Penarth Chronicle and District Advertiser

——1 1 Weekly Notes by Quirkquequip. 1\ The Editor does not hold himself responsible for the opinions expressed in these notes. I LOCAL CADS. The term Cad, to my mind, expresses an intensity of meaning such as cannot be found in any other word; and the more its significance is studied the greater appropriateness will be seen when applied to Certain young fellows who prowl about at nocturnal hours, not only doing malicious and wanton damage to lamps, seats, and property, but also insulting and assaulting peaceful pedestrians) who are by stress of duties sometimes compelled to be out late. To in- tensify my abhorrence and detestation of these das- tards, I propose analysing the meaning of cad- The "word is derived from the Latin cadaver, a dead body. A cad formerly was a non-member of the University. Men, in University slang, are sorted under two groups -those who are members of the University and those who are not. As the former are called men, the others must be no men but as they fcsar the human form they are human bodies (cctds), though not human beings (men). Thus in this word is concen- trated all despicableness and contemptibihty ivhich exist in bifurcated things bearing a human resem- blance. On Saturday night, about 11.30, four young cads, swilled with drink and insolence, came down Glebe-street, and when opposite Mr Bishop's, the con- fectioner, saw an elderly gentleman alone, who is a well-known and highly respected inhabitant of Penarth. Their manliness soon exhibited itself by this gsntleman finding bimself unmercifully p sited -with snowballs. Arriving at Mr Crossling's, he asked them to desist and to have reap set to age and grey hairs. They, however, followed him down Windsor-road, and continued their manly pastime, with redoubled vigour, until the p3rsecuted one gave chase, when they slunk off in the direction of the swell West-end. Had the gentleman not suffered with cardiac trouble, and been a trifle younger, these execrable cads would have had a sultry time of it. Inspector Roberfs was afterwards apprised of the affair, and is busily investigating it. To expedite the bringing of these rascally blacKguards to justice, the gentleman has offered a guinea to any one furnishing him with the name of one of his cowardly assailants. It is not the first time:these nocturnal roysterers have committed depredations upon property for it must be fresh in the minds of many that Mr Pyke Thomp- son had the costly terra-cotta corner stones of the Wall surrounding his residence knocked off and- broken. Similar acts of wantonness have only been hushed up through the "Almighty Dollar of pater- familias, but it's a long lane that has no turning, and assuredly the long arm of the law will ultimately reach them. Occasionally these I- sports meet their Snatch, and have to reckon with their host, w ben they think they have some simple Simon to deal with. Not 80 long ago a sturdy doctor was returning home late from his professional duties, and his identity not being known, was selected as a butt by these midnight revellers. They soon received a Roland for their Oliver, and had to be patched up next morning by another M.D. -0-0- PENARTH LIFE BOAT BURLESQUE. At no other season of the year do the perils of the Ocean stir us to a clearer understanding of their meaning than this through which we are now pass- tog"- To confront and give battle to Nature in this her wildest, sternest, and most relentless mood, is the pelf-imposed duty of the long-shore man. His sole aim is the rescue of his fello N-creatures in distress; the material reward for such being tiivial, But al. though we may bear in mind the thunderous winter night, the wnite and raving ocean, boiling to the black boundaries of the midnight sky the stranded ship with its wild signal flare, her crew of miserable men fast freezing in the rigging; and although we may admire tha qualities of heart which command, —j!| without hesitation, the immediate preset-vttion of thos suffering beings at the risk, and often at the cost, of the existence of the gallant fellows who attempt the gracious errand; yet we cannot lose sight of the fact that the last time our life-boat was called out the men were guilty of a grave dereliction of duty in not J scouring the channel till they found the distressed shipi On the night in question our men, after con- siderable delay, launched the boat, and were towed down to Barry, whence the distress signal had been seen and duly reported to Penarth. The life-boat men put ashore at Barry to learn what to do, and were in- formed of the circumstances. Apparently our men were unable to find the boat, and so returned to Penarth. Two hours later the Polynesian was towed into dock in a shockingly distressed;condition, having been in collision during the night, and had signalled for assistance. The full particulars of the case are I already known, but what a burlesque for the Penarth life-boat to put out and never to find the ship in dis- I tress It may be argued that the ship should have continued to fire sifnals but suppose she had only that one signal ? I wish to emphasise the ludicourous- ness of the spectacle by thus adverting to the facts. Only last Saturday morning the life-saving apparatus at Penarth Coastguard Station was requisitioned, a dandy named Christina having gone ashore off Sully. The month of January is proverbially prolific of shipping casualties, and, unfortunately, fatalities, along the coast. If these latter are to be minimised, cur life-boat men must have practice in launching in dirty weather besides fine, and also to do, and not be made laughing-stocks of. If they feel inclined to re- sign through pique at being thus publicly taught their duty, there are plenty of sailors willing to take their place. —0-0 — PARALYSIS OR SHIVERING. I forgot to mention last week that our new Dis- trict Council is a practical body, and is as much at home in the stable as in the chamber of debate. Dur- ing the course of the Council's meeting on the 7th inat, it was reported that one of the horses was very ill. En bloc the City Fathers turned out into the stables and tried to look sage and critical. A member of the South Ward elicited that the animal bad been seized, about midbay, with paralysis of the loins. It was immediately taken out of the cart and well wrapped up, bran mashes given (and two bottles of whisky administered), we won't, however, be quite sure about the last named. Mr Morgan suggested giving the horse something to eat. This idea was almost tabooed by the stable hands, but Mr M. in- sisted. and so some hay was put into its manger. j This the creature commenced to greedily devour, and the members hastily left, laughing heartily. N. B. Shivering is not necessarily synonymous with paralysis, and a good feed cures many ailments. -0-0- A POLICE NURSERY. Penarth has often been called by this name, and it is time that some stand were made against the con- stant changes among our local force. No sooner does a P.O. begin to get acquainted with the place than he is drafted off. Now, it is of great importance in many cases that a constable should be able to recognise faces and figures. and by this means a number of dastardly depredations committed at night time would soon be supprassed- The minions of the law require to be located here some time before they learn the | ways "of the sons of darkness," and there is no | doubt that the ratepayers' money would be consider- ably saved were my sugupstion adopted. The num- ber of lamps broken in tlh "swell suburb" end is a crying shame. Only the other night a disgraceful act of vandalism occurred by the breaking of some recently-planted saplings in Arcot-street. Strong re- presentations must indeed be made of these facts to Captain Lindsay. One must, in fairness to our Ð!w Inspector, compliment him on his zealous endeavoar to cope with these blacklegs and social watterels, and an undoubted assistance woidd be the retention of his men who are locally au fail, •< « THE PENARTH INSTITUTE 18 a long time coming, and despite the generous offer of Mr W. B. Gibbs, J.P, to boar the expenses of temporarily securing premises for Liberals to congre- gate, nothing apparently has been done. Our friends1, the enemy," are having a huge laugh at our expense. Surely a Liberal Club isn't such a Gara- gantuan enterprise as the Caucus, or the 800 would have us believe. I am seriously entertaining an idea of asking my townsman Joey" to come down and open an opposition show. Just half a century are we here behind the times. Verb sap. -.0-0 — MENDICITY AND MENDACITY. Far be it from me to deprecate charity but the promiscuous relief of alleged paupers at our doors is unquestionably much abused. That there are dire necessitous cases goes without saying, though they are an infinitesimally small percentage; but the vari- ous and outrageous perversions of one's misplaced generosity have a tendency to dry up or at least dam the milk of human kindness. Livmg in a large city for so many years, I have had exceptional facilities of ascertaining what professional begging means. This has been subsequently amply confirmed, for in every country and every clime the beggar is indigenous. When I do relieve supposed indigence at the door it is by means of food. Even then this is often wasted, as I have actually seen in this town a woman, when she believed no one saw her, empty down an embank. ment from her apron a quantity of bread and cheese and other commestibles which would have gladdened many a really poor person's heart. A tradesman's wife in Windsor-road will not readily forget a woman with a baby in her arms walking into her shop and asking for relief, but turned up her nose and left in disgust because only bread and cheese were offered her. Many and varied are the pitiful yarns which are spun, but the latest was that of a fellow lpst Monday who, in his soliciting importunity, stated he was without a roof—to his mouth—and by offering one an occular demonstration of this fact, combined with a pronounced impediment in his speech, obtained material relief in the current coin of her Majesty's realm. If, however, he had lost his roof, he hadn't his palate-at least for whiskey-for later on the same day, after taking in a liquid cargo of unrecorded capacity, he became obstreperous in the public streets, and was ultimately incarcerated.

Saint Audries', Penarth. Miss Eleanor Grace Davies, who gained her diploma for the London College of Music in December last is a daughter of the Rev P. Davies, Llanybri, Carmar- then, and pupil of Miss Frost, Saint Audnes. (Two diplomas only were given for the Cardiff Centre. in- cluding all the surrounding towns). Miss K. Morgan, nire years of age, daughter of Mr Morgan, kVest- bcnrne-crescent, Cardiff, and a pupil of the above school, successfully passed the intermediate section for pianoforte playing, and also gained a prize (a beautifully bound volume of Mendelsohn's "Songs Without Words,")

—- ———.—————mmm—W# Nervous Debility, Lost Manhood, Youth- ful Imprudence. &c. AFTER many years' suffering a Gentlemen has obtained a simple SELF-CURE for NERVOUSNESS, Loss of strength and Energy, Weakness, &c. All sufferers should write at once for particulars, which will be forwarded free ( Send self-addressed stamped envelope, plainly written, to Mr ROBERTS, 1 WHITE LION STREET, ISLINGTON j LONDON N. (Name Paper ) I I MATCHLESS CLEANSER has swept away A thousand worries of Washing Day. )