Towyn-on-Sea and Merioneth County Times

TOWYN COUNTY SCHOOL. ANNUAL PRIZE DIS TRIBUTION. The eighth annualldistribution of prizes took place on Thursday evening at the Assembly Rooms. There was a very large attendance, the chair being taken by the Rev Robert Jones, Gwynfa, one of the school governors. The stage had been enlarged for the accommodation of the pnpils for the per- formance of the musical play, Snow White and the Seven Dwarf e," which was the programme for the evening. The Chairman, in opening, offered a welcome to all, and said that they were deeply indebted to Mr and Mrs Denniss, who had so kindly favoured them with their presence (hear, hear). The school as they all knew, was in a flourishing condition. The staff were highly cultured and in full sympathy with their work, and the scholars were painstaking and enthusiastic. They had to regret the death of the late lamented Mr John Corbett, for they found in him a true and generous friend, and when they were in a tight corner they knew where to turn for help. He had had, like a good many other great men before him, gone and left many of his good deeds unfinished. Proceeding, Mr Jones said they were very thankful to Mr Denniss for the issue of cheap tickets to the scholars, and he hoped that before long the Railway Company would issue free tickets all round which he maintained was sound philosophy (laughter). He had to mention before concluding that the townspeople were grateful to Mr Denniss for his concessions with regard to the improvement of the approaches and surroundings of the railway station. The performance of scenes 1 and 2 of the oper- etta was then proceeded with, the first being a festival on the occasion of Snow-white's sixteenth birthday, and the second being laid in the forest. The dramatis personae were; Snow-white, Miss Ida Davies; Queen, Miss Maude Cotteril; Chrys- anthemum, Miss M E Jones; Daffodil, Miss M Jonatham Violet, Miss F Owen Prince, Mrs D W Lloyd; Carl the huntsman, J 0 Jones Max Hans and other dwafts, Messrs Jenkyn Williams Henry Jones, Goronwy Edwards, Atholl Howell, Ernie Winn, Owen Jones and J D Davies. Afterwards j the chairman called upon the headmaster to read his report, portions of which were as fallows I am glad to be able this time again to report increased prosperity both in numbers and in general efficiency. The average number of pupils in school for the year was 109, an increase of six upon the preceding year. This term again there is a further advance, there being 124 on the school books as compared with 114 in the corresponding period last year. The regular and steady growth in the numbers has been taxing our accommodation so much that at present the school is in real need of extra classrooms. Just now the chemical labor- atory, which is most suitable for the purpose, has to serve as a classroom, and the workshop and the Basic rooms have at times to be utilised for the same purpose. The physics laboratory has had to be used as an ordinary classroom throughout the whole year. I hope you will give the matter your most serious consideration. At present we h. pupils f.om all the primary schools of the district with one exception-a very small national school. The number of boarders is 29, 28 boys and 1 girl. The Central Welsh Board reports show that very good work has been done in all branches. The report of the inspectors of the Board of Education upon the work which came under their notice is equally satisfactory. No less so are the remarks made by Mr Francis S Bond, M.A., F.G.S., Hon. A.R.I.B.A., who this year inspected the school for the Central Welsh Board. The lists of successee.which 1 submit, show that the pupils acquitted themselves with credit to them- selves and to the school. The full number of cer- tificates obtained this year is 58, as compared with 44 last year. The failures, including all the exam- inations, were four. This, again, is further evidence of the thoroughness of the work done. In UW Intermediate and B.A. and B.Sc. list. lowyn is te.> only representative of the Welsh county schools. The Chairman them called upon Mrs Denniss to distribute the prizes, which were very numerous and substantial. THE PRIZE LIST. The following is the list of prize winners Winifred Conn, Maude Cotterill, Edward Jones, Ellen J Jones, Maggie Owen, Annie C Pugh, David E Williams, Herbert G Bagster, for French; John Owen Jones, Physics and Chemistry; Daniel W Lloyd, Latin and History; D Trevor Jone*, Physics; Herbert E Jones, Drawing and English Bromley R Jukes, Arithmetic; Edward Maurice Williams, French Myfanwy Ffoulkes, Latin j Louisa A Jones, Chemistry and Cookeiy; Emrys Morgan, Mathe- matics and History; Owen Owen, Drawing. CERTIFICATES. The following certificates were distributed:- London Intermediate B.A.: Maude Cotterill, 1st Division. London Intermediate B.Sc. Edward Jones, 1st Division London University Matriculation: Ellen Jane Jones, Maggie Owen and Daniel William Lloyd, 1st Class. Central Welsh Board (honeurs certificate) Wini. fred Conn and Maggie Owen, English composition, group I, English language and literature with dis- tinction, history, French Maude Cotterill, English composition, group I, English language and litera- ture with distinction, history, French with distinc- tion and conversational power; Edward Jones, English composition, group IV, chemistry with dis- tinction, physics with distinction, group III, addi- tional mathematics; Ellen Jane Jones, English com- position, group I, English language and literature with distinction, French Annie Catherine Pughe, English composition, group I, English language and literature, histoiy, French with distinction David Emrys Williams, Euglish composition with distinc- tion, group I, English language and literature with distinction, history with distinction, French. Central Welsh Board (Senior certificate): Herbart G Bagster, with distinction in French, physics and chemistry; David W Jones and John Owen Jones, with distinction in arithmetic, physics and chemis- try Ethel Jones; William H Lewis, with distinc- tion in arithmetic and chemistry Daniel W Lloyd, with distinctions in Latin and chemistry. Central Welsh Board (Junior Certificate) -Anuie Evans, with distinctions in arithmetic, and cookery French with conversational knowledge. R Pip1 Evans, with distinction in Arithmetic and Mathe- matics, French with conversational knowledge. D Trevor Jones, with distinctions in arithmetio and h h rjhvsics French with conversational knowledge. Herbert E Jones, with distinctions in arithmetic and mathematics, French with conversational knowledge. Bromley R W Jukes, with distinction in arithmetic, French with converational know- ledge. Mary Morgan, French with conversational knowledge. Thomas H Roberts, with distinction in arithmetic, French with conversational know- ledge. Edw. Maurice Williams, with distinctions in arithmetic, French, and physics, French> with conversational knowledge. °ya Hiqh'nf' The following were disqualified by age for distinc- tions Myfanwy Foulkes, Laura Jones, Louisa A Jones and Owen Owen, with conversational know. ledge of French David J Hughes, Emrys Morgan, Anne Owen. ■, Board of Education Exam. ination s.-Ed ward Jones, 1st Class, practical inorganic chemistry, ad- vanced stage, magnetism and electricity, advanced stage, light and sound, advanctd stage; 2nd Oiass, theoretical inorganic chemistry, advanced stage, mathematics, stages iii. and v.heat, advanced stage. King's Scholarship Examination.—Mabel Ellis, 2nd Division. T Bank Entrance Examination.—Leonard R Jones, Londan and Provincial Bank, John E Thomas, N and S Wales Bank. Pitman's Shorthand Certificates.—Theory certi- ficates, John Owen Jones, William Owen element. ary certificates, Herbert E Jones, °^n £ wen, Owen D Williams, Willie Jones John R Gnffith, Bromley Jukes, Trevor Jones, John Roberts, Henry Jones, Ellen Jane Jones, May Williams.. Local School Examinations in Music of the Associated Board of the R.A.M. and R.C.M. Mar- garet Richards, Higher Division; Laura Jones, Lower Division; Catherine Owen, Preparatory Exhibition.—D Emrys Williams, £ 10 Entrance Exhibition at Aberystwyth College. Scholarships-Edward Jones, Entrance Scholar- ship of JE25 at Bangor College (3rd on list top of County Schools' candidates). Winifred Conn, Entrance Scholarship (open) of £ 20 at Aberystwyth College (4th on list, 2nd of County Schools candi- ^&Mr^Denniss was then called upon by the car- man and said the report of the headmaster which they had heard read was one which speaks for it- self, and there was no need for comment for the work was excellent. The headmaster and his col. leagues had succeeded in getting enthusiasm and earnestness into the work they were doing but for that they could not possibly have had such an ex- cellent list of successes. There was, he thought, another reason for the success and that waa the managers had been very successful with their staff because such work demanded net only a large amount of physical strain but it was a very difficult matter to impart instruction to pupils whose in. tellectual attainments were bound to make them- selves felt in the future. They had set a great example and greatly developed secondary educa- tion. What an important thing a good foundation really was, to enable them to prepare for and acquire the knowledge which was to give them their living in the stern battle of life. Latin and mathematics would, for instance, enable them to speak correct English and train their minds to face difficult problems and so on with nil the subjects. He hoped that nfter they left Pf- .1 they would not throw their books on one side bu keep steadily on with them. He would like to say one word to the parents. He hoped they would continue to take an interest in the school and in education and support the staff and governors in their praise- worthy efforts (cheers). i_ The play was then proceeded with. Much amuse- ment was created by the dwarfs in this section, Max Hans being very prominent. Mr E L Rowlands, Aberdovey, had great pleasut e in proposing a hearty vote of thanks to Mr and Mrs D3nniss. The Rev T R Jones seconded. Mr Denniss responding said Reference had been nade to the death of Mr John Corbett. He sug- gested that as a practical expression of their in- terest in the school they should assist the governors An fho work. Monev could not be spent in a better manner and he was sure Mr Gorbett would tell them the same if he were present that evening (hear, hear). The final scene of the play was then proceeded with. The role of Snow White by Miss Ida Davies was exceptionally well sustained, the Queen (Miss Cotteril) being also nicely done, and Carl, the huntsman (Mr J 0 Jones) was capital. The Prince was fair, but the dwarfs, although they had a minor part, were excellent, and the Chyrsanthemum, Daffodil and Violet could hardly have been im- proved, while the choir rendered a good account of themselves. Altogether the musical portion of the evening was a great success.

—: ♦ LETTER TO THE EDITOR. MACHYNLLETH COUNTY SCHOOL. To the Editor of the COUNTY TIMES. Si,- An entertainment was given by the scholars of the above school in the Town Hall on Thursday evening, and a very good entertainment it was too. Everything went off with a swing and without one hitch. But, there was dancing there! Will the reader just imagine the horror that would be stamped on the faces of some of the forefathers of Machynlleth were they to rise from their graves and see their grandchildren dressed like fairies and Queens and Princes and Princesses ? Why, it would be indeed awful! But will anyone present on Thursday evening entertain any thought but that of pleasure and delight at the sights presented to them and the music so sweetly rendered ? It only shows the power of education and the strides made by it in the development of training of children both to know how to conduct themselves becomingly at a public gathering, and also to gain confidence in themselves by reciting, acting and singing. 1, personally, look upon it as a very healthy s.gn o the moral force of Intermediate Education-notwith. standing all that may be said to the contrary by the old fossilized" fungus "-the narrow-minded Puritan.—Yours, etc., D. T. H.

AGRICULTURAL CO-OPERATION. ABERYSTWYTH COLLEGE ADDRESS. The following address was delivered at the annual meeting of the agricultural department of Aberystwyth College, by Mr A Brigstoeke, B.A., J.P. :— In dealing with so wide a subject as Agricultural Co-operation, it is no easy matter to know where to begin, or when to leave off. However pains- taking anyone may be to give a good bird's-eye view of the whole subject, a great deal that is material and important for you to know must be left out altogether. You will understand, then, that I have this limitation put upon me. 1 am only able to touch as it were the fringe of the sub- ject, and this I propose to undertake to-day to the best of my ability. I will begin by giving a short sketch of the progress of this great movement in Wales, which will, I think, not only be interesting to all of you, but will also be most encouraging as showing how much has already been accomplished from small beginnings. I have always myself felt convinced that once the Welsh farmer could be made to understand the benefits to him of co-operation with his neighbour, he would not be slow to fellow in the footsteps of farmers elsewhere. Time has proved that such is the case. In September of this year I approached the leading farmers of my district, to sound them as to their feeling about vlopting the principles of co. operation as a remedy for the present alarming state of agricultural depression. I found that they were unanimously favourable to the suggested remedy. What is more (which I think is very much to their Credit), t found that they were unanimously of opinion that to ensure success the landlords should be invited to come forward and promote the scheme. Well, taking this feeling of the farmers as my cue, I formulated a scheme for the organisation of a co-operative effort and wrote to almost every landlord in the county, and also to a great number of farmers, explaining the outline of the scheme, and invited them to a general meet- ing on the 25th of October last. I may mention in passing that most of the letters I received in reply were distinctly favourable to the principle, of co- operation, but extremely sceptical on my being able to organise the Welsh farmer. Meantime I got into communication with the Secretary of the Agricul- tural Organisation Society, which resulted in Mr Charleton, vice-president of the society, agreeing to come down and address our meeting. As soon as I saw Mr Charleton he said, "You people are groping about in the dark; you are trying to put on the roof of the building before you' have even dug the foundations." At the eleventh hour then, in fact an hour or two before the meeting, I had to abandon the whole of my scheme and tear up my elaborately prepared agenda paper, and begin all over again. Mr Charleton gave a long and able address. The general impression after the meeting was that it would all end as usual in mere talk, and nothing practical would come out of it. I must admit that secretly I felt a little discouraged at the sudden collapse of my grand scheme, and some of my friends asked me how I felt. I said, Oh, all right! for I was determined to go at it harder than ever. I went home, and immediately wrote a most aggressive Article on Agricultural co-operation to our local newspaper, and in the week following I read a paper on the same subject before the Car- marthenshire Chamber of Agriculture, and since then the flowing tide has turned with daily increas- ing force to establish on a firm and permanent basis Agricultural co-operation in Wales, and you may take it from me that this tide will never be allowed to ebb again, for the idea is now deeply rooted, and has the irresitible force of public opinion behind it. Since the date of my paper at Carmarthen, November,6th, I have received numerous letters from farmers in every part of Wales-North and South, anxious to start Co-operative Societies, thus confirming the readiness I found amongst the farm. ers in my own immediate district, to adopt the Co-operative principle. More than this, I could mention districts in Wales where Co-operative Soieties are auietly, and unostentatiously, being formed. Surely I am entitled to regard this as a good answer to those who say the Welsh farmer cannot be organised for co-operation. THE PRESS, I would like to draw your attention to the im- portant forces now at work in carrying out the pro- paganda of co-operation in Wales, and in so doing I am glad of the opportunity of acknowledging the services of the Welsh Press. The most generous and liberal support has been most ungrudgingly given by every newspaper which has been approached on the subject, and it is not too much to say that without the help from the Press, it would have been absolutely impossible to have made such marked progress in so short a time. The work we are doing in Wales, thanks to the publicity given to it in the Press, has reached most unex- pected places. From Irish papers you read of the awakening of Wales, and only a few days ago I was requested to forward Welsh papers to Lord Dun- raven, Lord Powis, the Marquis of Bute, Lord Denbigh Lord Penrhyn, Mr Yerburgh, M.P., and others. We have the leading Welsh papers then giving up a good deal ot their valuable space every week to the work of educating public opinion on agricultural co-operation, and in my opinion that is one of the forces behind the movement which will prove irresistible. OFFICES OF INQUIRY. Other means of organisation have yet to be developed, but I will not dwell upon them at present beyond saying that the beginning of the new year will see offices of inquiry started under the auspices of the Agricultural Organisation Society, to issue pamphlets in Welsh, and to give personal advice to farmers, and others interested in the promotion of co-operation I expect much good work from these offices of inquiry, as after all, there is nothing to beat coming into personal contact with the farmers, DO LANDLORDS SUPPORT IT ? One question which is often put to me by farmers is this Are the landlords supporting you in this movement?" Now Mr Plunkett has had to com- plain that the landlords of Ireland did not really understand the work, and had not therefore sup- ported it as no doubt they would have done if they had known how much it was for their own as well as their tenants interests. In answer to this ques- tion then I would say that I believe judging fiom the opinions expressed by landlords in various parts of the country that they will be found as a class I ready to use their great influence and leisure in promoting the movement in every practical form as soon as they see that their tenants mean to go in for agricultural co-operation, It is extremely un likely in my opinion that we shall have any reason to complain of any apathy on the part of the land- lords when the pinch comes. THE SUCCESS ABROAD. There are some critics who ought to know better who say that this co-operative movement is merely a theory. People making such rash statements must excuse me for saying that they are utterly and Jhopelessly ignorant of the subject they so lightly profess to criticise. Agricultural co-opera- tion has stood the test of years and wherever it has been tried, no matter how diverse the conditiou of the people, and the country, the result has always been the same-unprecedented prosperity to the agricultural classes. So successful has it been in Continental countries that many of them are making themselves rich at our expense, in other words at our slowneas and backwardness in adopting those methods; and so we find small countries like Denmark, not possessing a hundredth part of out resources, driving us out of our own markets. Even Siberia, noting our backwardness, have lately gone in for co- operation, and now have the iu/pudence to send enormous consignments of their butter to our markets. Even Finland, whose peasantry is one of the most backward in Europe, have their wicked eye on our markets. Five years ago they had not one Co-operative Society to boast of. Three years ago you could reckon thepit on the fingers of one Hand. To-day they have ^37 societies, with over ^2,000 members, and doing a nice trade of over £ 27,000 a year. This is a country where not a blade of grass is seen for six months in the year, and the people are very, very poor. Ought we not to feel ashamed of ourselves when we hear of facts like these ? Is it surprising that foreigners have such contempt for the backwardness of our methods ? And that Mr Carnegie calmly talks of America buying up Great Britain as an insignificant kind of dependency. EARLY STRUGGLE IN IRELAND. Before proceeding to deal with some of the practical objects of co-operation, I will briefly explain some interesting and insturctive features of the early days of the movement in Ireland, which began-as you all probably know by this time -only twelve years ago, land has now assumed enormous proportions far exceeding the most sanguine gexpecation of Mr Plunkett. Ireland has been described as a disastrous country, where but few things have succeeded for centuries. You can imagine the difficulty there must have been at first in persuading the Irish farmer, and people who were supposed to be interested in his welfare, that agricultural co-operation was anything but a mere theory. As Mr Plunkett says, in the days before agricultural co-operation became fashionable, the Irish farmer had to be made to understand that there was money, and lots of it in combination, before he would entertain the pro. posal that he should combine for purely brisineSS purposes. Tangible, and immediate advantages had to be assured. We were asked," says Mr Plunkett, wherein lies the value of having all this business (transacted by associations, instead of by iudividual farmers, who might do it just as well in the old-fashioned way? How do you know there is a profit to the credit of co-operation ? The reply is simple. Apart from the question of mar- keting your produce cheaply, for which I shall show you co-operation is essential, it can be easily proved that creamery production is far more profitable than home dairying, that by the joint purchase of seeds, manures, implements, and other farming requisites, agricultural production can be cheapened, increased in quantity, and improved in quality. In a few years Mr Plunkett was able to show a saving of over £ 125,000 a year to the Irish farmer on his purchases alone, and a gain of over £180,000 in two years in his dairying. This was in 1896, when Ireland had only 148 societies. Now they have probably over 600, and the gain mentioned takes no account of numerous other branches of co-opera. tion, such as stock-rearing, and poultry. (To be concluded).

— Y GOLOFN GYMREIGL EI SEREN EF. Ei seren ddisglaer Ef, Ei Seren dlos, Mae y" goleuo'r Net Ynghaddug nos; Wrth edrych tua'r nen Mae'n oros uwch fy mhen, 0 hyd yn dlos. Fel bu i'r Doethion gynt Yngoleu cu, Ei Seren Ef o'u gwlad, Ei dilyn Hi, Nes dod i ymyl cryd, Gwaredwr mawr y byd, Yn faban cu. Ni chollodd nef erioed, Ei ffordd yn nos, Y byd a'i wyntoedd croes, rrddinasdios; Wrth edrych tua'r bryn, Mae'i letbran'n troi yn -wyn, Ynghaddug nos. 00 seren dlos a gwiw, Mae'th ganfod Di, Yu dangos gofal Duw, Am danaf fi; I'r estron pell a blin, Yr Iesu gwyn ei HnD, Yw'r Seren gu. ILAR.

The President of the Local Government Board has appointed Miss B Walton Evans, daughter of the Archdeacon of St Asaph, the inspector of boarded-out workhouse children for the Northern division. It was announced from Paris that the Chinese indemnity loan has been covered more than twenty- four-times. Several male voice choirs, including those of Cardiff, Tredegar, and Bristol, have entered for the musical competition at the Eisteddfod to be held at Exeter Hall London early in the ensuing year. The Newfoundland Census returns, as far as they have been compiled, do not show any inerease.of population during the last decade, owing to emigra- tion to the United States and Oanada.