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THE GOLDEN GROVE PLATE

T H E B A L L

CARMARTHEN BAY FISHERY BOARD

: THE SUPERINTENDENT'S REIORTS.

LLANDILO LOCAL BOARD.

r O'DONOVAN ROSSA SHOT.

-----ISUDDEN DEATH OF DR.…

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I SUDDEN DEATH OF DR. HOPKINS We feel confident that very many will regret t hear of the death of Dr. Hopkins, who died some- what suddenly at Llanelly on Thursday, January 29th. When a public man dies, no matter what may have bees his career, a charitable sorrow aboundeth in ttakh' arts of all, and unfeigned grief is expressed. \W*en we say that all who knew the «enerable f\dmit that the town and ] county, and surrogating dU&Vcts, have lost a clever I physician we are not far wrong. Any faults that I deceased may have been guilty of during his re- markable life are surely counterbalanced by the immense amount of good—not generally known— he has done to those with whom he has, in his pro- fessional career and otherwise, come in contact It is well known that his medical abilities were sought when those of others failed to affect a cure, and that the ravages of what looked like a chronic disease have oftentimes been stayed througH his keen and penetrating glance. It is true that his treatments were those, generally, of the old school of medicine, and though in the vast majority of cases where there were chances of a permanent restoration to former states nature was assisted effectually, there were others which his skill and mode of dealing did not avail. Many a poor family—aye, and rich, too —round and about Llanelly and Swansea will know the want of such a man, for they received great aid by means of his prescriptions-—for latterly he used not to supply the medicine—and had a peculiar faith in him. It was his custom to visit Llanelly on Thursday amd Swansea on Friday, and return to Carmarthen either very late on the latter day or early on the following morning. Of late months, however—especially since the famous trial in which Mr Francis Bayntun, the dentist, conspicuously figured-the poor old doctor's travels were very un- certain, gout principally detaining him at his residence in Quay-street, Carmarthen He struggled on as well as he possibly could—under his own medical treatment—until the force (f nature could ( no further go, and he was at last obliged to succumb j to the inevitable. He died" in harness "—game to the end. For many years he was a member of the ( Carmarthen Town Council, where he (during the < two years, at any rate) rarely took part in the ( oft-times amusing discussions, but, when health < permitted, was invariably present, and would I drop an occasional pithy suggestion—sometimes a I icathing remark, never failing to make one, at least, { of his colleagues wince. No one who discoursed s for any length of time with him in his sanctum t could help at once perceiving that he was a man of i considerable literary capacities, and one who had ( evidently received a sound secular education. His t degree of doctor of medicine was obtained at c Edinburgh University, and in that historic city he c made himself famous amongst the athletic world, J3 by whom he was acknowledged as the hero of 8 pedestrian*. There may be a few left who still ( recollect his wonderful exploits; if not, we can only refer our readers back to the files of the c sporting contemporaries of fifty years ago, wherein, are recorded the champion walker's athletic feats. a He was, in fact, one of the most remarkable of men, ] and were the different periods of his existence g recorded minutely there would be enough material l -furnished for a very thick volume, and with a knowledge of it we should admit that he must have possessed an unusually strong constitution to have weathered the storms of this life so long. His cup, J alas is tilled to the brim, and he has gone. Those g who knew him intimately will agree that—though t he was not a regular churchgoer—he had great £ reverence for the Almighty, and was an alien to the t scoffer of religion. He abhorred hypocrisy, and r therefore we presume he lived according to the { principle he professed-to the dictates of his own rj conscience. We may be excused for repeating that r there is no questioning that he did an immense t amount of good in his day; and we know 4 that the Supieine Being —Whose mercies are I more boundless than the ocean that hath no limits —hath meted unto him according to his works in that world beyond the grave, and, we hope, given him a share of the future happy state devoutly, looked forward to by the masses. t The funeral took place on Tuesday at Goitrewen. Llangennech. The remains were interred at c Tynewydd, Llanedy, in the family vault. The Rev f Mr Price (Saron), Llannon, officiated at the house the Revs Mr Evans (Hope), Pontardulais, and Mr 1 Jones (Bethesda), Llangennech, in the chapel; and j Mr Evans at the grave. ( AN ENQUIRY i Was held into the circumstances attending his death on Thursday night (January 29th) by Mr James < Rowlands, surgeon, and district coroner, at the < Thomas Arms Hotel, Llanelly, when the following J evidence was addused:—Mary Jane Hopkins said ] I live at Quay-street, Carmarthen. The deceased. John Morgan Hopkins, was my father. He was 72 j years of age, and was a doctor of medicine in I practice at Carmarthen and elsewhere. The body ( the jury have just seen was the body of my father, f He left home for Llanelly to-day (Thursday, ) January 29th), as was his custom by the twelve ) a.m. train. He was not well when he left, nor has < he been well for some lime. He told me he had } gout in the stomach and bronchitis. He had been 1 for the last ten years a general sufferer from gout, J but for the last few weeks he was much weaker, ] though he did not complain of much pain. He went to Carmarthen station in as he always did. He had food last night at twelve o'clock, and t this morning about half-past ten o'clock. lie took] four biscuits and a little Hollands before he left. < He had also taken some food about six a.m. He 1 did not complain more than usual this morning before he left, except that he felt very weak. He had great shortness of breath at times, but did not complain of his heart. He had taken a little ] medicine, but none the morning he left. He prescribed for himself.—Benjamin Lewis said I am sergeant of police, stationed at the Docks, Llan- elly. I was on the railway station platform on the arrival of the 1.7 up-train when I saw Dr. Hopkins come out of one of the railway carriages. The little boy belonging to the bus and one of the rail- way porters assisted him to get out. After getting on a little way on the platform the deceased seemed to be getting weaker, and another railway porter took the place ot the little boy, when I noticed the doctor have something like a fit. I went in front of him to prevent him falling to the ground, and he was placed on a box for a short time. He seemed to be getting better. The porters then carried him on the chair to the and we lifted him into the bus and a porter and I placed him in the fore part of the 'bus, I then asked him if he felt better, but he made no answer he, however, shook his head-a little. The little boy sat by him when the 'bus left. He looked very ill when I saw him first, but rather better in appearance when the 'bus started.— Thomas Evans said I am a 'bus-helper. This morning I was at the railway station when the 1.7 up-train arrived. I saw Dr. Hopkins in the train. I always go to meet him on Thursdays. He told me to take his stick and bag, and the porters helped him on the platform. J saw him b-ing placed in the'bus and went home wi'h him. He said to a man in the 'bus that he was getting better. He told me to put my hand into his pocket to get the 'bus fare. I did that. When we got to Mount Pleasant, where the qoctQr vyas stopping at, I assisted him to remove, from where he sat to the door ot the and then my father carried him in his arms into the house, and he was placed in a í chau. The deceased then laid hi ill head on the table and went to sleep and then I left.—Thomas i Francis said I am a 'bus-driver, attending the arrival of the trains. I was at the station to-day I awaiting the arrival of the 1 7 up-train, and as my little boy always goes to meet Dr. Hopkins on Thursday I went on to the platform to look for him- I I saw him on the chair, guarded by two porters j and Sergt. Lewis. The doctor looked very bad. I i asked the porters if he was going as usual with me a to Mount Pleasant, and they said "Yes." They then carried him out and placed him in the bus. J e then took him to Mount Pleasant. 1 turned the e 'bus round with its back to the house. I asked him if J should assist him out. He got off the seat and 6 walked a few steps towards the door. I took hold II of him and carried him into the house, and placed a him in a chair near the fire, and I stood by him for ? a feW minutes. I called the attention of the people of the house to him, and told them he was very l8 I bad, and they said they saw he was very bad and a I warned them to take care of him lest he shoull fall into the fire-place. He seemed, as I left, as if he were going to sleep.—Mary Davies said I am a housekeeper, living in Victoria-road, Llanelly. Ahout mid-day to-day I saw the 'bus-man carrying Dr. Hopkins into the house ot John Jenkins, Mount Pleasant. I was in the house at the time. He was placed on a chair by the fire. He then laid his head on the table, and died almost directly. Seeing the colour of his face altering made me raise up his head, and I found that he was quite dead. He was frothing at the mouth a little, but he made no struggle or movement.—Verdict Death from natural causes."

CORRESPONDENCE.

A RELIGIOUS INEQUALITY.

LAMPETER TOWN COUNCIL.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

THE WAR IN THE SOUDAN.

POOTBA L I.,

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