Towyn-on-Sea and Merioneth County Times

THE RIVER DOVEY. PROPOSED NEW BRIDGE. On Wednesday afternoon a meeting of repre- sentatives of public bodies from the counties of Montgomery, Merioneth and Cardigan was held at the Vane Hall, Machynlleth, for the purpose of taking into consideration a proposal to erect a new in1fl^6^°^r k'16 r*ver ^ovey. At present, especially v j™me' c<?mmunication with Merioneth is t, e.r ^ffioult; in fact it becomes impossible when n v! ^\ver 18 an^ the suggestion is to construct air)" uf ^aay Ward, which would be a con- siaerable saving in the journey north.—Mr R C wy was appointed chairman of the meeting and Mere were also present Messrs R W Henry, R ^lllart, F M Campbell, R Owen, D Evans, Evan Rees, Wm William6 (Esgair), Parry, J H Evans (Mor-ben), Roberts (Prevenant), Hugh Jones (Pen- *al) J Bees (Ynys) and F Kenyon. nf+v 6 airman said he was rather disappointed nil I16 8iI £ L attendance. He had sent notices to 8 concerned, as well as to private people interested. Mr Wm Jones, a member of the nf rh°ne v, Gounty Council, was entirely in favour wan nv.SC kad long been felt that there and a a new bridge over the Dovey, matter- f'mm fe ^as ^ormed at Pennal to push the S'etiLr„Tli" U theu deoa"d h°W » wnnlri K e Persons interested. The bridge tni i 'i-u ^rea^ 'Yalue, and they wanted to ascer- fL 16 er there was an equal desire on the part of the counties concerned. The aite chosen was i T y fDe5ow Quay Ward where there was a evel crossing over the railway, and it was also ose to the main road. By the help of the railway they would be able to get up the material at less «ost than n, the case of the Mathafarn Bridge. "e owners of the land which was required for the purposes of the bridge were willing to give their land, except Mr Parry, who said he would accept reasonable terms. Col Hutchins, surveyor to tile Montgomery County Council, had esti- mated the cost of a bridge at X2,000 with 1500 for concrete foundations. There would, of course, crop up the question of the navigation of the Dovey, but a bridge over the river at Quay Ward would not interfere with the navigation of the river as nuld a fixed bridge at Glandovey Junction. If the fiyer was open up to Quay Ward, he did not think they would want to go any higher because there was now no access to the old harbour at Derwenlaa. He had written to the Board of Trade and they had replied that they were prepared to consider the matter when plans were sent to them. A penny in the pound in Cardiganshire would bring in £ 852, in Merionethshire E919, and in Montgomeryshire £ 1,144. The expense shared among the three counties would not be very heavy and could be spread over a number of years. Mr Rd Owen Have you approached the Cam- brian Railways Company with reference to a station at Quay Ward P The Chairman said he purposely did not approach that subject at this stage, but, they had it in view. —In answer to a question, he said he estimated the road to cost £ 500. Mr John Rees (Ynys): You will interfere with the navigation of the river if you build the bridge below Quay Ward. The Chairman But von can build a wharf lower down, which would answer the same purpose. Mr Campbell: You would have to build a new quay. The Chairman said the landowners willing to meet were Mi- Bousall (Morben), tdr R C Anwyl, Mr Parry (Cefucaer), MrThruston (Pennal Towers), and Mrs Thruston, (Talgarth). The last named would have to go to Chancery for the necessary permission, but she was prepared to do so. Mr Campbell, a member of the Montgomery County Council, said he was fully alive to the great importance of such a bridge, which he believed would be of great value to agriculturists. He thought Cardiganshire and Merionethshire should bear the giant share of the cost, for he was sure Montgomeryshire would not move until the other counties did. Mr John Jones, Ynyshir, Cardiganshire, said that personally he was in favour of the scheme. Mr R Gillart suggested that three persons from each county should be appointed to wait upon the County Councils and lay the case before them. Mr Kenyon expressed himself in favour of the scheme. Mr Richard Owen, one of the representatives of the Machynlleth Urban Council, said they were in- structed to report to the Council. I Mr D Davies (Aberdovey) thought Pennal should provide 9500, because Pennal was foolish enough to petition against the railway when it was pro- posed to go there (loud laughter). The Chairman said in Aberystwyth the previous day he saw Alderman Peter Jones who said he was in favour of the scheme. The proposition of Mr R Gillart was then agreed to, and the following representatives were appointed —Merioneth: Messrs R Evans, T Kenyon, and Rowlands (The Bridge). Montgomeryshire Messrs R Gillart, R Owen, and J Jones (Glanmerin). Car- diganshire Messrs John Jones (Ynyshir), Jenkins (Henhafod), and Jones (Free Trade Hall, Taleisin). -+-

THE THOMAS ELLIS MEMORIAL. SCULPTOR VISITS BALA. On Wednesday Mr Goscombe John, the sculptor commissioned to execute the Thomas Ellis statue, visited Bala in order to inspect the various sites offered. He was accompanied by Mr William Evans (Birmingham), and the Rev Gwynoro Davies. At Bala they were joined by Dr Roger Hughes. Mr John agreed with the committee that the site known as Plas-yn-dre, in the main street of Bala, was the best. The party next visited Cynlas, where Mr Ellis was born and where his parents still live. The object of the visit to Cynlas was to con- sult the family as to certain details connected with the statue. It has been decided that Mr Ellis is to be represented in his robes as warden of the Welsh University Guild tof Graduates, Mr Ellis having been the first warden. Mr John took away with him several photographs of Cynlas, for the purpose of preparing a medal which Mr William Evans is going to present to collectors in aid of the statue fund. It is hoped that a small model of the statue will be ready early in May.1

The death is announced of the Rev Robert Jones, Beaumaris, a former secretary and chairman of the North Wales Wesleyan district. and Mrs Goode, Llandudno, wife of the late Dean Goode, York. The Holywell Urban District Council have ex- pressed their approval of a joint scheme of water supply for Caerwys, Holywell, and Greenfield and their opinion that St Winefride's Well is the only practicable source of supply for the town.

ABERYSTWYTH. BOARD OF GUARDIANS.—MONDAY. Mr W Morris (chairman) presiding. Mr Bircham was also present. RELIEF STATISTICS. During the past two weeks the following amounts were paid in out-relief :-Per Mr T Yaughan, R55 15s 6d to 178 recipients; per Mr J J Hughes, X43 5s to 151 recipients; per Mr Thomas Morgan, L53 18s to 163 recipients. Replying to a paragraph which has appeared in a contemporary, Mr Llewellin, the assistant clerk, said that his figures published a few weeks ago respecting the oost of indoor and outdoor relief were correct. He understood the paragraphs were inspired by a former member of the Board. Since 1890 the rateable value had increased by £ 17224, of which £ 13,210 waa in the borough and £ 4,014 in the country. Compared with 1890 the net decrease in relief was £100. MASTER'S REPORT. The Master's report showed that there were 42 paupers in the house, as compared with 62 during the same period of last year. During the past fort- night 42 tramps were relieved, as compared with 18 in the same period of 1901. On February 26th the inmates were treated to a tea by the British Women's Temperance Association and a vote of thanks was passed to these ladies. A CASK FOR THE DOCTORS. The master reported the admission to the House of a woman who had been discharged from the infirmary as incurable. Dr Bonsall reported that the woman was a fit subject for surgical treatment at a hospital.— Mr B E Morgan suid that the opinion of Dr James, house surgeon at the infirmary, was shared by Dr Thomas and the Infirmary Committee. -The Rev T A Penry We subscribe as much as anybody else, and why should the case be refused. -Mr B E Morgan But you cannot send anybody there who is incurable.—Mrs Evans: If Dr Bonsall oan eura her, why doesn't he do it at the house In answer to Mr J B Morgan, tne Chairman ex- plained what was before the Board and said three doctors were of opinion that the woman was curable and two doctors held that she was incurable.—Mr J B Morgan Then I hope the other three doctors will do their best for the woman.—Mr Salmon Is the workhouse suitable for an operation ?—The Rev T A Penry: No.—Mr G F Roberts moved that a letter be sent to the Infirmary Committee, asking that the 3ase should be reconsidered. It was stated that the woman was 76 years of age, and the guardians felt that the age was too great for a successful operation and decided to leave the case in the hands of Dr Bonsall. HOUSE COMMITTEE. The Rev T A Penry presented the report of the House Committee which recommended the rebuild. ing of the pig-stye.—The report was adopted. PAUPERISM IN THE UNION. Mr Bircham, Local Government Board Inspector, said that since he was there last a census had been taken and it was not uninteresting to look back and see how the union stood ten yara ago and compare it with the present. Ten years ago that union had a reputation in the district of being fairly strict with regard to the administration of out-relief, and did not have so much Ieaway to make up as bad a good many other unions L, the district. Consequently the state of things was pretty much the same. In 1891 the population of the union was 21,073 and in 1901 21,470; an increase only of two per cent. He found every- where that there was a large decrease going on in the agricultural districts the only increase being found in the big towns and industrial centres. It was a great pity, but it was not their fault. During the last ten years the rateable value had increased from £ 91,700 to £104,995, or an increase of 14 per cent, which was fairly satisfactory and was due to the new houses and building generally in the more populous parts of the district. Of course they would have to knock off £ 20,000 to roughly ascertain the assessable value. Ten years ago the pauperism for the year was 573, and last year it was 510, a decrease from 2 7 on the percentage of the population to 2'3. In 1891 the expenditure was £ 4,303, and last year it was C4,209 which was zClOO less (hear, hear). He found that it was the case with their Union as with other Unions that, notwithstanding the decrease of pauperism the expenditure was still going up. In Wales, this was attributed to the hxrger amounts which wore given in individual out-relief. He was not at all against this so long as it was confined to deserv. ing cases, for he would much rather see a few deserving people getting adequale out-relief than serving a small dole'all round injorder to shut the mouths of applicants (hear, hear). If they did this they should be more strict with the undeserving poor (hear, hear). He had known tha Union since 1874 and there appeared to be a growing tendency-siodg with a creditable tendency to do better-to extend the outdoor relie' to those who had made no effort to help themselrea, and he thought that the house should be used to test such cases. He thought the house was not used enough for undeserving cases and those who were ill and could not be properly looked after outside. It was not real kindness on the part of Guardians to advo- cate keeping people in illness with no one to look after them, and especially from a medical point of view. If they got these people into the house they would find it more popular and there would be less disinclination to spend more money on the nursing and general hospital accommodation of the house" They had had a case in p )iuL that day and he hoped that the Guardians would reconsider the whole question and make the house more useful. Looking at the question from a broader point of view than the mere standpoint of each individual case. It would do a great deal of good if they made a difference between the deserving and the undeserving cases. With all their faults they were not so bad as people made them out to be. From all sources last year they received R15,711, but of this sum only £ 6,534 was spent in relieving the poor and the general up-keep of the workhouse. A sum of z67,830 was spent in various directions over which the Guardians had no con- trol. He would be happy to go round with the committee to see what could be done with the house, but he would rather see nothing done than a bad job made of it.—The Chairman said they were very pleased to see Mr Bircham and listen to his address but he hoped that he would not put them to a great expense with the house. —Mr Bircham said he did not want to put them to great expense and he reminded them that he was there that day at the request of the House Committee.