The South Wales Daily Post

THE POST DIARY. THE- EMPIRE.—Two performances daily, at 7 and 9 p.m. U-ilA-s D "The Cuckoo" every evening at 7.50 p.m. October D.-Sale of yaaiit Wenol, at South Dock Bas-n, by Mr. A. B. Davics. 0ct. 3 -Gralld Concert by the Royal Welsh Ladies' Choir at Gwyn Hall, Nea.th. Oct. 4.—Sale of Properties at the Soyal .otei, Swansea, oy Messrs. Higmaa and Co.. Oct. of plant, etc., at. Morlais Vale C.liicvy, Lla-mnorlais, by Mr. F. E. TUll- 1:tf. Oct. IG, 11, 12.-B:dy Trinity Church Baraar-

t-r-m_ Head Offices: 221. Hie-h-street, Swansea. •Liondon Address: 144, Flect-ft., London, E.C. ^o^egraphie Adaress: "Daily Post," Swansea. 'I^LZPHOKES: Natlcnal No. 151. Post OSice. No. 9.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1899. —. Notes and Comments. The attitude of the "South Wales Daily iseu.s an respect of refo.ms promoted in the interests of the public. recalls Janus, the double-headed god cf the Romans. The face presented at Cardiff smiles encouragement and approval of reform, while that at Swansea has a east-iron scowl for the same cause. One feels disposed to wish that the iigure occa- sionally turned round. In Saturday's issue we had the following jubilant editorial note given under the headline "Swansea Guardians snubbed':—'When the Swansea Board of Guardians tried to make an alteration in the system of rate collection without taking into consideration the claims of the officials, they reckoned without their host. Crhey were warned tlvt one of the most rigidly adhered 9- rules oi Government Departments is that which le prevents the dismissal of old and tried servants by the introduction of side issues or without reasonable cause. But the majority blundered on. and submitted a scheme which, it was boasted, would ha n had the effect of re- moving one of the oldest and most respected of the Union's officials. The awakening has come soon enough, and with an ert)h- which should satisfy even the most stubborn of that official's opponents. The board above, in that spirit of loyalt^kwhieh is always shown to old iuid valued servants, points out that Rrst the consent of the official in question should be obtained and, secondly, if a super, ir.tendent collector is to be appointed as pro- pewed by the scheme in Question, tbev might consider whether the present collector might be appointed to that office. The "nub is pal- pable enough. \Ve wonder whether it will be sufficiently strong to affect its recipients and turn th&m in favour of the Corporation's scheme of unification, which makes due pro- vision for the assistant- overseers .^and can hsrdly fail to obtain the assent of the powers that be." Now what is there in the action of the Swansea Guardians to call for a, snub, or set Anyone rejoicing who does not place public interests b:ow the vested interests of an official? Have the Guardians done or pur- posed to do aught in this matter which is un- fair even to the collector, or justifies the ridicule or censure of a pap;r professedly solicitous regarding the welfare of the demo- acv9 For many years the collector has been paid on an admittedly extravagant scale for the collection of the Poor rates and certain of the Borough rates. From this source alone he receives in poundage about £1,2,)() a year, and in addition, allowances on account of the preparation of voters' lists, etc.. amounting to several huDdreds of pounds. The office staff employed costs less than £ 500 a year. Put in another form, he receives more than double the amount paid to the Borough staff for col- lecting a larger sum annually. In virtue of an iniquitous piece of legisla- tion rushed through Parliament at the fag end of a session, the collector in common with other officials is—subject to the approval of the Local Government Board—entitled to take into retirement a pension equal to half his present gross receipts-that is to say half of even the salaries paid to the office staff, no member of which, regardless of length of ser- vice, gets a penny in the way of superannua- tion allowance. The provision for the benefit of head officials is fair enough in so far a.s those appointed since the Act are concerned, since these have to contribute 5 per cent, of their salaries to the superannuation fund, r he iniquity lies in the fact that officials who will have contributed little or nothing when their retirement happens benefit by it at the public expense. Now. unless the Local Government Board auditor has seriously misrepresented the con- dition of things, the work for which the col- lector has been and is being so extravagantly z, paid, has been exceedingly defective, both as regard the collection of rates and the super- vision of rateable propertied. Acting under the influence of the- reports of the auditor, and yielding to the pressure applied by the Loca! Government Board, the Swansea Guardians have expressed aporoval of a scheme for re- forming the arrangements "ur collecting rates and supervising properties at Swansea. To have done less-they would have been recreant to their obvious duty to the ratepayers, and disobedient to the expressed Wishes of the Local Government Board. The Guardians did not deal with the rate-collector for the reason that the Act of Parliament takes the matter of his retiring allowance out of their control, and the Local Government Board had in hand the defects alleged in the existing arrangements. The Local Government Board could not ad- minister a snub to the Guardians without In- flicting a anub upon for in all that the Guardians have done they have acted in obedi- ence to the suggestions of the Local Govern- ment Board, as set cut in letters, or expressed by the official representing the Local Govern- ment Doard. The only vreirant- for even the hint of a siiub is to be found in a letter from the Local Government- Board, in which the Guardians are wlJ am directed to state that the Guar- dians should themselves, in the first instance, formulate a dwinite schema dealing with the whole question" (the collection of Poor rates) which the consent of Mr. Thomas, tlia j->res°ric colie-'i-or, "h(¡lld be obt ained that scheme should :1 f:cnvard, be submitted to the Board for their approval. If the Guardians proceed on the lines suggested in the Board's letter of the June, they might consider j whetiic-r the present collector might be ap- l pointed to the office of superintendent coilec- tor." If the meaning of the letter be that no scheme which has not the consent of the col- lector will be sanctioned, then it is clear that no saving need be cxpocted, and the Guardians would be well advised to save their breath to (joui their porridge. No man can be expected to consent to avoidable sacrifices. In view of the fact, however, that the proposed reforms originated with the reports of the Local Government Board auditor condemning dc- facti in the present system, it. is difficult to imagine the Board i. s; rl Mr. Wm. Thorn. with the power toing any and EYc'Y scheme that does meet with his approval. If that were so, tLe Local Government Board would be giving the Swansea public an im- pressive example ol self-stultification. I. litil the Guardians have been convinced thcit this is the intention of the Local Govern- ment Board, they should proceed to formulate a scheme which, to them, seems equitable to Mr. Wm. Thomas and beneficial to the pubic, and if the collector withholds his consent, let the scheme be submil.ted to the Local Govern- ment Board with that fact stated. In no event should the Guardians associate them- selves with any scheme which they cannot con- scientiously approve. Rather than do that, it would be just as well to let the Local Government Board, or even the Corporation deal with the collector. In any event, and assuming that the Local Government Board is placing Mr. Win. Thomas in a position to block any .scheme of reform, what is there (we lepeat) in the incident to call for rejoicings on the part of the ".South Wales Daily -News." Events in the Trarsvaal have caused par- ticular attention to be drawn to the subject of the shooting cf our troops, which, it is to be feared, has received too little attention from the War Office. If, however, there has been any neglect of this matter, it. is not the fault of Lord Roberts, who has been makng references to the subject for a period of fifteen years, and he has now chosen an opportune moment for republishing his- various utter- ances on musketry training and artillery practice. Under the auspices of Mr. Stead, a translation has been issued in Britain of the last volume of M. Bloch's treatise on "The future- of war." The eminent Russian publicist maintains 'that war has become im- possible, alike from a military, economic, and political point of view," that, "the great war cannot be made, and any attempt to make it would result in suicide." M. Bloeli refers to war between great Powers, but one is forced regretfully to the conclusion that he is mistaken, and that there is nearly as much danger as ever of an European condict. It is true that with machine guns and maga- zine rifles the results must be disastrous on both sides, and that the next great war will preach a powerful sermon for peace, but so long as human iia-tilie remains as ib is, there will be war. It is vain to hope that, the in- creased deadliness of weapons will ma.ke war impossible; the same thing was said years ago, before the American Civil war, the Franco-German campaign, and the struggle between Russia and Turkey, to say nothing of the recent engagements between the United States and Spain, and the squabble in which Greece and Turkey were the parties. British soldiers, therefore, must be prepared to fight-, not only against savage tribes, but against trained armies. In the Boers we find a race of nisn who have secured the reputation of marksmen, although it must not be forgotten that they made the reputation in circumstances which were exceptionally favourable to them, when they were engaged against British forces cf inferior strength, fighting for the most part in red coats, and all wearing white helmets, which made them a. conspicuous mark for Boer bullets. Now our men fight in the ser- viceable khaki (dust-eelcured) uniforms, which are admirably adapted for fighting in South Africa, and it b^s been evident for some weeks that the Government had no intention of repeating the blunders of 1881, by under- estinvatiBtgi the strength of the Boers. Lord Roberts emphasises the fact that in modern warfare victory will by no means necessarily rest with the numerically strong. One good shot, he says--and he knows, if anybody does—is equal to at loast half a dozen bad ones. It is not a question of firing so many rounds; it is a matter of straight shoot- ing and the more efficient the troops,\ the less number of rounds required to obtain decisive results, and, of course, the less the danger of the soldiers running short of am- munition. During the war of 1870-1, Lord Roberts says, the 12th German army corps fired only an average of eleven rounds per man throughout the various battles in which it was engaged, whilst on several occasions the French used up all their available cart- ridges (from 90 to 108 per man), and were ft reed to retire for want of ammunitio.n. Again, at the siege of Plevna, in 1877, there wiis a crreat blaze of cartridges, and w v +,d that' oa approaches the ludicrous i-o tli. average it «*« W0 •>«* •«* or wound one man The jH.Hmr"1"* ™ M"al'S °Wn +1 o. •s'lhiect of good shooting was opinion en the subject o e v ■ ^1 v.iv in 1884, when ne testified in a pra-etic told an audience in India that n ever he had the honour of being again employed on field S(>l Y ice, he should endeavour to take with I him those regiments which had gained the best reputation in t,he rifle range. Himself all officer of the Royal Artillery, he points out in the addresses now republished, that his remarks apply to the careful training of artillery, and that "success will most certainly rest with the artillery which can bring an accurate shrapnel to bear upon its enemy with the greatest rapidit}." Lord Robelts has earned once again the public thanks by the tiineiy publication of these remarks, and probably his book wit! be studied oarefully by those officers who have been chosen for service in South Africa. But, of course, his observations have a more abiding Value. It is impossible to convex t indifferent shots into marksmen, with a wave of the magician s wand, and it mn-t be mainly to the future that Lord Roberts' remarks will find their application. Some battalions and batteries havtJ. already done much to lulhl the condi- tions to which he refers, but there are oohciS which could lind some useful lessons in his book, the moral of which appears to be that the battles of the future will be won at the rifle range, and in the exercises of the drill j ground.

LESS KNOWN WATERING PLACES. GOWER. (Reprinted from th» London "Daily News). Steaming into .-iwoiuta Bay at dead of night, when the crimson lights of Landore, hall-smoke and half-flame, make t.he town appear beautiful, you might feel with the poetaster who wrote:- Now London is a Cockney place, And Edinbro' is sonsv, But of all the towns that I have seen Give me to dwell in Swansea. But when the day dawns and the smuts begin t> fall, gn en to Gower, and you will be happier still. Gower is one of those places by the sea, much favoured by the few who know them, which has not yet received the hall-mark of Londoners' appreciation. Strictly speaking, Gower includes Swansea, but for: the most part Swansea to the Gowerians is the wide, wide world, and Gower is the Glamorganshire peninsula that stretches from the Mumb!es to the Worm'is Head and no to' Loughor. People imagine that Glamorganshire is a | comity of pits and factories, and cannot be- j lievc that an oasis over twenty miles long exists :n such a ianu of smoke, in eflict. j Gower is completely cut from the adjoining parts of South Wales, not onlv by its pre- servation from smoke and its green loveliness, bat- also by sentiment and language. The Goweria.ns know no Welsh, and keep to thenl- selves, though, as my landlady put it, "now i ano a gen a stranger comes among us." Not that the Gowerians are English. They ate Gowerians, and that is enough. In other parts tnis arrogance of birth is ascribed to intermarriage with the shipwrecked sailors of a Spanish galleon or a French corvette, or to the sudden irruption of Flemish weavers or Danes or Esquimaux. The Gowerians make no such claim. Like the Athenians, thev are content to believe themselves sprung from the soil. In any case, from the point of view of a visitor, the soil is a fair one. Every mile or two along the coast some streamlet pushes its way to the sea down a valley, and a little hay: is rounded out to receive it, as at Langland, Pwll Du, Three Cuffs. Oxwich. and westward ■ as far as Rhosilly. Opposite is the norm coast of Devon, and it is interesting to compare the difference in the rock scenery. The cliffs of Gower are less i • coloured, less sheer, less magnificent perhaps, but the slopes of sliding stone (limestone as opposite to the Devon slate). like enormous cinder heaps, half grown with gorse and bracken, have a splendour of'monotony, such a i Tennyson described in his Arthurian ev untry Among the tumbled fragments of tiie hills." There are glades of rock and tree. such as is j the show-sight of Lyriton opposite, varied by; rising dunes, full of reeds, and hilloekv war- rens over which the sun sets gorgeously round the ruins of castles. It may sound barren— j a country of rock and sand—but, as a matter of fact, the greater part of Gower is wonder- xulij wooded. A noticeable thing is the num- of rounded trees, particularly sycamores, which seem to grow best here, rounded so that no isolated bows or lengiii of foliage shall catch the wind. Ashes, too, are plentiful, and grow most iantastioaliy. There is one at the \S orrn's Head which has been doubled back by! tue force- of the wind, and grows vertically over a low stone wall. The Worm s Head itself is a thin strin of reek, a mile long. shaped like an adder, that appears tied by the tail to the mainland, and is always trying to crawl out to sea. At half tido it escapes, and becomes an island, with cormorants; at low tide one be'b'rew-n"i?Ve* u ^ilCr—3*- natural pier—and Channel The tid- raw of tlle Bristol liie Ithosilly Barometer, through which the waves are forced with such resonance that their noise is audible for eight miles in a storm, according to a local guide. If inaccessibility is a drawba-ck, that is the drawback to Gower. The journey down to Swansea is simple enough, five hours by train from Paddington; or you may cross by steamer from llfracombe to the Mumbles. The drive, too, from either of those places to the village you may have fixed on can be accom- plished without great difficulty. But at that point—unless you happen to be staving at one o-v two villages that own hotels with stables, such as Reynoldston and Langland — the transport facilities end. There is some talk of a light railway to be constructed through the peninsula, which will make the place for some people, and mar it for others, but at present it is well to be able to walk. It is true that the moors are alive with ponies, and many of the villagers have vehicles; but the combination of the two—the pony plus the trap—is a rarity. What difficulty I have hail in persuading the owner of a pony to harness his animal to the trap owned bv another! Neither of them would permit me —much Iocs one another—to drive. Both of them must go, too—the pony proprietor to after his pony, and the tmp proprietor to luok after his trap, and 1 have seen m-uch of Gower from behind the broad backs of an irreconcilable twain. But these difficulties surmounted Gower is full of sights. There are few places of a more varied scenery. or cf a more continuous beauty. In most spets the picturesque vie or the object of interest, is reached J ,s^„ dull roiitt in GOTO- almost a" «» worth swing. Thus. ,vo» of tie BishVton Vèdl_eder(rround st:'eam, tne windings of an theOKvnton yauev matches in its jHgge:nt:t PwU Dle-the Black by sm„g. hS th« rocks «» *>«» i» j«W«4 &l-r,r miles further, and the scenery faeaPs" -f„ chanced. Burrows of sand, o;\ hWh"tand tiie rains cf Penard Castle, over- f■'Three Cli-'s Bay, into which a slow stream flows. The Three Caffs are three r-vramids of rocks that guard the entrance to vet another valley. With the flood-tide there is none of the mud left by a. tidal river; it is nearly all pure sand. This bay, again, is only separated by the third pyramid from Ox- wich Sands, which extend for over two miles backed by the woods of Penrice, and over- topped by Cefu Bryn. Hill of the Winds. Oxwich—a small village just- waking v-o the fact that children like it and visitors will mcney in exchange for lodgings—there are°the remains of another castle. The rocks hern are red, and a little church is built so low upon them—gray over red—chat in a storm graveyard, if not the church itself, mu^t vs with spray. From Oxwich Point you c-' n see Port Eynon, a vi.lagc renowned' foV i+1 oysters, and enjoying a past tarne f„r sumo,, in* lobsters at' twopence each. At- inteivVli' H the cliff-front, there are caves-Bacon Hof Eowen''s Parlour, tne Bone Cave of Pavi1' laud—where devils and smug<>jors an^ i historic beasts used to mhabn. The seas ,-uck tremendous hollow, m the rocks, and ,.n the calmest day the waters are in.a swil± At any of the tillages lodging can be ob- tained, and, tkougii there ls Il0t eX:,ctly anv accommodation fo. visitors, except in a few parts of Gower, an active endurance of them pervades the entire peninsula. The Gowerians aie a pleasant people though fond of their own compan). Jley nave a- habit, indigenous to the country, oi hanging their fireirons over the mantelpiece, as though they were some strange tapestry. There are still some old customs hit, temperance being one of them, and biewing their own ale another. Altogether, in its eighty-one square miles, Gdwer holds much to charm. It. has abun- dance of camps and castles, sons? very notable sands, v,-hereon children may build other castles, which serve their time equally Weil; rocks, for adults to admire and catch bass from; trout-streams, not devoid of trout. Above all. Gower possesses what so many pcople from large cities long for—the sights and sounds of unspoilt country life. Here you wdl see mountain sheep, as diffeieut from the hatchet-faced, large-boned creatures of tiie valley as prawns are from shrimps, lying in the shadow of a heather-patch on the moors courteous rooks, hovering mult-itudinousiy over their nests while their mates settle them- selves herds of geese — the militia among birds — mobilising all day long in the tall Lane; and everywhere along the coast gulls; an! cormorants, majestically querulous. .Gower is worth a visit.

The Post Bag. —— A local enlisting sergeant says recruits arC now so scirco that he is* receiving 4s. 2d. peJ day for doing nothing; and the sergeant' major is receiving 10s. per day once a. month for seeing that he does his work well. Boer influence with the British press is the mythical thing some people imagine. Emissaries of Dr. Leyd, the mischief-making Boer commissioner in Europe, are in com* municaiion with some newspaper men in thIt country—to the shame of the latter be it con- fessed. The ealigraphy of the Right Rev. the Bishop of St. David's is said to almost deff deciphering by any but experts. A local vir says he dreads receiving a letter from hIt ijishop for this reason- He often has to mak* half-a-dozen attempts before he can eveOl guess, let a.lone grasp, its meaning. "After the very cieditable part Sir Llewelyn displayed over the matter. Liberal may be relied upon not. to offer reprisa's, .1:3 the comment of the Cardiff Radical paper re" speeting Friday's meeting of Liberal? Swansea. Reprisal would be a weapon with a douole edge, as likely to hurt the wielders •» £ anyone elie. -It. is an axiom of life that all .'Illd women, no matter what their positions Íll society, have their distinguishing feature*' To enumerate those of the Rev. J. Gowr Lewis, D.D., would be a task which one would not rare to undertake for nothing, but it DluS1i be admit ted tiiat not the least apparent tnese is* that- heavily wrapped finger cf his, which he now so caretullv nurses. Leader.-? of Nonconformity locally are con: stantly deploring the increasing number ot =' :t non-v, orshippers. As a matter of lac-t. hofl" ever, this only* applies to the chapels. n congregations of the churches are larger week by week. It is certainly to hj dcpiored. but it IS. nevertheless, true. th there is now not a chapel in the town can claim to have a fdl congregation eyerJ Sunday. A Welsh poloist at the banquet- at- Maekwoiuh alter the international match b petraied a humorous practical joke at t t;3 expense of some of his fellow players. Xl had arrived, and &t the jokist's invit»tl^j several of the banquelcers* emptied a sUP:4 cup of custard over their, apole tart. Jl1 oi their surprise when the "custard" P^V to have an astonishingly hot and fiery It was horse radish. d A Welsh minister in. Pembrokeshire is; of to have tendered his resignation as his Church in the following terms: /> decided to leave you, friends, for reasons. Firvt, you do not love me, or dÍú you would have advanced my salary. Secofl you do mot love each other, or else soitte you would have got married, the absent which has been to me a financial Thirdly, the Lord does not love vou. or elS" He would have called some of "you Your siirying here always is some little •.aeicii.-re, ± am leaving you." seJø 10 must have been a Ma-hat ma. The patriotic and fpro-war sentiments 1IjøJj! lULil a few weeks ago were being edit" expressed in our contemporary, t10 contributed by the same writer who responsible for the opinions* given apre rJ jn to in 'Occasional Notes.' The Swansea is so small, and the goings ø comings oi each member are so well. øW tliat no other explanation fits the stances. The fount of patriotism ffiUSt been a Mahatma. And yet, except in s meat, what a resemblance. Two scribes but. a single style, two hearts that beat one. Aj AN IRON-ARMOURED CREED- REPLY" TO HARCOURT AND CO. 'Tis higher faith to enter The battlefield of strife, Than cowardly surrender The noble calls of life. Some would, but cannot, quench Our iron-armuured creed e!1cÍ Nor from their steel-built sockets VTre The mighty gates we need. Are we or not a shelter, Amid these lands of ease" To those who toil and swelter Beyond the British seas? We are and will not quench Our iron-armoured creed ji- Nor from their stee.-budt sockets wre The mighty gates we meed. It is DO question whether We seek for peace or not. A mailed fist, or feathe" A kingdom, or a bl-y-' nri"4 ™mot i3™* Oi.r lion-armoured Nor from then* <■+ i'l ? !S2.ts We need, "A feather •'i-;fritaimia be Her "T.).' i J w°uM alter We aref vlj i destiny. Our f'ir!Tloi: qnench Nor fVoni !irm?«red creed nCb T-he migi;tv1ao?eI"bliilt TketS b gates we need. *P.. 30, 40E0" 1'11,3 fIr:] 11, 1'1'£9- llis'Jlcd rrr,i: ^ceu inundated with e e ,:t innAu-o' tm* lias -?lven risa to no e Q{ \^d\ cor,-U'iatulations between the ae property committee, upon the lSSUe of enterprise in riof- fr0und of the "unsightly" business C¡¡fl',e i) n the previous tenants. No letting*K to j" been made, indeed they are not '^> as it is rumoured Mr. Councillor £ y{ HIe guardian angel of our open spaces dumping rubbish, in conjunction with 4 .L L ¿or:- It-ad stoker of the potatoe I ijc-g patd°c t'ftroedo boat latter gentlc^f by the way, is, I regret t.o say. about retir111^ r caL" from active service, in consequence of delicf1^, health and Boer troubles;are about for#1^ a philanthropic syndicate to take over whole ground and convert into a winter bear garden—which? and throw it open j and for ever for the exclusive use arid beset1 tboce who ha*.ntually compare note5 "Picaclilly Ciccus. (Wind-street Bridg-)-^ latter gentry having by some means got of this laudable scheme, Dre already in sion in anticipation. aie getting oil- In February last t'.ro Swanseaites. who h»r pened to be in ;i l.onuon newspaper offi4-^ the "wee sma" hours, accepted an to accompany the reporters to the scene °* newly committed murder in Spitalfields Last End. The s-cene was a tenement, huiinan beings «warmed like rabbits warren. Ihe victim, who had been st-5 j f j the heart by a sister, was a uomaa, who, with husband, three childly and the murderess occupied one hoii^ niisei'able 12 by 10 foot room upon a uj<i floor. All the furniture and fittings have been dear at five shillings, and the s rotmdings were inexpressibly revoltwig- e!11bef '"Engiish Illustrated Magazine" for has an article on penny toys, with a psS:'<rjJs reference to that family, which in one Foduced a murderess and a victim. It S' ^g, a picture of an ornamented toy whip. a:1 speeting it. observes "A tragic itntcreSi, te taches to the whip. It was made by Marshall, the unfortunate woman lately f a vietcd of murdering her own sister ^ur,I1 £ all drunken row in Spitalfields. The Mar family are the finest makers of wlnp, e-QI1 ciahy toy whips, in the world, and have h is innumevab'e prizes for their work, wiic y well known to all dealers." And yet j live like beasts! J live like beasts! J