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LOCAL CHATTER.- -

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LOCAL CHATTER. BY THE CHATTERBOX. The usual style among the com- mon people of commencing a Jotter is: "I now take the pen in hand to write you a few lines, hoping you are in the best of health, the same as we are at present." It seems that with but slight variations this has been the orthodox way for many centuries. Pliny the Younger, 61—105 A.D., has the following in his Letters, Book 1: Them is nothing to write about, you say. Well tell me in the good oid style if you are well. That's right. I am quite well." The following again appears in the play, "Heir at Law" by George Colman, 1762-1836: "This corsea to inform you that I am in a perfect state of health, hoping you are in the same. Ay, that's the old be- ginning." And it is the new begin- ning, and will be, world without -end. Which of the Wefsh Bishop-, is it I who smokes? A rector calls atten- tion in a South Wales paper to the fact' that one only of the four Welsh Bishops is a devotee of Nicotine. He does not say which one still enjoys the pipe nor does ho suggest, as I do. that perhaps the other bishops have given up the weed because so rtlany boys and women have taken to cigarettes. When women take to publicly using cigarettes it is time even for a bishop to make a sacrifice! Never was cigarette smoking so popular as it is to-day. The scarcity of cigarettes may be a contributing factor, for everybody craves for what cannot be got or what can only be got with great difficulty. In more than one tobacconist's in Aberdare the person behind the counter serves a packet of one of the popular brands much thf) same as a grocer smuggles a lb. of .vugar or butter thi-ough to a favoured cus- tomer. "Put it in your pocket and don't tell anyone you had it here," is the polite request. In a. few in- stances the packets are wrapped up in paper to deceive the other people who may be in the shop bent on the some errand. What a tremendous lot of money is spent on tobacco! And to what end? It does not directly benefit a man's health, but I believo it adds to the happiness or individuals, and in that sense it might, perhaps, be contended that it lengthens a man's life. It soothes the temper, pro- vides a relaxation after work is done. Women's work is never done, but man's work is done betimes, and it is unnatural for a man to sit at home or anywhere doing nothing. "The man who smokes thinks like a sage and acts like a Samaritan." So said Edward Bulwer Lytton. Carlyle was a smoker, but it did not o u re his irritability, as is claimed for tobacco in many instances. But Carlyle suffered terribly from dys- pepsia all his life. and it may be un- fair to expect the weed to perform miracles. Tennyson agaia was a smoker. He, like his father, was inclined to moments of despondency, :1 neI the curling smoke diverted his thoughts, possibly, from things which sank his heart. There is a well-known story of a meeting be- j tween Carlyle and Tennyson. They j sat together for hours one. evening, j Both were smoking all the-time, but [ hardly a word did they utter to each j other. On leaving Carlyle sa id "Mon and we've had a rare night." St. David's Day has been well and truly celebrated in many centres this time, the nightmare of the war having removed its clammy hand from such social gatherings. The Rev. W. F. Phillips, B.A.. B.Litt.. Liverpool, who is well known in these parts, spoke at Carnarvon on St. David's Eve, and remarked that Wales was still treated as the kitchenmaid of the Empire. He further complained that Welsh plays ¡ had to he translated into English before they could be licensed, be- ¡ cause the cent-ot- could not read Welsh. "Why not- a Welsh censor of plays?" he anked. i\nd the meet- ing agreed, for a resolution was passed "calling the attention of the ¡ Prime Minister to the- injufitine of compelling writer's oi Welsh pLay,-> to produce an English translation for censorship purposes, and urging trie appointment of Welsh Censor," appointment of Welsh Censor," After the miners eome> the i\ rm-I ors. A ballot of th. Cheshire mem- her of the agricultural section of ¡ the Workers' IT nion has been on the questiün of whether there I shall be a striko if the farmers per- sist in refusing the men's demand of 50s. for a 50 hours week. The result was as follows For a Strike .JH77 Against 317 Majority for ■'>5*1 After finiskiag that fight on r ( "ontinent, we aow return to fisticuff j contests at hni«. The Wetla-f?e< k- j ett boxing match on Thursday night [ proved a-grwat ataractic*. If is a p»int to note thafc several women I were among the spectators, ind Car- pen tier, the French boxer, wt? in-J troduced to the audience by a clergyman. Boxing is, indeed. getting respectable. In one Welsh county there have been serious complaints that W^sh- speeking children'in County Schools do not re-ceive religious instruction in the Welsh language. Taking the number of scholars at the secondary sc hools, I find that out of every 100 pupils attending County Schools in each county the number taking Welsh are: Cardiganshire, 78; Brecon shire, 54; Carnarvonshire, 54; Anglesey, 50; Glamorgan, 47; Merioneth, 44; Montgomeryshire, 31; Monmouthshire, 31; Denbigh- shire, 30; Flintshire, 18; Pembroke- shire, 15; and Radnorshire 10. Thus Glamorgan finds itself some- where near the centre.

COUNTY COUNCIL ELECTION.

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PASTORAL.

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