The South Wales Star

OPEN LETTERS TO WELSH LEADERS OF OPINION. No. XIX. SIR JOHN n. PULESTON, M.P. ¡ My DEAR SIR JOHN*,—How pit-pat the phrase runs It sounds so well and so familiar that one is at first inclined to forget that ycu were only knighted some four years ago. At any rate the title suits you and the honoured name you bear, and I must admit that you yourself do credit to your title and your name. You are different in many ways to the gentle- men I have hitherto addressed; so different, indeed, that it is hard for an outsider to realise that you are a Welsh leader of opinion at all. Your name is not Welsh (though you are fond of explaining that it is really a Welsh name. which t should be • pronounced Pilston.) your title is ( not Welsh, fpr the presumption is that if a man has a title 00 isji'T a Welshman, though there are and have been notable exceptions to the rule you are rich, and few Welshmen are built that way your politics are not Welsh, for you are not an advocate of Disestablishment; and your con- stituency is not Welsh, for yon sit for an English borough. And still through it all you are un- doubtedly a Welshman, and a very pronounced one; and you are as certainly a leader of opinion. How comes it all to paes that these paradoxes should exist I And how comes it that you, with your alien name, religion, title, and politics should be about the most poptslar of living Welshmen Ah, my dear John Henry (pardon me for calling you by the name by which you were known Yn yr hen dy, Glangynes, dirodres,. adewest ar dy ol,") no one who has met you, even for a short time, need? to be told. It is because you are yourself, and no one else, that you are a Welsh leader of opinion.. No one who, on being introduced, had his arm taken jovially, and with irresistible good humoar by you, and has sauntered familiarly with you down the Lobby of the House, and has poured out hrs troubles, his hopes, or his ambitions into your sympathetic ear. will need to be told the secret of your power. What though many of the hopes which the young aspirant, baaed on the in- terview. have been doomed to disappointment 1 Every one must have his share of disappointment: and even the good NATURE of Sir John Puleston may be over-strained. You arc the most acces- sible of all the London Welshmen, and your bonhomie is irresistible. Who, that has soen yon preside at an Eisteddfod, or better still at a dinner of your own giving to the Bards of the Gorsedd, can forget the scene ? The unaffected good humour, the desire and ability to please, Lhe sympathetic, half- serious.. half-laughing treatment of the bards, are a liberal education in themselves, and one is inclined to echo the word of the poet, He knows-each art, The ear to tickle- or to soothe the heart. Or who will doubt the reality of your power who has seen you in your house in Whitehall-yard in a drawing-room meeting held in connection with some London Welsh movement ? And no plea- santer sight can be seen than to see you presiding at a "smoker" of THE London Welsh Football Club at Anderton's Hotel. Very jovial and jolly these "smokers are. if somewhac rowdy withal; and none so jolly and affable as the president him- self, who seems to enjoy all the fun. Ay, I can say, as a better writer said of a worse man— Seen him I have: but in his happier hour Of social pleasure ill exchanged for power, and a better spectacle I have never looked upon. But it isn't only Welsh bards and athletes that come in for sympathy and support from you. No there are hundreds of poor Welsh people in that huge wilderness of the metropolis to whose seared hearts you bring a gleam of sunshine by your yearly entertainments, and many is tho young heart that has blessed you. for allowing it one merry day at your country house 'midst tho dulness of it° dreary years. But this is not all, though it is much. This only shows that you lire kindly, unaffected, and chari- table and there are many such who are not I leaders of opinion in Wales. For a full answer, one must know your whole life and history and when one knows your record—AS strange an one as ever was pictured by poet's fancy, as romantic as ever was weaved by a maiden's dream—it is easy enough to understand your present position. 1 For in spite of your name, title, riches, politics, everything, you are as good a Welshman as ever breathed, and a far better one than many of your detractors. I would hesitate to remind some of 1 their fortunes, but I feel no hesitation in remind- ] ing you of yours. There is no need of the poet's qualification in your case, Os earn cofio 'rwyd Hen ddolydd D}%RYN Clwyd. there is no os "—no if "—in the matter at all; for there is nothing you like better than to remem- ber the old homestead in the Vale of Clwyd where you were born, and where you played while a lad. It was there that you first learnt to love your native land in spite of your Norman name. There you learnt how one ancestor of yours, Roger Puleston, the tax-collector" for North Wales in the time of Edward 1.. was hanged by the fierce Welshmen at the Carnarvon Castle, of which you are now the governor. (Welshmen will begin soon to get ehy of hunting up their pedi- grees. Here we have the first noble Puleston hanged in Carnarvon. Lord Salisbury the other day claimed to be a Welshman. Lleufer Thomas says his claim is well founded, and that his great ancestor. Sir Robert Cecil, was a cousin to Twm Shon Catti Save us from pedigrees, say I. and especially Welsh pedigrees. We'll soon hear that Mr. Gladstone is descended from an itinerant Welsh rhapsodist.) There you learnt .Also-and this appealed more to you—that there were many PulestonS who fought as patriots and held high commands under thai glorious rebel, Owen Glyn- dwr. You learnt how in the medieval times your ancestors were far better known than those of Sir Watkin and, while contrasting the fortunes of the two, how you, the descendant of great Welsh patriots, were now but the son of an insignificant Welsh farmer, while the descendants of the petti- fogging lawyers of the Restoration were" Princes in Wales," you determined to retrieve the fortunes ¡ of your fallen family, and prove to the world that the star of the House of Puleston had not yet set 1 for ever. Humble enough were your beginnings; when compared to your present position. You ■ began your upward career as an assistant in a chemist's shop. and, like all the ambitious youths of Wales, soon found your way to the metropolis. 1 Our friend Marchant Williams tells me (and more than that, he "printed" it some years ago in the I!>'J Drayr,n, in his life of Sir Hugh Owen) that at that time you were a member and a. regular fre- quenter of the Old Jewin Methodist Chapel, where Sir Hugh Owen, Henry Richard, and his brother, Dr. Edward Richard also worshipped. I confess that it is with difficulty that I can credit the statement. even when a lawyer is my informant. I know you and your sister were brought up differently. She went to the Methodist Chapel, eventually married a gentleman who is now an elder at the Capel Mawr y Bala, and be- came the mother of one of the most promising young Welsh preachers of the day, Puleston Jones, of Bangor. And I have it on her authority that you were brought up in Church. Possibly you might have gone to Jewin, because there you would meet all the Welshmen and Welshwomen of London, for in those days, "Jewin Fair" was something more than a memory and a name. However that may be.iin London you remained for sometime. You found that its streets were not paved WITH gold, and that the gods no longer visited ambitious youths in golden showers. You determined to try America, and thither you went. You practised in New York, and for all I know did well there at your practice. But it is said that lucky speculations in Amercan railways had more to do with your wonderful success than anything else. In the midst of the worries and anxieties of speculation and money-making, however, you did not forget the old country a'n magodd ni srynt," Your thoughts flew to the old land as the thoughts of the Israelites at Babylon flew to Jerusalem, and with them you could say '• Os anghofiaf fi di, o Jerusalem, anghofied fy nekenlaw ganu." You still love to speak of how ycu were for vears President of the St. David's Society in New York, and how you were therefore the e.r-otiiciit repre- sentative of the Welsh nation at all the public functions in the States. After a while, you acquired a competence, nay a fortune and you bethought you of returning to the land of your birth. After returning, your energetic habits would not allow you to enjoy your riches in in- glorious ease. You determined to go to Parlia- ment. It is rumoured that at the time you hadn't quite made up your mind which party to belong to, and that ycu and Captain Price journeyed down to Devonport with two election addresses in your pocxet, and that it was only when you found which party was the "stronger that you decided to fly the Tory colours. But that, if not a downright untruth, is, at all events, an exaggeration and a mistake. Some super- ficial people even now believe that your political convictions are not deep, because you 'are sd' I singularly free from all party envy, hatred, malice, and all uncharitableness, and are so popular with friend and foe alike. Such people are but superficial observers of your character, for to your own credit it must be said—and to your county's misfortune—your political convictions are deep if not bitter, and genuine if not aggressive. It is on this account that I regret your candidature for the Carnarvon Boroughs. You are as good, possibly a better Welshman, than your brother Yankee, Major Jones, who is making the running for the Carmarthen Boroughs but, though you are in sympathy with many of the best and purest aspirations of the Welsh nation, you are not a sound Welsh Nationalist, politically. You AR*; opposed to Disestablishment, and no one who is ah upholder of the Establishment can be truly a representative of a Welsh constituency. If Home Rule blocks the way in ENGLAND. Dis- establishment blocks the way in Wales, and that's why many enlightened Welsh Nationalists are so keen on Disestablishment. The Church question is the only remaining barrier that separates Welsh- man from Welshman. Once the Church is dis- established, it is believed that every patriot Welshman of whatever creed or political party he may be can join hands, and form a Nationalist party, whose aim it shall be to love and cherish what the old Triad bids every Welshman to Cenedl y Cymry, Deddfau y Cymry, ac Iaith y Cymry." I must hope, therefore, that you will be unsuccessful at Carnarvon, even if the. boroughs were represented by A worse type of young Wales than Lloyd George. I don't approve, however, of the manner in which men like Sam Evans allude to you. Though you are politically out of touch with Wales, once polities are cast on one side you are a better Welshman than any of them. You take more interest in the Cymmrodorion Society than almost any of the young Wales party. Tom Ellis, however, is a noble exception to the indifference with which most of the Parliamrntnry representa- tives of Cymru Fydd regard anything but the political side of Welsh Nationalism. They forget that there is another—and in some respects a nobler —side to the movement; and of that yúu are an excellent representative. The nobler—because purer and less influenced by selfish motives—the nobler ideas of Welsh Nationalism are to provide a higher education for the people, to preserve our national characteristics and institutions, and to secure a due recognition of our language and our people in the public appointments of our country. And herein you are to the fore. I have alluded to your great services to the Eisteddfod and to the Cymmrodorion, which many of the parliamentary representatives of young Wales despise and ignore. And I well remember, years ago, when. as a mem- ber of the National Eisteddfod Association, you attended a committee meeting of the Carnarvon Eisteddfod, how you denounced the iniquitous system of appointing monoglot Englishmen as county-court judges in Wales while one of the Nationalists who this week has been supporting Alfred Thomas' Welsh Home Rule Bill at Cardiff. signed a testimonial in favour of Cecil Beresford. I am glad to see your name, too, as a subscriber to Gwenogfryn Evans' Welsh Texts series the names of our Welsh members, who are so loud in their appreciation of the beauty of the Welsh language and of the glory of Welsh literature, nowhere appear on the subscribers' list, with a few notable exceptions, mostly alas on the Tory side. But this must not 1Jlind us to the fact that you are seeking to represent the Carnarvon boroughs nrlff ieally: and you are politically entirely out of touch with the Welsh people. You have done nothing very remarkable in Parliament, though you are recognised as an able as well as an affable man and a good speaker. One of your more notable achievements was the introduction of sixpenny telegrams in the teeth of opposition from Mr. Gladstone's Government in '84. True the motion was introduced by a Radical, and you were only the secon- der but your success did you some good, and there was a talk that you ought to be promoted to an official post when the Tories came in. However, that didn't come off, and I am sorry to see that your health has not permitted you to do very much in the present Parliament. Your knighthood was the reward, not of political, but of national services. Well do I remember that broiling- hot August day in the Jubilee year. when you were chairman of the London National Eisteddfod at the Albert Hall. And well do I re- member how I and a friend, who now in a more dignified iposition, would blush to remember the incident, put our toppers" on the ends of our sticks, and waved them frantically and shouted and shrinked whin it was announced that the Queen had been graciously pleased to confer on Mr. J. H. Puleston the honour of knighthood in recognition of his services to the old National Institution, the Eisteddfod. It was a graceful act, and so we all felt it to be. And I remember how my friend's new top-hat—specially bought for the London Eisteddfod—fell, in our excitement, into the area beneath, and how we shamefacedly re- tired. Your knighthood has not been the only mark of Royal favour which you have received. When the Queen visited North Wales, you spent an afternoon with Her Majesty at Pale, and what an extraordinary interest our gracious Sovereign Queen and Lady showed in Wales and Welsh matters and you are vulgarly supposed to be the author of the most popular speech ever made by Royalty in Wales, the speech of the Queen at Bala, Diolch yn fawr iawn i chwi." Well, my dear Sir John, it is very pleasant to write to such a good old Welshman as yourself, but I must dra.w to a close. Your career has been a romantic and a glorious one; and if I regret that you are on the opposite side in politics. I rejoice to think that that has not had the effect of making you any less a true Welshman. But even in my appreciation of your sterling worth and loyal services to Wales, you will forgive the weak- ness of poor human nature when I ask Why comes he not in battle's van, His country's chief to be, To stand a comrade at our side, A sharer in our fame, I And worthy of a brother's pride, And of a brother's name. With kindest regards, dear Sir John. I am. your candid friend, THEODORE DODD. In our first issue of the New Year, Theodore Dodd will address an open letter to Mr. J. Bcys ROBEKTS, M.P.

BRIDGEND BOARD OF I GUARDIANS. A RATE COLLECTOR FOR BETTWS. The weekly meeting of this Board was held at the Union Workhouse on Saturday, when the chairman, the Hav. F. W. Edmondes, presided.—A letter was read from the Local Government Board stating that they were prepared to sanction the appointment, as soon as made, of a rate collector for the parish of Bettws. It was moved by Mr. E. Williams, seconded by Mr. Edward Lewis, that Mr. Henry John of Bettws, be appointed at a salary of £47 per annum. This was carried una row.— Several case of blind pauper children were con- sidered as to the advisability of sending them to a blind institution, but ultimately it was decided that the matter be deferred for three weeks.—This was all the important business.

A PRIZE FIGHT AT FERNDALE. On Friday morning last a prize fight for £5 a side was fought on the Blaenllechau Mountain, ne:1.r Ferndale, between a man known as the Ferndale Champion and another. A goodly company had assembled, and the matter had been so secretly kept that the police had no inkling of the coming fight. Both the combatants are young, and both follow the occupation of haul- iers at the pit. Several rounds were fought, and some good sparring was witnessed, the Ferndale champion having the best of it all through. The backers of the other man threw up the sponge after the eighth round, their champion having failed to come up to time.

PIGS AS BEASTS OF P-REY. EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENT IN THE RHONDDA. A most peculiar incident occurred on Friday evening last at Trealaw, Rhondda Valley. It appears that a consignment of .cattle, sheep, and pigs were forwarded to Trealaw by goods train, and when the trucks were discharged on Saturday morning it was found that the pigs had eaten up three of the sheep, whose skin and bones re- mained in the truck. The pigs had their mouths covered with blood, and all showed signs of having made a most hearty meal of the unfortunate quadrupeds with whom they travelled.

WHY? \VII r jI WHY?—Why should people suffer from Liver Complaints? Why complain of Indiges- tion ? Why bear the Pains of Disordered Stomach ? Why be wearied with Weak Nerves? Why be dis- tressed with Skin Diseases ? Why enchiro Hea dache ? Why be troubled with Bad Blood? Why be tortured with Rheumatism ? Why be a martyr to Fits, Ecazema, Piles ? When Hughes's Blood Pills will soon relieve you from every trouble. Sold by every Chemist and dealer in Patent Mecicices at la. lid., 2a. 9d., and 4s. 6d.—Advt. For i&ven yea.rs I stiffered from Asthma, tried all known remedies, and LEWIS'S PECTORAL BALSAM is the best of all.—la. l £ d. per bottler "f,

THE LATE STORM. DAMAGES IN THE KHONDDA TALI.ET. A storm of unusual severity passed over the Pontypridd and Rhondda Valley districts divring the latter end of last week. which caused much damage to property and injury to persons, b-st, happily, no lives were lost, although some miracu- lous escapes are reported. The rivers Taff ANI Rhondda overflowed their banks, and caused con- siderable damage to the main sewerage works now in course of construction for draining the Local Board aroas of Pontypridd and Ystrady- fodwg. The storm commenced on Wednesday, and continued with unabating fury until Monday morning. During Sunday the force of the wind was so strong that several of the hoardings belong- ing to the Pontypridd, Rhondda Valleys, and East Glamorgan Billposting Company were blown down, and in one instance a hoarding in Mill-street, Pontypridd, happened to fall when a man and woman were passing. Had the road happened to be wider, there is no doubt that the two would have been killed, but, owing to the narrowness of the road, the hoarding fell on the opposite wall, which broke its fall, and also broke the hoarding, and the consequence was that the passers-by were severely bruised. DAMAGE TO THE CILFYXYDD CHURCH. On Wednesday night, during a severe gale, a considerable amount of damage was done to the new church which is now being built in Cilfynydd for the vicar of Pontypridd. It appears that, with the exception of the belfry, the church had been completed, and scaffolds had been erected in anti- cipation of the arrival of the bell. The wind had such a hold on THESE scaffoldings that it forced the belfry to rock, and ultimately to give way with a crash. The amount of tho damage done is not yet known, but it is not expected that the work of re- erecting the belfry will be completed at least for a fortnight. SERIOU6 PAHAGK IN THE KHONDDA. From enquiries which our representative made in the upper parts of the Rhondda Valley it was found that much damage was done at Blaen- rhondda. where the roofs of the meeting houses of both the Independents and Calvinistic Metho- dists were blown away early on Sunday morning, and consequently no services were held thereat. during tha day. The roofs of several other buildings were also seriously injured, including that of Dr. Warburton's surgery, the Blaen- rhondda Hotel, and the engine house of the Fernhill Colliery, and also a part of a stack which is being erected by the same company. A man named David Morgan, a brake driver, residing at Blaenrhondda, met with a bad accident. He was, it appears, repairing the roof of his stable when a. strong gust of wind blew away the roof and Mr. Morgan with it, and the poor man sustained severe injuries to his leg.

EFFECTS OF THE STORM AT BARRY. The great storm renewed itself with equally terrible severity on Saturday and Sunday last. In the Barry roadstead many vessels narrowly es- caped dragging their anchors, and the greatest anxiety was felt on shore for their safety. To- wards 'afternoon, however, the wind veered con- siderably to the north, the sea soon becoming comparatively calm and with a modified gale from the land there was littlo cause for further anxiety. A strict look-out was kept at the Cold- knap Coastguard Station during Saturday -night and Sunday, but nothing was observed in the shape of a ship in distress. The heavy rains over- night have floodeed hundreds of acres of the low lying hinds between Penarth Dock and Barry. For fully a quarter of a mile the road between the village of Eastbrook and Dinas Powis, on Sunday afternoon, was submerged to the extent of six or seven inches. The overflowing of the stream run- ning in front of the village had blocked up the drains, and the water rushed tempestuously down the road. Towards evening, however, the road had become almost clear of the inundation. The Drumblair hae now a decided list to port, and little hope is entertained of the stranded vessel being got off the rocks. Three steamers got into Barry Dock on the morning tide. They report having experienced terrific weather.

WRECK OF THE DRUMBL AIR. HOW THE CREW WAS SA VED. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SOUTH WALES WfAR. SIB.—Owing to so many rumours circulated in the local and daily papers concerning the wreck of the Drumblair on Sully Is&md, I should thank you if you would allow me space to place before the public the true facts of the- means that xfere t provided for the saving of the crew of that ship I At 7.15 a.m., on the 10th inst., Mr. John Westcott. chief boatman of the Barry detachment of Coast- guard, observed a large four-masted ship ashore on the south side of Sully Island. There were several tugboats in attendance. He immediately called his men together, sent and hired horses, and fired sound signal rockets to summon the life- saving apparatus brigade. They left at 8.30 for the wreck. On arriving at Sully beach, at 10.15, it was found it was impossible to take the rocket across to the island, the tide being nearly half flood. The coastguard then, with the assistance of the brigade and Mr. Daniel Reffi,. junior, of Sully House, succeeded in launch- ing the small punt belonging to Mr. llees the men having to enter the water breast high to get her clear of the rocks. The rocket and rocket line were then placed in the boat and conveyed across to the island under great difficulty, owing to the frailty of the boat and the high sea running. The boat returned to the mainland to fetch the other appliances, which were got over to the island safe. The rocket was fired at 10.45, and effected communication with the mainmast of the wreck. A man was seen to go to the masthead to fetch the line down on deck.. About that time the. Penarth lifeboat was observed in tow of a tug, about one mile distant, proceeding towards the scene of the wreck. The man aloft was hailed from the poop to come down, but he did not do so until he had taken hold of the rocket line and tried to clear it. The whole of the crew assembled on the poop, as the seas were breaking over her lee bulwarks and washing across her deck. The rocket line was disregarded by the crew of the ship, and eventually hauled on shore by the rocket brigade and fixed to another rocket ready for firing again if required. By this time the lifeboat had been towed up on the weather side of the ship, and when well ahead was slipped, but failed to reach the wreck, and drifted astern. She was again taken in tow and brought still further ahead, then again slipped. This time she managed to get communication with the wreck by means of a line, which brought her up under the stern of the ship. Tha crew picked up a lifebuoy with drift line attached, and hauled her close up to the stern of the ship. One man jumped from the ship to the boat, but, missing his > footing, fell into the water. He was rescued by > the lifeboat's crew. The bow of the lifeboat was dashed under the counter of the ship and sustained" slight damage, and nearly causing the death of the bow men. The boat was hauled up by means of ropes on the lee side of the ship and into compara- tively smooth water, and the crew of the ill-fated ship were then, with some difficulty, got on board the lifeboat. The boat was then dropped astemr and taken in tow by the tug Salvor, and towed towards Penarth. The whole of the time the Barry rocket brigade were on the top of the cliff, exposed to the inclemency of the weather, and anxiously watching the proceedings of the lifeboat. When it was observed that all hands had left the ship and their assistance was not required, they proceeded to the boat at the back of the island, and, with the greatest difficulty and risk, recrossed to the mainland, where ther were entertained to refreshments of the best order by Mr. Rees, of Sully House, whose kindness was well appreciated by all.—I am, &c., Barry, Dec. 15. EYE-WITNESS.

A YOUNG SAILOR DROWNED AT BARRY DOCK. At the Barry Dock Hotel, Barry Dock. on Mon- day last, Mr. E. B. Reece, district coroner, con- ducted an inquest touching the death of Gustav Ladd, a German sailor, but who lives in Sweden, who met with his death by drowning at Barry Dock on Saturday last.—William Matthias Thomas said he was mate of the ss. Thomas Turnbull, of Whitby. and lived at St. Brevils. Deceased waff one of the crew of the same vessel, and was 23 years of age. On Saturday evening, at about six o'clock, after witness had had tea, he went on deck, and heard someone shout that a maN. had fallen overboard. He went forward with a life- buoy, and then heard that deceased had sunk- From what he could learn deceased had taken some- one ashore in the boat, and that after, with tbØ aid of one of the men on deck, he had tied a rope to the boat he was heard to fall into the water. He saw the deceased forty minutes before; he was quite sober, and the ship had only just arrived in port. The dock police after- wards grappled for the body, which was found by seven o'clock. There was a mark on the head and face, which suggested that the deceased had fallen on to the boat, striking his headl and con- sequently falling into the water in an unconscious condition, did not rise again.—John Phillips, fire- man said he passed a rope for deceased to attach the boat to the vessel, and, returning in a few minutes afterwards, saw him in the water. He had no time to throw him a line. The ferry boat man endeavoured to catch him by the clothing before he sank by means of a boathook.—James Cook and Dock-constable Franks having given evidence, a verdict of Accidentally drowned wo* returned.

SAD DEATH OF A FARM LABOURER AT BRIDGEND. A man named John Griffiths, a farm laboured who had been found in an exhausted state at Park* street, Bridgend, on his way to Dr. Randall,ou Sunday last during the great storm on that daYt was found dead near that gentleman's resident under the circumstances found in the evidence given at the inquest. The inquest was held at the Union Workhouse on Tuesday, befor? Mr. E. B. Reece (coroner), and a jury, over which hIr. John Cooke was foreman.—David Griffiths, Central Coffee Tavern, Queen-street, Bridgend, said be knew the deceased for some years. He believed him to be about 46 years of age and to hail froII1 Pembrokeshire. Last Sunday morning he came t.o witness' house and had two cups of tea and sorae bread and butter. He looked ill, and told witness he had suffered from influenza for about a week. He appeared to be shivering from the cold. told witness that he had been sleeping in 9 lodging-house the previous night, and had notr much clothes on his bed, and got a chill, and be came there to have a cup of tea before he started back for Oolwinstone. Witness saw the man 1)0 be unfit to be about, and advised him to go to Dr. Randall to get a ticket for the workhouse. 3? appeared to go away better, about 11.30 or l" o'clock.—I>r. Wyndham Randall said he \v:»!J driving home on Sunday last about one o'clock ïJJ a hansom, and he saw deceased lying on the paotb only a few yards from his door in Park-streefc- The driver pulled up and witness went toward^ the deceased, and found him cold and blue a»<* collapsed. He lifted him, and put him in leaning position against the wall. Witness produced soi»e whisky and water, and poured it down h*9 throat. With the assistance of the driver and his own man he lifted the man in the carriage took him to the Workhouse, where, with warmth* he rallied somewhat, but he died in the evening later. The cause of death was bronchitis 8Jl pneumonia, probably following influenza, and excessive exposure of the day.—Mary Hannah Messenger, matron at the Workhouse, deposed to being present at the death, which took place abotl 11.30 p.m. Prior to his death, however, he gained consciousness, and spoke to them, but he gradually sank.—A verdict was returned in accord- ance with the medical evidence, the coroner re- marking that it was a very sad case, and just the case of a man having no one to look after him.

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THE DROWNING CASE IN BARRY ROADS. INQUEST AT SULLY. An inquest was conducted on Friday at Sully National Schoolroom, before H. LI. Grover, deputy-coroner, and a jury, of which Mr. R. John was foreman, into the circumstances attending the death of John Charles Frederick Jackson, one of the three dockers who were drowned during the storm in Barry Roads a few w?eks a.go. and whoso body was found on Sully Island on Tuesday after- noon.—Mr. Daniel Esmond Rees, jun., of Sully House, gave evidence to the effect that on Tuesday, about one o'clock, he was out in a boat off Sully Island. He went ashore to see some wreckage, believing it was part of the Dandy that went down on the previous night. He walked along the island a little, and found the body of the deceased lying on the rocks. He went home at once and sent a man over to Cadoxton for the police. He did not move the body. The body was left on the island that night, but the following morning it was brought to the churchyard, where it after- wards lay covered with a tarpauline.—Emily Louisa Gilbert, a young woman living at Cliff- street, Penarth, gave evidence of identity, and swore to the singlet and shirt shown to her by Acting-sergeant Ben Davies, of Cadoxton. being those of the deceased. She was able to identify the shiirt as that of John Charles Frederick Jackson. She had washed the shirt herself. Deceased lived at 4, Fryad-street, Barry Dock. He had been a rigger, but had lately occupied himself as pilot. On the 11th of November deceased was lost with two other men during a hurricane in Barry Roads. She had lived with deceased and his family at the address named for nearly six months, till a, fortnight before his death. Witness said Mrs. Jackson (the widow) had also identified the clothing as that of her late husband. She had washed the shirt herself more than once, and had therefore no doubt as to its belonging to the deceased.—Acting-sergeant Ben Davies (195), stationed a.t Cadoxton, said he received information from a messenger sent bv Mr. Daniel Rees, Sully House, to the effect that the body of a man had been found on the rocks on Sully Island. He went to Sully that evening, and found the body lying face downwards under the cliff. The shirt was off, fastened only to the body by the wrists, as if the deceased was in the act of taking the shirt off when drowned. The tide was then coming in, so that the body could not BP taken away until the following morning, when it was removed to the churchyard, where it now lay, enclosed ih a coffin, waiting for interment. It was a matter of common knowledge that Jackson and two other men were drowned during a gale off Barry Dock on the 11th of November.—A Juror Was any attempt made to place the body under cover after it was found.'—Sergeant Davies: No, there was no place to put it.—The Juror (to the deputy-coroner) I think it was a great pity, with tw.o or three large farms and a rectory in the parish, that no attempt was made to find an old building to place the body in, so as to have kept it for two days from exposure to wind and rain.— The Rector of the Parish (Rev. E. F. Daniel) There was no building available. There were services held in the church almost continually. —A Juror The body was also very much decomposed.—The Rector: I could not allow it to be taken into the church. The inquest should have been held sooner.—The Deputy coroner The inquest was held as soon as the police could maka the necessary arrangements—A Juror I think the treatment of the body is a reflection upon the parishioners generally.—Sergeant Davies There is no mortuary in the district.—The Deputy- coroner Unfortunately there are very few in the whole county.—Mrs. Elizabeth Ann Jackson, widow of the deceased, said she had no hesitation in identifying the body as that of her late hus- band. She recognised the body by the clothing which she had seen. Her husband was drowned on the 11th of November by the overturning of a boat in a gale, while attempting with another man named Redmond, to rescue a drowning pilot named Macdonald. On the following Saturday, Mr. Jones, the owner of the pilot boat, came to her house to pay to her her husband's week's wages. He said he came to break the sad news to her of hew her husband was drowned. He then des- cribed the heroic circumstances under which the deceased and the man Redmond went from the pilot-boat in the Roads on board the punt to at- tempt the rescue of Macdonald, Mr. Jones remark- ing at the time that two should go rather than one. They went off in the punt towards the drowning man, but he saw no more of them. Deceased only joined the pilot boat on the previous Saturday, and was drowned on Wednesday. Her late husband was 53 years of age.—The jury re- turned a verdict of "Accidental death."—At the conclusion of the inquest a pathetic soene was witnessed. Mrs. Jackson, the widow, seized Mr. Daniel Rees by the hand, and, sobbing bitterly, tha.nked him for his instrumentality in recovering the body so that she might have the satisfaction of seeing it consigned to a grave. ¡a: BW IHUIWIWIL. WV3L'3MB2BGGSL8GY)RIBHH'L!UPHUAL*.LI» MIIAF UILIJAFIPIWII }I