Llangollen Advertiser Denbighshire Merionethshire and North Wales Journal

THE THOMAS ELLIS' MEMORIAL FUND. LOCAL COMMITTEE FOR DENBIGHSHIRE- Chairman LL. HUGH-JONES, Esq., Wrexham. Treasurer: HOWEL GEE, Esq., Denbigh. Hon. Secretary W. G. DODD, Llangollen. Denbighshire Subscriptions already promised £ s. d. Amount already acknowledged. 157 9 6 Mr. D. S. Davies, J.P., Manchester 5 0 0 Mr. E. O. V. Lloyd, J.P., Rhagatt 3 3 0 Proprietors Llangollen Advertiser 2 2 0 Mr. J. Harrison Jones, Denbigh 110 Mr. F. H. Hawkins, Wrexham 110 Mr. J. Hopley Pierce, do 0 10 6 Mr. John Rowlands, Llangollen 0 10 6 Messrs. E. Lettsome & Sons, do. 0 5 0 C.M. Chapel, Garth (collection) 0 15 10 Mr. Gomer Roberts, Llanfair 0 10 6 Sion Chapel, Llanrwst (children's collection) 0 5 0 Mr. F. R. Jones, Llanrwst. 0 2 6 Mr Richard Evans, Vroncyssylltau 0 5 0 Mr. Edward Jones, do. 0 1 0 Mr. Richard Jones, do 0 1 0 Mr. John S. Jones, Trevor Issa 0 0 6 Mr. David Williams, do 0 0 6 Mrs. Rose Lloyd, do. 0 0 3 Total m73 4 7 N.B.—The Fund is now being brought to a close, and any intending subscribers are urged to make their contributions with as little delay as possible.

SOLDIERS' FUND. SOLDIERS AND SAILORS FAMILIES' ASSOCIATION. X s. d. Sums already acknowledged 266 18 3 Miss Hughes, Dee Mount 0 5 0 Mr. TrevorLloyd Jones 110 Pump Collecting Box 0 2 6 St. Katherine's Mission, Pontfadog 10 0 .£269 6 9

THE WELSH INTERMEDIATE EDUCATION ACT, 1889. LLANGOLLEN COUNTY SCHOOL FOR BOYS & GIRLS. SCHOLARSHIPS to be awarded in July, 1900, to Boys and Girls from the Elementary Schools of the District:— One X5, Scholarship open to Boys under the age of 13 years from the District of Chirk, Glyntraian, Llansantffraid Glynceiriog, Llantysilio, and Llan- gollen Rural. One £ 5 Scholarship open to Girls under the age of 16 years from the District of Chirk, Glyntraian, Llansantffraid Glynceiriog, Llantysilio, and Llan- I. gollen Rural. One zE5 Scholarship open to Boys or Girls under the age of 13 years from the Urban District of Llan- gollen. NS oholarsbips will not be awarded unless sufficient merit is shewn. The Scholarships are tenable for one year, but may be renewed upon the holder shewing sufficient merit. The Examination for the above Scholarships will be held at the County School, Llangollen, on the 1st and 2nd days of June next. For Syllabus, or other particulars, apply to the HEADMASTER, or to E. FOULKES-JONES, Solicitor, Llangollen, Clerk to the Governors. 2nd February, 1900. (7859)

NOTES and NOTIONS. ON Tuesday morning, a cordial send-off was given to the local members of the Imperial Yeomanry who have volunteered and have been accepted for active service at the front. They were-Messrs. Wynn Morris, Harry Woodman, Wynn Hughes, Charles Jones, snd Wm. Jones. A number of friends accompanied them as far as Wrexham. ♦ WE are pleased to mention that in the going- away of the local Yeomanry the Vicar forwarded to them the caps he had promised at the dinner, and Mr. Everitt the Khaki scarves, with an appropriate note attached to each. » IT was with feelings of regret that we heard that Hwfa Mon contracted a severe cold on Sunday last while on ministerial duties at Caer- gwrle. On inquiry, last evening, we were informed that the venerable Archdruid had greatly improved. WE should gather from the proceedings of the J. D. C. on Tuesday that there still continues to )e a serious waste of water in the town. The natter was gone into at very considerable length, LS will be seen by our report of to-day, and it las come to this, that a man will have to be specially appointed, at the town's expense, to mtrap careless consumers. + THE following, from the pen of Mr. Ernest Rhys, appeared among the Welsh Literary Notes n the Manchester Guardian on Saturday, the 27th ult." Of all the mountains of Wales, Mr. Ruskin centred his heart, I believe, on those that form the symmetrical walls of the vale of Llan- gollen. Their formation, their wonderful adjust- ment to the lines of the river below, the beauty of their tributary side-glens, and their whole pastoral effect and colour pleased him to a degree. He even preferred them to the moun- tains of Cumberland and Westmorland, under whose friendly shadow he elected to live and die." 4

OUR LONDON LETTER. THE weather we have been having here since the snowstorm began last Friday has been terrible. The streets have been deliii-vi with snow-broth, and the cold has been infuse. In the central parts of London most of the snow got quickly melted, but in the suburbs it was otherwise. The hands of Big Ben stopped about half-past one in the morning, the machinery being clogged by the snow, and no less than thirty-six false alarms of fire were caused during the night by the storm. Friday was Candlemas Day, and there is an old saying that if Candlemas Day is fine, the winter will return and stay till May; and the Scotch saying is, that the best weather for Candlemas Day is to have Roaring storms of hail and snow Go raking o'er the moon." This seasonable weather stirs people to works of charity. Sir John Puleston gave his annual tea meeting to the Welsh poor, under the guidance of the Welsh City Missionaries. Sir Thomas Lipton gave as many as 400 packets of tea to the persons present, and Mrs. Timothy Davies and Miss Mary Davies kindly sang Welsh airs. This week again, Mr. Alfred Davies, the large car-owner, who resides in Hampstead, gives a similar treat to the Welsh of North London in King's Cross Tabernacle, under similar auspices. MR. WILLIAM GRIFFITH, POOR LAW AUDITOR, was before his appointment as auditor to the North Wales district well known in Welsh circles as the Cymru Vydd principal worker, and also as a worker in Upper Holloway Chapel. The death of his wife last week in Colwyn Bay has aroused deep sympathy, though in his Govern- ment appointment he is obliged to hold aloof from his former acquaintance. MR. LLOYD GEORGE, M.P., gave a capital address to the Palmerston Club the other day. Some have found fault with him for saying that the war with the Boers is as if England fought against the two counties of Car- marthen and Cardigan, but it will be seen that the Boers are not so numerous as the people of these two counties. Mr. Ellis Griffith, M.P., is leading a strong attack against Mr. Lloyd George and Bryn Roberts. It is said here that General White is intimately acquainted with Wales and that General Warren is a grandson of a former Bishop of Bangor. There is going to be a great Welsh dinner at the CECIL HOTEL ON ST. DAVID'S DAY, and the Welsh intend talking a good deal about it. There has been a great eisteddfod here at Kennington, and Mabon, M.P., did the conduc- ting with great ability on behalf of the friends at Falmouth-road Chapel. THE EAST ANGLIANS are locally patriotic like the Welsh, and these people who do not live in the shires are having the advantage of S. Bride Institute, with its reading room and libraries. Many East Anglian newspapers are kindly sent up to these rooms, and the society in London now musters about a thoasand persons. These sturdy people do not say such things as that David, the son of Sant, was Saint David, when he was a warlike hero and no saint. THE QUEEN'S CHOCOLATE BOXES were prepared with great taste, and the good lady has acored the principal success in the war. To be able to eat your cake and have it is held to be impossible, but the soldiers like this dainty cho- colate, and they lay the box over with lavender, and send it as a keepsake home, to be shown to the children of the soldiers of the Queen," or else to their sweethearts, and the success is satis- factory. The Queen comes back to Windsor from Osborne next week. It is very likely Her Majesty will abandon her yearly visit to the Continent, and it is to be hoped that at her great age no injury will be found to follow. MR. PASSMORE EDWARDS GIVES TEN THOUSAND POUNDS to build a special new building between Holborn and the Strand, near Lincoln's Inn, as a lecture room for the London School Board, for economics and political science. The buildings on the site near Clare Market will soon be all taken down. People generally believed in the clubs that LORD ROSEBERY was willing to join the Ministry if Lord Salisbury wished to give way. The speech of Mr. Cham- berlain last night produced a very good effect, and Lord Rosebery does not like Chamberlain, so gossip is in the dark once more probably. MR. ELDON BANKFIS is going to be brought forward at Flint against Mr. Herbert Lewis. Mr. Bankes is well known here as a barrister, and is said to be a good and safe lawyer. He is an open-faced gentleman, who looks eager and active. The modest strength of Mr. Herbert Lewis makes people think here that the Welshmen of Flint Boroughs will sup- port their present very honest member, who is a very clear-headed politician. But the liquor trade is very strong, and it will do its best against Mr. Lewis. Ap VANER. Tuesday. »

RURAL NOTES. fBY' AN OCCASIONAL CORRESPONDENT.] As the month closes, winter revisits us sharply, and at dawn on the 16th, as morn stood tiptoe on the misty hills," the heights were once more draped in white, while down below sharp showers descended on the sodden soil—the day seemed hopeless. It would be difficult to find adequate terms in which to describe the sudden and glorious change at nine, when the sun burst through the clouds, flooding the land with a radiance and brilliance of light most unusual in January. And this too when the forecast published told of gales and storms unlimited. One could well excuse mistakes with such agreeable results, and even ask for more such Many years ago I ventured to publish an article,- Our natural picture gallery," and lately noticed one far cleverer by Mr. Mansfield, a fellow- collegian of Charles Kingsley, headed" Our National Gallery," other than that vast pile in Trafalgar Square. He says, Allow one who has spent most of his pleasantest hours in the country to jot down a few remarks for the benefit of his brethren of the farms and meadows, and those town cousins who visit them occasionally, to learn to bless Him who made the country and all that therein is. In the woods, the streams, and on the sea cliffs these pictures of nature hang, and the sky is the window that lights them. The same artist produced them all, yet there is no same- ness mannerism, and beauty is present in all its elements. And why do men so ardently seek the friendship of the birds ? Gravity and wisdom, and maybe sorrow, dwell with them, but joy too is ever there, their every note, their every motion is ecstatic joy, and can be read in all alike, from the majestic eagle soaring far aloft in the clouds, to the little wren making the moss-grown thatch echo with his thrilling melody. The owls and night jars may not be mirthful, nor are they sad, theirs is a contemplative mood. They sit at home and meditate so long as daylight lasts, then as evening falls sally forth on silent wing at duty's call, too busy far for sadness there be no such things as melancholy birds," says Mansfield. Now hear Kingsley! "Mark that graceful, delicate- looking yellow warbler running along the oak boughs, ever seeking anxiously something he finds not, uttering at intervals a long and anxious cry oft repeated. Suddenly he hovers round the tips of the beech sprays picking insects, then flits back and sings with quivering wings a shrill and tremulous note complaining all day long. Surely there is both melancholy and sadness in his cry. This wood wren may well be sad, if he remem- bers his weary journey hither by night from Morocco, up the Portugese coast, across Brittany and the English Channel, losing his mates by scores on the way. He may think too of his return by the same route, as soon as the leaves shrivel and turn colour in the autumn. While his cousins, the willow wren and chiff-chaff, that like him build domed nests on the ground, are stout, busy and numerous everywhere, he seems to exist on sufferance merely, and ever remains a rarity." Any one who has heard this bird's wail- ing, beseeching, long-drawn-out cry (not a song) in the woods here, will agree that this must be a melancholy bird. Few people are aware how much there is to be learned from the songs of birds. A sympathetic ear at once discovers difference of character, as well as variety of notes. Listen in early spring to the loud, clear, defiant notes of the missel thrush, oft repeated while the storms rage Com- pare this with the plaintive warble of the willow wren, low and sweet, a song of the sunshine- one the utterance of a fearless warrior, the other mild and touching as the bleat of a lamb. The cuckoo seems to be an exceptional peculiar crea- ture, arriving here from Africa in May. And who delights not to hear his first clear jocund call, the bearer of good tidings, the harbinger of spring!" Ere long his voice halts and falters, then changes to a choking sound, soon failing quite. His domestic duties devolve upon other and smaller birds, the hedge sparrow or the tit lark, while the parent cuckoo is soon away again to the tropics,, leaving the young, ere winter comes, to find their way to the sunny south unaided, no one can say quite how. Allow a resident once more to set forth the- advantages and attractions of Llangollen as a place of retreat for any one seeking the peace and quiet suited to declining years. A healthy land of mountains, streams, and woods, not too- remote from towns as matter of convenience, with endless variety of animated nature and rarities for such as wander far afield, and search them- out. We may no longer be able to boast of the: eagle in Wales, but putting aside his size, power and ferocity, are there not many creatures more to be prized than he. Kingsley wisely advises us to disabuse our minds of the phantom of size, and how many more desirable birds do we still possess, in the kingfisher and the bullfinch, both possessing such unparallelled beauty of form and plumage. Nor is this district, with its abounding wealth of rustic charm, in keeping with any of the larger birds of prey. They harmonise best with the wildest and boldest of rocky solitudes, the highest snowclad summits peopled by ptarmigan, Where grow the lichens on which they feed. The moles now appear to forsake the woods for the fields adjacent, numerous black heaps of soil give an unpleasant, unsightly reminder of their presence disfiguring the pastures. Years ago, as I sat quietly reading in a garden, near Chester, one of our most vivacious little quadrupeds gave an opportunity of watching his manoeuvres. A summer-house was near covered over with luxuriant growth lof honeysuckle, a wary weasle, wide-awake and intent on his prey, first skirted round the base scouting, next climbing to the roof, searching the cover for birds' nests but in vain, he went away empty- handed. Rats also avail themselves of ivy-clad walls, climbing the stems and hid away by leaves, thus thinning the numerous flocks of sparrows or other birds that nest in it, and thus is the balance of natural life kept even, one creature preying on another all along the line,, great and small alike. Llangollen, 29th January, 1900. ♦ 7.

LOCAL AND DISTRICT. Too LATE.—Several local paragraphs, &c., are to, hand too late for this issue. "Antiquities of Llangollen Parish" will be concluded next week. The Rev. T. J. Rees, formerly minister at Crickhowell, has accepted the invitation to the joint pastorate of Glaa'rafon and Trevor Congre- gational Churches, and will commenee his duties next month. As will be seen in another column, the Primrose League and Constitutional Club Dance will take place in the Assembly Room, en the 22nd inst. It was postponed at Christmas hoping by the end of February the news from South Africa would be brighter. Unfortunately, this is not the case, but finding it will be a great dis- appointment to many if the dance be given up, it is proposed still to hold it aad to give the balance after paying expenses to the Loeal Fund for the Soldiers' and Sailors' Families. It is hoped that everyone, by kindly taking tickets or giving money to assist with the expenses, will make this stun as large as possible. Non-members' tickets can be had from Miss Roberts, Castle House, 2s. 6d. each. Constitutional Club members' tickets from Mr. T. Davies, hon. sec. Constitutional Club, Is. Any donations can be sent to Pentrefelin House.