South Wales Daily News

[ BIRTHS,MARRIAGES, DEATH- Nttiees of Births, Marriages, and Deaths, It each, it not exceeding t9 toordn. and 6ll for eaeh extra 10 words, BIRTHS. HDGHES.—.January 8th, at 2, GellMeg Villa, Ponty- pridd, the wife of Mr Gwilym Hughes, journalist, of a (latighter 1140 THOMAS.—At Greenlawn, Pen-v-lan, Cardiff, on January 5th, the wife of Mr J. Lynn Thomas, F.R.C.S., of a daughter. 1110 DEATHS. JENKINS.—January 5th, at the residence of her parents, 139, Coedpenmaen-rond, Pontypridd, agetl 25, Maggie, the only daughter of Mr Thomas Williams, and the beloved wife of Mr W. Jenkins. Funeral Thursday at Whitecross, starting at one o'clock. 1141 JOHN.—Jan. 4th, at 45, Eclipse-street, Cardiff, in bis 87th year, William John. Funeral on Tuesday. Service at Salem Chapel at 1 p.m., previous to leaving for St. Mellon's. No wreaths. 746 MARTIN.—On January 6t,h.. at Dowlais, in her 81st year, Harriette. widow of the late George Martin, of Dowlais. No wreaths. 1123 MORItig.-On January 6th, at Wells-street, Canton, Pauline, the lover( wife of David Morris, aged 30. Funeral 3.15 Wednesday. Friends please notice. 31 WOOD.—On Jan. 5th, Jessie, the beloved wife of John Wood, the Queen's Hotel, Cwmsyfiog, after a short and severe illness, ailed 38 years. Funeral Wednes- day, at 1 p.m., for the Rhymney Cemetery. Friends ^pl6^eaiccept^hisJntimation^52^

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 9, 1895. CARDIFF BOARD SCHOOLS. THE Board School system of Elementary Education is advancing in Cardiff by leaps and bounds," to borrow a phrase tnade famous by Mr GLADSTONE'S use of it in describing the progress of our national prosperity. Twenty years ago there was no School Board in Cardiff, and, it need not be said, no Board School and it required the compulsory pressure of the Education De- partment to convince the Cardiff lieges of only two decades ago of the immense value, not only to their children and their children's children, but to themselves, of a sound system of National Elementary Education. At that time, or only two or three years be- fore then, the Education Department was compelled mournfully to confess in its Annual Report that Of four-fifths of the children about to leave school, either no account or a most unsatisfactory one is given even by an examination of the most strictly elementary kind." There wero no School Boards or Board Schools, be it remembered, when the Education Department made this lamentable confession. The so-called Voluntary system "-called Voluntary because it is not "Voluntary/' on tht lueus non lucendo principle—had the whole educational field to itself, and so wretchedly and inefficiently did it cultivate the soil that the very Department which supervised its operations was constrained to confess that eighty per cent. of the chil- dren leaving the schools received no benefit whatever from the counterfeit education then given. Cardiff was then lulled into do-notlungness by the drowsy spell of the enchanter Ignorance but when pricked into life by fhe spur of the Educa- tion Department, Cardiff rapidly com- pensated for its previous culpable neglect, and its educational movement was not a spurt, a vigorous effort for a time with subsequent exhaustion, but it has been steady and ever onward educational progress daring the whole of the twenty years. Thirteen commodious and admirably arranged Board Schools, fully equippecPwith all educational appliances, and a staff of teachers second to none in the Kingdom, testify to the steady zeal of Cardiff for sufficient and efficient Elementary Education. These 13 Board Schools have accommodation for 13.253 children accord- ing to the last Return of the Education Department with an average attendance of 11,866 scholars; that is an average atten- dance of 89-4 per cent., perhaps the highest average attendance of any School Board in the Kingdom. But, rapidly as Board School accommoda- tion has been provided in Cardiff, it has not been sufficiently rapid to meet the growth of the population, and the demands for school places for the children. From almost every district of the town a deficiency of educational provision is reported, and some of the Board Schools are most inconveniently overcrowded. For instance, the Grangetawn Board School, with school accommodation for 1,044 children, has an average attendance of 1,223; Splotlands Board School, built for 1,147 children, has an average attend- ance of 1,164; Albany-road, with sitting accommodation for 1,235 children, has an average attendance of 1,295 and Crwys- road Board School, built to accommodate 1,277 children, has an average attendance of 1,248; and other Board Schools in the town are most inconveniently crowded. In the space abutting on the new Koath Park and lying between Crwys- road and Albanv-road Board Schools —and this la tter is one of the more recently erected schools—a new and largely-popu- lated district of houses, someone the other day not inaptly called it a town of houses, has sprung up almost as quickly as mush- rooms. To meet the pressing and ever- growing educational deficiencies of this large district, the Cardiff School Board resolved somo time ago to build a large Board School capable of accommodating from 1,200 to 1,300 children, and to-day that new Board School will be opened by the Chairman of the Board, Mr LEWIS WILLIAMS. It is a commodious, airy, thoroughly-heated, and well-ventilated School building, and will, in its three departments of boys, girls, and infants, seat 1,238 children. The girls' schools, which are on the ground floor, will conveniently seat) 380 scholars, whilst the boys' department, which will be on tho first floor, will also accommodate 380, and the infants' schools, which are most con- veniently and healthfully arranged, will seat 478 children. There are, moreover, several playing sheds and sanitary offices, and a very comfortable caretaker's house. The designer and the builder have accomplished their work in a most effective manner, and a noble school building is the result. But whilst extolling them let us not forget the first and prime movers in the matter, the Cardiff School Board, to whom all praise and credit are due for their watchful care over the educational necessities of the town, and their speedy satisfaction of educational deficiencies. And it would be neither invidious nor ungracious to the other members, to notice specially, on this occa- sion, one member of the Board more par- ticularly, who with Mr JOHN CORY alone remains of the first elected Unsectarian members of the Board—the Chairman, Mr LEWIS WILLIAMS, who will open the new Park Board School to-day. On next Tuesday, twenty years will have elapsed since the first Cardiff School Board was elected —the polling took place on the 15th of January, 1875, and of the six Liberal candidates who then fought sturdily the battle for CJnsectarian National Education, and. who were all elected (the Cardiff School Board consisted of only eleven members then), three have passed to their rest; three deservedly respected and highly esteemed Cardiff citizens, Mr JOHN BATOHELOH, the Reverend JOSEPH WAITE, and Mr PETER PRICE. Of the three who still survive, one, Mr THOMAS R EES, has resigned his seat at the Board. Mr LEWIS WILLIAMS and Mr JOHN CORY still remain to bear testimony to their zeal for Elementary Education. and for a true national system of Unsec- tarian National Education. Mr LEwIs WILLIAMS was elected the first Chairman of the Board twenty years ago, and he has continued Chairman from that time until now without a break undismayed by diffi- culties, undaunted by opposition, like some strong headland which meets calmly and unmoved the dash of billows and his unshaken testimony, to-day is as it ever has been—that to a broad, national system of Unsectarian Elementary Education, Great Britain must trust its future, and not to the narrow teaching of sectarian creeds and ologies. One out of many little incidents in Mr LEWIS WILLIAMS S School Board life, it is perhaps allowable to mention, as it serves to show his party loyalty and his self-denial. It occurred at the very commencement of that School Board life. The pernicious cumula- tive voto renders the management of a contested School Board election a difficult and troublesome affair. At the first School Board contest in Cardiff twenty years ago the town was divided into Districts, and the Liberal and unsectarian voters in each District were asked to give a specified number of votes to certain named candi- dates. Mr WILLIAMS being highly respected amongst the Wesleyan body, of which he is a member, it was anticipated that many Wesleyans in other Districts than those named for him would vote for him. About mid-day on the day of polling an opinion gained ground in the Liberal Committee Room that one of the Liberal candidates was not faring as well as the others at the poll, and Mr WILLIAMS was asked to permit some of the votes allotted to him to be transferred, with the voters' consent, to this supposed weaker candidate. He readily and cheerfully consented but as the Wesleyans in the other Districts proved loyal to the instructions given to them—all honour to them for It-Mr WILLIAMS did not stand so high on the poll as he otherwise would have done. The election was a hotly-contested one, and was fought with eagerness until the last moment before the close of the poll but without acrimony, or bitterness, or angry feeling and, strange to say, at its close the two candidates left. out in the cold were the two most popular of the sectarian candidates— Alderman DAVID and Alderman ALEXANDER. Some of the squibs and wall literature were amusing. One written after the declaration of the poll—" The Alderman's Lament "— attained temporary popularity. Some of the lines ran thus—our Cardiff readers with re- tentive memories might possibly remember them :— SOl) th" Godless six triumphant, Stand exulting sjde by side Heaven's own chosen they have vanquished, \V I! f» :1 ,fl*Qf; prin#'e 4 1- Ther* stands Williams, keen and clever, Strong in brain, but weak in frame Wait" thf subtle, keen at reasoning, Of the Independent name. Cory, famed for deeds oLgood, Whose charity is wide and true Price, fcha sturdy, frank, and fearless, Churchman and Dissenter, too. Batchf-lor with speech elastic, Leader of this Godless CMW And bosidft him Rees the Baptist, Clear in speech and wide in view. Mr WILLIAMS, though weak in frame, who won the battle then, still survives to fight many another and, we hope, successful battle for Liberalism and Unsectarian Elementary Education.

SIR WM. HARCOURT AND LOCAL OPTION. A PROMINENT FEATURE OF THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAMME. TO BE RE-INTRODUCED AT EARLIEST OPPORTUNITY. The local secretary of the United Kingdom Alliance, Mr A. S. Davids, has received a letter from Sir Wm. HaroourS, M.P., in which, we understand, the Chancellor of the Exchequer renews his promises with regard to the promotion of the Local Option Bill, which it is still the right hon. gentleman's intention to push forward at the earliest opportunity. Of course, the legislative demands made upon the Government in the Welsh Disestablishment Bill and the Irish measure, which must also come forward imme- diately opportunity serves after the introduction of the Welsh measure, necessarily delay the Local Option measure, but from the communica- tion to which we refer it is evident that Bit Wm. Hareourt cherishes a firm intenbioll of re- introducing and pushing forward his nieaeure for the introduction of popular control of the liquor traffic during the course of the ensuing Session.

RHONDDA AND SWANSEA BAY RAILWAY. DETAILS OF THICIR NEWLY- DEPOSITED BILL. A Bill .0 confer further powers upon the Rhondda and Swansea Bay Railway Company has been duly deposited for next Session in the Private Bill Office of the House of Commons. Under this Bill power is sought to construct two shoit railways in Swansea and Neath respec- tively, of an aggregate length of 1 mile 1 furlong 2 chains. In addition to these railways, power is alao sought to complete and maintain three junction railways of a total length of just over 514 furlongs. In connection with the new railway at Neath it is proposed to narrow and deepen the Neath Canal between Bridge-street and Green Bridge, and to remove Green Bridge and stop up the approaches thereto. The period sought for the completion of these works is five years from the passing of the Act. The Bill also grants extensions of time for completing certain rail- ways authorised in 1890 and 1891, and power is sought by the company to raise a small amount of new share and Joan capital, which is not to exceed £ 23,000. By Clause 27 the company are empowered to enter into agreements with the South Wales Whitworth Mineral Estates Com- pany, Limited, for the working and use by the Rhondda Company of any railway which may be constructed by the Whitworth Company between their existing railway and the railway of the Rhondda Company at Oakwood, including the existing railway.

MAYOR OF SWANSEA AND THE FOREIGN CONSULS. Oa Tuesday morning the Mayor (Alderman Edwards) held a New Year reoeption of the representatives of foreign countries in the borough, whom he met and entertained at the Guild-hall. Amongst those present were Capt. Dahne (Germany), Monsieur Knecht (France), Senor Lozano (Spain), Signor Ansaldo (Italy), Mr Burgess (Denmark and Russia), Mr T. R. W. Mason (Greece and Peru), Mr Cook (Costa Rica), Mr Goldberg (Hawaii), Mr W. M. Jones (Chili), Dr. Davies (America), the Town Clerk (Mr John Thomas), and Alderman Tatton.—The Mayor, during the proceedings, wished all the representatives of the foreign countries a happy and very prosperous new year, and Captam Dahne, in response, cordially reciprocated the sentiment—A short diRcussion on trade ensued, during, which Mr Burgess suggested, and the other representatives agreed, the necessity of deepening the South Dock in order that the anthracite trade might be developed there.— Alderman Tutton expressed himself in favour of the proposal, and promised to bring the matter before the harbour trustees.

11» l mm THE NEW SWANSEA WATER- WORKS. The Swansea Corporation aie now beginning to work on the new scheme for providing an inexhaustible and abundant water supply for the town by utilising the watersheds at Cray. The water and sewer committee has already accepted a contract for pipes, and on Tuesday they con. sidered tenders for the laying of them down. Finally the tender of Messrs John Aird and Co. to lay down the pipes on the route of 26 miles, from Swansea to Cray, for just over £19,000 was accepted.

THE MARCH OF THE 41ST. AN INVITATION FROM BRECON. Ab a meeting of the Brecoa Town Council on Tuesday, Dr. Williams, referring to the proposed march through South Wales of the 1st Battalion the Welsh Regiment, said the old 41st were for many years stationed at Brecon. He suggested that a deputation should be appointed to wait on Colonel Bromhead, commanding the 24th Regimental District, with a view- of inviting the 41st to visit Brecon. This was unanimously agreed to, and the Mayor, Colonel Morgan, and Dr. Williams were appointed as a deputation for the purpose.

CONGREGATIONAL UNION. APPEAL FOR THE ARMENIANS, STUNDISTS, AND JEWS. At the general committee of the Congregational Union of England and Wales, held in London on Tuesday, resolutions were adopted, on the motion of Mr Carvell Williams, M.P., seconded by Mr Albert Spicer, M.P., the first expressing its horror and detestation ot the lately published reports of atrocious cruelties inflicted on the Christian population of Armenia, aud, in the event of the reports being confirmed, desiring adequate measures to be taken for preventing the recurrence of similar outrages, and for securing good govern- ment and full religious liberty to all Armenians. The second resolution sympathises with thevictims of religious persecution in Russia, and hopes the accession of tho new Emperor may produce lejris Ulivo and administrative changes ?nsurin £ for the Stundists and Jews, and members of other religious communities, free exeroise of the rights of conscience.

PREVENTION OF COLLISIONS AT SEA. SHIPOWNERS AND MASTERS CONDEMN NEW REGULATIONS. On Tuesday a numerously attended meeting of Liverpool shipowners, merchants, and ship- masters passed resolutions strongly condemnatory of the new regulations proposed by the Board of Trade for preventing collisions at set. The sound, and especially the fog signals, were held to be so complex, misleading, and unreliable that, if adopted, they would imperil life and property. The proposed screening of ship's side lights was also objected to, and protest was made against such important questions cs ttiege regulations involved being determined by an Order in Council instead of by Parliamentary sanction.—It was resolved to bring tho whole matter before Parlia- ment as one of urgency.

A curiosity arrived in Baltimore on a ship reoently from Hong Kong. It was a cbow" dot,-said to be the kind the Chinese raise to be eaten. A gigantic camellia. is growing near the royal castle at Pilnitz, near Dresden, Gernoany. The tree is 24-ft. high, and produces annually at least 50,000 blossoms. BABIES ON FIRE, BABIES BURNING UP, with itching and burning eczemas and other torturing, disfiguring skin and scalp diseases. None but mothers can realise bow these little ones suffer when thfir tender skins are literally cn fire. To know that a single application of the CUTIOCRA REMEDIES will in the great majority of vases afford instant relief, permit rest and sleep, and point to a permanent and economical (beoause most speedy) cure, and not to use them without a moment's delay is to fail in your duty. Think of the years of suffering entailed by such negloct, years not only of physical but of mental suffering by reason of personal disfigurement, added t'> bodily torture. Cures mad" in infancy and childhood are speedy, economical, and per- manent.

WELSH GOSSIP. More men went to the Union workhouse lasb Saturday at Bridgend than at any previous day known. It was the day of the first meeting of the new council ] Mr Rca Howells (Alaw Cynon) has been elected conductor of the Glamorganshire Unitarian Singingf Festival, which will be held at Pontypridd on Mabon's Day in June. The Rev. Wm. Davies, Baptist minister, lateol Briton Ferry, entersd on Sunday upon the pastorate of Christ Church, Neath, he having been the recipient of a unanimous invitation. The life of Prybhrrch, the witty preacher of Carmarthenshire, by the Rev. Thomas Edwards, Owmavon. is selling well. Ths first edition of two thousand has been already all sold. A second edition is in the press. Eupho writes :—I note with pleasure the benefits derived from the presence of the Salvation Army in Caerphilly, as evidenced by your no as to the freedom of Caerphilly fairs from tightl during the last five years. At a meeting of the British Women's Temperanco Association, recently held in an historic part ot East Glamorgan, the presiding lady proposed that they would close the meeting by singing "Un lad my Nedi I" Abercarn and Cross Keys centres of the Forward Movement (Presbyterian) have now a trained nurse, Nurse Malcolm, from the Train. ing Home, Glasgow. This is the first trained nurse in connection with the Movement. In to yesterday's inquiry why Cardiff has the Celestial" names of Canton and Cathaysfor two of it suburbs, a flippant co-respondent craves 8pac.. to declare: "Cathaysisso called because, per the tardy tram, it is in very deed and troth the far Cathay' of the poet." A correspondent writes:—" Out of the 25 prisoners brought up for trial this week at Cardiff Borough Sessions, only five are Welsh. What would Welsh barristers do without foreign assist. ance 1" The proportion is exact: about one-fifth the population of the borough is Welsh. The ground arrangements at St. Helen's, which worked so well on Saturday last, were those of Mr W. Wilkins, treasurer of the Welsh Rugby Union and it may not be generally known that it is the same Mr Wilkins who ia secretary of the Llanelly National Eisteddfod. Two octogenarians occupied the rostrum at tbe monthly meeting of the Methodists at Trinity Chapel, viz.. Revs. David Phillips and William Williams, Argyle. Both did well. Mr Williams, in referring to the late Rev. Evan Williams, Pyle, said he met him first at a monthly meeting in 1842. Now that so many lady guardians have been elected members of the various boards, a corre- spondent suggests the advisibality of convening a conference of the lady guardians for South Wales and Monmouthshire at an early date to discuss various points in reference to the administration of the Poor Laws. Will one cf the lady guardians take the initiative ? Mr Humphrey Roberts, clerk to the Ruthin Board of Guardians, has undertaken to translate into Welsh the handbook which Mr Bircbam, poor-law inspector, has prepared upon the duties of guardians and officials. It will be published as soon as possible in English and in Welsh at an almost nominal price for the use of guardians ot Wales and Monmouthshire. The erection of railinsrs at the end of Bate- street, Cardiff, meant nothing less than barring the citizens from access to the sea. This was attempted by the projected twopenny toll" last year—a project that was defeated by the towns- folk after the council had given awaytbe position. There is a suspected intention to revive the toll proposal; and the erection of railings may b4 regarded as means to that end. Canon Kuox-Little, in the Contemporary Review, has perpetrated an elaborate joke. Wofully serious, he argues that while Disestablishment of the English Church as a whole might be within the right of the English people, yet Disestablish- ment in Wales would be sevioua wroug-doing," sacrilege," robbery "—and the like, as usual. His admirers—and the energetic Ritualist has many—are hard ab work trying to discover the logic of his argument. At recent elections for parish and district councillors for a parish in the county of Brecon an elector came in, and the representative of a candidate having a doubt as to whethar th* elector bad not already voted in that election asked the presiding officer to administer the oath to him. This was done, and tbe elector glibly rep sated the words of the oath until he came to the words, "So help me. God," at whioh he stuck; and, turning away, walked out of tbe room. The late Rev. David Saunders, of Merthyr, was a famous impromptu bard, and when one day interrogated as to his opinion of the literarj knowledge of the people of Caerphilly, replied it the following torse manner:- Yn Nghaerphili ceir ffyliaid, A degau o ddoniau da ddigon. The same gentleman was met by a man in Hieh-street, Morthyr, some years ago, who asked the bard the way to Penmaelet (Penmoelailt), when he received the following pertinent instruct tion :— Ar hyd y plyf yn gross i'r graen Gan ddeehreu yn mlaen y gynffoa, Na thro' i'r dde' na'r aswy chwaitb, Dei ben dy daith yn union." The follow'ng official statistics of the Welsh Wesleyan Methodists are published in the Welsh diary of the connexion for 1895 -.—South Walei district: Probationers. 751; new members, 608 I received from other circuits, 187 removed to other circuits, 364; dsaths, 92; losses, 100; members, 5,176; increase, 261; ministers, 36 j local preachers, 74 deacons and elders, 244 preaching stations, 103. The Rev. T. Morgan Brynmawr) is the president of the South Wales distnet, and the Rev. H. Pátchbord (Tredegar) it the seoretary the next Synod will be held ai Pontypridd. A curious case is reported from Conway, wher. Mr Lewis Hughes, of Tanybrin, has asked as magistrate to issue an ejeotment order against William Pritchard, tenant of a cottage at Tyny. groes. For the defence, Mr D. Jones, Llanrwst, contended that as bis client had occupied tha cottage over 13 years ront froe he had a legal claim to the property, and was prepared to make that claim unless Mr Hughes would grant him a lease to bo a tenant for life. Mr Hughes de- clined to grant the lease for life. He had told the defendant he should live there, but on hear- ing that the man claimed the property he took the prlllsenb proceedings. The Bench granted tha application. Mr D. P. Davies, J.P., Ynyslwyd, Aberdare, who has been elected chairman of the Merbhyi Board of Guardians and of the industrial aohool committee at Aberdare, is a son of the late M. Griffith Davies, who was for rnany years a member of the Merthyr Board. Se was himself elected a m»iuber in 1871, becoming an ez-officii guardian on his being placed on the Commission of the peace in 1881. He was elected a membet of the assessment committee of the Union in 1872, vice-chairman in 1687, :Iond chairman in 1890. He was elected a member of the Aberdare Local Board in 1877, and of th" Aberdare School Board in 1879, of which body he has besn vice-chairman for 12 years. He is also a member of the Aber. dare Burial Board, and has from its formation bieu a memb of ths Glamorganshire County Council. The Ymofynydd f«j January, a Unitarian monthly published by Mr Jenkin Howell, o Aberdare, contains an ^xoellent portrait and biography of the Rev. Owen Evans, Cefnoed-y. cymmer, Merthyr. Mr Evans, who was born in 108 in tho parish of Llandyssil, a.& trained for college by the wtU-known scholar, Davids, of Castell-bywel, wheucc he entered tho Presbyterian College, Carmarthen. He became minister of the ohurch at Cefncoed-y-cymmer 1337, and remained there until his in 1855. He kept a school at Cofn which was tua resort of a number of loulJl men, soms ff whom arr to-day eminent in vanons spheres of life. He was also a member of the Merthyr Board of Guardians. The follow- ing licence to prc-ach, granted him on his leaving college, will not be uninteresting as showing tbo advancu in the matter of religious equality sinoo 1827 :—" County of the Borough of Carmarthen. I, Grismoqd Phillips, Esquire, mayor, and one of His Majesty's justices of the pe in and for tlu said county of the boroueh, do hereby certify that Evans, a student at the Presbyterian Collage, Carmarthen, did this day appear beforo ms and subscrib" th3 several oathls and declara- tions specified in th:, Act mads in the fifty-second of tha roicn of King George the Third, intituled an Act to repeal certain Acts and amend other Acts relating to religious worship and assemblies and persons teaching or prcachintf therein. Witness my hand this first day* February, 1827, Gris. Phillips, mayor."