Llangollen Advertiser Denbighshire Merionethshire and North Wales Journal

EVIDENTLY what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander, at any rate as a London magistrate interprets the law, for he told an unfor- tunate applicant who came to him the other day with an account of his matrimonial troubles, that his wife can turn him out and is not bound to find him a home, but if he turns his wife out he is bound to find her a home." The worthy magis- trate's reading of the law is no doubt perfectly correct, but it shows how much the law relating to husband and wife needs careful revision, espe- cially in the direction in which it affects those classes to whom the Divorce Court is entirely out of reach. AMERICA, that marvellous land of invention, now inspires us with a novel and beautiful idea of upraising the downcast and hopeless sister in E. C. Johnson, a noble-hearted to make a slight alteration in the dress of' Jh"4 women that would denote good behaviour, anc? to improve upon it as attention and well-doing deserved. By this means an emulation began, and instead of needing correction, the ambition to wear the mark of good behaviour has brought about a change that no severity would have done. A knowledge of this fact may give other prison matrons an idea, and not only prison matrons, but matrons in workhouses, reformatories, and similar institutions, as well. To inspire hope is the surest way of making a reform. + FURTHER evidence is forthcoming of the moder- nisation of the land of the Pharaohs-or shall we say- of the Anglicisation of Egypt. Tenders are invited by the Government for the construction and working of tramways in Cairo. Railway building has made great progress in the country of recent years, and from this point of view the latest development will not be surprising, for the tramway properly considered is the offspring of the great iron road. Generally speaking, Egypt is the Paradise of the engineer. For centuries the construction of the pyramids has been a technical mystery even in the days of Alfonso de Albuquerque a gigantic scheme of turning the waters of the Nile to pass through Abyssinia in order to destroy the fertility of the delta was gravely considered and in the days of the occu- pation modern notions of irrigation have added immensely to the natural wealth of the country. ANOTHER novelty is dramatic art is about to bp introduced. It emanates from the Shakespeare Reading Society, who intend in November to pro- duce the conditions of the Shakespearean theatre of the end of the sixteenth or opening years of the seventeenth century, and to try one of Shakes- peare's plays as it was acted in his own time. The scenery will be reduced to the minimum and modest display of the Elizabethan age the cos- tumes will be Elizabethan the stage will pro- bably be covered with rushes and spectators will be seated on the stage. This will be the very antithesis of the gorgeous and costly mounting with which the great poet is put before the public at the London Lyceum and other theatres. As an experiment it will be interesting, and as an antiquarian reproduction it will be instructive. So very harmless and original an idea has received influential patronage, Sir Theodore Martin K.C.B. Professor Dowden, and Professor Henry Morley being among its supporters. -4 DURING' the past Parliamentary session there were in all 310 divisions, and it is worthy of observation that one of the Welsh members was present in every one. The attendances of the North Wales members are as follows Thomas Ellis, 310 j Herbert Lewis, 253; Lloyd George, Thomas Lewis, 177; Herbert Roberts, 176 j Samuel Smith, 168; Bryn Roberts, 166; Sir G. Osborne Morgan, 151; George Kenyon, 147; Sir Pryce Pryce-Jones, 137; Stuart Rendel, 132 j William Rathbone, 107. In addition to the severe strain put this year on their Parliamentary life, must be considered the exertions attendant upon taking part in political meetings. Mr. LI. George leads the way with a series of thirty public meetings to his credit, and the next in order is a South Wales member, Major Jones, who has appeared on the public political platform twenty- three times during the continuance of the session. The Disestablishment campaign in England has only just begun, and next session we may look bo an invasion of England by Welsh M.Ps. ALL who have seen a French wedding know o the homely and frequently familiarly affectionate manner in which the officiating priest delivers a little homily to the intending husband and wife, in which, celibate as he is, he speaks with the authority of deep experience on the duties of bearing and forbearing, on the happiness and privileges of the married state. But all who heard it were astounded at the surpassing plain- ness of speech of the following priestly address —"It is from the bottom of my heart, Joseph, that I congratulate you upon the great step you are taking. It was indeed sad to see you wasting your youth in a life of disgusting drunkenness. However, all is well that ends well; and it pleases me to think that you have said good-bye for ever to the wine shop. As to you, my poor Catherine, thank heaven heartily that you have been able, ugly as you are, to find a husband. Never forget that you ought, by an unchangeable sweetness and a devotion without bounds, to try to obtain pardon for your physical imperfection for, I repeat, you are a real blunder of nature. And now, my dear children, I join you in matrimony." THE question has at times been raised whether a person has a right to retain a seat in a railway carriage by placing luggage on it, or by marking it as his own in any way, save by taking personal possession thereof. It is a very comrllon plan for railway passengers to keep a place by depositing a coat, a rug, or other hand property upon it. This was done a day or two ago by two Frenchmen, who selected a couple of comfortable corner seats in a train at the Western Railway terminus in Paris, and who on coming to take possession were annoyed to find that the coat or umbrella left there had been removed by a retired captain and his friend. A dispute arose; but the last-named comers refused to budge, maintaining that no one had a right to a seat, unless he were sitting on it. The matter was referred to the Commissary of Police, who in his turn sought counsel at the Ministry of Public Works, the result being that the retired captain and his companion, though they kept the places retained by the other travel- lers, have been proved to be completely in the wrong. It has been declared that a passenger has a perfect right so to retain a seat, the said right being supported by several Ministerial circulars. So the vexed question may now be said to be definitely settled, at any rate for France. A BILL of vast importance to the community, though probably very few members were aware of its significance and bearing, or even existence, received the Royal Assent on Friday, the closing day of the summer sittings of Parliament. It is one which will in effect put an end to the arbit- rary enclosure of common land by the lord of the manor. By the law as it stood until Friday, the lord was entitled to enclose the waste land of his manor, provided he left sufficient pasture for the commoners. If the sufficiency was disputed by the commoners, litigation followed, often very protracted and costly. This was the ground of many of the complaints made before the Welsh Land Commission the last few days. But suffi- cient pasturage for the commoners was the one test to which the enclosure was subjected. Accor- ding to the Act just passed, a lord of the manor cannot make any enclosure without the sanction of the Board of Agriculture; and the Board of Agriculture cannot give its sanction unless it is satisfied) fl'st, that sufficient pasturage for the J^s bt^ benefit to the public at large. Lords of the or hitherto have enclosed for their own benefit, and not for the benefit of the public, the second of these conditions may, there- fore, be accepted as a very effective protection against aggression on our public commons. And as the Board of Agricnlture must advertise every applicatiou three months before they can decide upon it, and must listen to objections from what- ever source they come, it will be seen that this little-noticed Act has affected a revolution in the law of commons. -A— RURAL NOTES. [BY AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.] WITH a fall of fully twenty-five degrees in the shade reading of the thermometer since the middle of August, and sixteen during the last few days, we too, seem to have dropped suddenly into winter, with snow, and hail, and frost last week, weather which made both warmer garments and fires an absolute necessity. Such rigour is indeed unusual in the month of September. The fall of the leaf is a text perhaps too often preached upon, and forcibly reminds us how long we have to wait to see again the bright sparkle of the leaves stirred by the passing breeze, and touched by the welcome sunshine. For almost a fortnight not one swallow had been seen about up to the 15th, when a flock of fifteen suddenly appeared high overhead near the Waterloo, and again on the 18th five were circling round above me two also appeared in the hurly-burly of Saturday, and to my surprise a willow-wren was fluttering against the window. On the 13th I was surprised to find a nest of young swallows at a friend's house near, which the old birds were still feeding, and evidently wishful to entice abroad a day or two later they had gone. The swallows that stay so late will almost meet the migrants arriving from the far north. More than a week since a flock of field fares was seen in Lancashire, and all our other summer visitants are away. Vast flocks of plover and starlings are now feeding on the low flat land, adjacent to the coast, and scarce one stranger remains in the empty woods and fields the moor, too, is deserted by the birds nesting there' leaving the heathery wilds desolate except for the grouse, who glories in the solitude he loves so well As one walks out, the great yellow leaves of the poplar lie all around the door-step, while others drifted wildly about by the wind, lie heaped together in corners as it left them. There are more decided streaks of brilliant colour on the trees every day, which, like our own grey hairs, point to decay, most gorgeous of all perhaps, when nearest their end and fall. Every one knows how wary and difficult of approach are magpies, and an apt story that appeared in some book years ago, occurs to me At Berkley Castle (I believe), a lot of sporting guests were entertained, and some one expressed great surprise at seeing two magpies from the window, on such strictly preserved ground. Ah said the noble owner, I'd give something to have them destroyed for they set us completely at defiance. A man present said, I bet you a hundred guineas I'll shoot them both before two days have passed." The bet was booked. Off he quietly went to one of the lodges and borrowed an old red cloak and a bonnet, from a woman he had seen walking up the drive to the castle every morning before breakfast and noticed that the birds allowed her to pass without moving. He put on the cloak and bonnet at the same hour as usual next morning skot both magpies, and won the wager. In the same way grouse have often been stalked late in the season even in snow, under the shelter of a horse led across the moor, or a horse and cart, when it was impossible to approach them in any other way. At times they will also lie well while a man passes quietly along a road, but let him stop to look round, they rise at once. Thus many a grouse is shot by those who have experience. Comments on frogs and wasps are followed by other letters on the late plague of the latter, but pointing out that wasps also prey largely on house flies, and black aphides productive of blight, both on trees and vegetation. It is ever best that nature is left to correct her own balance, and man not interfere. Years remarkable for the scarcity of wasps, which prey not only on flies but the grubs that produce them, are given letters from America, France, Bristol, &c., again, tell us that during a season of cholera in 1884, birds were noticed to leave the several localities threatened with the disease, and flies increased amazingly, so much so that a newly-painted building in London was one black mass of flies. These insects have the credit of collecting and destroying cholera germs on their sticky legs and wings as they pass through the air, so serving a Providential purpose, and in some degree mitigating the virulence of the visitation. Man often hastily destroys the life of pests it is impossible to give back, which if he could but see their ultimate purpose he would certainly preserve, and regard as a blessing in disguise. Swarms of bees sometimes settle and store their honey under the floors of houses, and prove most troublesome and difficult to get rid of. In some of the southern counties there are professionals, who are employed to remove the bees and their nests from both churches and houses, and display great ability in their calling. This lamentable strike of colliers, with all the widespread loss and misery it entails, still drags its slow length along, without immediate prospect of termination. It seems impossible for any one not concerned with coal mines, either to interfere or venture on an opinion, but surely some means other than a strike might be devised, to end the dispute, which is becoming almost a national loss. If the men or their leaders delude themselves with the idea, they can upset all that has been written and spoken on political economy, by such able philoso- phers as Adam Smith, John Stuart Mill, Cobden, and Bright, and control the price of either com- modities or wages, I for one must beg to differ from them. Llangollen, 25th September, 1893. 4 LOCAL AND DISTRICT. The number of books issued at the Llangollen Public Newsroom and Library during the week ending Saturday, September 23rd, was 47. Two football matches are advertised to take place on Cilynmedw Field, Llangollen, this week, the first to-day (Friday), between Llangollen and Wrexham Grosvenor, kick-off at 3 45 p.m., and the other on Saturday with the famous Chirk team, kick-off at 4 p.m. At a meeting of the council of the Welsh Football Association at Wrexham, last week, the draws for the Senior Cup resulted as follows :-Division 1 Bangor v. Flint, at Bangor; Holywell v. Portmadoc, at Holywell. Division 2: Rhos v. Brymbo Institute, at Rhos; Rhostyllen Victoria v. Westminster Rovers, at Rhostyllen. Division 3 Newtown v. Whitchurch, at Newtown Oswestry, Aberystwyth, and Llanidloes, byes. Division 4 Mountain Ash v. Cardiff, at Mountain Ash Market Drayton v. Ironbridge, at Market Drayton Shrews- bury Town v. St. George's, at Shrewsbury; Wellington a bye. Wrexham, Chirk, Llandudno Swifts, and Druids are the exempted clubs. It is rumoured that the Llangollen Choral Society will take in hand this winter Mozart's 12th Mass. U1J.ö junior Football Cup the result of the draws was-Division 1, Oonnafo v. TTsnvnrden Rovers, at UmnatrB Plint Swifts v. Holy- well Reserve, at Flint; Bangor Reserve v. Queens- ferry, at Bangor; Bagillt v. St. Asaph Athletic at Bagillt; Llandudno Swifts Juniors v. Rhyl, at Llandudno. Division 2 Rhosrobin Institute v. Buckley Bricks, at Rhosrobin Saltney Juniors v. Gresford, at Saltney Mold v. Westminster Rovers Reserve, at Mold Buckley v. Caergwrle Wanderers Reserve, at Buckley; Buckley Victoria v. Dublin White Stars, at Buckley. Division 3 Llangollen Rovers v. Wrexham Olympic, at Llangollen Malpas v. Erddig Albion, at Malpas; Adwy United v. Rhostyllen Reserve, at Adwy; Rhos Reserve v. Chirk Reserve, at Rhos Brymbo Institute Reserve, v. St James, at Brymbo; Druids Reserve v. Ruabon Rangers, at Ruabon. Division 4: Welshpool v Oswestry Reserve, at Welshpool; Shrewsbury Reserve v. Royal Welsh Warehouse, at Shrewsbury Caersws v. Wrockwardine Wood, at Caersws; Shrewsbury Railway Offices v. Llanfyllin at Shrewsbury Newtown Reserve, a bye. ) The Baptist of Garth held their thanksgiving services on four evenings during the past week. On the last evening a sermon was preached by the Rev. T. Morris, pastor. The congregations throughout the week were large. The question of the water supply is agitating the minds of the inhabitants of Garth, and a public meeting has been held in the vestry of the C.M. Chapel.under the presidency of Mr. R.M.Davies, grocer, to discuss the subject. The Waterworks Company propose terms for supplying the village with water, and Mr. T. Davies, the manager, gave detailed explanations at the meeting. After a free discussion, the matter of accepting or rejecting the water was put to the meeting, and it was found that it was all but unanimous in favour of accepting it. On Sunday week the members of the Rhos Church Sunday school made a presentation to Mr. Charles Simpson, High-street, on the occasion of his marriage with Miss Anne Jones, School-street. For many years Mr. Simpson has rendered faithful and valuable services, both as a teacher in the Sunday school and as member of the Church Choir and his marriage has given his friends a fitting opportunity for showing their appreciation of his services The present consisted of well-bound volumes of The Life of Christ, by Geikie," and Helps to the Study of the Bible," together with a handsome stationery cabinet.-The Rev. T. Pritchard vicar and the Rev. J. Owen, curate, by whom the presentation was made, on behalf of the school gave short addresses, referring in fitting terms s to the good work done by the recipient.-Mr. Simpson, in responding, warmly thanked his friends for their kindness, and said this presentation would make him feel more bound than ever to do ill in his power to make their school a success. 1 The town councillors of Aberystwyth are chosen it would seem, from a very sedentary, highly domesticated class, for the Aberystwyth Observer questions how many of them have been ten miles out of the town this summer," and how many of them have even spent twenty minutes on the Castle Grounds listening to the minstrels, or on the Terrace listening to the various amusements provided there." The meetings of the North Wales Tonic Sol-fa Union were opened on Saturday at Bethesda. Mr. Hugh Davies (Pencerdd Maelor) presided at the afternoon meeting, when an address was delivered by Mr. J. H. Roberts, Mus. Bac., organist of Castle-square Chapel, Carnarvon, on Conductorship." The meetings were continued on Monday, when Mr W. J. Parry presided. Description lessons were given by Mr. Hugh Davies, Mr. D.Pryse-Jones, and others. The president of the union is the Rev. Cynffig Davies, Mr. S. Hughes being the ireasurer, and Mr. D. P. Jones, the honorary secretary. The work of draining Ruabon is to be proceeded with without delay. On Thursday, at a special meeting of the Wrexham Rural Sanitary Authority, under the presidency of Captain Griffith-Boscawen, a letter was read from the Local Government Board, stating that they had under their consideration the report made by their inspector, Colonel Luard, after the inquiry held by him at Ruabon with reference to the application of the sanitary authority of the Wrexham Union for sanction to borrow £ 9,500 for works of sewerage for the village of Ruabon. The board learnt that at the enquiry an alternative gravitation scheme, prepared by Mr. Ward, of London, was produced and discussed, and they were advised that this scheme was apparently preferable, both in simplicity and cost, to that proposed by the engineer of the rural sanitary authority. Before further proceeding in the matter of the application, the board desired the authority to take into consideration the question of adopting the alterna- tive scheme. The board desired further to impress upon the authority the necessity for an early decision being arrived at, as the present condition of Ruabon showed that a sewerage scheme was urgently needed. After much discussion, Mr. J. Lloyd Thomas, of Ruabon, moved that Mr. Ward's scheme be adopted, and that Mr. Biddulph be approached to see whether he would allow the outfall be on land owned by him in the parish of Chirk. This resolution was carried, only Mr. B. Davies voting against it. The thanksgiving services annually kept by the Nonconformists of Glyndyfrdwy were held on Wednesday, the 20th. The meetings were all held this year in the Calvinistic Methodist place of worship, and were very numerously attended. The Revs. W. Williams, W. G. Owen and L. Davies conducted the several meetings. Collections were made at each meeting towards the British School funds. On Monday, the Berwynorion Society of Vron- cyssylltau most generously gave a benefit concert, consisting chiefly of sacred music, rendered in a style worthy of the support and appreciation of a larger audience than could be packed into the schoolroom. Great credit is due to the committee for the management of this sympathetic movement, which was for the benefit of the Vron colliers. The chair was ably filled by the Rev. T. Morris, Baptist minister, whose address was short and pithy, as also were the remarks made by Messrs. J. Roberts, T. Morris, H. Cook and J. Griffiths. Miss Gill proved herself a good, though young, accompanist, whilst Miss Johns also played a piano solo remark- ably well. A well balanced programme was gone through, and we wish this choral society and its- leader, Mr. Rd. Williams, continued and increasing success. The harvest thanksgiving service at St. Garmon's Parish Church, Llanarmon D.C., was held on Friday last, when there was a good congregation. Prayers were read by the Rev. L. Lewis, vicar, and the preacher was the Rev. W. Jones, who took for his text Romans xii. 1, from which he preached a very telling sermon. The musical part of the services were conducted by Mr. Fornear, organist of Pontfadog. The decorations were very neat and effective, although less had been done than is usual on these occasions. Mr. Birch, of Oswestry, has been colouring and decorating the interior of the church, and he has succeeded in making the edifice much more attractive. We believe it is the rector's intention to carry out further improvements, with a view to making the church and services more appreciated, and we are sure his efforts will be warmly appreciated by the people of Llanarmon. The order of services and preachers at the various places of worship of Llangollen and neighbourhood for next Sunday are as follow Parish (St.Collen's) Church Holy Communion (plain) at 8 a.m.; Litany and Sermon. followed by 2nd Celebration (Welsh) at 10 a.m.; Matins and Sermon at 1) 30 a.m.: First Evensong and Catechising at 3 30 p.m.; Second Evensong and Sermon at 6 p.m. iw. Enoch Rhys James B.D., vicar; the Revs. Henry E. Thomas, B.A. (senior) and T. J. Roberts, B.A., curates. St. John's (Welsh) Church (Abbey-road): Evensong at 6 p.m. Llantysilio Church: English services every Sunday at 11 15 a.m.; alsi from Whit-Sunday to October (inclusive) at 3 15 p.m. Holy Communion on 1st Sunday in the month. Welsh services at 10 15 a.m. and 6 p.m. Holy Communion on 3rd Sunday in the month. Rev'. J. S Jones, B.A. (Cantab.), vicar. St. Thomas's Church (Glyndyfrdwy) Welsh service and sermon at 10 a.m. English service and sermon at 11 a.m. Sunday school at 2 p.m. Welsh service (sermon) at 6 p.m. Holy Communion, 1st Sunday in the month. Rev. John Evans vicar. Rehoboth Calvinistic Methodist Chapel: sermons at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. by the Rev. J. O. Thomas, M.A., Aberdyfi. English Baptist Chapel (Penybryn) sermons at 10 30 a.m.. and 6 p.m. by the Rev. S. Hawkes, Liverpool. English Wesleyan Chapel (Market-street): sermons at 11 a.m. and 6 p.m. by the Rev. John Bell, pastor. Welsh Baptist Chapel: sermons at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. by the Rev. D. Williams, pastor. Welsh Wesleyan Chapel: sermons at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. by the Rev. John Evans, Cefn Mawr. Congregational Chapel (Church-street): sermons at 10 a.m and 6 p.m. by the Rev. Isaac Jones, Llangollen Mission Room (Brook-street): prayer meeting at 10 a.m. and at 6 p.m. sermon (English) by the Rev. J. Renshaw, Llangollen. Oswestry and neighbourhood was on Saturday shocked by a fearful and fatal leap made by a woman from a bedroom window. On Monday, Coroner A. Lewis held an inquest on the body of the woman, named Miss Fanny Roberts, of Victoria- parade. Thos. Roberts, tailor, of Liverpool, brother of the deceased, said she was 46 years of age. She was for many years assistant to Mr. Maclardy, photographer, and left there in February. The deceased was of an excitable nature. She had some railway shares, and the decrease in their value had preyed on her mind.—Harriet Munslow, tenant of the house in which the deceased lodged, said that about quarter to six on Saturday morning she heard groans, and after finding no one in Miss Roberts's room, she discovered her lying on the bricks at the back of the house. The deceased told witness that she had thrown herself from the window of her bedroom. Deceased said she had done it in paroxysm, thinking that someone was after her. The deceased had never threatened to destroy herself.-Dr. Griffiths said he found that she could not walk or stand after the fall. There were two scalp wounds, and her spine was fractured. She was conscious, and very frightened. The deceased had had hallucinations for some time, and thought things followed her. Her death took place on Sunday morning.—Mr. Griffiths, Rhoswiel, an elderly man, to whom deceased was engaged, said he did not know any cause sufficient for deceased to commit suicide, but she was worried over money matters. He was engaged to marry deceased, and the marriage was to take place in December. About a month ago witness and deceased stayed at the Isle of Man for a week. They stayed at different hotels. In answer to the coroner, witness said he did not remember the names of the hotels, but on a juryman asking whether they stayed at private houses, witness said they did, but he could not say the names of them. The jury found that deceased committed suicide whilst temporarily insane, and expressed much dissatisfaction at the way in which Griffiths had given his evidence. At a meeting of the local committee held at Rhyl on Friday night, Mr. L. Jones reported that the sites committee had had an interview with Mr Thos. Williams, J.P., of Denbigh, as to the purchase of a suitable site upon which to erect the proposed intermediate schools, and that that gentleman had offered them four acres of land in Grange-road, Rhyl, at £250 an acre. In addition Mr. Williams had very generously promised the committee a donation of £100, his son, Mr. S. Williams, also giving £25 towards the same fund. It was decided to purchase the site, and a sub-committee was appointed to sign the contract on behalf of the local committee and to draw a cheque for the deposit.