The Cardiff Times

Neu Wreichion Oddiar yr Eingion By CADRAWD. SIMPLES" IN THE VALE. A very wholesome change has of late years taken place in the treatment of the insane. At the time when gentlemen wore shirt collars that reached up to their eyes, and swathed their necks with yards of deep-folded starched cambric, when their garments one and all were made to fit so tightly that the next great diffi- culty of the day after the morning dressing was the unrobing without absolutely tearing the garments to pieces, when the ladies out- rivalled the sterner sex in the art of making themselves uncomfortable through the agency of dress, submitting themselves to voluntary torture, what kind of treatment can we expect them to have thought proper for the mentally afflicted who, alas, had no voice in deciding whether they would submit to it or not. Bedlam was not an asylum for the insane, from the buffetings of the world, but truly a place full of horror and unless the affected person seemed likely to prove dangerous to himself or others, it was considered the most becoming course to allow him to remain at large under the slight restraint of his family, or in the care of a res- ponsible family who for a consideration would undertake the charge. Thus it was not at all an uncommon thing sixty or eighty years ago to meet one or two of these pitiable beings in a day's walk, some of whom would prove amusing in their harmless vagaries, and others perhaps inspire not a little terror. Sixty years ago the neighbourhood of Cowbridge was noted for having a goodly number of these people at large, and as their appearance abroad presented a social feature, which now happily no longer has occasion to exist, a brief account of them may have some small and noteworthy interest. Scott has not infrequently introduced a character such as we speak of into his novels, and the quick observation, cunning and incongruous wit of the harmless-mad, give an effective pictur- esqueness to the pages of the novel. We do not propose to bring forward in this reminiscence any such characters, or produce a Madge Wildfire." Highly effective as some of our characters might be in the hands of a true novelist, we are going to introduce to the reader Lewis Walters, a tall, gaunt figure, with an amazing appetite his hermit brother Henry in his lonely learned squalor in Cattle's- cburt; or Anna Ovens with her fantastic finery, ber love of showing off her graceful" dancing, and her elevated pity for poor Lewis Walters. Yes, poor fellow, he is mad you know." In the country there was Bessy Buther (a nick-name from the strange noise she often made in speaking) with her silk hat she had bought fifty years before while in service at the Ras; Nanna, the Grove, whose husband was a blacksmith. Daily she was to be seen with a huge bundle upon her back in which she would search for some little thing to give the children, she being specially fond of babies. Then there were Molly Jacobs, of St. Bride's Major, and Mary Russel, of Llan- dough, neither of whom had any special trait beyond a wild desire to ramble about. Others then at large in the Vale were almost helpless and hapless, their madness sometimes taking a repulsive form. Sad Story of the Walters' Family. The fortunes of the Walters family make a pad story. The father, the Rev. John Walkers, M.A., was rector of Llandough and St. Mary Church, and master of Cowbridge Free School. He was a man of extensive teaming, an excel- lent Welsh scholar, and the author of an Eng- lish-Welsh Dictionary of great merit, which was the first book published in the County of Glamorgan, the first part being issued early in the year 1770. The Rev. Mr Walters's family consisted of five eons, to whom he gave a good education. All the sons reached manhood, but two only survived their father—Lewis, the youngest, who was half-witted, and Henry, the elder, who became a hermit. Both of them were said to have shown in youth great mental promise, and to have been brought to the state in which they were for' so many years known to the inhabitants of Cowbridge by the severe studies imposed upon them by their father. Mr Walters left behind him little or no property, and at his death his sons removed to the town from the rectory of Liaix. dough, to subsist upon the scanty income afforded them by some clerical charity, and the slight benevolence of the neighbourhood. Henry lived alone in the small house down Cattle's-court; Lewis lived in lodgings provided for him by those who saw to the laving out of his share of the pittance, but came daily to attend his strange-tempered, but perfectly sane brother, who kept him in great subjection. What Henry's appearance was like during the early part of his twenty years' abode in Cow- bridge I have not been able to ascertain, but during the latter part of it I have been told that he never went to bed, never washed him- self, had no clothes on save a large flannel wrapper brought him by his friends, and wore till it hung in tatters. He allowed his beard to grow, and hair to remain uncut, and the dust and dirt of years covered everything in th» house. The furniture of his rooms was scanty, the large arm chair which he occupied day and night, a table and stool was nearly all he could boast of beyond a curtain which he could draw round one portion of the room, and screen him- self from the gaze of a visitor or the unplea- santness of the draught. In the back part of the room were heaps of books and papers, carelessly thrown about the floor. 'After his death Felix Farley's Bristol Journal for several years was found every copy unopened The proprietor kept sending it, though he never got paid for it. Upstairs there were more books, old china, and lumber, all thickly coated with the prevading dust. Yet this man, dirt and dust encased as we see him, was most marvellously particular as to the cleanliness of all he ate. To begin with, his table, though wood of the greater part of it could not be seen for dirt, was, at the spot where his plate was laid, as brightly polished &s possible. In the Memoir of the celebrated Vicar Pritchard, of Llandovery, published in 1867 (the last and best of the several editions of Canwyll y Cymru"), we are informed that Mr Rees Thomas, the printer, who .brought out the first edition of the abote popular work at Llandovery, took with him, when he removed his printing press to Cowbridge, the whole of the papers left by the old vicar of Llandovery, and that Mr Rees, of Ton, was only three months too late to save them from the cartloads of papers which were taken out of the house in which Henry Walters had lived. These loads are said to have been taken to a place called 11 Waen y Gaer," and burnt as rubbish. The only thing saved from this fire at Waen y Gaer was a portrait of the Rev. Mr Walters in oil, which was for years afterwards seen hung in the parlour of a public-house at Cowbridge, but'now cannot be traced. It is said that this picture in the time his son Lewis was living was so little valued or admired by its owners that it had been stuck into the frame head downwards, and that by some chance he went into this tavern parlour, recognised his father's portrait on the wall, and had sense enough to be indignant at the small respect paid to it. They pacified him, it is a aid, by restoring the portrait to its proper position. Ieuan Brydydd Hir paid a very high compti- ment to the Rev. J. Walters as the author of a great dictionary. h. Hanbych well, Wallter, o hil Brython, Awdwr geiriadur gwiw arodion Gwnaethost gu orchwyl a gorchestion, Hanbid well ein can o'th amcanion A*u gwlad a'u hiaith fad o Fon—mam Cymru, I Fynwy a'i theulu fan etholion."

CARDI FFS NEW COLLEGE. A meeting of the committee appointed by the Council of the University College of-Soothe Wales and Monmouthshire to assist the presi-v: dent in making arrangements for the opening- of the new College buildings was held on Mon- day afternoon at the College, Cathays Park, Sir John Duncan presiding. There were pre- sent Sir Marchant Williams, Principal E. H. Griffiths, Mr Hurry Riches, Mr H. M. Thomp- son, and Mr J. Austin Jenkins, the Registrar. It was decided that the date of the opening of the new College should be October 14th. There will probably be two ceremonies, one in the great hall downstairs, when the Earl of Plymouth will declare the College opened, and the other in the Library, which will be opened by the Master of the Drapers' Company, who will be accompanied by the members of the Court of Assistants and the clerk. A tablet commemorating the generosity of the Drapers' Company, which has given il6,000 towards the Library, will be unveiled.

FATHER AND HIS BAIRNS, Richard Groves Redmore, a ship's cook, of Magor-street,Newport,wis charged at the local court on Monday with leaving two children, who became chargeable to the Union. The pris- oner, it was stated, owed iEI5 for their main- tenance. The prisoner said he had come all the way from America to see what he could do for them. He remarked that lie could have stopped there if he had wished. His wife was dead. His sister came forward and volunteered to take the children off the guardiaife' hands. Defendant was ordered to pay JE2 or a month's imprisonment.

FELLED WITH P.C.'s STAFF. Sidney Pauling, labourer, of Peterstone, was summoned at Llandaff on Monday for assaulting the police on the 6th July at Peterstone. P.C. Hamilton said the man was drunk and violent, and he was obliged to draw his staff and floor him. He called William Jones, a civilian, to his assistance and jbhe man was at last handcuffed. He was still violent and the other navvies were threatening. There were several previous con- victions and Pauling was given a month.

Bye-Election Bomb. MR KEIR HARDIE ISSUES WRIT.' Mid-Derby Candidate's Alleged Slander. A Belper correspondent telegraphs A writ for slander was served on Monday, on Mr Creswell, the Unionist candidate for Mid-Derby, at the instance of Mr Keir Hardie. Mr Keir Hardie, previous to taking action, consulted with Mr Cash, the agent of Mr Han- cock, the Liberal and labour candidate. Speaking at Wolverhampton on Sunday, Mr Keir Hardie. M.P., said I have received while sitting here a report of a meeting addressed by the Conservative candidate for Mid-Derby- shire. Mr Cresswell makes the statement that, by my speeches in India, I have fed the sedi- tious movement which has culminated in the murder of Sir Curzon Wyllie. (Shame, and hear, hear.) There are some men here who are ignorant and unfair enough to say Hear, hear." I have stood this kind of thing until I can stand it no longer, and I give this inti- mation that when I return to London on Tues- day I shall give Mr Cresswell the opportunity of proving his statement in the Law Courts. Every cur in England barked at my heels 20 years ago, when the man and his message were unknown, but they cannot do it to-day with impunity. (Hear, hear.) My reputation is not at stake, but it is for the movement to which I belong that I shall see to it that these people are compelled to face these facts, and to stand, as either ignorant libellers or wilful traducers. (Loud cheers.)

LONDON MURDER MYSTERY. The inquiry was, resumed at Stepney m Coroner's Court on Monday morning into the death of Kate Roman, a single woman, aged 24, of 12, Miller's-court, Duval-street, Spital- fields. The deceased woman, the daughter of a Fulham painter, was found in her bedroom in the early hours of the morning of July 1st with her throat cut. There were no signs of a struggle, but appearances clearly pointed to murder, and the medical evidence at the open- ing of the inquest was that the wound could not have been self-inflicted. Alfred Wilkins, a market porter, of Duval-street, said that at midnight on July 1st he noticed a stranger standing close to Miller's-court. He appeared to be about 27 or 28 years of age, and about 5ft. 6in. or 5ft. 7in. in height. He was dark, and wore a dark slight moustache, and he was dressed in a dark suit. He seemed to have the appearance of having been in the Army. The stranger stood there for a little while, and then moved to the top of the street. Here he stood under an electric lamp. He afterwards walked towards White-row. Witness added' that he saw the deceased woman go towards Duval- street and speak to the stranger in Duval- street, and go with him into Miller's-court. This was about midnight. When did you see the man again ? asked the Coroner. About 12.15," the witness answered. He walked towards Commercial-street." Charles Watson, 17, Duval-street, an organ- grinder, gave similar evidence, and his de- scription of the mysterious man in Miller's- court, corroborated that of the last witness. Henry Benstead, living in a lodging-house, said he had lived with the deceased woman for a stay of about five weeks. He had heard that she was an unfortunate," but he had not seen her with men. Witness stated that the last he saw of the deceased was in the street at nine o'clock on the night of the tragedy. He gave Roman a shilling to get something to eat. Go on," said Roman. Deceased was then with another woman, and the pair left him to go to a chemist's shop. Atl.30»a.m. he-Teturned to 12, Miller s-court. The-door was open, as was also the bedroom door. I saw," witness-added, "Kitty on the -heO- I said poor Kitty." andnoticect, blood on the side of her nec. I ran downstairs and down the street, and I said Somebody has cut my Kitty's throat! Witness went on to say that he afterwards went to^the poticeaintloa. A rather epenknife was produced, and witness was asked if he had seen-that knif" before ? He replied in the negative, aaid, in reply to a further question, he said he had never quarrelled with the deceased. Jeremiah CaDigan, a stable man, of 13, Miller's-coart, stated that when he went into the room he found a knife lying on the bed near the dead woman's head. Is this the-one." asked Detective Inspector Hensley, banding the knife which Benstead bad said was not his. Yes." The jury returned a verdict of Murder against some person or persons unknown."

WOMEN'S AERIAL LEAGUE. Gift of an Airship to the Nation. A meeting of the Women'sAerial League was held at the Royal Society of Arts, Adelphi, on Monday, with Lady O'Hagan presiding. Lady O'Hagan said that the league desired to awaken in all members of the community a practical interest in th^SubJeCt of aviation. They would like to present to the nation an airship of British construction, made by British workmen, of British material, to be used in the defence of the Empire. (Cheers.) It was the intention of the league to give scholarships to technical schools and polytechnics in order to encourage aero-dynamics and aerial engineer- ing as special subjects of study. When any new branch of industry, any new development of practical science, was presented to a people, it was well that the women of the natiorushould help their children and brother workers to take a foremost place in any such development. Lady Beerbohm Tree moved a resolution approving the formation of the league, and pledging the to supporfeit. Major Baden-Powe-B, in seconding, said that the idea at the -present moment seemed to be that the nation should get a French airship built specially, regardless of cost. He would like to ask what good would that-do? It might be said that the French had got the best type of airship, but it would be far better to start constructing vessels of our own. It was not an airship the nation wanted, but the means of providing airships. Mr C. B. Fry aJso-spoke-in support of the resolution. He said that aerial flight was not a matter of problematical futurity, but a matter of the present. Whilst people in this country knew nothing of aviation, people in Paris were full of the subject. The resolution was adopted.

WINDOW BREAKING WOMEN. Suffragettes Prefer Prison. The Suffragettes charged with stone-throw- ing were brought up at Bow-street on Monday-. and fined iC5 each, in addition to 2s 6d, re pre-, senting the extent of damage done, the alterna- tive being one month in the second division. There were 15-cases of stone throwing arising out of the raid on the House of Commons on June 29tb. Eugenia Bouvier, who broke a window at the Privy Council Office, and was fined S,5, or one month's imprisonment, claimed that the offence was purely political, and hoped she would be treated as a political offender when in Holloway, but the magistrate said it was not a political offence. All but three of the other defendants were similarly dealt with. Most of them made state- ments, one, Ada Wright, declaring if ber action was legally wrong, those men who incited her ought to stand with her in the dock. Mr Her- bert Gladstone, Mr HaJdane, and Mr Burns. she said, ought to be there. To one woman the magistrate (Sir Albert de Rutzen) said it was a lamentable thing to see respectable women charged with the same sort of offence which small boys were daily accused of. There ■ was absolutely no justification. Most of the women went to prison.

NOTTS VILLAGE TRAGEDY. The coroner's inquiry relative to the deaths of Matilda Lambert(27) and her three children, who were murdered on Saturday at Arnold, near Nottingham, was openep on Monday after- noon. The labourer Samuel Atberley, who is alleged to have committed the murders, was still in hospital, but is expected to recover from his self-inflicted wounds. Evidence was given showing that Atberley and the murdered woman bad lived together, and that there had been frequent quarrels. He had threatened her, and she appeared afraid of him, but he appeared to be fond of the chil- dren, of whom two were his own. It was stated that be slept with a razor under his pillow. Medical testimony indicated that the victims had been attacked m their sleep and had been rendered unconscious by blows inflicted with some bhmt instrument before their throats were cut. The inquiry was adjourned until the 30th inst. in order to give Atherley an opportunity of attending.

LIEUTENANT DIVORCED. In the Divorce Court on Monday, before Mr Justice Bargrave Deane, Mrs Beatrice Agnes Hughes sued for a divorce from Mr James Cecil Skinner Hughes, a lieutenant in the Navy, with whom she had resided at Havant. Petitioner alleged cruelty and adultery, and the suit was undefended.. The petitioner in her evidence said she was married to the respondent in June. 1897, at Portsea, and they had two children. In 1901 she and her husband went out to India. He there developed habits of intemperance. She spoke to occasions on which she said her hus- band had been guilty of acts of violence. One night he dragged all the clothes off the bed and began to break up her things. In January, 1908, she was at her mother's house in England and her husband came there and showed her the report of a shooting case, and he said he would shoot her and then' shoot himself. He been me angry, knocked the china of the table, and broke the telephone to prevent her com- municating with the police. On one occasion he tore her nightgown eff her. Other evidence was given to corroborate the petitioner's state- ment, and the witness gave evidence that the respondent had been living with another woman at Brixton. A decree nisi was granted.

I THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF BEAUFORT AT BRYNMAWR. Above.—Group of notabilities at the opening of the Recreation Ground. Front? row (sitting down)—Captain J. G. Bishop, Mr S. H. Cowper Coles, the Duke of Beaufort, Lord Glanusk, D.S.O. (in flannels), the Duchess of Beaufort, Mrs William Roberts. Second row-Dr. T. W. Bevan, Mr Ll. Thomas, Mr R. H. A. Davies, Ald. W. Roberts, J.P., Captain A. S. Williams, Mrs Cowper Coles, and the Rev. W. Crwys Williams. Below.—The reception of the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort on entering Brynmawr. Ald. W. Roberts, Chairman of the Brynmawr U.D.C., addressing the Duke and Duchess, who are seated in their motor car. (Photos, by A. & G. Taylor, Brynmawr.) In Memory of Mrs Lister Venables. The altar pavement at Newbridge-on-Wye Parish Chrrrdh hi memory of"Mrs Tester ''Venables, dedicated on Sunday. (Photo, by P. B. Abery, Builth Wells.) Welsh Mining Students Depart for Germany. ^i—i » The party grouped at the Great Western Railway Station at Cardiff. In the centre, ring a button-hole, is Mr Henry Davies, the County Mining Lecturer, who is in charge.—(" S.W.DpJ." photo.)

CHIEF SANITARY INSPECTOR. At a meeting of Cardiff City Council yester day the recommendation of the Health Com- mittee nominating Mr Samuel Evans as chief sanitary inspector was unanimously confirmed. Mr Evans. who takes over his new duties to- day, is a native of New Quay, Cardiganshire, and was born in 1861. He was educated at the Heo1 Fawr British School, Llanelly, and for some years was employed at local tinplate works. In 1886 he left Llanelly, and joined the Cardiff police force under Chief Constable Chief Inspector SAMUEL EVANS. (Photo, by Wills, Cardiff.) Hemingway. He joined the sanitary depart- ment of the Corporation in 1893. His career in the department has been one of sustained usefulness, and as recently as January of this year he was selected by the Health Com- mittee to undertake the supervision of the city lodging houses at an increased remune ra- tion. Mr Evans possesses the certificate of the Royal Sanitary Institute, and the elementary and advance certificates in building construc- tion of the Technical Schools of the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire.

i TRAIN BRAKE FAILED. Giving evidence at the Croydon coroner's inquiry into the death of William Cook, an engine-driver, who was killed at East Croy- don Railway Station through a collision of two trains, Charles Elvey, the driver of an excur- sion train to Croydon, said that as he ap- proached the station he saw the signals at danger, and tried to reduce the speed, but he failed because the Westinghouse brake did not act. He consequently passed the home signal and ran into Cook's engine. The guard said the brakes were all right before the train started, and the coupler said he put the West- inghouse pipes together. A verdict of "Acciden- tal des4th was returned.

DYING WIFE'S WEDDING RING. At an inquest at Battersea on Monday as to the death of Emily Windmill, aged 37, of Upper Tooting, the husband of the deceased, after persisting in a statement reflecting on his wife's character, said he went to the infirmary and was not allowed to see her. The Coroner (Mr Troutbeck) The sugges- tion is you were drunk ?—-I was not.^ Why did you ask for your wife's wedding ring ?—I thought it might be very acceptable to me. Did you think she was dying ?—I had given up hope. What induced you to ask for the; wedding ring ?- Well, I asked whether I could have it or not. But why did you ask for the ring from your dying wife ?—Because I had suspicions about it I Why ?—Because it was not the wedding ring the wife ought to have had. Itwas not the ring I bought for her. I asked for it to see if it was. I This is the ring I got, and it is not the ring I bought the wife.

WASHED UP AT LAVERNOCK. The body of a man was picked up on the beach betweenLavernock and Sully on Saturday morning by Alfred Webber, of Maughan-street, Penarth. He at once communicated with the police, who removed the body to the mortuary. The following is a description of the body Apparently from 50 to 60 years of age, 5ft. 4in. to 6in. in height, brown hair, short beard, slightly grey, dressed in dark plaid coat and vest, brown corduroy trousers, wooden-soled cloggs, muffler, and three-quarter melton overcoat. There was found upon him a pawn ticket from a Swansea pawnbroker's, bearing the name of John Price, 3, Upper Strand-street, Swansea, and bearing the date May, 1908. The man seems to be of the tramp class.

BLAENGWYNFI INEBRIETY. At Aberavon on Monday J- Edmunds, Gelli Hotel, Blaengwynfi, was summoned for permit- ting drunkenness on his premises. Mr L. M. Thomas defended. Mr L. M. Thomas submitted that defendant had taken every precaution to prevent drunkenness. Defendant on Satur- day evenings did nothing but look after the house to prevent drunkeno people coming in.—The Chairman Is drunkenness so rife at Blaengwynfi that a landlord has to release his hotel duties to act sentry duty ?- Defendant: Yes.—After several witnesses had been called for the defence, the Bench fined defendant £ 5 and costs. Fred White, collier, Blaengwynfi. charged with being on the pre- mises in a drunken condition, was fined 10s and costs.

Henry Limebeer, labourer, of Springfield- terrace, Melincrythan, was knocked down by a brake in Windsor-road, Neath, on Saturday night. He was conveyed home in a cab for med ical treatment.

POPULAR OFFICIAL RETIRES. A popular Great Western Railway official is about to retire in the person of Platform In- spector Richard Phillips, Pontypool Road, after 45 years' service in the employ of the. company and 34 years as platform inspector at Pontypool Road Station. Inspector Phillips entered the'Service of the Great Western Rail- way Co. as porter at Hereford in January, 1865, being afterwards stationed at Pontypool (Clarence-street Station) and Little Mill Junc- tion, and after serving as goods guard for 1, Inspector RICHARD PHILLIPS. (Photo, by Hugo Becher, Pontypool.) about five years he was appointed by the late Mr G. N. Tyrrell, superintendent of the com- pany at that time, to the post from which he now retires, having earned the universal respect of the travelling public by his urbanity of manner and geniality of disposition. During his term of inspectorship Mr Phillips has wit- nessed the growth to its present important dimensions of the traffic of the district and the introduction of what is known as the North and West and South Wales service via Ponty- pool Road. Severn Tunnel, &c. In his private capacity Mr Phillips is an ardent religious worker, and is a member of many years' stand- ing of the Kennard Lodge of Freemasons, Pontypool.

PANTHERS ATTACK GIRL. While Mademoiselle Alice, a girl age 17, wis taking two panthers from their cage to the stage at Edinburgh on Monday, they turned upon her and bore her to the ground. Assist- ance was immediately lorthcoming, and the animals were driven off by firing blank cart- ridges. Mdlle. Alice was found to be suffering from wounds on the head, breast, and thigh, and also from shock.

Newport Bridge. NEW STRUCTURE RECOMMENDED. Messrs E. Crutwell and R, H. Haynes have presented their report on the Newport bridge question. The chief danger, they point out, is the scouring away of the sand from beneath the foundations of the three eastern piers. The fourth pier, which is founded on the marl, is comparatively safe at present, but the river bed in its vicinity has been scoured 11 feet below the bottom, and if the scouring action continues this pier also will be endangered. The only method by which the piers might be rendered thoroughly secure is by extension of the foundations through the sand and into the marl to about the same level as the neigh- bouring holes which have been scoured in the river bed, the average depth to be underpinned being about 20 feet. The cost of all underpinning work is heavy, and they do not think that the three eastern piers could be under-pinned for less than £ 54,000. This represents more than half the cost of an entirely new bridge of increased width, and they consider that such an expen- diture merely for the sake of continuing the present inadequate traffic facilities would be unjustifiable. If it becomes necessary to underpin the western pier the additional cost would amount to about £ 15,500. An alternative method of securing the foun- dations would be to drive a row of steel sheet piling well into the marl across the river bed on both the up-stream and down-stream sides of the bridge, so as' to prevent the sand be- neath the foundations from escaping, and to fill in the space between the two rows of piles with rubble stones at least as high as the bottom of the pier foundations. The approximate cost of carrying out the work is about £ 12,600. There are, however, various objections to this scheme, including the liability which the Corporation might be called upon to indemnify the Harbour Author- ity against any accident or claim from the works. If the present structure is allowed to remain they consider that the kerbs at the edges of the footway should be raised in order that vehicles might not so easily be able to mount the footways. Besides insecurity of the footways and the pier foundations, the eastern abutment shows signs of settlement and needs careful watching. Summarising the estimates the expenditure to be incurred underpinning scheme would be as follows Underpinning the three eastern piers £5-1,000 Alterations to footways. 950 £54.950 Possible further expenditure on under- pinning western pier and eastern abutment 127,500 X82,450 The cost of the alternative scheme would be Protecting piers with piling and rubble- stone X12,600 Alteration to footways 950 13,550 Possible further expenditure on under- pinning eastern abutment. 12,000 £25,550 In view of the undoubted risks and liabilities attendant upon the execution of the protective measures described, they consider that a large expenditure on maintenance of a structure, which is admittedly inadequate to meet the requirements of the traffic is, not to be recom- mended, and that the right policy is to face the larger outlay required for an entirely new bridge as suggested in previous reports.

Swansea Trade Returns. r TINPLATE EXPORTS. Increase of Forty-four Per Cent. The monthly meeting of the Swansea. Harbour Trust was held on Monday, Sir Griffith Thomas presiding. Mr Glynn Price (chairman of the Finance Committee), submitting the monthly financial statement, said the trade of June constituted a record in several respects. There was a record aggregate trade, which reachecT 551,178 tons, or 78,000 tons over that of June, 1908, a record in tinplate exports, and a record in profits. The imports were not quite as good, copper ore showing a falling off of 5,000 tons, pig iron of 2,000 tons, wood goods of 6,000 tons, and cement of 1,500 tons, but there were increases in imports of 1,600 tons in calamine, 5,700 tons in it-on ore, and 1,000 tons in pyrites. The • xports of coal and patent fuel showed an in- crease of 71,000 tons, while tinplate shipments reached a total of 32,000 tons, a record ship- ment, being 10,000 tons, or 44 per cent., in- -case over the figures of June last year. The bulk of the increase was to Roumania and the Far East. The improvement in the import of fish was most gratifying, and showed-that the trustees were pursuing the right policy in im- proving the accommodation for this important and growing trade. The gross re venue was » £ 23,689-, a record one, and the result of the month's working was a profit of £ 6,146, also a record. Lord Glantawe's Review, Lord Glantawe, seconding the adoption of the statement, expressed great satisfaction at the improvement shown in the trade of the port, and went on to say it was most gratify- ing to see the very large increase in the ship- ments of tinplate. Holland had taken 740 tons in excess of the total for June last year Roumania, which was becoming an important customer, had increased its demands by 2,000 tons the Straits Settlements had taken 1,000 tons against nothing in June last year the shipments to China had more than doubled Japan took 3,000 tons more than in the corres- ponding month even the United States had increased its demands by 528 tons, while Brazil had taken 900 tons more altogether the increase in June was no less than 44 per cent., a fact that spoke well for the tinplate industry —one which some of their greatest authorities had thought to be in a dying condition only a few years ago. Altogether the trade of June had been most satisfactory, and it was very encouraging to them in Swansea to find that they were on the wave of better prospects.

PARTED AT CHURCH DOOR. Husband and wife who bad parted at the church door were divorced on Monday after- noon.. Captain Robinson Lewis, of the Army Medical Corps, hastily and secretly married his wife in 1905 at St. Georges, Hanover-square, on being ordered out to India. He sailed that day, said counsel, and bride and bridegroom, did not see one another again, for the captain is still in India. His wife went to live with her mother., Captain Lewis had told his family that he was engaged to Mrs Lewis, and in the capacity of his fiancee she visited his father's house. Ultimately his father suspected that there had been a marriage, and searched the records at Somerset House. Captain Lewis, who had been writing affectionate letters to his wife, was then informed that she had been unfaithful to him. He was granted a decree by the President.

COULDN'T WAKE HIM. Mr W. L. Yorath, the Cardiff Coroner, held an inquiry on Monday into the death of Johp H. Chapman (14), of Mary Ann-street, who died suddenly on Saturday. Deceased had been suffering from rheumatism for some time, and was under the care of a doctor about six weeks ago. He apparently got better, however, and had been away for a%oliday. On Saturday morning Mrs Chapman left the boy in bed under the care of her little daughter Florrie, aged 12, whilst she went out shopping. When she returned her daughter met her at the door crying because she could not wake her brother." Dr. Buist said death was due to heart failure following rheumatism, and the jury returned a verdict accordingly.

HAYMAKERS' BEER. Three dock labourers. John Tolcher, Lime- street, John Lewis Boon, Baldwin-street, and Joseph McCarthy, Clarence-street, were charged before the Newport Bench on Monday with stealing a nine-gallon cask of beer, and also with damaging a shed. The cask of beer had been safely deposited in a shed by Mr Wm. Henry Jones, of Blue House Farm, who bad bought it for his haymakers. The prisoners were found in a drunken condition in the early hours of Sunday morning. The men ad- mitted drinking the beer, but said they had no idea it was stolen. They denied that they had damaged the shed. The defendants were fined 21s, or one month's imprisonment, and the farmer was allowed 10s as compensation.

TROUBLE IN NORTH WALES. On Monday at a mass meeting of the men employed at the Wrexham and Acton Collieries, who are out on strike in consequence of a dis- pute over the Eight Hours Act,, it was stated by the miners' agent that unless the masters agreed at a forthcoming conference to allow the men half an hour for snapping or lunch time, the whole of the miners in North Wales w ill be brought out on strike.

By D. EMLYN EVANS. THE LONDON NATIONAL EISTEDDFOD. Some there were who complained that tllo metropolis was not the proper place for holding the Welsh national gathering-it was too rat, from the Principality, n.nd too expensive to get at and to stay in, especially for the working and middle classes—the real backbone of tbe institution when all was said and done. Also that the Royal Albert Hall was inconvenient aS to its position for the scattered Welsh of the great city, and for all besides being unsuitable as a building, both as regards its huge size and its inside arrangements. An audience of six ot seven thousand only looks like a handful of people there, while the array of empty seats'" many being proprietary,and therefore not avail" able to the public—between the arena and t,b6 far overhead galleries, produce in addition to some fantastic echo tricks, a feeling of coldness and what one may term aloofness, which £ ? towards making anyt hing like hwvl an eisteddfod ic enthusiasm all but impossible- Some again contended tha.t the National BlS- teddfod of Wales should not migrate beyond iW own borders, forgetful of the fact that it'q annual summons covers the whole of the Br^ ish Isles, and that it has been repeatedly within the English border, e.g.. Chester, Birkenhead, Liverpool, and so forth. Mani" festly. it would also be unfair, as impossible, to try and resist the claims of such a town aS Liverpool, for example, which according to common report contains more Welsh people than anv town in Wales itself. But whatever the pessimists may say regard to London and ite public halls, all Wilt agree that the city on the Thames can produce a body of eisteddfod promoters second to none, a truism that was made still more self- evident, if need there was, by this year's e:JC- perience, the committee and the various offi- cials working with a- will, and the work, once it was started, proceeding with smoothness and regularity. And when at the end of the opera* tions on Friday the official assurance Was given, with the last shake of the hand, that all aS well finandany it only seemed in accordance with the fitness of t hings, after the unremittin labour of so many months and the unperturbed srood humour that the exacting demands of the Festival week could not disturb. True, tbe Screeching Sisterhood were in evidence on two occasions—and that. of course, not wbein the Conservative Opposition leader gavehtS address, but when the Liberal Premier All Chancellor of the Exchequer spoke, in the same entirely non-political assembly—but the writer must plead guilty to a feeling of hilarity having overcome every other sensation, the means adopted by these women, and the m»D" ner in which they made a display of themselves being so truly farcical and franticallv femminc* Apropos the singing at this Eisteddfod, We can scarcely endorse the statement that it vvO the best ever heard at our annual national contests. We heard some very talented vo^ soloists, but as the*committee were considers^0 enough to make other arrangements for tb6 heavy work of the preliminary examination' our interest was chiefly centred in the ch<ira. competitions. As regards these we do think any of the contests reached the b'S? standard of the London Eisteddfod, 188 1 for instance, when Dr. Ro;ers'Penrhyn- vOlIte choir, and the late John North's Huddersfield choir were declared equal on the chief pr^f* and similarly the late Tom Stephens' singers and Huddersfield, again, in the nia' voice class. This does not affect the positlOti in any way of this year's winners for there can be no doubt about the excellence a. superiority of Mr John Williams and his CafT narvon choralists in the chief competition 1Ion also of DowL- is (Mr W. J. Watkins) in th* of the male voice while a special word0 praise is certainly due to Mr Llew. R. BoxveO' Swansea, and his forefc. particularly for their interpretation of Sir Edward Elgar's w- vielle." Here the contestants of 22 years had the advantage of a selection of pieces tha. would sing, anyhow. One can hardly say tb» some of this year's selections cannot be suna, because the feat was accomplished by winning choirs. But they are to a large unsingable, and if possessed of any as music, they can be best interpreted on key6*! instruments. Possibly the unvocal nature o certain of this year's test pieces may the fact that more than one of the compettoe choirs in the above-mentioned classes far short of reaching National Eisteddfod standard. No more perfect rendering was heard t year than that of the Southport choir in second choral class, although the curtailing o the anthem—on account of the number competing choirs-vva-a rather disadvantogeous to the choirs and to the composition* The sm»»- in £ of the Gitana Ladies' Cho'fiv filrkenh^1' again, was one of extraordinary merit. The Barrow St. James's Choir (Mrs Mary Brownejj had reached a high position, and perhaps it wa thought by some that to surpass that perf0™?* ance was very unlikely, if, indeed, possibi We, however, thought it was feasible, pecially in Lassen's "Spanish Gipsy Girl. a piece that had been one of the specialities i previous years of another choir of ladies^" Welsh ladies—but now a non-competing ch0^' and which possessed the scarcely describable, something that none of the choirs had given U5 hitherto. It required almost miraculous VOCO ability in the choir and trai rnng power in tbo conductor that would reach a higher p'a°f than Barrow St. James's, and to bring out tba finer point of inspiration that was desired, btt this Mrs Maggie Evans and her Wen. vocalists from Birkenhead accomplished. This was undoubtedly the keenest choral contest Of the week. Ld Presumably Welsh national airs received sufl* cient notice at this eisteddfod to satisfy tP most exigent admirers of their nl*,2 beauties. Welsh airs figured as one of the tes»9 in every vocal SOlo competition. There erø Welsh airs for the triple harp, the pedal harfh. and the Celtic harp. Welsh airs accoinnal" the many penillion sung within and withoa s And Welsh airs were dealt out in double dose by the Eisteddfod choir and the leading art at the final concert. We give way to no one to our appreciation and in our fealty to these 0y11 great treasures,but excessive displays of adftpV ation are opened to be followed by reactio and spells of neglect. We hope it may no'fc J' so in this instance, a steady and contintfO^~ course of just estimation being better unlimited and more or less spasmodic e thusiasm. The competitions in the orchestral ins#jf ments' classes were disappointing as to the, number, but we were entirel-yinagreeniell with the statement made by Sir Charles Vill1 Stanford in connection with the performance h Mr Edward German's delightful Rhapsody by Mr Arthur Angle's C»rd* £ band, viz., that it was a greater feat than thing we had previously had at the Eisteddfod'■ a higher specimen of true musical accompltsfø io ment, and indicating the way in which j Wales should go. Members of the same essayed the string quartette, and the trio » violin, violoncello, and piano, and iii every their performances deserved warm commend tion. These three items were amongst the pleasurable performances of the whole w: What we require is more of them—these 1 strumental combinations—permanently es lished in every important town or cen th rcjugbout the country. Tne evening concerts were held in the Q Hall, and wisely so, although it was small to contain anything like the nurnhee of people who endeavoured to be present att jy Welsh concert on Friday night. The oti'g new work produced was Mr David Thorn? St. Cecilia's Day," which formed the or. part of the programme at Thursday's dotiP*. y It has already received some notice in* column, and the impressions then formed ba c been strengthened rather than otherwise -3, hearing the performance. Certainly the wo1 exceedingly difficult in parts, somewhat equal, and variegated in the matter of Possibly too, that it was put in its final prln b8 form under pressure of time, and it rnayfor well to reconsider certain portions—such. instance, as the last two pages, and the Pf gg, liarly discordant closing chords. NevertbØIhe the ode is a composition which marks •„ author as a talented and conscientious tf1 cian, having high aims, and who will pro^^f —surely, as we hope—produce much bjs work still. Very good effect was secure^ the brass instruments in the orchestral duction, while some of the choral ^rl|Dd- showed vigour and independence of 111 ^0 None produced better effects however,than two solos for tenor voice—especially the n exceptionally well sung by Mr Herbert Etf1, Mr Merlin Morgan had his choral and mental forces well in hand, and no new "V was ever more satisfactorily* presented » fc Eisteddfod. Why Mr David Thomas dl t be t lie conduct his own work we cannot say, was called on to the platform at the eno received the enthusiastic and thoroughly .y0 deserved plaudits of a large and apprecia audience.

PRISON ONLY HARDENED HER —— i A to A young woman made a pathetic. ple.a Sbe the Monmouth magistrates on Monday- gajd gave the name of Catherine: O'Connor, ana she was from Pontypool. The charges ag .gjjfc her were for •' soliciting" on Sunday and for drunkenness. P.S.Jones said the defendant on Sunday in Drybridgc-1 under the influence of drink. She was so!1^reefc soldiers, and upon going down Cinderhil'" was followed by seVeral of them. to magistrates the girl pleaded to be a* ^de^« pay a fine, as she possessed 15s. It hardens me going to prison all the No one ever helps me. Prison makes m ygelt I don't know what I am doing vvith 1 ^3, when I come out. Let me pay a fine nCxt the money—and I will go away by tne ^L,rg train." Supterintendent Parker -rj at were 28 previous convictions against tbe^fe fo' Newport. One of the convictions attempt/ suicide. Prisoner was tola a bad record, and was ordered to be im'1.n^,tW for a fortnight. She cried upon hear magistrates' decision. (i