The Amman Valley Chronicle and East Carmarthen News

TO CORRESPONDENTS. ( Reports, News Paragialhs, ?!? all Com- ;??!Ca?/? for THE AMMAN VALLEY CHRONICLE ?<?/</? be ?;? at the earliest possible moment—and not kept until a big batch accitiiittlates-addyessed EDITOR, "AMMAN VALLEY CHRONICLE," AMMANFORD. Will all correspondents, whether writing in Welsh or in English, please remember, when sending in their contributions, that we want them to give us their proper names and addresses, not neces- sarily for publication, but that we our- selves may know who they are.

44 TOWYN" AT AMMANFORD. I Mr. Towyn Jones may well be proud of the reception accorded him at Am- manford on Tuesday evening The meeting, reported at considerable length in our present issue, was a re- markably successful one, and the Young Liberals deserve hearty congra- tulations upon the way in which they organised the gathering. Whether we think of the occasional bursts of humour, arising from incidents or accidents, or lapse, or quip, or dwell upon the eloquence of the peroration, or the music provided, the meeting was one which will be remembered with pleasure by all who were privi- leged to be present. There was strong food for the fully developed politicians, dainties to tickle the palate of the jaded, and milk for political babes and sucklings. Altogether the meeting was certainly an inspiring one, and a fitting close to the series addressed by Mr. Towyn Jones during the week, as it was a "send-off" for the series of public meetings inaugur- ated by Mr. John Lewis and the League of Young Liberals.

THE AMMAN VALLEY INTER- MEDIATE SCHOOL. "Shaping well" is a phrase which may very aptly be used in describing the position and prospect of the new Intermediate School at Ammanford, and we rejoice at that. The head- master has drafted the curriculum so carefully that its acceptance by the Board of Education is probable, if not certain. There is no reason why the intermediate character of the school should be neglected, although the Board of Education have insisted upon the instruction imparted having a "technical basis." It is the opinion of those who have had experience in teaching and school management here and elsewhere that there should be a thorough grounding given in general subjects-say up to Form V. —before specialising is undertaken in any particular direction. We are sure øur readers are as anxious as we are that the school should have everv fair play from the outset, and every "move" made at the start will be watched with the keenest interest.

WHAT EVAN ROBERTS SAID TO ME. ———*——— I (BY AWSTIX.) That intense interest is taken in the elucidation of the supposed mystery surrounding the sayings and doings of Mr. Evan Roberts at Leicester has been amply demonstrated within the last two or three weeks, and to few, if any, has that interest been more manifest than to the writer. Since the publication in the Western Mail" of the account of my visit to Leicester, and of the statement in the "Amman Valley Chronicle" of How I saw Evan Roberts," I have received communications from all parts of the country, commending the "Common sense view" taken of the whole matter. Very many have urged me to publish further details of the inter- view which I had with Evan Roberts, and, seeing that there seems to be no district in which keener desire is shewn to know more of the doings and sayings of Mr. Evan Roberts than that in which readers of the "Chron- icle" are so numerous, I decided to comply with the wishes of those who have thus appealed to me. The sim- plest way to do this is to publish "What Evan Roberts said to me." Preliminaries are, therefore, un- necessary. It is sufficient to say that after the introductory chat mentioned in my account of the visit to "Cart- ref" (Mr. and Mrs. Penn Lewis's residence) I invited Mr. Evan Roberts to tell me anything lie would like to say about his "Message," and he talked freely, giving, at first, his own version of how he had arrived at the conviction as to his Message, and incidentally lie had, at one time, felt inclined to communi- cate directly with me on the subject, but that I had arrived "at the precise moment. Reference having been made to the coincidence of my uninvited visit and Mr. Evan Roberts 's preparation to break the silence of which some of the people of Wales had been complain- ing. the conversation naturally drifted in that direction. Before the 19th October (said Mr. Evan Roberts), I was in intense spiritual conflict, and on the 19tli October, the "translation" came into my spirit, and then I got great spirit liberty. I prayed very much that night and after, about it, and then the whole thing settled down on my spirit. Now, as the thing is prayed through, I get liberation. When I wrote that article (an article referred in course of conver- sation) I thought of you and Hughes, and I thought of sending you a wire saying what I was doing. I could not say much about this without explaining my own spirit life. It is that which gives importance to the thing. It is not merely that I perceived it, that I read the signs of the times, but that it is a specific spirit burden that I have concerning it. But how much to say I am not sure. What I am after is the guaran- tee that the Coming of Christ is at hand not merely a doctrine, nor a hope. All these years up to October 19th the burden on my spirit was the warfare with the powers of dark- ness. It was not that I took the burden up, it was laid on my spirit, whether I willed it or not. The only relief I ever got during those times was when I expressed the whole thing in prayer. At whatever time our Lord comes, each one must be ready. There is the warning in Cod's own Word, "no man knoweth the day nor the honr." Then there is the evidence of the Holy Spirit bringing the thing into the I ) i t *t bi n I, -1 spirit of the man, that is the second thing and (n) the emphasis 1aid upon it by Cod's own servants. After a break in the conversation, Mr. Evan Roberts remarked: Is it the Holy Chost revealing it, or is it merely the heart desiring the thing as an escape from death? Or is it an intellectual thing, pondering over it until the nitii is filled with it, and he looks for it' We want something more than heart and milld. We want the revelation through the spirit. I know it is not an intellec- tual study with me, nor is it a thing of the heart, but all these days ever since October 19th, the thing has not left, me day or night. So far as I am concerned, although all these prayers have been prayed concerning the millenium, the faith would not come that it was to take place in my life time but during the last three weeks of these prayers con- cerning the translation I have more faith that the translation is at the door than I had after the whole five years praying in the warfare towards tli- millenium. When I have faith that the millenium is at the door, I have faith that the great harvest of souls will take place, and that the millenium will also take place although I cannot have the faith that these I prayers concerning the millenium will be answered in my life-time, but they will be answered. When the light came about the translation I thought, "How long will this take to pray through?" I thought perhaps it would take a year or a year and a half. But the in- dications are that it is approaching—as if the event is at hand. I do not make any effort to believe it at all. You ask me to believe that I am in this room; well, I do not make any effort to believe that I am sitting here. That is the true thing of Divine faith. It is as simple as that. The moment tii ere is an effort in the faith it be- speaks the human. The moment YOU make an effort to believe there is something wrong. Am I here or am 1 nofi? If I question like that there is something wrong. But in connection with this faith something is put into the spirit and it becomes part of one, and you cannot make it—you must await Uod's pre- cise time. We had been seven days at Loughor, and we had no faith, but other faith had been given. For in- stance, I did not believe we had had sufficient confessions of Christ in the meetings, and I believed that we should have twenty. I then testified that I should not leave them until these twenty confessions were made. So it was a marvellous thing that the answer came so quickly. That thought of asking and working in prayer I was not then conversant with, but I see that God was working so quickly and it was in the seventh hour of the seventh meeting that the faith came. Now, I said, I could not help but speak, and say "It is not that we expect, but that we believe, and He is going to do it. Believing that He was going to do it that pre- cise moment. Each one had to pray. And row after row they went on, and before we were half through, the Holy Chost was working and men and women were shouting and crying to God. Now, what we want is a guarantee that the translation is at hand, and what is it ? Is it impressions on the mind, revelations in the spirit, or conclusions from the study of the signs of the times? There are many ways of coming to the conclusion. Those who study prophesy may have no spiritual experience, and that is where they are likely to go wrong. "And it was given unto him 'the beast) to make war with the Saints and to overcome them." Then when Cod gave power to the beast to over- come the saints it was no use praying against that, and asking God to stop it, because He would not turn the evil forces back until the time came. What if Job, when lie was stricken by Satan, by God's permission, had prayed for healing, God would not have given it until lie had proved his fidelity to God, that his faith was not based on selfishness. Question: Then you believe the time of the turning of the captivity of God's children is come? Evan Roberts: It is the duty of each one to be ready, without any re- velation at all, but there are the other two additional things. The revela- tion of God and the message of His servants. Although we do not know the hour, yet the approach of it must be pre- ceded by prayer, so that all the dis- pensational working s of God will be fulfilled. Simeon himself knew not the hour of our Lord's coming, but lie knew when lie was in the Temple and picked up the child in his arms, that it was Christ. He is positive as he takes the little Babe in his arms-he says, "This is the Christ." Question: I wonder how long he held that faith ? Evan Roberts: He had the revela- tion, and when lie saw Him he knew. But all this came into my spirit. Intellectually I wanted something to stand on, and I said, what is the basis that there is to be a translation? I went to 1 Corinthians, 15, but there I could not discern between the second coming and the third coming. I could not there see anything about the man- child being caught up, as distinctly showing that it would take place at the translation. Th»n eventually I came to Matthew 24th, and read "one shall be taken and the other left, and that settled it to me. I said, that is the basis that there is to be a translation, because at the third com- ing none will be left, all will be taken. That gave me the guarantee. Al- though storms seem to come, that cannot be shaken, and I said, Whv cannot it take place in our life-time? God is the same God. He drowned the world and saved eight persons. Was it not remarkable that one family was saved of God? Three cities burning in the plain, and one family escaping from them! Whilst I was in the warfare the at titude that I took was that if the L01.d came He should find me doing, so I endeavoured to be up-to-date in the expression of everything that came into my mind to pray, and I never had any rest until I had expressed it. Having thus quoted, freely. I may explain that there were questions and answers interspersed which have necessarily been omitted, owing to the exigencies of space, but sufficient has been given to show the trend of thought which led to the deep convic- tion which imbues Evan Roberts with the belief that the Second Advent is imminent. I hope to return to the "talk" in a future issue of the "Chronicle.

  The Ballot for a Sub= L Agent. t T An Appeal to the Miners of the  Anthracite District. j (By WILLIAM MILLER, Miner, I Pantyffynon.) In view of the ballot which is to take place during the week ending December 13th, for the election of a sub-agent for the Anthra- cite District, may I be allowed to place before my fellow workmen the qualifications of a man well known to the Ammanford and Pantyffynon sections of the workmen, and one whose services have been. and are being, freely given in almost every part of the Anthracite District to help deserving causes and individuals, as well as the main body of his co-workers? He is a candidate which we. here, are proud to support. Mr. John Harries lrl wyn), of Bettws, is 35 years of age. Commencing working below ground when 11 years old, he for many years followed the occupation of a miner, and ob- tained practical experience in every branch of coal mining. He is acquainted with the I methods of working prevailing in the an- thracite field, having been engaged in the following mines Ammanford (Nos. 1 and 2), Gwaun-cae-gurwen, Gelliceidrim, and Tiry- dail. His experience of steam-coal mining was obtained at Merthyr Vale, and Nixon's Navigation Colliery, Mountain Ash, where he worked for two years as a collier. During his period of employment in the Anthracite District lie has served on all kinds of com- mittees for the uplifting of his fellow-work- men within the District. He has had every opportunity of studying the conditions under which practical mining is carried on in South Wales, having been repeatedly selected to examine the state of the workings in accordance with the provi- sions of General Rule 38 of the Coal Mines Regulation Act. Moreover, lie has invari- ably enjoyed the confidence of his co-workers as their representative to district meetings and conferences, and auditor of the books of the Anthracite District of the South Wales Miners' Federation. He also had the privi- lege of representing the anthracite miners on a deputation on the question of explosions to the Home Office during the administration of the Right Hon. H. Gladstone, accompanying Walters, checkweigher of the International Colliery, Abercrave, on that occasion. He also acted as sub-agent at the International Colliery, Abercrave. during Mr. D. Morgan's illness, there settling all disputes to the satis- faction of the workmen. He had the privi- lege, once, of acting as arbitrator at the Trimsaran Colliery, Gwendract!) Valley. While pursuing his studies in connection with the local Technical Classes, lie success- fully competed for the Roseberv Scholarship, tenable at Ruskin College, Oxford. and. whilst there, took a course of sociology, evolution, logic, political economy, and industrial his- tory. Upon his return, and for one year afterwards, lie was employed as a repairer. when he made application for the position of checkweigher at the Pantyffynon Colliery, of the Blaina Colliery Company, Ltd.. in the year 1909, and succeeded, out of 101 appli- cants, in getting the I)ositioii, N-Itli the result tliaT this is the capacity in which lu- is at present engaged, and it was upon the result of that election that Gwilym Myrddin COlll- 1 plimented him in these lines :— i C l o( I fories :it- f\;iN-(I(l ?i (i?)1, Clodfoms yw Irlwyn ar fynydd a diJI. Mae dalen ei bancs yn wen. Ar gallt 0 ymgeiswyr enillodd v Pldl," A milltir a haner <lros lien. Mae gwyr Pantyffynon yn cami bob un rth wel d yr cfrydydd dinam O Goleg Rhydvehain ar hvynfan y" ;creen," Yn dadleu cyfiawnder Y ddram." Yn dad!eucyf)a\\tx)c)'y llanw ei fryd, A sieryd o'i blaid yn ddidaw Mae"t. tÚll yn ei galon yn llo.sgi o liyd. A chofier fod cyrn ar ei law. Ac achos y gweithiwr fydd a mean a nod Ei dalent a 'i lafur. mi wn A pheidier 1 (i(lo(i Nad bachgen I r senedd fydd hwn. '1 He has had the privilege through a ballot of representing his lellow-workmen as their Labour Candidate on the Ammanford Urban Is the governing body in an area which has and the Amman Valley Group of School Managers with about "20.000 pcpnlat ion while his ser- vices are frequently requ: irioned on public platforms in connection with so-c i ll, industrial, and political movements, on account of his ability to addre: a meeting in either English or elsh .or to write in either language. As a lecturer h" hils rendered excellent ser- vice to various causes and helped in deserving benefits, while his experience in ail matters pertaining to the work which will devolve upon a sub-agent turtles him to (he fullest con- Hidcratioll at our hands, JII compensation cases, in disputes, in defending as well as in of till., (lis- trict in the public courts, and outside, his capabilities are. 1 think, quire unique. We know the .^tand he ha; taken on the question of victimisation, and his determined chaulpionship of oill claim to the lost five per cent. ot our wages: and, whether as check- weigher. Labour leader, public representative, lecturer, literary man. bard, patriot, servant, or friend, then- who know hilil best are his greatest admirers, and those who know him as faithful in tlie pa t and loyal and useful and energetic in the present predict a future of still greaftr ser\ ice to be rendered bv him should his fellow-workmen do him the honour. as we hope they will, of placing him ill a position which will enable him to fill a wider *t' oli I sphere as sub-agent of the mi nors of the Anthracite District.

The vedry book of the parish of Tallev con- tains some curious items. Here are three of them:—"1828. December 3. Ordered that two guineas be paid to Mr. Williams, surgeon, of Llandovery, for exterpating and dressing a cancerous lip of Mary Lewis. of Rwansea." "1831. June 23rd. It was agreed to give Elizabeth William, Brecon, the sum of 5s. to assist her to go to the salt water." "1832. October 8th. Ordered that no pauper be re- lieved who keeps a dog."