The Cardiff Times

POVERTY AND ITS CAUSES. A Cardiff Lenten Sermon. The claims of social service were urged with some warmth by the Rev. ,T. Williamson, M.A., at the Charles-street Congregational Church, Cardiff, on Sunday, in the second of his Lent sermons on Christ and the Poor." He began by quoting both from the Old Testament and the New to show/how imseparably Christianity was identified with the cause of the poor. The word poor," he said, included all that belonged to human misery. Man being the product of two things-his own intrinsic forces and his en- vironment-the deduction was that any gospel preached to him must make a social and personal appeal. That Christianity pre- eminently is the gospel which makes this appeal the preacher took pains to demonstrate. He emphasised the part tho man himself must play in his redemption from poverty— pecuniary, moral, and spiritual. The personal and social aspects of salvation were inextric- able, and this double-barrelled gospel was preached by Christ Himself, Who often de- nounced the rich, ,but never uttered a word against the poor. As was inevitable, the preacher assailed vigorously the conditions of th3 poor to-day, and pleaded earnestly for action that would extirpate the causes of poverty, as against effort that merely attempted to neutralise its results.

PRETENDING TO BE A SOLICITOR. Henry Thomas Bromage, Victoria-road, Maesteg, was summoned at Bridgend on Satur- day for pretending to be a solicitor. Mr Walter SCQtt, Cardiff, prosecuted on behalf of the Incorporated Law Society, and Mr T. J. Hughes (Messrs Hughes and Lewis) defended. Mr Scott said the defendant was engaged by a firm of furnishers at Maesteg, known as Joseph and Co., to trace missing furniture let out on the hire system, and to attend to their County Court cases. He wrote to two parties claiming the return of certain furniture, and in his letters appeared the phrases, I have been instructed to take proceedings," and I will take immediate steps," and the letters were signed. F. Thompson, Court representative." The parties to whom the letters were addressed thought they were from a solicitor. Mr Solomon Joseph, one of the employers of de- fendant, said he had not instructed defendant to write letters in that form. Mr Hughes, for the defence, agreed that the letters were foolish, but submitted that they did not amount to an offence against the Solicitors Act. The Chairman (Mr R. W. Llewellyn) said that under the circumstances the magistrates were agreeable to making the penalty a nominal one, and defendant would be fined £1. The case would no doubt be a warning to others. The information in the case was laid by Mr J. R. Snape, solicitor, Maesteg.

FELL BETWEEN TRAIN AND PLATFORM. At Bridgend Police Couit on Saturday, Fred Cottrell, collier, Llanharran, was summoned for getting out of a train, which was in motion, at Llanharran Railway Station. Mr Parsons, who represented the G.W.R. Company, said that Cottrell's legs fell between the carriages and the platform, and he might have been badly injured, ptrhaps killed, had not the stationmaster and a porter rushed forward and dragged him back into safety. Defendant waJI fined £1.

The Wandering Angels. r I BY GERTRUDE DIX. A buggy with asingle occupant drove rapidly through the smelter camp of Kendal. It was Sunday—but no day of rest. The air vibrated with the hum of machinery. The man in the buggy righeel, and his eyes watered as the sulphurous smoke enveloped him like an actual horror, gripping him. by the throat. He passed the windows of a tfower-house, where great wheels spun in a white glare. He looked down into a sort of pit, walled round with vast structures of iron, where men ran to and fro like ants, wheeling charges for the funaces. Beyond them in a dim interior, he saw their red gleam—eyes of wakeful beasts lurking in I the shadow. And the little figures running and leaping in the heat and deafenng din He wiped his brow with a very fine white handkerchief. and murm tired to himself the word, Appalling In another minute the buggy drew up before an office building. The driver shouted to a man, sweeping the steps of the verandah, and, in response, guessed in casual western fashion that Mr Hawkins was within. The Reverend Peter Chalfont at once alighted—an incongruous figure in his faultless black coat and broad-brimmed clerical hat. Massive, leonine, dominant, Hawkins belonged to the place as the place belonged to him. The clergyman had met Mr Hawkins before, but somehow, Mr Hawkins in Lombard^street, London, at the shareholders' meeting, seemed quite a different person from the geaeral manager on his own ground. You will hardly remember me," he began tentatively. "Chaifont. of St. Mary's, Chelsea." It was a very fashionable church, attended by more than one magnate of the Company, and it somewhat pleased the general manager that this priest and his beautiful edifice were mainly supported by the dividends that fiowred from the mountain of copper in the W est to fertilise a London suburb with the fair flowers fertilise a London suburb with the fair flowers of religion. He muttered some commonplace in praise of st. Mary's, but for once the Rever- end Peter Chalfont's pride in his church was quite forgotten. "This is a place he exclaimed, gazing as though hypnotised, through the window. To the general manager the attitude of mind betrayed by this remark was childish. Smelter and mine were one vast organism of which ¡ he was the controlling destiny. But for the purposes of labour bis own race was despic- able. At times like these he wished himself back in South America with his Chilenos — little brown men who would sweat under incredible burdens, ex- haust themselves with the severest labour without a murmur, And here was this clergyman talking of this white man's smelter as terrible What was he doing here, cough- ing like a baby—a poor untravelled baby in foolish emancipation from the apron strings of his suburb You find the smoke annoying, he said in- dulgently. Oh, I don't mind that," returned the clergy- man. An atmosphere of benevolent gentle- ness, of gracious refinement, of inveterate ideal- ism, surrounded him like a halo. The Rever- end Peter Chalfont began to speak of the ladies with whom he had travelled across the Contin- ent. They belonged to his church. The mana- ger wondered why on earth this priest should come to talk to him of the lady members of his congregation. When, however, he gave their name, he immediately understood, it was be- cause he was a meddlesome fool. Cherchez la femme." Here was the priest! The woman happened to be his own wife, Mrs Hawkins Mj* Hawkins pulled out his watch and regretted that he had only three minutes before the train started for the mine. The priest bent for- ward pleading gently, a nd earnestly. Mrs Hawkins longed for a reconciliation. She was willing to overlook everything that had happened, if only for the sako of Gwendoline —" your little daughter, Gwcndoline." At this gratuitous sentiment Mr Hawkins turned I with a slight movement of, impatience, glanc- ing out of the window behind him- The priest, I whose eyes had obediently followed his, saw ) what he saw. Part of the appurtenances of the house at which he was looking, with an un- doubted air of proprietorship, consisted of a luxurious hammock, appropriately furnished with a tip-tilted novel, a bunch of fluffy petti- coats, and a pair of prodigious French heels. The priest had .his answer, and he turned as though he had been By salutation of mingled: .reproach and horror he hastened to the door. "One moment, Mr Chaifont, said the general manager briskly, I just recollect one thing I should like to mention to vou- I think I once heard of your having a. relative-l believe a brother—in the West." The clergyman faced round at the door. At any rate, the manager reflected, there were skeletons in other cupboards than his own. It is true," he said, I had a brrther who went abroad—we believed to California." The manager smiled. You still wish to dis- cover him, Mr Chalfont 1" I My own brother Can you ask, Mr Haw- kins" t Oh, of course," said Mr Hawkins, dryly. There happens to be a man of the name of Chalfont working at the mine." Can you tell me the Christian name 1" "Unfortunately I cannot, but I will give you a note to the superintendent who will afford you every assistance. I will go there at once. The Rev. Mr Chr. lfont had fogottenthe failure of his mission and the odious manner in which its futility had been brought home to him. Soon he was holding his breath as the super- intendent in a little ouice, in the keener air of the mountain top, ran his finger down a list. The name," he said. "V • Chalfont. "Where is he 1"asked the clergyman, in triumphant certainty.. The superintendent pointed through the window, across the canyon, to a long brown building which, with others, perched and clung to the scarp of the hillside. In the bunkhouse. He is on the night shift, and the men are asleep now." Thank you," returned the clergyman, I will return directly." He went, out of the office with a jubilant step, his hear4; full of affefction for his brother, sleeping unconscious of his presence on the hill yonder. He sent a telegram to his mother, then went hack, wrote a letter at the superintendent s desk and watched a messenger-carry it across. Arnold Chalfont lay sleeping m the bunk- house-built of rough lumber-a building de- signed by the Western Mmmg Company with greater regard for economy than comfort. It had no furniture. The sleeping bunks were built in tiers of thireo. one above the other. They were covered with ? cotton wooL, called in Western parlance blankets, which I every workman must provide forhunself. It is impossible to wash these without destroying them by turning the cotton wool ifito lumpy masses, and Arnold Chalfont s were no less grimy than his neighbours He was not pleased at being awakened to read a note. He had been sleeping hea vily and for some mo- ments the words conveyed no meaning to him. But at sight of the signature he sat up and perused it carefuHy. his hand trembling a little on the bedclothes. Then he rose, thrust his legs into overalls, and sought upon ashelf for writing materials. His own ink bottle was dry. He silently borrowed some from a man who wrote to his wife every week, and pulling a dry goods box from a corner, kneeled down and began to write. Hard labour had spoiled his handwrit- ing and made him so clumsy that he blotted the paper. But there was no doubt in his mind as to what he wished to say. Dear Peter (so ran the letter), You say you have just found out I am here. Well, do not tell anybody else—especially mother. Try and make her think I am dead. I can't see you or her or anybody- have got my'rea- sons and they are good ones. You say you will make up for the past- Just let it alone, Peter. You can't do anything. Mind, I don't blame you or her. It-was no one's fault but the governor's—and I blame him any more now he's gone. He didn't know what he was doing. He sent mc out where I've got to stay and never come back. Don't try to see me. Go to the smelter at Kendal and take a look at the men coming out of the gate as they quit work and say to yourself, My brother Arnold is just like these,' and that wilj cure yoy of wanting to see me, and you won't want to let mother either. Go back and tell her I'm dead. It's true, Peter. I'm a working man, and I can re- i member how that wasat home—how it is with you. You can no more eat and live and go about with a workingman than with a dead man. 80 go back, Peter, and don't try to see me or you will be sorry. Arnold. He woke a young man at the end of the room, who yas nicknamed Soft Billy," because of his total incapacity for thought, told him to take the note to the superintendent had got Into bed again, drawing the coverings over his head till the last moment. At supper he listened abstractedly to the talk of the other men. All around him angry- voices dis- ) cussed the latest news—the dismissal of the shift boss. Under the orders of the new boss, a mere creature of the superintendent as he himself was a creature of Mr Hawkins, the men had been working all day to remove the pillars of ore. When those pillars were cut out the mine would be more of a death-trap than ever. for although the cribwork looked all right the men knew that tM roof was open for 20 or 30 feet above it. Some of them declared their in- tention of quitting that night and one touched Chalfont on the arm with a better come with us too, pardner." He reflected. He wished he could have joined them, but he was hard-up. If he only stayed, another night he would be two dollars to the good by daylight, and he could get away early next morning. So long as he was in the mine nobody could find Irm. When the other men had gone out he stayed at the table waiting for the signal for work. A boy was pointing to him, and a stranger crossed the threshold. He might have escaped by the veranda, but some deep emotion, some long-buried memories stirred in him and kept him waiting for something that was going to happen that he could not prevent. The man in the faultlessly cut clothes came hesitatingly toward him. That was Peter sure enough, and Peter didn't know him. He wanted to get away but he could not. What is it you want ?" he asked gruffly. Peter looked at him, bewildered. Arnold- Arnold Chalfont ?" he faltered. My name is Brown," he said, turning rapidly to go. Arnold cried Peter, catching him by the sleeve. The voice, the touch, all that was meant by that kinship which had been so long denied him, humbled and weakened him, forcing him to wheel round and to stare fascinated at the man who was his brother. By the. long table, covered with cheap oilcloth, the two stood gazing at each other—a contrast such as that messrooni had never seen. The facc of the priest was tine, ethereal, almost attenuated. In relation to him, his brother was as rough rock to hewn marble. His hair was long. His beard completely covered the lower part of his face. To the clergyman from the suburb he was shaggy, foreign and strange as some impenetrable forest. He was a workingman, yet not in the least like those specimens who came to him in London for coals and blankets. He could not talk to him in the same language. The silence between them was unbearablfe when Arnold broke it. «' D—— you Why do you insist on seeing me ?" he asked, with a dark and angry flush. Peter stretched out his hand as though im- ploring pardon. I had to, Arnold. Your letter- It was the truth. Can't you see it for your- self I can see you have suffered a great injus- tice. I want to right it. Half of what I have is yours, Arnold." Again they looked at one another. This was Pe« cr—grown clerical and saintly. And this, | impossible as it seemed, was Arnold, nothing of Arnold that he could remember hut the Chal- font voice. It can't be done," said Arnold, after a pause. It can't be done." Oh, I know I can't make up for the years you've had to spend in exile," said Peter, but you must come back." Come back to what ? What's my career we used to talk about so much?" With his heel he crushed a piece of broken egg-shell on the floor. "No more than that. 1 tell you, Peter, it can't be done." Peter stretched out his hands. His appeal was less to Arnold than to the gulf that sepa- rated them. Oh," he cried, our mother t" Arnold muttered something and turned upon his heel. "Who's got Chalfont now?" he asked. Gerald. He's married. He has three child- ren." Peter stopped short, almost holding his breath. The rough bearded face had softened. But with a sort of wilful abstinence he thrtist the feast awav from him. He allowed himself only one morsel.. Is my old bitch, Lady, still alive ?" he I asked. Yes. We always remembered how fond you were of her, Arnold. She lives with mother and me at Chelsea. At last they were on common ground. When you come back you'll see her." No. She'd bark at me. Didn't I train her myself to go for tramps ? I'll bet somethuMj her scent's as keen as ever, and she wouldlPfc recognise the Chalfont smell in me. I'm not a credit to the family. It's queer how the people 1 who never get dirty have all the baths they want, and those that work in dirt and muck all day can't get a tubful of hot water-for love or money. Many's the time I've quit work and gone on tramp just to get a swim in a river and lots of water to wash my clothes. But I don't now. I'm not a hobo any longer. I'm a respectable working man, and I stick to my dirt and my dirt sticks to me. I don't advise you to come too near me, Pewr." He used an expression as to the physical condition of him- self and his mates which filled the clergyman with horror. Arnold was not a credit to the family. The dog would bark. The servants would give notice. And his poor mother The sweat stood out in beads upon his forehead. Oh, why did you not come back to us be- fore, Arnold ?" he cried. Did you expect me to do the prodigal son act?" You never were the prodigal son it was not vour fault No, but it's been worse for me than for him. Maybe it was different in Bible times. Maybe ho didn't have to live with swlbe long enough. Bat rWfc&d to be cm* Peter. That's one of the reasons why I can't come back. It sticks out all over me." Peter had nothing to say in the face of Ar- nold's degradation. Suddenly the whistle blew clear and strong in the canyon, and as by force of long habit Arnold turned to go. Peter started up. Stop, Arnold," he said. At least let me help you. You're not the slave of that any longer." „ Oh, there aren't any slaves in America, returned Arnold grimly. I'm a free working man—only if I don't go I shall starve." "But the disgraceful conditions. You—a Chalfont—to accept them." If you're starving and have the choice of a loaf or a stone you don't stop to see if it's a good loaf. What's the use of protesting ? There are plenty of Slavs and Dagoes to take our places if we do» All the time two yellow men had been chat- tering and washing dishes behind the thin par- tition. Now the boy came up to Peter with a telegram. He read it and crushed it in his hand. The Fates were conspiring together to pliinge him into deeper and deeper misery. Arnold noted the action with suspicion. Mother's in California," he said. "Yes." That telegram is from her ?" Yes." You wired her I was here ? Curse you, Peter, why did you meddle ? I can't see her." Peter stared at the telegram. Had he lost faith in God and man that he had almost let his brother go ? Arnold," he said, will you break her heart ? It's been nearly broken on your account already. Y ou must come bacJC for her sake. You must change." It can't bo done, I tell you. I am not fit. Do you think they wouldn't see through me 1 Mother and the rest of them are angels—and here we've nothing to do with angels. They re birds of another feather." Then Arnold broke oul. He, for whom the ordinary customs of a mining camp had been a fall and a conscious degradation, uncovered his sore, till his brother cried to him to stop. Peter re-read the tele- gram. Mrs Chalfont had just been able to catch the noonday express from San Francisco, and would reach'Kendal about seven in the evening. It waS now nearly six. He had no time to do anything but haste to meet her. He left the mining camp with one last look at the mountain. He should never see Arnold again. And Arnold in the mine had said farewell for ever to his brother Peter. By to-morrow morn- ing he would be away-a hobo with his blankets on his back. Again Peter drove through the streets of Kendal. A blare of brazen sounds came from the music and dance-halls. Red lights began to twinkle on innumerable verandas. If be had known Ihe v. o ild never have brought his mother to this vile place- She was too pure to understand its language. The Oregon express was late. He paced the track by the river. It was quite dark as a face looked out at him from the lights of a Pullman car. The hand of Ills mother trembled on his arm as he hurried her to the buggy. Something is wrong," she said, grasping his hand as they began to move. Where is Arnold ?" „ He is not here. I made a mistake. A mistake ? Have you not seen him, Peter?" # No, mother. He is gone." But he was here ? Oh^ if he was here at all we can surely trace him." I don't think it will be possible. I will toll yon why when we get to the hotel." Oh, surely we shall find him. We must. Mr Hawkins will help us." Peter did not answer. They drove up out of the river canyon and she clung to hia arm, alarmed at the awful glow that lit the devaa- tated hill-top. >' It is nothing, dear mother, said Peter, seizing desperately at a subject for conversa- tion. They are turning copper into gold, that's all. It's magnificent really—nothing to be frightened at—such a beautiful crimson. It's red like that because they are mixing it with- He stopped short horrified, because be had been on the point of saying? that they were mixing it with the blood of men. Did Arnold ever work in this dreadfnl place ?" "No, mother; at least we don't know. We don't know anything. It was Mr Hawkins' mistake. Oh, I'm not blaming him. He meant well. He is really a wonderful man. Think of his 'staying here in this exile to pile up weaJth for us in London. London's Paradise and this is hell. He is like the devil with a whole army of lost souls under him, working hard to keep Paradise from caving in." Oh, Peter, Peter, why are you so unlike yourself ?" The noor lady sat tremulous and tearful ? Why did Peter talk like this ? Peter who was so broad, so liberal that never even in his Lenten sermons did he speak much of such dreadful thingsi What was wrong ? What had happened to Arnold ? In the hotel bedroom she looked into his face, white under the electric light. „ Peter," she said, you have seen Arnold. He lied, surprised at his own glibness. No, mother. The man was not our Arnold." Was. he here ?" I No, at the mine—just a common working- man—hot in the least like = j' What'are we going to do, Peter V "Stay here to-night..1 am sorry the accom- modations are so poor—we will return to San Francisco to-morrow." And not go to the mine at all ?" Why should weP Jt would be useless." No more was said. 15'it as they tried to eat some supper, her eyes returned again and again to his face. They were pleading with him to telI the truth. He could not bear them, and ■ — ■■■■■■ as soon as he had seen her to her room, be begged her to excuse him, saying that he was very tired. Now he undressed and lay down, and even in the darkness her eyes haunted him. He knew that she did not sleep—that she lay awake, full of reproach to the dear son who never in his life had lied to her. The com- municating door between the two rooms opened. He must lie bravely as Luther hade men sin. Her voice fell incisively upon the dimness, just as he had expected to hear it. Peter, you did see Arnold Why are you keeping me from him ?" Peter marshalled his facts—his evidence. Then suddenly on the silence broke a sound full of fear to their harowed nerves—the galloping of horses, a shout of alarm flying like a winged terror through the night. In a moment they were at the window, and as the sash went up, a wave of voices from doorways, windows, every nook and corner seemed to beat on the figure of a man who stood in the dusty street, gazing where the horses had swept on. The bar-tender ran with a shout. There had been a cave in the mine. Eight men were buried in it. As Peter turned with dilated eyes, his mother caught his arm. Arnold is there she cried. Take me to him If he dies it will be best. As they drove up to the mine this was what Peter's sub- conscious self kept saying to Peter. After long years he will remember that terrible night at the mine—the interminable suspense of the long-drawn hours, while their eyes strained through the darkness to where a few lights twinkled at the mouth of a tunnel, In the dawn his mother's hair was whiter than it had been before. In the dawn as the lights paled on the hillside, the small crowd converged forms were carried out of the tunnel into the air. Now, thought Peter, they would know whether what WM best had happened. Then a man came running to the house with news- "good news. A look of joy came into his mother's face. She led the way into the bedroom where all was ready, and, with hands that trembled, smoothed the smooth coverlet. They laid a man upon the bed—an inanimate, bearded, clumsy figure, covered with stains of earth and blood. Peter seized his mother and carried her half fainting from the room. That man was not Arnold Was it some terrible mistake ? • Peter would have given worlds to have been able to assure her that it was so. As he went to send a messagP." for a San Francisco specialist, he had ouiy one hope—that Death might claim the man they had carried in, and that the grave might leave the question of his identity unsolved. That evening the doctor from San Francisco came out of the sick-room with his verdict. With care the patient would pull through. There might be a slight injury to the brain, with a resultant loss of memory more or less permanent. In these cases the thread of life was often taken up where it had broken off, but sometimes a whole tract of memory was, as it were, obliterated. Peter paid little heed to these last sentences. He was face to face with the terrible fact that Arnold would live. From day to day Peter watched his mother. The signs of suffering and of strain left her face. In their place came looks tender and maternal, and as, after the travail of birth the mother slowly claims her child, so she seemed to take this stranger for her son. And gradu- ally, in the purity and order of the sick-room, the stains of earth and blood, the rudeness of hard conflict were washed and worn away from him. His body resumed its natural fineness, as a pebble encrusted with earth grows to the likeness of a precious stone in clear running water. The lines of his features now showed plainly in the shaven face. The bandages Surrounded the forehead like an infant's cap. He was swaddled as a babe in spotless white- ness and like a babe's his coDRciousncss em- erged in an infinitely slow awakening. Those who moved about him were, as yet, only shadows. In a little while he would distinguish between and recognise them. And if out of that whiteness there should come a curse Peter kept away from the bed. If Arnold were to take up the thread of life again just where he had left it off it would be frightful. The mining camp had resumed the monotony of its routine. Already the tragedy was for- gotten. Five men were dead three maimed for life. Moat of the white men had left the camp, but Slavs and Italians had taken their places, and plenty of ore filled the maw of the smelter at the foot of the mountain. Peter had been sitting up for many nights, and he was very tired. Even the slight throb of machinery and the light coming through the half-closed blinds were a trouble to his dazed brain, starved for want of sleep. As he sat in the room next his brother's, dozing fitfully, he re-lived in his dreams the events and emotions of the past week. After an hour he woke. From the next room camo a voice that stirred in him strange memorie.s,aud almost before he knew it he had opened his brother's door. His mother was bending over the pillows. Arnold was speaking in a voice that seemed thin and young. Where's Peter, mother ? I want to see him." The moment he had dreaded had come at last, but for some reason Peter was not at all afraid. Yes, Arnold," he said, going toward the bed, I'm here." ( > Old Peter—old Saint Pefcear," Arnold smiled a boyish, humourous fetnile. "•Wtutvrta it I wanted to say ? Oh, I wanted to ask is Swallow all right V" Good heavens They were not at themine at all ? They were back at Chalfont. They were boys again, and Arnold had just had that fall from his horse that had nearly cost him his life. Yes-yes, Swallow's all right," said Peter. Arnold turned affectionately towards his mother. She didn't know," he said. She never did care about the horses." The mother's eyes swam with tears as she looked questioninglv at Peter. He took her hand. Their two heads closed together over the worn white one, wasted with fever. Dear, dear mother," he whispered with immense relief, it's all right—Arnold has came back to us." (The End.) Next Week :— NOBLESSE OBLIGE, By Albert Sefton.

ROYALTY AND WEST WALES. Sanatorium Inauguration. A meeting of the Executive Committee of the West Wales branch of the National Society for the Prevention of Tuberculosis Was held at the Carmarthen Shire Hall on Saturday at the Carmarthen Shire Hall on Saturday afternoon, Mr Ernest Trubshaw, Llanelly, presiding. The hon. secretary (Dr. Dowpn- Jones, Carmarthen) said he had received from Earl Cawdor a letter, dated the 6th inst., in Which his Lordship said I have to-day received an intimation that H.R.H. Princess Christian will prefer to come down to South Wales on Saturday, the 18th of July, the open- ing ceremony of Alltymynydd Sanatorium to be -on Monday, the 20th, so that her Royal Highness can return to London on Tuesday. the 21st. Will you kindly submit this sug- gestion to the Executive Committee ?" To the committee the date seemed acceptable. Her Royal Highness's reception and other matters connected with the opening of the sanatorium will be discussed at a. meeting of the Fur- nishing Committee, to be held on the 24th inst. The methods for collecting money for the maintenance of the institution were dis- cussed at great length, and it was decided to appoint committees for every district with a vice-president as their head. It was explained that a tl subscription would entitle sub- scribers to one ticket of recommendation, This money would be paid to the general fund.

SIR T. LIPTON'S NEW YACHT. Sir Thomas Lipton visited Fairlie (Ayr- shire) on Friday, and inspected his new racing cutter, now building there. Interviewed on returning to Glasgow, he expressed great de- light with the appearance of the boat. I She is a racer, pure and simple, he said. She must not be called Shamrock IV., but simply Shamrock. The lucky four-leaved Shamrock I am reserving for my next America Cup challenger." With regard to the America Cup, Sir Thomas said that he was willing to arrange another series of races, but he could not challenge again under the old conditions governing the contest. He proposed to launch the new boat on April 15th, and hoped that the first trial spin would take place on May 1st.

"NAP" TRA6EDY. While a number of miners were engaged in a game of "Nap at Tamworth on Saturday a quarrel arose, one of the men named Joseph Farrell alleging he had been cheated of 5d by Alfred Faulkner. The parties eventually came to blows, and it isallegod that Thomas Farrell, a brother of Joseph Farrell, struck Faulkner, and both men fell to the ground. While on the ground Faulkner received a nasty kick behind ground Faulkner received a nasty kick behind the ear, and it was subsequently is covered that he was dead. On Sunday morning the two Farrells and another miner named Arthur Titley were arrested on a charge of causing the death of Faulkner.

GOODS UNDER DISUSED BOAT- It is reported that on Thursday night grocery stores situated on the south side of Port Tal- bot Docks, near the lock gates, were broken into, and a quantity of grocery and cigarettes stolen. On Friday night a quantity of clothing was stolen from a cabin in the e.s. Malachite in the South Dock. On Saturday evening Police- sergeant Phillips, of the docks, whilst making inquiries, discovered a quantity of stolen property, including grocery and clothing, under a disused t-ooat. Sergeant Phillips there- upon kept watch on the boat, and at 8.30 he arrested a French sailor, who will be brought before the magistrates to-day.

SINGEMTTO VISIT CANADA. An event of great importance in the musical world is the visit to Canada of Dr. Henry Coward and his Sheffield Chorus. Some idea of the magnitude of the undertaking may be gleaned rrqm the fact that it wiU require an ocean liner of no mean proportions to convey the party. The chorus sail from Glasgow on Saturday, October 24th, 1908, *lnd are due to arrive back in Liverpool on Friday, November 20th. During the tour about 16 concerts will he j given, including "Messiah," "Elijah," Dream of Gerontius," and various other detached choruses and solos.

Welsh National Liberal Federation. LICENSING AND EDUCATION BILLS. Campaign Arrangements. The General Purposes Committee of the Welsh National Liberal Federation met at the Haven Hotel, Shrewsbury, on Saturday, U. chair being occupied by Mr Edward Thomaw, J.P., Cardiff, to arrange a campaign throughout Wales in support of the Govern- ment Licensing and Education Bills now before Parliament. Mr J. Wynford Philipps, M.P., presented the report of the Finance Sub-Com- mittee, in which it was stated that since the meeting ol the cpmmittee in London in Febru- ary £515 had been promised and subscribed, and he was still receiving replies from gentle- men who had been appealed to lor assistance. Mr Philipps was heartily thanked by the com- mittee lor his personal service in augmenting the funds of tne Federation, and the chairman made a strong appeal to the other members of the General Purposes Committee to further in- crease the finances. It was decided also to ask the Finance Sub- committee to further prosecute the appeal for funds to enable a vigorous campaign to be made throughout the Principality before tho Committee stages of the above Bills are reached. Mr Philipps also conveyed the recommenda- tion that two lecturers be engaged l'y the Federation (an English speaker and, a Welsh speaker respectively) to address meetings in North and South Wales and Monmouthshire upon Free Trade and in furtherance of Liberal principles generally. The secretary (Mr \V. H. Hughes, Pontypool) reported that conferences upon the Small Holdings and Allotments Act had been arranged to be held in Carmarthen on the 28th inst., when Mr Corrie Grant, K.C., M.P., and Mr Llewelyn Williams, M.P., will speak in Eng- lish and Welsh respectively, and that a confer- ence for North \Vales upon the same matter will be held during the month of April. The secretary also reported that a meeting had been convened by him of the constituency Liberal Associations of Monmouthshire on Thursday last, at which strong action in regard to the Licensing and Education Bills had been determined upon, and that several applications had been received by him from all parts of Wales for literature dealing with the Bills in question. He had been in com- munication with temperance, Free Church, and other organisations for the purpose of co- operating in the holding of conferences and public meetings. He strongly recommended that two large conventions be held—one at Car- narvon and the other at Swansea—in support of the Government measures, and that confer- ences be held in every constituency, with the assistance of the members of Parliament, and Liberal and other organisations. That petitions be promoted in favour of the Bills where that course had not already been adopted. He also advocated the preparation of leaflets for general distribution. In the discussion that followed, strong aggressive action by the Council was advocated. A letter was read from Mr J. H. Roberts, M.P., one of the Whips of the Welsh Parlia- mentary party, suggesting action largely upon the lines recommended by the secretary. The meeting decided to conveneconferencesat Car- narvon and Swansea during the Easter holi- days, to which all the members of Parliament for Wales and Monmouthshire will be invited, and that the constituency associations be recommended to hold similar meetings within their areas. It was decided also to print aseries of pamphlets in Welsh and English for general distribution. The secretary was instructed to prepare and send out forms of petitions to places that had not been otherwise provided for. A large quantity of routine business was also dealt with, and it was decided* to hold another meeting of the General Purposes Committee at Cardiff on the 13th of April to complete the arrangements for the meetings decided upon.

Swansea Arbitration. LOCOMOTIVE MEN'S WAGES. A meeting of all the locomotivemen em- ployed at the Swansea Docks was held on Sun- day at Siddalls Buildings, Swansea, to receive the award issued as the result of the recent arbitration. The arbitration arose out of a, request for altered wages and conditions made to the firm of Mr C. Rowlands, contractor. Swansea, by members of the Welsh Artisans Union. The arbitrator appointed was Mr Harry \Vrflliams, general secretary National Labourers' Union. The award was submitted to the meeting by Mr J. H. John, general secretary Welsh Arti- sans' Union, and is calculated to eventually affectaJl locomotive men employed at the Swansea Docks.. Tho award ptovidee that be < fixed at a minimum of 32s per highest rate is allowed to stand at 35s per week, but those paid 32s and 31s per week are advanced Is each, and those paid 30s to 32sand those 2ys to 32s per week the drivers paid 24s to be advanced to 28s, and at the end of the year to 32s per week firemen temporarily driving to be paid 30s per week (formerly paid 24s per week) firemen made drivers for the first year to work at 30s per-week, and then 32& per week. All firemen employed under 188 per week to be advanced is each per week. Th6 minimum wage of shunters is fixed at 29s, and those now paid 28s, 29s, and 30s to be advanced Is each per week. A shunter paid 24s is to be advanced to 26s 6d per week, and at the end of the year to 29s per week. Spare shunters to be advanced irom 27s to 29s per week. All under-shunters to be advanced 2s each per week, and wpen temporarily employed as shun- ters to be paid 2is per week, and for the first year when promoted to be shunters to work at that rate, then to get 29s per week. With regard to the meal hours it is provided that nny workman not having a meal within half hour of stipulated times that be be paid the meal hour. Overtime to be paid at time and a quarter rate, and all holidays and Sun- day work at twice the usual rate of wages. The award to cover only the men represented by Mr J. H. John at the arbitration, the existing wages and conditions otherwise to remain and exist as a.t present." The award is to remain until December 31st next, a.nd then may he determined by tllret calendar months' notice. The employers' con- tention with regard to the dismissal of a work- man was upheld.

EI8TEDDF0DAU. Erwood. The chief awards at Erwood (Breconohirel Eisteddfod were as follow :—Recitation, Misa Maggie Powell, Cefngarth story, Master H. T. Stephens, Erwood contralto solo, divided between Miss Maggie Evans, Llyswen, and Miss Jennie Beavan. Gwenddwr bass solo, Mr Sidney Davits, Builth Wells tenor solo, Mr W. Griffiths, Vflindre soprano solo, Miea May Woodiart, Abergwenddwn; quartette, Mrs Evans and party, Erwood; anthem, Gwenddwr party (conductedby Mr J. DavUsU Llandovery. An eisteddfod was held at the Drill Halit Llandovery, on Thursday evening under the presidency of Mr D. Davies, C.C. Chief awards Solo, Mr Williams. Castle-street f veterans' competition. Councillor Daniel Jones, Rhob-ybcdw, Llandovery love letter, Mr E. Jones, Uanwrda part song, Llan- do very party (Mr Lloyd Williams).

TREGARON HORSE SHOW. I —1_ The annual horse show and races a< Treearon. too. place on Saturday. Captain Jfossett K-oberts, Abery- stwyth, was president, Messrs W. Lloyd aud R. 1I.. Jones secretaries, and Mr W. R. Morgan treasurer^ Awards'— Best collier—1, D. Lloyd, Frondeg 2, — JoneSi Cefnllwynfiod; 3, — Jones, Dorlfawr. Collier, any Cefnllwynfiod; 3, — Jones, Dorlfawr. Collier, any age-I, B. William3, Blaentwrch 2, — Jenkins, Cefn, Malws 3, D. R. Jones, auctioneer. Draught mare or -(gelding, under four years—1, — Lewis, Pydslawsaf; 2, Jones, Penygraig; 3, D. L. Jones. Ditto, any age—1, — Daviæ, Llwynrhya 2, B. J. Evans, Lianfinrfach 3, S. Jones, Penygraig. Pony, not exceeding 13 hands—1, S. David, Coed- park: 2, D. Rees, Brachfa: 3, Moss Roderick, Gogtnau, Three year old mare or gelding-I, — Jones, Dol- fawr 2, — Williams, Blaentwrch 3, — Jones, Cefn. llwynflod. Pony, shown under saddle—1, —. Davies, Coed Park; 2, —. Rowlands, Cross lim 3, —. Lloyd, Pwll- pridd. Cob, not exceeding 14.2 hands—1, D.. Evans, Nags Head, Newcastle Emlyn; 2, —. Morgans, Cefnfaes 3, —. Jones, Khiwlug, Uandyssi). Mare or gelding, exceeding 14 2—1, D Evans, Llwyn- cadfor 2, T. Rees, Aberystwyth; 3, —. Jones. Cefn. llech Cob, not exceeding 14.2, under saddle—1, —. Margan". CeInfaes; 2, —. Edwards, Cefngwyn flail; 3, —. Owen, Taikirion. Mare or gelding, exceeding 14.2. under saddle-I,D. Evans, Nags Head 2, T. Rees, Aberystwyth ;3. Jones, Cefnjlwynpiod. Pony in harness-I; D. Evans, Nags Head: 2,- Lewis, Llaniossa 3, S. Davies, Coed Park. Cob in harness—1, D. Evans, Llwyncadfor; 2, Edwards, Cefngwyn Hall; 3, —. Jones, Maebfor. Mare or gelding in harness—1, D. Evans, Nagr Head 2, D. Lewis, Ciliull; 3, Watkin Griffiths, Rbydl lewls. Best typical Welsh cob—1, Thos. Jones, Old Abbey. Hurdle Race—1, Phil Lewis, Meidrym, Tallyho; 2, Owen Jones, Lleidau, Llandyssul, Red Hot; 3,- Jones, Bryncaron, katsy. Trotting match for ponies-I: — Hughes, Nanthen- foel, 2, Evans, Maeamynach 3, —- Jones, Tyndi rennen. Farmers' trotting match—1, Lloyd, Panan 2, Lloyd, Maesllyn 3, W. Jones, Tygwyn. Open flat race handicap—1. Owen Jones, Lleinau, Red Hot; 2, Phil Lewis, Taliyho 3, Wat Griffiths. Crab. Open trotting match handicap- E Lloyd, auc- tioneer, Fly 2. Lewis, Cwmgorse, Wliite Socks; 3, Morgan, Ystraddewi, Doll. Consolation race—1, Uick Lloyd, Tandre 2, Mor» gan, Ystraddewi; 3, 15. J. Evans, Llanfairfacli.

SIR H. TICHB0RNE. The visit of Sir n. Tichborne, Bart., to Aus tralia will, revive all kinds of stories about tht claimant that were once rampant here. Nc doubt his visit is partly instigated by th< stories Arthur Orton told of his adventures ii Australia, and maybe there is a Taint hope o learning something about the real Roger Ticb borne, for it seems that he realty was in thl part of the world at one period óf his career.- British Australasian."