The Aberystwith Observer

-+- A B R R Y ST WYT H JUNIOR CUP. CRUSADERS v. YSTWYTH RANGERS. There was a large number present on the Smithfield Athletic Ground on Wednesday even- ing of last week when the final was played off for the Aberystwyth Junior Cup. The contest- ing teams were the Crusaders and Ystwyth Rangers the holders of the trophy. The referee was Mr T. Hughes, and the teams were as fol- lows — Crusaders: Margrave; M. Williams and Phil- lips; A. McKHY, T. Eli&s Davies, and T. Hum- phreys Tom James, Jack Warrington, Bertie Jones, John Jones, and Pop Wright. Ystwyth Rangers Hughie Roberts Joel Row- lands and D. Michael Evans; Owen, D. Ed- wards, and Morris; D. Lewis, E. Rowe. D. Jones, J. D. Lewis, and Gornall. The linesmen were Messrs Oswald James and Mansel Jenkins. The Rangers, who shot off, were the first to 11 attack, and Margrave wm called upon to clear. A corner was awarded the Rangers, but this was not improved upon, and a little later D. Lewis narrowly missed doing the needful with a .fa.6tshot from the extreme right. The Crusad- ers got down, John Jones experiencing hard luck. Tom James made a brilliant run on the 'Crusaders' right. He centred at the right time and Pop Wright receiving scored with a ter- rific shot from a few yards' range, thus drawing first bloed for the Crusaders after some ten minutes' play. The Crusaders continued to press/and matters looked black for the Rangers when Roberts was impeded and a free kick re- lieved a vigorous rush. Jack Warrington once when in the goalmouth after receiving a lovely pass from Wright sent yards over the bar. As a result of another centre by Tom. James, John Jones scored No. 2. Again the Crusaders at- tacked and Roberts in clearing carried the ball orer the touch line, but no corner was given. The Rangers now assumed the aggressive, and after some good play on their right J. D. Lewis scored a g tl which had a flavour of offside. The Rangers again attacked, Humphreys being penalised. Joel Rowlands took the kick and just skimmed the bar. A corner for the Rang- ers was well "'aced, and Margrave brought off a brilliant save from Joel Rowlands. Two corners were next awarded to the Crusaders, but both were fruitless. A miskick by the "Rangers' defenders let in Bertie Jones, who lost a. fine opening by shooting feebly. A cor- ner for the Crusaders was taken by Wright. He landed the ball in the goalmouth. Roberts in endeavouring to punch out the ball hit Row- lands—who was also going to head the ball—a terrific blow on the nose. Rowlands was par- tially stunned and blood flowed freely. He had to be taken off the field and have his head band- aged, and consequently took no further part in the game. Roberts also sprained his thumb. Play continued in mid-field, and half-time ar- rived with the score—Crusaders, two goals; Rangers, one goal. The Rangers in the second half were completely disorganised through the [OSt; of Rowlands. Nevertheless they put in a game fight. The first run up ended in John Jones scoring -No. 3 for the Crusaders. Had Michael Evans taken his place on the field this goal would no doubt have been saved. The feature of this half was the brilliant display of Roberts in goal. for the Rangers whn was ap- pended for his feats. The attack v. vis persis- tent and goals were scored by Pop Wright, John Jones. Bertie Jones, and T. Elias Davies! The game was finished in semi-darkness. Final score: Crusaders, 7 goals Ystwyth Rangers, 1 goal.

MONTGOMERYSHIRE LEAGUE. Goals. P W r, D F A PTS 'Llanidloes 14 9 3 2 39 15 20 Powyii U >F«i9 14 7 3 4 27 15 18 'R.W.W. 14 6 3 5 36 25 17 Aberystwyth CoH. 14 4 4 6 30 26 14 Llaufyllin 14 4 5 5 25 32 13 Montgomery 14 3 5 6 19 29 12 A ben stwyih Towu 14 3 7 4 17 29 10 14 2 8 4 18 37 8

FREE OFFER TO LADIES. To prove the superiority of ELLIS'S PILLS FOR F REALMS. I will BeIJd II. free trial packet past, paid Prepared from the original recipe of a, ccipbratcd Nurse 9,ud n.ever fail in restoring regularity and correcting all ••iisorders. S-at'e, certain and apeedy pill that never dis- nppoirts. Thousands of lekero of thanks testifying to their efficacy at ter «n II other things have been tried in vain. Racli purchaser nen<i* b:!ck testimonial, *is they afford relief in every instance. Ther* *s nothing to (Mjuai Mien*. Is, 3u, ;>er box. Special extra strong piih- (i^comroeri(!ed). 4s. 6d., post paid in ploiu wrapper, with to" direct.ioua and advice. Supplied through the post only by Mrs. Elms, 27, Surrey Lane, Battersea London. An nWtinj? snide, 48 pa«e«, 50 illustra- tions, fent free with each box. Please mention Maper A R K LI A B L1 IlBlVIEDY rnpc ()n receip1 of stamped envelope I will send rntt ;L Fw 3 Nam pie and particulars of Nurse JQ Hammond's Improved Remedies for ladies which act in a few hours. Surprisingly LAOJES Effective. Success Guaranteed. Ad- m dress -Nurse Hammonds, 96, Inc-le- <)! nene, Boscombe Road, Southend, ESS EX. B I A niPA ^or your own good p ♦ I A111 r & sentl Stamp tor + IKaflll I kw Free Sample of H BLANCHABD'S I flPIOL # STEEL PILLS I v. i?t, oxplanatow Kookifii aiii< Tr?-rim-viiai- H b'i n.U Chi'tnuit M'4 Wr or P'■■■'•' '>«'•' fr»in J

FARM NOTES. [BY AN OCCASIONAL CONTRIBUTOE.] Fair now is the springtide, now earth lies be- holding, With the eyes of a lover, the face of the eun. Long lasteth the daylight, and hope :s enfolding The green growing acres, with increase begun. z, THE YOUNG GRASS. The green growing acres of the poet are very pleasant to rhe eye of man, as well as to the beasts of the field who now rejoice in the de- licious young grass of the pastures. To the eye of the farmer whose stackyard is almost empty they are more than pleasing. Many of us are now looking anxiously for the May grass, so that we can turn out our stock to enjoy life in the open air. Providence, how- i GY ever, has been more .thou kind this April. We have had sunshine and showers (the laughter and tears of April) in abundance with a grate- ful absence of frost and east winds-a. pleasant contrast and a great improvement on the pre- vious month of March. There is now a fair bite of grass on all the best pastures in the earliest (fistrid-s, and niainy hundreds of cattle are turned out to earn their living. On higher farms and in later districts the cattle will have to be fed indoors for a week or two yet as there is practically nothing on the pastures; especially is this the case where the land has been stocked too heavily with sheep, as unfortunately many of us were compelled against our will and better judgment. But what could we do? The market for sheep during the past eight months has been so unpreeedentedly depressed that we could not sell our sheep at any price. We have offered them repeatedly in the market and could not realise on them; consequently had to keep them, unprofitable aa they have been, to the detriment of the other stock, and to the ioss of our early grass. Where sheep haw been kept in moderate numbers and have done well the profit on them this year will be but small, and where they have been ove stock- ed and done badly the loss will be considerable. We are all pleased to see the graee arrive in the spring .so that we may be relieved of the expense and labour of feeding cattle indoors. Yet it is an anxious time, and care and judg- ment is required when the cattle are turned out to grass so that their health may not be pre- judiciously affected by the change of diet from the dry food of the stall to luscious spring grass, and from the comforts of a dry bed un- der a roof to the discomfort of lying on the wet ground during a cold, wet night. Where the buildings are convenient to the pastures the change can be effected gradually, thereby less- ening the risks, and avoiding any bad effects which might result from a t'.o sudden change. But if the pasture is a long way from home it is not so convenient to make a gradual change; when the cattle are turned out there they must stay and take their chance, if it is too far away to bring them in at nights for a short time. In these circumstances the change may be made more gradual by carrying a little hay to them every morning and giving it to them on the pasture. Although they may waste a little of it by treading on it, yet if they are turned out early in the season before there is a full bite of grass, they will eat a lot of the dry hay which will correct any bad effects of the young grass, on the stomachs and make the change of diet more gradual and less harmful. If the hay is not oot-en all up, the more knowing ones will appreciate the benefit of what is left as form- ing a warmer bed than lying on the wet soil. It may seem to some a wasteful system of using hay, yet it is really of more value used in that way for a few weeks in spring and autumn than it is used any other time of the year. Besides the care and judgment required in the interests of the stock, there is also judgment required in the management of the pastures. On some fields it is unwise to turn the stock out too earlY-M by meeting the young grass as it comes we never get a. full bite all the sea- son. On other fields there is an advantage in turning out early. Any rough grass remaining from the previous year gets eaten up along with the fresh grass, the field is grazed more level, and the tendency of patches getting rough is checked. Land that is subject to flood should always be kept well grazed off. Otherwise the effect of the flood on full grass would be detri- mental to the sward, the finer grasses would get killed out, and strong coarse grass would possess the field. Although the month of April has not been uniformly favourable for arable farming, yet the spring grain (with the exception of a few fields of barley) has been got in in excellent tilth, and is coming up strong and healthy. Very little rolling has yet oeen done, the show- ery weathei- preventing the land getting in a fit state for this operation indeed the roller has not been required much this season as the land was in good tilth after the winter's frost. It is advisable, though, for the proper working of the reaping machinery to have the grain land rolled smoothly. Most of the wheat is looking strong and healthy. Now that the price of this grain has again touched £ 1 per sack, we take a little more interest in the crop. A little nitrate of soda might pay on some fields, if used judiciously. 11 THE ROOT CROPS. The working of the laud for roots is now the most important operation on the arable land. It is now time that mangold should be sown. The middle of April is the best time for sowing mangolds in this county. Unfortunately we are behind time with that work, and may now have a difficulty in getting the hoeing done before the hay harvest will demand our attention. Where the land was well ploughed and manured in the autmun, it will soon be got into a proper state for ridging and drilling. It is necessary to have plenty of well cultivated fine mould seven or eight inches in depth, before begin- ning to .ridge for mangolds. To secure a good covering for the manure, it is good practice to ridge the ground before manuring, then split the ridges after the manure is applied. To secure the seed being put in at a uniform depth it mav be advisable to run a light roller along the rows before the drill so as to crush all clods and firm the soil a. little to prevent the seed getting too deep. It is a mistake to bury mangold seed too deeply. As for manuring the mangold crop, nothing beats the home made farmyard manure, and there is no risk of putting too much. Man golds have got a large appetite for manure. Nitrogen and potash are the most necessary, phosphates not being of so much importance Cor mangolds as for swedes. But to secure a full crop it is necessary to manure heavily. THE SHEEP. The lambing season is now almost over, with very varying results. Some farmers report an excellent fall of lambs with little or no loss; others have to lament serious losses during the stormy month of March. Many sheep have also died-on some farms from various causes. We fear a principal cause has been the fluke in the liver. On other farms the percentage of loss has been very small. We hear of one well man. aged flock where there has not been a single death. On the whole we fear many sheep will strip very thin at shearing time. The wool market keeps healthy and it is to be hoped t.he price of wool will compensate us a little for the losses on mutton. It will soon be time to proceed with washing and shearing. What an improvement there is now in the ar- rangements for washing sheep compared to what they used to \»e when we had to stand for some hours up to the waist in cold water wash- ing them. by hand, and with a corresponding improvement in the efficiency of the work. We wonder now how we could expect a man to wash sheep properly standing shivering in cold water (probably more than half intoxicated) hurrying them through anyhow so as to get cut of the And what a saving of time and labour the shearing machine is to liS, besides the saving of pain to the poor sheep which often suffered from cuts of the shears, inflicted by the appren- tice shearers, and even by some who thought themselves proficient. Our Montgomeryshire wool has always topped the market at Welling- ton. We must not let it go back..

THE WELSH NATIONAL AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. In Mr Loveden Pryse's interesting article in the Welsh National Journal he says that in 1809 (just a hundred years ago), Kerry Hill sheep in Montgomeryshire were described as the only sheep in Wales producing perfect wool, all the other Welsh breeds having their wool mixed with coarse long hairs. The description of the Kerry Hill sheep at that time is as follows — Large woolly cheeks, white foreheads, white 'egs covered with wool, no horns, .and a broad beaver-like tail, and comparatively tame. What do our present breders think of this description? Verily 100 years bring changes in sheep as in other things. He says also that at that time there was another breed in existence on the Long Mountain, near Welshpool, described as black-faced and fine woolled. Can any of the eaders of the COUNTY TIMES tell us anything about this breed Is it the progenitor of the present Shropshire Down? Mr Loveden Pryse, however, rather taxes our powers of swallowing by the following paragraph :—"The King about this time gave several gentlemen in Wales Merino rams for crossing, and the following re- sults are interesting A Welsh mountain sheep, cl 361 bs. of wool; a crossed Welsh Mountain and Merino, 401bs. small Shropshire and Merino, 441bs. Tiiese experiments were made by Mr Yorke, Erthing." As it takes at least 10 Welsh sheep to clip that weight of wool nowadays, there must be a mistake somewhere. Can Mr Pryse explain it?

THE MEAT WARRANTY QUESTION. The Butchers' Federation have promised to enter the field for warfare on the 3rd of May with their great manifesto demanding a. war- ranty of soundness with every beast they buy. However, we venture to prophesy that they will not get it. The farmers have decided long ago that they will give no such warranty, and they mean to adhere to that decision. There is not a large local supply Of fat stock at our markets now, so the time is favourable for the farmers to resist their demand.

MONTGOMERY PETTY SESSIONS. The monthly sessions for the borough and county were held on Thursday before Messrs S. D. Price-Davies (presiding), Maurice Owen, T. Morgan-Owen, a.nd Dr T. D. Kirk. AN ABUSIVE HORSE-BREAKER. The only borough case was that of Valentine Ashton, Broad street, Montgomery, who was charged by P.C. Davies with using obscene language. Defendant did not appear during the first part of the case.-The Constable said that at 5-15 on the 15th of the present month he saw defendant driving a pair of horses in a skeleton carriage. He was continually going round the market hall, which was very danger- ous to the children in the street. When asked to stop it he said he would not, and made use of very bad language such as H you —— fathead." Witness had cautioned him before. He con- tinued driving about the street for about 2 £ hours, and at the finish he broke his carriage on the Chirbury road.—Defendant now appeared, and cross-examined witness who said he stop- ped the horses, but did not jerk them. He took the whip out of the socket because defend- ant threatened to hit him with it. He did not know that the socket was broken, but it may have been. He did not tear defendant's oreeclies and try to pull him off the trap.—P.S. Morris, Bishop's Castle, stated that on the day in question defendant drove up to the last wit- neBS and himself and used abusive language, and refused to go away for about an hour. He followed them on to the Bishop's Castle road and abused them there. There were a number of people about.—Questioned by defendant: Every time they stopped he abused Constable Davies, and even told him lie would knock his head off with the whip.—Defendant made a statement and said that nobody was on the street, and he was all right until Constable Davies came up to him. He drove round the Town Hall about half a dozen times.—A fine of 2s. 6d. and costs was imposed. FARMERS FALL OUT. The first county case was that in which Wil- liom Falkner, farmer, Lower Plain, Castle- wright, charged Thomas Evans, Warburv, Castlewright, farmer, with assault. There was a counter-charge by Evans. Mr A. H. Spink, Bishop's Castle, appeared for Falkner, and Mr M. Woosnam, Newtown, appeared for Evans. The two cases were taken together. Complainant Falkner deposed tihat between 8 and 8-30 a.m. on April 7th he went in search of some cattle which he had lost the previous evening. He saw the cattle in Evans' field, and crossed the fields of a Mr Lewis to go 110 them. He went up to Evans and said Good morning." Evans did not answer, and witness u went to the cattle. He was driving the cattle away when Evans rushed at him with a hatchet in his hand. Witness put up bis arm to ward off the blow, and he was struck on the arm by the handle. Shortly afterwards Evans rushed at him again, and after that threw the hatchet away and pulled his whiskers. Witness said there was a law for that, and Evans replied that he (Falkner) had no money to "law" any- one, and then used some abusive language. He said witness was no good and Mr Heap (his em- ployer) only kept him for a spy. Evans was like a madman, and was in a violent temper, which witness supposed was due to the cattle being on his turnips. He tore witness' coat through pulling him about. He then helped him to drive tlie cattle into the next field, and then suddenly collared him by the whiskers again and said I will finish pulling your old beard out." He pulled it, and witness hit at him with his left hand as well as he could. He got free, but then Evans came behind him and hit him under the jaw, which knocked him six yards away against a plough. His face was dis- coloured and swollen.—Cross-examined by Mr Woosnam He only said "Good morning" be- fore Evans struck "him. When witness bit at him with the left hand he could not say wheth- er he struck him, but lie thought he did.—P.C. E. J. Lewis said that on the morning of the 7tli April Falkner came to him. He noticed a mark on the side of his face and it was swollen. Mr Woosnam then called Thomas Evans. who said that on the previous evening he had driven Fa,Ikner's cattle away and told a man to tell him to keep them out. On the morning in question lie was already moving the cattle from his field again when Falkner came up. Witness had an axe in his hand, and Falk- ner said, "You are not afraid of me now you have the axe in your hand," so he threw it down. They had words, but no assault took place in that field or the adjoining one, but in •Mr Lewis' field they called each other a liar and then Falkner hit him on the face and lie retaliated. These were all the blows that took place, and he did not pull Falkner's whiskers. —Cross-examined by Mr Spink He would hove issued a summon.s if Falkner had not issued one.—Richard Lewis, the Rolfer, said that on April 9th he was ploughing one of his fields and saw Falkner and Evans coming over the hedge into the field. He was then two or three yards away from them. He heard them call each other a liar, Falkner using the epithet first. Evans told him to go away, and Falkner struck him on the side of the face with his shut fist. Evans then struck Falkner. It was not true that he struck him six yards on to the plough. He staggered for about two yards. They were talking for about five minutes after that, but no more blows wore struck. Both parties were bound over in the sum of £10 to keep the peace for six months. Denn.is Lavender, 22, Park road, Holloway, London, was charged by P.C. Lewis with rid- ing a bicycle without a light, but the case was dismissed.

COMMERCIAL PRINTING Executed on the Shortest Notf-,ft. A.T THE "COUNTY TIMES" OFFICES, WELSHPOOL AND ABERYSTWYTH

ARCHIDiACONAL VISIfA- TION. WELSHPOOL, Archdeacon Thomas opened his annual visi- tation at Welshpool on Monday. Both in the Archdeaeon's charge, and in the subsequent meeting in the vestry, speeches strongly con- demning the Bill for the Disestablishment and Disendowment of the Welsh Church, which was introduced in Parliament last week, were made. The Vicar, the Rev Dr Grimaldi Davis, con- ducted the service, and the Rev Douglas Morgan read tire lesson. After the service, the Clergy and Church- wardens and sidesmen adjourned to the vestry, where the Archdeacon submitted the fol- lowing resolution on the Disestablishment and Disendowment Bill: —" That we, the clergy, churchwardens, and sidesmen at the Arch- deacon of Montgomery's visitation at Welshpool on Monday, April 28th, protest strongly against this unjust and iniquitous Bill, and will use every legitimate means to resist it." He said he was going to submit the same resolution to the other places on his visitation, and his bro- ther Archdeacons intended doing the same, so that he hoped a strong and united protest would be made against the Bill. Capt Mytton said he was glad that the Arch- deacon had drawn up the resolution, because the Bill was not one that affected the clergy any more than the laity, and if the laity spoke out he was certain they would say it was an in- iquitous Bill. He himself had always got on remarkably well with Nonconformists, but when they came to consider that the Bill came from persons calling themselves a religious body, that they took away from Churchmen the means of worshipping God in the way they thought proper, and devoted those means to secular purposes and the providing education for which they paid rates and which they were looking after to the best of their ability—and take tithes away from the clergy in the different parishes throughout Wales, reminded him of the words o.f Malachi, ''Will a man rob God?" He said distinctly that by that iniquitous Bill, Nonconformists were robbing God. The tithes should be maintained and kept for the worship of God, and to put religion in this country in the back ground, was one of the stejia the Gov- ernment were taking. They tried to do away with all kinds of religious instruction in the schools, and were bringing up the children in the paths of simple education, without giving them the great anchor of religion to guide them when they grew up. The country would go backward instead of forward if they did not up- hold the worship of God in the way they had done formerly and try to improve everything with regard to the Church. What had the Church in Wales done that it should be punish- ed in that way, and separated from the Church in England? He saw no reason why the Bill should be brought in, and it would promote that bitterness of spirit throughout the country which had been allayed to a great extent. He moved that they adopt the resolution and sug- gested that there should be great demonstra- tions throughout the country for the clergy and laity to protest most strongly against the Bill (applause). Mr T. Green, The Bank, Pool Quay, seconded the adoption of the resolution. He thought their parochial system was one of the very best it was possible to have. They had clergymen at their beck and call, and if the Bill waa pass- ed, he did not know what other system could be introduced to better it. To take their endow- ments away from them was certainly nothing else but robbery 'and spoliation, and why should one religious denomination be robbed more than another? As a layman, he thought it was the duty of laymen to protest against, that act of robbery (applause). Rev Dr Davis, vicar of Welshpool, expressed his thanks to the Archdeacon for his interest- ing and powerful address. With regard to the day schools, it was very important there should be definite religious instruction given in them. There were thousands upon thousands of chil- dren in the country who did not attend any Sunday school at all, and those .would be lost If the day schools did not provide religious in- struction for them. No doubt there was a strong tendency nowadays to treat religion with mere indifference, and it would be, from a national point of view, a calamity to sever religion from the state. If disendowment took place, it would injure more than all the poorest in the land, because at the present time the poor could claim as a right the services of a clergyman, but if disendowment took place that right would cease. The Church had been doing most excel, lent work for many years past; in foet., accord- ing to what the Prime Minister had declared, the Church during the last 70 years had done an enormous amount of work. But on the other hand there was the question, that if the Church had been doing that work, how came it that such a majority of the Welsh people were out- side her pale? How was it that she had lost their confidence, and that they had ceased to accept her ministrations? It was bemuse of the gross and disgraceful abuses in the past, which had not altogether ceased to-day. They still continued to some extent, and as" long os they were perpetrated, that kind of thing would go on. He was very glad tlio Archdeacon had put f>n his paper the question of Church Reform, because there was a very strong and urgent need for it. One of the reforms needed was to re- st-ore to the laity their rights in the counsels of the Church, .and lie felt sure that if they had had their proper places in the administration and organisation of the Church and her affairs they would never have heard of the Disestab- lishment and. Disendowment Bill. He earnestly trusted the laity would come forward. They had had a most remarkable demonstration of what they could do in connection with the late Bill which Mr Runciman brought forward, and il they were combined there would be no power humanly speaking that could resist them. They would like to see the laity restored to their light places in the Church, according to prirni- tive customs and principles. Very little had been done in the way of reforms. Everything was democratic nOiY except the Church, and sne must come into harmony and into line with t-ie times if she was to be strong a-nd irresist- ible. ^Referring to Convocation, Dr Davis said tiiat for 150 years Convocation never met, and to-day .they were simply an academic body. they could not legislate, and were almost ob- liged to speak with bated breath. Convocation ought to have the pwwer to regulate and guide the affairs of the Church—(hear, hear)—and he thought that should be done, and better repre- sentation given to the rank and file of the clergy find laity. With regard to the Church in Wales, they could not blink the fact that it had not been administered in accordance with l'ight principles and with fairness to the Welsh people, and in the present agitation there was a gieat deal of awakening of national forces and retribution and punishment for the gross abuses of the past. But if anything should be done tie thought that in fairness and justice the money that had already been stolon from the Church should be restored. With that part of the resolution lie cordially agreed, and hoped the day would be far distant when the old Church would be despoiled of her endowments, and he hoped t'hev would all strive to carry on those much needed reforms. If they did not do so, he believed the judgment of God would de- scend on the Church and they would richly de- serve it (applause). Mr Noel P. J. Turner supported the motion. It was a, fact that during the past few years the fe-elings between Churchmen and Nonconform- ists had greatly improved, and that on the whole there was no bitter feeling between them. He felt sure, however, that the proposed Bill would undoubtedly stir up a great deal of ill-feeling and ill-will between all sects. For his own part he did not think that the Nonconformists in Wales were at all unanimous in their wish to attack the Church, but he felt that the attack was simply engineered by a few bitter oppon- ents of the Church. it the duty of the laity especially to protest against the 'Bill, be- cause in the end they would suffer more than the clergy (applause). The Archdeacon said it had given him great pleasure to hear the voice of a layman on the matter, because he agreed that it affected the laity more than the clergy. But what it affected most of all wa-B the power of well-doing and the continual progress of the Church, not only in this country but throughout the world. The Vicar of Welshpool had spoken very strongly about the abuses perpetrated, but there was a great deal more to be said on behalf of the Church than was generally acknowledged. With regard to the Convocation that was silenced because it ventured to speak out and say things which were not agreeable .to the Government of that day. He thoroughly agreed that Church Reform was needed, but the hard and heavy hand of the state prevented them proceeding to action. They discussed and recommended mat. ters and passed resolutions, but were not al- lowed to carry them out. He hoped they would make measures of reform and for one thing claim that the Church of England in Wales should have the same power and authority as the Established Church in Scotland had (hear, hear). As to the giving up of endowments he pointed out that only two years ago the United Methodists Church was established and endow- ed by the state in Scotland. On being put the resolution was carried unanimously and the Archdeacon then proceed- ed to admit the churchwardens and sidesmen. NEWTOWN. The short service at church was as usual well attended and was conducted by the Rev Canon Lloyd Williams, assisted by the Rev J. Evans- Hughes, eura.te, whilst the Archdeacon read the lessons. In the vestry afterwards, when the newly appointed churchwardens and sidesmen were re- ceived and had signed the usual declarations, a discussion took place on the Disestablishment and Disendowment Bill. A resolution similar to the one paseed at Welshpool was proposed by Mr S. H. Jar vis, one of the wardens of Llanllwchaiarn parish. He said that the Bill stirred in him the strong- est of all possible feelings, and if at any tilM he used strong language about those who were advocating the disestablishment and disendow- ment of the Church in Whales he hoped they would forgive him for doing so, because it was a matter upon which he confessed he felt deeply and strongly, in fact he would go so far as to say—and there were thousands of the same mind—that they would set aside every question connected with politics, upon which they had any feeling at all, and sacrifice party ties a,nd party allegiance when they found thoir dear old Church was in danger iand give their vote against the disestablishment and disendowment or the dismemberment of it, and set aside every other possible cause. It bad been admitted quite recently, in fact it was admitted by the Prime Minister on Wednesday when he intro- duced the,Bill in the House of Commons, that he was asking Parliament to sanction the dis- endowment of an institution which had, ac- cording to his own account, been doing, for the last 70 years at least, a, noble work. Such a proposition he (the speaker) ventured to be- lieve had never before been placed before Par- liament. Mr Asquith was bound to bring in this Bill because he was driven by the Welsh Radical members ,and he honestly believed thwt if it were left to Mr Asquith's own device, and if it were not necessary for political motives to introduce this Bill it would not be brought into the House of Commons. But although it might be too late, as Mr Asquith said, for the Church to learn a lesson from the past, he ventured to assert that the words Mr Asquith used would be taken up all over the country, and the strongest weapon which could be used to resist the Bill would be the words of the Prime Minister himself. Ordinary people would not think it was too late. Why should it be too late? In the earlier part of his speech they would -End that Mr Asqukih dished up the old tale of the injustice done to the Noncon- formists in the 18th century, but they were asked rto sanction a. Bill which would take away from the Church endowments which had been given by private individuals from private purses and voluntary offerings. Why, if they take away these endowments set apart for religious purposes, why don't they devote them to re- ligious purposes? Simply because they cannot agree amongst themselves how it should be divided (cheers). They say they do not believe in concurrent endowment but such a statement as that was absolutely untrue, because it was well known tha.t many of the Nonconformist bodies had endowments extending back a con- side.rahle period. Mr Asquith also seemed to place much reliance on the fact that the Non- conformists in Wales had more communicants — as they put it, three to one — than the Church. Those figures they did not accept un- til they saw the official report of the Commis- sion. They were not worth discussing at the present time. Mr Asquith went further and nmde a statement which they would all agree was a most fallacious one. He said that the better test as to the position of Nonconformity and the Church in Wales was the provision of seating accommodation. In Newtown there were eight different bodies or chapels apart from the Church of England, and could it be contended for a single moment that these Churches were all filled? They would find in many villages that the Nonconformists not be- ing able to agree amongst themselves started a rival chapel, and -there were many places of worship in Wales biulfc by Nonconformists which would seat more than the population that "c actually lived in the district. Therefore such an argument as used by the Prime Minister was absolutely fallacious. He had heard it said over and over again during the last few months that there was no possibility of this Bill becoming law, but he thought it would be the greatest mistake if they sat down and twirled their thumbs thinking that it could not possibly become law (hear, hear, and cheers). They knew that their opponents were engineerinc a, great campaign in Wales. They had entertain- -ed iho Prime Minister at dinner, and tlxev knew in fact that he would never introduce the Bill if they had not used the greatest possible pres- Hure últl him. He was glad to think that it was not the great body of Nonconformists, but those who for party and envious purposes were engin- eering the whole matter (hear, hear). They had not sought the 'battle. The Nonconformists had thrown down the glove. They would take it, and not rest content until this Bill, and all like it, would be thrown into the waste paper basket (cheers). Mr E. B. Williams, Dolforwvn school, second ed. He said that the Bill was the result of jealousy, and lie contended that the money would not be used in the way that they said. They said it -was to support the schools'. He had only to mention the case of Swansea. Everybody who had watched how those schools had been treated were bound to say that the County Councils of Wales would not use that money for education as it should be used. As regards seating accommodation for the Non- conformists, Mr Llewelyn Phillips, their -re- spected clerk of the County Education Commit- tee, took up the books from Mr Rowlands, the 'late solicitor of Machynlleth, and it was proved conclusively that the figures he gave for the seating accommodation in the county of Mont- gomery were not reliable. It seemed to him ridiculous that such a thing should be brought into the House of Commons when the Commis- sion had not given its report. He thought the Bill ought to be thrown out if only for that (cheers). The Archdeacon said that it was not ordinary educa-tion they professed to help, but technical education, and that with the surplus that might romain over out of the £30,000 or £ 40,000 when they ha.d paid for the expenses of carrying out the Act. iMr Williams I read it that it was education. It did not specify in the paper I read that it was higher, elementary, or technical. What- ever it might be there will certainly be favour- itism. about it. Mr C. Playfair, Newtown, said that their Nonconformist friends did not speak of disen- dowment—they did not give the Bill its full title. Perhape thev did not like talking much about disendowment. They knew that meant robbery (hear, hear). Disestablishment really meant that the Bishops should not sit in the House of Lords, that the ecclesiastical law would cease to exi&t in Wales, and that Wales would not be represented in Convocation. Non- conformists did not trouble about disestablish- ment. What they wanted was disendowment. They were jealous of the clergymen because they were generally considered to be the leading men. They wanted to pull them down to the level of their own ministers. They should have to bestir themselves during the coming summer to work an agitation ugainst this Bill. There were people in England who thought that Wales was a oountry inhabited by Nonconformists who went to chapel, and they had the idea that the Church in Wales was a small body—something like the Roman Catholic Church but they would be very much surprised to find there was a. Parish Church in every town and almost every village. What they must do was to show that there was a great "body in Wales who did not want disestablishment, and to show that they were determined to stand against disestablish- ment (cheers). Mr J. Griffiths Miller said what he thought the most absurd and unjust thing about it was to appoint a Commission to get statistics and before they issued their report bring in a Bill. That was the moat wicked thing he had heard of. Mr Jackson, Tregynon, deprecated the man- ner in which the numerical strength of the Noit conformist bodies bad been tabulated—all undei- one head-but they saw the Church standing cm it-s own. There were something like 300 dif- ferent religions in the country—there were a good many in Wales—and if each was placed o* its own head they would see the Church in its true form. That was trying to blind the public. Mr B. Bennett Rowlands said the Church ought to be called the Church of Wales in Eng- land, and not the Church of England in Wales. The Church was the largest body in Wales, and was getting stronger every day-(cheerB)- and for that reason their Nonconformist friends were getting a bit jealous of them. He hoped the clergy would take it up a. little bit more. ae- tively than on the last time. They should lead the van. The Archdeaoon emphasised the faot that the Laymen should be most active. The clergy were given a bribe. They said, We will let you have the enjoyment of your houses, and your glebes, and your tithes as long as you live," and then it goes. The clergy felt it very strongly, and were prepared to take their part in the duty, but after all he wanted to see laymen stir themselves. Reference had been made to the statistics. They had been done the greatest wrong that a Bill of that serious character should be thrown on the country without statis- tics that were verified. He believed that the Commission had made ducks and drakes of a. great many of these statistics that had been of- fered. He believed he was correct in saying that there had been no such dispute or question about the statistics for the diocese of St Asaph. Then there was clearly a strong disappoint- ment and friction among the Commissioners themselves, but they ought to have the result, whatever it might be, a carefully compiled re- sult of this Commission that the country should know what the figures were worth (cheers). It had been said that they were the largest body. Yes, they were the largest and the strongest of any Church body in Wales, and they were not going to take that sort of treatment lying down. The challenge was 'thrown out, and was being taken up. The Bill, he thought, would do more to open the eyes of Churchmen to what the majority would like to do if they could, and what they will strive to carry out if they cajQ. It reminded them of the sort. of treatment thev meted out when they had the power. They turned everyone of the clergy out. neck and crop and used the churches for ministers, ordained or not ordained, whom they themselves put in. and the Prayer Book was not to be used. If it was used 0. fine of t-5 was imposed. If used a. second time it was double that amount, and if a Churchman was so bigoted and so narrow-mind ed as to use the Prayer Book a, third time then he was liable to be put in the hulks and sent across the sea. It was a serious question for them what the religious result of the agitation which the Free Church Council were forcing upon the rest of the Nonconformist bodies would be. There was great uneasiness among themselves. There was a strong protest going on among the older fashioned Nonconformists. However, that was their own concern. The concern of the Churches should be to awake* their own people to realise what the others would do if they had the power.—The motion was carried unanimously. A vote of thanks to the Archdeacon for his address was unanimously passed, on the motion of the Rural Dean (Rev R. Kvan Jones), sec- onded by the Rev Pugh Morgan, Llandvssil.

KEEPERS' PINNEJi AND SHOOT AT LLANDIXAM. At the invitation of Mr David Davies, M.P.. a large number of gamekeepers on the estates on which the hounds of the young squire hunt, and a few of the .farmers in the same district, as- sembled at, Hand in am yesterday afternoon when an interesting pigeon shoot was held on a field near the railway station in the occupation of Mr Griffiths, Ffinant. The arrangements for the shoot had been successfully carried, out by Mr E. Wilson, head keeper on the Plasdinam estates, and the result of the shoot was as fol- lows 1 ( £ 2) iMr Tolman, keeper to Mr Harri- son, Brynlly warch; 2 (£1) Mr Arthur Wilson, Plasdinam estate. Both prizes were given bv the boat. a After the shoot the large company sat. down to a sumptuous dinner supplied in the Village Hall, the caterer being Mr H. E. Rees, of the LIOn Hotel. Ample justice having been done to the good fare provided, Mr Greenhow gave the loyal toasts, after which Mr David Wilson submitted the health of the keepers, which was heartily drunk. The tenant farmers was sub- mitted, and to this Mr Bo wen, Digwm, and Mr Williams, Glyn, responded.—Mr Williams said that he would do all he could to encourage sport and fox hunting. He did not see that foxes did any harm; they rather did him good. because they destroyed a lot of mbbit-s, and he did not see why they should be against fox- hunting (hear, hear).—Mr Wilson, headkeeper, then proposed a hearty vote of thanks to Me Davies for Ins hospitality. This was seconded by Mr Bowen, of Digwm. and carried with musical honours.—During the evening Mr John Owen, Caeblaidd, gave splendid renderings of popular songs, whilst Mr Herbert Howella, Mr Tolman, Mr Frank Dukes, Mr Roberts, Bnn- hadle, Mr Thomas Hamer also contributed.

.u_ All Holland is rejoicing in the long-awaited fulfilment of a great national hope. At seven o'clock on Friday morning Queen Wilhelmina gave birth to a daughter, and the official bulle- tin pronounced both the Royul mother and the baby Princess to he doing well. In the words uttered by the heralds, who made the round of the capital announcing the glad news, "the Dutch people are thankful for the blessiiicr be- stowed upon the Royal house and the country." Not only in the Hague, but everywhere else, the popular delight reached an almost ecstatic height, and holiday-making was the general rule. Cordial telegrams from King Edward and Queen Alexandra were among the numerous Royal congratulations received at, the Palace.

The Cork's Best AM RAF AM BAKING POWDER.