The South Wales Daily Post

SATURDAY, MAY 16, icW6. [NOTES& COMMENTS If Mr. Chapman ha.d been less complelcly ahriorbed since November last in develop- ing his business bo would have known thai the snir-estiun offered by him to-i'iay is not new. At U'u tin the Poat Oliice authori- j tios worn abi.-nt cluse with iliepropviefcurs oi tiie Macicwortli we appealed to the Corporation to ntak-i its inlhieiice fo'.t in tin.- interest of the ralopayers. But this wouUi have been too usf.tul a work for tIlt; Corporation to undertake, and so the blunder was pennitteti to be luade without a wi.r.l of protect. That it iu a biuudor to place the central post-oiiice at one of the extremities of the borough is palpable to anyone who has given tiie mutter a thought. Unfortu- nately, public feeling in Swansea seldom i crystallises into action, and people who might have helped to engineer a popular movement for safeguarding the interests of the great ma.,f) of our popula- tion have been content with privately declaiming against the bad arrange- ment. Ic Mr. Chapman thinks the door has not bsen irrevocably closed to other lead better arrangements, we should be glad S to sec him taking action to secure a.u ex- pression of public opinion for tiie guidance of the Postal authorities.

Tiie public u:oeting he'd at the Mumbles j last night was highly creditable to the j ratepayers present. A statement of the facts of the disnute with the Tramway Company, set out with almost judicial impartiality, rendered it almost impossible for the subsequent speakers to wander j from the veal point at issue, and in the result wo had a dismission of considerable merit. 'A wo facts were made to stand out clearly the people of the Mumbles b»> :ieve they have been badly treated by the I company, and they have a wholesome I I dread of litigation. Their attitude, ael defined by the meeting, is to be one of passive resistance to the proprietors of the line. If this be likely to prove effective—a point which should be seriously considered by the. need be no occasion for resorting to more heroic mt asures, as time is on the side of the Mumbles people. So far as can be judged by the state- ments made at the meeting, the conduct of the company has certainly not been distinguished by too nice a regard for moral obligations. It is to bo hoped, therefore, that tho legal obliga- tions are definite and enforceable- It would seem as if the com- pany had disposed of local opposition on the faith of promises which were never intended to be carried cut in the spirit as well as in the strict letter of the agree- ment. A lay-up, satisfactory to tho local authorities, was specifically promised such a lay-up has not been provided, and it is now being suggested that before it will be provided a further substantial concession must be made to the company. If the legal advisers of the Board believe the course can be pursued with safety the ratepayers can hardly improve upon the I policy 01 a sitting tight." We hope the promoters of the opposi- tion to the Education Bill at Swansea are satisfied with the fruits of their work. Very little satisfies some people, and it is pleasant to see humility cultivated in this fashion. The intense indignation felt with the measure brought no fewer than twelve people to one meeting held last night, and there wa« more wine than cake, for of the dozen eight were speakers. And this wait a fair sample of the meet- ings, the proportions of <vhich have offered mute but eloquent comment on the flam- boyant utterances of some of tho ■•rators. The alleged mighty upheaval of local i'eeiing certainly manifests itself in the most singular of ways. Can it be that the objections to the Pill, strongly as they may be felt by Liberals and Nonconfor- mists are still inadequate to induce the latter to submit to the oratorical mfibtions promised at the meet- ings ? Can it be that the faithful prefer to sailer In silence rather than sit at the feet of certain hysterical politicians who think coarseness and the profuse use of exple- tives will serve as evidence of vigourous thought and earnest conviction? To genuine criticism, inspired by an honest desire to secure that which is best for the education of the country, there can be no objection. It is entitled to and generally commands respect. As Burke once wrote, While men continue to think they will honestly <Wfer," In Swansea and West Wales, as in other parts of the king- dom, there are opponents of the Bill who believe its tendency hurtful, and who are sincerely grieved with what they regard as a false step in education. From these the friends of the voluntary schools will differ, but mutual respect will, never- theless, continue, and no abiding bitter- ness will result. These genuine friends of education, however, must not be con- founded with the more clamorous class who endeavour to foment feeling against the Bill, chiefly as a piece of party strategy, and in some degree for an even less legitimate purpose.

ELECTRIC LIGHTING OF SWANSEA. DB. T. D. GRIFFITHS' REPLY TO DR. KNIGHT. TO un: EDITOR OF THE "CAILT peST." SIR,—Dr Knight, in his letter which appeared in your issue oi yesterday, states that tha Corporation have n. intention of lighting only the centre wf the town with electricity; on the con- trary it is their wish and intention to li<jht the whole town in this way at tho earliest possible moment." If this is true, it is the first time I have heard it. Tha electric lighting area in the triple scheme only iocluded a small portion—"the compulsory area"—in the centra of the i.owo. The amount of borrowing pawer applied for by the Corporation for electric lighting and a dust destructor was far too little for the purpose of lighting the whole of the borough; therefore, it eauld not have koen then* intention to do what De, Knight te'.ls us. It looks as if the doctor was a littlo wandering when he wrote bis letter. it would be interesting to know, if Dr. Knight or any other member of the i'own Council would kindly inform us, what is the amount of borrowing power, if anv, the Corporation has ebtainod for electric lighting, in tha concluding para- graph of his letter Dr Knight wishes to impress on tbe ratepayers the fact that we are thin year paying to the Gas Company mora than £5,000 (five litouscnul pounds) for the pubiic lighting of our town by gas; a sum ot money more than sufficient to pay all the annual expenses of our proposed electric lighting station, and almost Buliicieiit to pav, in addition, the charges on capital ex- penditure supposing we do not receive a single penny from private con- sumers." II: "the proposed lighting station" means one that will deal with the lighting of the whelo borough ad the Gas Com- pany does at present, Dr Knight is ar:;uin very much mistaken in hm calculations. 1 am informed, by a reliable electrical engineer,that the maintenance alone o; elcetrJC lighting iu ,:tiie compulsory area" in t.he centre of tec town wou'.ct coat £1,000 a year. But this compulsory area is less than one-truth of the v.iiole lighted urea of the horou^h. After paying interest on tha capital and providing tho nccessary sinking fund, it may be fairly estimated tliut lij'htim/ the whole oi our to".a with electricity would cost the Corporation at least £ 15,030 per annum—just three times what is note })(1,Ju to the Ga.i Company Both Cardiff and Newport bave gone in lor electric liguLing, and, with what results we all know. I know of no town or the size and character or Swansea where electric lighting has been a financial tmesess. The following facts may interest some of your readers, viz.:—Tho number of ordinary lamps for public light ing at tewansea is 1,403. Contract prico per lamp per annum is £118: Id; at Cardiff it is £2 Os 6d. The eost Ol cleaning, lighting and extinguish- in" painting and repairs at Swansea is" 18s per htmp at Cardiff this L doue by the Corporation. The number oi LStay s iamps in use m 140 gas for each of these lamps, £6 128 lOd per annum. At Cardiff £ 7; extinguishing, &c., £1 3s 9d per annum, each lamp. At ( arihfi this is dono by the Corporation. Total annual amount paid by the Ccrporation for gaÆ to public lamns is £3,601 8s, and for lighting, cxtiuguishinc. «.tc., £ 1,4^3 lSs. The rates and taxes of the Gas Company amount to £2,000 a year—more than half the sum paid by the Corporation for tiie gas consumed t»y all the uublic lamps. T. D. GRIFFITHS, Druslyn, May 14. p.S.— I shall nottroubia you with further replies to Dr Knight.— i.D.G.

DELICIOUS MAZAWATTEE TEA DELICIOUS MAZAWATTEE TEA Fine, Rich, and Delicious, 47SCd --711. ii'ji'TOitE. — Imijort-'nt N'OMC". S. J. Sherman, Heri.ia Specialist, still iv inins at his old aaure^s.— ;h,i iici i y-laiie, i.ottdon and -ai, ltiag-*l.reet, ili;n- ci-ester. H 1I(Í ;oi uis I ew JSook 01 tul ;UlOrlllallUll, £ F 2D

THE POST BA< -t,). ——— • <o set a Somebody v/as i:;nu enou>a 1 chimney on lire at Cwmbwrla Vco Cither people had to choke eonM-queB- „♦ HOI1 ^OLF The Maine and She ftioutaoa vie-^ an oceiiu race this v.eei., but fate y Harbour Authorities decreed ^a'1 I should sail ou different tides. It is announced Unit ono paw»s^°P South Wales town has 200 pledged Bibles. Great Scot: if this shou* Swansea wbatwiil tile "Corph" do? A Scandinavian called a foreigner in Wind-street vesterday. wii3 interfered was told to go to his country. Where was the poor i'eilow t° » T „ -ire tlier* j.a tne3e days of cycic-Doonnna a no enterprising townsmen plucky ei'e°n supply Swansea with a factory of thlS cription ? The material lies at our ooorSi I a The drapers do not seem to be dcio» these '• bad times." A lady, who wai"e hours in a High-street shop the other says trade must be looking up right hea The Baltimore traders which ^aVe^ft^0o loading here i he past week or two h»ve insufficient bunkers fcr tbe trip back owing to a strike amongst the slackminers. A well-known tenor vocalist who ^o0^^Dg difficult piece at a concert the other ev 11 I)Otf misjudged his notes, and a scian w was listening at the door ran and T° mates that the piano had bust." The volunteer who had cleared the course before grace iiad been said a-n die Hall on Thursday night, looked abou« hole in tho floor when the oiferins UP soothing petition reminded him of the fa.ct. f the loca* One of die most careful readers o. press is Sir John Jones Jenkins, M.I« extracts relating to local commercial I I JV are carefully cut out aud Kep- »" j scrap book. The ardienca at a political meeting hel conclemu the Education Bill at Hwanse. 0 Friday evening numbered four. I eigiit orators in attendance. Ib13 equals the majority for the Bill in tue of Commons. if "Oh, John, how slippery theso said a young lady to her sweelheait a 0g Mumbles Oil Sunday. "Take aS°°^^a^. my arm, and if I slip hold on like grizn G but if you slip, for goodness su.ke let! The dear, unselfish creature. An assistant at one of our largest establishments was beard to remark a firm had sold many pairs of ''blconiers colours which collectively would outshmfl rainbow, but that he had not seeUj-gjg, identical patterns displayed by lady ~JC All of which goes to connrm a suspie'°" tb:ø "bloomers" aro not exclusively devote the purposes of cycling. A tin-plater who had injured ffs f°0^ works at Cwmhwria bad to lay up f°L weeks. Ono day, while his wife *vaS ing bis foot, she somehow or other lie d it with her finger-nails and drev ^g "What are yon doing, you silly cuC'l0^)'sjD5 you know that may be the means of i»e my leg ?" he said, "Never mod, There is one conso2ation your bacii is enough to bear it." ■MWWi filthO1" A group of men were gathered toge the Dunes Station, Mumbles early itS morning, discussing the weather, a^.sc0u- bearing on the crops. One habitually tented grumbler said that all sorts o ^y^at," stuff would be dear this summer. \Vl»y* said another of the group, "dear. there'll be no crops at ail this year, W ugb there will be will be too dwarfed an to for us«!" At an education meeting in the vV»« a couple of evenings ago tiie attene- mainly made up of speakers, and eae long time to t.av hin or her little sa^' ijy gentleman in particular muraorea o0doU reading voluminous esccrpta froni tne ^ef0 a Daily News, imerspersing here all^deptaHf few remarks of his own. Me lur Mentioned that he hoped Mr ——"i Bay, would shorti/ arrive lo „ crroan> running. The chairman gave a ^joti seizing the opportunity for B P* ggtf3^ ejaculated, uOh, I shall close before ho comes." The speaker e° the flow of his oratorv. -1.. A tO tti0 The oratory at a meeting jn„ w»a< Government Education Bill last even like the attendance, thin, very tbiO- jjte' protracted too, and a pressman, ",bOl11 eetl}" ness forbade to retire boldtv, dlS..rf tile succumbed to the combined influen 0ut heat and th9 talking. Ad be was into the fresh air he was heard to tnU decisively:— "Oratory hot and oratory cold, Oratory new and oratory ola Puwv.oal talk and watery st"» r. Ujrny ooots: I've hail enonfin- qou An extraorclinary farewell present'^ H»ade last week at certain flour xnd s 0pe sea on the occasion of the departure ^orfa of the clerical staff. The gi't t»°B^acPd & of a leather medal, on which waa ;0nt8 v u,a reC'F' g'uton a representation ot t*1 yO'p face, the eyes being of cockle seef s,^ of Indian corn, and ttie niou^'0 fljor°e plaecd lengthwise, and P^ur,t^U*t.ornling with hair from the husks. 1° ^eV ?!ia ea'°eS^ cerenionv tbe spokesman hope that his departing #»* make iiis mark in basiueos in Marks in business! ——— t The big gooseberry is not %,Olj^;iV0g I\rt' but giant primrose and i-J i() e^c'fc beginning to crop; and to-d j te]l reader lrom the country hurtles j^i l. •' All** tliat he owns a hen wn'.w rn„rn-> an egg which weighs oiozs. cirCt" measures 3in. long and j)jm •' fere nee. Wo omitted t» :is!c t,ie way round," but be consido^8 xvejgbs0,I,t began when he told us tnat his ne eo,i /ju-co^&y} + in1 WQare ,5&t ? jf'"fhe r0°8 express an opinion, uu« u'« b produced an ovster or an on ic y, P' /«hroV'"i have tried to raise our e\e egg—pshaw I „f r ore tl10 'jd^ Tho late Sir Williani G| • jud'.o (whose son, Maj°r-C^n j.iui'' Grove, C.B., has just been »Wcbie0, ^f, secretary to the C°iaro«|e* bflrf 5bcf native of Swansea. »'8 6 a Grove, wVnUt in t\,SiOCS5 \I C :t'L > I" merchant here, beilt the 1',0 ,s), fjsO*' of Mount Pleasant (.The ■' c W- now occupied ^e To tbe disgust ot tbe neii, {lirt> °U t"1 judge used, when a lad, i0 the garden every :ll0rnir"idc of ,liSi3 but his nightshirt. If *c iTP.rJy !vy,jli,t!,t w«8 to inai'-O him rohutt Alt' oortainly s=uccceded. <vt Grove, the justice' uuc" t;;c i,0j-citOfi lane. He:t wa'J w, ü.. ttta Ii LJiiput in which a Norton, lived for so many t