The Aberdare Leader

To Readers and Correspon- dents. All contributions of local interest will be gratefully received at the offices of this paper. Clergymen and Ministers, Secre- taries, and organisers of social functions, political meetings, and all public events are respectfully asked to acquaint us of these events before hand, so that we may secure reports of the proceedings. When a reporter is required, notification should arrive at our office punctually. Our correspondents will oblige us by for- warding their reports at the very earliest convenience. All communications to be addressed LEADER" Office, Aberdare.

THE question of the hour in Aberdare is the Tramway Scheme. No one will dispute that Aberdare needs some better traction than it enjoys at pre- sent. The unlamented motor service has been disbanded, and the un- melodious lay of the last motor car has been heard in the streets of Aberdare. We need some modern mode of con- veyance—clean, cheap, noiseless, easy and expeditious. The streets of Aber- dare are comparatively broad and void of steep gradients, and are upon the whole not unsuitable for a service of electric trams—in fact they are far better adapted to a tramway line than are the streets of the sister borough of Merthyr. We can safely say that practically all the inhabitants of the upper part of the valley are agreed that some better system of street locomotion is needed. The question at issue is whether the particular scheme now before the Council should be adopted, whether the principle of municipal traction is to be recognised and whether our city fathers are justified in spend- ing close upon £100,000 of the rate- payers' money to provide Aberdare people with electric trams, &c. It cannot be said that this is a hare-brained project batched by Socialistic enthusiasts and promoted entirely by Labour repre- sentatives who have no ratable interests at stake. It is true that the Labour members are en masse in its favour, but so are some representatives of vested interests and large ratable pro- perty. Mr Hann, who is accredited with being a keen, shrewd man of business, cool and cautious in all his undertakings, is heart and soul with the movement. At the special meeting of the Council on Monday he emphasised the fact that many of the undertakings which were side-issues to the tramway scheme per se would have to be faced irrespective of the tramway service; for instance the proposed Aberaman bridge, the Cwmaman road and the destructor. Exclude these items from the aggregate cost and the estimate will go down considerably. There is an active organised opposition to the movement, and writing "just before the battle" at the Market Hall, we anticipate a great fight between the two opposing forces At this meeting Vox n populi will have an opportunity to state his views on the matter.

SCRAPS. [BY THE SCRIBE.] Who said that the Glamorgan County Council were ungenerous towards Aberdare? At any rate they have resolved not to offer any opposition to our tramway order. I hope that the recording angel will place that act of kindness to the credit of the County Council. -:0:- By the way why should the local opposition to the Tramway scheme partake so much of the nature of a Secret Society ? -:0:- In the current issue of the Aberdarian one writer calls attention to the imperative need of a museum in connection with the Aberdare County School. Surely such an institution would be a valuable adjunct to any school, I have noticed that in some local elementary schools they have museums in a modest way. At the Park Schools for instance there is the nucleus of a good school museum, which contains some rare specimens of geological and botanical wonders. The children are encouraged to collect all kinds of curios- even photos of celebrities from cigarette packets. Mr W. W. Price takes infinite pains with the 3e interesting collections. -:0:- Notwithstanding all the talk about woman's rights members of the gentler sex are very slow to realise their emancipa- tion from the bondage of maaculina tyranny. At the Aberdare Police Court last Tuesday one good lady persisted in referring to the partner of her life as my boss." Who is your boss ?" asked Sir Marchant 11 My husband was the reply. Then why not call him so ?" retorted the Stipendiary. -:0:- Mr Rees Llewelyn will not occupy his position of splendid isolation" in connec- tion with the Tramway project any longer. At the special meeting of the Council on Monday, there were three converts for the opposition. -:0:- One man told the Aberdare Bench on Tuesday that he had been out of work for three. weeks, but had obtained employment on the Monday. He apparently determined to celebrate his departure from the ranks of the unemployed by indulging in a jolly spree, hence his appearance in the dock. -:0:- In England they dream dreams and think theories; in America they put them into practice. George Meredith and Hall Caine have been advocating leasehold marriages, but it has been left to a Texas senator to bring in a Parliamentary measure to make the ten years limit marriage legal. The lease may be renewed at the expiration of the ten years if both parties are agreeable. -:0:- I can imagine a poor Benedick under- going ten years hymeneal servitude, ex- claiming at the fag end of the honeymoon, Thank heaven, only nine years and eleven calendar months to serve again -:0:- The Tramway Scheme, like misery, acquaints a man with strange bedfellows, In the present crisis one of the chief stalwarts of Capital in the district has hitched his wagon to the great orb of the Labour firma- ment and his satellites. -:0:- The doctors' question has been dead for some time, but is making an effort to rise again. So far the leaders of the movement have been unable to roll the stone from the door. 0 Revival, great is thy power! -:0:- In Mountain Ash complaints are being made that some deacons are interfering with the spontaneity of the revival meetings. Those deacons are quite right. What if ab- solute spontaneity were permitted in gather- ings other than revival meetings ? I tremble to think of the result of snch an order of disorder at, say the Merthyr Board of Guardians or the Aberdare Education Committee. -:0:- Less of the odour of brimstone in the methods of the revival, friends. The other day at Aberaman a prayer that a ball-room and all the human beings therein should be burnt came from the lips of a revivalist. At Aberdare this week a very prominent re- vivalist prayed that the public houses and all the drunkards should be consumed by fire. Vivi-cremation with a vengeance, is it not ?

Mountain Ash District Council. The fortnightly meeting of the above took place on Tuesday, Mr J. Powell pre- siding. The other members present were Messrs W. S. Davies, M. Morgan, E. V. ridman, J. Charles, Hugh Price, and W. Davies, with Mr H. P. Linton (clerk), Mr F. Stock (deputy clerk) and Mr W. G. Thomas (surveyor). COUNTY COUNCIL REQUEST. Mr T. Mansel Franklen wrote asking the Council to instruct the local medical officer of health to send in his returns as soon as possible, so that they might be embodied in the report of the county medical officer of health. It was decided to write to Dr Evans to that effect. POSTAL MATTER. A letter from the Postmaster General stated that the Council's application for a despatch from Mountain Ash to Merthyr at 3.35 p.m. could not be granted. The cir- cumstances had been carefully considered, and they did not warrant any change at present. ABERCYNON OR CARNETOWN ? Another letter from the Postmaster General was read, stating that a new sub- post office had now been established in Abercynon. He wished to know whether the Council would be aggreeable to substi- tute Carnetown for Abercynon as the official designation, and whether this would meet with the wishes of the residents generally. The chairman remarked that the place now known as Abercynon had been called a good many names already, including Ynys- meurig, The Basin, Navigation, and Aber- dare Junction. He trusted that the name Abercynon had come to stay. Major Morgan proposed that the Council enter their strongest protest against the alteration of the name Abercynon. This was seconded by Mr H. Price, and unanimously carried. VOTE OF THANKS. Mr A. R. Johns, sanitary inspector, wrote that he had now completed his service as clerk of the works, and trusted that he had performed his task to the satisfaction of the Council. Major Morgan moved and Rev E. V. Tidman seconded a vote of thanks to Mr Johns. LAND FOR NEW CEMETERY. Mr H. E. Gray, managing director of Messrs Nixon's Collieries, wrote that his directors were prepared to sell land near Letty Turner field for C5,500, subject to their having a right of way through the ground, and subject to their retaining the right of working the minerals underneath. The Clerk observed that the above sum worked out at X600 per acre. The matter was referred to the Cemeteries Committee. INSURING THE NEW TOWN HALL. The clerk advised the Council to insure the new Town Hall for £ 4,500 furniture. &c., X500. This was agreed to.

Alleged Wounding at Aber- aman. At the Quarter Sessions at Cardiff on Tuesday a verdict of not guilty was returned against John Blackmore (35), labourer, Cwmaman, charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm upon David Thomas at Penylan Inn, Aberaman. Mr Ivor Bowen and Mr Ivor Isaac (instructed by Messrs C. and VY. Kenshole) prosecuted, and Mr St. John Francis Williams (instructed by Alderman J. W. Evans) defended.

x x WE WISH you all a Happy New Year to all, and if you are suffering from ingrow- ing toe nails or corns, have them attended to at once. D. James has been most suc- cessful and has a quantity of testimonials. He also makes a Porous Plaster for Lum- bago. Cured sufferers' praise of it is aston- ishing. Used by ministers, doctors, chemists, lawyers and all classes. If you suffer, try one. If it fails, your money returned. D. James, 68, Ynyslwyd-street, Aberdare. X

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CYCLING NOTES. iJuring the hearing of a motor car case at the High Courts recently, Mr. Justice Ridley interrupted the counsel who was giving an unnecessarily long speech, with "It strikes me that what we want here is an efficient condenser." After a motor cycie belt has been in use in wet or mud, it should be taken off the pulleys, thoroughly cleaned, and hung in a dry place, A leather belt, left unattended after a wet ride, becomes hard and will quickly deteriorate One great drawback to winter cycling is the benumbed state one's feet get into. Very few wheelmen care to ride in boots, and shoes leave- the ankles exposed, which materially assists in the feet becoming cold. It is a very good plan to wear a warm pair of spats, or stout gaiters— not fastened too tightly—round the ankles. It was rumoured that J eck" Prince in- tended to build indoors cycle tracks iii 'all the principal provincial towns, but we learn that he has wiseiy decided to leave Greens Britain alone, and to carry out bis enterprise in the towns of America and Canada. He would certainly have more chance of making a pile out of his idea on the American continent than he would in this country. Amongst the racing cyclists who, during the winter months, favour other otic-door sports,. must be mentioned James Httig, the ten miles champion of Scotland, who is a keen follower of Rugby football. He has been seleoied to- represent the South of Scotland against Anglo- Scots in the Rugby International Trial Match, which shows that he is a player of no small- repute. Tommy Summersgill, onu of the finest cyclists of his day, is also a Itugov Interrm™ tionalist, and J. S. Benyon, of Chesterfield,, plays the Association game. Riders whose preference is for a light and speedy tyre, should give the open-sided Duniony, a trial. Indeed, a light tyre and a (it,'hi. run. come as a distinct; revelation to auv c, i s., who has not given the combination a trial. ami who has been accustomed to riding a li.a vior pattern. A puncture rarely oCCur" of a tyre, and the reduction ill weight which the absence of rubber sides entails, is enhanced by the greater ductility of the tyre as a whoi«- The open-sided Duniop tyre wiil add con- siderably to the satisfaction of the rider, when fitted to a high grade machine. It in frill ,f "life" and stregnth, due to the eX'elie?o; materials employed as well as the ewienufiu- method of manufacture. The Medical Press has been saving pome very hard things about cycling a.nd riding generally, in what is described ay the waiie or the pastime. Ii says: racing is » prostitution of this pleasure-affording, attrac- tive pastime which calls ior 1:0 furto'er com- ment, even apart from the direct risk of lift) to which its followers are exposed." After this we are not surprised to find the sheet- deriding the effort of the C.T.C. to find H, remedy for side-slip, and suggesting that if the council of the club can find nothing better than this to restore the former popularity of the club, "the members should tak<; an early occasion to elect other representatives to pro- tect their interests." One of those cheap and nasty machines has found its way into court, a whee'ni -n suing cycle agent for compensation in respect m a machine which was proved to have b-et, turne-t out in a dangerous state. Toe stun of 17" 6d. had been paid for the cycle by the plaint,!?' who, whilst riding it, was thrown La the ground through the steering tube snapping at the- crown. It was proved that the tube had bee-i filed to fit the crown. The Judge reminded the defendant that, regardless of the price, there is in law an implied guarantee that tJI,) article should be reasonably fitted fur its pur- pose. Four guineas compensation and costs, were awarded the plaintiff. Agents who deal, in this class of cycle will have to take a greur, risk upon their shoulders, for there are bound- to be a number of breakdowns in these very cheap machines. Before Judge Lumley Smith, a caSA recently heard of some considerable importance to wheelmen. It appears chat a. van iiad col- lided with a youth riding a bicycle, and a policeman appearing on the scene, immediately marched the cyclist off to the police-s-ta,tionv and detained him for a matter of nearly two hours while his name and address were being: verified. lIe was ultimately summoned for riding to the common danger, and the ca-i V/»H dismissed. The w» eel man tln-n took ninn,, against the policeman ior wrov^fni m»p'son- ment, and although th« Cii ef In<pe.-t"r duced an order of the "f the Police, showing that where per. ns wer e-- injured, the names of the cychss were v, tie- verified by detention if nece.ary," ti e Jm.'ce- found for the wheelman, as 110 one had en injured. The jury assessed the unmugea- tt one farthing.

Music Successes at Moun- tain Ash. At the examination of the Incorporated Society of Musicians recently held at Cardiff, Master Stephen Jones, Richmond road, passed Grade 1. with honours Master Llewellyn Edward Newman, Newtown, Grade II., and Master Thomas James Green- hill, Penrhiwceiber, Grade II., all in piano playing. The above are pupils of Mr Richard Howells. Aberdare.