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Carmarthen UNDER THE SEARCHLIGHT.

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Carmarthen UNDER THE SEARCHLIGHT. Come come, and sib you down you shall not bu Ire, you shall not go, till I set you up a glass, Where you may see the inmost part of yun.' —————— SIIAKESPICARE. Carmarthen is about the wettest, spot in the kingdom; and still it has the poorest water supply. Thc,re is some mystery connected with putting the town on short commons as regards water in the month of April. The mere it is locked at the more incomprehensible it becomes. In any case, we ought to be no worse off than we used to be. Perhaps some member of the Council will have the courage to ventilate the subject at. the earliest possible opportunity. Tradesmen are not, allowed to wash flags in front of their premises with the water. Yet the Corporation carts can scatter it all about place. If watc is required to water the streets surely it could be had from the river. **• It may be said that this would be unsani- tary. Perhaps so. but there anfi more un- sanitary things done. The streets have often been dressed with river sand. What the meaning of the ceremony is, must be left to experts; but the sand is often spread on the roads while they are being rolled. Now the Eilnd is always takton from the lower reaches of the river, so that it has the full benefit 0: the town .sewage. We discharge our f" ag" into the river, and then we take the river sand and scatter it over our roads. And then ii-ii--ii the wind blows, the sewage soaked sand ii.e.-i up in dust and gets on the furni- tUlll of private houses, and on the stock of grocer's shops, and into the nostrils of pedes- trians. Sometimes, it seems as if the highest cmli-ation is a quite as filthy as the. worst savagery. If the Carmarthen public had any self- respect they would go on strike, against pay- ing the water rat". There has, been some L60,600 muddled away on a water scheme, and yet, people have not water. It would h- just as well if people were allowed to use the wells in back gardens. ,and all the other sources of supply which are falling into dis- use. Certainly an old fashioned water- sup;ply such as people used to have from the public conduits would be quite as serviceable as and ten times cheaper than the supply we have now. Explain it how you will, it is a peculiar freak that thei completion of the new water works should be signalised by the curtailment of the existing water supply. The more you spend apparently on water works, the less water you get. If the, new water works had only cost L100,000 no doubt v-c should be without water at all. But it is useless saying a,nytliiiig n 1-ii, subject. The Carmarthen public regard the whole subject with the profound-jst indiffer- ence. It is only when it is proposed to re- strict the supply of beer that public opinion ikes to fever heat. A it eklish point in conmction with the new Education Act will bo the appointment of "cut-ide" managers for the voluntary schools. The election of the co-opted mem- bers of the Education Committee of the Town Council will be a. menn detail to that. On the Edue aticn Comnxi.ee, the representa- tives of the public will at. a.ny be in a majority. On the managing committee, the public representatives will be in a minority (thiry will be two out of six). And not only are they cf necessity to be in a, minority; but there is a hope expressed in .some' quar- ters. that by a little, judicious wire pulling, it will be pcs-ible to have: "friends" cf the foundation managers appointed as "public" representatives. When the public represen- tatives are in a. minority it is essential that the two appointed shall be sturdy and inde- pendent individuals—otherwise the appoint- ment is a farce. Unless the Council is lost to all sense of decency it, will see that repre- sentatives axe, appointed who cannot fcr a moment be suspected of any partiality towards the foundation. The; public have few rights as it, is, without being swindled out of the, few they have. £ -# The Carmarthen Town Hall was deccrat d last week with the flag which the County Council has purchased and which is ordered to be flown wh-,n the Council is sitting. The flag had been miesing for some time, and there was a, suspicion pretty freely entfr- tained that some person holding strong view- of one kind or another had captured it. The fact is that the flag met with disaster on its first appearance in public. It was ripped by some means or other, ard was not fit, to bei exhibited untu it was overhauled. So it was ordered to' be sent across thei street to Mr Collins D i vies and he set the red dragon en its feet—or rather its wings—again. <*> TV hon it was decided to purchase the flag, it was Professor Jones who asked "Are we quite certain that the red dragon is of Welsh extraction ?" This was a, finia chance to start an in te resting discussion, on Welsh archae- ology; but nobody took ib up. It, never seems to strike people that thr. red dragon is a. diabolical emblem. It represents the devil. Theio is no earthly doubt, of that. You can find cut all about it in the 12th chapter of Revelation: "Behold a, great red dragon having seven heads and ten horns. And there was war in Heaven; Michael and his angels going forth to war with the dragon and the dragon warred and his angels; and they prevailed not naither was, their place I found any more in heaven." There is plenty about the red dragon in the Book; but it is distinctly stated that he is "the old ser- pent which is the Deviil and Satan." It is an extraordinary thing t ha,t, in a Bible reading country like Wales, public bodies should go out of thedr way to display 1l emblem which in Holy Writ is expressly identified with the Father of Evil. The cult of the Red Dragon never could have spread in Wales: a, few generations ago rs it has now. In an age of fervent Bible reading, the red dragon as an emblem would have been an abomination. There never was such 'a, season for coracle men as they are enjoying just now. It is a poor fisherman who does. not make t5 or L6 a, week at present. They are simply pulling out, sewin in boct loads. The iprice to thf consumer however remains pretty much the same. 9*9 The reason given for the: extraordinary in- crease in the value of the Towy fisheries these last two years is that the river is purer now. There was a time when the Tinworks were discharging floods of poisonous fluid into the river; thru there wove the lead mines at Cystanog. which polluted the river to seme extent; and their: were lead mines at d-irmwyn (near Llandovery,) which damaged tiha liver. All thece are gnu Industry seems to have fOlsaken the banks of the Tcwy completely; an4 the salmon tribe can run up clear and as pure a. river as they could find in British Columbia or Norway. The fact- is Dot very consoling; but it. is a fact nevertheless that the Yale of fowy is returning to its mediaeval quiet and rusticity. • t* There are some people who are wicked enough to say that the removal of the Tin- works men has done away with a good deal of poaching. There is something in that no doubt; but it.» total effect on the fishing .rould not have been very great. It would be a good job for the town, if somebody would re-start the Tinworks, even if it ruined the fishing. An industry which would give men regular employment would be of some service to 1.1e town, even at the expense of some damage to the casual employment, affor- led by the fishing. It is stnted that a syndicate of local finan- ciers is being formed to acquire all the fish- ing rights on the Towy. Tho Company is being formed with a capital of £ 2,000. For ';his sum all the. coracles, oars, bludgeons, nets, and the goodwill of the various fisher- men interested will be bought out. The present fishermen will be employed at salaries of 25s a week; and there will be six directors each receiving zC20 a, year. After paying the necessary expenses, it is estimated that there will be a profit of kl60 a year, which will pay eight per cent, on the invested capital. doe The members of the Board of Management will, of course, be empowered to elect, two members on the Fishery Board. Salmon will be supplied to householders direct, at the Company's store?, thus saving all inter- mediate profits. The only difficulty in the way of the scheme is that in the present state of the law it would be impossible to prevent people not. employees of the Association catching and selling fish. Still it might be worth while to hire a, bully to slang those who would fish without the sanction of the Association. But, the respectable financiers might not care to be associated with such tactics. We are also going to have a Milk Company in Carmarthen. It is ridiculous in a financial town like Carmarthen that, priva,te indi- viduals should be1 allowed to sell milk to customers, and pocket the profits. It also leads to too much competition. A group of capitalists are forming a Company to buy up all the milk carts, horses, mules, asses, milk- can-, and cfther paraphernalia. Once the syndicate is formed, half the people now Em- ployed will have the sack, and the remainder will be employed on a carefully arranged plan. The. town. will be divided into districts, and a Company's cart will work each district. A few unauthorised persons may attempt to sell milk for a. while within the territories of the company; but they wiill be, dealt with in a suitable manner. The milk won't be any better; and the customers won't get it cheaper; and the farmers won't get any more for it; but it will be finance. e< But this will be only the beginning. A chimney sweeping and white washing syndi- cate will buy up all existing interests in tha,t line; and take orders at their registered offices. Existing costermongers will be swept away by the Bloater and Ban-ana. Combine e the Light. Refreshment Trust will buy up all existing businesses for the sale of pop, penny bung, fried fish, ice-cream, cockles, and polonies. Tho General Chaining and Scrub- bing Bruch Co. (Limited) (capital jEloO, divi- dend guaranteed 9 per cent.) will undertake contracts for house cleaning. In the space of eighteen motnhs I expect to see everything in 1 'he town from nursing to funeral undertaking run by a. limited company. In fact, it will cc-m-o to this. by-and-bye that there won't be n mother's son will have. the courage to offer a. box of wax vesta,s for sale lest, he be "pproached by a financier who wants to turn him into a, limited company. Every man wheels a barrow for a commercial tra- veller will have three or four directors, ana be paying a, dividend of four per cent. New that the summer is coming, it is a groat- pity that, some, effort, is not inzzde to r art a town band in Carmarthen. It is a serious reflection on Carmarthen that there b mot a, band in the, whole town-and in a town which professes to be musical. For Carmarthen is very musical. Every second house has a, ipia.no on which somebody may be heard practising the scales, when -all loyal •ubjects and good Christians ought to be in their beds. Gramaphones may be heard gurgling at every few yards; children play on mnuth organs and even the cats arrange pathetic duets at two o'clock in the morning. The atmosphere of Carmarthen is reeking with music. Perhaps this is thei reason why we can't, have a band in Carmarthen the responsibility of adding to the present beauti- ful supply of heavenly harmony may be some- thing which the average individual does not care to undertake. One of the speakers at the recognition of the new minister of Water street last week said that there was plenty of room for a forward movement without interfering with any ether denomination—that there were many "outsiders" in Carmarthen. Perhaps it would be hardly an exaggeration at the present moment to say that the majority of the Carmarthen public are ''outsiders," as far as membership of the Christian churches go. It is not a bit of good shutting our eyes to the fact, because wei don't like it it is a fact all the same. There are many big con- gregations which have gradually dwindled to half their former size. The natural theory with the members of a church is that folks have- gone somewhere else1. But they can't beciilse; if you go somewherei else, the people there have the same story to tell. People somet,imes blame, one; little thing or another for the fact but it, is a common experience, not a feature of any particular church. 909 The fact, is that people are becoming abso- lutely indifferent. It, would be very hard to prove that 4,000 people of the 10,000 in Car- J1 marthen are tacrly regular attendants at any place of worship. Even a wet Sunday cuts the numbers of any congregation down to one half. These people would nctw miss a business engagement on Saturday morning. (hit would mean Is profit. People no more appreciate the point of Biblical quotations now than they would appreciate, classical references. To be be posted in these matters is to be an exception at tne present day. Peoele will flock to hear a famous preacher when he visits thei locality; but in the abscnce. of any .special attraction, they go out on their bicycles, or down the river in a boat, or play cards on the Pothouse, or take a walk in the country, or sit in the window and criticise the people passing. These are facts which cannet b, too well digested they can no more be denied than can the existence of Pic ton's Monument. We may not like Pioton's Monumet; but it is there. The question is whether we ought tc blame the people for not going to the church or the churches for not going to the people. The statistics of the Guardians show that the rate of pauperism is again beginning to II increase- in. this district. For meny YE'dr: it has been, going steadily down. Things were in fl. bad ccaditicn at ono time: but a pretty stern policy resulted in the number of out- j door paupers being reduced by nearly one- j half within twenty years. Now that tililig-s hard work on t-ic part of the reformers. "'« (II Thee svill is ;ui vnhoolthy public opinion with regard to outdccr relief. By some peculiar casuistical distinction, which no un- sophisticated mind can fo'lew. it is a, disgrace to go to the; workhorse, but rather a, good stroke of business to got 5s a, week outdoor relief. Of aH tilings in the world, let us be swed from the humbug of fine distinctions. The disgrace consists in coming on the public for support, when you might be able to sup- port yourself. In that event whether the pub!ic support takes the form of a place in the workhouse, or of outdoor relief, or sponging on the public in anv shape or form it i-o; ull the same. it it, is not due to preventiblo causes- t-here is no stigma, in any event. But people will not understand that. One hoars corst,antly of old people making over suini of money to their children, and then applying for relief. W" It is a common thing for people to receive relief for years, and their children to have an estate to divide after their death. PeopI: cannot, see anything mean in this. Outdoor relief is a kind of "club money" which is to be had, if you have friends who will bring up your case. But those who go on the rates, and receive money which they don't need, are getting money by false pretences, and would stand in the Dock at the Assizes if they had their deserts. Mr D. Warren Lewis has in his possession en earthenware mug of historical interest. On one side is the likeness of "John Jones. Yestrad." On the other is the inscription, "May the Independence of vaennarthen never wiant. a supporter, nor the wings of liberty never loose a f father. The spelling and grammar of the mug-maker are hazy enough but it is clear what he meant. John Jones wa,s at, time the Tory member for the Borough, and is credited locally with having got the "penny postage passed." The English do say that a fellow called Rowland Hill had something to do with that measuer; but that only shows how history is falsified. As we know there are some who deny that Bill Adams won the battle of Waterloo. There's the commencement of Disestablish- ment in Wales, said a prominent churchman to a, member of our st.aff on Tuesday, when he referred to the conflagration at the Bishop's Palace at Abergwili. ALETHBIA.

. Marriage of Mr. J. t. Norton.

. Twenty Minutes Late.

The New Pastor of Water-street…

------_---------------------.._-----------LLANDILO.

Merthyrdod Dr Robert Ferrar,…

Carmarthen Board of GnaiJians.

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