The Western Mail

SOUTH WALES TIDE TABLE. = Š 35 5 ¡ i I ±11 P I I 2 WEDNES /"MORNING 761 649 7 43 T& T~2 DAY EREUING 8 6 74 7 58 7 8 7 10 Oot.lK.He?M ?6 t! 32 ? 369 MZJ M 9 TURS" I'MOI-NING I 6 49 5 4 6 B2 TE8 d" 1 76 4 7 58 1 37 42 8 1 373 2 Oc?J2(He.?t 135 3 r136 9 M 2 M 2 F,id., (-'OR,'V I 8 52 1 7 49 1 8 43 j 7 65 I 8 7 frid? "i??.???????? 16 OCT. 13 ■) (.HEIGHT '340 ) 30 5 1 34 6 1 38410 4 8167 S"tur. R MORNING 9 20 8LO 9^4 826 TSJ "g 8 9 281 8 Oct. 14 Heill'bt 3a 2 28 1\ 32 8 31 61 1 "7 S da SMorninll"I 9 47 8 50 1 9 44 8 69 9~1 ??.{<?H..gh? t j??U t) ?t?? 31 0 1? 6 2990 "0 OCT. (■HEIGHT 29 11 37 2 ) 30 6 M 20 Q MONDAY F MORNING 10 19 9 24 10 18'| 9 34 9 34 'Otn 16 ? E'?'X M 9 42 10 36 9 55 9 67 ?"<"S''t -7 6 25 6 1 28 o,28 10 1,757 TUE»DJ.(|IONV;A« 10 68 10 6 10 59' 10 18 10 U Tue«dy17.'} ??"R.' 23 11. 33 U 27 I2- 10 7446 10 4. CHEIGHT -.3 23 6 26 6 27 4 15 JR-th B..i. tE., I- -1-1 W-?-adr. D-k IDook Sill.

WEATHEK FORECAST. = Y» IC^R»AY FC FORECAST. Nonh-westerlyorw'terly winds, moderate; fair to dull, and some rain, ÏŸII8T'.BU'Ø WIIU811a.1 South wMterty wi.ù, I etronx.nun. The ferecMt <f h-Ih*, threu?ucat the WAS* *f ??Md .? S.uth W.).. f.rt.?W.d.??M?' io ? fT/' aj(l nor?.Mtt,rt./ ??., strong 11.al. atl¡,t"lOd"a¡ing tat. '1""UII; .holD'I.

LLANDAFF CATHEDRAL SKRVTnwa I "V* October 1l.-Sí8WVt ïiiG" -W "o.????-?-??e. ?-. [^Thursday, Octeber K.-StH.<r i» E 4ai; hym., >R& ^CR^ R U-W"LE3F U F I WFFL ?'???"-?'"?'- ?.  1 in "t.r<14.-1'arr:r ia D -?."0=. tbiUI: have r liMired íHacfa.'reJl).

HUNTING APPOINTMENTS. HARRIERS. I V --rridgy, 00t.Ø1ier 1.1. Llangroider 1

In an affray between two female inmates of the Belfast Workhouse II woman named Susan Sherry received such injuries that she died yesterday in that institution. Her assailant is under arrest. Richard James Buttersha,w was brought before the magistrates of Ely, Cambridge- shire, yesterday charged with embezzling £ 760 at Rotlierkam. At first he denied his identity, but eventually handed over £ 696 to the police, and was handed over to the Rotherham authorities. A man named Lowfclter and his wife were arrested in Belfast yesterday, in consequence of a coroner's jury at an inquest held the previous day having returned a verdict that their three-year-old child had died of sheer neglect and starvation, for which they were responsible. Her Majesty's staghounds met for the first time this season yesterday morning at Windsor, and had a good run, the deer selected being an untried hind. Lord Ribbles- Gale, Master of the Hounds, was present. Mrs. Peacock, wife of the newly-appointed housekeeper of the Old Bailey, committed suicide yesterday morning. 'She uffered housekeeper of the, Old Bailev ? h e  u ff ehrad from melancholia. As soon as she had entered her bathroom her husband haard the report of a revolver, and. entering, found his wife dead. There were signs yesterday that the long- continued, miserable struggle in the coal trade is beginning to come to an end, a better spirit being evinced between masters and men and many pits being re-openeu. Speech is free, but not too free, in Eng- land. James Duke, of Cardiff, was remanded at N^ ewcastle yesterday on a charge of libelling Robert Knight, general secretary of the Boilermakers' Society, by stigmatising him in a letter as an impostor, scoundrel, and hypocritical liar. Mr. Albert Spicer, M.P.. appeared in a new character yesterday. As chairman of the Congregational Union, he delivered the inaugural address of his year of office in the City Temple. The chief burden of his remarks was the great change in the position of Nonconformists during the p-t half cen- tury and the necessity of the liberation of religion from State control. The watchful care of the police is over us in private as well as public. At Caerphilly Pohce-oourt yesterday a local greengrocer was fined 5s. and costs for selling malt vinegar which had been adulterated. The defence was that the police inspector did not when he made the purchase ask for malt" vinegar, and one of the most eminent analysts in the country testified that, though what was sold to the officer was not "rnalt" vinegar, it was what was generally accepted as a pure and genuine vinegar. At a meeting of the Newport Watch Com- mittee yesterday a recommendation that newsboys should be licensed by the police was referred back to the committee by seven- teen votes against eight. A most astonishing exposure of certain matters in connection with the nomination of further Glamorganshire magistrates appears in the Western Mail" to-day. The late dry weather has been held re- sponsible for many things already, but it is now imputed to it that it has had the effect of causing fissures to appear in the walls of the Churches of Debden, Great Cliisliall, Heydon, and Streethill, in North- west Essex. The reason is supposed to be that the ground b&- shrunk, 1ih:'alrs have, therefore, set-tied. These churches are all very old. The general purposes committee of the London County Council have reported in fa-iour of the scheme for the reclamation of the foreshore of the Thames as work for the unemployed, and will ask the county council to urge upon the Thames Conser- vancy Board the desirability of carrying out the work. A licensing appeal by M_rs. Walker a.gainst the decision of the Crewe magis- :!l"tclig d:i of t]:ei;r;:eh:,a:d I three houses of other brewers, valued at P,80,000 in all, because they put managers and not tenants in possession, will come on for hearing at the Cheshire Sessions on the 20th inst., and great interest is taken in the result by the trade. There was practically no demand for short loans in London yesterday, but discount ruled firmer. Business on the Stock Exchange was still quieter than ever, and a weak tone prevailed in most departments. The market at Cardiff was fairly active, and a good deal of business was done in local securities at Monday's prices.

Mr. Stuart Rendel lias purchased the Villa Florence at Cannes from the Dowager- Duchess of Montrose. The villa is situated between the Prince of Wales's Hotel and the Boulevard du Cannet, and is only a few hundred yards from Mrs. Vyner's. Last year it was occupied by Mrs. Noble and family, of Park-place, Henley. The villa stands in a. beautiful garden, and is one of the best in Cannes. It is supposed that Mr. Stuart Rendel's first guest will be Mr. Gladstone, who will go to Cannes between the autumn session and the re-assembling of Parliament in 1894.

In Saturday's issue we published in tabular form a return submitted to the Land Com- mission by Mr. T. E. Ellis, M.P., showing the rentals of all the Welsh counties and a number of English counties at five different periods in the present century, to- gether with the increase to a decimal point in the rents between 1814 and 1890. The table contained over seven hundred figures. Mr. Pierce, the telegraph superintendent for North Wales-a. gentleman with about thirty years' telegraphic experience—has never before known oi tbA despatch of such a table by wire. The "Western Ma.U" was the only paper receiving the report by telegraph which gave the figures, each of which, by the way, was oorrectly pu blil!hed. Telegraphists who took part in the transmission and receipt of the singular message may credit themselves with an exceedingly meritorious achieve- ment.

It is not altogether a misfortune this magisterial scandal in Glamorgan. Some- thing of the kind was needed to expose the system in all its nakedness. We are an illogical people, and nowhere is that more clearly manifested than in the way the magistrates are selected. It has all the defects of a system which is in course of adjustment, combining the vices alike of the old order and the new. That a band should have, as alleged, exploited the not unnatural desire of moneyed people for distinction is only d^orable so long as we choose to forget that what these have tried to do Oft pelf others have done for decides for politics. Nevertheless, th3 disclosu.-es are of thrilling interest, and the last chapter is likely to eclipse even the first in this respect.

The Perthshire Constitutional" seems to have a. writer with a close and intimate knowledge of the "News of the World," and also of the present chief proprietor of that paper. "The Bells, of course, are quite one of the old historic newspaper families in Lon- don (it says), and two gentlemm-Bir. Walter John and his brother, Adolphus-sm still connected with the paper that their grandfather founded. The paper, which passed a year or so ago into the hands of a limited company, still, I am told, numbers among its staff several of the original employes, including one of the very men who used to turn the arauk when: the machine was worked by hand. At the head is Mr. Lascelles Carr, one of the 'cutest of modern journalists, who raised the Western Mail to the position of the 'Times' of Wales, and who has done, and is doing, more than any man living to promote the illustration of the ordinary newspaper with really good sketches of actual current events."

No eisteddfod could be truly great with- out a, first-class quarrel between bards or musicians, or both. The big deficit of the Pontypridd Eisteddfod was redeemed by the wordy spar which took place" in the face of the sun and the eye of light," with a presi- dent and an adjudicator as leading actors. Chicago is to have its classical quarrel, of course. "Tudno." whose awdl" was awarded the second prize, is trailing his coat- tails with characteristic pertinacity. He has appealed from the adjudicators to the public by publishing his poem. A review of the latter is published by us to-day. The ver- dict of the reviewer is that the "awdl" is not distinguished by any elevation or origi- nality of thought, but moves smoothly and musically, and the phrases are neatly turned. It is, in short, just the type of poem that would be produced under the conditions and in the absence of a poetical genius. Dyfed's "awdl" has been highly praised by the adjudicators, but that is usually done with the successful effort. Later on we hope to subject it to the same literary analysis. These productions when tested in a colder atmosphere than that of the log-rolling eisteddfod generally lose some of the brilliancy claimed for them.

Some interviews which appear in another column would seem to show that the reason the Swansea Hospital, one of the most impor- tant and valuable philanthropic institutions in Wales, is one thousand two hundred pounds in debt and is not able to keep more than half the beds occupied is that the committee of management have for years refused to move on with the times. A donation of twenty-five guineas gives a life governorship of the institution, and this, together with the fact that every past and present medical officer connected with the institution is on the committee, would probably tend to make the government a cumbrous and unwieldy pieoe of machinery. There surely must be some reason for the constant bickerings which have induced a number of the best committeemen to either resign or absent themselves from the com- mittee of late. A Swansea weekly a few days ago was rather warm in condemnation of new blood jostling the old, and seemed to speak rather slightingly of higher attain- ments" on the part of new medical men. We rather fancy that high attainments are not altogether derogatory to a medical stair, and that new blood often has the effect of improving and invigorating an institution.

Mr. S. T. Evans's "funny story" has I brought the author much notoriety. To that extent it has been a great success. True, one paper calls it an "impudent in- vention," another a fantastic fabrication," and the "Yorkshire Post" says it is a "malignant fable" of the kind which we are accustomed to look for as part of the equipment of the pushing young Welshmen whose political existence depends entirely upon the amount of notoriety which they are able to secure. Meanwhile Mr. Sam Evans rests upon his oars, and, with a dis- cretion which we cannot sufficiently admire, steadfastly refuses to disclose the identity of the negotiator. The disclosure is only to be made in one of two alternatives, if the negotiator consent to it-which, a,ssum- ing the truth of the story, he is as likely to do as to walk with candle, book, and bell through London streets—or if the nego- tiator deny the truth of the statement. The idea of a denial from the mysterious emissary carries with it the assumption that he has corporeal existence—which is the point in dispute-and that he is a natural fool. Mr. Evans had better drop the Mahatma theory, stick to the bald story, and, above all, give no reasons nor names. In this way some people may be found capable of believing this joke of the silly season.

THE NEW IRISH CRUSADE. There is to be a new Irish erusade. Both the Redmonds and all their allies and associates have solemnly vowed that Great Britain shall have no rest if Ireland cannot have Home Rule. If Erin cannot be per. mitted to set up an independent Parliament she can make herself a nuisance, and she is to do it forthwith if the Parnellites are to be her guides. Mr. Gladstone may talk about the Newcastle programme, and the Welsh. men may babble of disestablishment and disendowment, but there is to be no chance of getting on with either the one or the other even for those who want them. Gladstoniana equally with Tories, English Home Rulers equally with Liberal Unionists, have to be stumped in all attempts to get the House of Commons to do the work it was designed to do, and exists to do. Awkward as delay will be, we almost wish Mr. Redmond may be successful in inducing Ireland to adopt his advice. If he is, there will be an utter end of Irish Home Rule for ever and for ever.

TIN-PLATE MANUFACTURE IN THE STATES. The 8&ving clause introduced into the WKinley Act by which the increased tariff on tin-plates automatically disappeared in 1895 if the native production did not reach a third of the total consumption is not likely to avail us much. A conflict of opinion as to what constitutes a native-made tin-plate introduces an element of uncertainty into the returns. And there is another factor which vitiates the statistics in terne or leaded plates, certain qualities of which, used for roofing and similar purposes, have always been manufactured in the States. Special- agent Ayer has reported to the American Government that the aggregate output in the States of tin and terne plates during the quarter ended June 30 was 41,866,0421b., of which slightly less than half was from Ameri- can black plates. The output of tin and terne plates proper of the liguter class during the fiscal year 1893 was 93,850,4871b., showing an excess of 14,542,5481b. over and above what may be termed the one-third requirement. These figures would be dis- quieting to Wales if they were trustworthy. But, as we hav?. shown, figures relating to tin-plate manufacture in the States can be made to support the case for or against M'Kmleyism.

THE DISORGANISATION OF TRADE. A new use nai a good use has been found for mayors. Tney have been made the means of bringing oaiowners and coal-workers into a measure' of conferenoe over the terrible dispute in the coal trade. They settled nothing. The strike or lock-out, or whatever it is, is yet a long way from being closed, but it is not quite so far off as it was. It really is one of the wonders of the world that industrial disputes have to be fought out in the present barbarous fashion in an age when international quarrels, like the Alabama affair and the Behring Sea difficulty, are arranged quietly and peacefully by a. dozen or two gentlemen sitting round a table at their ease. Where nations fall out they have scarcely any data to go upon to arrive at a satisfactory arrangement. Whatever the quarrel is between masters and men, the facts and figures which in the end are bound to settle the dispute are in existence. The only difficulty is to get t-bem put before the right men—the, men who can look at them without passion or prejudice, and understand them aright when they see them. The conference convened by the Midland and Northern mayors has not quite accomplished this. But it has improved the temper of the disputants and increased their reasonableness, and that makes the chances of getting at a settlement much hetr than they were last week. Already there i? a more pbrceptible tendency on the part of miners and mine-owners to give and take. Masters are giving way about insisting upon a reduction—workmen are giving way concerning vexatious oondi- tions. c

GRIP AND NO GRIP. Tney manage the steps necessary to scru- pulously exclude the possibilities of infection from abroad better in the North of England than we do in Wales. At Cardiff on Monday attention was called to the fact that rags which may be shipped in bales in Amsterdam are brought to Cardiff loose. There was a lot of pottering talk, as usual. but it came to nothing definite. There is no saying when it will. The peril that at a time of cholera like the present lurks in the importa- tion of rags also came on Monday under the notice of the port sanitary authority at Middlesborough. There they decided, unani- mously and at once, to write to the Local Government Board, protesting against mer- chants being allowed to import rags into the Tees, and pointing out that the practice is likely to seriously spread disease and put the local authority to great expense. That is the difference between grip and no grip in public business—between Middlesborough and Cardiff.

DANGEROUS ECONOMY. There are a good many crimes committed in the name of economy, as well as of liberty. When a Liberal Government discharge one thousand workmen from the dockyards in order to make good the expenses incurred in the repairs to the Howe, as it is confidently asserted they are going to do, it is an example of one of those blunders which are worse than a crime. The British Navy has been seriously weakened by the loss of the Victoria, and it was admh/tedlv before tlw catastrophe below what its proportionate strength ought to be in relation to the rapidly growing Continental Navies. Lord Charles Beresford never tires of telling us that the British Navy is a long way from being equal to the adequate defence of our mercantile fleets. Troubles are thickening for us all over the world. And yet this is the very time which is, apparently, to be selected for reducing the stuff of shiI"right.s, so stopping, or, at any rate, retarding, the construction of the war ve.h which are needed to keep England mistress of the seas. Economy like that is full of danger, and is infinitely more to be dreaded than some degree of extravagance in expenditure on the Royal Navy.

D ON'T MISS SEEING THE CARTOON IN TO-DAY'S "EVENING EXPRESS." SUBJECT:— A DIFFIC .LT JOB

THE REPORTED FUSION OF I WELSH COLLIERIES. PURELY AN IDLE RUMOUR." MEETING OF NORTH'S NAVIGA- TION COMPANY. It was reported in a contemporary a few days ago that negotiations were taking place for the amalgamation of North's Navi- gation and the International Companies. The statement was generally discredited in commercial circles at Cardiff, and categorically denied by those specially interested in the properties. Onr Loudon correspondent gives the final quietus to the canai-d in the following message, wired on Tuesday night, viz. :-The usual board meeting of North's Navigation Col- liery Company was held to-day at the London offices, Gracechurch-streefc. The busi. ness was of the usual routine character. Colonel North was not in attendance. At the meeting no mention whatever was made of the state- ment that it was the intention of the company to amalgamate with the International Colliery Company. "The statement so far aø we are concerned," I was informed afterwards, has no foundation at all. It is an idle rumour purely."

THE GREAT COAL TRUST. THE OPINIONS OF COALOWNERS INTERVIEW WITH SIR GEORGE ELLIOT. In an interview with Sir George Elliot last week a London representative was in- formed that the replies in favour of the gigantic ooal trust which is now being formulated were as three to one. Tuesday was the last day for owners to send in their opinions respecting the scheme, and although, from a variety of reasons—mainly, however, due to the fact that the board meetings are held after that day-a-11 the replies are not to hand. the replies at present show a balance of seven to one in favour of the trust. Coalowners repre- senting three-fourths of the output in Durham and Northumberland have signified their intention of joining the trust, and the principal owners in the Midlands have done likewise. The replies to hand are most enoouraging to the promoters, and show the high estimation in which owner. hold the scheme. In the few cases of refusal the reasons given are either that the coal produced is consumed at the works of the owners or that the mine is in Chancery, and it is, therefore, impossible to give an answer one way or the other, Sir George Elliot is now enjoying a trip to and from Gibraltar. On his return next week a, meeting of the acceptors will be called, and further particulars forthcoming. That the scheme will go through is now an assured I fact.

COLLIERY ACCIDENT AT SWANSEA. 350 MEN UNABLE TO REACH I BANK FOR HOURS. A singular accident has occurred at Mynydd Newydd Colliery, Land ore, by which 350 collier. were forced to remain underground many hours after they should have reached the surface. At 2.30 p.m. on Monday an accident occurred to the winding ensrine at the uth f the pit, by which it was rendered ueelfcss till the repairs were completed. Three htvidred and fifty men were in the pit at the ti with no means of reaching the bank.

MOINA" a Detective rale.-Opening Chapters in Weekly Mail on Saturday, October 14. TeDAKMNGMTHAt? .-kyer'. Sulphur MOr?<.t?t,<<)t,tt),M, dy.. LttM?

I LONDON LETTER. [FROM OUn LONDON CORRESPONDENTS, I I LONDON. TUESDAY NIGHT. THE CLOSE TIME. This is the close tune for politicians. Except for the excellent speeches with which Unionist leaders are, beginning the short and sharp recess campaign, the political world is dead. Interest. i> concentrated almost wholly on the question whether the Government will be able to seeure a Viceroy for India. Some of the principal clubs are still closed. St. Stephen's, the last, to re-open, will not be available for its members till next week People who can arford to do so are staying out of tovn as long lIS possible, in view of tile winter sitting' of Parliament. But the winter sitting is not likely to favourably afiect the winter season. Members will not open their houses or bring up their families. The huge hotels that are thronged during the season proper are now offering a reduced tariff for the winter months, and expressing their desire to take in families for lengthened periods on specially favourable terms. This does not betoken confidence that Parliament will give a fillip to Society. UNCOMPROMISING PARKELLIKM. The one exciting element in politics is the speech of Mr. John Redmond. It has been a sensational surprise to all who have not followed the lead I have given. Mr. Redmond's frank and fearless definition of the position he holds entitles him to the respect and admiration of those who differ most from him. His almost brutal plain- ness of speech is splendid after the shifti- ness of Gladstonism and the mendacious meandering of the wobbling Ructionists, or Anti-Parnellites. With the refreshing can- dotir that bar, always marked his utterances and singled him out as a tit leader for a party that bases its existence on a policy of independence, Mr. Redmond has left it on record that the late Home Rule Bill would only have hfen accepted as an in- stalment. His words should be dinned incessantlv into the oars of the duped British electors. He says of the Bill: "That to call it a full and final and satis- factory settlement of the national demand was, on the part of any man living, a piece of gross presumption and gross stupidity." The importance o,f this remarkable statement lies in the fact that Mr. Redmond's is the party the Imperial Government will have to reckon with. In Parliamentary strength it is only nine, and a, ninth of the whole number of Irish Nationalists. But it is the one solid and united faction. It repre- sents a power in Ireland almost strong as the Ructionist 71, and it will in due process of political growth swallow up all the other factions. EMPLOYEES' LIABILITY. An extraordinary revelation has resulted from the action of the Congress of Railway Servants in putting up a North "-e.t"111 Railway servant to propose the motion in favour of the clause in the Employers' Liability Bill that would wreck the London and North Western Insurance Society. The obvious intention was to trick the" public into the balief that the majority of the North Western men were opposed to the society, and in favour of the Asquith wreckage clause. It turns out that the whole number of railwayinen represented at the con- .gres" is only thirty thousand, or less than one-half of the sixty-four thousand North Western men who belong to the Insurance Society and a re opposed to the wreckage clause. In fact, the so-called congress repre- sents only one-sixteenth of the whole number of half a million railwavmen in the United Kingdom. A DESIRABLE POST. I There has been an extraordinary rush of I high-class candidates for the post of City Marshal, nuw vacant. It is only worth thre" hundred and fifty pounds a year. The hundred candidates are nearly all retired officers of the Army, and they include half a dozen generals,seveml baronets, and other persons of title. I am afraid this is not as much a compliment to the City as a testimonv to the hardness of the times. The tremendous fall in agricultural and other values has seriously decreased the incomes of younger sons and others depen- dent on land. THE AMERICA CUP. After ;:Wt:th:e nothing further nee d be ,??id about the race for the America Cup, unless in the improbable event of the Valkyrie winning the next heat. Yachts- men wit, whom I have talked th¡ morning frankly admit that the Valkyrie was de- cisively outsailed by the Vigilant yesterday under circumstances which left, no room for doubt as to the superior merit of the American yacht. It is now regretfully confessed that the builder of the Valkyrie erred in giving his boat eleven hundred feet less surface of sail than the Vigilant had, inasmuch as the time difference he gained did not bv any means counterbalance the superior propelling power the Vigilant enjoys in virtue of her bigger spread of canvas. It is also thought that our builders must no longer treat the centre- board system with oontempt. THE COCK AND BpLL STOUT, Mr. S. T. Evans was a, man much sought after yesterday. After, however, whispering his sweet nothings into the attentive ear of a Central News representative yesterday, he went off to Cardiff, to the manifest annoyance of the numerous enterprising journalists who wanted to know more about the" promi- nent Liberal Unionist" who is credited with the authorship of the pre- eminently silly Chamberlain canard that Mr. Evans was foolish enough to countenance. Consolation for the absence of Mr. Evans is, however. found in the spirit of philosophical humour with which Wales has treated the affront on its common sense. In the clubs this afternoon there was intense mirth over the cartoon in the Western, Mail, representing what would have happened had the catwrd been true. The scene in whieh Mr. Chamberlain is represented picking up and arranging toy Welsh members as a Cabinet, with Mr. Evans es Lord Chancellor, Major Jones War Minister, and Sir Edward Reed First Lord, is expressibly diverting. THE PACKED BENCH SCANDAL. The flagrant scandal of packing the magis- terial bench with party creatures, which has for the first time in history disgraced a British Government, is likely to come before Parliament in a most unpleasant form. The alleged discovery that certain persons in Glamorganshire have been offered magis- terial honours for a payment of .£20 is not at all surprising when it is con- sidered that our Government of jobbery and gaggery only keeps its place by bribery, intimidation, corruption, and coercion. The Glamorganshire charges- have yet to be proved, but, should the requisite evidence be forthcoming, there will bo such a storm in Parliament as no Govern- ment could survive. That underlings should seek to sell the office of justice is only to be expected when Ministers themselves have prostituted the administration of justice to the meanest party purpose, making it a qualification for the magistracy, not th_it a man is upright, honest, and impartial, but that he is a fervent Gladstonian.

SOUTH LONDON ART GALLERY. I LETTER FROM MR, J. PYKE I •THOMPSON. TO THE EDITOR OF THE WESTERN MHL," I SIR.—In your report of the opening on Mon. (ay last by the Prince of Wales of the new Lecture-hall attached to the Soutb London Fine Art Gallery you speak of my having provided this institution some few years ago with a per. manent home." I must not allow it to be sup. posed, as your words would imply, that the whole of the cost of this art gallery was de- frayed by myself, the fact being that a large sum of money had already been spent on the building when it came to my knowledge that there was danger of the work being stopped for lack of funds to complete it. I then determined to furnish the pecuniary help needed to tide over the difficulty. I shsll be glad if you will let this correetion appear in your next issue, and you will, perhaps, allow me to take the oppor tunit- of saying how much I with that the Rev' Mr. Maggs and those who supported him in de: fcating Canon Thompson's resolution at the T01YI1.1! meeting on Monday evening could visit this South London Gallery on a Sunday and see for themselves what sort of work is carried on there, I believe sncba yisit might enable them to tiodify their views on this question, and convince them that there would be no great danger, ifor all, in trying such an experiment at Cardiff -I am, te., Pe 10. J. PYKE THOMPSON. Penar i Pot. 10.

| WALES DAY BY DAY IWALESDYBYDAY I Lord Penrhyn has returned to Peorhyi Castle, Bangor, from Scotland. "Defendmt denies the fact that he was drunk," strenuously pleaded a solicitor at Pellarth Poliœ.oourt on Monday. Mumbles is regarded by the London ,.Star" as a Conservative stronghold. Out of twelve local board members teu are lories. A Birmingham paper sujuests that after the Church Congress proceedings Father Ignatius should be called Father Putrn&tius. This is natural for Birmingham. "Isn't your watrh a little .Iow 0" asked OIIE passenger of another in the train. fog. sibly," said the other—a Cardiffiaa, "for ] bought it at Swansea." Madame Patti left Craig-y-nos on Monday for Hereford, where she sang iaj-t night. Before returning to her Welsh home the Queer of Song will sing at Glasgow and Sheffield. Has the committee of the South Wales .r' Society the ooure t.) throw the Cardiff ex hibition 01l on Sundays? That, would brniji thw Sunday opening controversy fairly t. a head. At a hospital lecture the prof..8íIOr wu describing how a certain clergyman had been able to preach after a great portion of his toosue was cut off. OJ¡!" exclaimed a Welsliman, he turned stump-orator." Papa," said the three-year-old son of a Cardiffian who was reading of the doings of the town council, do angel. see what's going on in the world." And the, father answered, "I suppose 110; they're often pio- tured weeping. This is for Alderman Thomas Rees. Two of the unemployed met near the Buto monument. Said one: I don't want no more sleep tor a year. Wot's eatin' yer?" asked the other, and the first replied: I step' las* night, and ¡ drn1M I was workin' Wales will be short of one John J-" for three ye?. He i. gone to penal servitude for hlpi,?g to steal a watch belonging tc a woman in London. Th" only thing about the case that appeals to national sympathr is that of the three criminals Jones was tne acknowledged If-3der, and his punishment was six times as heavy. While their Royal Highnesses t1Je Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of York opened the South London Art Gallery iu Camberwell. London, on Monday, the generous benefactor of that institution, Mr. J. Pyko Thompson, modestly presided over the Penarth bench of magis- trat. Some of the Merthyr Guardians fe't a delirious thrill on Saturday when they heard the master expressing regret that the farm had not turned out so pros)ierous, many of the stock having died. Farm exclaimed a member. Stork echoed another. Ye. remarked one who knew all aliont it, "we have a piggery in the garden, and som" of the grunters have died." We are going to relieve Air. Gladstone from a great difficulty. We will find a Vieerov for India, or, at least, m-ike a capita! mgpes tion, gratis and for nothing. L t Mr. Stuar< Rendel lie made a peer and 1> Viceroy. By so doing 1r, Gladstone would III get a seat for himself in Montgomeryshire: (2j hE would do a popular thing by ridding thf Welsh people of their English leader, of whom they are growing exceedingly tired: and (3) he would open up a splendid vista before e\er.f single item of the Welsh party, every member of which believes strenuously that he ought to be made leader of the party. Pontypridd is busy. Work is plentiful, and so is gas. It took the clerk of the local board exactly three quarters of an how to read the minutes of the last meeting, and at the end he very naturally asked for a "refresher." Mem. bers are complaining, for they have to attend to public duties fonr days a week, and, of course, attend church or chapel on Sundays. Some of them seriously contemplate bringing beds to the local board offices, live there, and visit their families during the two blank days they have. Most of the members are Conservatives, but they take the Liberal, not to say revolutionary, view of the payment to members question." Years and years ago, there was much ex- citement at Dinas, Rhondda, over the teetotal question. A great silken banner was carried in the midst of enthusiastic, throngs, and each individual who had signed the pledge, wore a medal suspended from a string round the neck. Late one afternoon. after an unusually exciting day, a prominent advocate of the cans' was soon reeling homewards with a medal dangling about his breast. Bili, Bili." said the late Dr. Evan Davies, "how is this?'' "Doctor," replied the adorer of Baochuit, "I W as good a teetotaler as any of them in theory, but (hiccup) I am imperfect in the practical part!" A man called in at our Swansea office one day this week and asked if we could print him. special edition of the Western Mail on the fol- lowing day describing a "matinee" which h. said he was getting up at the Albert-hall. He wanted it in big type, so "that those who 111.t may read," but he did not care whether it damned or blessed the affair. He also did not care what it cost. The inquirer was assured that if it was a matter of interest, the Western Mail did little things like that for nothing. Th visitor shook the hands of our agent ecstatically, and said he would do the Western Mail a good turn some day, too. Poor fellow! There was no matinee, except in his imagination. In a. Glamorgan poliee-oourt the other day a Welsh lady from the hills was put on oath. Her knowlege of English was im- perfect, and she was somewhat deaf, so did not catch the words, "Kiss the Book." She understood little of what waf said except "You must swear. I never swear. sir, indeed, truth thare you," said she. "Oh, but you must— you must!" said the Chairman of the Bench. The old lady hummed and ha-ed. "Most y fi?" queried she. Yes." said the magis- trate loudly. "Well, dammo," said the old lady faintly. "That is only stopping the stream, said Mr. Simons. of Merthyr, her advocate, and, he added, "Cusanwch y Llyfr" (Kiss the Book). And so he did. and added. "Wyliai i gyda chr. syr (I'll talk with you, sir). It takes a smart man to tell the difference between the nations when they are drunk. The Rev. Dan Davies has found it all out. He says that members of each nationality when intoxicated display the characteristics of the nationality to which they belong:-A Frenchman in that condition thinks he is a dancer and capers; a Spaniard is mad on the subject of gambling; an Italian is prone to boast of his ancestors and of his own wealth; a German favours sausages; a Scotch- man cries tearfully, "God bless the Duke of Argyll"; an Englishman unbuttons his waistcoat and eats, eats, eats, and never cries, "Enough"; an Irishman brandishes his shillelagh, and, trailing his coat, challenges aU the parish to a fight; a Welshman thinks he is-a chaired bard! This explains mnch of the Welsh poetry in the vernacular papers. fiss Ida Jostv has a tale to tell of a plugged dime. When Miss Josty, Mi«s P-o- chard, and Miss Annie Jenkins were waiting for a car in New York a white-whiskered old gentleman stopped to admire them, and followed them into the car. The oonductci came round, and the old gentleman g»ve him a ten-cent piece, which the caiman kept ID his hand, and immediately handed i, to Miss Pritchard as ..}uwge. Just as I was about to put it in my purse," F¡d Miss Pritchard. the old gentleman bent forward and 'aid, Madam, I see you are a @t?nger here, and I cannot allow you to be imPoAM upon. Thu dime iH plugged.' The other pm- sengers began to laugh, hut I could not under- stand it at all. 'I beg your pardon,' I said. Th- dime's plugw,* be repeated. The what.' I asked. 'The dime-th- money the conductor gavo you.' I looked at it, and suddenly Annie exclaimed: Oh, yes, there's a own in the .nt.: It isn't tL stain,' the old man said, it's a pl"g- For goodness, sake,' I asked, what's a plug 0' Then he took the coin. and, would you believe it, there was a piece of lead in the centre. I was iost about to call the guard when the old man handed a sound piwe in exchangl I think it was real oood of him."