increased rates? There is no reason. We cannot say how often the question of supplying Machynlleth with water has been discussed, but the discussion always dies without anything y ZI, being done, and the discussion will die away again. We would like to say pleasant things about Machynlleth, if it were possible, but the course pursued by the men who have nursed pauperism, encourged filth and opposed clean water at Machyn- lleth has filled us with derision and contempt, and we cannot say pleasant things. We will believe in sanitary reform at Machynlleth when we see it, and will discuss the proposed X700 towards an In- termediate School when there is a prospect of something being done.

PENPARKE WATER SUPPLY. PENPARKE is an outlying portion of the borough of Aberystwyth, about a mile from the bulk of the town. The inhabitants are poor working people. For generations the place was supplied with water from a well about a quarter of a mile distant. Two years ago pipes were continued from Tre- fechan to Penparke with the object of taking Plynlimon water to the doors of the people. They were. of course, asked to pay for the water, and although objections were raised in some instances, no serious opposition was encountered. The really serious feature in this business is that Penparke is so highly-situated as to be almost on a level with the service reservoir and the water does not reach the village except from about eleven o'clock at' night until about fire o'clock in the morning. From five o'clock in the morning until about eleven at night Penparke is without water. Before the pipes were laid this result was anticipated, and an attempt was made to get the pipes laid from the mains at Llanbadarn and before the water entered the reservoir. This suggestion was opposed by the .7;CCn" \IICW- ':1: authorities, and for all practical pur- poses Penparke is still without water. The only remedy we can suggest is, either to carry pipes from Llanbadarn, as at first proposed, and jcin them to the pipes brought through Trefechan. or to supply the town direct from Plynlimon without passing the water through the reservoir at all. This is a matter that the members of the Town Council themselves ought to take in hand without our having to urge them to action. We I know how the fact that the people of Penparke have appealed to us for help I will breed opposition but the opposi- tion must be faced and overcome, as opposition has been faced and overcome many times before. The new Corporation official may take our word for it that the condition of Penparke imperatively calls for attention, and the sooner he reports upon the total absence of water during the day, the better for everybody concerned. We assure the members of the Aberystwyth Town Council that our space is required for other subjects of wider, if not of greater individual interest, than the Pen- parke water supply. It is nonsense to pre- tend that neither the Surveyor nor his assistant, nor yet any member of the Town Council, has heard that Penparke is as utterly unsupplied with water as it was before the pipes were laid down. They must have heard. At any rate, we are now bringing the fact under their notice, unless they pretend that they do not read these columns, except when their attention is specially drawn to them. We have promised th inhabitants of Penparke that they shall have a supply of water, and it is our intention to do all that lies in our power to fulfil that premise. In the meantime, the rate- payers of Penparke ought to refuse to pay a single penny of rates. It matters little whether they lose their votes or not. Under the new system of Local Govern- ment at Aberystwyth, elections are no contested, and appointments are made without advertising for candidates. We shall be glad if the Penparke water question is satisfactorily settled without further effort of ours, but if further effort is necessary it will be forthcoming. Where is Mr C. M. WILLIAMS, who was supposed to be the poor people s champion lias ne notnmg to say about this matter who has so very much to say about much smaller things 1 Perhaps Mr WILLIAM THOMAS will ask a few questions on the subject. This matter is urgent and will have to be attended to.

RELIGIOM AND RECREATION. WHAT is religion 1 What is pure literature 1 What are foolish and sinful pleasures ? Are young people in Wales becoming pagans 1 Is the present position of religion in Wales more serious than at any time since HENRY VIII. 1 These are some of the questions which ministers of religion in the Calvinistic denomination are doing their best to force upon the attention of the people. We cannot pretend to discus3 all these questions within the limits of an article of this kind, but a beginning may be made by trying to reach some broad and general conclusions as to Religion and Recreation. We have never been able to take a dark and despairing view of this very beautiful world, or of its inhabitants' who, notwitstanding all that has been said against them, are more good than bad, more true than false, more kind than cruel. We suppose there are still some people who believe that the great bulk of the fifteen hundred millions of human beings now on the face of the earth are rushing headlong t3 in to a quenchless hell. We are amongst the growing number of these who believe no- thing of the sort. We believe that it is well with this beautiful world, and also that it is well with man, wherever he is found We do not know in detail how it is well, but we have faith that, as a tolerable present has come out of a far off past, so a still more tolerable future will emerga from this present. Religion must change in its forms, but it cannot die. Religious systems may be become corrupt and Churches may sell their property to brewery companies; but Religion will be reborn as long as men and women stand in the presence of knowledge that is too wonderful for them, as they must always stand. It is not with GOD and Religion that the much-abused sceptic quarrels, but with man's definitions of GOD and Religion. We believe that reverence is growing and deepening amongst the people as superstition dies. Men are learning the great lesson ot obedience with growing knowledge of the inviolable laws which covern alike the stars in their courses and the meanest earthly existences. It is in complete obedience that men are finding freedom, and will find it. There are pro- found senses, little dreamt of in which the truth shall make men free—free even to laugh joyously and to be glad every day. The world would, indeed, be a sad place if every individual could take the sin and sorrow and mistakes of his own life, and say chat this was the pattern of the' world as it is and always will 1-e. The perfect human being is in the making. Already he is a marvellous creature, and through ien thousand generations he will be perfected, and not he alone. If he recedes in England, he is advancing else- where. The world is one place, and man is one. If he loses ground to-day, he will more than make up for it to-morrow. He must go forward. He is GOD'S creature,, and is not wasted. We do not understand the manifold changes of death, but we see that life is everywhere triumphant. Death is always the gateway of life. There is no pause, no cessation in the endless chain of existence. What we learn is that nothing can cease to be. What we know is measured by our senses, but what is cannot be measured or conceived by us. Religion cannot cease to be. Nothing is more impossible. If, however, it were possible to destroy religions, men would do nothing else until they had made fresh ones. But we are told that the people are becoming more wicked every day. Nothing of the sort. Men have made much evil, it is true, but there is no other evil in the world except what they have made, and surely the evil they have made they can remove. The Brecon Church was not wicked when it sold its property to a brewery company. The Church was poor, and the price was high, and the thoughtless thing was done. This is the history of much that the Churches call evil in the world. The Churches have been very busy for many generations manu- facturing wickedness, and they are not yet weary of their task. Religion itself is not more true than it is true that recreation is necessary. Work is necessary in our artificial and crowded existence, but when the world was young, recreation was pro- bably the rule and work the rare exception. During the past thirty or forty years work [, i i tion, and has given way brgely to recrea will give way more and more. t PL t" A. S Churches may see evil in dramas, cav football, and all sorts of games and !>a- times, but they are not evil. Laughtef good. Enjoyment is necessary. Recreation is essential even for sanity. A physician, writing to the London papers only this week, says: My experience as an asylum physician has convinced me that want of amusement is a great factor in the pro- duction of intemperance. Drunkenness, "indeed, at no remote date, was the only "amusement which the uneducated working I man could obtain in towns and the part that intemperance plays in the production of poverty, crime, and insanity, is too well known." The evils that Religion has to banish is not the Sunday walk into the country by the man who works hard the other six days of the week nor ypt the drama and the concert nor cricket and football nor even horse racing. There is no more sin in horse-racing than in the racing of Sunday School Scholars at their annual festival The eyils that Religion has to fight are war, ignorance, drunkenness, and every form of superstition and slavery. The great battle of Religion should be for freedom, and, whatever the Churches do, they should trust the people and have living active sympathy with them in every phase of their complex life. They should not think that all life is a huge mistake. There is one other point we must briefly refer to. The Churches are always talking about pure literature. We r believe that even literature that is not pure does not do all the evil that it is credited with. Some of the worst offenders against pure literature are religious papers who advertize impure books alongside of sermons and religious tracts. The people require amusement and they will have iL. Even ministers of religion can tell stories with great gusto which we would not print, and the amount of smoking done by ministers is itself evidence of the need for solace felt even by the leaders of the people Novels are condemned dramas are condemned newspapers are condemned recreation is condemned, and there is little left but dull sermons and duller tracts. There is amongst the ministers or the Calvinistic Methodist denomi- nation a degraded craving for titles, as is evidenced by the eager way American degrees are seized and used. Men who have been dubbed doctor by American universities—and there are many of them— are laughed at by the people and cannot possibly impress them with the lessons of humility they teach but do not practise. We know how hard it is to make headway against evil, but we assure the ministers who spoke so despairingly last week that the evil lies far more with them than with the people whom they chide.

ON THEIR BEHALF. AT the Aberystwyth Petty Sessions on Wednesday last, THOMAS HUNT, a pupil teacher at the National Schools, in that town, was fined ten shillings for an assault on a boy of about eight years, the son of Mr RICHARD SAYCELL, fishmonger, North Parade, and a scholar at those schools. The child had a black eye, and it was con- tended on grounds that satisfied the Bench, and that we think will satisfy the public, that the defendant struck the child with his fist and inflicted the injury which was there to be seen on Wednesday. The defendant admitted that complaints had been made before. There is far too much beating of children in elementary schools in this town and district, and the finp, inflicted on Wednesday will tend to show teachers that the ready blow will be followed by the salutary penalty. We know cases in which children have been taken away from elementary schools because they were beaten by pupil teachers and assistant teachers until life was a terror to them. In these days there are, happily, thousands of families where children are not beaten, and when these children are sent to ele mentary schools and are knocked about the head with fists and sticks, they suffer more than the mere pain inflicted at the time. The Managers of the National Schools have been warned before that the habit of knocking children about was indulged in, and it is to be hoped that this case will put a stop to every form of brutality, not only in those schools but elsewhere. Schools are not efficient where children receive black eyes and are severely punished by pupil teachers out of very wantonness. We known that the difficulties of head masters and mistresses are srreat, inasmuch as they have to deal with a percentage of children whose home i training is defective, but although it may be necessary to hold classes in school < porches, it is surely not necessary that 1 children who leave their classes in the 1 absence of the teacher should be taught to remain in their places by a blow in the eye. It is frequently our lot to receive com- plaints from parents whose children have been ill-treated, but who are afraid to take proceedings before the magistrates. There is the risk of having to pay the expenses and the fear that action may only increase the brutality. At the sessions at which Mr SAYCELL took proceedings, several very poor people were fined for neglecting to send their children to school. It is obvious that the difficulty of inducing children to go to school is greatly increased if, in addition to necessary punishments for actual breaches of discipline, the children are to be cuffed unmercifully by pupil teachers who, we suppose, are not authorized to inflict punishment. We should be sorry to say anything that would increase the difficulties of those who have resting upon them the enerous duty of teaching in elementary schools. We know how many masters they have, and how very irritating some children can be. Still, it must be clearly understood, both in the town and district that corporal punish- ment must not be inflicted by pupil teachers, and must be administered in moderation and only for serious offences by head teachers. The brutality formerly so common in elementary schools used to be followed up in workships, where boys served an apprenticeship to torture that frequently maimed them and shortened their lives.

-0 BARMOUTH POSTAL ARRANGEMENT! BARMOUTH has asked the POSTMASTER General for improved postal facilities, but is put off with the stereotyped answer that the subject will receive careful consideration. Wales, unfortunately, too often accepts this answer in good faith, only to find that the subject has been entirely lost sight of. Mr CECIL RA.IKES is not likely to do any- thing for Barmouth, as he seems more 1 completely tied up with red tape than any other official we ever heard of. The people other official we ever heard of. The people j of Barmouth may depend upon it that if they really require an improved postal service they will have to do a good deal more than send the POSTMASTER GENERAL a letter. He probably thinks Barmouth lucky if it gets letters any time in the day, and will never be ]e to see how he can run the Dolgelley through to Barmouth. Anything that traftk ° TT n HlLL Jld not do years ■WO M-' CECIL RAIKES, the Postmaster GenefC.lv son, M thint °f doiuS* ^novation is jast hls. soul. abhors. Barmouth u'ss*& °T) L a tillage, and what business s ar™ou^h, which was once a village, to extJIe privileges of a first-class watering pv.a,ce • Perhaps- the best way for Barnrcoth' .t0 »° is to wait upon the DISTRICT INSPECTOR, .ho, | <.ve believe, is an intelligent and put, the case of the town fully ,and clearly j before him, showing him how the wishect- for changes could be effected. A strong and able deputation might lEüke it -c'ear to the DISTRICT INSPECTOR that there WILL be no peace until the trick of leaving the Barmouth mails at, Avon Wen is no longer possible. Again, the POSTMASTER GENERAL frequently comes down into Wales to preach against Nonconformity and Radicalism. The next time he conies within a hundred miles of Barmouth the same deputation should wait upon him and put the case as strongly as possible. Concessions have to be wrung from Government departments, and this can only be done when there is a clear idea of what is wanted. Nothing tends to improve a watering place more than an efficient postal service, and nothing makes visitors feel that they have left civilization behind them than having letters delayed a day or two on the road. The POSTMASTER GENERAL has lately made such a mess of things in his department that he might be glad of an opportunity, which certainly ought to be afforded him, of doing something that could not possibly be made the ground of censure or ridicule. Aberyst vyth applied for improved postal facilities, and the subject has been under the careful consideration of the POSTMASTER GENERAL for a year or two.

LOCAL AND GENERAL NOT-Elli It is impossible to save fools from the conse- quences of their folly. Mr THOMAS BELL, a West- n.oreland farmer, wanted to borrow £ 350. He replied to a London money-lender's advertisement. This money lender asked simple Mr BELL for a year's interest and expenses, amounting to 917 Is. lid., to be sent to him, and Mr BELL sent the money and heard no more of the loan. The Westmoreland farmer is as great a fool as the supposed money lender is a knave. There appears to be no limit to the simplicity of some people. As a rule, would-be borrowers are as keen as the bogus lenders, but the I flats are caught now and then. The real object of the Due D'ORLEANS in going to Paris, where he was taken prisoner, has now been avowed. The other day the Comte DE PARIS re- ceived at Sheen House the members of the com- mittee to whom he entrusted his political interests on the day he was exiled from France. He asked them to unite with himself and his family in their rejoicing upon the return of his son from Clairvaux. The Due D'ORLEANS had, he said, worthily upheld the hereditary principle, which was the basis of the Monarchial system. This means that his son had been crown hunting in France, and had brought his head back with him. It is to be hoped that the French people will understand what the PRETENDER'S father said and meant. Next time this would-be king goes on his rebellious mission to France he may not return to his family's rejoicing. How little the masses of the people realize that they are used to bolster up a few royal and aristocratic families. Sir CHARLES DILKE has been addressing meetings on the subject of social reform. He sees what we have so often urged, that out-relief tends to reduce wages he urges the reform cf the parish vestry and would give it power to elect outright churchwardens and overseers, and to manage all parish property, parish charities, allotments, foot* paths, and village greens, and (concurrently with larger districts) other matters such as housing the poor. The meetings should be in the evening to enable the laboureis to attend. The vestry should have continuing existence, and should be able to appoint committees, and in parochial polls the plural vote should be done away with. That reform of the parish, Sir CHARLES IhLKE thinks, would make an inmense difference in the labourers' lives, through the sense of proprietorship in the parish which it would give them. As far as we can judge, villages take too little interest in their own affairs to make use of vestries. The one thing the labourer can understand is that expenditure means higher rates, and the average labourer is prepared to :ace death rather than higher rates. Still, the only lope of seeing intelligent rule in the country is to 3ntrust the villagers with power. They will learn oy their own mistakes to do what is best in the long run. Dr BARNARDO, who is trying to minimise the human suffering that London manufactures every day has to contend with religious rivals who are worrying him. Dr BARNARDO has 3,500 children under his care, all of whom were destitute. The only claim to the help he gives is destitution. We talk of our boasted civilization When such work as Dr BARNARDO is doing in London and other workers are doing elsewhere is unnecessary we may begin to talk about civilization. At present every growing town is manufacturing misery faster than philanthropy can relieve it, and the Government waste the national resources in war expenditure. The State does not recognize its duty to rescue destitute children from the streets. There are many things in our national life that men and women scarcely dare think about. Dr BARNARDO'S homes are a reproach to the Christian religion which has had nineteen centuries in which to redeem the people who are still unredeemed. The Churches are fighting about disestablishment and ecclesiastical millinery while the people rot in hovels and live like brutes. Dr. BARNARDO himself is fighting the Roman Catholics over the bodies of the destitute children for their souls It is wrong to steal partridge eggs, but the difficulty is to see how it comes to pass that it is more wrong to steal partridge eggs than hen eggs, or duck eggs, or eggs from a shop. In the House of Commons the other night, Mr MATTHEWS, (who had be<:n asked whether his attention had been directed to a fine inflicted on ALFRED BENNETT oy the local magistrates of Dunmow, Essex, of 3s. per egg for stealing a nest of thirteen partridge eggs) said he had been informed by the Clerk to the Justices that this man was fined, in all, £3 16s. 6d., which sum he paid. He was not prepared to advise the remission of any part of this sum. He was informed that last year the magistrates publicly stated in court, that in conse- quence of the numerous complaints made with regard to thefts of this nature, any one convicted of the offence would be fined the full penalty. To interfere in any way with partridges is a mortal sin as well as a serious crime, but to interfere with the social life and comfort cf the people is not a crime, and therefore a drunkard may get drink, and may kick his wife and children and disturb the peace of a whole neighbourhood for about the sum charged for taking one partridge egg The newspapers say that a protest being very largely signed by influential clerical and meni- 1liers of the Church of Eugland Te-tipero.I Society against the premature action of the exeou- f tive in pledging the Society to support the Public- house Endowment Bill. All that is now needed to defeat the Government Publicans' Compensation Bill is for temperance people everywhere to renew their opposition as if they had only jast heard of the ridiculous sugceetfon. The Post Office is going to extend the coach service parcel post. A coach service from London into Kent is the next extension. No progress fappears to be made in obtaining a better system of letter delivery at Aberystwyth. An improved system of dealing with Aberayron, Goginan, and other parts of this district is greatly needed. If places are content they are allowed to retain the ancient service if they are discontent they obtain reforms. r Miss FAWCEM'W triumph at Cambridge has raised the question once rpore, whether women will not frequently surpass men in acquiring knowledge, o, that schools, colleges, and universities are opiii to diem. Young women, have fewer distractions than young m.en, and are more earnest in following up continuous; anything they undertake Besides they are more regular in r.hpir lives. T i: e.v (if, not [lnd smoke aad live riotously. Men more impetuous, perhaps, than women, and impetuosity i? good for a rush, buu it is patient diligeuse that tells in the long run, and worMa are more patient as a sex than are men. Young men have many interests, from rats to horses, and it is only noT? and then that study is taken in earnest.. It may come to pass that when women know more they wiil study less, and that as they obtain the privileges of men they may also practise their vices and follies. The two sates of property belonging to the Right Hon. the Earl of LISBURNE, one by Mr JOHN JAMES, auctioneer, at Tregaron on the lOthy and the other by Mr OWEX DANISH, auctioneer, at Aberystwyth on the 16th, have been the most successful sales held in the district for many years. upwards of £ 50.000 have been realized, almost all the lots being sold. Sir PRYE PRYE, Bart., GogercWan, who is deservedly considered to be the best landlord in Cardiganshire, bought the Court Grange Estate, which touches the Gogerddau property at many points, for £ 20,350. This purchase was very popular both with the tenants and with the public. Messrs ROBERTS and ErANs, the well-known firm of Aber- ystwyth solicitors, as usual acted for the Earl of LISEURNE, who has done all that was possible through his respected agent, Mr GARDINER, to enable the tenants to buy their holdings on reasonable terms. It is seldom a saie involving so many holdings has been carried through so satisfactorily from first to last. Sergeant WAKELING, one of the Militia Staff in the town has lost dE2 in an Aberystwyth County Court action. The SERGEANT bought the fence of a garden and then the garden was sold. In the transference of the property the SERGEANT lost his fence, and although he had justice on his side the law, as is often the case, was against him. Everybody will readily believe that the SERGEANT was not frightened, and it is to be hoped that between seller and purchaser the SERGEANT will get his two pounds. Somebody clearly owes him the money, and he should not be the loser. The sort of power that men will have to contend against in women students is well illustrated in the career of Mademoiselle BELCESCO, a Roumanian lady who took her degree last week in Paris as a doctor of law. Mdlle. BELCESCO, during the six years in which she has been student, has never missed a lesson at the Law School. It is this regularity and concentration that will defeat the male student, whose studies are only an incident. A httle lad of ten years old told a friend of the family's the other day that his people were so anxious for him to learn things that he had no time to attend to hit (1\\11 business. The male student always has his own business. The female student makes learning her business. That is a difference that will have im- portant results in the future development of the sexes. The way Welsh members attend to their Parlia- mentary duties was made clear in the division on the Compensation Clauses. Out 0; the thirty-four Welsh members there were six absent, namely four Liberals a Tory and a Unionist. It is a very simple matter being a IVelsh member of Parlia- ment. All that is required is that the member should neglect his Parliamentary duties and when he is down in the Principality should call meetings at which, like the American orator, he yells and saws the air. The absent members were Mr W DAVIES, Mr S. T. EVANS, The Hon. G. T. KKNYON, Mr D. PS-WH, Sir E. J. REED, and Col C. WEST. An attempt is being made to create a grievance out of the fact that Wales expects her representatives to be present at important divisions. If the absent Welsh members had been present, the Tory majority would have been only twenty- eight. The Corpus Professor of Latin in the University of Oxford has put forth a plea for sparing an occa- tional couple of hours in our elementary schools from the analysis of sentences or the geography of Siberia, and devoting them to the reading aloud by the masters of the works of HOOD and DICKENS. The way boys who have passed the sixth and seventh standards in elementary schools cannot read is only known to those who have occasion to try them. Too many subjects are taught in elementary schools and reading can hardly be said to be one of them. Anyone who can read intelligently and easily is on the way to all other sorts of knowledge. Our experience is that children who have passed the sixth and seventh standards cannot read, and have no conception whatever of punctuation. Dr JAYNE, the Bishop of Chester, has been preaching on the housing of the working classes. He said that the Church must be ready to encourage all efforts to better the conditions of life among the poor. Bad houses brought a train of sorrows and sins like those pictured by Virgil at the gates of hell. Financially, the working classes lost £ 3,000,000 a year in wages through illnesses, largely caused by unwholesome surround- ings and, morally and socially, the results of over. crowding were a danger and a disgrace. This is true, but what can be done ? Churches and chapels, for their own maintenance, draia the people of money, and what is to spare is taken for missionary enterprizes abroad, while our own poor sicken and die in hovels. A claim for £ 50 for a black eye is rather heavy even when the owner of the eye is a carman. The inland revenue officers will be glad to hear that Mr JOHN THEOPHILUS makes from three pounds to three pounds ten shillings a week. They will doubtless give him the privilege of paying the income tax, if he has hitherto been too bashful to observe that formality. The JV-DCE hardly seemed to believe that JOHS THEOPHILUS was as prosperous as he represented himself to be. A judge may be sceptical, but we should never dream of doubting the word of JOHN TIIEOPJIILUS. Certainly not. By the way, people must be careful how they sneeze, as we have it on medical testimony that a man may give himself a black eye by sneezing. How medical science is progress- ing. The doctor's fee, £ 1 15s,, is pretty stiff for curing a black eye, but then it was such an eye that damage to it was deemed to equal to £ 50. The verdict was only for The Marquis of HARTINGTON has been talking about women and the franchise, and what he said U>oks silly besides the admissions he had to make said he did not know whether he exposed -t himself cS a cllarge of inconsistency iu being pre- sent that afternoon, never taken aij. active part in what were called Women's tighta, nor had he ever voted for the admission of women to the Parliamentary franchise. At the same time he would say that no one could now deny that there was a very large number of women who were as fitted, and more fitted, for the exercise of the franchise than was the case of a great number of men. If he hesitated to vote for the admission of women to the franchise, the reasons which prompted him to do so were ex- clusively of a practical character. Thev must all admit that, although the men might not be wiser, they were at all events stronger than women, aud he did entertain some doubt whether men would in an important crisis consent to governed by vomen. At the snme time there could be no doubt whatever that wcmo.a did and ought to exercise great influence. a:though it might bs an indirect influence, ia Waties. The uant cf possession of the suffrage did ucc prevent women licrn exercising any cf these means of iii- Hueueing the electorate which could be exercised by any man. The foregoing is she.r rabbish, as any Primrose dame see. The utterance about men beino stronger than cmeti and not bejpjg will;g in important cr'se-j to be governed oy women is uuworthy of Lord HARTINGTON. Have there been no crises since 1S37 (ii the Qi KE> came tf) the throne. Besides, who has told Luid Kii^TiNGTUN that when there is an important crisis rre-i will be Oll one side ar.d women on the other. It is poor stuff, your lordship, very poor stuff, iiidee-i, and the sooner you vote for women suffrage the better. 0): The national armament craze is going merrily forward. In a recent sitting of the Budget Com- mittee of the Austrian Delegation, (:eneral B liTER, Minister of War, stated that European peace was in an insecure condition, a state of things which required considerable increase in the strength of the army if it were not to lead to a solution by force. The Minister estimated the cost of the proposed increase in the peace effective a: some- thing between 80 and 100 million Ilorins, but was unable to name any definite amount at present, This is something like the order of procedure. Austria increases ite army in the name and interest, of peace. Russia sees a menace in the increase -'1 anu proceeds to ao likewise. (jcrmany then dis covers that her forces are two small compared with those of Russia and Austria, and the German army and navy are strengthened. France cannot fall behind Germany with the memory of ALSACE and LORRAINE still fresh, and the French army is increased and more war ships arc built. Italy, almost ruined with war expenditure in times of peace, sees that she must make an effort and proceeds to borrow money in order to keep pace with the armies of her neighbours. Euglancl watches the process of army-swelling and takes panic. The result is a sudden resolve to spend, twenty or thirty millions in new warships. The circle is now complete; but the game is not over Next time it is France that takes the initiative and then Germany. The final result is that a large proportion of the men of Europe are under arms and the nations are impoverished and degraded. If the Government have done nothing else with their Publicans' Compensation Bill they have taught the country three or four things which it was highly necessary should be learnt. They have made clear the important fact that large numbers of public houses are tied houses and that the breweries will be delighted to receive com- pensation for them as they will get increased business in the remaining houses, which can be enlarged to meet the requirements. They have also made clear the fact that drunkenness is in- creased the more drinking is concentrated, and consequently the closing of public houses does not, up to a certain point, decrease drinking and drunkecness, but the reverse. The Compensation C!a.uses are to be forced through Parliament, but it is now believed a ti--ne limit will be fixed for paying compensation and it is certain the Act will be a df-ad letter.

HOLLOW AY'S PILI S AND OINTMENT.—Some occupa- tions tend to the development of certain diseases, aud those who toil as miners are peculiarly liable to rheu- matism, lumbago, and other allied complaints. In the o. Mfulds and copper mines Holloway s remedies have been largely putror.ized by the workers to their very great advantage, and they can be confidently recom- .1 9 mended as invaluable remedies for inward congestions, spasms, and cramps in the boweis, and all those conditions of the lungs and livei to which those who work underground or in impure atmsopheres are so peculiarly liable. For cuts, bruises, sprains and stiffened joints, the action of Holloway's Ointment ia eminently healing and soothing, and supply should always be at hand in case of need. BREAKFAST IS READY.-Thank you I'll take a cup of MAZAWATTEE

irth5, (ittamges, itnb £ath5. .No announcements of marriages are inserted without sufficient authentication, for want of which, announcements to ua are sometimes omitted. A charge of Is., paid in advance ismade for the words No Cards," in marriages, and an addition- to the simple record of deaths. BIRTHS. CLEATox-On the 17th June, at Yaenor de Frene-road, Sydenham, S.E., the wife of Mr Edmund St. Cleaton, of a daughter. EVANS—June 14th, at 15, Chalybeate-terrace, Aber- ystwyth, the wife of Rev J. Daniel Evans, Taber- nacle, Arddlun, of a son. EVAxs-At Tynewydd, Trefentr, the wife of Ir John Evans, cowkeeper, 271, Wick-road, Hamilton of a daughter. ELLIs-June 10th, the wife of Mr John Ellis, Ffrydau- road, Bala, of a daughter. MORGAN—June 7th, at 30, Moor Lerne City, the wife of Mr John Morgan, cowkeeper, of a son. THOMAS—June 16th, at Barmonth. the wife of Mr Joseph Thomas, C.M., of a daughter. MARRIAGES. DAVIES—EVANS—June ISth, at St. Botolph Church, Aldgate, London, by tne_ Rev Morris Roberts, A.X.C., (service conduced in Y\ elsh) Morgan Davies, F.R.C.S., M.D., 10, Goring-street, Houndsditch, to Maggie, only daughter of the late Mr Evan Evans, Cnwcybarcut, Llangwyrfon. HOWELL—EVANS—June 17th, at Tabernacle C.M. Chapel, Aberayron. by the Rev Mr James, Llan- dyssul, assisted by the Rev W. S. Jones, Mach- ynlleth, in the presence of the Registrar, Mr J. M. Howell, ironmonger, to Ann,:eldest daughter of Mrs Evans, of the Lloyd Jack, Aberayron. JAMES—RICHARDS—On Wednesday, June 11th, at St James's Church, Padcingtou. London, John E. James, Maesbangor, Aberystwyth, to Maggie Richards, the only daughter of Mr John Richards, Maesyllan, Abergynolwyn, near Towyn. JONES—ROBERTS—June 1Sth, at the Registrar's Office, Mr John Edward Jones, Glanddwyrnant, Ba:a, to liss Elicn Roberts, Nantvreithyn, Llaudderfei. ROBERTS—RF.ES—June 17th, by licencc, at the Taber- nacle Chapel, Aberystwyth, by the Rev William Jones, registrar, MrThomas Roberts, Figure Four, Llanyehaiarn, to Mrs Margaret Rets, Butcher's Arms, Aberystwyth. WILLIAMS—EDWARDS—At St. Phillip's Stepney, by the Rev Mensie Lambrick. M A., Mr Tnomas Williams, provision merchant, of -iti, Brady-street, Whitechapel, to Miss Winifred Edwards, of 2, Bedford-square, V\ est. DEATHS. DEAcKlx-June 18th. at Little Dark Gate-street, Aberystwyth, Mr William Francis Deackin, age 48 years. LLOYD--J une 15th, at Newry House, Mill-street Aberystwyth, Mr D. Lloyd, grocer, age 57 years. LEWIS—June 12th, at Trefejhau, Aberystwyth, Sarah AnD L wis, daughter of John Lewis, lead miner, age 11 years. OWENS—June 14;h, at 14, Queeu-strei-t, Aberystwyth, Mr Stephen Owens, shoemaker, aged 69 years.