Welsh Newspapers
Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles
20 articles on this Page
Advertising
Fuller BIRTILL AND COMPANY, CARRIAGE BUILDERS, CUSTOM HOUSE-STREET, CARDIFF, INVITE INSPECTION OF THEIR LARGB AND VARIED i COLLECTION OF i CARRIAGES, ) LIGHT, STYLISH, AND DURABLE. I A large number of good Second-hand Carriages Always on Sale. Inspection made and Estimates given for Repairs Free. CARRIAGES SOLD ON COMMISSION OR 14044 TAKEN IN EXCHANGE. TELEGRAMS "CARRIAGES, CARDIFF." 4098
Advertising
rtraWISFt TI«tOTT(?MOUT TRMV.1 I OETZMAJOF&CO. ¡ 67, 69, 71, 73, 7b. 77, <fc 79, DAMPSIEAD.ROAD, LONDON [ (Near Tottenham Court-road), j BEDROOM FURNISHED COMPLFTE for £ 5 5#. j Illustration and Fall Particulars Post Free. | Thf '-VALTilAM' ASU BEDROOM SUITE, £ 5 15s. I iluscrati'iii »nd Fuil Particulars Post Free. I BKDROOM FURNISHED COMPLETE for C8 18, 6d, Illustration and Full Particulars Post Free. The "LYNTON" DRAWING-BOOM SUiTE r (Set,lee an l 2 Easy Chairs) for B5 los fed. OUDKRS PER POST RECEIVE PROMPT AND CAREFUL ATTENTION. 4100 ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE POST FREK
EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY.
BY MABON, M.P. EMPLOYERS' LIABILITY. This being the second question in im- portance to the workmen of the country that ViS dsaaand the attention of Parliament, if the Government can afford the time necessary to deal with it, is my reason for returning to it just now. The liability of a master for his servant's act may arise either out of the contracts that the servant has entered into on his master's behalf, or out of wrongs, on in- quiries, which the servant, in the course of his employment, may have committed, and as this subject is a long one it will be ad- visable to deal with it from two separate standpoints, the master, as is understood in a special sense, and employers in the general sense. THE SERVANT'S POWER AS HIS MASTERS REPRESENTATIVE. Every servant has power—unless under special agreement to the contrary—to con- tract in his master's name and on his behalf. There is one qualification to the rule that a servant can bind his master, and that is that the servant must be acting within the scope of his authority, and within the particular purpose he was employed for. The rule is that the authority of a servant is co-extensive with his usual employment, and- the scope of his authority is to be measured by the extent of his employment. Moreover, the authority must be given in one of three ways, and expressed either by deed, by writing, or by word of mouth. In the next place, the master's authority may be given by ratification—that is, where the master has recognised and adopted a contract entered into on his behalf by his servant, he will be equally liable upon it as if he had previously expressly authorised it. In the third place, the master's authority may be implied, as has been already men- tioned, for the mere hiring of a servant in most cases gives the servant authority to make contracts with other persons in the course of his employment, and those other persons, knowing of the employment, are entitled to presume that the authority is given it, and so to make the master liable on a contract entered into by them with his servant—though it be a fraudulent con- tract on the servant's part—for it is the fule of law, founded on natural justice, that where one of two innocent persons must suffer by the fraud of the third, he who enabled that third person to commit the fraud should be the sufferer. EXPRESS AUTHORITY. r Some of the most serious questions often times depend upon three exceptions, namely :—Express authority, ratification, and implied authority. Hence they call for brief special attention. With regard, then, to express authority, it is very seldom that such autho- rity is given to a servant by deed or by any .formal document, but if it is, as by a power of attorney, the act to be done by the servant will nearly always be a special act, and not within a servant's ordinary scope of authority, and in such case it will be incum- bent upon every person who deals with him to inquire whether the servant has authority to bind the master in that transaction. Express authority may be, and is very often, given by word of mouth, as when a Blaster orders his servant to do things connected with the service which but for such orders would not be within the ordin- ary scope of his authority; then the servant will be considered 30 have all such authority as is necessary for transacting the business entrusted to him, and, as is Usually, entrusted to servants em- ployed in a like capacity. But the servant must not exceed his authority, or the master will not be bound though, if the instructions of the master oblige him to exceed his authority over and above the •ordinary extent of his employment, the master in that case would be bound. This express authority will, as already said, only extend to the particular purpose and occa- sion for which it is given, and it may be revoked either expressly by deed or writing, or by the death of the person giving the authority. RATIFICATION. Ratification may almost be said to be a species of express authority, the difference being that in the latter case the authority is given before, and in the former it is given after the transaction, but they agree in that both must be expressed, and both the transactions must be entered into in the master's name. For instance, if a servant Unauthorised makes a contract on behalf of his employer with any other person, which afterwards his employer, or master rather, adopts, it will be quite as good as if the transaction had originally been made with his master's authority. There are two con- ditions necessary to make a ratification com- plete. The first is that the servant must have entered into the contract in his master's frame and on his behalf; and, secondly, the master must ratify the whole contract. With regard to the first, the master cannot ratify, and so adopt a contract which the servant has entered into on his own behalf and secondly, a master cannot ratify part of a transaction and not the rest, he must ratify all or none. IMPLIED AUTHORITY. The authority of the servant to bind his master in certain transactions is implied in all cases where the master holds out his servant to the public as his agent, as by allowing him to act with the reserve authority of servants, or by suffering him, to assume a certain position or appearance in which he would, according to the usual course of business, have the authority to do certain transactions. That is to say, a master will, by allowing his servant to order goods on credit, give that servant authority to order goods of the like descrip- tion on the master's credit, and even though the purchase of such goods does not usually form part of such servant's duties for send- ing him upon trust the first time, and ratify- ing the contract by paying for the goods is sufficient authority for the tradesmen for giving him further credit. I remember a case where a master was in the habit of giving his servant money every Saturday night to defray the charges of the past Week, and the servant on one occasion kept the money, and did not pay the bills. It Was decided that the master was liable for it was said the master, at his peril, ought to take care servant he employs, and it is More reasonable that he should suffer for the cheating of his servant was tJtat strangers or tradesmen should so suffer, This, as will be seen, follows the precepfe previously stated, that when one of two tnnocent persons must suffer by the fraud of a third, he who enabled that third person to commit the fraud should be the sufferer, and upon this the whole law on this subject rests; and in each of these cases the liability May be decided by finding out whether either of the innocent persons was to blame, and if the tradesman was not to blame then the master will be liable, but if the tradesman is to blame then that will be taken into account in determing the master's liability. REVOKING AUTHORITY. There are two ways of revoking a servant's Authority—either by express notice being given to the person with whom the servant deale, or by the deeds of the master. discharge of a servant is not Sufficient to revoke his authority, for suppose a servant come to H tradesman and order things as u,'ual, how is that tradesman to know that the servant had been discharged that truing; but, of course, if it were proved <hat he did know, then he would not be .>unified in giving him croods on his master's crwht. ° Lastly When a servant has been given Either express nor implied authority, he 'cannot pledge his master's credit; for lnstance, who™» master aarreed to allow butcher to serve him with meat at a certain price for ready money, and the cook used to order the meat, and the master paid the bill weekly, and this went on for a long time, until the master got a dishonest cook, who embezzled the money, and the butcher, though not paid, still continued to supply the meat, it was held that the master was not liable, and the judge in this case is reported to have said Nothing can be clearer than that where a man gives his servant money to pay for commo- dities as he buys them if the servant pockets the money, the master will not be liable to pay it over again. But if the master employs his servant to buy things on credit, he will be liable to whatever extent the servant shall pledge his credit."
THE PROPOSED MINERS' WEEKLY…
THE PROPOSED MINERS' WEEKLY HOLIDAY. TO THE EDITOR. SIR,-As a. natural outcome of the circulars issued to the steam coal miners of Monmouthshire and South Wales, the advisability or otherwise of adopting a weekly holiday will be a theme of much discussion amongst miners during the cur- rent week, with what results it cannot be safely conjectured until the coming Aberdare conference. But it is evident that the miners under their pre- 9 sent favourable circumstances, are loth to arrive at a definite conclusion on the question. Since the sliding-scale meeting of the 4th instant I have been frequently interviewed by my fellow-workmen with a view of ascertaining the opinion of their representatives on the board upon the subject. In this theyare quite justified, for, having en- trusted their interests to a certain extent to the hands of the board, they Have a right to solicit their aid in moulding their opinions upon a sub- ject of such vital import. In each case there is no other answer but that the board collectively has not adopted any decisive policy. That there exists some diversity of opinion among them has already been manifested, for at the Aberdare and Merthyr district meeting held at Aberdare three months ago, the proposed weekly holiday was unani- mously rejected under the advice of Mr David Morgan, whereas at a meeting of house-coal dele- gates held at Nelson later on it was with equal unanimity resolved, upon the advice of Mr Isaac Evans, to adopt the weekly holiday from the 1st of January next. There is not the least doubt in my mind but that both of these able leaders are actuated by the best of motives. They may both be right from their own standpoints, but the question we have to consider in our deliberations prior to and at the Aberdare conference is, which advice is, likely to prove the most conducive to the main- tenance of our present and future welfare as miners ? Without assuming that my personal opinion will have the least weight as compared with that of either of the above-named gentlemen, allow me to state that in my humble mind the adoption of the proposed holiday would prove to be most injurious to our present position. When we adopted the monthly holiday as a means of limiting the output, we were warned from different quarters not to "kill the goose that laid the golden eggs." Our answer then was that we were determined to kill the goose if she persisted in laying all the eggs in the same nest. But now that we nave succeeded in persuading the good old bird to change her instinctive habits, and to lay her eggs alternatively in the nest of labour, we should be very cautious indeed lest we kill the goose by too much doctoring. That the weekly holiday would greatly diminish the output is evidently proved by the shipping statistics of Mabon's week/, as compared with other weeks of the month. Now according to reliable authorities we have no reason to anticipate any near decrease in the demand for the produce of our labour. On the contrary, we are informed that comparatively heavy and lengthy contracts are being made at the present satisfactory prices, prices that will enable us to retain our present reasonable remuneration, and at the same time recoup our employers. Therefore, any drastic action on our part that would materially increase the cost of production would of necessity further inflate the price of coal to air extent that could not fail to interfere with the successful carrying on of other industries. We must always bear in mind that it is as much to our interest to keep as many markets open for the disposal of our labour as it is for us to receive high wages. In con- clusion, I venture to predict that, the majority of the steam coal miners of South Wales will concur with me that with our established monthly holi- day, a stricter adherence to the nine hours shift, until curtailed to eight, and taking full advantage of the provision of the Mines' Act to prevent the employment of inexperienced hands in our mines, and we need no further means to limit the output of coal.—I am, &c., T. DARONWY ISAAC. Treorky, Oct. 13, 1890.
HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES.
HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES. Mr Ritchie, President of the Local Government Board, has forwarded the following circular letter to the various county councils other than the London County Council "THE HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES ACT, 1890. Local Government Board, Whitehall, Oct. 3. "Sir,—I desire to draw the attention of the county council to the above act, which has con- solidated and amended the la w relating to artizans and labourers' dwellings and the housing of the working classes, and by which several new and important powers and duties have been given to county councils. I have to ask that the county council will carefully consider the provisions of the act, and particularly those to which reference is made in the accompanying memorauda, which deal with and explain the parts of the act which more par- ticularly concern county councils and rural sani- tary authorities. It will be seen that very large powers have been conferred by the act on rural sanitary authorities for the purpose of enabling them to improve the sanitary condition of the dwellings of the poor, and that the exercise of these powers has been placed under the supervision of the county councils, who on the default of the rural sanitary authorities are themselves authorised in certain cnses to take the matter in hand, and to msittute, at the cost of the authority, the necessary proceedings for the closing and demolition of in- sanitary dwellings, and the removal of buildings which, though not in themselves unfit for human habitation, are so situate that they make or con- duce to make other buildings to be in a condition unfit for human habitation, or dangerous or in- jurious to health, or prevent proper measures being carried into effect for remedying nuisances arising in connection with other buildings. "There can be no doubt that a very material improvement can be effected in the present con- dition of the dwellings of the labouring classes by a strenuous and judicious exercise of these powers; and I trust that the county council will fully realise the responsibility which has devolved on them of carefully considering all representations complaints, or information forwarded or sub- mitted to them with a view to their taking such steps as are contemplated by the act, in cases where the rural sanitary authorities have failed to perform their duties. I am, sir, your obedient servant, CHAS. T. RITCHIE. To the clerk of the county council."
CONSOLATORY.
CONSOLATORY. VtoriM: "Great Scott, you've pulled out the wrong tooth! DENTIST: "Oh, never mind; I won't charge for it."
[No title]
Some men are so covetous as if they were to live for ever; and others as profuse as if they were to die the next moment. It is unlucky to be struck by lightning on a Monday to sit on a circular saw in motion on Friday to break the mirror your wife's mother gave her to fall downstairs with the coal scuttle on Tuesday to speculate with other people's money and get caught; to get wet when you fall overboard whilst boating on Thursday; to see a bill collector over your right shoulder on Saturday; to see a bulldog over your left shoulder when you are m your neighbour's orchard to bet all your money on a horse whose rider has bet his money on another to marry on i Wednesday & girl who practices with ten-pound [ dumb-bells to spill salt in the coffee of the man f who has the carving knife to be one of sixteen at j table when there is only food for six; to meet a I,detective when you are buying a ticket for Liver- j pool; to call a Digger man than yourself hard j names any day in the week; to offend your best loved girl's little brotljerwhcgaw yotf ^iss another ittle boy's ejstWc
FACTS FOR FARMERS. t
FACTS FOR FARMERS. t Current Notes on Agriculture. By a Practical Farmer. RACK RENTING IN WALES. Certainly some of our landlords must be look- ing through powerful magnifying glasses when they gaze on the farming prospects of the prin- cipality. When farming was in the most deplorable state in the past these good folks saw rifts in the overhanging clouds, and every audit day prophised a speedy return of prosperity to the agriculturists. Now when other people only see a rift here and there which threatens now and then to close again, they with their magnifying lenses only see sunshine and a clear sky. From what I can gather, some of these optimists with such clear visions of the returned prosperity think it only equitable that they should have a share, and have given some of their tenants notices with that end in view. A SELF-SEEKING LANDLORD. One of them with a sight even keener than his brother landlords could even twelve months ago aee such prosperity that straightway, without loss of time, he intimated, by giving his tenants the formal notice to quit, that he was getting less than his share, and that the continuation of their relative positions as landlord and tenant would be subject to the condition of a 15 per cent. rise in rent. The tenants, failing to see things in such rosy hue as he did, unhesitatingly told him that it was useless to urge them to agree to such a proposal, that it was as much as they could do to fulfil their present obligations, and I am glad to say they firmly withstood every pressure to be wheedled into promising any advance in the rent, and, what was better still, nobody else came for- ward and offered to take these holdings at any price. This necessitated the landlord making the best of a bad job, and he got better terms than he deserved when he re-let the farms to the old tenants at the old price. But so positive is he of the prosperity which accompanies everything con- nected with farming at the present time, that the renewed agreement is to end next Michaelmas By that time he thinks either the sitting tenants will concede his increased demands, or that new tenants will be found that will give more rent. These farms were well advertised in the locality some six months ago, but no one was forthcoming to take them, a fact which proved either that the farms were already rented high enough, and that it was but utter ruin to give more than what the present tenants give, or that tenants as a class are going to stand by one another, that they begin to see their relative position and their duty to one another on such occasions. In the interests of tenant farmers, it is to be devoutly hoped that it was the latter con- sideration which weighed with them, and that in future tenants will be shy of taking any holding except on the clear understanding that the old tenants have had every fair play. A PLEA FOR WELSH LAND COURTS. As to the present prosperity, I am sorry to say, it is far from being real. It is simply absurd to think of advancing the rents under the present prospects. The ruling price of different farm produce is very low relatively to the cost incurred in producing, the only exception being store stock, which should not count, as these react dis- advantageously to the feeder. This latter class of farmers have found this year a ruinously poor one. Many will have to sell their fat stock for the same money as they paid for them in the spring. We hear the same complaint everywhere that arable land does not pay, and for the last couple of years graziers, too, have not found their busi- ness a remunerative one, through the low price of meat and dairy produce. With the price of butter ruling as low as 9d a. Ib. at our country markets through the past year, dairy farming cannot be a profitable calling with the present high rents. Had we the same privileges as Ire- land possesses in the form of land courts, with Government valuers attached, wo should have not an increase of rentals, but very soon a reduction of at least 25 per cent. The Mangel Crop. A farming contemporary remarks:—During the present month a good deal of time, both of men and horses, will be occupied by the harvesting of the mangel crop. It can hardly be said that the past season has been altogether favourable to the crop, the run of cold and wet weather experienced in July and August being entirely unsuited to its habits. Mangels abhor excessive wet and cold, and, when once up, like plenty of sun; in fact, no season can be too hot and droughty for them. September brought us splendid weather, but in some parts of the country the improved condition of climate came too late, and in many parts the mangels show signs that they have nearly completed their growth. It will be well, how- ever, not to be in too great a hurry to lift the crop, but to allow it to fully mature, for it is well known that mangels while growing contain much nitrogenous matter not yet converted into albuminoids or flesh-forming matter, and especially is this likely to be the case in the present autumn, following a wet and cold summer. Too great hurry in lifting the crop often results in consider- able loss. I remember a case some three years ago when mangels were lifted and stored before they had finished growing the result was that at least three fourths of them went bad in the heap. I would urge, therefore, that the mangels should this year be allowed a little extra time to grow they have plenty of top, and, when well provided with leaves, mangel is well able to resist any frost which may occur during the first half of the month. By about the third week we may expect that many of the leaves will have become yellow, showing that active growth has stopped, and that the crop is ready to bo pulled. Fine and dry weather is most essential for this operation, and on no account must the crop be stored while in a frosted condition better leave it a little longer than meddle with it when frost is on it, as frozen mangel is certain to rot in the heap. Mangels, however carefully handled, always get a certain amount of knocking about, and frozen mangels are likely to burst, or, at all events, their cells will be broken, their con- tents will be mingled together, and fermentation and decomposition will follow. The crop is al- ways an expensive one to deal with, and more labour and care are required than for the turnip crop. The Globe varieties can generally be pulled by hand, but the long varieties, especially when grown on the stronger loams and clays, fre- quently require forking out; on light soils, ploughing up is some times adopted. A plough is used from which the bresst is removed, leaving only the share,, and, drawn by one horse, this should be able to plough up enough to keep four fillers employed, and also give time to move the roots to one side to make room for the carts. In topping, usually done by women, the use of the knife must be strictly prohibited, as the top of the root itself is too frequently cut off, thereby causing it to bleed and rot in the heap. Moreover, the operators, unless very carefully looked after, are not above sticking the knife into the root for the purpose of raising it from the ground, being too lazy to stoop sufficiently to pick it up with the hand. The tops should be twisted off, but the roota do not require trimming, for a little sticking to them is rather an advantage, as it prevents the roots packing so closely in the heap. If the weather is fine the roots mav remain in the field for a few days unstored This will enable them to get rid of some of their moisture, and become fairly dry. If stored as soon as they are pulled, there is always a likelihood of thnir heating or sweating considerably. The Weather and the Crops. The Mark-lane Express of Monday says:— The threshings of wheat; barley, and oats pro- ceed apace, and the condition is generally good. English wheat, according to official prices, is 5s down from August, and but few millers succeed in getting 2s off the torms asked on any given samples a month ago. Good red wheat, which then held for 35s, now makes 33s per quarter, and eveni at well supplied markets there is nothing like a disposition on the part of farmers to clear at any price. Foreign wheat has not been selling very freely, but Califor- nian has recovered 9d to its September decline, and other sorts about 3d per quarter. Spring oom is now selling rather more exten- sively. Malting barley shows much variety, but there is quite an average proportion of good ser- viceable samples, which are readily bought at from 32s to 35s per quarter. Grinding barley has been a little cheaper at some ports, owing to the large ■ quantity which is now on passage. Oats show no recovery, though a. falling off in imports promises some relief of the recent severe pressure of arrivals on trade. With regard to maise, an im-
I WELSH GLEANINGS. I .
I WELSH GLEANINGS. I By Lloffwr. It is not, perhaps, so generally known as it should be that there are given at Cardiff University College a number of prizes yearly to ministerial students for special knowledge of Welsh. These prizes are given by a gen- tleman who does not wish to have his identity disclosed. Writing me this week he says :—"I particularly wish something could be done to induce our ministerial students to study their native language. The neglect of our denomina- tional colleges is, to my mind, most culp- able. Pulpit Welsh at the present day is very far from satisfactory, and with many men it unmistakably hinders the success of the gospel. Now, though this may appear at first sight a somewhat harsh verdict to pass, I fear I must endorse it. Modern pulpit Welsh is far from being what it should be, and it is the excep- tion rather than the rule to find ministerial students who, when preaching, do not offend a sensitive Welsh ear. It may be that there is less actual Dicshon-Davyddism among them than was the case some years ago, but there are still too many English words introduced. Then due attention is seldom paid to correct pronunciation cockneyism" of the Vale of Glamorgan, the misplacing of the "h" is painfully apparent, while those from some parts of South Wales transpose the functions of "y" and "u," while with others the" u" is invariably made to sound like "i," with the most absurd effect upon a trained ear. Another fault so common as to be almost universal among such students is the mispronuncia- tion of that beautiful Welsh word gweddio," which they see fit to curtail into an utterly alien word of two syllables, "gwedd-io," instead of in its correct and far more expressive form, "gwedd-i-o." These are only a few instances of what appear even to an ordinary listener as glaring defects, and I earnestly hope Brecon's" well-meant, well-timed, and generous attempt may prove successful. I append the full text of the circular bearing upon the subject:— THE "BRECON" WELSH PRIZES. The donor of these small prizes, while wishing to remain personally unknown, desires to explain that the object he seeks to attain by his modest gift, is to promote the systematic study of Welsh among those students who already possess a colloquial knowledge of the language. In the present condition of the country Welsh-speaking students have the peculiar advantage of being able by a moderate effort to acquire a thorough vernacular acquaint- ance with two languages. Such a power of thinking in two languages is an intellectual 'e endowment of the highest value and the observa- tion of their minute distinctions and delicate shades of meaning is calculated perhaps more than anything else to promote accuracy of thought and precision of expression. Morqpver, Welsh ajxd English, representing two groups of languages so dissimilar m structure as the Celtic and the Teutonic, are exceptionally suitable for a com- parative study. These rare advantages Welsh students now too commonly neglect. To Welsh ministerial students this is much more than a question of personal culture. These should assuredly regard it as a sacred duty to acquire the fullest command of the language, because such an acquisition is likely, humanly speaking, to promote the success of their life's work. They ought never to forget how much accuracy and vigour of expression and beauty of style add not only to the intellectual value, but also to the impressiveness of a discourse. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words." The prizes offered at present are the following— wl 1. In the advanced class a first prize of two guineas, and one guinea each to all other students who gain a certificate. 2. In the senior class the same. 2. In the senior class the same. 3. In the literature, history, or grammar class three guineas are offered, to be given at the dis- cretion of the professor, either for an essay or other exercises on some subject connected with the work of the class, or as a special first and second prize (of two guineas and one guinea respectively) for distinction at the sessional examination. The prizes are given in connection with classes rather than as open prizes, because the donor wishes to encourage systematic study of the lan- guage, not a mere passing attention to a particu- lar subject. This is how an American contemporary sings "In praise of the Welsh." Whatever may be said of the poetry, the sentiments are all right:— Mor o gan yw Cymru i gyd So sings the ancient lay, And Gwalia's men in dulcet tones, Confirm this day by day. The sons of Spain in brutal fights Display their vulgar taste The Yankee's mind i base-ball runs. They to this pastime haste. The English on the cricket field Indulge their fav'rite sport; For this is Hinglish, you must know, While John Bull holds the fort. But give to me hen Walia wen, Whose tastes in other channels flow- Telyn a chrwth, englyn a chan, Are all they wish to know. And as for charms and virtues rare, That set our heads all in a whirl, ( Speak not to me of other minds- Give me the sweet Welsh girl. An intimate companion of the gifted Welsh poet, whose remains were last week interred in the rustic heights where his contemplative spirit has so often mused, gives an interest- ing glimpse of the sweet charities which beautified and exalted the life of the dead bard. He was spending a few hours with Glanffrwd, and before parting Glanffrwd had occasion to open a drawer in his desk. "It was," remarks the narrator, "filled with I O U's,' and various autographs of the impecunious whose needs Glanffrwd, out of the fulness of his sympathy and a slender income, had relieved. Speculation is need- less as to the after history of these cheerless documents, but experience failed to the last to temper the benevolence, well-placed and misplaced, of Glanffrwd. The humanity of the man was boundless; the atmosphere which he breathed was one suffused with compassion. Here was a man who combined wealth of heart with wealth of thought. As poet, as essayist, as novelist, his excellences were transparently true, for he possessed in a large degree the imagina- tion which is as essential to poet and novelist as sight to the eye and hearing to the ear, and still he never lost that humility which distinguishes genius from mediocrity, and invests it with inimitable splendours, and his hand was ever stretched to lift up those of his brethren who had fallen, and to help forward those of his countrymen who had found merit powerless to resist misfortune, and who had to tread life's highway with bleeding feet.
[No title]
Telephone Call Hullo! is that Mr Absent- mind ? Mr Absentmind (with receiver to his ear nods. Telephone call: Hullo, I say Hullo I Can't you answer 1 Are you deaf ? Mr Absent- mind (removing the receiver from his ear and speak- ing into it): I did are you blind ? An American was at an Edinburgh hotel for a month, and when the bill was presented, noticed that he had been charged with a bottle of wine of a brand he had never used. Moreover, he had no recollection of having ordered any article of the kind on the date specified. He complained of the overcharge to the proprietor, who blandly remarked, Very well, 'sir; "IH take it off. Yon see, the girl who got that bottle of wine from: the cellar forgot to whom it had been served, so I charged it against every guest in the house. AH who did n't have it will object, and the one who did will pay." Well but aren't you afraid that some one who didn't have it will pay, too ? asked the American. No," was the reply, Fm aftadd they won't." Thirteen guests each paid for-thatr- bottle of wiae,
The Welsh Utopia. .
The Welsh Utopia. Y Wladva Gymreig.Past and Present. BY MWYNDEG AP IWAN. Of all the feasts of the year the most popular and generally observed is Gwyl y glaniad," the anniversary of the landing of the first Welsh immigrants in Patagonia on the 28th July, 1865. This hqliday has been solemnly if not religiously l|ept from the first; as well as in the dark days of naked- ness, fear, and famine, as in subsequent years of broadcloth, peace, and plenty. There was a speciality in the celebration this year, inasmuch as it was the completion of the first quarter of a century and, verily, these British settlers have good cause to be proud of their attainments when their dis- advantages, their difficulties, and dangers are considered. WELSH COLONIES, ANCIENT AND MODERN. The idea of founding purely Welsh colonies is an ancient one; indeed, the Welsh Historical Triads record the estab- lishment of a colony in America by Madog ap Owain Gwynedd about the middle of the twelfth century and some attempts have been made in modern times to confirm this tradition on grounds, both philological and ethnological, said to have been gained from a study of a certain tribe of North American Redskins. I have neither the learning nor leisure necessary to pursue this fascinating subject; indeed, in view of the approaching fourth centenary of the discovery of this continent by Christopher Columbus it would not be desirable that I should endeavour to stem the tide of adulation that will flow to the memory of the immortal Genoese, by setting up a prior claim of discovery on behalf of an ancestral chief of Henry M. Stanley. There are numerous and flourishing Welsh colonies to-day in the United States and in the British colonies they are centres of the cult of nationality, where the ancient Cymraeg is spoken in its purity and cherished with jealous fondness, where Welsh literature is cultivated with en- lightened earnestness, and supported with liberality, all this concurrently with "a due and proper regard to their ovto interests in acquiring the language and fabsorbing the literature of John Bull and UlicIe Sam. But these settlements, like the little maid's kitten, grew and were not born. Chubut, on the contrary, was bom of pen and tongue, wielded and wagged with power and persistence for a long period by Principal Michael D. Jones, Mr Lewis Jones, Rev D. Llcijyd-Jones, and their undoubted heaven-inspired prophet Edwyn Roberts. There appears to be widespread misconception regarding the principle underlying the foundation of this colony, and even they have been misled by unscrupulous fabricators to believe that the settlers have designs inimical to the Re- public. WHAT TAFFY'S LOVE OF CYMRAEG HAS COST. Taffy's love of his mother's tongue, the most musical and masculine language ever spoken by mortal man, in his opinion, has been the fruitful source of trouble and persecution to him. His mellifluous gutterals excited the envy of the ancient Romans, who, not content with stealing his land, massacred his Druidic teachers, razed his Temples of learning, bade him learn Latin and speak no other language under pain and penalties too awful for even Lord Macaulay's schoolboy to contemplate. He learned Latin and spoke it with faultless accent and quantity, but Welsh remained the language of the hearth, of love and of song. After their departure, and from the days of those sanctimonious buccaneers Hengist and Horsa, the Adam and Eve of English History, even unto this hour the common and statute laws of England are a perfect Chamber of Horrors of persecuting weapons forged to force Taffy to fore- swear the language of Paradise,—in vain He learned and spoke Anglo- Saxon and Norman-French, and he retained his "Cymraeg," and he is convinced that it will be spoken when the accents of English and of even Volapuk will have gone to rest in the Chamber of eternal silence. But it may be asked what has all this to do with Chubut ? Everything. THE ENGLISH IN WALES. Ever since that eventful and fatal period when the relentless hosts of the "ruthless King Edward I. swept their land with the fury of a tornado, slew their prince, the idolised Llyw Olav, massacred their bards, burnt their books, dismantled their castles, and relieved them of the proud responsi- bility of self-government, every little English cur has thought himself big enough to bark at and bite the Welsh as a people. Twenty- five years ago the land for which their fathers fought and bled was the happy hunting-ground of needy Englishmen, more rapacious and destructive than a plague of locusts Eng- lish noblemen and plutocrats inhabited the mansions that dot their wooded slopes Englishmen of business filled the villas of their lovely valleys; English speculators laid crafty hands on their peaceful glens English fishermen preserved their streams English bishops occupied their episcopal palaces, and English clergy emptied too many of their Churches. English judges ruled in their courts of law, and the administration of justice, from the lowest to the highest tribunal, was carried on in an alien tongue. English colcibrities pre- sided at the National Eisteddvod, and English journals waxed fierce because the proceedings were not carried dn in the Eng- lish language. The picturesque Welsh costumes and the elegant sugar-loaf hat were fast giving place to English fashions and the microscopical bonnet; and the language in which Taliesin sang the praises of Elphin appeared as doomed to be superseded by that in which the perfidious Hengist aroused his vandalic bands to deeds of treachery. THE PATAGONIAN PIONEERS. No wonder that some patriotic souls were stirred to the very depths by this degrada- tion heaped upon Milton's "ancient nation proud in arms, and instead of continuing to sit idly in the midst of this English plague, boasting of their ancient prowess and re- nown, took thought of the future by actively initiating an emigration scheme. Patagonia in those days was a terra incognita it was one of the remotest parts of the earth, it had a forbidding, inhospitable coast, an evil traditional reputation, and a disputed ownership. These qualifications, repellent enough in all conscience, were positively regarded as strong recommenda- tions in themselves by the Welsh. Here, at any rate, they would be able to speak their Cymraeg with freedom, without fear of the frown of English snobocracy; here they would be able to develop 'their national characteristics, and have a fair field in their endeavours to make brighter the page of their nation's future history; here they would have the inestimable consolation and privilege of being governed by laws of their own framing, and here a small body of one one hundred and five souls came, by the ship Mimosa, on the above-named date, not allured by hopes of gain and ease, but animated by true and noble, if romantic, patriotism. When the idea of a Welsh Utopia took a practical shape, it met with strenuous oppo- sition from the late J. w- Jones, chief editor of the American Drych, a man of immense journalistic influence,, who ridi- culed it as grotesquely impracticable, and treated the sentiment as nauseous nonsense. The trenchant letters in the Welsh Press raised a fierce controversy, and the national mind was furrowed by the pens of conflict- ing factions. The effect WM two-fold a great number of the partisan^ of Patagonia walked over to the opposite .camp, and k,their defection inflicted a heavy blow on the* scheme, which was fated from that moment" ',to have its footsteps dogged by disasters and misfortune but the deserters carried with them the seeds of "nationalism" J and sowed it in soil saturated with bipods ^shed by their ancestors in the sacred causel of It must indeed have been a pitiful sight to see that feeble body of immigrants pitch- forked by cowardly sailors into the breakers that lave the unlovely tosca of Port Roca, on to the shores of an uncultivated desert, remote from civilization and among tribes of sanguinary savages to behold them landed with scanty provisions, and almost destitute of material resources where the spontaneous productions of the earth were anything but bountifully bestowed, and fifteen leagues from fresh water. They were without the guidance of observation or experience and totally ignorant of agriculture. There was serious mismanagement in this respect, begotten undoubtedly of the demoralization consequent on unfaithfulness in the de- serters. No one seemed alive to the exigencies of such an adventure, and there was astonishing lack of that provident fore- thought which the very helplessness of the people and the singular nature of the coun- try necessitated. THE MODERN HU GADARN. Mr Lewis Jones was the Hu Gadarn," the leader, but he was then a young, inex- perienced enthusiast, a poet of pun and epigram, a brewer of excellent Welsh lite- rary "punch," in the purity of whose patriotism, in whose abilities and sincerity everyone believed, but whose most serious and gravely deliberate actions were so fla- voured that it was difficult to understand their real import, and everyone was prepared to see him put his tongAe in his cheek and invert them into liuo-e practical jokes. Mr Jones, neverthe- less did succeed in doing serious work although it bears the impress of the laughing philosopher. Almost before having a faneo-a of wheat or buring a brick, the settlers set about framing laws and founding insti- tutions. There is something irresistibly comic about this to my mind; but that it was dictated by sound wisdom no one can doubt. The Government of Buenos Ayres h*,d granted them the privilege of framing their own laws, and they were naturally anxious to put in force such of those of the great Welsh legislator, Dyvnwal Moelmud, codified by Hywel Dda, as would suit Patagonian soil. The students of consti- tutional history will remember how greatly English laws are based on those of the Welsh Moses, and it is worthy of remark that almost all the virtues of the very liberal constitution of this Republic are to be found in the statutes of ancient Wales. The acts of the local council were from time to time acknowledged by the Government, but when Chubut began to stretch its limbs and discarded swaddling clothes, they sent down officials to adminis- ter the Territorial Laws until such time as we shall qualify by reason of number to become a province. There was substan- tially no difference between these and the Council laws already in force, and the only friction in the transfer was the result of unwisdom and ignorance on the part of the Government officials who dealt with or treated the Welsh as if they were untutored savages, instead of a law- abiding people cradled in the nursery of freedom. SUFFERING AND PRIVATION. The colonists for many years suffered untold misery and privation the hardships of their condition, the precariousness of their subsistence, and their terrible isola- tion threatened to throw them back in the scale of civilisation their persevering exertions in the clearing and cultivation of land were rendered abortive by the dryness of soil and atmosphere, the country being seldom refreshed with rain or dew, and irrigation being then impracticable. But in spite of everything the great majority of them refused to leave even when tempting offers were made by the Government to convey them to fairer fields and pastures new, and commanders of British men-of- war urged them in vain to quit these sterile shores for better lands. They had a fixed idea and strong faibh which are justified to a great extent by their present position and the material prosperity of the community, as well as by the prospects of advancement— and in remaining here they were true to the noble sentiments that impelled them hither- to. All honour to "Yr Hen Wladvawyr!" they have shown a strength of resolution, a tenacity of purpose and perseverance worthy of all praise and imitation; and without being enthusiastic they have continued steadfastly loyal to this Republic, while still cherishing a love for the dear old flag which owes its glory as much to Celtic as to Eng- lish pluck and valour. EMANCIPATION. Twenty-five years have wrought a great change in Chubut, but the change in Wales is infinitely more marked during J that period. The Welsh by almost superhuman efforts have emancipated themselves from the thraldom of that most galling of yokes John Bullism," the absurd personal pre- tentions of the English emanating from overweening self-conceit and a fancied racial superiority of the Saxon over the Celt. After an almost unbroken sleep of centuries the Welsh woke up, and I attribute their awakening to the paper warfare that followed on the conception of the idea of a Welsh Colony in Chubut. Following closely upon this came the political evictions of 1867 or thereabouts, which resulted as much from the pigheaded- ness of the tenants as from the stern stu- pidity of landlords. From that time date the efforts of Wales for National recogni- tion and rights like their cousins, the Irish, the Welsh have struggled hard and fiercely against the almost invincible pre- judice of the insatiate Saxon, and they have so far succeeded that they need not now seek foreign soil whereon to develop their national characteristics. John Bull is a downright good fellow when he is made to understand that no bullying is allowed and of late years the three cousins Tafty, Patrick and Sandy have been impressing upon him that they also are partners in the concern, and that he is not going to have it all his own way. We therefore now see Welshmen sitting upon the four or five episcopal thrones and Welsh judges presid- ing in the courts the language is no longer tabooed, but is heard in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, and its accents are not un- familiar in the House of Commons it is taught in elementary schools whence it was banished as an unclean thing when I was a boy grappling with the elements of English it is studied as a pass subject for the University of London there is a professor of Welsh in each of the four University Colleges of Wales, and there is at Oxford a Celtic chair filled by Professor John Rhys, the son of a Car- diganshire peasant, a man of European fame as a philologist, who is as conversant with the language and literature of old Ireland as he is with Welsh. Since the opening of Aberystwyth College some 17 years ago, the peasant and farmer boy:, of Wales have been introduced through an ever-widening door into the great universities, and in measuring their intellectual strength there against the flower of England they ha^edone credit to the country by carrying away high honours. The son of a village policeman in the neighbour- hood of my mountain home in Wales, not so very long ago, won a doubly first in Oxford. There is a great revival of learning in the land of song, and intellectual Wales is saturated with the spirit of Nationalism, and is Welsh to the backbone. WANTED—EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. Chubut is scholastically dead; spasmodio efforts are occasionally made to open private venture schools or district-aided schools, but they are miserable failures, as parents are indifferent, attendance is irregular, and remuneration sublimely ridiculous. The Government schools are utterly inadequate to meet the requirements of the colony. The municipal councils should^ take this most f momentous question into consideration; i. efficient trained masters are; required in the elementary schools, and a properly- constituted intermediate school should be established, so that-our children' may pass, to the universities -of this coimtay.if facilities ,offer; if-not, then t0 1 those;0f the old' country
MUSIC IN WALES. "-
MUSIC IN WALES. BY DR JOSEPH PARRY, University College, Cardiff. Our National Eisteddvod Music. Our National Eisteddvod is surely ours as a nation and in this our own native country. Its object, all along the avenues of centuries, have ever been a purely national exhibition and demon- stration of the talents of the Cymry." To some this national demonstration is looked upon as if it were a demonstration in all that is hideous to them. Then, in the name of all that is rational, why, the "bow for you," the condescention for you," to all persons who are, and the things that are not Welsh, in our own National Temple ? Do we find any reciprocity from others towards us in their national festivals ? Na, cboelia i vawr I am delighted to find no less a man than our able and learned compatriot, Mr Owen M. Edwards, of Oxford, in a very strong and opportune letter of condemnation in the last number of Cymru Fydd, and in many other periodicals, magazines, and weekly papers upon the "gwaseiddra" to all that is Seisingaidd at our last National Eisteddvodau. These are, if allowed to continue, but sure symp- toms of our national decay. OUK FJSTHDDVOD PRESIDENTS. I would say bestow such honours upon our own people, men who have done their ail ffor the good of our country, and men who now help to make our little Wales what it is. But no, it is the fashion to bestow such honours upon those who never did and never intend to do anything for our nation, nor for our country. May I tender here the sug- gestion that we should honour those who have created our natioaal honour. (1) To appoint the three principals of our national University Colleges to be presidents, one at a meeting each. This would strengthen our own national education and culture. (2) To do honour to a representative minister and clergy. man of each denomination in Wales, including the Church. What would be then gained, why (1) get the hearts of the people and pack the largest pavilion (2) make the eisteddvod purely and nationally Welsh; and (3) secure grand, noble, and soul-stirring addresses, instead of the twaddle so often heard, and the finest examples of oratory. These denominational representatives could be changed annually, and thereby avoid all friction. We have Major Jones, the American Consul, and others whose addresses would be an elocutional and educational ornament to any audience or institution. Then let us have a change, not for its own sake simply, but for the great good that would follow as a national result. OUR EISTEDDVOD CONCEBT MUSIC. When the ruling powers at our musical com- mittees are not Welsh by nationality, and, of course, not in their sympathies, with Welsh artistes nor with music by Welsh composers, our eisteddvod concert programmes are standing offences and rebuffs to all Welsh composers, and our vast Welsh audiences. All the sympathies of our nation, and at tlftir own national annual festival, are completely ignored. And to my own knowledge our English visitors to our national gathering hope to find the whole proceedinglr- especially so the music, of which they have heard so much, distinctively Welsh. Their disappoint- ment is great when they are dosed instead with the usual showers of London royalty songs, which they are sickened with a+ their English homes. If Welshmen visited Norway, Hungary, Russia, Bohemia, &c., they would enjoy the music composed by their ltative composers, and their own national songs, &c. And surely little Wales by this time of the 19th century has pro- duced sufficient national melodies, glees, part songs, choruses, cantatas, oratorios, orchestral music at our concerts, and even, as Mr Edwards remarks, a Welsh opera at, say, the final eisteddvod concert, as well as abundance of most excellent vocalists, far better than those often engaged. My writing thus may be considered rather loud, yet, I hope, not louder than the demand. It is full time that the cause and interests of the musical pregress and higher developments of Cambria should move us to duty, courage, and action, when we see her interests thus imperilled and checked. By all means perform a classical work at one of the concerts, but, for our future growth sake, not to disown and dethrone our national art goddess, and that in her own national temple We, as art lovers, of the present, owe a sacred duty and a grave responsibility towards moulding the musical Wales of the future, and we hope to do this by nursing our musicians of "the present, so that they may become our musical pioneers of the future. The sneers and sarcastic smiles and scribbles which we find around us in all comers must not, and shall not, dampen our ardour, but rather intensify our Keal and practical efforts to do what is our duty, and with true love that duty shall be converted into real pleasure, for the future musical growth of the music and musicians of our country. A HINT TO SWANSEA. We therefore trust that our Welsh friends at Swansea will make for themselves a name, and a warm corner in the hearts of true Welsh- men all the world over, by their healthy reform in utilizing our grand national festival for Welsh national purposes, as to her presidents, vocal and instrumental artistes, Welsh musical works, and musical adjudicators. This huge concern and the money enthusiasm, labour, culture, talent, and all we have annually bestowed are seriously' too great, unless we reap an adequate harvest aa„ a noble result for alL i The Society of Welsh Musicians in my next.
! MARRIAGE ANOMALIES IN SOUTH…
MARRIAGE ANOMALIES IN SOUTH AFRICA. There is, says the Natal Mercury, a considerable traffic across the Orange River by bridal parties either in esse or in posse. The fact is that marriage mam in the Free State may be conducted in a different manner from marriage in the colony. A man in the colony may not marry his deceased wife's sister* He may in the Free State. In the Free State a man may not marry his cousin. He may in the colony. Hence in the former case all. the men have to do is to cross the Orange River, where they can get married in the latter case the cousins just cross the Orange River into the colony, where they can make themselves happy or miserable for life.
THE HEIGHT OF WELSH MOUNTAINS.
THE HEIGHT OF WELSH MOUNTAINS. Colonel Sir Charles William Wilson, director- feneral of ordnance surveys, writing to Mr Ralph >arlington, author of "A Hand Hook to North Wales," with reference to the statements in the newspapers that it had been discovered that Carnedd Llewelyn in Carnarvonshire was several feet higher than Snowdon, says:—On the latest ordnance plans of Carnarvonshire the altitudes are shown of a trigonometrical station on Camedd Llewelyn as 3,484 feet, and of a similar station on Snowdon as 3,560.
^ * THE COLD. HARD, UNMISTAKABLE…
THE COLD. HARD, UNMISTAKABLE HINT. SHB: He's & very knowing dog. Why, when it's ten o'clock, papa. always closes the house, you know, end then Carlo barks., Heie going to bark now.
[No title]
Eva, he said, softly, as they strolled through the park, let me call you Eve. It will maka this place seem still more like the Garden of Eden." 'Certainly, George," replied the. bewitobing maiden; "but I can't call you Adam.. You—you are not my first Tnau, you know. Not in? amcral. I George."
BY CHEVIOT.
BY CHEVIOT. The Abstract" is one of the most useful and comprehensive of blue books. It gives a concise summary of trade, &c., for fifteen years. The latest published (C—6159), price one shilling, is just out, and contains 228 pages full of figures upon a. great variety of subjects. At page 150 is a table of "principal ports and their tonnages, cleared, in the foreign and colonial trades, with cargoes and ballast, for fifteen years past, namely, 187j to 1889. There are 37 ports enumerated, among which those of South Wales are the most conspicuous for the increase of trade. For instance 1875. 1889. Cardiff 1,934,903 tons net reg. 5,401,618 1875. 1889. Cardiff 1,934,903 tons net reg 5,401,618 Newport 271,765 „ 1,422,712 Swansea 488,807 810,134 I The increase of 3j million tons at Cardiff, and 1* millions at Newport, is enormous. Those having more than a million tons out- wards are :— 1875. 1889. Hull 1,196,148 1,582,178 tons. Liverpool 4,378,203 5,147,028 „ London 3,915,182 5,566,620 „ Sunderland 930,469 1,001,570 Newcastle 2,745,974 3,545.209 „ Glasgow 807,393 1.62L307 „ Newcastle 2,745,974 3,545.209 I Glasgow 807,393 1.621.507 Hy this statement it appears that Cardiff is the second port. But we know by other tables that, if the ballast vessels were taken out, she is the first port for clearance of cargo in the foreign and colonial trades. It will also be seen that the older parts have not advanced in anything like the ratio of the local ones. In fact, if the same expansion proceeds during the ensuing fifteen year. the port of the 1 aff will have far outdistanced all other British ports, and, it may be said, of any other port in the world. It means simply that It million tons will have been cleared in one depart- ment of trade. With the import tonnage and that of coasting added, it fimplies that about 30 million tons will have been dealt with. Is such an expansion possible ? Is at all probable? If so. Barry Docks will have to be doubled, and the Bute Docks ditto. Liverpool is talking of a new dock already at Tranmere, on the Birkenhead side of the Mersey also the dock beard is spending a million sterling in improvements on the ancient system on the Liverpool side and the Manchester Canal is about to bid for 25 per cent. of the traffic. London, not content with Tilbury Docks, is whispering that more are re- quired already; and some say they are to be called the Imperial Docks, with the Marquis of Bute as a patron and shareholder. If not, why not ? The liners from Liverpool can hardly cope with the tremendous passenger traffic, where as much as £ 95 have been paid for an outward saloon berth. Milford is greedily eyeing all this, and her friends on both sides of the Atlantic are talking of spend- ing 12 millions sterling in making a new highway with the American Continent. Considering that the Cardiff Docks have cost little over half that sum, with an immense trade developing rapidly, it looks like a hare-brained scheme at Milford. But is it not an index of the confidence which some of our foremost mercantile men have in the future traffic with our transatlantic friends ? Doss it not seem that Cardiff people should be stirring in this Atlantic business ? If the harbour here were properly enclosed, and engineering facilities properly applied--at a cost comparatively trifling to the Milford and Mersey schemes—there is no place in the United Kingdom that would be better fitted for a large commerce with Canada and the United States. What says the Abstract" on the point ? This: That in 1875 there were cleared in the foreign and colonial trade 23 "5 million tons and in 1889 36 "3 million tons. This is an increase of nearly 13 million tons. Cardiff took 3;j and the others 9g. A similar expansion in 15 years forward naturally will give 20 millions increase, or 56 millions total, of which only lo is asked for Qoirdiff, leaving* 4-0 for the other smaller ports. London and Liver- pool, please note. Well, they had 31 out of the 36 of last year, so they will still have an increase of 9 million tons—a very considerable one, indeed, considering that the value which their vessels carry is as ten or twelve to one of ours. The tonnage of steam vessels expanded from 12i to 29i million tons in the fifteen years: The tailing vessels decreased 10f to 7 million tons, net register, cleared in the foreign and colonial trades. In these particular trades, as a whole, it appears that a sailing ton carries or rather under; and a steamer ton carries 6 in the year. The registered tonnage of the kingdom was In 1875—4'2 million tons, sailing. In 1839—3"0 million tons, sailing. Ju 1975—1*9 million tons, steam. In 1889—4-7 million tons, steam. The calculation can, therefore, bo easily made. | The coasting trade expanded as follows :— I 1875. 1889. Million tons. Million tons. Entered 22-9 28-7 Cleared 20-6 27 4 Tills was tor sailing and steam vessels, but for cargo only. Here is also a great lift up, and a good augury for the future. But it is the outside traffic that is likely to increase most, especially the Atlantic trade. The Welsh ports (to do as well as hitherto) should cultivate that branch, and stick specially close to the heavy departments of it for the sake of their docks, their seamen, and their working-classes, for those divisions em- ploy most labour at the ports themselves, Before closing this epitome it might be well to give an index of the figures in the inward traffic from oversea. Thefereat ports in this division are:— „ 1875. 1889. CaMiff 632,153 tons 2,912,896tons. Hull 1,302,937 2,008.205 „ Liverpool 4,402,116 „ 5,789!400 London 4,910,533 7,550,121 Newcastle 1,623,386 „ 1,927 149 Glasgow 473,616 „ 1,058^228 The local port, nniortunately, has her importing ships mainly filled with ballast. Newcastle is also largely represented in that way, but the others generally with cargo. London and Glasgow have made immenso strides that way, and there are signs that Cardiff will now follow suit, as will be seen, it is hoped, when the abstract of 1905 is reviewed in this paper.
BOARD OF TRADE RETURNS.
BOARD OF TRADE RETURNS. Taken in their entirety the Board of Trade returns for the month and the nine months ended on September 30 show results which may be regarded as satisfactory. For the month the imports, which in August returned the substantial decline of J31,614,100, yielded the still more sub- stantial increase of £ 2,144,703, the figures given showing a rise from J333,406,985, in September 1889 to JB55,551,688 for last month. The effect of last month's additional business is also felt in the total return for the nine months. A month ago the imports for the present year amounted JB271,245,384, presenting a decline compared with the corresponding period of last year of £ 5,465,710. On the last day of last month they stood at £ 306,625,138, and the decline on comparison is reduced to £ 3,477,191. For the month the only items which showed a decrease were articles of food and drink liable to duty and tobacco, on which the decline was respectively £124,191 and £ 148,770. In articles of food and drink, duty free, the decline of jM35,106 shown in August is converted into an increase of £1,467122 in September. Metals and chemicals yielded the slight additions of j397,395 and £ 38,055, but the raw materials for textile manu- facturers and other industries, which for several consecutive months have manifested a con- tinuous declining tendency, effected a sudden recovery, having risen respectively from JE5,722,899 and £4,665,594 in September, 1889, to JS4,063,419 and £ 4,676,544, showing relative additions of JB340,520 and £ 10,950. In relative, proportion the totals for the nine months are altered to a degree which indicates a renewal of manufacturing industry. The increase shown under the heading of duty-free provisions is mainly in oorn and barley, and in the perish- able articles of domestic consumption. The regular steady increase manifested each recurring month in the imports of butter, cheese, eggs, and poultry is a fact of which the farming community might reasonably take notice. The quantity of butter imported this year has reached a total of 1,546,750 cwi., of cheese 1,554,504 owt., and of eggs of seven and a half millions, representing in round numbers an expenditure of between fifteen and sixteen million sterling paid to the foreign producers. In stating the fact the question naturally arises, how have we become so dependent on other countries for dairy produce? With the undeniable advantage of proximity to our home markets, it seems strange that we have to go to foreign countries for such an enormous proportion of our food supply. Farmers are ready enough to complain of bad times and seasons, and inability to pay their way, while they complacently permit their foreign rivals to furnish commodities of general demand which they ought to be ready and equal to supply. The exports for the month are valued at £ 22,764,677, an increase of £ 3,072,062 over last year's corres- ponding returns. With the single exception of animals, chiefly horses, exported, each item of the export shows a satisfactory increase, equally for the month and the expired period of the year. The greatest improvement is shown in yarns and general manufactures, which have risen from £ 8,684,044 and £ 2,433,475 in Sept., 1889 to £ 9,680,689 and £ 2,977,539, presenting respective increases of £ 996,645 and £ 544,064. Metals, machinery, and chemicals yield the sensible additions of JM78,707, £251,530, and £159,776. Raw materials, under which heading is comprised coal and wool, to the estimated value of 21,917,611 were exported, being an increase on the month of £426,313. Of this total coal and fuel, returned at 2,676,091 tons, accounted for £ 1^677,929 of the exportation as repr^ented in money. Ootion, woollen, and jute manufactures of all descriptions show substantial increases, following upon remarkable additions manifested | in the month of August, but linen goods remain • Fby comparison in a stationary condition, while j iron and steel, though less in quantity by nearly i 30,000 tons, have risen fully £100,000 in value. In the re-exports of foreign and colonial produce of which trade London is still practically the centre, there is an advance of from j63,004,076 to jB4,599,758 for the month and of from JS47,295,366 to jB48,242,160 for the nine months, being relative increases of £1,595.682 and £946.794.
!--...... Samuel's Sentiments.…
Samuel's Sentiments. SAMUEL ON PLAYGOERS. The old gentleman who, unaccustomed to play- going, objected to Hamlet, on the ground that it contained too many quotations, was happily a type of the dramatic patron but rarely met with nowadays. There is perhaps no class of people which is so varied as the playgoing portion of the British public, and there is certainly no section of the public which is so positive in its opinions or so difficult to satisfy in the matter of its likes and dislikes. Patrons of the drama r.re a powerful body, and they know it. Their word is law, ana the manager or actor who attempts to dispute their dictum is certain to get the worst of the argument in the long run. A well-known manager on the old Bath circuit once said to a critic on the failure of a new and artistic drama, The British public is an ass, sir." That may be," replied the critic, "but it isyoor master, and if you do not give it what it wants it vrcn't come to your theatre. The manager's state- ment will apply fre- quently the critic's always. A change has come over the patrons of the drama. during the last half-century, and the great majority of the modern play-goers are a different class of people to those who went to the theatre in the days of OLD-I'ASHIONED PLAT GOBR. their fathers and grandfathers. In the old days play-goers went to the theatre for recreation and intellectual instruction. They v..re familiar with most, if not all, of the plays they went to witness, and could discuss and criticise with intelligence the methods of the different actors they saw in the same parts. To them pause and inflection had a meaning, and a change in the "business" of a piece or in the delivery of a line was noted at once and argued out to the bitter end after the performance, in some adjoining hosteliv—not unfrequently with the actor himself. This led to an intercourse between patron and artist, which was bound to result not only in friendly feeling, but in intel- lectual development to all parties concerned. Patron and actor were drawn closer together by these friendly arguments, and many a nice point has been permanently settled in one of these after the-play conversations. THE PLAYGOER'S AVERSION. It is not so now-a-days, and the intellectual inter- course between artists, critics, and patrons is of the scantiest nature. The style of actor known to our forefathers is gradu- ally dying out, and in his place is to be found an- other type of Thespian. He is an offspring of the genus masher, and is im- bued with a due sense of his own importance. He has, owing to the travel- ling company system, but small chance of learning the details of his art, but he talks with an air of authority about acting, and although his reper- toire and experience, after some years in the country, may be limited to half-a- dozen parts, he is prepared to tackle any part, how- ever big, and that with no doubt as to his ability to play it satisfactorily. Con- fidence is. of course, neces- sary to the actor, but over-confidence is certain, sooner or later, to develop into fatal egotism. Theatrical egotism is frequently the outcome of adulation on the part of a not too discriminating public. The weak spot in the amour of the present day- playgoers is the fatal fact that theyhave strong likes and dis- likes, and once an actor pleases them they can see no fault in him. This is more so, even, with actresses and many a lady not over- burdened with talent, has had a position made for her by the public which she could never have made for STUDIOUS PLAYGOEr herself, but for the accident of a peculiar part or piece. Just let us take a glance at one or two individual types of playgoers. They will repay us for our trouble. One stamp of patron has always interested and amused me. He has a confidence in his ideas and opinions which can only be the outcome of youth and inexperience. His criticism* are of the most concrete orders, and he generally eums up anything but burlesque or vapid comis opera as rot"—with an adjective. To liim senti- ment is "rot," dramatic ideas and situations are "rot," an actor's pathos is "rot," and the years of patient work which have enabled an actress ta pourtray the purest and strongest feeling of lova but result, so far as he is concerned, in the repro- duced passion being labelled "rot"—with an adjective. He has never taken the trouble to read any- thing about dramatic art, his ideas as to elocution are vague, and his knowledge of the principles of acting are conspicuous by their absence. Yet he expresses his opinions with an air of authority and damns in a few words to those who take his opinion. work which has cost years of experience to per- fect and hours of thought to work out. My opinion of his critical faculties can only be ex- pressed by his own pet word—"rot." He is th# artist's bugbear, ana is responsible for more fri- volous inanity and degraded art than any other specimen of the British public. Interesting to a degree are playgoers of the old school, who tell you stories of the bygone days, and enter into comparisons between the actors of their day and those of the present. They usually stick up for the old school, and in the main they are right, for acting to-day is not so thorough as it was m their day. These playgoers invariably point out that MASHER PLAYGOER. in their days men never had plays built to fit them, that they played anything and everything in their line, and that a mal| might play Hamje| one night and a totally different char- acter the next, and they ask you, with conscious pride, what the present generation of actors would say if they had to play 12 and 14 parts in a week! They are very proud of the old days, and. rightly so, for in them was built up the fabric of the art of acting, which I am much afraid is gradually decaying. Students of the drama are to-day, I fear, few and far between. In fact, so limited is their number that when one of them, with book on knee, appears in the pit of a theatre he at once becomes an object of interest-, lIe is usually very much in earnest, but I am asrai d he has more work in front of him in his desire to elevate the stage than he wots of. Amusement is the war cry of the playgoer of to-day, especially in the provinces, and unless a play helps him to forget his cares it has but small chance of success. That thoughtful plays do not suit the taste of the provincial public is proved by the financial failure of such dramas as Harvest and The Middleman, the latter of which is, to my mind, one of the plays of the present age. It 111 commercial in its ideas, yet one of the largest commercial towns in the country declined to patronise it. The frequent cry of some playgoer# is that they do not get good things. It is their own fault, they get what they support. Theatrical managers keep sliops, and 'they must supply to their customers, as do tailors, grocers, or butchers such goods as they desire to purchase, and, as a manager of note said the other day, if they support good plays they will get them, and if they do not they will, in all probability, get bad eues. SAMUEL: His SENTIMENTS.
---A PLUCKY ACTION.
A PLUCKY ACTION. An act of heroism by a young girl is reported from St. Doulough's, near Dublin. Two boys were seated at night by the mouth of a burning [imekiln, when they were overcome by the gas issuing from the kiln, and one of them fell for- ward into it. On an alarm being raised, Julia Dignam, the young daughter of a labourer, rushed up, and, though aware of the great danger she ran, she at once jumped down into the kiln and found the deceased lying unconscious. Unaided she dragged the body up out of the kiln, but life was extinct, and she herself was ii* an exhausted state. The coroner and the jury passed a high enlogium on the brave act of the girl, and expressed regret that there was no public "ouroe from which she could receive a reward fr r her «roio conduct.