The Cambrian

SWANSEA POLICE COURT. THURSDAY. [Before J. C. Fowler (Stipendiary), J. 0. Vye-Parminter and W. Watkins, Esqrs.] CHARGE AGAINST A PUBLICAN.—R. J. Stote, landlord of the York Hotel. Fisher-street, was charged with being drunk in the above named public-house on the 16th inst. Mr. W. P. Smith represented the publican and Sergeant Parry stated the case.-Fined 10s. and costs. PLAYING AT "TiP-CAT."—Edward Randall, of Little Madoc-street was fined 2s. 6d. inclusive for playing" tip- cat" in Getben-street. P.C. Hazel (90) proved the offence. ARREARS OF RATES.-J. Peters, of Gordon-street, W. T. Hunter, Calvert-street, A. Davies, and Mrs. Williams were ordered to pay 10s. per month, and J.)Sntherland. of Alexandra-road, and Esther Jones, Portland-street, 20s. per month in respect of arrears of Urban Sanitary Rates. A SEAMAN'S CLAIM.—A claim for jM 10s. brought by John McKniel, a seaman, against the captain of the 8.S. Fitzroy, A. Paterson, was further adjourned till Monday, BREACH OF THE WEIGHTS AND MEASURES ACT.— Eliza Berry, of Seymour-street and Wm. McCarley were fined 10s. inclusive for selling coals other than in bags. Inspector Bingham prosecuted. MALICIOUS DAMAGE.-Annie Fitzgerald, Strand, was Inedf5s. and costs, and lOd. the amount of damage, for breaking a pane of glass, the property of Naomi Jottv An alleged assault brought by the last named person against Elizabeth Baker of Strand was dismissed. TRANSFER OF LICENSES.-The following transfers of licenses were granted. Stogumber Hotel, Goat-street from Joseph Mathews to Sarah Ann Jenkins Borough Arms, Wind-street. from Martha Callings to Martha Thomas; Hafod Stores, Vernon-street, from Agnes Bridget Ward to Charles Eastman Red Cow, Plasmarl from Matthew Thomas to Maria Thomas; Smithfield Inn. Dyvatty-street, from Frederick August Roth to James Armstrong; Club Hotel, Tyrllandwr, from Nicholas Tarr (deceased) to Elizabeth Tarr; White Rose, Walter-road, from Jane Jones (we) to Jane Jenkins,

WITH 50 PER CENT. INTEBEST.—A singular -and we shonld think almost unique-instance of commercial probity was brought to our know- ledge a few days ago by a. correspondent of considerable position in the warehouse trade. So long ago as tne year 1879, Mr. H. G. Porter, of St. Paul's-churchyard, was compelled through adverse circumstances to call his creditors together and make a composition, the payment accepted being 14s. in the pound. Fortune has happily smiled on him, and he is now once again basking in the sunshine of prosperity. Mindful of his moral—although in no sense legal-duty to his late creditors, Mr. Porter the other day paid up the balance of 6s. in the pound, together with a further 50 per cent, in lieu of interest. Need- less to say, this action—though it was by no means unexpected-has given the greatest gratification to his many friends in business oiroles.-City Press.

SALES BY AUCTION. MESSRS. J. M. LEEDER & SON. Household Furniture, at Swansea March 31 Leasehold Property, at Swansea April 6 Leasehold Property, at Swausea April 6 MESSRS. H. HILL & CO. Leasehold Property, at Swansea April 13 MR. RICHARD E. HUGHES. Household Furniture, at Swansea March 28 Household Furniture, &c., at Swansea, Ap. 11 & 12 MESSRS. W. J. LOWES & SON. Cart Horses, &c., at Swansea March 29 MR. DANIEL JAMES. Cattle, &c., at Swansea March 26 MESSRS. STEPHENSON & ALEXANDER. Farming Stock, at Eglwysnunydd, March 25 t '0. POOR CHILDREN'S BREAKFASTS in ASSEMBLY ROOMS. Donations gratefully received by His Worship the Mayor, MB. ALD. MASON, Guildhall, Hon. Treasurer, or by MB. W. NICHOLS, Y.M.C.A., Hon. Sec. [2233

SWANSEA, FRIDAY, MARCH 25, 1892. HOW SWANSEA CORPORATION NOW SPENDS ITS MONEY. ALL POWER AND PATRONAGE CENTRED IN A FEW INEX- PERIENCED HANDS. THE CHAIRMEN OF STANDING COM- MITTEES PRACTICALLY CASHIERED. Now that the Urban Sanitary and Borough Rates of Swansea are very high, and threaten to become higher still, it may be of general interest, if not of advantage, to consider how the money which is so largely raised by rates is expended. The Swansea Corporation consists of 40 members. These are divided up for detailed work into Standing Com- mittees. To each of these Committees there is a chairman and a vice-chairman, and the holders of these honourable chairmanships are expected to take a special interest in the work of their special committee. They are usually chosen to be chairmen or vice- chairmen from the length of service which they have rendered, and from the knowledge which they have gathered of the work of their committee. Each committee is supposed to draw up an estimate of its expenditure for the coming year, and to allow itself to some extent to be guided by such a financial forecast. The intention of this forecast is to enable the Finance Committee to raise, in the form of rates, enough but not too much money to meet the needs of the Municipality for the current half-year or year. Under this old system, the Chairman of each Standing Committee was looked upon, and indeed looked upon himself, as in honour bound to understand the working of his Commtttee, and to control, with all his ability and experience, the expenditure. Now however, in consequence of the in- fusion of so much new blood" into the Cor- poration, a new departure has been taken, and a new experiment has been entered upon. Probably the younger members, who brought about this radical change, thought they were doing a wise thing. We have now had some experience of its effects, and it will be for the Council, in the first place, and for the Burgesses in the second place, to form an opinion and take action upon the results so obtained. The change we allude to has been the creation of what is called the Stores Com- mittee. This Stores Committee, which con- sists chiefly of the younger and less ex- perienced members of the Corporation, has taken upon itself the whole of the power of purchasing goods for the Municipality, and consequently the whole of the patronage incident to such power of purchase. It goes without saying that, to place all power and patronage in the hands of a few comparatively young men, without any lengthened experience of public administration, is a danger to them as well as a danger to the community. Let us see who they are. The Stores Committee at the present moment consists nominally of the Mayor, Aldermen H. A. Chapman, Thomas Freeman, Richard Martin; Councillors E. R. Daniel, D. Davies, G. Davies, W. Davies, J. H. John, W. Davies, D. Jones, Rees Jones, J. V. Leeder, J. M. Mayne, George Nancarrow, Rosser Rosser, W. H. Spring, W. Usher, Thos. Price (chairman), and Gwilym Morgan (vice- chairman). The chairman and vice-chairman are, or are supposed to be, the life and soul, the back- bone and burden-bearers, of a committee. In return for the honour done them by placing them in these positions, they are expected to be regular in attendance, to devote themselves to understanding all the details of committee procedure, and, in short, to stand sponsors for the committee. Practically, therefore, the Stores Committee means Mr. Thomas Price, Mr. G. Morgan, with Mr. Usher and very few r others. The chairmen and vice-chairmen of the other Standing Committees are:—Watch Com- mittee, Alderman H. A. Chapman, and Mr. James Howell; Property and General Purposes, Mr. E. R. Daniel, and Mr. M. Tutton; sub-committee on Corporation Property, Mr. M. Tutton, and Mr. David Harris; Works and Sanitary, Alderman Thos. Freeman, and Mr. J. M. Mayne; Streets Committee, Aldermen W. Richards and W. Pike; Water and Sewers, Alderman R. Martin, and Mr. John Glasbrook; Open Spaces, Alderman W. Pike, and Mr. W. Thomas (Lan); Finance, Aldermen James Jones and Frederick Rocke; Market Com- mittee, Mr. M. Tutton, and Alderman Rocke Public Library, the Mayor, with Alderman Chapman and Mr. Hort. Huxham as vice- chairmen Burial Board Committee, Alder- man John Lewis, and Mr. Fred. Bradford. Now, what is the practical effect of this new Stores Committee, and of the power and patronage placed in the hands of these young Councillors ? The effect is, undoubtedly, to reduce the prestige, to reduce the power and patronage, and consequently to reduce the interest in the work of the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the great Standing Committees, and so to reduce the supervision which they would otherwise bring to bear in the interests of efficiency and economy. It may seem ridiculous to say so, but the Swansea Corporation has brought itself into this ridiculous position-that its oldest, most experienced, and most trusted members, namely, the chairmen and vice-chairmen of the most important Standing Committees, cannot go the length of ordering the purchase of a lead pencil, or of a broom, without submitting a formal demand to Mr. Thomas Price and Mr. G. Morgan, chairman and vice-chairman of the Stores Committee. This means that the patient investigations and deliberate decisions of the most experienced committees, consisting of the most experienced members of the Corporation, cannot be carried into effect until after they have been submitted to a committee consisting of the least ex- perienced men in the Corporation. If a man has been long in municipal life, he may, in his turn, have served upon most of the com- mittees. In this way he may glean a lot of information about the detailed working of the Municipality and its various official depart- ments, and may at last be able to give a valuable vote upon any question of expendi- ture or policy that may be brought before him. It might be defensible to have the decisions of the least importajit com- mittees, consisting of the least experi- enced men, submitted, for approval or veto, to the most important committees, consisting of the most experienced men; but in the Swansea Corporation absolutely the very reverse is tbe fact! The consequences are obvious. There is vexatious delay, and consequent loss of time, temper and money, in the red tapeism of passing requisitions from committee to committee, and so to the Council. Not oply so, but the general belief of younger and less experienced men in their own sagacity is so great as to cause them, without the slightest compunction, to re-open, to alter, to delay, or to frustrate altogether, the decisions carefully arrived at by the more important committees consisting of the more experienced men. Confusion thus becomes worse confounded. It is impossible to expect good men of business, like the leading chair- men of the leading committees, to give so much of their valuable time and attention to the economical supervision of their special departments, when they know that younger and less experienced men may, and probably will, undo all they have done, and frustrate their intentions. Consequently, in the matter of spending money, the Stores Committee is the most important Committee of the Corporation; and the large interests which are at stake are therefore left in the few hands and to the comparatively inexperienced heads of that Committee. Of course, the infusion of so many new and young members into the County Council is, to a large extent, accountable for the mistake which has been made. No doubt the framers of the Stores Committee were moved in the first place by good intentions. Possibly, if the matter were challenged, they would be able to show-by statistics which may be made to prove anything-that they have been the means of effecting small economies in small matters. But it will be found in this case, as in many others, that the cutting down of prices means the cutting down of quality of goods. What is cheap is sometimes nasty-it is at any rate indifferent rather than good and thus it very often becomes dear in reality though apparently cheap in price. It is openly stated that some of the economies effected, or apparently effected, by the Stores Committee, have had this direct result, of reducing the quality of goods supplied to the Corporation. This allegation, however, even if it can be fully sustained, is of very small importance com- pared with the great issues which are raised by the placing of a new committee, consisting of inexperienced men, over the heads of the most important committees, consisting of the most experienced members of the Corporation. This cannot but reduce the dignity of the greater committees, relax the interest of their members, and reduce the endeavour to procure that combination of efficiency with economy which is the essence of good management and government.

« THE TWRCH AND TAWE BILL BEFORE THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE. SWANSEA CORPORATION SETTLES TERMS WITH THE RURAL SANITARY AUTHORITY. THERE is a good deal of excitement and expectation just now in the district concern- ing the fate of the various applications, which are being made to Parliament, for powers to construct works of a public nature. The Twrch and Tawe Railway Bill was before the House of Commons Committee yesterday. Mr. Winterbotham, M.P., was in the chair. I Several witnesses were examined on behalf of the promoters, and, after their evidence was taken, the hearing was adjourned until eleven oclock, to-day (Friday). We learn that, unfortunately, the prospects of this Bill obtaining Parliamentary assent are, from present appearances, rather slight. There is a feeling in the Corridors of the House that the promoters' case, so far as it has yet been laid before the Committee, is a somewhat weak ona. The Swansea Corporation Water Bill has not yet come before the Committee of Parliament, but it is expected to do so daily. Meanwhile it is satisfactory to hear that terms have been settled as between the Swansea Urban Sanitary Authority and the Swansea Rural Sanitary Authority. Thus one part of the opposition is removed. The Rural Sanitary Authority say that the terms which they have succeeded in getting are very advantageous to the Rural district, and are, indeed, all they could desire. We should have thought that, in recognition of this fact, the Rural Sanitary Authority would have sent a deputation of its members up to London to support the Swansea Corporation Bill, but the economists on the Rural Board have had their own way, and so no deputation has been sent up. It is now expected that the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway Bill will not come before the Parliamentary Committee until after Easter.

♦ THE AMALGAMATION OF GLAMOR- GANSHIRE QUARTER SESSIONS WITH THE ASSIZES. THE Court of Quarter Sessions of the County of Glamorgan would have to be held, in the ordinary way. on the 5th of April proximo, but as the Glamorganshire Assizes will be held on the 2nd of April, it has properly appeared to the authorities to be a waste of effort to hold two sach similiar courts con- currently. Therefore this year, for the first time we believe within local experience, there will be no Quarter Sessions held, but the Quarter Sessions business will be handed over to the Assizes, which will be held at Cardiff.

THE BATH AND WEST AND SOUTH- ERN COUNTIES SHOW FUND. ANOTHER SUBSTANTIAL SWANSEA SUBSCRIPTION. Alderman Mason, the Worshipful Mayor of Swansea, has just received from Egypt an intimation that Sir J. T. D. Llewelyn, Bart., the President of this Show for the current year, will subscribe another 50 guineas to the local fund. The local fund is now a substantial one, but there is need of further subscriptions, and the public are invited to send these in as speedily as possible.

-0 THE ARTISTIC RESTORATION OF NICHOLASTON CHURCH, GOWER. THE DESIGN OF REREDOS AND EAST WINDOW. WE stated some time ago that the smallest and plainest church in Gower, namely, that at Nicholaston, of which, with the church at Oxwich, the eloquent and powerful Rev. S. W. Jenkins, M.A., is rector, is about to be restored in a most artistic fashion. A copy of the architect's design for the east end of the church is now to be seen at the shop of Mr. Roberts, the well-known carver and gilder, in Oxford-street. The reredos is to be of polished pink alabaster the figures will be carved in white Lias the back ground will be of gold mosaic while the shafts will be of pale Irish green marble. The ideas intended to be con- veyed by the reredos and the east window are these The outer figures represent Prophecy; the centre figures stand for Fulfilment; and the window will indicate Sacrifice. We understand that the body of the church, when restored, will be in keeping with this new and beautiful east end. The restoration is to be made at the whole and sole charge of Miss Olive Talbot, who is the patron of the living.

FINE ART CHINA 'ON VIEW IN SWANSEA. OPEN TO PUBLIC INSPECTION. From time to time we have made mention of the extremely beautiful Worcester china vases which have been painted by Mr. E. Salter and Mr. Stinton, the chief artists in the celebrated Worcester potteries, with views of Swansea and its neigbourhood. The ornaments have been worthy of remark because of their high artistic merit. Such of our readers as have a taste for pottery will be glad to know that they may now see, in the fine show rooms of Messrs. Taylor and Co., Castle-square, four more of these vases, painted with local views. One ef them is Craig-y-Nos Castle, from the garden front; the other one is Craig-y-Nos, from the hill behind; th e third shows us the Mumbles, as seen from the site of the Castle; and the fourth is a view of Bracelet Bay and the Mumbles Head. These are all the work of Mr. E. Salter, who is the chief artist at the great Worcester potteries. The views of Craig-y- Nos are painted from photographs taken by Mr. Goldie, of Temple-street, Swansea, and those of the Mumbles from photos taken by Mr. Barton Harvey. But to say this much is to convey less than the fact, because, though the views are painted with such marvellous accuracy and minute detail as a photograph sometimes happily gives, yet the subject has been sublimated by the genius of the artist, and rendered in a far more poetical and beautiful form than any photograph could yield. The vases are of handsome shape, with golden dolphins as handles. Mr. John Taylor, who takes much interest in these matters, finds considerable difficulty in getting these special vases, (each one of them being a unique work of art,) done to order and done to time.

Colonel Cornwallis West has consented to stand again for West Deabighsbhe^iQ the Unionist interest.

DID, OR DID NOT, ALDERMAN JAMES JONES APOLOGISE TO COUNCILLOR MAYNE? ONE SAYS "YES," THE OTHER SAYS "NO." The stream of true love," it has been said, "never runs smooth. The same may surely be said about the current of local public life. For some time past there has been a difference of opinion, feeling, and action between two members of the Council. Happily, the matter in dispute was settled out of court. Now, however, there seems to be a little of the old fire left smouldering, and it manifests itself in a difference of opinion and expression touching the terms, or rather, perhaps, the courtesies, of the settle- ment. In our report of last week's monthly meeting of the Corporation appeared a remark which seems to have fallen from Mr. Coun- cillor Mayne, to the effect that Alderman Jones, through his solicitor, had apologised. As a comment upon that statement, Alderman Jones asks us to publish the following letter 18, York-place, Swansea. March 24th, 1892. MAYNE V. YOURSELF.—LIBEL ACTION. DEAR STR.—Mr. Mayne is wrong in stating that we apologised for you herein we did nothing of the sort, and on your instructions we distinctly refused to do so, and Mr. Mayne discontinued the action with costs of both sides against him.- Yours truly, AERON THOMAS AND Co. James Jones, Esq., J.P., Goat-street, Swansea."

MR. W. WARDE FOWLER'S NEW BOOK. 1 THE HEROES OF THE NATIONS. We have just received for review a copy of the well-printed, beautifully illustrated, and handsomely bound new book which the great publishing house of Putnam and Sons, of New York and London, known as "the Knickerbocker Press," has just issued, as one of the series of Heroes of the Nations." It is entitled Julius Caesar, and the Beginnings of Roman Imperial Unity," and the author is Mr. W. Warde Fowler, M.A., Sub-Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, and son of John Coke Fowler, Esq., Stipendiary Magistrate of Swansea. We have not yet had time to dip into the literary contents, and so must leave anything like criticism or excerpt for another issue; but we may safely say now that the whole get-up" is so great a credit to American printing, illustrating and book- binding, as to cast a shadow of reproach upon the general run of British books.

-0 THE SWANSEA SCHOOL BOARD AND THE INSPECTOR. THE majority of the members of the Swansea School Board seem determined, young as they are in knowledge of the working of the Board, to make an entire change in the operation of the system. Hitherto our board schools have had the advantage of a School Board Inspector to assess the teaching work done, and to bring it up to a state of preparedness for her Majesty's Inspector on his annual rounds. For this work Mr. F. Cole was especially fitted, and the fact that he has so long re- tained the confidence of so many successive School Boards speaks loudly enough in favour of his efficiency and conscientiousness in the discharge of his duties. Now, however, by the vote of a bare majority, Mr. Cole, who is growing old and grey in the service, is to be shunted off as a Chief Teacher of Pupil Teachers. It is only natural that Mr. Cole should keenly feel the position in which he has been placed. At present, by reason of a bungling resolution, Mr. Cole is nominally both Inspector of Schools and Instructor of Pupil Teachers. It remains to be seen whether the majority of the School Board members will carry out the somewhat personal policy which they have entered upon. Long service deserves consideration, and, besides, while all, or most, of the great School Boards through- out the country have an Inspector of Schools, it does seem rather a. hazardous experiment for Swansea to do without one.

WHY SWANSEA BAKERS CANNOT MAKE UP BREAD TO EXACT r WEIGHT. THE LAW MADE BY MEN IGNORANT OF THE TRADE. HOW GROCERS CUT INTO" THE BAKERS' BUSINESS. SCENE. Outside the Swansea Guildhall while the Magistrates are dealing with summonses for the sale of bread otherwise than by weight. Master-baker and a Journalist. Hullo More prosecution* ? Yes, more persecutions." What's the matter now ? The Law and the Lawyers cannot be made to understand the difficulty of making up bread to sell accurately by weight." Is it very difficult ? It is more than difficult. It is practically impossible." I don't see why it should be." Of course you don't. You never tried it." Let us reason the matter together. You mix up a certain quantity of flour, and yeast, and water, and salt, &c., and you reduce it by your mixing machine, or by hand, to one homogeneous substance," H Yes we do." "Why don't you weigh the dough into accurate portions before you put it into the oven ? "Because there would be no use in our doing so. The portions of dough might go in all accurately of the same weight, but the loaves of bread, when they come out, would differ greatly." Why should they diner ? Isn't the oven of one temperature ? Yes, as far as we can bring it to one temperature." Then why should the loaves differ when they come out ? Because they are not all baked in the same position, in the same form, and to the same extent." I wish you would explain that." "I will. You put a batch of lumps of dough into the oven; you keep them in for the regulation time; and then you take them out. The loaves which have been baked in the The loaves which have been baked in the centre of the oven will have a pale crust; those in the middle distance will have a harder crust; and those on the outer edge of the batch will have the most crust. The more a loaf is baked, the dryer it becomes, and the dryer it becomes the lighter it gets in weight. The difference which is found to exist between loaves of the same port in one baking is very considerable from this cause alone." Then again all loaves are not of the same shape, nor of the same size nor, indeed, of the same flo*r. All these details have to be taken into account and dealt with practically, a.nd the result of experience is that bread cannot be made in loaves so accurate as to enable us to sell by weight. The public would not think of allowing us to cut slices off a heavy loaf and add those slices to a light loaf. Hence the confusion that arises. Why don't you master bakers meet to. gether and endeavour to get the Law, as affecting your trade, altered into a just and fair form P Well, speaking for Swansea, there are so few master bakers here. The grocers have gone as far aa they can to knock us over. They sell flour and bread at very low rates, in order to induce the customer to buy tea and other expensive commodities, and what they fail to make on the bread they make upon the tea and other articles. There is a want of united action in the baking trade, and we have to put up with these indignities."

FUNERAL OF THE HON. H. C. HUSSEY VIVIAN .-The funeral of the Hon. Charles Hussey Vivian took place on Thursday week at Pentraeth Church, near BeaumariB. The chief mourners were Lord Vivian, brother of the deceased; the Hon. Walter Vivian, and the Hon. Claud Vivian. There was a large attendance of the Anglesey tenantry. WELSH GIRLS' SCHOOL, ASHPORD.-Arnong the subscriptions given on St. David's Day to the Welsh Girls' School at Aabford, we are pleased to notice twenty-five gniness from the Lord Mayor, ten guineas from the Sheriffs ef London, and five guineas from the Majer of Swantf*. I

AMALGAMATION OF SOUTH WALES UNION WITH BIRMINGHAM AND METROPOLITAN BANK. The proposed amalgamation of the South Wales Union Bank with the Metropolitan and Birmingham Bank, continues to be the subject of a great deal of local conversation, and the interest in the subject is likely to be kept up until the Extraordinary Meeting of I the Shareholders, which will take place on Monday next. Of course in this, as in almost i every important financial question, differences of opinion naturally arise, or differences are trumped up for the mere purpose of disputa- tion. There are some critics who affect to j believe that the arrangement, which has been made by the Directors of the South Wales Union Bank, is not so good as it might be; 1 but the overwhelming preponderance of opinion in the minds of all we have discussed the subject with is that the Directors in this matter have acted wisely and well, and that the shareholders would only stultify them- selves if they raised futile objections for the mere pleasure of raising them. In ellucida- tion of the subject, which is to be discussed and decided on Monday, we would call atten- tion to the following lucid and opportune letter, which we have received from a. share- holder. TO THE EDITuR OF "THE CAMBRIAN." SIR,-As a shareholder in the former I have been looking into the accounts of the latter bank with a view of seeing what in- terest a shareholder in the former bank would get by investing in the latter, and especially, also, what risk a shareholder runs in the latter bank in view of the nominal" liability of JE45 per share, and I think the following points may be of interest to your readers, as I find many, who have not examined the ac- counts thoroughly, do not appreciate the position of the latter bank and, further, seriously consider that there is a probability of their being called upon for E45 per share. As regards shares from an investor's point of view, a shareholder in the South Wales Union Bank got last year 84 per cent., and if he sells at £11 14s. 3d. and re-invests the proceeds in the Birmingham and Metropolitan Bank at zE16, his return (if the latter continue only to pay 18 per cent,) will be X9 8s. 3d. per cent., as compared with E8 10s. Next, as regards the risks a shareholder has of being called on for L45 per share nominal liability. Looking at the matter from a broad point of view, I cannot do better than quote the following statement of the General Manager of the Birmingham and Metro- politan Bank at their last meeting :—" To put the matter shortly: You have your capital, £ 380,000; you have your reserve fund, £ 330,000; you have £ 20,000 set aside for bank premises redemption fund, making a. reserve of £400,000; then, after providing for all known losses, we have above £)00,000 inside (i.e. internal reserve not mentioned in accounts), so that if any disaster overtook us we should have to sweep away over JE500,000 before we should require to touch the capital." I may carry this further and say that the bank would have to lose £ 500,000 and £ 380,000— £ 880,000—before any call need be made on the shareholders; and, seeing that the whole amount lent by the bank to the public is £ 2,336,000, and this amount spread over a large area in England, and in all sorts of different trades, I consider the risk of any call being made to be infinitesimal, and that the nominal liability may be ignored. I may also mention that most of the first- class banks have a large uncalled capital, so as to prevent any possibility of any want of confidence on the part of the depositors, but no shareholder seriously considers that he may be called on for even a 20th part of his liability, even under the very worst imagi- nable circumstances. Trusting these remarks may be of interest to your readers,—Yours faithfully, A SHAREHOLDER.

■ DEATH OF MR. T. W. RICHMOND. MR. Thomas William Richmond, of the Mayals, West Swansea, has just passed away at the ripe old age of 77 years. He was one of the very few scholars who remain to us of Samuel Harmsworth's school, an academy which was held in the Cameron Hotel, High-street, Swansea, in the first quarter of the present century, when it was thought to be a worthy rival of the Gore Grammar SchoeL Mr. Richmond's father was the Commandant of the Ccast Guard from Mumbles to Worm's Head. He had two other sons, named Robert and Arthur, and some daughters. At school, young Thomas William Richmond had the reputation of being an attentive boy and a good scholar." He was-what few modern school boys are—a good penman. One of his old schoolmates remembers him as paying attention to his lessons rather than H mitching" and playing. He entered upon business life as an apprentice to Mr. James James, then the leading draper in the town. Mr. James carried on business at the sign of The Golden Key," in what was then called Market-square, but is now known as Castle- square-the premises now occupied by Mr. Philip Jenkins Later on he became a partner with his master Mr. James, and subsequently after the dissolution of the partnership, went into business on his own account in the same street, on the site where Mr. D. C. Jones's shop now stands. This business he conducted successfully and lucratively for many years, amassing considerable wealth. He retired from business and went to reside at Mayals some 18 years ago. He was a man of thrifty habits and retiring disposition, and never took any active interest in public life. In later years, however, he became a member of the Hospital Committee. The last time we remember to have seen him was with his sister, Mrs. Jacob David Rees, at the Patti concert in the Albert Hall. The funeral took place on Thursday (yester- day) morning at the Mumbles Cemetery. The Rev. Secretan Jones, M.A., the incumbent of Oystermouth, officiated at the grave. The funeral was strictly a private one, only a few neighbours and friends joined the chief mourners and relatives. The first carriage contained the Rev. S. Jones, M.A., Dr. Padley and Dr. Hall, and E. Stevens, solicitor. The second carriage contained Mr. J. S. Stevens, Mr. F. E. Williams and Mr. Joseph HalL The third carriage contained Mr, Hansard, Mr. P. Jenkins and Mr. Maslen. The fourth coach contained the six bearers. In the first mourning coach were Mrs. Leslie, the sister of deceased, and Mr. Leslie, nephew (the brother being too ill to attend). The second mourning coach contained the housekeeper, servants, and gardener. Several other gentle- men attended at the cemetery, among them being Mr. D. C. Jones, his successor in the old premises in Castle-square. The funeral arrangements were carried through with care and decorum by Mr. P. Jenkins, who was apprenticed to deceased in 1843. The coffin was of oak, covered with black cloth, and brass mountings. The funeral was one of the old- fashioned kind, each person invited being presented with a silk hatband and kid gloves. The burial was in an earthen grave, and the whole of the arrangements were carried out in accordance with the expressed wishes of the deceased. The bells of the parish church rang a muffled peal, and a number of trades- men put up their shutters to testify to the respect in which they held the deceased.

THE SOCIETY CLOWN" AT SWANSEA. Mr. George Grossmith, the well-known popular entertainer, is clever and is lucky, and he is now reaping such a financial harvest as few public entertainers have ever had within reach. On Tuesday night the Albert Hall was well filled by an audience consisting of many hundreds in evening dress, to listen to his new programme. The first part consisted of a sketch, entitled, Is Music a Failure," in the course of which Mr. Grossmith sang two sonps, Go on talking, don't mind me," and "The Society Nigger." Then came a sketch entitled, "Play Acting," witk humorous imitations of various conventional characters. The whole concluded with "The Forgetful Barrister," the Old Organ Man" and the "Up-to-Date Mamma." To say that the audience always laughed when Mr. Grossmith was funny is to considerably understate the fact; the audience laughed quite as often when they thought he was going to be funny. Most of the satire indulged in by the artist was of the lightest and thinnest kind, but it served its purpose admirably in the amusement of all present The local arrangements were carried out, in his usually effective manner, by Mr. John Brader, of the old-established firm of Brader and Sons, Wind-street. These entertainments must be enormously lucrative to Mr. Grossmith. since he himself undertakes the whole of the performance, I without submitting to the deduction from his profits of even so much as a. pianoforte acoom- I panist.