The Cardiff Times

BIRTHS. MARRIAGES, DEATH ut .Voiiees of Births, and Deaths, are eh-r, at Itu rate oj Is /or the rim Twenty Wordl, ana 61/e e xry additional Ten Words, and must be 1*1USPAJUJ. i mwal wt/uauieated by tit*tun ■'i-i mRrex* of the writer „ BIRTHS. BISHOP.-On the 6th inst.. at 159, Castle-road, Cardiff, daughter* 01 William Henry Bishop, of a KVANS.-OO the 7th inst.. the wife of Mr Sam. EV^s, 63. t:owl)ridge.road, Cardiflf, of a. son. 806 ~On the 5th instant, at Ashleigh, Gold Tops, danghter W'fe °f W' Lyndon Moore- °* a „ MARRIAGES. ABBOTT-HOPKING.-on the llth inst., at Kingsland Congregational Church, by the Rev Thomas Hooper, Henry I homas Abbott, of Newcastle House. Bndg- end. Glamorganshire, to Elizabeth Hopking, only daughter of the late Thomas Hopking, Esq., of Stoke Newington, London. HUGHES-PRICE.-On the 6th înst., at Hermon Cal- vuiisHC Methodist Chapel, Dowlais. by the Rev J. *!?!?• 1? *V aS!at'ed by Rev William W. t, Rhymney, only son ot Mr David ,8^T D K,U Llanbadwrn, to Marian, eldest daugliter of Mr Re«s Pnce, Dowlais. 655 PARRY TuomAs. -On the 8th inst., at the Parish Church. Llantwit Major, by :he Rev E. W. Vaughan, Henry Parry, of Swansea, eldest son ot Godfrey P*rrv. Llansantfiraid, Corwen, North Wales to < £ mily, second daughter of John Thomas, Tile House, Boverton SBiIT?>T^r'E,T(i' 'J?* llth Llandaff Cathsdial, by the Rev J. R. Buckley, Mr E. T Smith, of Keigh- Joy, Yorkshire, to Miss Martha A. Lee, only daughter of the late Mr James Lee, The Woodlands, Cathedral-road, Cardiff. 911 .DMATHS. thLlth at 10. Duke-street, Car- j PBter DavieH, the beloved son of Peter and Alice Davids, aged 28. 707 GMBS.-On the 9th instant., at 32, Saint Helen's-road, Swmnses. Annie Nlary (Katie), the second daughter of 1 lr R. T. Gibbs (late of Cardiff), aged 22 years. 840 JENKINS.—On the 10th inst., at 4, Prvntair-terrace Merthyr Kut^ relict of the late Steph^jlnKns, Ivy Cottage, Gadlys-road, Aberdare, aged 74 no wreaths. 888 LEWis.-At Brooke Cottage, Nantgarw, on Saturday last. John Ir-.wis, age 53. Deeply regretted MoRGAN.-On the llth inst., at the Railway Bar Treherbert, Mary Morgan, aged 4J years. Funeral DaVfL -e.r! 11 "dav, by the one o'clock train, for Pontypridd, thence to Llanwonno. Friends please except this intimation. 2016 PR!CE -Harry, son of Thomas Price, T.V.R Merthyr aged 22 years. 709 SENINIITON.—September btb, at his residence, 22, Clyde-road, Redlaud, Bristol, William Arthur Semngton, aged 52 years. 822 --L

'TOPICS of thx <Httek. I SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1888. Unfortunately the lamentable strike at Ebbw Vale continues, and those painful incidents of suffering and distress inseparably asso- ciated with a general cessation of work are beginning to attract public attention. Prompt measures have been taken to miti- gate in some degree the distress, and the colliers of South Wales have responded in a manner that does them infinite credit to the appeals made to them on behalf of their unfortunate fellows at Ebbw Vale. Still, the amount of contributions received by the relief committee is quite inadequate to meet the contingency. It is pitiful to read that on Tuesday the com- mittee-rooms were besieged by a famishing crowd-men, women, and children strug- gling for the opportunity to secure the barest necessities of existence. In face of a spectacle like this we are dis- posed to ask why it should have been rendered possible. Labour and capital have their respective rights, but are they on that account necessarily antagonistic? Rather is the one not the handmaid of the other ? There is much in common between employer and employed, and both suffer from the effects of such a strike as that at Ebbw Vale, the difference being merely one of degree. That being so, ought there not to be mutual concession and forbearance ? Our friends in Monmouthshire cannot surely have exhausted all amicable means of settling their differences. We are glad to notice a disposition to submit the matter to arbitration. It is devoutly to be hoped that this course will be deter- mined upon and that, as a consequence, the strike, with its mournful concomitant of hunger, will soon j b& numbered in the catalogue of things p^st. One effect of the Striké,at Ebbw Vale is to impress the thofcglftful observer with the narrowness of is the boundary that separates the great mass of our countrymen from absolute poverty. It is clear that tj^e working classes, as a body, make no provision for the future but before the philosopher inveighs against them for that reasbn-, let him consider whether it is in their >power to make such provision. In many; oa^es, doubtless, where there is the ability ther^ is not the desire to provide against contingencies. To the vast majority, however, it is notorious that life is one long battle against famine. "Mourn- ful enough," to quota Cbrlyle, "that in the highest stage of civilization nine-tenths of mankind must labour i$the lowest stage of savage or even of the Animal life—the battle against famine. Mobrnful enough that a white European man must pray wistfully for what the horse he drives is sure of—that the strain of his whol* 'faculties may not fail to earn him food and lodging. Mourn- ful enough that a mac with an eye to discern the world, a heart to reverence it, snould be haunted with such a fear; the grim end of it all—beggary." The graphic portraiture of the Chelsea seer is a sad, suggestive commentary on our vaunted wealth and progress. Assuredly for the social reformer the field is wide; but, alas how few the labourers therein Turning to a less pessimistic topic, it is highly gratifying to observe continued indications of the improvement in trade. The Board of Trade returns shew that there has been a substantial increase in the value of both the exports from and imports into the United Kingdom in the present year as compared with its immediate pre- decessor. In iron and steel, the exports for the lirst seven months of this year show an increase of no less than jSl, 172,174. The improvement is not con- fined to a single branch of trade, but is observable in almost all of our varied indus- tries. In South Wales the coal trade is more buoyant than it has been for many a year. The industry next in importance in this district to the production of coal is also in a highly prosperous condition. We refer to the manufacture of tin plates, which, notwithstanding disturbing elements, such as the price of block tin, continues to enjoy the unexampled prosperity which has been characteristic of it for the past decade. Agriculture, unfortunately, is still in a de- pressed condition, and the outlook for farmers is anything but optimistic. Yet, provided the improvement in trade generally continues, our agrieultursl friends will no doubt reap part of the accruing advantage. Since Mr Gladstone's fimous address on jam, English agriculturists have directed more attention to the cultivation of fruit than ever before. A conference of fruit- growers has just been hell at the Crystal Palace, and its deliberations will doubt- less serve to give an mpetus to this neglected branch of agriculture in Britain. The fruit-salesmen repreiented at the conference complained of the defective packing of English-growa fruit. They averred that the fruic was fiequently packed in too ripe a state, anc so badly and carelessly that it often happened a third of it was spoilt outrigit. This is a fault that can \e, and in time will be, rtmedied. Of more importance is it just now to learn that the English climate is favourable to fruit. It is not all that could be wished, but it has excellencies beyord most others. We do not suffer, as contirental countries do, from the extremes either of heat or cold, or from both extrenes alternately. We have no violent and destructive storms to bring ruin on our fruit-trees. Then there is plenty of ground noy unused which could be profitably utilised, and, what is equally important, a great demand for fruit, not likely to be soon overtaken by the supply. Statistics of the suicides in France during the year 1887 have just been published, from which it appears that th9 total for the whole country was 7,572 cases. It is a singular circumstance that fifth of the suicides occurred in the department of the Seine, though that department con- tains only a fifteenth Pa^t of the total population. This undue proportion shews suicide to be comniongst ill places where life is carried on at highest pressure. Paris unquestionably contributes its full quota. to the number of self-inflicted deaths in the Seine department. bingularly enough, the pre-eminently suicidal month is sunny July, not dull, damp November. Whilst the average number per month of self- inflicted ¡-. deaths was 550, no fewer than 790 cases took place in July. The male sex are infinitely more prone to self-destruction than the female. Of the total number of suicides committed in France in the past year, 5,964, or about four-fifths, were men, and 1,608 women. Mr Matthew Arnold died poor, but as he did not happen to be a scion of royalty, nor a particular favourite in high places, his widow must not look to a grateful country for recognition of his worth. On account of his distinguished services to literature, Mr Arnold was granted a small pension by the State, but this ceased witt his death; and, as Lord Coleridge observes with some < asperity, Mr W. H. Smith "has not thought it right to continue any portion of it to tne widow." Mr Certainly Smith,^ we may be sure, would exhibit great alacrity to prevent the lapse of a pension granted to some obscure German princelet. But, of course, Mr Matthew Arnold was only one of those in- considerable fellows who write books and seek to promote the moral and intellectual eleva- tion of a people. What claitn can his desti- tute family have on the country ? It is amusing and also humiliating to consider how pensions are earned 1U this good old England of ours. Macaulay says some- where that John Churchill, the great and bad Duke of Marlborough, bought promotion with the price of his sister's shame. Many of our hereditary and pensioned legislators date their fortunes to beginnings not less ignominious. Even to the present day we have to maintain in pampered luxury and pomp titled lords whose fortune was established by the easy virtue of their maternal ancestors.

A WELSH PARTY. THE formation of a Welsh national party may now be taken as an accepted fact. Even a Russian paper the ftovoe Vembryo, has heard of it, and has commented upon it. After this we may expect that the English will learn the aspirations of the Cymry, and will not treat the riitnour—as they deem it—with incredulity. The Principality has cried out long enough fpij its injustices to be remedied, and it:as not listened to. Now the timq :has arrived for more energetic measured and the result has been a stern resolve to assume the offensive. The Welsh Ipembers must not remain pacific. Obyipusly there is only one way to the sensibility of JOHN BULL, and that is by force. We do not mean force in the ordinery acceptance of the term, but something more tharf tfhe conventional op- position in Parliament! Welsh questions and Welsh grievances^ mus'' be put forward in season and out of rseason, and no com- promise will be satisfactory. Either the whole or none at all, Snfl; efvery debate must ( be pressed to divisioBf' F'There must be no quarter. To do compact body is necessary which will$rork as one man. Anyone who objects' to this programme is not a. suitable person to represent a Welsh constituency. And, moreover, this duty needs to be impressed upon every association. All organizations must justify their existence by solid work, and political organizations are no exception to the rule. It is faith in the genuineness of the intentions of the Welsh Liberal Reformers alone that has induced the Welsh press to give so general a welcome to the proposals of the Federation. Up to the present it must be admitted that the bulk of the Welsh press have not shown a very warm and wholly unconditional approval of the Federations in North and in South Wales. They waited to see what would be the nature of the fruit, if any, which these organizations I would bear. Now that the country is becoming convinced that something prac- tical is going to be done, the organizations receive more attention and more approval than ever before. But it must be distinctly understood that this approval is entirely conditional upon the work being real and earnest. The country which demands and is prepared to support a real, active, and effective Welsh party, in the House and out of it, will have nothing to do with a party which only uses a popular title as a veil for either incompetency or for a "do nothing policy." This fact cannot be too strongly impressed upon the various Liberal organizations in the country and upon our representatives in the House. A Liberal Association which does not afford Liberal electors opportunities to pass judg- ment upon it is Liberal only in name, and cannot expect to receive in time of need that undivided allegiance which is necessary to its success. A Liberal Federation which does not combine and assist in directing for common purposes the forces of the various Associations of which it is formed can be nothing better than an ornamental figure- head. For such organization, local and general, a Welsh committee in the House of Commons, contentwith askmg a few questions, and each member of which can with im- punity absent himself from any important division, forms a fitting accompaniment. On the other hand, if the Liberal Associations are truly representative, they will be all the more anxious to secure that co-operation which union with similar organisations can alone give. Such a union, based upon a popular foundation, would insist upon the representation of the country in Parliament being equally united, equally effective, and in its entirety, as in its individual parts, equally representative of the public opinion of the country. And this is really the tendency of the ( present state of political feeling in Wales. Most of the Liberal Associations have been reorganised upon a broader, more thoroughly representative, and more truly democratic basis. These associations have laid down new planks in their platform, and have on more than one occasion shown their deep dissatisfaction with the manner in which their representatives have been fulfilling their duties and exercising their trust. As regards the South Wales Liberal Federation, it has long since justified its existence by practical work of no little value. The literature it has published and scattered broadcast over the country has done much to educate public opinion on some of the leading questions of the day, while its work in organizing and directing the JOHN DILLON agitation in South Wales affords a very practical proof alike of the value of the organization and of the renewed spirit of political opinion. In nothing, how- ever, has the Federation shown its value, and its acquaintance and sympathy with public opinion, more effectively than in taking the initiative to form a solid and active Welsh party.

ENGLAND AND AMERICA. UNLESS the intemperate zeal of some of the English newspapers is moderated, what at present is a mere difference between the Ignited States and Canada may aevelope into a source of serious contention between our American cousins and ourselves. The Fisheries Commission, to which we had looked for a settlement of the dispute between Canada and the States, has proved a failure, and the original difference is branching out into wide and ever wider ramifications. Mr CHAMBERLAIN returned home elated at having achieved what he fondly imagined was a splendid diplomatic triumph. But his joy was short-lived. The convention was unceremoniously rejected by the Senate, and the insubstantial structure which the ex-Radical leader and his fellow- commissioners had surveyed with philo- progenitive pride tumbled to pieces. The fisheries question has, by the sheer force of circumstances, come to occupy a prominent place in the American electoral campaign which is now being prosecuted. Whilst the commission was still sitting the campaign had begun and the financial policy of President CLEVELAND, "who is anxious to lead his countrymen from the labyrinthine paths of protection, was being discussed on every platform from New Jersey to Arizona. The PRESIDENT'S policy was denounced as having been conceived in the interests of England, and as tending inevitably to reduce the American working man to indigence and poverty. The Fisheries Treaty was seized upon as illustrative of the same unpatriotic policy of subordinating American to British interests. Whilst the Republicans were shouting themselves hoarse over the turpitude and delinquency of the Democrats, President CLEVELAND cleverly out-man- oeuvred his opponents. If, he declared with reference to the fisheries question, you will not have an amicable arrangement, then let us go in for a retaliatory policy hot and strong. By this pronouncement he has effectively dispelled the imputation that he is a subservient tool of Great Britain, and robbed the stock arguments of the Repub- licans of half their cogency, President CLEVELAND'S is an intelligible if not an exalted policy and doubtless he considers himself justified in having recourse to this dernier ressort with a view to the discomfiture of his enemies. These, then, are the facts and this the position as it affects England. Unfortu- nately a section of our press has chosen to disregard the circumstances, to look upon President CLEVELAND'S action as something more serious than an electioneering artifice, and to call for irfeasures by this government which shall be short, sharp, decisive. The Standard, a sober paper, the conduct of which is not usually characterised by monu- mental folly, has actually been talking about the despatch of British ironclads to American shores. By this means it is sought to make a trifling question of internal policy a cause of estrangement between two great countries. At no time in history have the relations of England and her prosperous offshoot been more cordial than at present. We have come to understand each other better, to make allowance for each other's angularities, and to respect each other's virtues. It would be lamentable if the rhodomontade of English jingoism were now permitted to sow discord. It is this spirit of jingoism which has been the curse and bane of our foreign policy. Jingoism—though it is almost an anachronism to say so, the term not then having come into vogue-jingoism, we say, was the principal cause of that wasteful and purposeless war in the Crimea; jingoism rendered possible the "bastard imperialism" of Lord BEACONSFIELD. Thirty years ago Mr GLADSTONE made war against it with all the fervour of his nature. I:) We would ask to-day, as Mr GLADSTONE asked then, is it for us to arrogate to ourselves the post of universal schoolmaster 1 It is the same hateful outcome of our insular vanity which to day jeopardises the relations between ourselves and the great western republic. A war which was the outcome of a trivial difference -'Teh as that connected with American lisin-ries would be more ridiculous than that which Dean SWIFT,with magnificent satire, described as taking place between the Big EnàiaDa" and the Little-Endians." But to talk of war in this connection is almost criminal. It was our own ancestors who three hundred years ago bore across the Atlantic the white blossom of a pure religious faith." And to-day the British and American people rejoice in the same aspirations, are animated by the same high hopes, have a common literature and a common tongue. These are not fragile ties, and they will doubtless be equal to the strain imposed on them by the pressure of this controversy. -r

THE MERTHYR VACANCY. TO THE EDITOR. SIB,—As an outsider, I hesitated to address you with reference te the Merthyr vacancy, until the numerous letters of the last few days have reminded me of the" safety which comes from "a multitude of counsellors." My object in writing is not to urge the claims of any one of the many geotlemen who have been mentioaed as "fat and and proper persons for the seat. It is rather as a Welshman, who cannot help feeling interested in the choice of a successor to the late Mr Henry Richard, that I wish to emphasize two or three points for the consideration both of the working men and of the Liberal Association of the district. The best tribute of respect which the Merthyr electors can pay to the memory of their late member is to select as his successor a person after his own heart-one whose political aud religious principles are in harmony with those of Mr Richard himself. And first among the quali- hcations which we require in anyone f wai8p»0a- t0L succeed the "member for Wales is that he should be a Welsh Nationalist to the core. It may be plausibly argued, perhaps, that the election of an eminent English politician would confer much honour on Merthyr but such honour, I venture to think, would be rooted in the dishonour both of the dead T M! RT'S dishonour of the memory oft. M' Ru>hard, as well as of that living nationality which he did so much to quicken. The Gower election and other signs of the tunes teach U8 that, in Welsh constituencies, the.days of clever Englishmen are past. Let us have men who are pledged to be Welshmen first, and, if necessary, members of the English Liberal party only afterwards, aud "on terms." And no opportunist profession of sympathy with Welsh nationality ought to suffice for that real patriotism which is the life-blood of "young Wales- May we suggest one simple test of this profession ? boveral of the gentlemen suggested as candidates, happen to live in London. VVe are fhv w H te,Dd8 th-atthey in thorough sympathy with the aspirations of the Youne Wales party. Now. this party is represented in Lonaon by theCymru Fydd Society, and itis-a pertinent question enough to ask how manv of these gentlemen have in the past given nrnof of their interest, in Welsh politics by joining in the work of. tholr fellow-nationalists of the Cymru Fydd, in London. There certainly lurks a kind of suspicion about any London Welshman who, on occasions like the present, is loud in his professions ef sympathy with the efforts of Welsh nationality, but whose enthusiasm at other times is lukewarm enough to permit him to ignore the national organisation which liia fellow-country- men have established at bis very door in the metropolis itself. A careful examination should va made of the political record of such man both out of as well as in Wales. Their profession and the testimony of friends are not enough. Let their public lives in the past furnish us with proof of their intense national feeling in the present. Again, we should expect Mr Richard's successor to be a Nonconformist both by education and conviction. In this respect, too, no mere pro- fession of sympathy with religious liberty should be enough. It is difficult ior a. Churchman, however sound a Kadical be may be In his general politics, to sympathise thoroughly with a Welsh Nonconformist at every turn of circumstances in his life. Welsh disestablishment would now have been an accomplished fact if Nonconformists. like Mr Richard, had been returned to the House instead of men, who, while professing adherence to the principle of religious equality, still remain Churchmen in sympathies and prejudicei, Non- conformist Wales will never get justice meted to it until it sends Nonconformist members to represent it in the House of Commons. And the life of .that most excellent Welshman, Mr Richard, points to another qualification which we in Wales ought in particular to em- phasise, though the tendency has unfortunately been towards ignoring in the past. I mean that our parliamentary representatives should not only profess and call themselves Christians," as most of them do—in public at all events-but their whole lives should be inspired and guided by the living principles of the New Testament. Some ono said that, excepting the late Mr Richard, there were very few in the House of Commons who made tho smallest pretence of literally squaring their politics by the precepts of the Bible. So much the worse for the House of Commons and the country generally, and so much the worse for Merthyr too. if its next representative be not a gentleman imbued with those Christian principles which adorned the life of Mr Henry Richard. One word more with reference to a labour candidate. If possible, return a labour represen- sative by all means, but be sure he is sush as can make bis voice heard and win the ear of the House of Commons, else his return will be of little avail to labour interests, and very damaging to the cause of Welsh nationality. But if such cannot be found, let not the workmen distrust everybody but themselves. The best work in the interests of labour has often been done by outside friends. The present member for Gower, being a lawyer by profession, can hardly he called a labour representative in the technical sense of the term, but, by bis Preferential Pay- ment of Wages Bill he bt\$ already given good promise of valuable service to the cause of the working men of this country. If a second Mabon cannot be found at present, let the workiug men be liberal enough to select the beat man, regardless of the question whether he be a workman himself or not. Welsh Nonconformity and Welsh Home Rule have their claims on Merthyr; Jet not a too exclusive view of the labour question, and a selfish jealousy of their own rights, lead the electors to forget that the àutý which they have to perform is one they owe to Welsh nation wity at large.—I am, tc.f JL). LLEUFER THOMAS. Llandilo.

DEATH OF MR R.A. PROCTOR. [CENTRAL NEWS TELEGRAM ] NEW YORK, Wednesday Night.—Mr Richard Anthony Proctor, the well-known English astronomer and scientist, died here to-night from an attack of yellow fever. He arrived in this city on Monday from FlorIda, and intended to sail for Europe on Saturday. Mr Proctor was in his 52nd year. "Men of the Time" gives the ollowiog bio- graphical sketch of the deceased gentleman Richard Anthony Proctor, B.A., was born at Chelsea, M'uch 23, 1837, and in boyhood was educated cbiefly at home, haviog had bad health for several years; subsequently he pursued his studies at King's College, London, and St John's College, Cambridge, He graduated as 23rd Wrangler in 1860, He was appointed an honorary Fellow of King's College, London, in 1873, and Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society, in 1866. He was appointed Honorary Secretary of that society, and editor of its Proceedings, in February, 1872, but resigned these offices in Nov., 1873. Having analysed results collected by the Herscbels, Struve, and others, and carried ont a series of original researches, including the con- struction of a chart of 324,000 stars, Mr Proctor was led to a new theory of the structure of the stellar universe investigated the conditions of the Transits of Venus in 1874 and 1882, and published many illustrative charts. He maintained, on theoretical grounds, in 1869, the since established theory of the solar corona, and also that of the inner complex solar atmosphere afterwards discovered by Young of America. Among his works are —Saturn and its System," 1865; "Handbook of 3tars,"and"Gnotnonic Stor Acia*, 1866; "Half- bours with the Telescope," iMS Half-hours with Stars," 1869 Light Science for Leisure Hours," and "Elementary Astronomy," 1871; "Borderland of Scienco," and second series of "Light Science," 1873; and "Transits of Venus," 1874 third edition, 1878. In 1879 Mr Proctor left England for America and Austra- lasia. He lectured in all the principle towns of Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania, and New Zealand. He started Knowledge," as a weekly journal in 1881, but altered it to the monthly form in 1885. Since 1878 bo has published several volumes of essays on scientific and general subjects, two treatises on "Whist," and one on "Strength and Happiness."

MINISTERIAL CHANGES IMMINENT. The following Ministerial changes are announced in the Star as impending in the course of the next few weeks :—Mr W. H. Smith to be elevated to the peerage as V iscount Henle,. retaining the office of First Lord of the Treasury, Mr Goschen will assume the leadership of the House of Commons. Sir Michael Hicks-Beach will probably be raised to the peerage. Baron De Woyas is spoken of in Government circles as likely to succeed to the presidency of the Board of Trade.

ATTACKED BY A HEIFER AT MONMOUTH. Mr Arthur Webb, who occupies a farm of 800 acres at Hnntsholm, and is senior partner in a butchery business at Monmoutb, received severe injuries on Friday evening. It appears that Mr Webh had a heifer and a calf in a meadow on his farm. He went to see the animals, and found that the calf had fallen into a ditch. He was proceeding to extricate the young animal, when the heifer ran at him and gored him. He was taken home, where it was found that he bad been badly injured. On Saturday Mr Webb was much better.

HOLLOWAY'S OINTMENT AND PILLS. — These remedies are unequalled throughout the world for bad legs, wounds, foul sores, bad breasts, and ulcers. Used according to directions given with them, there is no wound, bad leg, or ulcerous sore, however obstinate or long standing, but will yield to their healing and curative properties. Many poor sufferers who have been patients in the large hospitals under the care "II eminent surgeons and have derived little or no benefit from their treatment, have been thoroughly cared by Holloway's Ointment and Pills. Foe glandular swell- ings, tumours, piles," and diseases pt the skin there is nothing that can be used with so much benefit. In fact, in the worst forms of disease, dependent upon the condition of the blood, these medicines, used con< jointly, are irresistible.

THE CARDIFF PHILHARMONIC MUSIC-HALL. At the Cardiff annual licensing sessions on Tuesday, Mr Abel Thomas, barrister, intimated that notice had been given to the pro- prietors of the Philharmonic Music-hall, Cardiff, of an objection to a renewal of their license. and he presumed, therefore, that the bench would hear the opponents to the license before renewing it. Mr Arthur Lewis, barrister, said that he appeared in support of the liconse of the Phil- harmonic, and respectfully submitted that there was no machinery in that court to enable his friend to come before the bench in bis present capacity. The license was a peculiar one, as they were no doubt aware. It was granted upon conditions. The only manner in which a man could come there was by complaint against the manager for misconduct of the hall, or I for a Breach of the conditions upon which the licease was granted. The complaint should not be made before the bench as a licensing committee, but before them as justices, and upon those grounds he submitted that his friend had no lacus standi. There bad been no complaint against the ball to the magistrates, either by the pelice or the public, of any breach of the conditions on which the license was granted. Mr A. Thomas argued that he had quite as much locus standi there now as be would have had when the license was first applied for. The Deputy-Stipendiary: This is an annual license, renewable from year to year, and therefore we are in a position to hear anyone on tho part of the applicant for the renewal, or against the renewal. I don't think that at this stage of the proceedings we can refuse to listen to Mr Abel Thomas, Mr Abel Thomas said he should prove in the first place in this matter that the structure was dangerous, but really the point upon which he should approach the bench with every coufideuca was that it bad been conducted beyond doubt in in as disgraceful and disgusting a manner as was possible. He would show that by a gentlemen who went there and took down what was said and sung on these premises and he ventured to think there was no music-hall in Great Britain where such songs could have been sung and such indecent suggestions made. When they remem- bered where this music-hall was placed, and that the class of people frequenting it, the people who usually went to hear indecent songs, nightly poured out into the main street of Cardiff, he ventured to think that the license was granted on the understanding that it would be conducted as a decent place uf entertainment, like most of the music-halls of London, and not be a place where nothing but bawd was heard from beginning to end. He should not be justified iu repeating the words of these songa during his opening remarks. He assumed that his friend would try and prove these words were not uttered. He (Mr Thomas) hoped he would, because be thought it a disgrace for any person connected with this establishment to have bad songs such as those suug and such sug- gestions made; and if any decent woman in the town of Cardiff should have gone to that music- hall when Mr Goorge Beauchamp was there, and if a person knew that woman and knew she had gone into that place, they would never meet her in society from that time forward. He ventured to think the bench would say this was not a fit place to have a license however well conducted it might be, in the sense that no riots occurred there, and that drunken people were always turned out. He would call witnesses, and if the bench believed them he thought they would come to the conclusion that this license should not be renewed. He called t Mr George Thomas, who said he was a member of the firm of Seward and Thomas, architects, and had had largo experience of the construction of public halls. He kuew the Philharmonic Music- naii. it a fare happened on the stage or a panic set in he would not be surprised if there were great loss of life owing to the defective width of the passage adjoining the stage, and the stairs leading to the balcony. The doors were also hung on a bad principle. Robert Harold Seal (clerk to Messrs Jenkins, Clarke, and Teasdale) said he was a shorthand clerk. He went to the Philharmonic on the 39th 30th, and 31st of August, and the 1st of September. On neither of those nights, with the exception jf the 1st of September, was the dodr leading to the lane open. Witness then produced the notes taken by him of some songs sung by Mr George Beauchamp on the nights he visited the Philharmonic. Mr A. Lewis said this place had been carried on as a music hall, under the auspices of Mr Jackson, the present holder of the license, since the September sessions of last year, and during that time not a single whisper or complaint bad been made with regard to the class of entertainment and the conduct of the people whe frequented the hall. The police had a right of access to the building, and if the entertainment was of such a nature as to offend the prejudices of people, some sort of complaint would have originated before the 20th of August. There was the singular fact that no complaint was made with regard to the conduct of proceedings in the hall until after the deter- mination of the action in a (superior court, in which Mr Jenkins was the plaintiff and Mr Jackson, the present respondent, was tha defendant. Mr Jenkins, who posed as an eminent purist, and a protector of the morals of Cardiff, did not make a sound about the entertainment at the Philharmonic until after that action. The Stipendiary: The only evidence, I take it, which it will be necessary for, you to call is evidence as to the good conduct of the hall. That is all we shall require at present. Chief-Constable Hemingway was then called. He said he attended under a Crown Office subpoena. His constables bad free access to the Pbilbarmonio at night. During tbe wholo of the time be had been chief constable he had never had any complaint against the hall. Cross-examined: He said it had never been reported to him that the songs sung were obscene. Superintendent Price, of the Cardiff force, said he passed the Philharmonic every night. No complaints had been made to him about it. He himself bad been in and out of the house for short periods every night. The Rev John Morris, rising in court, said be wished to speak as a ratepayer. Mr Arthur Lewis objected. The Stipendiary: We are not now deal- ing with a license under the Licensing Act. It is a local act and I don't, think that you (Mr Morris) are entitled to address the bench. Mr L. Reece: In all probability the gentleman has never been to the Philharmonic. (Laughter.) The court adjourned, and after consulting about ten minutes returned into court, when the Mayor said: I have been desired by the bench to state that they have very carefully considered the renewal of this application, and that they are fully satisfied in their own minds that the songs which have been sung from time to time in this place of amuse- ment are not such as to be very elevating to the morals of the youth of this town. Ihe magistrates desire me also to call attention to the terms of the license, in accordance with which, in the event of any repetition of such conduct, they will—when an application again comes to be made for a renewal— seriously take into consideration whether they will grant the renewal or not. We desire this to be a caution to the proprietors. The license is granted thill year. The decision was received with some applause from a section of the audience.

A CARDIFF CHAPEL BROKEN INTO. At Cardiff police-court, on Wednesday--before Mr Goodwich (deputy-stipendary) and Mr Richard Cory—Robert Taylor (15), William Henry Harding (14), and Frederick E. J.. Morgan (12) were charged with breaking into the Wesleyan chapel at Conway-road, forcing open a desk, and stealing a missionary fex containing Is 7 £ d, and a scarf, on the 1st inst. Mr George Merrils Sanders, son of Mr Councillor Sanders, and secretary of the Sunday School at Conway-road, stated that on Sunday week he placed the missionary box in the desk, and on the 6th inst. he found that it had been broken into and the money stolen. From the evidence of a little boy, who had himself taken part in the affair, it appeared that there were five boys in all, and that they got in at one of the windows in search of what they could find. Huiing ransacked the missionary box, and finding noChing else of any value to them, they resolved to spend the night there. They got out early next morning, but not unperceived. When the theft was discovered, suspicion tell on the three prisoners, who were arrested. Taylor was a boy with a very bad character. He bad been in the habit of stealing money for some time, and of spending it in Cardiff, Newport, and elsewhere. When arrested he had more than 8s in his possession.—Morgan was discharged, Taylor was sentenced to three weeks' imprisonment, and Hardmg to 14 days' imprisonment.

SERIOUS ASSAULT AT SWANSEA; On Monday, at the Swansea police-court, Catherine Halliday, a single woman, living at Mill street, was charged with cutting a$d wounding William James with a pop bottle in a house in Baptist Well-street, on the 8th inst. The prosecutor's face presented a most painful sight. His nose seemed to be held to his face by tbe plalster which surrounded it. The top of his head was also damaged, and across his forehead there was a long cut. He said he came to Swansea on Saturday with an excursion. He was a collier, and lived at Ystradgynlais. During Saturday he went about the town drinking. He went in company with prisoner and some other woineu into a public-bouse, where he called for a quart of beer, and put down a shilling to pay for it. One of the girls took the coin up, and they all ran out of the house. Witness followed them to a private bouse, and asked them for the shilling. Without any words passing between them, prisoner threw a bottle at him, which struck him on the forehead, cutting through his bat. She then threw another bottle at him, this time striking him on the top of his head. Complainaut also received a serious blow on the nose. He became insensible.—This evidence having been corroborated, the Sti- pendiary, in sentencing the prisoner, said the assault was sudden and unpremeditated, but at the same time was a very bad one. Prisoner would be sent to prison for six weeks.

SHOCKING ACCIDENT IN A QUARRY. A shocking accident occurred near Holy wood, CO. Down, on Thursday. Two men,named Grainger and Allen, were blasting in a stone quarry, when they were both injured by an explosion, Allen, it is feared, fatally.

MR MATTHEWS AS HOME SECRETARY. The newspaper sensation of Wednesday Wt&8 the violent attack by the rabidly Tory Daily Telegraph on Mr H. Matthews. As to tha reorganization of the detective force, the Daiif Telegraph says that it cannot, while referring to the bounden duty of the Government, shrinks from the painful but imperatively necessary of warning Lord Salisbury that the public art altogether discontented with, and will sooft; become uncontrollably impatient of. the presence at the Home Office of Mr Matthews. The fact can be no longer disguised that thlJ. Hume Secretary now in office is a source ot miserable weakness and discredit to the present Administration. In the House of Commons hi- has b«>en nothing more nor less than a. fantastic failure. In the provinces he is scarcely known even by name and when the provincials de become aware of him it is only to mistrust him" and to express disrespectful and indignant astonishment that a Government, otherwise sa « capable and so popular, should drag with it & dead weight of so much vacillation, so much ineptitude, and so many frankly uaive confessions of crass ignorance concerning things of which the most commonplace Home Secretary ought to be fully cognizant." As the Telegraph has hitherto supported the Tory Ministry and ali its under- lings through thick and thin, language like thl' is regarded as peculiarly significant.

MAGIS rnA TE AND FOREIGN LABOUR. At Worship-street police court on Wednesday, a man applied to Mr Saunders on behalf of another man for a summons for wages,—Mr Saunders: Why doesn't tho man speak tor himself?—Applicant: He can't.—M# Saunders Why Mt ? Applicant: Hø IS a Pole.—Mr Saunders: Weii, theft let him go to Poland. —The applicant was about to leave the box when the Inagistrate said he had better explain the matter. The man then saul that the Pole s nuster—a Jewish tailor-had not paid his wages, aud kept putting him off frortl week to week,—Mr Saunders The Pole has nO business in this country he is taking the bread out of the mouths of Euglishtnen. You may have a summons, but I hope you won'r. succeed. Commenting on Mr Saunders's remarks in this case, the Daily News says This is hardly worthy of an intelligent Englishman, much less of a magistrate on the bench. Whether measures ought to be taken for checking the stream offoreifc" workmen into this country is a subject on which great diversity of opinion exists but there ought to be no doubt among sensible persons that so long as we permit foreigners to settle among us. they should be subject to the same laws and entitled to the same justice as Englishmen. Sucty observations from one in Mr Saunders's position cannot possibly do any good they may resul' much mischief, and they ought to be by every man capable of taking more than 1W very narrowest view of international relation3"1"'

THE RAILWAY ACCIDENT IN FRANCE. Nearly all the persons who are in the hospital at Dijon under treatment for the injuries which they received in the terrible railway accident at Velars are reported to be doing fairly well. Captain Marriott canuot move, and is attended by an Eugiish nurse. His relative* Colonel Bartholomew, is also with him, and he is visited occasionally by compatriots. The Swiss-American, Mariotta, whose and face were broken, has get on so well, despite his apparently desperate condition, that was able to walk, from a stretcher 10 which he was carried, several steps in ordef to reach his bed. The engine-driver of the train—Tbuillier—whose skull wa|| severely injured, is alson in a fair way to recover. The the machines, and on Tuesday the arm of the unlucky engine-driver—Stingel—was picked up under the broken locomotive. After having been placed in a wooden box it was buried in the Velars cemetery. Among other objects founu under the ironwork were a valise and several pencil and water-colour sketches which baa belonged to Miss Marriott; a lady's gold watco with chain and locket in a black siik dress gold .brooch with pearls a gold bracelet W1 three gems, and several money securities and family documents. The gold watch had stopped exactly at twenty minutes past two o'clock—about the time of the collision.

NARROW ESCAPE OF A THEATRE. The Olympic Theatre, Wyeh-street, Strand,h»d a narrow escape from destruction on Wednesday? About half an hour after the audience, who had been witnessing the performance of The Ticket V Leave Man, had lefs the building the fireman* Henry Snare, who was closing the place, smelt fire. On proceeding to the dressing-room be discovered from the office window that a fire -was furiously raginff in the adjoining premises ownei by a MisS Norton, a wardrobe dealer. He endeavobred prevent the flames from attacking the theatfj which was in imminent danger, with a hft0 pump which he directed from the office wiitdo^j Finding that the flames were too strong, 011 the main hose, and with assistance dlreCtbe his efforts from the front of the premises. ln meantime Sergeant Bosley, of the E Division, Edward Ayre effected an entrance, and rescue If frcm the premises Mr and Mrs Simmonds an their daughters, the only occupants ot the housa The premises were gutted, aud the stage and scenery of the Olympic was much damaged by water and removal.

CRUELTY TO A LUNATIC. The case of the pauper lunatic, Joseph Barbour, ot coitou, who died six hours after admission to Lancaster Asylutn in June last, as a result, it waS alleged, of gross cruelty, was again before the Bolton guardians on Wednesday, when a report in which several officers were severely censured was unanimously adopted. It will be remembered that Barbour was taken to the Bolton Workhouse strapped down in a cab and struggling violently. Fit a.fter fit attacked him during the night, he having neariy 20 in succession, but he was left in charge of a papuper, and no medical attendant was called in. A certificate had been given the previous day that be was fit for removal, hut this had been dated forward, and though the man was suffering from extreme exhaustion, he was removed to the asylum, where he died.—The Chairman of the Investigation Committee said- they had taken steps to prevent such an affair occurring again.

'iLLEGED USE OF THE KNIFE AT MEKTIIYfi. Eleanor Owens was charged at Merthyr police- court on Monday with wounding Margaret and Gwen Walters with a knife in Ynysgau on Sunday evening.-—Margaret Walters, servant at the Canal House beerhouse, said that on going home from the Canal House she found her mother (Gyven Walters) and the prisoner quarrelling. Prisoner called her brother bad names, and witness told her not to do so, whereupon prisoner went up to her with a knife and struck sevjlral blows with it. Once prisoner struck her on the chest, and ouce on the arm, cutting her each time. She tried to push prisoner back with her right band, and prisoner caught one of her nngers in her mouth and bit it. She did not strike prisoner on the face before she cut her. She might have scratched her face. At Gwen Walters was not now present, prisoner was remanded fot her attendance, bail being refused.

SERIOUS FIRE AT NEATH. At 2.45 on Wednesday morning, P.O. Vincent Jones discovered that a fire bad broken out at tha Engineering Works and Foundry of Mr Oliver H. Thomas. Information was at once given to P.S. Jones, who, accompanied by P.C.'s Jones and Evans (7), immediately proceeded to the scene of the conflagration with the hose and reel and the fire queen extincteur. The stage attached to the cupola was found to be on fire. A good volume of water was immediately brought y.P011 the burning material, and after about halt an hour's hard work the fire was got completely under. Had the fire not been dis- covered m good time, the workshop and timber. yard of Mr Abraham George, which adjoins the premises of Mr Thomas, would undoubtedly have been destroyed. Great praise is due to the police for their promptitude.

FATAL ACCIDENT AT BREOON, Very early on Saturday morning a young man named William Griffiths, who resided in the Watton, Brecon, and who was employed by tho Cambrian Railway Company as engine cleaner. met with a fatal accident, being caught between the buffers of an engine and a truck at the goods statiou. The unfortunate young man was carried to the Brecon Infirmary, but expired iu a short time,

A WOMAN DROWNED AT NEWPORT. On Saturday evening a married woman, named Welsh, residing with her husband in Dean-street, Barnardtown, fell into one of the brick ponds near Bristol-street, and was drownod. The remains were not recovered until the following morning. Deceased had been to market, and is supposed to h.ive mistaken the turning leading to her houee. In the darkness she fell into the water.

Mr Ruskin, in a preface to Mr It T. Cook's Handbook to the National Gallery," just) published, says that the National Gallery is without question the most important collection of paintings in Europe for the purpose of the general student. Mr Ruskin says '• When I last lingered in the Gallery before my old favourites, I thought them more wonderful than over before but as I draw towards the close of life I feel that the real world is more wonderful yet; that painting has not yet fulfilled half her mission—she has told us only of the heroism of men and the happiness of angels; she may perhaps record in future the beauty of a world .whose mortal inhabitants are happy, and which angels may be glad to visit."