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The Watcher by the Dead
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The Watcher by the Dead By KATHERINE TYNAN. .Author of That Sweet Enemy," The Dear Irish Girl," The Adventures of Alicia." Dick Pentreath," &c., &c. I had ridden round and round the wood, I knew not how many times. I t was a very labyrinth of winding ways with nothing to distinguish them. The trees were as like as two peas-pale, slender tress, ghostly in the dark, with a waving plume of leafage far over- head. A silent wood. No nightingales sang under the May moon. There wrs no scurry ing of little furry beasts in the undergrowth. Only here and there a glow-worm lit his lamp and as quickly extinguished it as my foot came in his delicat e hearing. "Keep to the right." they had said at the tast inn, as you cross the Wood of Meetings, and you will come out in open country and see the lights of Godmanstowe town below you. If you turn but once to the left you are lost in the maze." I bad turned to the right so many times. Miles and miles there were of green avenues, With bluebells underfoot and wild anemones in the sky's colours, and liquid waters trickling in the moss. I had walked far that day. and 1 walked like a man in a dream. I had waked up that morning thinking of Alice, and her face had been with me all day. Hair of night, fine beautiful brows, eyes like tho eternal stars, a ale, tender mouth with a wonderful smile. Dnco all these had been mine and 1 had lost them. She had cared for my kinsman, Giles De LaPoer, more than for me. and I bad stood aside. More, I had not defended myself when the had believed me guilty of my cousin's sin. Since she did not love me it could not matter ihat she did not esteem me. And the sacrifice tt-as due to her for my love's sake. that she should marry a man she held for innocent, and fiever grieve her tender heart, for the wretch Ihe held guilty. There was just one thing I Was sure of. that. Giles loved her. and possess- ing her would not follow after the husks of Twine as he had been used to. Her. face, shining upon me between the ghostly trunks of the silver birches, be- wildered me, so that I must have taken one turn to the Icft unknowingly. Anyhow 1 had got lost in the maze, and through tho summer afternoon and summer dusk T had wandered Until the summer night settled down on the wood with a white brilliance overhead that told of-the summer moon beyond the tree-tops. It would have been no great, hardship to have Bang myself on the starred mosses for the night, but I was dogged in my purpose to be free of the maze, and I kept on and on, till my head swam and my senses ached with fatigue. Not even an owl hooted in the wood. It would be little use now. I felt, to arrive at Godman- stowe, since the people would all be abed and yet I kept on. And suddenly ] came out in front of a house which must have been hidden in the heart of the maze. The good people behind had told me nothing of this. But there it was with lights in the upper windows, its square shape iørk against the sky in an opening of the woods. The moon in the clear space was white as silver, but. the bouse threw its own shadow in a celvet blackness. I groped like a man in thick darkness till I found tbe door-hen and pulled it. The sound of it echoed through the house, and J had sense as though it jarred, as though it Were an outrage on the stillness. It had scarcely sounded before I heard the -eager whining of a dog beneath the door. The tound moved hither and thither, the creature's nose sniffed close to my feet, reminding me oddly of little Trust, the terrier I had given to Alice in our happy days six years ago. I had a hazy thoncht that I might be master of the house coming home to hi" own. I, who had no house, but had relinquished that with my pood name to Giles so that he might make Alice happy. Next I heard a shuffling foot in the hall be- yond the door; a bolt was letdown a key creaked in the wards of the lock. The door was opened, letting the light of a lantern fall upon my face. At the same instant some wild thing launched itself upon me, devouring my hands, as it seemed with kisses. Why, Trust, little Trust." I said. with hardly any surprise. So you remember your old master, little Trust. You are more faith- ful them human friends." All that evening while T wandered in the wood J had had the strangest feeling of having stepped over a borderland. I hardly knew whether this was a. world of living things or not in which I met my old friend whom 1 had never looted to see agnin I was caressing the little beast, having lifted him in my arms, when I recognised in the man who held the lantern another old friend or ac- quaintance of mine. Gregorv Mumhy, Lady N»*we's butler, from whom I had received many civilities in the days before my cousin Giles had snatched the sao out of my sky. We stared at each other and a wondcribgrecognition dawned in his eyes. He was the same Gregory I re- membered, rosy-cheeked, bine-eyed, with a lock of silver hair that overhung his forehead. He was not a day older for the six years and as he recognised me sudden joy leaped into his face. You come at s, good time, Sir Greville," he saU but you should never have left us. your honour, indeed vou should never have left us." Whose house is this ?" I asked in a startled voice, mhich I could hear as though it were another person's. Who but. Lady Newe's "he answered, giving me the answer I expected. So that was why I had been brought to the Wood of Meetings, why my careless feet had wandered the way I should have avoided of all others if but J had known.whythe wood-spirits or the angels or some mocking Fate had made me take the false turn that led me to the house of my lost love. J put down the little dog who yet licked my hands. I did not know. Gregory," 1 sa.id. H or 1 never should have come. I lost my way in the wood and some mischance brought me to Lady Newe's door. But there is no harm done. I can go as I came. Can you give me the clue by which to escape from the maze ?" I was not going even to ask for Alice. She was Lady De La Poer long before this doubt- less. I bad not heard of my cousin's marriage, butthen I had been a gipsy on the earth of late years, and had avoided bearing news of my old world so far as I could. As I turned away suddenly the old man laid a detaining hand on my arm- You wouldn't go, Sir Greville," he said. when my mistress has so much need of you ? Why, I am the only one left. All the others have fled for fear of the spotted fever. We are all alone with the dead, my lady and I and Mistress Alice." "The dead?" For a moment my senses swam. What did he mean ? Yet his words gave me reassurance. My dark rote of the world was not dead at least. And he had spoken of her in the old familiar way, of Mistress Alice not of Lady De La Poer—an old servant's slip doubtless. I put one foot over the threshold and the little dog began licking eagerly at my feet, as though he would lead me further. "I am Lady Newe's servant." I said, al- though I felt in my heart that I owed her lady- ship little for her judgment of me. She had been < oo plastic in my cousin's cunning hands. Yet she was Alice's mother. Time had been, before Giles had come, when she had tried to he pleasant to me, although with indifferent success. "I am her ladyship's servant," I repeated. But, Gregory Murphy, who is the dead ?" "Your own cousin. Sir Giles De La Poer. 'Tis but a week last Wednesday he came here. He was here but two days when he sickened of the fever, and he has been a' dead man Since mid-day." And—and—Mistress Alice ?" "She i" asleep, poorlatnb. She did every- thing for him whiL, he lived as though she loved him. She is worn out with nursing him, and may be sickening for the fever for all I laiow. It is a pretty tbing to have the dead In the house and only old Gregory Murphy to watch by the dead and serve the living." I have been in foreign countries, Gregory," I,said, and have heard no news. Tcllme now, is not Mistress AHcc married to my cousin ?" Lord lore you, r»o."lie answered. Mistress Alice was lor marrying no man, but would have gone to the convent after your honour left us. Her ladyship was for the marriage, and Sir Giles would not take no for an answer but came again and again. At last Mistress Alice, worn out with their importunities, consented to the marriage. And now Sir Giles is a dead man. Will you come to her ladyship, Sir Greville 7" I nodded my absent and followed him. So he hsvl cheated me after all, and Alice had not ioved him. It had been a plot between him and her mother, and being so. easily cajoled I had clip my love, my honorable name, my in- heritance, for this, for nothing. And now he tVDS dead, and I thought I knew Giles well enough to know that he had not cleared me. As I vent up the stairs with Gregory Murphy, I rhook like a leaf in the wind with a sense of my wwn impotence. Giles was dead, and Margery Fletcher was dead, and there was no one now to clear me wtih Alice. She had not loved Giles; she had loved me, and I had been a fool for her and mysdlf. God knows he had fooled cae thoroughly Lady Newe, sitting by the unlit fire with Blair's Sermons open on her knee as I had often seen her, looked up at me with a face on Which an unfriendly wonder grew. I had never pleased her because I not play the hypo- crite like my cousin, and I had lived harmlessly gay like other gentlemen of fashion and the profession of arms. This is un unexpected pleasure, Sir Gre- ville Dormer," she said. Yes, Lady Newe," I responded, and to me also. I lost my way in your woods, and Fate or something else brought? me to your doors. I had no idea, you were in this bleak North, but thought of you still as at Nightingales. We have left Nightingales these three years bsvek. We have had misfortunes. I was glad to bury myself from the world. Cheery Murphy has told you what has happened. Alas, it is in the inscrutable ways of Providence that the virtuous are taken and the wicked left." I winced under her sour speech. I had no intention of intruding." I said. In fact, I would have been now on my way if Gregory had not detained me. Gregory thought that you were in need of help." And so we are, although 1 would rather have had any helper than you. Sir Greville Dormer. We are sorely, sorely in need of help. What are we to do, two poor women and an old man, and a dead man to be buried ? He should be underground to-morrow, at latest." And I shall see to it," said I. Where shall we bury him ? Not at Godmanstowe. They have not forgotten the lasMever. There would be a riot." Just beyond the maze there is holy ground an old burying-place long disused, and the gable of a little church." To-morrow morning I shall dig the grave," J said. And Gregory and I can carry him there." I would have it over while Alice sleeps," she said. She has been in too great danger already. You might then perhaps go without seeing her. She is in grief for her betrothed husband." I had better stay," I said. How do we know who will be the next to sicken ?" It might he you," she said, thoughtfully, and we have none of the appliances of medi- cine. Promise me, if you feel ill. that you will hasten away. On the other hand, if any one of us were ill. you will stay." I have very little fear of the sickness, having been inoculated in my travels after the Eastern manner, and I shall stay," I answered. If you will keep to the Garden Room," she said Alice need not have the pain of seeing you." I will keep to the Garden Ronm," I replied, as humbly as though I had merited the con- demnation in her ga/.e. Gregory Murphy preceded me to the Garden Room. It was a room with a glass door looking on tho garden. It was on the ground floor of the house down beyond the fragged kitchen pas- sages. such a room as would be always entered by the garden way by the inmates of -he house. There was an organ in it and a piano, many pictures, and many books. On a little table in the centre there was a lit lamp, and supper was spread, a chicken, with a bottle of wine, whitebread and honey-coloured butter, with green lettuce in a dish. Sir Giles lies over theie," the old man said, pointing out into the darkness. In the pavi- lion. It has begun to rain. Do you hear the drops on the leaves ? It has been a dry summer. When your honour has supped you will find a bed here behind the screen." I went to the glass door and looked out. Across the darkness I could see the blur of dimy lit windows. So that was where he .was lying, who had robbed me of everything, and had not been an honest man even at the Jast. I shook like the reeds in a tempest with a gust of anger then suddenly it went ojt. What use was there in being angry against the dead ? I shall not sleep to-night, Gregory," I said. I am broad awake. If you will come for me at daybreak, we shall dig the grave and lay tho dead to rest." The old fellow yawned behind his 'hand. Very well, your honour," he said. I shall be to and fro keeping the candles alight. He must not lie in the dark, his last night on earth." Go to bed," I said. You ar.e tired. I will see to the candles." ] have been out of bed three nights." he answered with an air of relief. did not know how I should keep awake to-night. You are sure your honour will not mind 1" I shall not grudge him this last service," I said. The wind rose, and a wet bough tapped at the window-pane. "Your honour wiil go dry-footed,"the old fellow said, as though I should fear the passage of the garden in the rain, .1, who had become friends with the night and the elements, and feared none of them- here is a covered way. Sir Giles lies in the upper room. There is a lamp in the lower, and candles. Will your honour have a fire ? The night is damp." He lit the fire before he left me and when it had sprung up I opened the garden door and let the sweet wet airs come in.. Little Trust lay at my feet with his chin across my boot as often before. I stooped and caressed his grey top-knot, and he lodked up at me with dwnb eyes of affection. He had grown old since we had had our heyday together. I had found a book—" The Campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough "—an old calf-bound volume which I remembered at Nightingales. When 1 had laid it on the table and opened it. I thought that I would see to the candles be- fore beginning to road. As I crossed the garden the dog followed me. but lay whimpering at the threshold and would not enter the pavilion. The lower room was dimly lit. Around it were knights in armour, and there was faded tapestry on the walls that swelled and moved in the wind. Every corner was a deep shadow. As I lifted the lamp and looked about me. the shadows seemed to lrrk behind the heavy furniture, to fly in a pa"k before the light that discovered them. The place was so full of them that the light ha3 no chance against them. As I turned about I saw them creeping by the wall, whisking into the dark corners, crouching behind the settee or the tall screens. I was not one to be frightened of shadows, nor of the dead. I had seen too many dead for that, and looked too often into the eyes of death. I turned away, having replaced the lamp, and went up the winding staircase in the corner where the shadows were thickest. When I had come out into the room above I found more of an illumination. There was the bed with the dead man in it. There were candles at each side of him. and candles at the foot. The white drapery of the bed threw back the light and intensified it. I went and stood at the foot of the bed and gazed at my old enemy. I have said that I did not fear tho face of death, as I did not fear the fever, but I will confess that for an instant stark horror took hold of me. The dead man's face was horrible in the candle-light. Giles had been comely and well-featured as I remembered him. The fever had blackened his ruddiness the features were swollen and shapeless the lips parted over the teeth in a grin. It was time that he was under earth. My first, thought was that Alice must not sec him. It was no sight for women not for Lady Newe, though she had done much nursing of the sick. I replaced the candle which had fallen side- ways in the socket, and returned to the Garden Room. to which Trust welcomed me with a great sigh of relief. But between the campaigns of Marlborough and my apprehension the face of my cousin con- stantly intruded. It was horrible it was like nothing human. And yet to that the fairest of us might come if the spotted fever laid hold of us. Many thoughts came and went in my brain. I remembered Giles, my playfellow, and merry; and at thcught of it a great pity stirred in me for that marred and defaced image of God over there in the pavilion. Then again. I was angry at the thought of how he had tricked me out of Alice, making me believe that she loved him and not. me. And to think that he had died without righting me, that he had gone before his Maker with that wrong undone. I had been a poor fool to have been cheated out of my dear, yet if Lady Newe thought I was going so easily, she was mis- taken. I would see Alice. I would tell her the truth. To be sure. it might be that she would spurn me as the slanderer of the dead. Yet I thought she would not. I thought her eyes of truth would shine down into my heart, and dis- cern that through all my folly I had ever been true to her, so true that I had given up every- thing for what I thoiight to be her liappiness. A gust of ram scattered from the leaves re- minded me of the passage of time. cloi'k struck midnight somewhere within the' house. It would be daylight abont four o'clock. And notv it was time for me to see to the candles. When I stood by the bed again, I fotind that the wind had blown one of the curtains of the bed soclöse to a flaming candle that I was only in time to preent a, conflagration. The near- ness of the danger alarmed me. I resolved that I would stay where I was for the rest of my vigil. The windows of the pavilion stood open. The white curtains framed dense blackness out- side with not a sound except the wind in the trees, and the .stealing. footsteps of the rain on the parched earth below. I found a Book of Hours on a little table, and, taking a chair and facing the bed, I turned it over by the light, of the candles. It was strangely and gorgeously illuminated, but what struck me most was how often the figure of Death appeared in the pages. The skeleton victor struck at the child in the cradle, at the king on his throne, at the abbot among his monks, the bride in the arms of her groom. On every page the whole world was fleeing before his deadly arrows. Everywhere he overtook and slew his victims. The pictnres were amazingly diversified des- pite their sombre bent. I sat turning them over, glancing now and again at the bed, rising now and again to light a fresh candle, or to set one straight. As t moved hither and thither I avoided the distorted faceon the pillows, while I marvelled to myself upon the strange Fate that had sent me, of all men in the world, to keep vigil hy him that last night. hen-I fancy I dozed a little, and I awoke with a start. There was a sound in the room, Something had happened to set my heart beat- ing violently. The darkness was still outside the open window. Not a bird twittered. The candles burned straight and tall. The curtains of the bed stirred ever so little in the air from the window. I went to the bedside and looked down on the dead man. Nothing was changed. He had not stirred so much as an eyelid. It had been a delusion of my sleep that he had moved, spoken. I bent, over him, scrutinising the face with its hideous pustules. The teeth still grinned at me like those of an animal about to spring Certainly of late years Giles had hated mc-since he had wronged me so much. The last, time I had seen him he had cursed m. I had an odd faney now that in some horrible rcsurrecticn he in íc:nt. sprblg at mcand throttle me, and I drew back with an involuntary motion. And suddenly—I could swear to it—I saw the eyelid lift and drop again. Again he lay so motionless that it might have been a trick of the wavering candlelight or my own excited imagination. But I had no doubt, and yet for a moment I hesitated. Was I to bring him back to life, this be- traver of friends and women, this thief of the happiness and fame and fortune of others, bring him back to renew that troth with Alice, which death had broken ? lie deserved death. I said to myself that I need not do anything. It was most unlikely he should live even if he yet had a flickering of lihin him. And he had died without confessing his sin and my innocence. Why should I help him to Jive in order that he should rob me again of the hope of Alice's love ? For her sake he ought to die. I listened to the temptation but only for a second. Was I indeed to become viler than even he had painted me ? I shook off from my shoulder the hand of the Tempter, and, stoop- ing, I took the loathsome dead man in my arms. I stumbled with him down the steep and wind- ing stairs, and across the wet garden, where the first sleepy calls of the birds had begun. I laid him down before the fire in the Garden Room. I wrapped him in blankets from my own bed. I took the eau de vie, which Gregory Murphy had had the forethought to leave me in a little whiteand gold flask,and. I poured some between his lips, although at first it ran out. and I could not be sure that any had been swallowed. I worked his arms about as I had seem them do With drowned men. I sought to revive him as frantically as though I had loved him and not hated him. And, at last, his eyes opened and looked at me. By this time old Gregory had come in, and stood opening his mouth and saying nothing as though he had lost the power of speech. Why, he is alive, Sir Greville," he said at last. He is alive," I answered. Come, help me to get him into bed. He is alive, and he sees and hears. The fever has left him, Perhaps he is going to live." And then I went out to find a doctor, amd was fortunate to find one who would come, having heard what my errand was. And so we lived for days in an atmosphere of smoking sul- phur, and smelt incessantly of essences, and were drenched with wholesome oils, and none of us took the sickness, but in my own case I am sure I was preserved from it by that innocula- tion which interested Dr. Gossage so much to hear of. He, because he must not return among healthy folk, stayed on at the house in the mate, and helped to nurse Giles back to health, as it seemed and I having handled him so much, kept away from Lady Newe and Alice, and we were waited on by old Gregory. It was August when we were set free of our imprisonment, and Giles walked in the garden and through the maze so that the air might cleanse him of the last taint. I was always his companion, the doctor, by this time, having returned to the world. As we paced together slowly I used to glance at my cousin's pale check and wonder that I hated him no longer. He was to see Lady Newe and Alice soon. Often, often I had thought during his illness that I would wring a confession from him when he was well, but now it seemed difficult to begin to talk to him about it. He was so pale, so unearthly looking. He was very silent, too, and his thoughts seemed always to be ab- stracted. What did it matter after all ? I began to feel that Giles would never marry Alice He gained to strength. He yet leant upon me almost as heavily as the first day. While I walked by him one day I had a feel- ing that he was not really a pulsing awd living manlike myself. There was something un- earthly about, him. Suddenly he turned and looked at me, and I wondered, as I had often done since his illness, whither had vanished the fleeting devil that used to mock me from his face since we had. been rivals for the love of Alice. You saved my live, Cousin Greville," he said. I could not let you die," I answered lamely. Although I deserved it. Yet you could not, for your soul's sake. I believe I was dead, Gre- ville, dead and condemned. But God gave me another chance for my soul. He let me come back to make atonement for my sins. I shall see Alice to-morrow to tell her the truth. I shall give up all I have wrung from you by unlawful means. You shall marry Alice, Cousin Greville. And And you ?" I am going to the Carthusians. I hope God will leave me a few yesrs on earth in which to expiate the sins of that other life." So I married Alice and we are happy, and Giles is Brother Bruno of the Carthusians. After all he has lived. I am ten years a husband, and a lover still. Once I caught sight of Giles's face under the cowl. It was at sunset, and he was in the graveyard of the monastery on the hill-siie the monks have reclaimed. He was flinging a spadeful of earth out of his grave as the Carthusians do. He looked like a dead man. Giles," I cried to him, remembering- our boyhood. He only pulled the cowl lower and went on with his task. •• Not Sir Giles." said the Prior at my car, not Sir Giles, Sir Greville, but- Brother Bruno, and a saint."
BIGAMY CHARGE AT BRIDGEND.
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BIGAMY CHARGE AT BRIDGEND. Collier Committed for Trial. John William Jones, a collier, of Nantyglo, formerly of Maesteg, was charged at Bridgend on Saturday with having committed bigamy. Mr David Llewellyn was for the prosecu- tion and Mr J. Haydn Jones for the defence. Evidence having been given that defendant's first wife, whom he married in 1902, was still alive and had been granted a separation order, Sarah King, of 22. High-street, Six Bells, Aber- tillery, stated that she went through a form of marriage at Trinity Church, Nantyglo, last September, with the prisoner,who gave the name of William Thomas, by which he was known at Abertillery. In reply to Mr Haydn Jones, wit- ness said she knew before themarriage that pri- soner was a married man, but she was under the impression that she could legally be married under a separation order. Inspector Ben- jamin Evans said he arrested prisoner as he was liberated from Cardiff Prison after serving a month for deserting his wife and family. In reply the charge he said. I will say nothing now." but immediately afterwards he added, My second wife knew very well I was a married man." Prisoner was committed for trial at the next Assizes, bail being refused.
MAIL STEAMER FROM BARRY.
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MAIL STEAMER FROM BARRY. Smart Repairs and Despatch. The ss. Reventazon, belonging to Elders and Fyffes.a fine new steamer, sailed from Barry on Sunday morning with passengers and mails for Costa. Rica. The vessel will be engaged in the banana trade between the West Indies and America. Whilst atBarry a fire broke out in the bunker hold which was extinguished with diffi cQlty and occasioned no little damage. Exten- sive repairs were necessary, and as the sailing day had been fixed these had to be executed with promptitude. At first it was considered the time only allowed for merely temporary repairs in order that the vessel should sail as advertised, but the firm of Messrs C. H. Bailey, to whom the work was entrusted, were able to complete the permanent repairs a few days ago, and no delay in sailing was occasioned. The passengers arrived from London on Saturday, together with the mails, the former travelling in special SH loons, and the latter being transferred at Barry, the work being entrusted to the local postal staff.
THE MESSAGE OF THE YEAR.
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THE MESSAGE OF THE YEAR. On Sunday evening the Rev. J. Morgan Tonea, M.A., pastor of the Tabernacle Congre- gational Church, Aberdare, instead of the ordi- nary sermon delivered an address on the mes- sage of the year to Christian people. Outside of England the two events that marked the year were, he thought, the social revolution in Russia and the clerical revolution in France. Both taught the lesson that institutions which did not fulfil their duties in working for national aims and for national objects must go. In this country the sreat fact of the year was the election in January, and that was marked not only by the return at a large number of Labour members, but by men from the ranks being chosen for the first time for the Cabinet. To him the great lesson of the year was the importance of education, and the Christian Church must seek the salvation of the nation rather bv education than by con- ference. On Sunday evening Mr G. H. Bibbings, the South Wales organiser of the Independent Labour Party, delivered an address at the New Theatre. Aberdare, on "A New Year's Pro- phecy for the Race." Mr Idris Davies, Cwm- bach, occupied the chair. Mr Bibbings said the pafet year had seen two great revolutions— when the Labour Party 50 strong was elected to the House of Commons and when France threw off the yoke of clericalism. Whilst the Education Bill was wrecked the Tories allowed the Trades Disputes Bill to pass, because it was backed by organised Labour. His prophecy was that Labour had come to stay, and they were going to have a working House of Com- mons.
CURIOSITIES OF WELSH CHARACTER.
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CURIOSITIES OF WELSH CHARACTER. Lecture at Ynysybwl. The characteristics of Welsh mining life fermed the subject of a lecture delivered by Mr Joseph Keating to the members of the Ynysybwl Constitutional Club on Saturday evening. Mr D. Davies was in the chair. The Rev. D. Phillips, in proposing a vote of thanks to the lecturer, referred to the lec- turer's coments upon the self-educating zeal of the young Welsh colliers, their success in win- ning University scholarships, and the hard- ships and sometimes failure these poor students endured after devoting five years to study, which resulted in their being driven back to work in the pits once more. He hoped these sad instances were not due to any defect in the educational system of Wales, but to rare and unavoidable misfortune. But the points raised by Mr Keating were important, and de- served serious attention.
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"Mr Griddles." said the girl with the class pin, did you ever enjoy hearing a college song ?" No. indeed," assured the young man In the "cosy corner." Then if you never heard. one we girls will sing you one." I did not say I never heard one I said I never enjoyed ona."
MERTHYR BAPTISTS.
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MERTHYR BAPTISTS. THE- HIGH-STREET CHURCH. Centenary Celebration. The High-street Baptist Church, Merthyr, celebrated. its 100th anniversary on Sunday, there being large congregations, under the ministry of the pastor. Rev. T. W. Chance, M.A. On a New Year's Day near the dawn of the 19th century a cheerless room above a black- smith's shop sufficed for the 16 earnest spirits who assembled together and formed an English Baptist Church, which was the high ambition of William and Martha Matthews, who with Wm. Bowen were its reat founders. That primitive meeting place (said Mr Chance in his review of the history of the church at the morning ser- vice yesterday) stood near where Hope Chapel stands now, back from the High-street. The smith, honest man, while he observed the Sabbath, had to earn his living and exercise his handicraft throughout the week, and when the good Baptists assembled during the week for their evening services the activities of the smith proved so disconcerting that they decided upon another meeting place, and found it in a room above two cottages atTai Cochion. There the little band were soon joined by a pastor in the person of the Rev. Daniel Davies, of Moleston, Pem. Under his fosterng care the church prospered, but he left in 1812, and for some years the church was carried on without pastoral oversight. But the church grew, and larger accommodation was imperative. The General Baptists had possessed a church at Merthyr with a chapel called Bethel in Georgetown that church had become defunct and the chapel was in the market." With the burial ground attached, it was bought by the English Baptists for JE200. and in April, 1813, it was re-opened by them for public wor- ship. A printer named Rees had been con- ducting the Communion services for the little church, but he had incurred the displeasure of his employer, who had summarily dismissed him from his situation for devoting too much time to the work of the church. Rees then de- cided to enter Abergavenny College, and in August, 1814, Evan Herbert, of Abergavenny, was ordained as the second pastor of the little church. But there were storms during Her- bert's pastorate, and in 1821 he left for London. The pastoral oversight of the flock was then assumed by a schoolmaster named Shaw, but although he prepared many boys for successful careers in commerce and brought up his son William to be an artist, of high repute, he could no tget on with the Baptist congregation, and he left. A Popular Pastor. A new epoch commenced when Thomas Harris, a MonmQUthshire man of rare quality, was appointed pastor in 1824. He soon filled the chapel, and even Anglicans came to hear him preach in the evenings when no English ser- vice was provided by the Establishment. It was found necessary to double the seating accom- modation of the little Bethel in 1826, and the pastor himself collected the X495 required. He enjoyed the loyal support of a fine band of deacons-John Edmunds, JameJ Howells, Benjamin Jenkins, and John Samuel, elected in 1825, and Thomas Jeffrevs. William Thomas, and Thomas John, elected six years later. Those were the days when the chapels were lighted at night by candles-not the modem composite." but "tallow dips. Gaslight was not used in Merthyr until 1856, and it was the lot of a daughter of Deacon Howells to go round during the service to trim the candles. Those were the days, too, when the musical portion of the service was limited they only knew 12 tunes in that little church, and their favourite was Lingham," Pastor Harris left in 1836, and in 1837 he was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Davies, who had been trained in Bristol College. It was during his ministry that the Market-square Congregational Church was established. Several Scotchmen attended Bethel, and they wished to receive the Commu- nion with the members of the church,but some members were opposed to open Communion, and Mr Davies would not consent so long as this opposition continued. He offered, how- ever, to adminisbr the Sacrament to the Scotchmen separately, but they would not agree to this, and in 1840 they built the Market- square Congregational Church. New Chapel. At this time, strangely enough, the Bethel Church grew to such an extent that a new chapel was decided upon, and it was erected in High-street by William Lewis and Jacob Morgan, from designs by T. H. Watt, a Lojadon architect. The cost of the new building was X2,000, and when it was opened ZI,700 remained unpaid. Among the leaders of the church in this new enterprise were two sons of Mr Morgan Joseph—David (manager under Mr Hill at Plymouth) and Thomas—together with Henry Charles, William Bowen, Samuel Thomas (father of Mr D. A. Thomas, M.P.), John Jones (father of Colonel J. J. Jones), Jacob Morgan, John Powell, and Thomas Jenkins and among the deacons was Owen Evans, a veteran of Waterloo. Until 1856 High-street was the only English Baptist church in the parish, and some of,the leading families in the district were associated with it, among them being the family of Sir William Thomas Lewis. Excellent work was done by Pastor Davies, and in 1849 the church was refreshed by a revival, and 106 members were added to the roll in twelve months. The minister built up a church with a membership of 226, established Beulah Church at Dowlais, and when he left in 1857 to become principal of Haverfordwest Baptist College there were three Sunday schools associated with the church. For four years the minister of the church was Mr George Ward Humphreys, B.A., and during his time there was a split," and Ainon Chapel was built in 1859 but Mr Hum- phreys had no part in the causes of this sever- ance,which injured his church considerably. When the church was in a weakened stateinl864, Mr Charles White became the minister, and his gifts were so well suited to its needs that when he left in 1868 to succeed the Rev. James Spurgeon, at Notting Hill, London, the cause had been restored to its old-time condition of prosperity. This prosperity was continued under the pastorate of a very saintly man, the Rev. Thomas Williams, B.A., now of Aberystwyth, who remained as minister until 1878. Then in 1879 came Dr. Witton Davies (now of Bangor). For six months after his appoint- ment as pastor Dr. (then Mr) Davies remained as a student of Regent's Park College, London. His ministry at Merthyr only lasted two yaars, but the cburch flourished. In 1881 the eminent Semitic scholar left for Haverfordwest College, where he became a classical tutor. In 1881 Rev. T. W. George became pastor, and after a split which resulted in the establishment of Morlais, Church in 1885, Mr George left for Melincrvthan. When the Rev. D. J. Hiley succeeded to the pastorate in 1887 he found a membership of only 90, but by his magnetic personality and great eloquence the chapel was soon filled to overflowing. In 1890 Mr Hiley left for Dalston, and be was succeeded in 1891 by the Rev. Ernest Rowe Evans, a man of rich gifts and a powerful preacher. He left for Neath in 1893, and the Rev. Alfred Hall came from St. Leonards to succeed him in 1894. Mr Hall remained until 1898, when he left to. become pastor of the Baptist Church at Port Elizabeth. He is now the pastor of the Baptist Church at Durban. Among those who have been connected with the church, and who have risen to prominence in the ministry in other walks are the Revs. T. Cole, H. Davies, H. H. Humphreys. Evan Probert, Hector V. Davies, G. Hay Morgan, M.P. (who began preaching there), and Alder- man W. M. Fuller, Newport. Progress of the Church. The present pastor, Rev. T. W. Chance, M.A., commenced his pastorate in September, 1899, while the chapel was being renovated. On June 24th, 1900. the renovated building was re-opened, the cost of the work, including the organ, having amounted to £ ?,300. The present debt only amounts to S160, all of which is free of interest. The success of the church since Mr Chance's settlement is without parallel in its history. When he came there were 160 members now there are 340. Dr. Thomas Davies baptised 94 into the church during the cholera scare in 1849 But it was a power different from fear that brought. 100 people to Ii Mr Chance to be baptised in 1905. That Wa1 the year of the revival. i THE HIGH-STREET BAPTIST CHAPEL AT MERTHYR. (From a Print Made at the Time the Building was in Course of Erection.)
-.__-=:-CHURCHES AND DRINK.
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.=:- CHURCHES AND DRINK. THE MAYOR OF NEATH SPEAKS HIS MIND. The first,meeting of the Cardiff and District Band of Hope and Temperance Union of the New Year was held on Saturday night at the Cory Hall under very encouraging circum- stances. The Lord Mayor of Cardiff (Councillor Crossman) presided over a large audience, and he was supported by the Mayor of Neath (Councillor E. S. Phillips, J.P.), the Mayor of Cowbridge (Councillor C. M. Davies, J.P.), and over a dozen prominent Cardiff and dis- trict temperance leaders. The Cardiff Blue Ribbon Choir, led by Mr Jenkin Morris, and ac- companied on the piano by Mrs Bartlett, ren. dered musical selections, and several artistes gave solos during the evening. Mr P. W. Brett mentioned the great services dona to the temperance cause by Mr John Cory, and on Mr Brett's iDitiative the audience decided to send, as is customary at the first meeting of the year, the season's greetings to Mr Cory. The Chairman, in a short speech, said that although he had not appeared on the Union's platform previously to becoming Lord Mayor, it was through no lack of sympathy. He knew the benefits of temperance wel I; he knew what it was to work hard at a trade—as a mason-( loud applause)—and he knew what it was to be tired with brain-fag as a public man. (Ap- plause.) But he could safely say that he could do his work far better without alcoholic drinks at all. His determination was to try bv example to prove that it was not necessary. The gene- ration, he believed, was becoming wiser people found out that there was no need for alcoholic liquors to help a man in his daily toil or when he had to use his brains. (Applause.) He was confident that they were going to have brighter times, and he did no one harm by say- ing that there should be less licensing premises in the city of Cardiff. (Applause.) Councillor E. S- Phillips in a stirring address referred to the loss the temperance .cause had sustained by the death of Sir Wilfrid Lawson. They had in the old year lost many notabilities, but lie felt the outlook for the present year was not dark and gloomy. He said this because they had a statement in print made by the Prime Minister that the coming Session of Parliament would be devoted to the great work of licensing reform. (Applause.) Councillor Phillips touched on the tied-house system, and said they would not be satisfied until this greatest of evils was abolished. The limited liability company in the trade must not be tolerated. This com- pany business made the question very compli- cated the traffic was interwoven by men con- nected with religious bodies and politicians of evet-y shade. Connected with the trade they found men occupying seats in churches, and this paralysed their churches for good and helped to defeat the very ends of the ministry of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Pro- ceeding, he said: I knew a church where £20 was sent to it through the liquor sources, and that church received it. The men that occupied the position in the big pew were the very men lo that were simply dumb when any question of moral elevation was brought to the front. The church would go on, but the men in the front seat were men who were not absolutely free from the' trade. Councillor C. M. Davies, the Mayor of Cow- bridge, delivered an addl ess of great- force, and the meeting was closed with the benediction. ■■■ ——-
FLIGHT OF WILD GEESE.
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FLIGHT OF WILD GEESE. Fine Sight at Llanishen. If wild fowl are weather prophets—and the popular impression that what they don't know on this head is not worth knowing is probably true—we are in for another spell of severe weather. About noon on Sunday (writes a naturalist member of our staff) I witnessed a remarkable flight of wild geese over Llanishen. There were in all six orsevenuocksor" skeins," and the number of birds in each varied from 50 to 60. Each flock was flying in the wedge- shajDed formation so often adopted by wild fowl when taking long flights. I counted over 300 birds, and the total number probably was nearer 400. They were only about 400 feet above the ground and their cries filled the air. They were all flying in the most business- ] ike manner from east to west, and in all pro- bability had come from the low-lying flats along the Severn beyond Newport and were bound for the Margam marshes. It would appear that in going from point, to point they follow a line just to the south of the southern- most range of hills- Before the recent severe weather set in numbers of geese were seen going over Llanishen westward to more sheltered districts, and last we<?k as sooi as it became milder many returned, but such a big flight as was seen on Sunday has seldom been observed at Llanishen. Curiously enough these geese seldom stay on either of the Corporation reser- voirs. On Sunday week Marsh, the reservoir keeper, for the first time saw three geese on thejbank of the Uanishen Reservoir just as day was breaking, but as soon as it got light they denarted.
----__------_u_--BROTHERHOOD…
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-u_ BROTHERHOOD OF MAN. ADDRESS BY MR T. RICHARDS, M.P. Objectionable Features of Football. Addressing a meeting of the Blaina Men's Brotherhood, presided over by the Rev. R. R. Tregunna, at the Weslevan Church, on Sunday- Mr V. Richards, M.P., dwelt upon the bond of brotherhood that should exist in common humanity, and, replying to the question as to what could be done to further that brother- hood, said that each could do his part, by realising that all who belonged to the human family were brothers. The truth that the wrong done to the humblest and the weakest was a wrong done to all, the effects of which they could not escape, much as they might neglect the cause, was more and more revealed. To rescue the poor from the toils of the land- grabbers, rackrenters, unprincipled specula- tors, trustmongers, and corner manipula- tors, was a work that would bring the bright day of the brotherhood of man nearer. The filthy, insanitary dwellings, the hard, unsympa- thetic economic conditions, breeding despair and hopelessness in the life of the parents, were sending forth a stream of humanity corrupted from the very source. The liquor traffic wts cne of the chief barriers obstruct- ing the ooward march of brotherhood. Dealing with the depredations caused by gambling and sport, he instanced football, and said that although he was not opposed to the game, in fact he was looking anxiously for- ward at the beginning of the week to the result of the Cardiff v South African match, young men should seriously consider whether because their team happened to have won a match they were entitled to render themselves offensive and insulting to those who had to mingle with them on the railway platform or in the train. They should also try and find some less objectionable method of rejoicirg over their victory than bysirgir-g filthy doggerel sorgs alternately with the sacred hymns that were associated with some of the most blessed ex- periences of their parents ond friends. Such conduct degraded the young men and the sport they appeared to enjoy. A feature of local football which, to him, appeared to have quite the opposite effect, to that which was said to be the primary object of the game was the condi- tions under which the young men working in the mines indulged in the gamc: He believed that such conditions not only did not develop a robust constitution, but were responsible for the undermining of many a strong frame and bringing about serious physical deterioration, premature old age, and the early death of many a promising youth. A young collier on a football Saturday entered the mine in the early morning and attempted to do in five what would reason- ably occupy seven hours, in order to leave two hours earlier, the temperature of hii working place being between 60 and 80 degrees, and on leaving his work he rushed home, bolted his food. took a hot bath, and then rushed to catch an open brake, in which he rode with the ther- mometer perhaps registering several decrees of frost. Football under such conditions must entail risks of pneumonia, asthma, bronchitis, and rheumatism. As to Sunday observance, he thought the bicycle tour and the brake ride all tended in the same direction, and a Sunday devoted to selfish pleasure and amusement was a short road to seven days' work for six days' pay for tens of thousands of the poofer classes of the community.
SUSPENDED FROM IRON PIN.
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SUSPENDED FROM IRON PIN. Tragic Death at Newport. On Saturday evening David Wood, 43, Cabot-street, Bedminster, Bristol, sustained fatal injuries at Burton Wharf in the river Vsk, Newport. Wood was engaged as mate on the steamer Ethel, now lying at Burton's Wharf, and on Saturday afternoon he went ashore to purchase groceries. Shortly before* six o'clock he was returning to his ship, and when passing over from the quay wall fell, down. The engineer, John Duncan, who was on board, heard a noise as of something falling, and on looking over the side of the ship he saw Wood hanging by his coat frocr an iron pin on the side of the ship. With the assistance of other men Wood was secured and conveyed to the deck, where it was found that he had sustained a large wound on the neck. Dr. Buckner was sent for, but although he was promptly on the ship the man had passed away. The body was subsequently removed to the mortuary. There was a ladder, approached by a narrow path, from the quay wall to the ship's deck, and it is believed deceased overbalanced himself when on the path and fell over the quay wall on to the side of the ship, a distance of about 30ft. He leaves a widow and several children.
[No title]
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Yes," said Mrs De Robinson proudly, as she pointed to the pictures on her walls, I bought these from Mr Megilp, the well-known art dealer, you know, and he assured me that they were all genuine chromos. There's quite a run on Chromo's work just now, I under-
Labourin Mid-Glamorgan
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Labourin Mid-Glamorgan PARTY ORGANISATION. Attack on the County Council. The Executive Council of the Mid-Glamorgan Labour Party met at Port Talbot on Saturday night. The delegates represented 7,000 mem- bers from miners lodges, I.L.P. branches. Trade and Labour Councils, the railwaymen, etc. Mr Vernon Hartshorn (miners' agent, Maesteg) took the chair. He said no steps had been taken since the last meeting to visit the miners lodges and other organisations in Mid- Glamorgan with the object of getting them to atliliate. It was thought that it was best to wait until things had settled down after the recent bye-election. Arrangements had, how- ever, been made to address meetings in the anthracite district, and Mr Stanton, of Aber- dare, had promised assistance. The work of organisation would now be vigorously pushed forward. IIlr Hartshorn referred to the im- portant step taken by the miners' executive in asking the miners in seven Parliamentary divisions, to forthwith proceed to nominate Parliamentary candidates. The lodges iu his own district had already nominated a candidate for Mid-Glamorgan, and a joint meeting to cover the division would shortly be held to deal with the nominations and make a final selection. It must be understood that the miners did not wish to foist their own nominee upon a constituency. Any other Labour organisation was free to nominate a candidate from their own ranks on the understanding that that organisation would finance the candidate. The little difficulty there had been in connection with the various lodges paying the levy of 2d per member to the Mid-Glamorgan Labour Party had now been overcome, as it had practically been arranged that 4d of the la Parliamentary levy now paid to a Central Fund by the miners should be retained for Ioral purposes, and, further, the miners' executive had now removed its embargo on the funds, and as soon as a constituency made it clear they meant contesting the seat, the funds would be available. Hence, Mid- Glamorgan had now nothing between it and a Labour contest. A letter was read from the Ffaldau lodge, Pontycymmer, stating that it had decided to affiliate with the Mid-Glamorgan Labour party. The Corrwg lodge decided not to join. The Garw Miners' Association, through its secretary, wrote asking that the expenses of delegates to the Council meetings should be paid. It transpired that the various organisa- tions had defrayed the expenses of their delegates. It was finally decided to deal with this matter of expenses at the next meeting of the Council. The Briton Ferry delegates raised the ques- tion of their affiliation fees, and pointed out that their local work was so heavy in connec- tion with their annual Labour demonstrations that there was a difficulty in finding the funds. The delegates were anxious that the Mid-Gla- morgan labour Party should now undertake the work of these demonstrations and thus re- lieve them of the financial strain. This was agreed to, the following resolution being passed: That the Mid-Glamorgan Labour Party arrange to hold demonstrations in Briton Ferrvand other suitable centres in Mid-Gla- morgan during the present year." A draft of the constitution was then sub- mitted. It was ordered to be printed and dis- tributed and considered at the next meeting of the Gouncil. The draft constitution provided that the name of the organisation be the Mid-Glamor- gan Labour Party," its object being to unite all Labour organisations in the Parliamentary Division to secure the election of Independent Labour representatives in the House of Commons and on local governing bodies. Representation at conferences, it was proposed, should be in the proportion of one delegate for every 50 mem- hers, and on the Executive Committee three members from each of the five districts of the Miners' Federation,from eachTrades andLabour Council, from the I.L.P. Federation, and from the Kailwaymen's Unions, and one member from the co operative societies of the constitu- ency. An annual fee of 2d per member to be contributed by all affiliated societies, and the committee to have power to make special appeal for funds for Parliamentary elections. All candidates selected by the party to stand as Labour candidates," independent of either political party, and societies nominating candi- dates must find at least two-thirds of the elec- tion expenses. A permanent organiser to be appointed. During discussion of the necessity for Labour representation on local bodies, a dele- gate declared that many of the schools in the division which under School Boards had reached a high state of efficiency at present were under- staffed, and had unqualified teachers in charge of large classes. Barry, the Rhondda, Cardiff. Pontypridd, and Merthyr were giving a generous education to the children in their schools, but the Glamorgan Education Com- mittee seemed animated by the one idea of gjving cheap education to children of the workers. Every effort should be made to secure Labour representation on the Glamorgan County Council, to specially look after the schools. The delegates then stated what was being done in their varioas districts to contest elec- tions in March. Maesteg is particularly active. It aims at securing two seats on the District Council, and two or three on the Board of Guardians, in addition to the present Labour members on these bodies. The question of the County Council had not yet been considered. The Ogmore Valley had arranged to contest seats on the County Council, District Council and Guardians. It was finally resolved that a circular be drafted and forwarded to all lodges and Labour organisations urging them to give every atten- tion to representation on local bodies and make an effort to secure the return of Labour candi- dates. J.
FUNERAL OF COL. D. R. DAVID.
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FUNERAL OF COL. D. R. DAVID. Impressive Ceremony. The interment of the late Colonel David Roderick David, J.P., of Maesgwyn, Port Tal- bot, took place on Saturday, amid many mani- festations of sorrow. Although the weather was inclement the funeral was very largely attended. The leading gentlemen of the dis- trict and neighbouring towns and the work- men from the deceased gentleman's works assembled in the Margam-road at 2.30, and a short service was conducted at the residence by the Vicar of St. Theodore's, Port Talbot i, Rev. D.J. Jones), after which the procession pro- ceeded along the Margam-road to the ancient abbey church of Margam. The cortege was headed by the police. led by Superintendent Davies (Bridgend), Inspector Edwards (Port Talbot), and Sergeants Preece (Port Talbot), Phillips (Aberavon). and Davies (Cwmaman); then came the Port Talbot Fire Brigade, fol- lowed by the workmen of the Taibach Tinplate Works, who carried the numerous wreaths and crosses. The following were the mourners :— First carriage, Mrs D. R. David (widow), Capt, Llewellyn David and Capt. T. J. David (sons) and Misses Annie and Emily David (daughters); second carriage, Mr and Mrs Griffiths (Treorky), and Dr. and Mrs R. W. Roberts (Port Talbot); third carriage, Rev, and Mrs Morgan Powell (Aberaman) and the Rev. Arthur W. Weekes (Dean of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge), and Mrs Weeks fourth carriage, Mr Thomas Davies (Pontardulais) and his son, Mr D. L. Williams (Taibach), ami John Rees. Carriages of sympathisers followed, the occupants including Mr Godfrey Lipscomb, .T.P. (representing Miss Talbot), Mr G. Deere. J.P., Mr Hilton Yates (Cwmavon), Colonel Jacob and Mr Fred Jacob (Aberavon), Dr. J. Arnallt Jones, J.P., Dr. J. H. Davies, Major Gray, J.P. (chairman of the Margam Urban District Council), Mr S. H. Byass, J.P., Mr O. H. Thomas (Neath), Mr George David (Cardiff), Mr W. Joseph (Newport), Mr G. N. Player (Clydach), Mr Jestyn Jeffries (Neath). County Councillor J. M Smith, J.P. (Mayor of Aber- avon), Revs. D. H. Griffiths (vicar of Aber- avon), Z. Williamson (Margam), A. Jones, A. J. Edwards, Austin Davies (PortTalbot), D. C. Morris (Bryn), Hugh Thomas (Oakwood), D. Phillips (Newcastle. Bridgend), Mr Chas. Jones, J.P. (Aberavon). At the church gates the pro- cession was met by the united choirs of Mar- gam, St. Theodore's, St. Agnes', and the Welsh Church of the Holy Cross, under the conductor- ship of Mr Thomas, of Margam. The service at the church was conducted by the Rev. Z. Williamson and the Rev. D. J. Jones. "0 rest in the Lord was impressively rendered by the organist, Mr Frank Seaton (St. Theodore's), and on the way to the grave the choirs sang Let saints on earth In concert sing," and at the graveside, after the burial service had been lead, the assembly joined in the familiar Welsh hymn 0 fryniau Caersalem." The coffin was of oak, enclosed in a she! and bore the inscription, David Roderick David, born December 11th, 1842. died January 1st, 1907" As it was placed in the vault, a large representa- tion of Freemasons dropped sprigs of acacia upon it. The funeral arrangements were in the hands of Mr T. Hughes, Taibach.
KNIGHTON BABFcASE.
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KNIGHTON BABFcASE. Young Woman Sent to Assizes. Mary Elizabeth Conway, at Knighton. on Saturday, was charged on remand with having concealed the birth of her child on or about 14th December last. The child's dead body was found wrapped in a piece of brown Daper in a field near the town. The accused is a laundress about 30 years of age, and for some three weeks prior to the finding of the body had been resid- ing alone in a house at Brookside. She quitted these premises the day the body was iound, and was arrested at Pentre, near Mold,in Flintshire. Dr. T, W. Graves stated the child was three or four days old and died of bronchitis. He found in the stomach something in the nature of food, from which he gathered that some attention had been paid the child. He could not say whether it had been placed in the field previous to or after death. There were no injuries externally or internally, and the cause of death was certainly bronchitis. The only cJothing on the child was a linen binder and a chemise.and in answer to the chairman witness said this was not sufficient clothing if the child had been exposed while alive. The child was well nourished and fully developed, and in his opinion had been in the field where found not more than twenty-four hours, and possibly not more than twelve, Tn answer to the charge the accused said nothing, and she was committed to Radnorshire Assizes, to be held at Preatcicp" t-1'* 29th imtw
Baroness Burdett-Coutis
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Baroness Burdett-Coutis BURIAL IN THE ABBEY. Touchingly Simple Funeral. Borne through London streets lined with thousands of tearful people of all grades and shades of society, the coffin of the Baroness Burdett-Coutts, bearing only a little bunch of sweet herbs plucked from the garden on the hill by Mr Burdett-Coutts. was on Sat- urday taken to its last resting place in West- minster Abbey amid many impressive and touching scenes. From the well-known house in Stratton- street, along Piccadilly, Grosvenor-place, and Victoria-street, the sad procession made its way to the Abbey, holding up the traffic all along the route and bringing tears to the eyes of thousands, Shops were shut, blinds were lowered, men reverently uncovered, and there was not a single sign wanting to indicate how this philanthropic and gracious lady had won her place in the hearts of all, irom King to coster-boy. Ten carriages followed the hearse. In the first carriage sat Mr Burdett-Coutts alone-the chief mourner. Then followed the other car- riages, containing other mourners. The pall bearers were •—Prince Francis of Teck, the Duke of Wellington, the Dnkeof Argyll. Viscount Peel, Mr Herbert Gladstone, M.P., Capt. Colin Keppell, Mr William Rolls Malcolm, and Mr Frederick Greenwood. In the Abbey itself there was not a vacant seat, and seldom has the beautiful edifice held a more representative gathering. The Xing was represented by Lord Colebrook, the Queen by the Hon. Sidney Greville, and the Prince and Princess of Wales by Sir William CSar- rington. The Lord Mayor and Sheriffs in their State robes were there to represent the City of Lon- don, while the chief city of Scotland was represented by the Lord Provost and a number of magistrates in their robes of office. London society, literature, art, and drama were all represented by their leaders. The theatrical profession, to whom the late Baroness was ever ready to lend a helping hand, was especially in evidence, amongst the actors and actresses present being Mr George Alexander. Mr Cyril Maude, Mr BeerbohQa Tree, Mr and Mrs Lawrence Irving, Mr A. Bourchier, and Mr George Grossmitb. The funeral procession halted in the Broad Sanctuary, and the coffin was reverently re- moved from the hearse, and the procession re- formed at the west cloister door, where it was joined by the sub-dean, the Rev. Canon Duck- worth. As the coffin was slowly borne through the cloisters with Mr Burdett-Coutts walking alone immediately behind it, the vast congre- gation heard in the far distance the choristers singing the beautiful hymn, Brief life is here our portion." When the procession reached the nave the choir sang the opening phrases of the Burial Service to Dr. Croft's plaintive music, and nearly a quarter of an hour after its arrival at the Abbey the coffin was laid on trestles under the lantern. The funeral psalm, Lord, Tholl hast bean our refuge," was chanted to the well-known setting by Henry Purctjll, and then, following the epistle, read by the sub-dean, came Handel's touching anthem: When the ear hearefcher, then it blessad"her; And when the eye saw her, it gave witness of her. She delivered the poor that cried the fatherless, and him that had none to help him—kindness, meekness, and comfort were in her tongue. If there was any virtue, and if there was any praise, she thought on those things. Their bodies are buried in peace, but their name liveth evermore. The appropriateness of the words went to the hearts of the great congregation, and when the last notes of the choir died away there was not a dry eye in the Abbey. The hymn" Now the labourer's task is having sounded through the Abbey, the coffin, still bearing the little bunch of herbs, was slowly borne to t.he grave, whilst Dr. Allcoek made the sacred edifice reverbrate with the strains of the Dead March" in" Saul." Only the mourners and those with seats near the grave witnessed the actual committal of the body to the vault. Three Royal wreaths were placed round the grave by the Hon. Sidney Greville a.nd Sir William Carrington. One from the Queen, composed of arum lilies, lilies of the valley, and white lilac, bore a card-" In remembrance of a long and good life, from Alexandra." The Prin. cess of Wales sent a large wreath of Neapolitan violets and white flowers, with the inscription, In affectionate memory of a very old friend, from Victoria May." The third wreath was A mark of sincere regard, from Helena, Princess Christian." Memorial services were held at the church in Down-street, Piccadilly, which the late Baroness often attended, and at St. Stephen's, the church in Rochester-row, Westminster, which was built by the munificence of the Baroness. Both services were largely attended*
CARDfFF.
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CARDfFF. Guardians Like Dumb Driven Cattle. At the Cardiff Board of Guardians' meeting on Saturday, Mr O. H. Jones presiding, Mr Llewellyn, of Barry, submitted a motion rescinding the Board's resolution of April 15th. 1899, empowering the Children's Homes Com. mittee to engage foster-mothers subject t < final confirmation by the Board, and proposed that the method in future should be that the committee select suitable candidates to appear before the Board when that bod7- could make the final selection. Mr Llewellyn expressed himself as astounded that the resolution which he wanted to rescind had been in operation since 1899, and argued that as the Boacd made appointments of officers subordinate to foster- mothers the Board should do so in the case foster- m others. Then Mr Llewellyn proceeded, I have not a word to say against the committee—(laugh- ter)—nor against the chairman of that com. mittee-(Iaughter and applause)—nor against the ladies of that committee. (Gheers ) Were we not last Saturday as a board like a lot of dumb-driven cattle ? (Loud laughter and Oh, oh.") I am really serious over that. (Ironical applause.) I felt that was our position." (No, no.) The speaker continued. We had three names submitted to us. They might have beem considered or not. They might have been ill- considered or at least unconsidered. (Laugh* ter.) I am not a member of the committee. (More laughter.) But I have the authority of a member of the committee that at least. the applications are not frequently ill." sidered—I beg your pardon, I should sa) considered—they are frequently ill-consi'' (No, no.) But i doa't make a o. v (Laughter.) A Member: Name of the member of the committee. Mr Llewellyn replied..0 I don't make state* ments as a rule—(Oh, oh, and laughter)—) generally say what I know to be true." u. then submitted his motion. Mr D. R. Morgan seconded the motion which was rejected by a large majority.
NEWPORT.
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NEWPORT. The Plague of Tramps. At a meeting of the Newport Guardians cm Saturday it was reported that the number oi tramps relieved durngthe past fortnight was 597, being an increase of 115 on the corresponding week of last year. When discussing the accom- modation at the Beeches Children's Home, Newport, the Rev. D. B. Jones, Caerleon, said it was sexually overcrowded, and for the sake, of decency they ought to take another house.; and have one for the boys and one for the gtrIs. No resolution was passed. In submitting the Finance Committee's reports. Alderman W. H< Brown said they were somewhat alarmed at, the increase in expenditure for adxninisteringf anaesthetics and performing operations. The House Committee might look into it It was resolved that the annual subscription of £21 be made to the Newport and Monmouthshire Hos- pital.
CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT.
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CORRUPT PRACTICES ACT. Action by Cardiff Stockbrokers. During the past few days several meetings of the committee of the Cardiff Stock Exchange have been held to consider the bearing of the new Corrupt Practices Act on stockbroktng transactions, and particularly on the question of double commissions. No common course of action has yet been agreed in regard to 3'- new points raised under the Act. t accordance with a recommendation committee, all the members have de- insert in future in their contract an< forms a statement to the effect that buyers and sellers are brought together t the agency of any particular stock firm brokerage commission is payable b There is a slight difference of opinion « in regard to the question of the allow. of half-commissions.which has hitherto beer, usual, to bankers and solicitors, but the committee have been legally advised not to allow these half commissions in future, and the members of the Exchange, pending the drafting of a new rule on the subject, have agreed to act in accordance with the advice of their solicitor. — 1
WELSH DAIRYMAN'S WARRANTY
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WELSH DAIRYMAN'S WARRANTY The amount of lying and cheating over a comparatively small matter is something of A revelation," exclaimed Mr D'Eyncourt at close of a Clerkenwell milk prosecution on Frfc ? day. He then imposed the fall penalty Df- with JE8 costs, upon John Davies. a Welsh dairyman, of 85, Judd-street, St. Pancraa. 101 having given a false warranty to Evan ThomaC on October 14th last. 1 Evidence was called to the effect that Daviec and Thomas were brothers-in-law, and that Thomas was summoned for selling milk treated with boracic acid. He then produced a wa*» ranty from the present defendant, on thf strength of which he was successful. The prosecution, however, traced the war- ranty back to a Derbyshire farmer, and diø f covered that it had been altered and made t* apply to a churn received at a later date, so a* to hide the appearance of the milk having beef VAntanme tiiiia.