The Rhondda Leader

Welsh Correspondence Class. Thanks to the energy and enterprise of Mr. W. E. Jenkins, librarian, Cwmparc, the above was inaugurated in a highly- successful manner at the Park Hall on Thursday evening last. A large number of young men attended for the purpose of enrolment and to hear the founder of the class expound his scheme. Mr. Jen- kins, in the course of his speech, ex- plained that he had been in correspon- dence with Dafydd Morganwg, whose work. "Yr Ysgol Gymreig," they would adopt as their text book. He considered it highly desirable that such a class as he suggested should be formed, so that young men in general should acquire the art of writing pure and correct Welsh. If the scheme should be adopted with sufficient enthusiasm, and received wide and general support, he was certain very beneficial results would accrue. The fol- lowing is a brief outline of the scheme: -(I) Each weekly lesson to be returned for correction; (2) second lesson to be studied and worked while the first is being corrected and third prepared, &c. (3) terms, a weekly fee of 2d. to meet ex- penses of printing. Thel plan was unani- mously approved of by the intending pupils, and to secure its successful fur- therance Mr. David Thomas was elected hon. secretary, and Mr. Vaughan Francis treasurer. Mr. Jenkins, in process of time. hopes to extend the sphere of the class work, and by means of postal cor- respondence carry the study of the national language further afield. He in- vites inquiries from any quarter, and would be pleased to consider applications for membership. Copies of Dafydd Morganwg's "Ysgol Gymreig" are on sale only through him, as he bought all those upon the market. We may remark that the lessons are carried on through a series of questions, ample room being allowed for answers in ruled spaces on the same paper.

Gossip, The sea was invented so that England might be distinguished from foreign countries. It is the business of the stage to hold the mirror up to nature. This is why the ladies of the ballet wear as much clothes as the ladies in the stalls. Bridges are built to prevent the two sides of the river floating together and getting swamped. The waistcoat of righteousness fits but a few. Are there no tailors in Fleet Street? Actors paint their faces so that no member of the audience can afterwards recognise and attack them in the street. Prevarication on the part of a wife is perverted dogma. There are sermons in stones, but that is no excuse for throwing them at election candidates. London is the largest city in the world. Therefore, more people go to Heaven from London than from any other city. Houses are built so that refined people may not see the slums on the other side. The road to Heaven is paved with church abstention's. A pigeon-hole is so called because it either will or will not hold pigeons. To-morrow is the junction for Heaven. Free-lances are people who speak their own mind. It is generally a most un- pleasant one. The modern society lady's difficulty is not to get frocks to suit her face, but to get a face to suit her frocks. Socialism is what the small boy feels when he has to stop in bed with the mumps. The appalling slowness of an aimless existence has reduced the wealthy to a state of mutual boredom. This is why the smart set are called fast. All is not spleen that splutters. Charity comes from a butter-boat, philanthropy from a pepper-pot. The criminal statistician who declared that eight per cent. of the population were knaves probably worked on the basis of four in a pack of fifty-two. Respectability consists of mediocrity and Venetian blinds. If the daughter of Mary is the wife of James, what chance of ultimate salvation has Mary from the point of view of James ? Hilarity is impossible with a hole in one's glove.—"London Opinion."

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Correspondence. The insertion of a letter does not neces- sarily mean that the Editor agrees with the views expressed therein. All correspondents must write on one side of the paper only, or their letters will be rejected. No letter will be published unless the writer sends his name and address, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. Religious Revivals. To the Editor of the It Rhondda Leader." Sir,—There is great talk just now about reformation in many parts of Wales, and we have had good revival meetings at Jerusalem, Llwynypia, towards that pur- pose. Now, I ask anyone, is it reasonable to believe that God interferes with the sinner to turn him from sin? Every sin- ner gets every chance in the world to turn from his sins. In Wales, he is sur- rounded with morality and kindness; everything that a sinner wants is to be had easily. Then, is it reasonable for a man to believe that God interferes with a sinner in that possession. We live in, and form part of, a system of things of immense diversity and perplexity, which we call Nature, and it is a matter of the deepest interest to all of us that we should form just conceptions of the constitution of that system and of its past history. Sir Charles Lyell said that 30,000 years have passed since the first appearance of man on this earth, and not more than one-third of the population of the world have reached the state of civilisation to-day. And what about the millions of millions who have gone to eternity before reaching the state of civilisation, who have had no chance whatever to turn from their uncivilised possession. Then, are we to believe that God turns the sin- ner from his sins to-day, with all his good chances, and leaves the biggest part of the world to be in their sins without any chance whatever? I should like to have a word from some of your readers. JOHN JONES. 75, Dunraven St., Tonypandy. Education of the Deaf in Wales. To the Editor of the It Rhondda Leader." Sir,—These are the days of educa- tion someone said, and now that the Welsh Education Committees are taking up the work, it is urgently necessary that they should bestir themselves to take up the education of the deaf of our land and deal with it in a thorough and business- like way. This branch of education has been sadly neglected for too long a time in Wales, and it is a great pity for these affiicted children, who are handicapped so much in the battle of life. Let us hope a new era will soon dawn on them with the present educational awakening. Gallant Little Wales should leave not a stone unturned to improve the facilities for the education of her deaf, so as to make it on a level with that of the hear- ing. We need to be imbued once more with the patriotic spirit of our late good countryman, Sir Hugh Owen, who took so noble a part in forming the first school for the deaf in the Principality. It is most gratifying to see the great atten- tion Welsh people devote to elementary, secondary, and university education, and we all feel proud of it. At the same time, how disappointing it is to one who knows anything of the work of teaching the deaf, to see the 'disorganisation that prevails as regards their education. It does not speak much for our zeal for education when we have had to close some of our deaf dav classes on account of inefficiency, and, if I mistake not, send the children to another country to be trained. We may pride ourselves on the fact that we have made great sacricces for education, and that we spend more money per child on his elementary educa- tion than either England, Scotland, or Ireland; but there is not the least shadow of a doubt that we should show more enthusiasm for the education of our poor deaf and dumb. It is high time to wake up. If Wales would only take a leaf out of London's book, and appoint an expert, who has a thorough knowledge of the work in all its branches, as an organiser or special director of the educa- tion of the deaf, we should then have made a, splendid initial step in the right direction. The education of the deaf and blind children of London is supervised by an expert organiser, who pays regular visits to the schools and sees that every deaf child receives a careful education, and reports on the schools generally to the Education Committee. It is doubly necessary that an expert should be ap- pointed as special director to supervise this most difficult branch of education in Wales. Shall we hope that Glamorgan- shire will take the lead? ATHRAW. Male Altos. To the Editor of the Rhondda Leader." Sir,—I should like (through the columns of your valuable and widely-read paper) to ask the musical section of your readers, why it is that no natural male altos are to be found amongst the many choirs which exist in the Rhondda Valley? When taking up my residence here two years ago, I came her.e in the expectation of finding really musically complete male voice choirs, including male altos. Being an Englishman, from a, long way over the borders, I had always heard Welsh vocal music spoken highly of, and being passion- ately fond of orpheus and mixed choral singing, I anticipated that in taking up my residence in Wales I was, from a musical standpoint, in for a rare treat. Since I have been living in the Rhondda Valley, however, I am greatly surprised to find that amongst the many male voice choirs there are few, if any, male altos. Why this scarcity or apparent non-exist- ence of natural altos in the Rhondda Valley? Is it because the inhabitants cannot produce natural altos? It was said a short time ago: That so long as we have cathedrals, we shall have male altos"; but surely, Mr. Editor, this is not the only source of cultivation or pro- duction. During my stay in Wales, I have heard many singers who can falset almost to perfection, but as every musi- cal man knows, this is not a natural voice, but an unnatural voice. Surely,, it can- not be argued that male choirs can be completed by an unnatural voice, because, certainly, so long as the air" is sung in a falsetto voice, it is incomplete. Per- haps, Mr. Editor, some of our gifted musi- cians in the district can enlighten me with regard to the scarcity of male altos in the Rhondda Valley. A LOVER OF COMPLETE ORPHEUS SINGING. Rhondda County School Old Boys' Association. To the Editor of the Rhondda Leader." Sir,—I shall be grateful if you will allow a small space in your columns to draw attention to the Old Boys' Associa- tion of the Rhondda County School. We had our summer meeting last July, a re- port of which appeared in your paper. The meeting was a, decided success. We propose to have our annual reunion on Thursday evening, December 22nd. There are still a large number of old boys who have not joined. It is evident that they can do nothing more practical to show their regard for their old school than join this association. All old boys who have been pupils at the school for at least three consecutive terms, and are 17 years of age or more, become members by pay- ing an annual subscription of one shilling. We earnestly hope that those who have not yet sent their subscription will send it immediately to the treasurer, Mr. Walker, B.A., Intermediate School, Porth. Will all old boys with whom 1 have not communicated please send me their present address? On behalf of the Association,—I am, yours sincerely, J. R. EVANS. Manchester House, Ynyshir.

To Benefit the Farmer. It will be remembered that some little time ago widespread interest was aroused b- the announcement of a venture on the part of the Great Western Railway Com- pany in connection with the supply and conveyance of agricultural produce from country to town, and general satisfaction was expressed with the new arrangement which had the effect of assisting the agri- culturalist by bringing the producer and the consumer into closer touch. It is pleasing to learn that the facilities afforded have been well appreciated, and it is evident from a perusal of the com- prehensive pamphlet issued by the Com- pany, in which is given a list of farmers and others who are willing to supply weekly or as may be desired such com- modities as eggs, butter, cream, cheese, poultry, fruit and vegetables required for home use, that the residents of our large towns and cities have much to gain from the system it advocates, and which tends to promote the welfare of the British agriculturalist in such a happy way. A part of the arrangement is that boxes of varying sizes and suitable for the packing of commodities of the kind refer- red to are sold at the stations from which agricultural produce is forwarded at practically cost price, and much trouble and inconvenience in connection with the return of empty packages is thereby saved.

Licensing Prosecution Fails. Dl. Charles, landlord of the Trealaw Inn, Trealaw, was summoned for permit- ting drunkenness. The evidence of P.S. Baker and P.C. Lisk was that they found a man on the premises in a drunken con- dition with a pint glass measure in front of him, half full of beer, the landlady remarking when her attention was called to him, I told him he would have to go home after drinking that." Mr. W. P. Nicholas, who defended, called several witnesses to deny that the man was in the condition described by the police, and the Bench dismissed the case.

Colliery Gust0ftfs Important Case oJJ Before the Porth SUp^a Vyre^ day Wm. Forward,^ Co^u sued the South Wales g 0(jd 1 Company, Tonyrefail, of a month's notice, Mi • > a appeared for plaintiff, « was oiniseS son defended. The evi ijjery notice was posted on t^e ^i- on the 6th of July g1^ Jate to Jje a month's notice from iaimed$not nate contracts. Plaintiff .jce dj" was an official, and the spedfy mis- apply to him, as it did Q to P j,9d the firemen's services wer also pensed with. The notl^ec1 given 0 one, as it should have irjes 1st of the month according g0llth ment which governedn # coalfield. Mr. Watts Morgafce 011 thbllt the custom was to give 11 ,Pnce v?ai tW of each month. His exp0 jjgCharge 3pgci' when firemen were to be were given direct notice o jyj,. V ^0 fied in the general notice- _n(]ents' son argued that the r°11Kscri' i tb4 were foreigners, had not s jjau of agreement mentioned. neli0ln sp° any knowledge of the c about giving notice. coi»e,! The Stipendiary If. tn n|e e»lS district where a certain r gl must be bound by it- e plaiftf- His Worship awarded adt-hv'e OcaPtlleallil fee 15s. 2d. with costs and

—- Ferndale Landlord Furniture vvrec'<^ gild ^{\te Two lodgers, Dd. bef< McAllen, of Ferndale, w Porth Bench 011 Thursday 0 of u 0 doing damage to the f"r tbe e* P Nicholas, their landlord, r,o^ £ 7 10s. Complainant sa-i smashed a lot of furniture including a chest of draw'e a.cci^, ut, ments upon it. He ^V^ticM'A ards of having destroyed jylcAi was an aider and abette J$ mitted doing some damag > that the smashing of a S nWn furniture was due to the action in throwing stones 0 fK from outside the premises f of some differences betw eacb Bench imposed a fine or each damages.

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Teachers and the Bishops. A Private Meeting at Treorchy. The present educational controversy was the subject of a lengthy discussion at a meeting of the Rhondda and Ponty- pridd Branch of the N.U.T. held at the Treorchy Schools on Saturday afternoon. Mr. J. Davies, Lanwood Schools, presided, and the proceedings were strictly private. We understand, however, that the meet- ing expressed recognition and appreciation of the efforts made by Mr. Tom John and the other official representatives of the district to bring about some means to obviate an educational impasse, and ex- pressed gratification that the situation on both sides shows an apparent ease- ment." Mr. Tom John, who arrived late in the afternoon, addressed the meeting at some length, but, his remarks, too, were re- garded as confidential, and not, for publi- cation, pending the result of the confer- ence between the Welsh bishops and the teachers' representatives, which will be held at Llandaff on Wednesday next. The meeting viewed with a considerable measure of relief the pronouncement of the National Society on the one hand, and the moderate tone of Alderman T. J. Hughes on the other hand, as auguring well for a mutual understanding between the Welsh bishops and the Welsh National Council, emphasis being laid on the opinion that it should be possible to bring about a meeting of a conciliatory char- acter between the two parties referred to. The opinion was generally, expressed that it was not impossible to find a common denominator upon which a truce or an interregnum may be arranged." Mr. John was heartily thanked for his au^ress and his services in connection with the present educational crisis. The following report is supplied by Mr. Edgar R. Jones, Press secretary — A letter from Mr. Nicholas, the solici- tor of the Association, was read regret- ting the necessity, but explaining the desirability, of resigning that office. It was unanimously agreed that the com- mittee should carefully consider the mat- ter, with a view, if possible, of retaining Mr. Nicholas' services for some part of the work of the Association. It was decided that in future relief from the Benevolent Fund should be granted to pupil teachers and ex-p.t.'s who were contributors. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded Mr. Edgar Jenkins, Treforest, for his ex- cellent work as charity secretary during the past year. The congratulations of the Association were extended to Mr. Alfred Morgan on his appointment as Director of Education under the Mountain Ash District Council. Mr. Tom John made an interesting and optimistic statement as to the present education outlook in Wales. The following nominations were made —Vice-president of N.U.T., Mr. Pickle; Executive of N.U.T., the three old mem- bers vice-president of Glamorgan Fede- ration, Mr. E. Davies, Barry; four re- presentatives, Miss Isaac, Messrs. J. T. Lewis, Ambrose, and H. Howell.

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,Ch Mid-Rhondda Free Council* House-to-House The above Council in Vestry on Friday eveI)X Rev-J" sence of the chairman W llliams, Clydach Vale), foted to Richards, Tonypandy, tjti^ r chair. As this was the r>i$^ Richards to be in the c0jigra,ry. recent illness, a vote 01 tecoye was passed rejoicing at his ft<3 •, 0 also with the secretary 1003 Morgan) 011 his miraculous fteV- Loughor train disaster. L ted. c)fie Morris, Penygraig, was fe vice-chair for the ensuing J eve, (>u item on the agenda for t vafrilx x the house-to-house visitati agC cil has felt for some tiffl6 jtt^ of visiting all those vvho gU])-c^ any means of grace..txI I had been appointed to co &JJ(j ter and to draft a sclied venifl £ .» through, and on Friday fltii'el report was presented .0 be e flf adopted. The visitation is, 50I undenominational, and pj»c Churches are invited to 3 1 so0 object is to get all to bi'et^r% of worship. Many of th Stjjess #0 sent spoAe with great eai^n £ etlier>, m importance of going out to convince those who do 0bjeC cjf their welfare is the suprem se 3$$ secretary was authorised ugg JoH1 culars to the various chur^ them to apnoint workers 1 fteV'pw A letter was read from foPf" McNeill promising to vl next season.