The South Wales Daily Post

NOTES & COMMENTS. The poor old "Syren" is simply mute on u:e swing bridge question eiuce we adminis- tered them a little reminder sis to their ignor- ance of bridgr.s in geneial, and of Swansea ondges in particular. Like Iaga, they la-st, week sought refuge in "From this time on I nevcjr will speak a word." This week they have hauled out something froiu a. contem- pcrary wlii-ch does not in the least refer to tiidr own sensational and unfounded charges against the bridge, and say, "We thought t. tere was something special about this wonder- fui new structure, and it appears that we were right." To such a vile pass have they at last come. "It appears" they were right in think- ing there was "something special" about it. Pney seem quite surp:is=ii to iind they were a. little bit right about anything—although t-ney ..Üll't explain wha.t--and we hope the novelty will not upset ttiiem. Wo still think there is something special" about the bridge, but it is to the advantage, and not to the disadvan- f tige of the town, instead of there being "the devil to pay about a worthless toy, the t. wu iinds very little th; matter with it. 'lhe abrkk of a syren is generally -horrid', but this has died away in the usual minor key!

Since our comment on the charge brought by a father at an inquest in Swansea against a teacher, it has boen strongly put to us by ;jie parsons affected that there was not the sl-g«htest truth in the ass:rtion of the father; that- his boy was never Hogged, and that he never came to the school to complain. We pointed out, of course, that the father's state- ment was uncorroborated, and merely sug- gested that it might rroperly be the subject of inquiry in order that the statement of the father might be clearly rebutted, if possible, as the charge did not even appear at tho in- qiKst to be regarded as sufficiently important to require lenial by the persons who aserned to ba implicated. We should be sorry to unnecses- sarily emphasise any charge of the kind, and we fiud that in this case the teacher evidently pointed at was not of the class to I. whom we referred as underlings "dressed in a little brief authority, but a certificated master, and therefore less likely to have abused his power. At the same time, the .oirrt,of our comment remains, and we have cear evidtoos that monitors and pupil tea.chers often buKy and cuff lads in our looal sohoiols, and that the wfoole thing is winked at If the regulation that corporal punish- ment is only to bj inflicted by the head teacher is worth making at all. we must again em- I phasise the fact that it is wortth carrying out, I,. and we promise that any further cases which we hear of shall Teosive tho attention of the Foard or else the publicity they deserve. It I sitall not be said that the head teachers and tue Board "hadn't the slightest idea" ci the proceo ings wthich go on under their noses. }

Many people are said to have exclaimed, when they witnessed the gallant show made l>y our vessels at .he jubilee naval review, that | this was the worst day's work which the advo- c-U(-<5 of an increase in the fleet had ever per- formed—meaning that henceforth all doubts } c" to the adequacy of our naval resources must < be set at rest. Yet it is plain that han the j lu-ival forco anchored :r. the Solent beeaa twice as great as it actually was no deduction could] reasonably be drawn from the spectacle it afforded unless the fleets of the rivals with vLom we had to contend had been also present for purposes of comparison. The qtestion of questions for all British citizens- sirce upon command of the sea. the whole Empire admittedly depends—is tharefore the relative strength of tic navies wh-ich our own may have to face. The standard which was fixed upon by agreement between tlbe Govern- Bc.enft and tibe Opposition so far back as the time of Lord Goirgo Hamilton's Naval De- fence Act was tha.t the British Navy should bo equal to the next two most powerful ifcrta. These are the fleets of France and Russia, and. as those two countries are closely allied the comparison is on that account all the. more apt In Che February number of the "Navy League Journal," comparative list* of effective iionclads available for line-ol..batile purposea an given for England, FMnoe, iBhe Uniiad I^r Rdssia, and Germany. Tbtwe j 11SWhave been drawo up by Captain Eazdley- Wilmot, R.N., than whom no more competent luthorlty is to be found in the country. and who was himself for six years head in the [ntclligence Department of the Admiralty. It is putting it mildly to aay that these fists are warming. The result of his comparison shows that wo have but fifty-six effective ironclads to sixty- sevrn of Ruseia aad France, and this although :n our fifty-six are included »>vera<i vessels armed with the hopelessly obsolete muzzle- l'ader (whiah, handled in action, involves im- r ediato death to the crows), and a Jarga number of low freeboard ships, whoso fighting value is for that reason seriously impaited. In 1805 wo had eighty-three battleships in com- uÚsion against sixty-one belonging to France ana Spain, our thon. antagonists, and yet, so great were the demands on our Navy that wo wtre unable to place more than twenty-seven ships in line at Trafalgar against thirty-three of the allies. It muat 00 remembered that the fighting policy is the oniy policy whioh. in a naval war, tho British Empire can pursue. To allow our enemies' squadrons to roam the scaa unchallenged would be madness and national suicide. Figjkt tltem we must, and you cannot fight ironclads at sea except with otjer ironclads.

Some Liberals (JQ passed by the idea that the Bishops are on the Conservative side m politics. If this idea were well founded, Liberals would not be justified in proscriWflg wffi-qualified legislators because tlvey dufFertd from their political views, bus in point of fact the votes of the Bishops during modem unies show that, as a body, they have kept cio&r of party considerations. Their vote against thp Home Ruio Bill no more proves that they are Conservatives than their vote against the post- ponement of the Franchise Bill in 3884 proved that they were Liberals. In several of the most important divisions of reccnt years, the majority of the Bishops, have voted on the same side as the liberal leaders. Thus a 1894 a majority of the Bishops vo1 cd with the Liberal Government against; Lord Salisbury's principal amendmeu* to the Allotment Clauses of th-j Parish Comic-Ie Bill; in 139o, in the critical division on Clause V. of 1 he Irish Laud Bill, several Bishops voted in favour of the Commons' ameadmenc and none against it; and iast session the two Archbishops and all the bishops present voted against Lord Rathmore's amendment to the Workmen .'Coir,p.'tisation for Accidents) lsilL The bishops, however, do not sit in the House of Lords as party politicians, and it aught not to be necessary to ask whether this or that par y approves of their votes. Their legis- lative position must be defended upon the broad ground that it gives to the House of Lords—to quote Mr. Gladstone agaiai—' ele- ments of weight and power" with which that Chambsr cannot afford to part. ML!!l!gLI! "IYt n mm—mmmmmmMf

COCKETT PAUPEU CHILDREN THE SCHOOLING QUESTION. At the meeting of the Swansea Board of Guardians on Thursday, Mr. John Meredith, in accordance wiith notice, proposed that th<! children of tho Cottage Homes be sunt to tJw i*?w schook built a.t Gcndro» by the Cockext School Board. This school was up to th.. modern requirements of the Education Depart- ment, and it would be to the kiterest of the dÆdroo if theV iuieriningled with the cltUdren of parents bitter situated. Mr. Philip Richard raovad an arnerdmew, and said t-liat he cid so in deference to the wishes of tho whole parish of Coekott. TIn maintained that it was all unnecessary expm-je seeing that the children were educated tree ai pressnt, wh:reas -.hey would have to beai* an additional expense oi1 J390 a year if they wert. sent to the Gemdros Schools. The Cottage Homes Schools had always had an excellent report, and dunlng the 20 years that the chil- dren had been attending the St- Peter's School j at Cockatt, there had rot bee-i a single <<vm- p'.aint mad? to the Guardians, and the Cockett School was also n.oro favourably situated, being three-quarters of ia mile nearer the Homes tliaa tho new schools at Gendros. Jt they decided that some of the children should go, it would rie only fair to tako the elder -rb.il- dren, and it would be very unfair to take the Churcn children. He was no; speakkig as a representative of the Church, but as a heavy ratepayer, who had been returned at the head I oi the poll, and not by a formal error on lie voting paper. (Cries of No, no," and "Shame.") Mr. Stephen Thomas asked how many chil- dren attended the Cockett School from >iie Cottage Homes. The Master gave the number as 110. The Chairman then read a letter from the Vicar of Cockett (Rev. D. Roderick) pointing out the advantages accruing to the children from being allowed to remain at G'ockit-t School, which had cost the managers no less a sum than £1,600. The children had passed excellent at each examination. Mr. StepLen Thomas. seconded, and re- J marked amid some murmuring that at the. pro- jected new school the children would leam noti ng of God nor ot' the devil. Mr. David Owen 011, yes. Mr. Thomas: But they won't know what He is. Mr. Thomas then dwelt upon the ad- vantages of education, and seconded the amendment. Rev. John Davies (Cadl-e) supported the resolution, and said that he could not under- stand what had come over some members that they now turned round and opposed the chil- dren going to these schools which had been built for the Cottage Homes children. He denied that this school had passed excellent, and the distance was not so great as Mr. Richards had made it out to be. For ev -?rv child that would be sent to the new school the ratepayers would benefit to the extent of *->0s. "0 grant money. If they only sent 100 chil- dren there they would gain J3150. They 1..1 a. staff in this school whether the children would be sent there or not. Mr. Bircham said that he did not think tne Local Government Board would sanction little children going to school over a distance of a quarter oi a mile when they had a school within 250 yards. He was nob speaking from a sec- tarian point of view at all, but the question of convenience had to be considered, and they need not be surprised if the Local Government Board did not fan.tion this arrangement. Mr. Meredith pointed out that the com- mittee, when they decided to recommend the building of this school, stated that they were fully alive to the disadvantages of the educa- tional system which was the same then as now. He added the qualification to the resolution that the children under seven years of age be exempted from attending Gendros. Mr. C. H. Perkins moved a further amend- ment that the children of the Cottage Homes be sent to the Gendros School at the expiration of three months from the 1st of March next, and that notice of such change be given to the managers of the Cockett National School. This was seconded by Mr. Jones Powell, and supported by Mr. Glynn Price. Mr. Johnston said that any Nonconformist member who voted for the amendment to-day would be a traitor to his religion. As free citizens they believed in secular education without any sectarian trammels. Mr. Rees Harries also supported the resolu- tion, which waa carried by 20 votes to mwt amid applause. j

SWANSEA TWW A Y f DEAL THE AGREEMENT WITH THE ELECTRIC TRACTION CO. I SOME OF THE VITAL CLAUSES. 1 The agreement which has been entered into I between the Swansea Tramways and Improve- ments Company and the British Electric Trac- tion Company, whereby the former company agree <'0 dispose of their tramways undertaking at Swansea, is a ducument of some considerable length. For this reason wo are unable to publish it fully, but we give some of the more important clauses, and these we venture to think will afford the general public a mare cdoquafce idea. of the terms of tho sale than can be ascertained from the public utterances I ori the subject that have already been made. I A number of folios are taken up with recitals I of the powers which the Tramways Company have secured from Parliament by previous acts, mcluding valuable powers they obtained I last year for electrically equipping their sys- tem. The agreement starts off as follows: — "Whereas by the Swansea Improvements and Tramways Act, 1874, the Swansea Com- pany was ncorporaled for the purpose of making certain new streets and improvements of streets in the borough of Swansea and lay- ing down certain tramways in the said Act, particularly described. And whereas by the said Aot the capital of the Swansea Company was fixed a.t JB200,000, in 20,000 shares of £10 I each with power to borrow £8,750 on mort- gaga of the Tramway undertaking, and in addition to barrow on the security of the lands and buildings comprised in the undertaking, and aot being part of the tramway under- taking, or ioxming part of a street cxne-half of the purchase money paid for such lands and buildings, but not exceeding at any one time £ 73,500"—and then recitals alludid to above proceed. One of the most important of them contains details of the share capital and de- benture obligations of the Tramway Company, and as they are not specified in the causes we intend detailing below it would perhaps be well to insert them here: —"The Swansea Company has issued in respect of the Swansea Tramways capital 8,742 shares of j310 each and 984 preference shares of JB10 each, all of which are fully paid, and has issued £8,750 deben- tures under tho Act of 1874, and no more than £1,650 debentures under the Act of 1882, and no more, and has also issued in respect of the Swansea Tramways capital 8,742 shares of £10 all of which are fully pai.1, and has borrowed in respect of the land and buildings acquired by them in connection with the Improvements undertaking the sum of £12,860 18s. lid. and no more, and has incurred no other liabilities save and except those stated in the schedule." Now como the clauses of agreement: — "(1) The Swansea Company shall s?ll and the Traction Company shall purchase all and wngulax the undertaking, property and assets M the Swans.a Company together with the business and goodwill thereof, and the lull beueiit of the existing contracts and all 1 ctiber tihe rc-al and p;r&onai property of the bwansea Company inclusive of the sum of > £ 3.3&0-18s. 11 <1 owinrr by the Improvements undertaking to the Tramways Undertaking subject to all debentures charges and mort- gages thereon, and to all coat: acts engage- myiits and liabilities aii'.ctiug the undertaking j .1 any part thereof as the same are more par- ticularly specified in the said schedule hereto and which contracts engagements and liabili- = and which contracts engagements and liabili- ties shall ba taken over and carried out by the It Ti action Company who shall at all times keep • the Swansea Company auni its directors officers and shareholders indemnified against. > a< such eon n'wtx engagements and liabilities." I (2) In consideration of the said sale tho Traction Company snail {;ll the completion L thereof pay to the Swansea Company in re- I ject of the Tramways nnûcrtakingthe sum of £53;550 ¡i11! JD respect (If the Improve- ¡ merits Undertaking the sum of iil,092 15$., i and the Traction Company saall aiso pay and discharge in du" course all the debentures and mortgages affecting the sad undertakings respectively and all other existing and current I liabilities in connection therewith. The True- tion Company shall also pay the sum of £ d,6Q0 to the directors of the Swansea Cum- pany as compensation for their loss ofomca." \3) The sail purchase shall be completed as soon as the consent of the Board of Trade "hall have been obtained to the sale, and upon I payment of the purchase money the Swansea Company shall make and execute to the Trac- tion Company the proper assurances to be prepared by the Tract ou Company, and to ue h-ft by them not less than seven days before ihe completion of the purchase at the office of the Swansea Company for execution by that I company. All costs and expenses in con- nection with tihis agreement and with the assurances of the said premises whether pay- able by the Swansea Company c: the Trac- tion Company shall be paid by the Traction Company." "(4) Hie. Swansea company shall continue to work the undertaking, and shall repair and maint.vn the same as heretofore until the com- pletion of the purchase, and all outgoings up to such completion shall be paid by the Swan- sea compiuy. and subject to the payment ot outgoings as aforesaid, the Traction Company shall be.-entitled to the proUts of the under- J taking from the 1st of January, 1898. Pro- vided ijso that subject to the payments of the dividends oh the preference shares, and dividen ds at the rate of 2s. 6d. per share'on the ordinary shares for the half-year ending December 31st, 1897. The nett profits of the undertaking up to the 31st December, 1897 shall a'so belong to the Traction Company', provide also that the Traction Com pan v shall pay to the Swansea Company from the 31st I December, 1897, to the date of completion, in- terest at the rate of 4 ppr cent, per annum on the amount of the purchase money." (6) Tii3 Swansea Company shall make out a good title to all the premises hereby agreed to be sold other than to such of them as pass by delivery. Provided that as regards I he said freehold and leasehold hereditaments the title of the Swansea Company shall commence wi h the various conveyances and leases oi such freehold and leasehold premises to the Swansea Company, and that as regards certain deeds which are missing the Traction Company shall accept suoh evidence as to the due exë- cutian of such deeds, as the Swansea Company may be able to obtain." (6) This agreement and all the provisions hereafter are conditional on the same being adopted by the shareholders of the Swansea Company, and in case of con-adoption or in case of the Traction Company failing to obtain the approval of the Board of Trade it shall te lawful for the Traction Company by notice in writing to tho Swansea Company to determine this agreement, and in such case neither party shall have any claim against the other for costs, damages, «xp?nses, or otherwise howso- ever." There aro one or two other small basest but they are of minor import, The Schedule above referred to with reference to other obli- gations the Traction Compstqr are prepared to meet is as follows: — "Schedule above refety^j to. "(I) Costs due to solicitors in connection with the nsjjoto^ons with the Corporation of Swansea, ^md the promotion of the com- pany s of 1897, not exceeding altogether the of £ 600." *^2) Balance of fees due to the engineer of the company in connection with the Implication to the Railway Commissioners, and' in connection with the other matters above mentioned, not exceeding altogether the sum of JMOQ." **(3) ^Current liabilities as set forth in the j manse sheet above mentioned."

THE POST BAG. Lions, beer, and long grass were the three prominent nouns in the lecture a.t ilia Albert Hall on Tuesday evening. A Nonconformist minister, the Rev. E. s. Owen, was amongst those present at St. Gabriel's Cliurch bazaar on Thursday after- noon. Well, why not? Madams Melba is being spoken of in N01f' York aa "tha only Icgitimats successor of Patii." Madame Patti will pe.stpo.n2 all ideas of a farewell tour after this. The Port Talbot Docks will taka trade from Cardiff and Barry in a far greater proportion than from Swansea, in fact, the latter pot* steads to oenefit by the new railway. "That's the sort o:f thing to widen Castle* straet with," said the eminently practical Mr.. Coles as he watched the scarifier at work io Castle-street. Why not put it to work Olrthe Council a bit? "Irr Hen Gorph" is nourishing like the' Psalmist's green bay tie, at Aberavon, and another important conversion—that of a Pres- byterian-has just been effected, whereat the deacons smiled a smole. The ship Lady Cairns, the well-knowo- Swansea—San Francisco trader, is due thisf week-end to load for the Pacific Coast, the Wenda, 3,500 tons burthen is expected frum Cardiff to load for Mexico. The scene each morning at noon in thff Chamber of Commerce is a most animated oBQr- and inspires one with wonder at the patten# of the dockites in tolerating such a ridiculous little hole 33 the old Chamber was. "The Prisoner of Zenda," which is beiBlf performed at the Grand, Swansea, tbia week, is'. charmingly staged, many of the supernu- meraries impersonating bank clerks, who strut about in some of the scenes "as to the manner born." Oh 1 Mr. Selous. what shall I do, I thought I was a romancer, But I must hand the "belt" to you. For you, on my soul, "yon can"!—si& McGURGLEBL The brother of a well-known Town Coun- cillor referring to the scarifier, which was working go satisfactorily in Castle-street on Ihursdav afternoon, said the 'sacrificer" would be the cause of much lament in Swansea, labour* circles. Messrs. Public Prosecutor and Co. find ? very difficult to keep clear of the ladies train'' on the stage of the Grand Theatre this week. The trains are long, and the "supers" are fJOl awkward tha.t they will "snmh up a train" one of these days. The evangelistic services which are bcing held in a certain Wesleyan Chapel in the b ,ø on Sunday evenings, seem to have some- un- pleasant element about them, judging froC the hurry in which tL people leave at tDø close. We never saw such a rush! The total stonge gallons of wa/er at the Blaenant-ddu, Lower Lliv., and T^pper Lli"* reservoirs on February 10th wa-s 513,544,950. [TV ill the Swansea United and (Abfi-r breweries kindly send on their figures? IZiey would })8" more in'emiiiig.—O'Slammer^ "No," said the stout little iftan with the plug- hat, "I've -H>t had a cross Word with inv wi-&' for the past twelve months." "l>iad?" queried a Wind-streQ!ttr. "No." "Dumb?' "No." "Are you sp&kmg the truth, .] man' "1 am; I?"m net married," and in the" ? man' "1 am; I?"m net married," and in the* j confusion he leaped. The tradesmen. ■ of Swansea say that assistants have Tieen very apathetic in the matter of early closing. What beneSts ha,a been obrained in. this respect have accrued ø;g, a result of the efforts of the employers thetD* selves. Now assistants take the hint, and il yet: peg a\y you rnray obtain hours that woulA make a '{/ink clerk turn green with envy. SotaeJbody has bsexi starting tie rumout that Alderman Spring intended resigning a. the fall of rthe year. He'd as soon thinK 01 flying. There's the Maycral chair to be </& yet. And there's Spring gardens—we mean winter gardens—yet to come. "We're goxug tu get it," said' the aitknnan last time we aiet him. Why, he's as good a.t this business Mr. Thomas of Lan. used to be. While giving tho promoters of the \V int-'r Gardens scheme everpossible crcdit for thelf admirable and timely suggestion, it would bel, well to avoid references to Swansea—a*5 a" town—as the; possible Brighton of Wales. ambition of the Abertawe of to-day s io the Glasgow of Wales: b<\t. if the can be made as attractive a- quarter as Cli!t.OJ1 is to Bristol, that will amply provide fo¡ pleasure-seeking visitors. The exrellent Neath County School is con- sidei-el too plebeian for the children of 901110 ot the governors, who have a mighty estima- tion of their own importance. And the saJ»e remark applies to many members and cleJ'^ of school boards. Such persons who thus- prove themselves out of sympathy with the schools have no maral right to govern education of the children of others (they them- selves require educating) and this should lr'" carefully noted at ejection time. A CNvmbwrla rate-payer says that the CwU1 bwria, Schools, wliero the faulty drainage sy3' L'JU has been disclosed, were taken over by t.be Swansea Boiird froui the Oockett Board; £ U that district was incorporated in the borough. When the schools were built doubtless sanit^ science had not advanced to its present Still, if sanitation at a school attended by hundreds of children is discovered to be 1111 perfect it is the duty of the Board to at look into the matter, and not cavil and 00 deavcur to minimise its seriousness. We are all company promoters ILOW-, "Truth." A Wislsh paper relates tbA Bishop of Swansea,.holding forth in a^jund^f school, referred to an undertaking *!>tyl&^ Welsh Church Press, remarking, that -j shares in the concern out of 6,00 had b bit taken up, and that ha hope/, some audience would subscribe, af d that the pany would be floated in tlr e COurse of » y night. From what I kD/Jw of the Epi200^ Bench, I don't think I, should myself acce any Bishop as an adv:^ir on the subject oi ) vestments. -'gb't' A policeman ,W,4S awakened the other J:11 St. iu Cardiff by A earing cries for help 10 *Mary-street; And rising from his snug °c j he made fov the direction of the souk distress. Tit was a man with a long 7 coat, ani a frightened eye. "Well? CLrf' the constable; "Vhafc are you yelling snd The fecarad one snuffled convulsively* clutching the peeler's arm, be gasped. „ e$' me back to Swansea, I'm lost." "Lost I eJlt, claimed the minion of the law, in aBn#ae^ef" ] "LostU why, where do you think ycU "Isn't this Ely Common?" asked jjgd i seaite. "This is a blooming street," 3 the P. C. "bot a tommon; and I'll adm* ought to stick a notice up to that eSect- f you get back home and get some d:ceo^ into yju, and you might bring with you if you stray here again. 1*1 off Cardiff gargle"; ^ad so th«y parted