The Cardiff Times

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SIXTY YEARS A60 AND AFTER. By MABONJ M.P. There may be some phases of what is popu- larly called progress which by no means command universal enthusiasm. There are, I am told, people to whom even the rail- way service is still a doubtful benefit and look back with tenderness to the days of the stage coach, and if there were any chance of the substitution of the one for the other, no doubt their numbers would become visibly less with some rapidity. There are many more who look with a more or less evil eye upon motor cars and aeroplanes. They, too, will doubtless diminish as the more mechanical inventions attain a greater degree of perfection, and there is something to be Baid, of course, for the most reactionary con- servatism in these matters. It is true, as Emerson pointed out long ago, that every advance involves a loss in spme direction-" does dim da yn dda i gyd fro matber if the people of the two Rhonddas can go by train from the top of Treherbert to Ferndale, and frpm Partridge Hotel round Penygraig the other side by tram, that is at the expense of several people who have since found out that they were very fond of talking formerly. But for admissions trusting to men and women's forgetfulness or misapprehension of retil facts, commend to me the political addresses and the accompanying leaflets sent wrth them to try and allure and mislead the electors of this well blessed Vale of Gla- morgan from the path of progressive faith, and it is to me more surprising still when I remember that some of the mass that are fcuUty of this are themselves only about twice removed from the direful door of the hungry past-they are actually trying to persuade the farmers and farm labourers of the Vale of Glamorgan that things were much better with this class in this country 50 and 60 years ago than they are with them at the present timf—they are really guilty of trying t to mislead the people by describing to them the evil result of the past policy of the very lnass that they are now asking for the people's Suffrage to elect them to represent and defend future. Who are the actual and really guilty parties who have caused this want of Work for farm labourers and lower wages than are paid in any other industry fewer bgappy And prosperous people living on the land, taore poor and miserable people crcfwding the slums and alleys of our big cities or driven to emigrate; beyond the seas, but the landlords And capitalists who drive the people off the land to give room to their deers and all kinds M game ? Still these would be representatives pf the people in the people's own House-the House of Commons-would go there, if allowed, to represent the premier and predominant class of people who have actually caused the Wils they themselves tell the people now exist. Will fiid ex-Lord Mpyor of Cardiff tell the farm labourers of Glamorgan what were the tfages paid to the farm labourers of this country fifty and sixty years ago ? How touch less were they then than now ? Who ind- what gave them the advance they have *ince received ? What a wohderful mystery «<hey explain to the people when they tell them that when trade is brisk there is more money spent in the purchase of articles grown by small holders, market gardeners, *nd allotment holders," and what depth of knowledge is here exposed ? But have these men at the same time not been most luccesaful in hiding from those they sought n to represent the truth in regard to the fact that the Tory party. who, if returned to Far]jamen t._they would join, did their utmost against giving to the fruit growers land at such prices as would give them any chance tt all at working their garden plots at any profit to themselves, had they to pay the ex- orbitant prices the landlords and their agents 'Were demanding for them. What thanks ts there due'to the Tory party that every acre of land under fruit means on the average £25, svery year in wages paid to those who work 1)n it ? Not a bit. They did all they could against all Liberal concessions that were taade in tha direction of allowing market gardening by law being possible, and ulti- InatelyP when they were beaten in that they again did their very best to prevent that Very thing being made profitable. Did they have their way no additional men would %are been employed as pickers, basket- w makers, jam makers, cidermakers and all others dependent on the fruit grower. No, not one sf the noble army of men\and women that they themselves now and again employ "At the fruit harvest time, all the virtue fa these matters belong to the late Liberal Government absolutely and of course their friends who helped them. Not forgetting, that a good many of the Labour men and good many progressives were prepared to go •urther in this direction. But this exploiting of what was then done as if any of the good work was due to the Con- servatives is almost unpardonable !—the fact is they were too strenuously engaged in en- deavouring to conserve to themselves all rights to the land, and. in the second place their own pricoundcr compulsory purchase— poor miserable creatures these, that, after first of all endeavouring' to rob the plots of lands necessary for market gardening and small allotments of all the advantages due to the persons that purchased them are now ^gain trying to rob those that made it pos- sible of the credit for so doing. But to proceed from the point at which we started there is one evidence of progress hich none can refuse either to see or to rejoice In. Has the lob-pf the people, the poor pauper amongst us, become better than it was sixty years ago ? Fortunately there can be but one answer to this question, and Mr John Bums gave, evidence the other day in regard to it. Pauperism per 1,000 1849 1909 England and Wales 62 26 Ireland 72 23 Scotland. 42 22 And the story told here, as all those wh o have studied the conditions of labour then and now are well aware, is true of classes'in the country. Drunkenness has diminished enor- tnously crime is steadily diminishing illit- eVh°T 's gr^ually disappearing—yes, the Whole standard of life and comfort is rising With unexampled rapidity, and as Mr John •tsurns said some days ago as the community the individual grew more intelligent And therefore more sober, general progress was th result of the individual and the community each in his own way." This oubt.less is the true and final answer to any- Otle who doubts the value of education, science 8Ild civilisation in modern times. Doubtless h l are .as 7et vei7 fai' indeed from the ideal,■ I think that we are distinctly advancing ■owards it, notwithstanding the efforts pat forward by some of the Tory retrogressives, to that, things were better in the good old orties than they are now. True, we admit that the cost of pauperism is advancing, that surely is neithei* a dangerous *wr a disastrous fact to me it is exactly the ^erse. It indicates that there crisis among us ^°up. slowly, that touch of imagination which is essential to the natural growth and society in reality. This is beyond very thing a proof that the men who nowa- days administer our laws poor laws e ^specially—and guide our institutions are grow- In sympathy with the sufferings, and may i the temptations, of the poor; and they know wo that present-day communities are willing and anxious to give that sympathy effect. Ane history of the past gives us to understand that such sympathy was little known and leas hown then than now, Hence, the change urs well for the future. The present senti- ment and feeling is not that we are doing too much for our poor, but that oor forefathers did too little for theirs. Sixty years ago the "Tit-Ir of this article was eight years of age, bas not yet forgotten what he saw and of those days. Who «an talk lightly I? sixty years ago ? Let us wish sincerely for improvement in the condition of our **>or, j an(j Qf our workers generally, in the + s^y that has taken place in the last years. And then our descendants will toti. on the poor law of to-day as we do the tragedies of the Hungry Forties."

BRITISH SHIPPING. Trade With Russian Ports. 4essa. Wednesday. The statistics of Sea fo*8 ci,ea'r*ng Russian ports in the Black tained1 year show a steadily main- British JPrePon(ierance of vessels flying the The total number of grain-laden ripor„kelonging to all nationalities which than ^c°iaieff was 488. of which no fewer British. The numbers of British nam« faring Odessa and Kherson for the Centra?310 153 respectively.—

AN INDIAN PLOT. New King Nominated. House of Pririces and Princesses. Lahore, Wednesday.—At today's -hearing of the charges against various persons arrested in connection with the alleged publication of seditious literature the prosecution put in a number of letters and documents which the man Parmanand, for some time a student in London, admitted to be his. Among the documents is a scheme for the Go rerun ait of India after the departure of the Ihitigh. in it it is assumed as probable that the Mahai^ah of Nepal would be king, with a Council of f, ve, and the Ameer of Afghanistan was to be persuaded to join. There was alsO: to be a House of Princes and a House of Princesses at Delhi.-Reuter. Hired Boy Assassin. Calcutta, Wednesday.—Birendranath Sen Gupta, the murderer of Inspector Alum, is 19 years of age. He freely admits that he is con- nected with a secret society which deputed him to murder the inspector, and says that he merely disliked the latter on account of his activity in connection with political trials. Gupta has led an aimless life in Calcutta for seven yeare. It is expected that he will be com- mitted for trial before a special tribunal of the High Court. The police are extremely active, and are believed to be following valuable clues. Mahomedans gave Inspector Alum an imposing funeral. Several Europeans were present.— Renter.

TO BATTLE WITH AIRSHIPS. New German Artillery. Berlin, Wednesday.—The Taegliche Punds- chan says Messrs Krupp have constructed two guns for the destruction of airshps. One,, a 7'5 centimetre weapon, is mounted on a motor- car for use on land, and the second, a 10-5 cen- timetre piece, is for use on warships. Both guns fire a shell that discharges a trail of luminous smoke, so that the course of the projectile can be followed day or night. The shell bursts on penetrating the gasbag of an airship, and explodes the gas therein contained. The naval gun has a maximum range of 13,500 metres, but the maximum elevation at which it will be employed is 11,400 metres. The land gun has a maximum range of 9,100 metres, and can hjt objects 6,300 metres high.—Reuter.

KHARtOUM CATHEDRAL. General Sir Reginald Wingate, the Gover- nor-General of the Soudan;has been writing on behalf of a shilling appeal that is made for the Khartoum Cathedral. "The foundation- stone of the cathedral was laid by the Princess r-J M J k l v ut I I Henry of Battenberg in 1904, hub the work is still unfinished, and tl2,000 is required before it can be completed. The caP ral is being built close to the spot where General Gordon died. The twenty-fifth anniversary of his death oecurred last Saturday.

ALPINISTS IN.PERIL. Signal Fires and Search Parties. Berne, Wednesday.—A rescue party left Amsteg to-day fdr the Huefi Hut, in the Made- ran Valley, where last night the fire was seen, which is believed to have been a signal from a party of missing tourists in the Glareden Pass. Another rescue party which recently set out returned to Linthal to-day. They reached the hut in the Clareden Pass, where the missing tourists had signed their names in the visitors' book and written that they would spend the night there and continue their journey in the morning. The rescue party from Amsteg telephoned this evening from an hostel in the Maderan Val- ley that in consequence of the storm and enor- mous masses of snow it was impossible to make an attempt to reach the Huefi Hut. Their signals had received no repty from the im tonrik&-Re-at,w.

AN AMERICAN TRIUMPH." Miss Marjorie Gould, whose engagement to Mr Anthony Drexel, junr., of Philadelphia, is announced, is to-day paying the penalty which fashionable New York papers exact Jrom an American heiress of great wealth and beauty on the eve of her marriage. Miss Gould is the daughter of Mr and Mrs George Gould, and grand-daughter of the fabulously rich railway icing and pioneer Jay Gould, while Mr Drexel is the son of Anthony Drexel, of the well- kpawn American banking firm. Both families are well-known socially in London as in New Miss Marjorie Gould. I York. Miss Marjorie, spurning the coartehip-, of princes and the Unre of coronets, has be-; stowed her heart on a plain American, and the vast fortunes that both will inherit are to remain on this side of the Atlantic," is the, triumphant announcement of the New York American," which advocates a duty on the dcfcvry of American heiresses. An American Triumph is the comment of another great, journal, which also, resents the prevailing; tendency of American heiresses to marry Europeans.

MEAT TRUST INQUIRY. Many Witnesses Summoned. Chicago, Wednesday.About 30 .subpoenas have been served on officials and Employees of the National Packing Co., Messrs Armour- and Co., Swift and Co., and Morns and Co., to appear as witnesses in the investigation into the administration of the meat trust now being held by the Federal Grand Jury. Ten wit-. nesses were examined to-day.-P-eukk-r.

CZAR AND BRITISH M.P. Odessa, Wednesday.—According to a. tonic t gram from the St. Petersburg correspondent of the Odesskia Novosti," it is now certain., t,h,st the Czar will receive at Tsarskoe Selo the; British Parliamentary deputation which is ex- pected in the Russian capital shortty after the opening meeting and prorogation of therrewj elected House of Com-ons.-CentTal News.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL Must Be Radically Reformed. Boston, Wednesday.—Dr. Eliot, ex-president of Harvard University, is of opinion that American college football must either be abolished or radically reformed. He himself favours the adoption of the English Rugby game--P.enter.

LAND-TAX DROPPED. Pietermaritzburg, Wednesday.-In the legis- lative Assembly to-day Mr Oliff, Treasurer, announced the withdrawal of the Taxation Bills, and said he was able to balance .revenue and expenditure without land or income tax. -Reuter.

WELSH COUNTRY HOMES. XV.—Cefn Mably. r — FACTS ABOUT THE KEMEYS FAMILY. I I STORY OF A ROMANTIC PAST. The fudor House and Restoration. There is no county home from Chepstow Bridge to St. David's Head which presents wider interests to the tourist than Cefn Mably, the fine old residence of the Kemeys-Tynte family which stands some five miles from Cardiff on the extreme eastern confines of the county of Glamorgan. Its long rambling front, set in a frame of luxuriant forest trees, I -1 1 | CEFN MABLY. THE MAIN FRONT FEOM THE S.W. presents a wonderfully picturesque sight to the visitor who approaches it from St. Mellon's, for it occupies a very beautiful situation with a southern aspect on the northern slopes of the Khymney Valley. The house itself is pictur- esque rather than stately. A 4ong stone- tiled roof, broken here and there by gables and pierced by many dormer-windows and topped by big brick chimneys of early 18th cen- tury fashion, lend an irregular outline to the edifice. It is clothed from end to end with foliage, part of which is provided by several magnolia trees of gigantic proportions, the broad green leaves of which contrast finely with a great Virginian creeper which every aatumn the falling year turns to fiery glory of blood-red crimson. Immediately behind the house are groves of spruelt and larch fir and graceful deodara. Below the velvet lawn which is spread before the houie, the greensward siopes away to the Rumney River, along which clumps of fine oak and beech trees lend a park- hke appearance, and provide grateful shade for the cattle which find rich feeding ground in the well-watered meadows. Such is the setting which Dame Nature has given to Cefn Mab!y.. "I i I bEFN MABLY, THE OLD TUDOR MANSION. A Norman House on the Site. The house itself dates from Norman times and indeed its name tells us this, for Mably is a corruption of the name Mabel, and she was the daughter of Robert Fitzhamon, Earl of Gloucester, who lived in the 12th century. It is said that she was the builder of the original house. There are now but few, if any, traces of the original Gothic work to be seen, for the house of to-day. represents the work of Tudor, Stuart, and early 18th century builders. Most of the front, in which the big windows with their arched and keyed architraves of wood present a notable feature, is of Queen Anne datte. The present owner of the house, Mr Clia ries Kemeys-Tynte, has royal blood in his veins, being the 21st in descent from King Edward HI., the greatest of the House of Plantagenet. CEFN MABLY HOUSE FROM THE WINTER GARDEN. The family have been seated at Cefn Mably for mahy generations, and it is generally con- sidered that the era of its founder in Wales was about the year 1234. Were, the Kemeys family a branch of the great Norman house of Camois, or did they take their name from the Monmouthshire Manor of Kemeys ? The older genealogists say the former, but some whose. opinion is worthy of respect hold the latter view. The point is not essential let us bo content to believe that early in the 13th century one Stephen Kemeys married a Welsh heiress. A century later a descendant, Wil- liam ap Jevan ap Jenkin Kemeys, was constable of the castle afNewport, and in 1447 was May or of the borough. Presumably he lived at Cefn Mably and must have been a man of wealth, for he purchased large properties and greatly increased the estates. The Tudor house probably was erected in the earliest years of the 16th century when one Lewis Kemeys was the head of the family. A Soldier Hero. We may pass overthe succeeding generations till we come to the 17th century, which was the era of the great soldier hero of the family, Sir Nicholas Kemeys, whose portrait still loblm down upon the visitor from the panelled entrance hall of the .house. He was elected member of Parliament for the Borough of Monmouth in 1628, and four years later became High Sheriff of the County of Glamorgan. I Those were stirring times and there was room for such men as Sir Nicholas, who was a man of gigantic physical strength Mid stature, and strong and brave in character. In the year of Edgehill he was elected Mem- ber of Parliament for Glamorganshire, and subsequently raised a regiment of horse and became Governor of Cardiff Castle. It was after his defeat it. Naseby that the hapless monarch fled to Wales. Up to this time Sir Nicholas had not succeeded to the estates, but already the then owner, the first Sir Charles Kemeys, had defended the old man- sion in a skirmish with Roundheads and bad thrown up entrenchments. Canon balls and other weapons of war found round the place have since provided mjxteri&l evidence of the fray. In CromwelPs Day. When Cromwell and his Ironsides marched into South Wales and gained a great victory at St. Pagans,' the ire of Sir Nicholas was aroused, and raising a thousand men he joined the defeated forces and falling back on Chepstow Castle defended it for three weeks w.ith desperate courage against the Royalist army. We razed the battlements of their towers," wrote Colonel Ewer, and made their guns unuseful for them." Sir Nicholas remained undismayed. A breach was at length made in the wall. Colonel Ewer refused to treat with anybody but Sir Nicholas, and in a parley that ensued on the drawbridge told him he must yield to mercy. The stout old Kemeys swore he would not, and fighting .being resumed, he died sword in hand like the brave man he was. His son Charles, who succeeded him, was taken prisoner and was condemned to two yearfc' exile and to compound for his estates in the sum of £ 5,262. Charles Kemeys died in 1658 and was succeeded by a minor, to which fact is attributed the restoration of the family finances which enabled the two succeeding generations to give to.tbe building the distinctive characteristics of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century. The Kemeys family well maintained, during succeeding years, its reputation for public service. Between 15*76 and 1783 nine members of the family were Sheriffs of Glamorgan, several of them were Members oftarliament either for the Borough or County of Monmouth, and one of their number, Sir Charles Kemeys, Bart., held his seat for over forty years. In 1704 Jane Kemeys, only daughter of Sir Charles Kemeys, married Sir John Tynte, of Halswell, Somerset, and thus it comes about I that the present head of the family owns large estates both in Somersetshire and Glamorgan- shire. So much in passing for the history of the family. ¡ The Old Tudor Mansion. I In the present series of articles we have in every case endeavoured to present as far as possible to the eye of our readers some idea of the original form of these great country houses, nearly all of which have, dtfring the generations which have elapsed since they were built, undergone very considerable alter- ation. To the visitor to Cefn Mably the ques- tion at once suggests itself, What was the old Tudor mansion at Cefn Mably like before the restoration if the late seventeenth and early eighteenth century transformed it into its pre- sent appearance ? Thanks to the courtesy of the present owner and his agent. Mr S. Rooney, of Cardiff, we recently visited the mansion, with the result that on the wall in a comer of one of the bedrooms we found an old picture, evidently a contemporary oil painting, of the ancient Tudor House, We reproduce a sketch of this picture which has never before been published and which is of considerable historical interest. What the Restoration Involved. A comparison of this sketch with the photo- graphs of the present house will enable the reader to realise what a great difference in the appearance of Cefn Mably resulted from the restoration of 1688 and following years. The western end, which is to the left hand of the picture, has undergone but little alteration either externally or internally. The Soldier gallery and the Dancing gallery which is above it, and which take up the long straight portion immediately to the left of the three central gables, retain their original Tudor windows, and this remark also applies to the western wing which projects at right angles to it. Prom the three central gables, however, along t to the eastern end, all save one of the quaint old world gables which presented such a picturesque feature of the original Tudor building have disappeared and have been re-. placed by the tongstone-tited roof, a feature of which is the fine coved cornice which supports it. But wbile the old walls remain, and still reveal here and there slight traces of the Gothic moulding, they have been pierced by the spacious windows of the age of Anne. The much gabled wing seen at the ext.reme right of the sketch of the Tudor building is now pulled down and its disappearance has added very materially to the comfort and general appearance of the eastern end. In our next article we shall describe many interesting features of the interior of this fine old Gla- morganshire mansion, which retains in such a marked degree its old-world characteristics. Next week :-CEFN MABLY II.

NEW BUKHARA UNREST. Russians Asked to Restore Order. St. Petersburg, Wednesday.-A telegram from New Bukhara "of yesterday's date says that in the course of one day isolated murders occurred in different parts-of the town of Kush. The Bey is collecting influential members of both parties to induce them to calm their co- religionists. The people are greatly excited against him and the shiahs who are intimate with him. No excitement against the Emir is perceptible. The-8annis are hostile to Russians living at New Bukhara on the ground that they are well disposed to the shiahs and also to Russian troops. Many persons, however, beg that the Russians will restore order in the town. Banks and several offices are sending gold and notes away. and Russian subjects are' leaving the town under the escort of Cossacks. If order is not restored soon Russian troops will occupy the town.-Reuter. Odessa, Weduesda-Y.-Russian infantry and Cossacks have quelled the religious rioting in New Bokhara. It is officially announced that the fighting between the Sunnite and Shiite resulted in 217 being killed and 339 wounded.

LATE KING'S SECURITIES. Brussels, Wednesday. The Gazette states that the Belgian Princesses, haying de- manded a share in the securities of the Nieder- fuellbach property, the administrators of King Leopold's estate have announced that the Belgian Government claims the Congo securities of his late Majesty.-Reuter.

Lord and Lady Llangattock will leave Eng- land in a, few days for a cruise to Made ira.

DANCERS SHOT DEAD. TERRIBLE BALLROOM SCENE. Revenge of Uninvited Guests. Lisbon. Wednesday.—A terrible affair, arising apparently out of a local faction, is report.ed from the town of Naron t and has resulted in the deaths of two persons, while many others received injuries of a more or less serious nature. It appears that in celebration of a local fes- tival at the town in question a ball was organ- ised to which, for some reason, certain of the inhabitants were not invited. While the dancing was in progress -a number of those who had been excluded crept up to the building, and suddenly opened fire with revolvers upon the dancers, sending volley after volley into the shrieking crowd. To add to the horror of the situation, the electric light was extinguished, and numbers received injuries in the panic that ensued. The Civil Guard at length arrived on the scene, but by that time the perpetrators of the outrage had disappeared. It was then discovered that two women had been shot dead, while 20 other men and women were more or less seriously hurt.-Central News.

GRAND DAME'S PRECEDENCE. International "Consequences." Vienna, Wednesday A curious incident which occurred at a Court ball on the 18th instant has excited much attention in diplo- matic circles. As the wife of the doyen of the diplomatic corps (the German Ambassador is the present senior member) Madame Tschirschky was en titled to the escort of Count Aehrenthat. the Foreign Minister, in the pro- cession to the ball room immediately behind the Imperial and Royal personages. Count Aehrenthal, however, requested the Papal Nuncio to escort Madame Tschirachky and he himself escorted Lady Cartwright. There is a disposition in certain quarters to magnify the incident, and to suggest that it is not unlikely to have important political conse- quences. The Court officials, however, deny that Madame Tschirschkv has any special privileges, and assert that Count Aehrenthal as a right to escort any lady.-Renter.

MEMORIAL TO CARDINAL MANNING, The bronze effigy to Cardinal Manning, which has been placed over his tomb in the crypt of the Roman Catholic Cathedral in Weathninster, is a very simple memorial- representing the Cardinal in a recumbent position with the head bare, the object being tp allow the sculptor full opportunity of The Memorial in Westminster Cathedral. bringing out the fine lines of the face. Modelled from a bust by Mr J. Adams-Acton, for which the Cardinal gave the sculptor twenty sittings, the featores are reproduced with the firm, but kindly, reposefnlness so true to life. Mr Adams-Acton is the only living sculptor to whom the deceased prelate sat, and when the bust was finished his Bnrinence said, I wish that presentation of me to be the one carried down to posterity.

THE THAME8 DREADNOUGHT. 'Work of Construction Commenced. The work of lengthening and strengthening the slip to accommodate the new Dread- nought. which the Thames Ironworks are building for the Admiralty was entered upon yesterday at the firm's yard in Canning Town. About a score of additional labourers were engaged to assist in the driving of the 500 piles which will have to be sank to guard against all danger of sinking. A large shed running alongside the railway is bong partially demolished to provide space for the exten- sion of the slip, and the whole of the present staging is undergoing-a precautionary test. New machinery is being installed to cope with the demands of the contract, and some 30 or 40 additional draughtsmen will shortly be at work in the drawing office. There will be no substantial increase in the wortcshop staffs, however, for two or three weeks, until the material required in the various processes of construction ha,ve been delivered. When this has taken place nearly a thousand men will be-set to work on board, and asimilar number will be required in the sheds and shope for preparing plates, angle bars, ties, and bends. It is estimated that the order will provide work fer 2,000 men and bola of all grades. After the laying of the keel-plate, which is not expected to take place for several weeks, the construction of the giant slip will be continued night and day in order to oompIete it within the specified period.

PRINCE LEOPOLD'S- ILLNESS. Prince Leopold of Battenberg, who, it will be remembered, was recently so ill in London that his sister, Queen Victoria Engeme of Spain, came over to see him, had a serious relapse, in the early part of the week. Prince Leopold had a severe attack of influenza in Prince Leopold of Battenberg. November last, and complications followed of a somewhat serious nature. The improvement in his condition which it was hoped a visit to Madrid would pring about has, unhappily, only been slight, and the Queen of Spain's anxiety has been such that she has spent the whole of each day in her brother's apart- ments.

THE ISSUE OF JE1 BANK NOTES. City Feeling. The proposal incorporated in the report of jhe Banking and Currency Committee of the Association of Chambers of Commerce that the .Bank of England should issue El notes so as to increase the proportion of coin to securities held in the Issue Department, does not meet with absolute favour in City circles. The pro- posal is by no means new. As far back as 1831 • Lord Goschen made a similar suggestion in a speech made before the London Chamber of Commerce, but there was no definite outcome. Influential feeling is said to be decidedly Against the issue of small notes. The object of the proposal is to increase the bullion reserves of the country, a necessity "which is recognised by leading financiers. In February of last year the London Chamber of Commerce appointed a special committee to inquire into the matter, the terms of' reference being to consider whether the gold reserves of the country are sufficient, and if not, what remedies can be suggested." The committee included Lord Avebury, Lord Blyth. Sir Fortescue Flannery, Sir J. H. Holden (London City and Midland Bank), the late Mr J. Spencer Phillips (Lloyds Bank), Sir Felix Schuster, Sir Albert Spicer and Mr J. Herbert Tritton (Bar- clay's Bank). The committee passed several resolutions, but it is significant that none of them had any reference to small value bank notes. It is reasonable to presume that the proposal was discussed, and the inference to be drawn is that it met with no favour in the eyes of the special committee."

WELSH GLEANINGS. News and Views in Ughter Vein. Mr H. Haydn Jones, M.P., might have suc- ceeded Mr Tom Ellis as the representative of Merioneth had he wished, but he withdrew- first of all in favour of Mr O. M. Edwards, and afterwards retired so that there should be no opposition to Sir Osmond Williams. The presence of a Cabinet Minister like Mr Lloyd George makes a difference to places like Llandrindod in starring times like these. As many as seven special telegraph operators were sent into the town from Swansea, and an ex- ceedingly smart-corps they proved to be. It seems peculiarly appropriate that the Boroughs of Pembrokeshire—a county famous for the number and quality of the sailormen it gives to Britain's mercantile marine—should return to Parliament a man whose interest in shipping is not confined to the great enter- prises which have been made financially and commercially strong by his business acumen. There were poets in Wales, (says Mr Ivol Bowen) just as there had been religious people in Wales before England had a literature or cligion of her own, and Wales to-day is proud of those old men eloquent who welded together the national and literary life of the people. The recently published volume of Mansfield College Essays," presented to Dr. Fairbairn on his birthday last November, contains two essays by Welsh professors who were hre Congregationalist pupils. Professor Anw$5 and Principal Rees, of Bangor. Professor Anwyl writes of the "Celts of Galatia," and Principal Rees on The Boty Spirit of Wisdom." The late Matthew Arnold said would have nothing to do with Welsh Hfcnt- tore and language on any teems, and yefc Char had no notion of the volume of Welsh Sfcora- ture. The records of byogone centuries in Welsh language had been as the Welsh ooal seams were at one tune—unknown^ «nsot**fc for and useless. Those who think they are m theknow-pea. tically are busy making new ministers abater. It is predicted that the Under-Secretaryship for the^olomes will be given to a Welsh member ■ who has long since earned a high reputation for eloquence of speech and dialectical skA (Mr Ellis Jones Griffith, MJP. 1'), and it W almost certain that-jkfr William Jooes will be given a place among the official Whips oCfhe Government. The first lecture of the second section of Ihs special course arranged by the Cardiff "IimbIm School Union on The Canon of the Koar Testament, which will be delivered to-oMtt by Professor T. W. Chance, M.A., ahnnU peowv, attractive to all those who take an intoath theological affairs, for Professor Chance able to-deal with the subject. It was Ab Ithei" who was responsible to a greater extent than anyone else furiiwt revivaL of the Eisteddfod as we know it fey day. He engineered an Eisteddfod on a large scale at Dinas Mawddwy in the fifiaas, aui discovered" much latent talent in fV neighbourhood. The only one living who took a prominent part in that Eisteddfod is the Rev. R. Mawddwy Jones, of Portland, Oregon. Weteh witnesses and jurymen at Ounstvt Assizes found great difficulty in repeating ft" new oath which has superseded the method of kissing the Book," the worda true deliver ance make being particularly troublesome te Miem. One witness spent several minutes en- deavouring to repeat the oath, and after maw failures he tried to say it in Welsh managed to do so;-but to the great amusement of the Court he afterwards picked up a-S«« Testament and kissqd it. Weteh Nonconformists in America are join- ing in the growl against the dragging in oi English words into Welsh sermons, ana statt that this custom is doing more to kill thf Welsh language than anything else. Manv Welshmen resent it so much that they attend English churches in order to hear unadultera- ted and correct English, which is not obtain- able in those Welsh churches where an occa- sional English servicc takes place. The Carmarthenshire Education Committee is a good deal troubled over the problem of allowing bands to practise in their school- rooms. One great objection they have is that the air is very foul next day as the result of smoking. It would be interesting to know whether the bandsmen smoked while they practised on the trombone or played on thf cornet. The man who could play the piccoic with a pipe in his mouth would command I large salary at a music-hall. Welsh characters in English works of fictior are increasing in number, and improving ir, quality. The latest is Rhys Jenkins, an old Weteh school-master," in Mr Harold Begbie's new work, The Gateway." The reviewer ot The Nation declares Rhys to be botb charming and convincing." Of course, he quotes Scripture with amazing familiarity, and holds peculiar views about Elijah and JeaMbet. Rhys is a prophet and transcen- dentalist. but why should he be associated with whisky 1 What becomes of the tons of unused litcra- tare at election time ? A visit to any constifco- ency after the declaration of the poll will con- vince anyone of the recklessness with which politie.alliterature is distributed during a Par- liamentary contest. A Cardiff citizen motored through four South Wales constituencies Oft Saturday last, and could, not help deducting' from the strewn paper he saw everywhere tfatal many a poor man could earn a decent cnatf from collecting them, as is done in Paris, aod selling them to the marine store dealer. -¡ American farmers are beginning to light Of their lands with electricity.generated by rata" falls. When will Welsh farmers begin to har- ness the power contained in the mooniain streams and waterfalls of Wales for the pcrpot of supplying themselves with power and light I Farmhouse life would be revolutionised in very short time if enterprise was shown in ttAr respect. It is more than probable that the bit. dark winter nights, when the household to share one solitary oil lamp, would cease io make the illusory attractions of town 13* irresistible to the young people of the country- side if cheap electric light made their horan bright and cheerfuL There are many keen Welsh fox hunters, aoi some of them are none too scrupulous what hounds are in full cry. A well-known j hunters talking of fox hunting recently, said, Hunting develops a race of very savage, ad- fish men. There was, for instance, Jones. One bitterly cold day he was riding hard at a beoofc when he perceived the head of his dearaw friend sticking dismally out of the icy water. Did Jones go to his friend's assistance ? Not a of it. 'Duck you fool,' he shouted, and jumped over him." We are unable to say what happened to Jones, hiat if any Weteh huntsman happens to know, we shall be glad to reoecv* ihe inionnAtion. The village of Abcrdare, as it was called in the old days, was principally located around the Boot and Black Lion Hotels, but now presents almost a continuous line of densely populated character from Mill-stree £ "to Moun- tain Ash. Of late years it has aspirations tc get a representative at its own in the Com- mons. At one time a famous old Aberdariat contested Merthyr in the person of Johi Knight Bruce, who was father of Lord Aber dare, and police magistrate of McrthjT. It wai en the occasion of hIS contest that the opposi- tion marched about with a small box fastened to sticks labelled, Bruce and Box Vach." This box was the one in which the police finev, were pot, and which the miners of that daj thought were Brace's perquisites. Mr Lloyd George said recently that the mo agreeable incident of his political life was the spending of a couple of days in the society 01 Mr GJadstone in Sir Edward chalet on Soowdon. They were the most delightful and instructive days of my life," he says. I had an opportunity of seeing that wonderful versatility and that extraordinary range of knowledge which was one of that great man's most marked characteristics. I will give two instances that come back to my mind. The chalet was roofed with zinc. Mr Gladstone described to us all the processes through which zinc passed in manufacture. Then he spoke ot sugar-candy, of the tax on sugar which existed ■in the days of his youth, and described the sur- prise he fett on going into a. shop at N antwicl1 when he found the vast difference in the price of sugar-candy now and the price in his early days. Sir Samuel T. Evans, K.C.. M.P.. the Solicitor-General, has probably gone through many exciting and interesting little incident* during his long Parliamentary life, but possibl; none were more interesting than that he ex pericnced at Glyncorrwg last week. GJva corrwg is a little colliery village at the end d. Avon Valley, and completely isolated from ht outer world as far as railway passenger service, is concerned, for although there is a mineral railway from Cymmer there are no passengei trains, and the Solicitor-Gcneral had to be driven in a small trap from Cymmer. During this journey of two and a half miles lie receivea the worst shaking he ever had in his life. Or arrival in the village the horse was taken nul and Sir Samuel was drawn around the villagi in the trap with about nine other heavy weights, almost sufficient to crush the vehicle.