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The Daniel Owen Memorial.
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The Daniel Owen Memorial. UNVEILING CEREMONY AT MOLD. AN APPRECIATION BY PROFESSOR ELLIS EDWARDS. The bronze statue of Daniel Owen, the first of Welsh novelists, was unveiled at Mold yester- day. The ceremony took place in the presence of a huge concourse of people and in perfect weather. Mr. Goscombe John's bronze figure- life-sized, and universally declared to be an exact likeness and to give an exactly characteris- tic attitude of its subject—is placed on a low plinth and pedestal of Flintshire stone in front of the new County Council building, close to Mold railway station. Just to the left of it is the ancient shire hall where the assizes are held, and the County Council holds its meetings in the edifice named after that administrative body. The two buildings are within a gravelled enclo- sure, which it is intended to ornament in due course with trees, and which is now embellished by the fine work of Mr. Goscombe John. A few feet from the rear of the statue is the boundary wall of the railway, here in a cutting, and from the trains the passengers have a full back view of the statue. Promptly to the time appointed the unveiling ceremony was commenced. The president was Mr. J. Herbert Lewis, M.P., and he was supported by Lord Kenyon, Mr. P. P. Pennant, Mr. W. Davies (chairman of the Flint- shire Council), Professor Ellis Edwards (Bala), Professor W. Lewis Jones (Bangor), Mr. Robert Morris (chairman of the Mold Urban Council), Mr. H. Lester Smith (agent to the Duke of West- minster), Mr. Goscombe John, and Mr. E. 0. V, Lloyd (Rhagatt). Lord Kenyon, in drawing the cord 'which caused the drapery about the statue to fall to the ground, said it was his proud duty to unveil the statue of Mr. Daniel Owen, erected in his native town, in which he had spent the greater part of his life in doing them all good. (Cheers.) Among his friends and neighbours that statue was unveiled as a permanent memorial to a good life. (Cheers.) As the cloth fluttered to the ground a loud cheer was raised and a verse of "Hen Wlad fy Nhadau" was impressively sung. A vote of thanks to Lord Kenyon was carried, on the motion of the Chairman of the County Council and seconded by the Chairman of the Urban Council. A verse of the National Anthem having been sung, a procession to the Town Hall was formed, and a crowded commemorative meeting was there held. Lord Kenyon, who presided, said the monu- ment which had been unveiled would be a great incentive to their children to emulate the good qualities of h. Daniel Owen, who set great store on goodness and upon education. Such of his works as he (Lord Kenyon) had been able to read through the published translations indi- cated that Daniel Owen was a man of great gentleness and great integrity of life. His pur- pose in life was to do good to those around him, and his goodness was not of a morbid sort, and that was a quality that had made him such a personal friend to many who did not know him. (Applause.) The advance in the quality of the education offered to their children in the last half century was largely owing to such men as Daniel Owen, who never ceased to preach the benefits of good education. (Applause.) The education now given had been clamoured for by the people of Wales, and he hoped as the years rolled on they would be able to give their chil- dren a special education in the special subjects they might desire to acquire. (Applause.) He congratulated the Memorial Committee, and especially Mr. Thomas Parry, upon the success of the day, and especially upon the success of the weather. (Applause and laughter.) Mr. Thomas Parry, hon. secretary to the Com- mittee who promoted the fund, read letters of apology for non-attendance from a large number of prominent Welshmen. Mr. J. Herbert Roberts, M.P., wrote You will be rendering honour to whom honour is due, and I trust that the proceedings will clearly show the large place held by the memory of our dis- tinguished fellow-countryman in the mind of Wales. Mr. Parry went on to say that Daniel Owen passed away on the 22nd Oct., 1895. A few days afterwards a public meeting was held in Mold to consider what should be done to honour his memory. There was a strong feeling in the town that some memorial should be set up, but it was felt that the author of "Rhys Lewis" belonged not to Mold alone, but to the whole of Wales. Consequently a public meeting was summoned at Chester on November 19, 1895, where a very representative gathering met, Mr. J. Herbert Lewis, M.P., the member for Flintshire Boroughs, being in the chair. It was then unani- mously decided that a statue be erected to the memory of Daniel Owen in a conspicuous place in his native town of Mold. (Applause.) A number of friends and sympathasisers were ap- pointed a committee, to which the late Mr. Llewelyn Eaton acted as secretary, and Mr. T. B. Williams, manager of the North and South Wales Bank. Mold, as treasurer. During the years which followed Mr. Eaton threw himself with great energy and zeal into the work of soliciting subscriptions, and it was but right that his name should be gratefully and specially men- tioned. When Mr. Eaton died the carrying on the work of secretary fell into his hands. The Committee, after consulting with friends outside, who were most capable of guiding them in such a matter, selected Mr. W. Goscombe John as sculptor, and the Committee desired to record publicly their gratitude for the exceeding kind- ness of the sculptor in all his dealings with them. (Applause.) They wished also to mention the generous support which the movement received from the late Duke of Westminster, who not only gave a handsome subscription, but also presented the whole of the stone for the pedestal free of charge. (Applause.) Their thanks were also due to Mr. Lester Smith, Halkyn, who had given the Committee most valuable advice and assist- ance all through the movement, and especially in putting up the statue. (Applause.) The pedestal was made by Mr. A. B. Lloyd, builder, Flint. The Flintshire Council readily allowed the statue to be put up on land which belonged to the county, and the Mold Urban District Council had, by resolution, undertaken the charge of the statue for all time. Professor Ellis Edwards, of Bala, who is a son of the late Dr. Roger Edwards, of Mold, who was of some forty years editor of Y Drysorfa," and who first induced the late novelist to contri- bute to the pages of that periodical, was received with cheers on rising to speak, and his address, full of personal reminiscences of a great man known to so many of the audience, was listened to with the utmost interest. In the course of his tribute, he said: We are unveiling to-day a. statue to a man whose influence has been strongly felt in every part of Wales, and one who has made even strangers understand better the true meaning of the religious facts which have taken the chief place in the history of modern Wales. And I declare, after seeing many men, and reading of many, the remem- brance of Daniel Owen's abilities still brings back what is to me, at least, one of the great wonders of life. The very first quality which distinguished him was his exceptionally large, nuick, and intense sympathy with human life- his power of feeling and perceiving what, not one, or two, or three, but everyone felt. He saw" so much of himself and other men that, one would suppose, no depth or tract of the human soul, once exposed to his view, was beyond his insight. The theologian NiH Sipion, Mr. Smart, who loved appearance, Wil Bryan, who was true to nature, Abel Hughes and Mary Lewis, the searching spiritual teachers, Aelod Jones, the bombastic, Bob, the deep-feeling and silent, simple Tomos Bartley, worth his weight in gold, honest Mr. Pugh, the deceitful, smooth-tongued mining agent-Daniel Owen was, as it were, at the heart of each, and they were all understood in his. What other men felt he felt more deeply, and understood better than they them- selves. His power of seizing upon the hidden thoughts and tendencies which in most men, never became more than mysterious forces, delighted and bewildered one. And for him, to see human nature was delightedly or sorrowfully to re-live it in his own soul. Just as human nature was his great subject, so his great passion was to be true to it. Wil Bryan, in this element of his naturalness, was Daniel Owen himself. There was nothing he was more intolerant of than the rigour, even if it clothed itself in reli- gious forms, which would keep down or distort nautre. The way goodness took to better men, he held, was to make them more natural. Any- thing else, he held, was untruth. It was felt or unfelt ignorance, if not conscious or unconscious hypocrisy. And so he himself was cut after no pattern, because he was so fully after the pattern which is nature's own. Disliking unnaturalness even when unconscious, he hated with all his heart deliberate untruth, hypocrisy, and mean- ness. The great difference between Daniel Owen and others, with respect to their fellowmen was this, that when he looked he saw. I do not remember any single personage or character in all his writings for which he did not see some original or part-original in Mold and his few journeys from there. Jonathan Price (Ponterwyl), Angel Jones, Benjamin Powel, Ste, the idiot, are very plainly there, in whole or in part. Mold, to Daniel Owen, swarmed with variety. On Saturday nights the bottom of High-street was hardly passable for the crowd—Irishmen, Eng- lishmen, Welshmen, a few Scotchmen, the nut sellers, stocking sellers, the vendors of clothes, the itinerant quack-doctor—sometimes on foot, sometimes in a carriage-were a scene of never- ending delight. Ordinary life was to him full of appeals. He was, to my knowledge, never listless in his life, except when he was dropping to sleep or when illness had sapped his strength. And then, with all this incessant vision and knowledge, he had an equally re- markable power, without which he would never have been the writer that he was. What he saw he could instantly and magnificently express. Not the slightest interval appeared to pass be- tween the seeing and the being able to show. There was no selection of words, no pause for delibera- tion, often no possible time for thought. He appeared never mentally to see except in brilliant or fitting words, and you, the hearer, on the other hand, when lie spoke usually never saw the word but the thought, though sometimes the words themselves were as striking as their mes- sage. So brilliant was his talk, so thoroughly did it go to the heart of a subject, so condensed and brief and decisive were his deliverances, so coruscating and flashing that-I do not exaggerate-what others said would usually seem to be like the lighter shades of darkness. While Welsh lasts, his books will be examples of that excellence of expression in which thought and form run into one. But the strongest forces which acted upon him from without during his most impressible years were those of his church. His novels have a religious aim. Always one is made aware of the writer's conviction that it is from man's attitude towards right and wrong that his life is really determined. And as un- mistakably is the pervading thought shown that the state of the soul, which is all-deciding, is the religious, and that those truths which are taught in the Christian churches of North Wales are the balm of life, and its indispensable help and sup- port. Other statues will be set up, but Mold will have this perpetual cause of congratulation, that none will be erected that shall stand for higher moral qualities, for Daniel Owen loved his fellowmen, hated hypocrisy, said what he thought was the truth, and hoped in God. (Applause.) Professor William Lewis Jones (Bangor) said no Welsh writer was better known than Daniel Owen, and no writer had ever better taste than he. Even when handling a delicate subject he always wrote with good taste, and he was sure that no one ever felt angry with him when, in describing the difference between Church people and chapel people, he said that the former were "people who were wicked and thought them- selves good," and the latter as people who were good and thought themselves wicked "—(laugh- ter) ;-and, again, when he said that it was more comfortable in church but safer in chapel. While the Welsh language lasted, the memory of Daniel Owen would be enshrined in the hearts of his people-a statue as fine as any. Yet, at the same time, it was a fitting thing that a great Welshman should have a Welshman as the sculptor of his statue, and he was sure that no town would be in any way jealous of the honour which Mold had obtained because of the statue having its home in that town. (Applause.) For by being faithful to Mold he became faithful to Wales. (Applause.) Mr. E. Owen Roberts, barrister-at-law, next spoke on behalf of the North Wales Bar. Mr. J. Herbert Lewis, M.P., who was very cordially received, proposed a comprehensive vote of thanks. He said there was little left to add to the admirable appreciations of the life and conduct and the writings of Daniel Owen to to which they had listened, but there was one important reflection that remained to be stated, and it was this—Daniel Owen's writings were appreciated now, but he ventured to think they would be appreciated much more as the years, rolled on. For what did Daniel Owen do? He drew a picture—it was so lifelife, so faithful, so true, that one would rather call it a permanent photograph—of the life of an epoch in Wales, an epoch that was fast passing away. That would be of value a hundred, two hundred, or three hundred years hence of even greater value from the historical point of view than it was at present. (Applause.) He ventured to ihink that the novelist they were trying to commemorate that day would in future ages be always of interest, not only to the man who read novels on account of the interesting nature of the narra- tive, but also to the historian who wished to know what life in that part of the country in the time of Daniel Owen was like. (Cheers.) Those who were not familiar with the Welsh language would find in the writings of Daniel Owen the best introduction to the Welsh language and its literature. (Applause.) And the Welsh litera- ture was not poor either, especially on the sides of poetry and religion, and, speaking broadly, the Welsh literature of the last two centuries was a perfectly pure literature. (Applause.) Daniel Owen did his utmost to keep up the purity of the literature of his country, while delighting his countrymen with his vivid descriptions of men and of scenery, and by his clean humour. (Applause.) Mr. P. P. Pennant, who expressed his admira- tion for the magnificent statue which Mr. Goscombe John had produced, seconded the motion, which was carried unanimously. Lord Kenyon, in responding, said it was a noteworthy instance of the broadening opinion of Wales that he, a Tory and a Churchman, should have been selected to unveil a statue to one who was certainly a Liberal and a Noncon- formist. (Applause.) It was, he took it, a sign that it was possible for men of both sides to try to work together. (Applause.) He was not ashamed of being a Tory and a Churchman, and he was sure that Daniel-Owen, with his hatred of hypocrisy, would have hated him if he said he was. (Applause.) Mr. Goscombe John, who was loudly applauded, also responded, and said he had never had the pleasure of seeing Daniel Owen in the flesh, but having worked at the statue on and off for two years he seemed to have known him very well. (Applause and laughter.) Mr. Lester Smith and Mr. Thomas Parry having replied, the proceedings closed with the singing of the National Anthem.
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N. S. P. C. C. PUBLIC MEETING AT COLWYN BAY. On Monday afternoon, at the Public Hall, Col- wyn Bay, the annual public meeting was held in connexion with the Denbigh and North East Wales Branch of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty 10 Children. Capt. R. W. Williams-Wynn (of Plas-yn-Cefn) presided, and there were with him on the platform Miss England (one of the lady organisers of the Society), the Rev Canon Roberts (Vicar of Colwyn Bay), the Revs J. E. Haworth, John Edwards, Thomas Lloyd, and Father Brown, Mr L'eweiyn Jones (Rhyl), and the Hon. Sec. of the Branch (Mr A. Foulkes Roberts, of Denbigh). There was but a meagre attendance of the general public. Amongst those to be noticed, were the Hon Mrs Brodrick, Coed Coch Mrs Williams-Wynn, Plas-y-Cefn; Miss Williams-Wynn Mrs Foulkes (President of the Rhyl Branch); Mr and Mrs Greenstreet, Rhyl; Miss Worthall; Mrs Watl ng, Llanrwst Dr and Mrs Bowen Davies, St. Asaph Mrs Foulkes Roberts, Denbigh Mrs Haworth, Wal- shaw Mr and Mrs Jas. Wood, Ty'n-y-Maes; Mrs Harold Smith; Mrs Whitehouse; Dr and Mrs Lloyd-Roberts Dr Brooks, J. P., and others. The chairman in opening the meeting said that, in coming there that afternoon, he was taking the place of a better man than himself, namely, Colonel Heaton, their President. He regretted to say that on account of the mobilisation of His Majesty's forces, Colonel Heaton had been called upon to serve his country in another place, having gone to fulfil the duties of a commander. He felt, too, that he ought to apologise to them for the frequent disappointments that had taken place in connexion with that meeting. A postponement was always regrettable, and he hoped that those present would forgive what was unavoidable. He felt, in taking that chair, that he was trying to do some little thing towards helping the children who were not so well off as possibly they themselves had been. In all parts of the world, they found cruelty, with ignorance as its basi*. Wherever they found drink and ignorance together, there they were absolutely certain to find cruelty andcareless- ness. The Society had not had a very lengthy life, but it had strived at the root of the matter. It was not a Society to attack an Englishman or a Welshman in his own home, but it was a Society to try and reclaim those living in vice,-firstly, by advice secondly, by example; and thirdly, by threats. That had been proved time after time, and anyone who would read the Society's report would see in well-written phrases the work which the Society had done in the past year. They saw that their neighbours who treated their children badly, had been attacked by the Inspectors of the Society, and the knowledge that there was some power in the law, and that there was the Society behind that power, ready to put in action the processes of the law when necessary, had hid the effect of minimising in hundreds of cases where probably there would have been, otherwise, greater cruelty. There was another side to the question, and that was what they one and all owed to one another. Each person could do something. He candidly admitted that he knew very little of the workings of the Society, but he thought it was not too late to learn, and he thought they could each do something to help the most helpless, and possibly in some cases the most hopeless,—the children of parents who were unable or unwilling to take care of what had been given to them. He thought children were a source of pleasure to all of them, and as they grew older they got to like them the more. He thought in that way one felt that the poor little mites who had no person to cheer them and practically nothing more than hard words or blows for their food, deserved their care in every way. The report showed that of the various caseN which had been brought under the notice of the Society, over 42 per cent had been brought up by the public themselves, to the notice of the Inspectors. That showed the power which the Society was gaining in the worst parts of the large cities and towns. He wished them to remember that it was not only in big towns, but in conntry villages, where possibly there might be three or four houses, they would find cruelty every bit as had as in Liverpool, Manchester, Hudders- field, or any other large to..n. [Applause]. The Secretary then read letters of apology for non-attendance from the Lady Florentia Hughes, of Kinmel General Gough, of Caer- Rhun The Bishop of Menevia Mr C. P. Den- ton Miss Griffiths, of Plas Pigot, Denbigh Mr Denton, of Llanrhaiadr Hall and Mrs Frederick Jones, Carmarthen. THE REPORT. The Hon. Secretary then read the annual report of the Executive Committee of the Branch. from which it appealed that 110 meeting was held in igoo still, the collections for last year showed an increase on the previous year. The balance- sheet for 1899 showed a subscription-list amoun- ting to ^139 2s 4d, and all excess expenditure of £54 15^ od, which was met by the National Fund, whilst for last year, with subscriptions amounting to -Z142 us 7.i, the Branch expended ^142 8s od. thus being able to hand over the sum of three shillings and sevenpence sterling to the National Fund. There were no subscriptions received from Colwyn Bay in 1899, and the amount for 1900 was £2 us 6d. The Colwyn Bay Committee was about being re-organised, and, by the enthusiasm and energy shown by Mrs Nunn, Secretary of its Ladie- Committee, it is hoped that a largely-increased subscription and donation list will result. The Committee felt greatly indebted to Captain William Wynn for so kindly consenting to take the place of Colonel Heaton. and trusted that one of the immediate results of that meeting would be the stirring up of Colwyn Bay to take its true place among the districts of the Branch. Mr Francis Nunn (of Colwyn Bay) moved the adoption of the report, and, in doing so, said that he believed the work should be made a national matter, instead of being is at present a matter of individual enterprise. There could be no doub' that the Society was at present an absolute necessity. The Rev. John Edwards (English Presbyterian) seconded. He thought that it was a reflection on Christianity that they should have to form an organisation at all to do the work. They certain- ly could not call upon the Government to do the work, but, if the Government did its duty i other directions, there would be no necessity for this Society. One-third of the children then in Conway Union Workhouse, were there becaus their parents were in prison serving a term of imprisonment for cruelty. In each of those qases, drink was the cause of the cruelty. The chair- man had very wisely referred to drink and ignor- ance. It was in nineteen cases out of twenty due to the drink that demoralised the people. They were going forward in Colwyn Bay. They patronised almost all good Societies, and th. certainly ought to patronise that, and, with Mrs Nunn as an energetic Secretary, he had no doubt that they should do something. The motion was th n duly carried, The Rev. Thomas Lloyd (English Congrega- tional) moved that the thanks cf the meeting be given to the Secietary, Committee, Treasurer, and Collectors, and requesting their services foi the ensuing year. His sympathies were fully with the noble work in which they were engaged, and certainly they ought to thank them thi« yea', when they had brought that Branch of the Society to such a satisfactory condition that they bad been able to send a small balance to the pare it S iciety. The Rev Father Brown second d, and spok from personal knowledge of the noble work th Society was doing in the slums cf Whitechapel. If the Society only went as far as threats, the\ would never be of any use there. But when it came to showing 'hat they were ready to work, then the people respected them. Miss England then delivered a very inspiriting address upon the work which the Society was doing throughout the country. Mr Llewelyn Jones (Rhyl) proposed a resolu- tion recognising the work which had been done in the past, and urging the general public to support the Society. Miss England seconded, and, in doing so, said that she hoped they would carry it out in the truest sense of the word. The motion was carried unanimously. The Rev J. G. Howarth proposed "That this meeting rejoices that the claims of the Society are recognised at Colwyn Bay, and trusts that the result of this meeting wiil be an increased list of donations and subscriptions from that district." In doing so, the reverend gentleman said that he hoped that, when the next report was presented, the position of Colwyn Bay would be more cleaily shown. He rejoiced in the fact that they were doing something for the children of Colwyn Bay but they would like to know what had been done with their money. Mr James Wood, J.P., in seconding, said that the fact was they had too little to tell about Colwyn Bay in their report, and it had to be very cunningly served up. He was not sure that the resolutions should not make the rejoicing more prospective. The motion was then put and carried. The Rev. Canon Roberts, Vicar of Colwyn Bay, proposed that their best thanks be given to the Chairman for his conduct in the chair, and referred to the high and honourable position his family held in North Wales. The Rev. Thomas Lloyd seconded. Captain Wynn replied, and referred to the services Miss England had rendered to the Society by devoting her life to its work. He then acknowledged the receipt of a cheque for Lio from a gentleman in Colwyn Bay, who wished to remain anonymous. A collection taken at the door realised £655. 5d. It is understood that Mrs Ftoulkes, the President of the Rhyl district, has now got five children in her Home which have been rescued by this Society, and one, after being at the Home for some years, has lately been sent to learn laundry work at a Home in England.
Penmaenmawr Notes. -
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Penmaenmawr Notes. [FROM THE PENMAENMAWR PARISH MAGAZINE."] THE SCHOOLS.—Our records of the history of elementary education in the parish are imperfect. It is a pity that they have not been better pre- served, as the characters of the schools and the schoolmasters of the first half of the nineteenth century are by no means uninteresting. They deserve a better fate than to be forgotten. The old-fashioned schoolmasters, the old-fashioned buildings, the old-fashioned methods of teaching and of punishing the children they form a group of facts which deserve to be known in all the fulness and picturesqueness of their peculiarities. Especially does the old-fashioned Welsh schoolmaster of three-quarters of a cen- tury ago, with his very imperfect know- ledge, and his execrable pronounciation of the English language, deserve to be immorta- lised; but we must here keep to our humbler task. The first school established in the parish, as far as we know, was one of the Welsh Circulating Schools of the Rev. Griffith Jones, to which we have already drawn attention. Those schools were established for the purpose of teaching Welshmen of all ages (from seven to seventy) to read their own language, so that they might be able to read the Bible and the Prayer Book. They were marvellously successful, as, within twenty years of the death of their founder in 1761, no less than 300,000 people had benefitted by them. It is also worthy of remark that the Welsh Sunday Schools sprang from this move- ment. One of Griffith Jones's Schools was kept in the Parish Church of Dwygyfylchi in 1757, with thirty-six scholars, and in the two subsequent years, with thirty and twenty-four scholars respec- tively. The school was dropped in 1760, pro- bably because the Parish Church, in which it was kept, underwent a somewhat drastic restora- tion. After this, there is almost a dead silence on the subject of education, as far as our paro- chial records go, until we come to the year 1847, when a movement was set on foot to build the first National Schools, which have since been converted into the present Gas-works. But there are still living among us those who remember a parocnial school held in Yr H cn Durnftikc, the cottages situated on the right, as we turn towards the Parish Church from the Old Conway Road. The school-room comprised two at least of the cottages, and, if we are not mistaken, Mr. Cover]ey, the father of the present Chairman of our District Council, filled the .office of a schoolmaster for a time in that school, in which a Mrs. Morgan and her daughters also taught. In 1847, however, it was decided to build a National School. Mr. Kneeshaw tells us that the building was completed and occupied in 18.1-8, and at the same time the old School pre- mises were repaired and restored and converted into cottages." He also says that the Vestry probably in 1834 allowed the Committee of the Parochial School to have the site of the Turnpike Cottages and that the Committee added a cottage for the Master to the original Turnpike Cottage. The schools, completed in 1848, cost some £6I2 2s. qd., according to a balance-sheet drawn by the treasurer, Captain McDonald, who apparently took the leading part in the move- ment. Of the above sum, the Committee of Council on Education, as already stated, con- tributed £19°' We have no means of knowing the names of the first teachers appointed to the new National Schools. From a memorandum, October, 1855, we find that a Mrs. Mary Jones had come to the school as a teacher in May, 1853, at a salary of ^20, and that she had re- ceived since then ^23 8s. od., "the field in- cluded." On the other side of the paper, another memorandum tells us that Edward Jones came here tne 23rd of February, 1855, at a salary of £40 per annum." We find also from a note written in December, 1856, that Edward Jones and Jane McClement were teachers, the lat.er at 2S. 6d. per week. In 1858, the head teacher was Mr. Joseph W. Edwards, and in 1863, Mr. John Evans occupied that position and held it up to his death. In 1863, the Infant Schoolroom at Penmaenan was built and fitted up at an expense of £228 ns. od. the purchase money and con- veyance of site being £ i6 IgS, gel. The teacher in 1864 was Barbara Hughes. In 1872, the present schools were built at a cost, as far as we can ascertain, of £833, of which £125 was paid fur the site. In these schools have been educated a large number of the children of the Parish. In 1873, the average attendance was gl in 1880, 161 in 1885, 168 in 1890, 173 in 1895, 226; in 1900, 293. The Dwygyfylchi National School was commenced in January, 1885. The volun- tary subscriptions for the first year amounted to /)0 6s. 6d. the average attendance for the same year was 40, while at present it is about douole that figure. The British School was built some fifteen 0 years ago, and has been doing excellent work. It is in no boastful spirit that we say Churchpeople in the parish have worked nobly for elementary education during the last fifty years; while the Churches have been erected and maintained almost entirely by voluntary contri- butions, the endowment of the benefice amount- I ing to only about £180 and a Vicarage house. Indeed, previous to 1888, the endowment war- barely over /100. During the last thirty-vh'ee years, Churchpeople in the parish have ;v;n in voluntary contributions an average of ¡ lÓO ler annum towards the education of the children. There are no records to show the annual (x- penditure on the schools from 1848 to 1872, but the total amount spent in buildings and m'L1- tenance as far as we are able to ascertain is Z5,44.6 13s. IId, If we had the figures for the twenty-four years that are missing, the total would doubtless amount to at least ^6,000. It is but right to say, that among those laymen of the past who worked faithfully and contributed handsomely towards the Church and Schools in the parish," the following deserve to be held in grateful remembrance:—Mr. Murray Gladstone, Capt. McDonald, Mr. Richard Kneeshaw, Mr. Kurtz, Mr. S. D. Darbishire, and Mr. Wright.
ipuBftc Opinion.
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ipuBftc Opinion. Letters to the Editor. I'lie I'kiilor, while welcoming letters on all publit ¡,"pic" dors hot hold himself responsible for the opinions contained therein. Contributors must W'.Lt6 on one side oj the paper only, and letters brief and to the point have preference for insertion. All communications must be accompanied by the correct name and address of the writer, not necessarily for publication, but as a guarantee of good faith. THE DOG NUISANCE AT COLWYN. To THE EDITOR OF THE Weekly News. Sir,—I read the paragraph in last week's issue of your paper about the poor boy who has been so badly bitten by a dog in Old Colwyn. I think it high time that some one in—or with-authority should try to put down the nuisance so many dogs cause. They are a perfect pest both in the Bay and at Old Colwyn. There must be a large number kept for which the owners do not pay. It is quite impossible to walk even a short distance without having five or six of these animals scampering round your feet. On Saturday last I had the greatest difficulty in proceeding at all, and if driving they are sufficient with their yelps and barks to make any horse take fright. I have been flown at and my cloak torn to shreds, so that I am nervous. If a law could be passed that no dog should be allowed to be at large without its owner, perhaps some mitigation of this state of things might be achieved.—Yours, &c., LADY VISITOR. LLANDUDNO JUNCTION POSTAL FACILITIES. To THE EDITOR OF THE Weekly News. Sir,—Being a regular reader of the above, I took much interest in the news which appeared from time to time in same about the above place, or as it is called by your correspondents, The Bombarding," and at the success of same. As I was passing the other day our office I saw a notice in the window, informing the publicothat a later despatch of letters only will be made at 9 p.m., and I said, "There's a start"; but, on making further inquiries, I found out that the office is not to be opened except as at present, namely, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. So the 9 p.m. despatch is only good to those that have stamps at hand, and no good only for letters. Newspapers must not be admitted by the 9 o'clock despatch they must be in time for the other despatch, which goes to Conway as at preetit-7-50 p.m. If any are posted after that time, the Postmaster must leave same in the box till next morning. But we at the Junction must be content with a small alteration until we get more. As the old saying is that Half a loaf is better than none at all," and a 9 o'clock despatch of letters only available to those that have stamps is better than to take same to the station to meet the mail and have to pay the extra .Yzd., but those that have no stamps must go to Tywyn or pay the extra id. and go to Conway, or make it their business, as at present, to come for stamps before 8 p.m. while the office is open. And, Mr. Editor, how soon the change was made after the remarks of Messrs. "Rambler" and "Tywynite" appeared in your valuable paper, and the remarks were welcomed by many. I can inform you that the addition will be welcomed also. And we hope to get the third delivery and the office opened till the 9 p.m., and also the wires connected to the office, so that we at the Junction may have the same privilege as Conway, although the telegraph doesn't bother myself much, but it won't do to look at self, we must remember others, and try and get all conveniences we can for the visitors and others, and do our best to get the same things as other towns have. Conway has a third delivery, accor- ding to Mr Rambler, and we know that they have the wires connected to the Post Office also, and the question is, Why don't they give the inhabi- tants of the Junction and district the same? There are a Head-office and a Sub-office in Llan- dudno you can send telegram from the office in Mostyn Street or the one at Craig-side, and also they are connected to tha Post-office at Llanrhos. Then the question remains, Why is Conway so slow in having same connected to the Sub-office at the Junction?" I wonder whether it is be- cause they are afraid the business would effect too much on their office, and that they would feel the difference too much, and the Junction office would get the benefit of same, or how is it that some districts can get advantages while the others can't ? Also the morning and night mail trains stop at the Llandudno Junction station, and the letters and parcels are taken to Conway by cart every morning. Why are the letters, &c., be- longing to the Junction and its surroundings, taken to Conway by the cart, and, after being there for a little while, you can see 3, yes 4, post- men with a heavy load coming from Conway, for the different parts ? Why not save the Postmen that labour, by having the same arranged at the Sub-effice ? And also it can be mentioned that the same thing occurs with Deganwy and Tywyn and their surroundings the letters, etc., are all taken by the mail-cart to Llandudno and after- wards to Deganwy by the first train. Those also could be arranged from the Junction office, which is under the control of the ancient town postal work of Conway, and all being in the ancient Borough. And much labour would be saved, and the delivery of same would be earlier, and parcels would be delivered almost the same time as the letters, and .not as at present. And, by arranging the Junction office so, the carting of the mail to Llandudno in time would be done away with, as the letter bags could be taken per train as the parcel-hampers are at present. We may hope in time that the mail will stop at Llandudno Junction station on Suuday night, which would be more convenient to the public than at present. Also the district of the Junction is increasing, and with the increase, we may hope, may have the same favour as Llys- faen has, namely, Conway-in-Rhos and part of the parish of Llangwstenin would make an Urban District. And, Mr Editor, we may see a copy of the letter that the Town Council received from the Surveyor of the Postal Department in answer to the petition of same for a later despatch from Llandudno Junction than as at present, 7-50 p.m., or is it that the Council gets more cretit than is due to them ? It may be that another General has come out seeing the different complaints in your valuable paper a few months ago. If it is a (act that a gentleman has come out to the front, and helped the inhabitants of the Junction, we hope that he may yet keep on until we at the Junction have succeeded in getting the same postal conveniences as Conway has, and also the name of the place changed to a shorter name than at present, and not an additional name to Llandudno Junction, as the last ballot paper had but a new name.—Apologising for troubling you ONE FROM THE DISTRICT.
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