The North Wales Chronicle and Advertiser for the Principality

KINMEL CAMP NOTES. Gum-boots and chin-straps are again the order of the day. The deluge of last week- end converted the camp into a veritable quagmire. Cataracts and water-falls made their appearanüe on the slopes and formed lakes in the low-lying areas. One orderly room owes its escape from flooding to. the iu- geiiuity of the regimental gardener. In lay- ing out the "grounds" he introduced an ar- tificial bank into hie scheme, and this efleetu- ally dammed the rush of water which reached the depth of a couple of feet. Water and mud, however, have now become common- place factors in our daily Iir., so that an in- crease of a few inches in depth does not alarm us, but rather affords the irrepressible jokers, of whom we have many, additional scope. One of the so ncedle-tongued "Tommiiee," on be- ing asked the whereabouts of a certain cor- poral, replied, "I don't know, sir, but I think he js gone ashore." < The patrons of the Y. A. in No. 13 Camp enjoyed another entertaining concert last weeK. Tho programme on tnis occasion was provided by out.sido taient, and I regret that notice of it reached me too late, as i am told that it was another red-letter night. Mrs Stone and her friends are to be congratulated upon the excellence of the entertainment pro- vided at this hut. That its reputation is rapidly spreading is not to bo wondered at. • • • • Have we a poet at Kinmel? I believe we have, and that a paragraph of mine ha6 been the means of drawing him out. You will re- member my reference to the "knut" in whose tresses the regimental barber discovered -a curling paper. Now, long hair and poetry usually go together, and shortly after the incident was related in this column, the fol- lowing appeared in a contemporary under the title of a "Khaki Lament," though, knowing the circumstances as I do, "A Hymn of Hate, would have been a more suitable heading:— I do not mind the Irish stew W ith which they dose us dailv; I'll drink their tea (a fearsome brew) With patience—if net gaily. Route-inarching shall not leave me tad, Nor cause undue dejection, For Swedish drill I'e always had A sneaking half-affection. Fatigues I never care to "strafe," though others freely curse 'em. At grievances I only laugh W hilo others freely nurse 'em. Against my sergeant I can state No thoughts of ill I harbour, But flesh and blood can't tolerate The regimental barber. » » There's temper for you Luckily, the bar- ber is not with us now, but he wili rt-ad thib, and I'm sure he will smile. # • • One day last week I was chatting to a member of the G.M.P., whose brogue pro- claimed him a son of Erin, when an officer approached and gave him instructions that his motor car be sent on to a certain house which boasted a terribly Welsh name. The man received his orders with innumerable "Yes, sors," and the officer rode away on his bicycle. Shortly afterwards the car arrived and the chauffeur was directed to the "Bobby" for orders. Poor Pat was beside himself with anguish. His attempts at Cymraeg Were piti- ful to hear. Fortunately, I happened to over- hear the officer's instructions, and was able to direct the chauffeur—to the great relief of the policeman. Don't mention it, Captain, quite a pleasure, I assure you, though I would advise you to write those horrid names in future. W I saw you on the return journey. Very nice. Monday was St. Valentine's Day, and many of us can reanember the time when this was a fixture of importance. Latterly, however, it has faded into obscurity, but war works won- ders, and Monday last saw the issue of the most momentous "Valentine" yet invented, namely, the ultimatum to thoee young men who are too proud to fight, to come or be fetched. AVhethe-r the date of publication was decided upon by design or coincidence, I do not know, but of its appropriateness there can be no doubt. • • • a The flowers that bloom in the spring are making their appearance about the, various orderly r<->owi? and offices rind irniiiii fli,, flaw p ies. There is every ir-dication of the pre- sence of gardeners V;Ilo Know a thing or c.. o, in our ranks. I should like to see a garden- ing competition arranged between the various battalions; I am 6ure it would be exceedingly popular and interesting. Already what was once a wilderness is now gradually assuming the appearance of a garden of Eden, and I look forward with much pleasure to the sum- mer, when I expect to see Kinmel ranking as one of the attractions of the district, and worthy the name of Park. » <* My hearty congratulations to the Rugby team of the 21st Welsh. They are indeed hot stuff," and their performance on Sat- urday last was one of the finest of the season. Their success is no doubt largely due to the genius of the outside half, whose name is mentioned on the field in bated breath. Though playing out of hit3 usual position on Saturday, he got in a tremendous amount of work, and was ably supported by the right inside three-quarter, who also possesses a name to conjure with in the rugger world. « « It was very ha;d lii.es for their opponents, the 18th R. U.F., who were unable to place their usually strong team in the field, some of their best men being away on courses, while others were "crocked." They put up a game light, however, ancl had their tackling been lower their opponents' score might have been lower also. S^rgt.-Inst. Dowdney brought off the tackle of the afternoon, and saved a cer- tain try, but he missed several men through "going too high," and on one occasion was left with nothing but a piece of his opponent's shirt in his possession. We lud the somewhat unusual spectacle of two men playiug in their bare skin I should like to suggest that those pieces of wood doing duty for touch-flags be replaced bv something less substantial. I saw a man brought down within a yard of one of these things on Saturday, and, believe me, he was just that yard on the right side of a nasty accident. • • » • "Our Office" is still with us, at least, for the time being. During the week the "A s you were was received from headquarters, and at present the matter stands in abeyance. Manv of us were glad to hear of this, and I know a few of the clerical staff who arc not a. bit sorry. o l ly. I-Ilef-0 ays Tommy in the pu1pit! ReaHy. thecc days we are rapidiy losing our eeu?G of J.oveky. On Sunday morning Mr II. J. Higgins, B.A., a graduate of the Welsh University, attired in a private's iiiiiforni, conducted the service at the Pensarn English Presbyterian Chapel, and de- livered a very eloquent eermon from the text "Be strong and of good courage." At the tmno of his enlistment in the 21st Royal Welsh h u.si- lieirs, Mr Higgins, whose homo is at Buckley, was a student in the Aberystwyth Theological College, where he had passed his first examina- tion for the B.D. degree. lie was preparing to take hio fina.1 next June, but gave up his col- lege career to enlist. Mr lligguis also preached in the owning to a crowded congregation, which included many soldiers. He has a fluent deliv- ery. R. E. CRUIT.

NEW SPRING JERSEYS for Breakfast, Holiday and all Sports Wear. Advance Shows in all Departments at Old Priccs. WARTSKI'S By Bangor Cathedral.

19th CENTURY R EN I I iN I S C, E.N ,(., E S. The old toll-gates throughout tho coun try, were a source ot considerable revenue, thougtt their existence led eventually to a strong feel- ing' which in time led to their abolition. The toil gatxs were annually let to the highest bidders, and for their guidance in tending in tenders the official advertisements genera ny, stated the amounts which accrued from each, toll gate during the previous year. For in- stance, in Carnarvonshire "the toll gates and their bars, chains and side gates produced in 1856 (clear of the cost of collecting) the follow- ing suma": Gwydr gate, near Lhsnrwst, £ 262; Gyffin gate, near Conway, £ 105; Con- way Marsh gate, £ 52; Penmaenmawr gate, £ 23 10.0; Tanlon, north of Talybont, £ 136; Bangor and Vaynol gates, £ 155; Tafarngris-* iau, .£121; Bodrual, near Carnarvon, £ 177; Penllyn, near Llanberis, £ 14.3; Gwastadnant, Llanberis, £ 58; Glangwna, near Carnarvon, £ 161; Rhjd-ddu, £ 70; Gelli, near Xantlle* £ 20; Pant Du, £ 18; Dolydd, .£90; Berth, Llanllvfni, £ 80 10s; Maesmawr, near Pwll- heli, £ 57; Clynnog, £ 116; and Sciont gatej near Carnarvon, £ 369. In th-e same year the toll gates in Dcni);gii. shire were let as follows:—Mold and Den- bigh district, £ 1110; Denbigh and Rhuddian district, £ 705; Conway district, £ 375; and St.. Asaph district, X132. Separate details are not given in the advertisement soliciting ten- ders, and the same is the case in regard to Flintshire, where the amounts derived in 185G "over and above the expense of collecting" were:-Flint district. tl096 12s 9d; Holywell district, E608 86 4d; and Mostyn district, .£785 19s lid. Close upon eixty years ago the coroner for Denbighshire appeared in an unusual role— that of defendant in the county court. It ap- pears that the worthy gentleman had been holding an inquest at Llansilin, and soott after received an account from the landlord of the inn, "for the use of room on the occasion of an inquest, and also for beer given to the jurors on the said occasion." According to the evidence of one of the jurors the coroner had observed to the jury that the sum of 56 was generally allowed for the use of the room, and "given in drink," by which, w. presume, was meant that the money was in- tended to cover the cost of the room and drink to the jurors. The landlord, on the other hand, contended that the charge was 59 for the room and an additional Gs for the beer consumed. It is not surprising that the judgo remarked that the custom of giving beer to jurors was quite new to him, and certainly; improperly." The outcome of the case was that the corouer had to pay the landlord's claim. It is just possible that it was custom- ary in some parts of the country to give lieer to jurors after they had done their work, otherwise one can hardly imagine a coroner concurring in the practice. In these notes last week reference w;:s njado to the appointment of the Rev. Charles Wil- liams, B.D., incumbent of Holyhead, to the principalship of Jesus College, Oxford, in 185S. Mr Williams had vicar of Holyhead for thirteen years, and upon hie departure the parishioners presented him with a lSnic of silver plate. The presentation was formally; made by the Hon. W O. Stanley. M.P., who immediately remarked that. the publio subscriptions to the testimonial fund had reached .£107 2s. Mr Williams, in acknow- ledging the gift, reminded those present at) the rnûtinig that he preached his first sermon at Holyhead on the Sunday before Christmas Day, in the year 1844. The population 01 the town was then slightly over 4000, but in a very short time it had more than doubled. From time to time Bangor has extended hospitality to many distinguished visitors. In 1857 "His Excellency Ferouk Khan, the Persian Ambassador, and suite, consisting of nine nobles and three servants," came to Ban- gor and stayed at the Penrhyn Arms Ilote). The following day they left in their carriages to inspect t1.e Britannia Tubular Bridge and file Me-nai Suspension Bridge. Front thence they went to the Pen- rhyn Quarries, and were shown over the works by Mr Francis. They returned t Bangor throu-Ii Penrhyn Park. II i. Excel- lency the Persian Ambassador com eyed, through Capt. Lynch, an English genlleman who accompanied him, "that it would givs him pleasure to recommend his friends visit- ing this county to the Penrhyn Arms Hotel, the comforts of which he should always .-peak! of." The Penrhyn Arm.* Hotel was the first building used for the aiversity College of North Wales, and is till in use for fnte de- partments of college work, though the art* section has for some time been housed in tho imposing new buildings on the hjllide over- looking Bangor.

WELSH OFFICER DISMISSED! FROM THE ARMY. As a result of a court-martial held at Kinmel Camp on January 13th. under the pietideucy 01 Colonel T. A. Wynne Edwards, of the 21c;t n. serve Battalion of the Royal Welsh Ku*i!ierv Captain J. Leslie Down, of the 21st Reset ve lla" tahon of the "Welsh Regiment, has been disn>is»edl from the Army.

i GOLDEN GOAT, CARNARVON. ? GREAT SALE HrNOW ON. | I-K. S. > PIERCE WILLIAMS. ¥ j 

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I RUMANIA. I t B-v Percy Alden, M.P.) 'M e, position of The position of Rumania is of special im- portance at the present moment. It is untrue to say that Rumania has agreed not to aban- don neutrality without the consent of Grecce. Not only so, but it is most improbable that Buunania would consent to come in on the tide of t1< Teutonic Powers. In fact, the whole of the discussion in the German papers is directed to the one end of how to avert Rumania's intervention on the side of the Allies. It is more than possible that the at- tack on .Salonika has been delayed because Rumania's neutrality is not assured, or be- cause. it it. thought that the concentration of her armies on her southern frontier implies an anti-Germanic attitude. There is no doubt that Germ.any is making great efforts to in- fluence the pro-German party, and she will not o!ol) at mere representations, for she i.s desirous of the demobilisation of the Ruman- ian army and of formal assurances of neu- trality. These circumstances make it important to understand a. little of the historical position which Rumania occupies. It is on the ques- tion cf nationality that the whole Rumanian problem rests, for notwithstanding the widely divergent theories as to the-origin of the Rumanian nation we know enough to be able to trace with some degree of certainty that the Dacians, who were a branch of the Thrac- iait race and established themselves about the 6th century B.C. on both sides of the Car- pathian ranges after anany years of conflict with Rome, came under the influence of Roman civilisation, and eventually became a flourishing dependency of the Rome Empire, so much so in fact that it was often called "Daoia Felix. The «u:bseqnen-t inroads of Gotht3 and Huns did not by any means de- stroy Roman influence upon the country or the population, but with the coming of the Slavs about the beginning of the seventh cen- tThry, the Rumanians were separated from the Romans, and parts of the Rumanian country 'became dependent on a new State founded by the Bulgarians. The Hungarians, at the end of the ninth •century, put an end to the Bul- garian domination "in Daoia, although the Hungarians themselves were influenced by the Daeo-Romans. It would not be untrue to say that so far as actual language and race is concerned the Rumanians are living to-dav almost exactly where their ancestors of 1500 years ago lived. The Rumanian people as a whole have not made any very large advance from an edu- cational point of view. Four-fifths of the population of Rumania proper, viz., the pea- sant population is extremely backward and illiterate. The result is that they- cannot realise their rights and their duties under the western institutions imposed upon them.. The tragedy of Rumania is that its population is scattered over countries in the possession of other States, for example, there are Ruman- ians in Transylvania (2,949,000), Bukovina (about 250,000), Bessarabia (1.000,000), and also in Serbia, Bulgaria, and Macedonia. The total number of the Rumanian population is probably about 12,000,000. Of the 7,500,000 of people who inhabit the present kingdom of Rumania, nearly 5,500,000 (or about three- qu art ere) are Rumanian. These figures give H6 a clue to the national aspirations of Rumania, for the principle of nationality is the political programme of parties in that country. Rumania naturally wants Russia to give back Bessarabia taken from her in 1S78, and she naturally looks towards Transylvania with its nearly 3,000.000 of the Rumanian race deprived 'by the Hungarian Government of every possible means of political expression. In considering, therefore, the attitude that Rumania is likely to take in this war,w«o have to remember that first- of all she considers which path of conduct is likely to off-or her the greater advantage in unifying and solidi- fying the Rumanian population. It is not improbable, judging from the events of to- day, that Russia has come to some sort of agreement, with Rumania over Bessarabia, for the Ruseification of Bessarabia has never taken place owing to the reactionary attitude of the Russian, Government in respect of edu- cation. Transylvania is, therefore, the pivot upon which Rumania turns, and as the treat- ment of tiro Rumanians by Hungary has been a fundamental contradiction of the principles of justice, we may be sure that in the view of most people in Rumania and of its most powerful personalities, Rumania's interest lies on the side of the Entente. KifEjg Ferdinand is, of course, German by descent. His wife Marie, daughter of the Duke of Saxe Coburg and Gotha, is half- British and half-Russian. He is a nephew of KinO" Carol, to whc.m Rumania, owes niiieh I The policy of Rumania is very much in the hands of small groups of politicians, and. powerful personalities will have much to do with the future action of Rumania in this war; the chief of them is the King himself, who virtually controls the foreign policy of hie kingdom. The present Prime Minister, M. Bnatianu, is largely under the influence of thi? Crown, but he is a practical man, and does not wish his country to be exposed to danger. He is, therefore, unwilling to enter into this European Armageddon without ample guarantees for the future. It is quite possible to misjudge Rumania in taking such an action, since there arc men lik-e M. Take Jom £ scu, the exponent of progressive ideas in Rumanian politics, and Filipescu, a Coneer- vaf iv<e with strong Anti-Magyar feelings, both of whom are on the side of intervention. But a. somewhat colourless Cabinet controlled by the Government beiJ.ieves the policy of oppor- tunism to be justified. After all Rumania cannot supply herself with munitions in the same way that other countries can. She has been dependent in the past for her supply cf war material both on German and Austrian arsenals, but especially upon Krrpp. War on modern lines involving vast expenditure on munitions would soon see her exhausted in that respect, for Germany failed to fulfil even the old contracts. Accordingly Rumania waits and watches. Our withdrawal from the Dardanelles has profoundly affected her, Success there would have meant her intervention on the side of the Allies, but even under present circum- stances. with the Allies blockading the Straits, Rumania's economic position is in- secure, for her only accet-s to the Mediterran- ean is by land, and transport facilities at the moment are either expensive or non- existent. Nevertheless the interests of Ru- mania cannot be on the side of Germany or Austria j certainly not on the side of Bulgaria which improperly deprived her of a strip of the Dobrudja. Hon. Secretary, Council for the Study of International Relations.