Cymro a'r Celt Llundain

Mr. Willows, a young Cardiff aviator, and who can be correctly described as a Welsh- man, seeing that he was born in the Welsh city and is Welsh in sympathy, has succeeded in flying from Cardiff to London by airship. Mr. Willows is very popular at Cardiff, and has always been considered to be a man of marked abilities. At a recent South Wales Eisteddfod, Mr. Walter Lewis, miner's agent, one of the vice-presidents, referred to the indifference of parents in teaching the Welsh language to their children. He had been told that when a nation lost its language it lost its national characteristics. Parents were, to- day, prepared to pay for teaching foreign languages to their children and neglected their own, which the children would learn naturally. Whatever reason there was for learning a foreign language there was a stronger reason for retaining the Welsh. Each native language conveyed a certain culture and character, which another did not. He strongly appealed to all the parents present to teach Welsh to their children. The Welsh nation had its characteristics, and it would be a loss to the Empire to lose those Celtic characteristics. In his recently-published work on Indian Life and Sentiment," Sir Bampfylde Fuller, K.C.S.I., pays a glowing tribute to the work of the Welsh Methodist Mission in the Khassia Hills. "Two of the chiefs," he writes, "have accepted Christianity. In 1829 the ancestor of one of them treacher- ously killed two British officers; his de- scendant now reads the lessons in church. There are churches in all the larger villages, and on a Sunday, riding about the hills,. one may hear church bells tinkling in all direc- tions, and may meet groups of neatly-dressed men and women on their way to service, Bible and hymn-book in hand. The Mission has fitted the English alphabet to the Khasi language, and has formulated (and perhaps embellished) a Khasi grammar. It has opened more than 200 village schools for teaching in the vernacular, and in partner- ship with the State, maintains a high school at the district headquarters in which English is taught. It was to be expected that Welsh missionaries would have brought with them their national aptitude for singing in parts, but it is surprising that the Khasis should have taken so readily to an accomplishment which can find no roothold in Oriental music. Hymn-singing in parts is a prominent feature of the church service, and school children sing glees and catches with sweet- ness and accuracy. The humanising effect of Christianity is evident on all sides." Dr. Danford Thomas, the late coroner for Central London, was a Welshman, having been born in Carmarthen shire. He was not, however, a Welsh nationalist and took practically no interest in the country that gave him birth. ———— An interesting reference to Taylor and Sons' Cycle Factory, Commercial Street, Newport, will appear in our next issue. Wait and see." Oakfield House School, Stow Hill, Newport, I is an ideal school for boys.

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A WELSH CANADIAN CHOIR'S VISIT. Interesting news is to hand from far away British Columbia to the effect that the re- nowned Vancouver Welsh Male Voice Party contemplate visiting this country some time in the autumn and giving a number of concerts. As this is the first colonial party to attempt a tour of the Mother Country, Welshmen at home will all unite in wishing their colonial brethren success. Negotiations are proceeding with the secretary of the National Sunday League, London, with a view of the choir appearing in the Capital, whilst several Welsh towns are bidding for an appearance. There is no doubt but that an enthusiastic welcome awaits the Vancouver Welshmen on their arrival, which will be some time in November. The members bring with them a big reputation, being awarded second position in the World's Fair contest at Seattle last year, defeating all Canadian and Western American choirs, the prize being carried off by a pro- fessional organisation from Chicago, the Vancouver choir being only one point behind the successful party. Dr. Daniel Protheroe, the adjudicator, testified that the Canadian Welshmen possessed the best voices in the competition. The stay of the Party will be limited in England, but it is intended to enroll any good vocalist who would care to return with the Party to Canada. The conductor is Mr. E. S. Jones, of Holyhead, late leader of the South Liverpool Male Voice Party, whilst the arrangements of the tour are in the hands of Mr. Lewis Roberts, the secretary-accompanist of the party, who hails from Blaenau Festiniog. Although it will not be possible to accept all the invitations from various towns, Mr. Roberts will see that all such communications receive the most careful consideration of the choir. The voices are being selected from all parts of the Dominion, and will number twenty-seven to thirty first-class vocalists.

LAMBETH MILK DEPOT. A little over two years ago the Lambeth Borough Council established a municipal milk depot at 66, York Street, Westminster Bridge Road, and, although a few months since, attempts were made to close it on the ground that it was not self-supporting, public opinion, voiced to some extent by articles in the Press, was so adverse that the Council decided to continue it. Dr. Priestley, the medical officer of health for Lambeth, in his annual report, states that during the past year the depot has again proved its value. New infants and children to the number of 219 have been entered upon the register and fed, and these he classifies as to the state of their health when they were first supplied with the depot milk as follows: —Healthy (showing no signs of wasting or disease, though below par con- stitutionally), 42; wasting, 106; moribund, 8; and diseased, 63. Of these 58--9 per cent. used the milk for periods extending from six to twenty-six weeks. The deaths of the dep6t-fed infants num- bered 21, but eight were among children who had been supplied under four weeks, and the longer an infant was fed upon the depot milk, the better was its chance of living. Including all deaths, the mortality rate among the new depot-fed infants was 95 9 per 1,000, and this is much lower than the infantile mor- tality rates for the whole borough, for the Marsh Ward, where the depot is situated, and the other inner wards. The figures are Depot-fed infants 959 Whole borough 134 Marsh Ward 187 Inner wards 158 The most conclusive proof of its value," concludes Dr. Priestley, "in so far as the children fed are concerned, is to be found in the medical history of individual cases, when it can be shown again and again that infants who appear to be moribund at the time of commencing the milk actually recover." Out of the rates only the small sum of £ 315 has been taken to support this bene- ficent institution among the poor of Lambeth.