The North Wales Weekly News

Inauguration ot the New Water Main. A Brilliant and Successful Function. ENTERPRISE OF NORTH WALES RESORTS. At the invitation of the Llandudno Urban District Comicll, Lord Stalbridge, Ohairman of the Londol1 & North-Westeo-n. Railway Company, visited Llandudno on Tuesday afternoon and conducted the inaugural ceremony of turning on the water in the new 15-inch duplicate water main. The supply of water to Llandudno* com- prises a 9-inch main, which was opened in 1880 by the King, who was then Prince of Wales, at a cost of £ 40,000, this scheme being carried through by the late Mr T. T. Marks. The second section, which comprises a 15-inch main,, cost £ 30,303, and this was completed recently, the engineer being Mir E. Paley Stephenson, the Council's Engineer. It was this section that Lord Stalhridge oipened on Tuesday. His Lordship arrived by special train from Holyhead at i p.m., accompanied by Frank Ree, general manager of the railway; Mr F. T. Kins- roam, out-door goods manager; Mr E. G. Trench, chief engineer Mr A. Ferron, Euston Mr L. A. P. Wanner, district superintendent, Chester, and Mr R. W. Tye, Euston. On their arrival they were met by the Chairman of the COUlncil (Mr J. Mc.Master, and several other members, and they at once drove in motor-cars to the junction of Conway-road and Vaughan- street, where the ceremony was performed. The line of route from the station had been gaily decorated by the inhabitants,, and a huge circle bad been roped off for the guests of the Council. A bandstand had been) provided, whence the speeches were made to a large crowd of the general public. r "PROUD AND PRESUMPTIVE/' The Chairman of the Council addressed the assembly as follows:—u Travellers who use the railway to and from Llandudno occasionally hear curious opinions expressed by fellow travel- lers about Llandudno and Llandudno folk. It has been remarked that Llandudno people are proud and presumptive. We cannot deny part of the allegation.. We have much to be proud of-wie are a young town and community. We have an almost unrivalled geographical position. Seated between two seas, we have practically two of the most health-giving climates Íin the land. One of them, the fine, strong, pure, brac- ing mountain air of the Great Orme. The other a soft, warm, dry air, which, rising over the Atlantic Ocean and St. George's Channel, sweep- ing over the Snowdonian hills, precipitates its moisture on- the heathery fells, and comes across Conway Bay, upon the West Shore, full charged with health-giving ozone—the envy of all our rivals, and bringing hope of renewed strength and vigour to the most despairing mor- tal. We are proud, and don't do things by half. (Hear,, hear.) We have two grand IS-hole golf links—one on the top of the breezy Great Orme, and one on the hazardous Warren—on either of which all sorts and conditions of men and women can exercise themselves with complete satisfaction. To reach these two links we have two tramways, by which, from the remotest parts of the district, access is easy. (Applause.) We have also two sources of water supply. One high up amongst the everlasting hills, where the Atlantic and Irish winds distil their moisture, securing to Llandludnoi, so long as Cambria's hills shall keep their heads in the clouds, an abundant supply of the purest and strongest mountain dew, of which any people can be proud. The other one, which was Llandudno's premier supply, rises in a series of wells on the western slope of the Great Orme, above the ruins of the ancient Abbey of the Monks of Gogarth. It was the first dependable supply Llandudno, as a town, posseslsed. It is a splendid water, pure and cool, springing from the rock, strong and clear as that from the rock upon which Moises of old stumbled and crippled himself, so that he was disabled from entering the promised land. We have two lines of aqueduct from the mountains, affording assurance that so long as they ar3 maintainedi in efficiency, Llandudno will not lack this grand elixir of physical life. The wa-terr of these two1 supplies converge here- about and mingle together, and afford to resi- dents and visitors a water of rare pre eminence— probably the most valuable in the world. (Hear, hear.) My Lord, we have other things by twos, of which I will only mention, the General Post Office, which is the buildimg nearest to hand on the corner there. It was erected only a few years ago, at a time when it was most urgently ne.edled. It was opened by the then Postmaster- General Lord Stanley, now Earl Derby. We also built a new TOWIll Hall some years ago at a cosit of £ 20,000, which was opened by a pro- minent Statesman, Sir Albert RoJilit, and already we have accepted tenders for its enlargement. We have also two magnificent hydropathic estab- lishments but I had better not say anything about private enterprises, or I would detain, you too long. (Laughter.) I may say, however, that we have many things and names in Llan- dudno, of which and of whom we are justly proud. We are proud that though we are not on the main line of the gigantic railway under- taking, of which your Lordship is the head and brain, we are worthy of your consideration, and find an honoured place in your desire for our prosperity and welfare as a town. To a con- siderable extent, we have grown with the rail, way, and the railway with us. We have a roll of pioneer names, of which any town may be proud., and they left us a possession, which we hope to expand with our age. Our Gracious Sovereign, when Prince of Wales, recognised the worthiness of some of your pioneer efforts, and he came, 29 YeuJrs ago, to open the then newly- eompleted 9-inch pipe line in 1880, which was found, some years ago, to be quite inadequate foa the town's requirements. We have now com- pleted the new 15-inch line of pipes, which may meet our requirements for twenty to thirty years to come. Miuist I plead guilty to. the charge of presumption. We have presumed to invite your Lordship to .,uspend for a few hoursof the valu- able time you have consecrated to. the interests of the most stupendous railway undertaking in Great Britain, and come here to give us your aid and comfort," and put the seal of your approval upon our efforts to provide, in a cour- ageous manner, for the clientele which your rail- way brings to. our station. We presume to. think that we have not yet exhausted our resources for the reception and entertainment of the multi- tudes of our fellow countrymen and women who bearded in the. confined areas of our great busi- ness and manufacturing centres, are, during a too brief summer holiday season, driven to. seek recreation and rest in. seaside resorts. We pre- sume that we have not altogether failed to give satisfaction to our numerous visitors of the past and trust that the co^nmendations we have re- ceived therefore wilil be as niumerofus in the future, and if possible, much more abundant. (Loud applause.) ADDRESS OF WKGCOiME. The Clerk of the Council CMa: A. Connolly) then read the following illuminated address of welcome, in album form — To the Right Hon. Richard de Aquila Grosvenor, P.C., Baron Stalbridge. My LoTd,-The Urban District Council of Llandudno, on behalf of the inhabitants of the town of Llandudno,, desire to tender to your Lordship their heartiest appreciation of the fact that, notwithstanding the great call upon, your time, you have 501 readily fallen in with their wish that you should perform the ceremony of turning on the water through the recently-com- pleted duplication of the trunk main for the pur- pose of giving Llandudno an abundant supply of water (Llyn Dulyn, from which the water is obtained is adjacent to the Snowdon Range of Mountains). Your conmectibn with the Ducal House of Westminster, together with your association with the London 81: North-Western Railway, an undertaking that is "so cioisely/ associated with the prosperity of Llandudno, and which has done so, much to. bring North Whales to the front as a health and pleasure resort, lends additional interest to your visit. The inhabitants of the town are proud to possess practically an unlimited and unfailing supply of pure water, equal in, quality, accord- ing to the late Professor Franklin, to that of the famous Loch Katrine. Nature has done much to make Llandudno and district beautiful and attractive to health and pleasure seekers,, but the Council are, never- theless, alive to the importance of assisting Natiuire in all matters connected with public health, and it is therefore now and always has been the desire of the local governing body to spare no. efforts to add to the comfort of those who favour them by visiting their town. The District Council .are very grateful to the Railway Company, which you so honourably re- present, for the arrangements which have hither- to been made in their system for comfortable and speedy conveyance of the travelling public to the North Wales Coast, the natural beauties and source of amusements, of which the Council venture to think compare very favourably with any home or Continental watering place, and they look forward with great pleasure and ex- pectation to. the further steps which they under- stand the Company have decided to take this year in augmentation of their past efforts to ex- ploit North Wales. < The Council trust that your Lordship may long be spared to carry on the important work in which you now take so great an interest. (Signed) JAS. MCMASTKK, Chairman of the Council. (Signed) ALFRED CONOLLY, (L.S.) Clerk. His Lordship then proceeded to turn on the water, which was allowed to be run through the Fire Brigade hose pipes, showing a tremendous pressure. Whilst carrying out this, His Lord- ship was loudly cheered. HIS LORDSHIP'S HUMOROUS RESPONSE. Responding to the presentations, Lord Stal- bridge, who had a very hearty reception, thanked them one and all for the opportunity they had given him of visiting Llandudno. With regard to what the Railway Company had done for Tjlandudmoi, he could assure them that their in- terests were identical. The line from Chester to Llandudno was very nearly quadrupled, and now the facilities of communication were very great, not only between Chester and Llandudno., but I into the beautiful mountains on either side. (Hear, hear.) England, as they knew, was an island, and there were many beautiful corners of it which competed with Llandudno, and they also had to compete with places all over the world. In Llandudno they had not the disad- vantage of a foul-smelling spring, as in many other places, neither was it a place where in- valids only resorted to, but it was the place for good, healthy people, who wanted to do nothing for a little time, and work hard at it. (Laugh- ter.) When a busy man came to Llandudno, he was quite content, for the first two days, to throw pebbles into, the sea, but afterwards he ïc- quired further amusement, and this his Lord- ship was glad to. find the Llandudno people had provided. He had been handed a leaflet pre- pared by Mr Stevenson, the engineer, and from it he noticed that they had everything which he agreed with. Every facility was given a person for walking, driving, and motoring—in fact, he believed that they had every means, of locomo- tion except the aeroplane, and he felt sure that as soon as they were a commercial success, they would see one take passengers to Penmaenmawr and Snowdon, and even the Alps. Amongst other things, he noticed there were minstrels in the Happy Valley and elsewhere. He did not know what the elsewhere meant, but when young people particularly come for rest and se- clusion,, the embarrassing question might be put by the coloured gentleman who would sing, I wants you, ma honey, yes, I dü," (Laughter.) He also noticed that they advertised the electric tramway to Colwyn Bay. He hoped they only ran their trams one way, so that the passengers could have the advantage of coming back by U the railway. (Laughter.) Plowever, the Railway Company would not look upon that with a jantn- diced eye. (Hear, hear.) He thanked them sincerely for the address,, and at the conclusion he sniffed a little sign of one definition of grati- tude, and that was the signs of what was to come. They might rest assured that the Rail- way Company would continue in the same way in futura, and do what they could for the pros- perity of that beautiful town. (Applause.) The Chairman. bad clearly put before them the d- \1 v.;tages of the beautiful water which he had had the pleasure of turning on, to some of the assembly (Laughter.) He could only say that he felt it a great compliment to follow their present King in performing the operation. The Llandudno water was as pure as any water in the world. Of late years the adjacent country of England had been in the habit of coming to Wales to get water. Liverpool went to, Vyrnwy, and Birmingham instituted the most magnificent reservoirs in the world at Rhayadr. He was glad to notice that they had, determined to have a supply from their own hills. England was not ungrateful for what Wales did, and it reci- procates to a certain extent at a certain price returning a good deal of water which was much appreciated by many Welshmen and what was commonly called Cwrw da." When North Wales prospered, the L. & N.-W. Railway Com- pany prospered. It was their duty to induce their fellow countrymen to. stop at home and learn the beauties of their own country, rather than go abroad. Everything the Railway Com- pany could do, they might rest assured they would do for North Wales,, in its endeavour to induce as many of the English as they could to come and see them (Loud applause.) The Chairman of the Council then handed to Lord Stalbridge a beautiful silver model valve key, suitably inscribed, at the same time stating that he hoped it would be kept as an heirloom in the family. Lord Stalbridge: You may depend upon it. I thank you very much. THE LUNCHEON. Three hearty cheers were given His Lordship, led by Mr McMaster, and the company drove along Mostyn-street around the Promenade and back to the Imperial Hotel, where a sumptuous luncheon was in waiting. Those present were Lord Stalbridge, Mr W. Jones, M P., Mtr Frank Rees, Mr F. T. Kins- man, Mr E. G. Trench, Mr L. A. P. Warner (District Superintendent of Chester and Holy- head section), Mr A. Ferron, and Mr R. W. Tye (Euston), Dr. R. A. Prichard (Chairman of the Carnarvon County Council), Colonel the Hon- H. Lloyd Mostyn,, Dr. M. T Morgan (Mayor of Conway), Mr D. Gamble (Chairman of Colwyn Bay Urban Council), Mr Joseph Dicken JChair- man of the Cowlyd Board), Colonel Ruck (Chief Constable of Carnarvonshire), Superintendent Rees (Deputy Chief Constable), Dr. Travis (Medical Officer of Health), Dr. Dalton, Dr. Nicol (Chairman of Llandudno Pier Directors), Mr J. Adey Wells, Alderman, John Owen, Rev. L;1. R. Hughes (Rector), Councillors T. W. Griffith, R. Roberts, E. E. Bone, Thomas Smith, William Thomas, Pierce, Jones,, G. Woodyatt, David Davies, Henry Wilson, J. J. Marks, F. J. Sarson, Sam Chantrey, Walter Beaumont, ITugh Edwards, W. Henry Jones, J. 0. Thomas, Messrs A. C'onolily (Clerk and solicitor to, the Council), E. Paley Stephenson (Engineer), Harold Merton (Electrical Engineer), Walter WTood (Accountant), .T. B. Farrington (Engineer to the C'owlyd Water Board), John Roberts (Chairman of the Ratepayers' Association), Sam Hughes (Secretary to the Llandudno Pier Com- pany), Thomas Foster1 (Manager of Llandudno Motor and Garage Company), W. R. Brookes, Ernest Deacon (Messrs Deacon & Co.), A. J. Oldman (Secretary to the Town Improvement. Association), W. R. Moorhouse (Manager of the Llandudno- and Colwyn BE V Tramway Com- pany), H. Sutcliffe (Manager of the Great Orme Tramroad Company), Alec Taylor (President of the Trade Protection Society), C. A. Hulton, (Manager of the Llandudno Coaching Company), W. T. Ward (Deputy Surveyor), Hugh Davies (Outside Surveyor), Jonathan Higginbottam (Secretary of the Llandudno, Hackney Carriage Association), representatives of the Gogarth, St. Tudno, and Victoria Friendly Societies, and special representatives of the London, Yorkshire, Liverpool, Manchester, as well as the local Press. The loyal toasts; having been dutly honoured, the Chairman submitted that of Lord Stalbridge, remarking that it was an act of great kindness on his part to perform that interesting ceremony. The toast was heartily received, and His Lord- ship thanked the company briefly, and proposed the health of the Chairman, which was also heartily responded to.. Mr T. W. Griffith, the Chairman of the Llan- dudno Water Committee, proposed the health of their guests, and coupled with the toast the names of Mr William Jones,, the member for the division, and Mr Frank Ree, the general man- ager of the Railway Company. He was veTy pleased to, see such a representative gathering of gentlemen present, especiaLly the Chairman of their own County Council (Dir. Prichard), and the Mayor of Conway (Dr. M. J. Morgan). The new main ha tbeen the means of obtaining an unlimited supply of pure water from the heart of the Eryri mountains. He also wished to congratulate the Engineer ot the Council and his assistants on the completion of that grand scheme. Referring to. Mr Willla,m Jones, M.P., the speaker said that he topik an interest in everything that tended to. the welfare and pro s- perity of Llandudno and other parts of the Ar- fon division. Tlhey, in Llandudno, owed a great deal to the L. & N.-W. Railway Company for catering for their prosperity, and they looked to. them to continue to. do. sr),. He was very pleased to learn that there was a scheme on foot to bring about a mode of advertising Llandudno and other watering places on the Coast, which undoubtedly would benefit the Company as well as the inhabitants. MUTUAL INTERESTS. The toast having been duly honoured, Mr Frank Ree said it was rather unusual for a rail- way manager to be feted by a local District Council. They often met, but there was no banquet. (Laughter.) They sat on one side of the table, and the representatives of the Com- pany on the other, and the Councils generally opened by asking the Company to. spend a few or more thousands of pounds, and they usually finished up by telling them what they had left undone that they ouight to have done. So they coullcl imagine his delight at being, for the first time in his life, the guest of an Urban District Council, and the Railway Company he had the honour to serve, complimented. There was a popular idea which could never be eradicated that where a district, was in the hands of one railway company, they would do nothing but starve the district, and expend their means and energy in fighting the competitive traffic. That had never been the policy of the L. & N.-W. Railway Company—(hear, hear),—and he thought that was evidenced that day by the fact that they, as representing the Railway Corn- pany, were the guests of the Urban District Council. They were a commercial body, and surely they would, not be so foolish as to starve a district committed to their charge, when they have in mind that every passenger they could attract put money in their pockets. Although they were not competing against a Railway Com- pany in Llandudno, they were competing against seaside resorts, in; other parts of the country, which the L. & N.-W.did not serve. Thousands and thousands of people went to the Continent every year, and the Railway Company wished to bring them here. (Applause.) He referred to the many energetic Advertising As- sociations in seaside resorts.. They might ex- pect a large additional number of people in Llandudno., but he did not wish them to neglect making it patent to. everybody the advantages of the beauties, of Llandudno;. His family, for the last five years, had taken, a house in North Wales, and they could rest assured that if rait- way managers, &c., took to. North Wales, it was the best place out, because they got all their travelling fre* of charge. (I^aughter, and hear, hear.) WORLD-WIDE FAME. Mr William Jones, M.P., who. received a rous- ing reception, said this was the consummation of one of Llandudno's finest engineering ie .achievements. Lord Stalbridge was better known in North Wales by his old name of Lord Richard Grosvenor. He was glad to. see so many representative gentlemen present. What- ever was good and progressive for Llandudno, was for the general prosperity of North WaJes. (Hear, hear.) In all parts of the world he had. come across people who had been to Llandud- no, and had greatly benefitted in their health. He had passed through Euston the previous; day, and he was dieligihlteid to notice that the Railway Company were extensively advertising the charms of Wales, and he particularly noticea some good Carnarvonshire names from Llan- dudno to. Llanberiisi. The L. & N.-W. Railway were neither slow nor hasty. They went in for practical reforms, and dealt with all sections of the community. Llandudno, held the key to the opening of possibly the finest scenery in Europe. As a Welshman,, he might be considered preju- diced, but amidst the" rivalries of the use of Commons, the general opinion was that the two. most coveted stpots for Parliamentary representa- tives were the Lake District and the Arfon dis-