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v\o^v- V) VAN) v ^Vt>0 UE ONLY H „ 1 -tT l. "-J FOTHEBGILL'S Tobacco and Cigars, 4, STUART HALL, CARDIFF. f) ttMU Notices. s T. DAVID'S HALL, PONTYPRIDD. ON SUNDAY NEXT, THE EEV. JOHU PUGH Will preach at the above place AT It A.M., AND 6 P.M J WHEN COLLECTIONS WILL BE MADE IN AID OF THE PENYGRAIG EXPLOSION » FUND. TO ADVERTISERS. THE PONTYPRIDD CHRONICLE AND WORKMAN'S NEWS, A LIBERAL JOURNAL FOR THE TAFF AND RHONDDA VALLEYS, IS an excellent medium for Advertisements. It has betn established to meet a want long elt fur n popular newspaper. Published in the centl e of a large mining and industrial district of ,,OQ rn 50,000 inhabitants, and within 12 miles only i f Cardiff, Merthyr, Aberdare and Treherbert, its value all an advertiser cannot fail to be recog- nised, and as its charges are as low as those of any other respectable paper.in South Wales the Pro- pria r h pes to secure extensive patronage and rapper I. SCALE OF CHARGES FOR SMALL PRK-PAID ADVERTISEMENTS. for t' e following classes of Advertisements only :— Situations vvanted, oiLn .ii CIf red, Aparimenfs to Let, Apar*nts Offeredil I Money Wanted, I Partnerships Wanted, Businesses for Sale, I Lost and Found. MISCHLANKOUS WANTS. Hou-ES, BI.OI S, OHic. 3: Houses to Let, Specific Articles for Sale by Private Contract or Exchanges. If [jot | ui ) tor in advance the ordinary credit rate will b-j cha. g. d. W One Three Six Insertion^ Insertions. Insertions a. d. s. d. 8. d. 18 0 0 1 0 1 6 27 0 0 1 6 2 3 36 1 0 2 0 3 0 45 1 3 2 6 3 9 64 1 6 3 0 4 6 ()3 10 3 6 5 3 72 2 0 4 0 6 o 81 2 3 4 fi 6 9 Each line 9 words extra. > — Tni* scale does not apply to advertisements fro- i Publi Bodies. ( ind P. O. Orders should be made payable, a ad all communications sent to B. DA YI'-jJS, I oittyp,)-idd Chronicle Office, 23 « 24, Mi'i St e t, Pontypridd. SITUATIONS WANTED. \\J AN 1 ISO a Situation for a Lad in every ▼ I'ot k-seller's Shop in the Taff and Rhondda Yare- s to toll the Chronicle. A NTiCD a Situation for a Boy in every v » Stationers' Shop to sell the Pontypridd Chionicle." SITUATIONS VACANT. W.\ V i ED Boys to Sell the Pontyptidd WT Chronicle" everywhere on Fridays and Sat jrdoys. WAN'TKD.—Men with spare time to Sell TT thin Paper every Friday and Saturday. WANTED TO SELL AND BUY. AGENTS required to Sell the P(jiitypridd A Cl.rr nicle. The usual commission. KNDS of People required to Buy h ad ead thp, Pontypridd Cliron.*cle." Price ON-: PKS.S I Weekly. = < SEASON 18&1. SEEDS. SEEDS. vv. HI. KEY ] E(3 to inform the inhabitants of -■ Por-typridd and Neighbourhood that he a;ss xvceivtd a supply of this season's O. viz.: REåNS, PEAS, ONIONS, LEEKS, CARROTS, PARSNIPS, LETTUCES, RADDISH, PARSLEY, &c. A detai'e,l Catalogue to be had on application. 89 & 90, TAFF STREET, PONTYPRIDD Next week THE Pontypridd Chronicle WILL BE ENLARGED, By the Addition of FOUR COLUMNS TO ITS PRESENT SIZE.
LIBERTY AND LAW,
LIBERTY AND LAW, Now, when the churchyards have been thrown open to Dissenting Ministers, and when the English Church's claim to some of the educational endowments she has for cen- turies been eajoying in Wales is being placed in the balance by a Parliamentary Commission, it will be no harm to glance at some of the laws which have from time to time encroached upon the liberties of the people of this realm. Wales is pre-eminently Liberal, and Welshmen have, with DO uncertain voice, called for liberty of opinion, liberty of action, and liberty of worship, while the motto of the Salem Register of 1845 is one that might be adopted by nearly every Welsh newspaper :— Here shall the Press the people's right maintain, Unawed by influence and unbribed by gain; Here patriot Truth her glorious precepts draw, Pledged to Religion, Liberty and Law." Dissenters have, however, we fear, not studied the history of many of the Acts that bore with terrible hardness upon their fathers the years come and go, and new generations arise who know little of the deeds done by those who preceded them, and the memory of shameful wrongs are allowed to pass into oblivion. It has ever been so in Britain great men have lived and died, having done deeds the effects of which will live for ever, and just at the moment we are jubilant, but we soon get tired -we light our bonfires, ring our bells, chant our parens-and forget. In Earl Russell's Recollections," published a few years ago, we find this note :—" In 1828, at the request of a body of Protestant Dissenters, I bi ought forward a motion for the Repeal of the Corpo- ration and Test Acts and to my great sur- prise carried it by a majority of forty." We shall therefore, draw our reader's attention to the history of the Acts mentioned in that brief statement. Generations, like individuals, sometimes bequeath curses to their descendants. It was from Charles the second, his courtiers and Parliament, that we inherited the Acts in question-the bad legacy of an evil age. There is a nightmare look about that King's reign. Strange horrors of pestilence and fire, the morals of London sunk in a corruption that astonished even Paris, good men everywhere in prison or in poverty, and rogues the wearers of mitres and coronets-England had but a sorry bargain of the U Merry Monarch." When, after the Restoration, most of the living regicides had been mercilessly slaughtered and the dead ones taken from their graves and gibbetted at Tyburn, Charles the second and his loyal and obedient Parliament turned their attention to the Dissenters. The King had promised them every indulgence. He had solemnly declared that no man should be called in question for his religion. He had made severil Presbyterians his chaplains. Finding, however, the crown firmly fixed on his head, and the natiod and Parliament animated with an enthusiasm of loyalty, he hastily and shamelessly broke his word. The Court and the Church were even more eager than he to persecute. The offences of the civil war were bitterly remembered, and the day of vengeance having arrived the Royalist? determined to strike the blow and to strike hard. Parliament proceeded to vote that on a certain day all members should receive the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England, and refusal was to be punished with expulsion. Then this was speedily followed by the Corporation Act. As that impartial historian, Mr Hallam, points out, for at least two generations the chief strength of the Presbyterian party had lain in the little oligarchies of corporate towns." These places returned to Parliament a considerable pro- portion of its members, and, with a Dissenting Mayor and the majority of the Corporation Dissenters, it is not difficult to perceive how much political influence Nonconformists enjoyed in any such borough. The Corpo- ration Actdcstroyed that influenceatastroke, for it enacted that all magistrates and per- sons bearing offices of trust in corporations should receive the sacrament according to the rites of the Church of England within one year before their election. The man who had only lately been Mayor, and the refulgence of the light of whose term of 10 office still lingered on his brow, could no longer become as much as a common excise- man unless he partook of the Church's sacrament. Rome had long since said to heretics, Recant, or be burned." The British Government now devised a milder, but still a formidable, species of threat: hecant," it said to the Dissenters," he who is outside the Church shall be outside the Statp. Adhere to the religion of your fathers, and you shall neither make laws nor enjoy their protection." Twelve years later came the Test A ct. Directed pri- marily against the King's brother and the Catholics throughout the couhtry, it never- the less made assurance doubly sure with regard to the Dissenters. By this act no temporal office of trust could bo enjoyed until the candidate had received the s-acra- ment of the Church of England, and had subscribed to a declaration renouncing the doctrine of transubstantiation. The Duke of York, afterwards James the Second, was obliged to quit his post of Lord Admiral. The Lord Treasurer Clif- ford was driven into retirement. Presby- terian and Catholic became alike outlawed from all offices of state. And the Church of England enjoyed a monopoly of power, and made its kingdom one entirely of this world. If there be any period of ecclesiastical history from which churchmen may avert their eyes with shame, it is that period during which the Corporation and Test Acts were in force. The: noble deeds of t e Church were done, and the great lives of her servants lived in the generations, that pre- ceded the passing of those Acts and during the years that have followed their repeal For a century and a half they remained a public scandal. When George the first came to the throne, and the Whig star was in the f.. J -=- f -if ascendant the dissenters made a hard battle for freedom but Dean Swift put forth aIr: his powers to oppose and succeeded. He carried his point in proving evil to be good, notwithstanding the clergy themselves em- phatically protested against laws that caused them to aid in the profanation of the most sacred rite of the Church. They saw no- torious evil livers coming, year after year, to the communion table, men brought there only by the certainty that without this sham expression of repentance and insincere vow of amendment, they would be cut off-from the temporal benefits they desired to enjoy. Who would not indignantly exclaim with Cowper Hast thou by statute shoved from jtø design The Saviour's feast; His own blest bread and wine; f/ And made the symbol of atoning graeri An office-key, the picklock of a place." But the Corporation and Text Acts con- tinued to flourish until 1828, when the late Earl Russell brought forward his motion and was rewarded with complete and unex- pected success. Dissent ceased to be re- garded as something criminal, and religion to be pained by the hateful spectacle of men, with worldly aiicl covetous thoughts busy at their hearts, receiving sacred bread and wine and impertinently hastening from the communion table to sin afresh.
.Echoes from the Welsh Papers.
Echoes from the Welsh Papers. BY BBTTHOH. The Employers' Liability Act is freely discussed and critised in the Welsh papers. Seren Cymm says: This Act is one of the measures which Mr Gladstone succeeded in passing last session for the benefit of the workmen, and the masters are now doing all in their power to render it a dead letter. Owing to the opposition of the masters and the strategies of the Tories, the Government had to incorporate in it a clause which rendered it lawful to adopt other means to meet the circum- stances. Therefore, the employers are endeavour- ing to get their men to agree to movements for the formation of insurance societies, &c., but to what extent they will succeed remains to be seen It appears to us very unfair of the em- ployers to attempt to contract themselves out of this Act, and it proves that theirs is not the best cause, or they would not be so anxious to do that. Let the workmen carefully look to their lawful rights." In the Qwladgarwr there appears a very conciliatory letter signed by A Workman," in reference to some statements made in a letter by Mr D. Morgan, Mountain Ash, in the same journal a fortnight or three weeks ago. This writer contends that even if the masters are in a majority on the governing body that that will not affect the workmen, as the amount of money paid out will be precisely the same, whether it is managed by employers or employed. But, adds he, the majority of the members will be workmen, and they, consequently, will have the real control of the fund. He however, points out for the benefit of the promoters of the fund that it is a great mistake to begin collecting names before they have made the workmen acquainted with the scheme in detail, and the only way to do that would be to distribute broadcast throughout South Wales copies of the rules. if Genedl devotes a long article to the question, and after saying that it is the intention of the Government to amend the Act in some respects, goes on: This is a workman's Act. It was for him that it was passed. The dangers through which he has to go called it into existence; the misery into which his widow and orphans were often thrown through accidents ftequently caused by the cupidity and neglect of the employer was the moral power that carried the measure through Parliament. The question now is :—Will the workmen make use of it ? Mr Gladstone and his followers spent much time and labour to get the Act what it is; and it was in the face of all the opposition of the Tories —representatives of the masters, principally— that they succeeded, But will it be rejected at last by the very men who have for years been loudly calling for it ? There is no doubt many of the masters are afraid of the Act: they do all they can to get their men to contract out of it The masters have many ways of meeting their employees in a broad and fair spirit if they choose. We do not advise the workmen to stand stub- bornly against the offers of a good master, who has convinced them that he has their interests at heart and who has shown that in more than mere words; but for a class of workmen to submit ser- vilely to the plans of hard-hearted masters who have never shown them any sympathy, but rather the reverse, we cannot help feeling that if they do so out of cowardice, and to gratify men who are unworthy of their position and responsibility, we should consider them unworthy of being the subjects of any future legislation." These remarks evidently apply more directly to the quarrymen of North Wales in the present juncture than to any other class of workmen, but the word of warning will do no harm to others, perhaps. The whole prebs of the Principality condemns unmercifully the action of the Irish Obstructionists in the debate on the Queen's speech. The Baner says it is bad enough that they should have dis- turbed Ireland they should not be allowed to prolong the disturbances by paralysing tho Par- liament. The Qwladgarwr remarks that, in claiming his imaginary rights, Pat does not scruple to go out to the high roads and the fields, revolver in hand, to phoot his fellow-men, cut off the years and tails of sheep and cattle, &c., yet Mr Gladstone stands between two fires when trying to put an end to the disturbance, and daring the present debates he in blamed by some for not putting a forcible end to that state of things, while others, and the Qwladgarwr to boot, though far from justifying the doings of the agitators, hold that justice will not be done by punishing the innocent with the gfuilty. Much fuss was made by the Tories a short time ago, because one or two enthusiastic Welshmen used somewhat strong terms to denounce the con- duct of the then Premier, Earl Beaconsfield, but they have passed in silence over the language used by a Scotch Magistrate in reference to the present great leader of the country. Y Genedl has a note on the subject, entitled Scotch Wit." It says some correspondence has been going on between the Lord Chancellor and Mr Stafford Blair, a Scotch magistrate, with respect to a report that the latter had said he would like to see the Prime Minister poisoned. The magistrate in reply to an official inquil Y Bent to him, said he never used the word poisoning, but added that he did SHY he would like to see Mr Glad-tone take a sufficient dose of strychnine to give him a little pain in his stomach. And better than all," remarks the Genedl, Mr iblair contended that that was a joke. It is said that the Scotch as a nation have been endowed with but a small measure of wit, and the unnatural attempt of Mr Blair proves that to be true. We do not know whether Mr Blair ever before attempted to crack, a joke. We suppose not, or we should have heard < f him before. But granting this was the first joke that ever fell from his lips, it is evi- dent to everyone of common sense that he ought to stop at that It is possible, as the Lord Chancellor is satisfied with the explanation,that Mr Blair may ye' be a magistrate as long as he lives, if he can only forget that he is a witty man. of iIII -z" 4 4
ALARMING FIRE AT PONTYPRIDD.…
ALARMING FIRE AT PONTYPRIDD. l:< •••• V. £ 4,000 DAMAGES. Shortly after three o'clock, on Sunday morning last, the inhabitants of Market Square and Tatr. street were awakened from their slumbers by the dreadful cry of Fire When Harris, the LJan- trissant postman, was going from the post-office, at the time stated above, he saw the premises of Mr Daniel Williams, draper. all in a blaze. He gave the alarm, and several of the neighbours were on the spot in a few minutes. Mr Superintendent Matthews, Sergeants Jones, Pickwick and Jenkins soon arrived with the hose and reel. But, unfortunately, owing to the frost, the hydrants were frozen, and a long time elapsed before water oould be procured. The plug in Market Square was too small for the hose to ba fixed on it. and when they 'camEJ]tq'the plug in Taff-street that was frozen. The next difficulty was to get warm water to pour on it, which was procured at last at Mrs Evans, the iron- monger, Daring this time the fire had its sway, and every effort to put it out proved fruitless. Had it not been for the presence of mind of Mr J. E. Noakes, Star Theatre, no doubt the premises ad. joining, that of Mr William Williams, another dra- pery^ establishment, would have been destroyed. Mr Xo;,kesprooui ed a ladder and went on the roof of Mr W. Williams'shop. The fire engine ladders were placed r sainst the adjacent buildings, and Mr Noaks mour < d, with a hatchet in his baud, to the roof of Mr lliams' shop, followed by P.C. Price, Sergeants J :Jns and Pickwick, and Commenced, in the dense BL: .e ai.d intense heat to sever the con. nection jetv n the adjoining premises by cutting the rafters uh hatchets. The roof tacing the lower street fell in, and the iron safe, in which were the account books and cash box, rolled from the fire un- injured into the-lower street. The safe, was kept in the back^>art of tho upper shop, and in its fall th^^H^Ued from the accumulated mass on the Abundance of water was pdttreo^l^ie building, and on the adjoining shops, 81^gjjMjwpines wore prevented from spreading. Shol^Wfer the firont premises gave way,walls and all, with a tremendous crash. Most of the wall facing the lower street was left standing, but in a dilapidated condition. The debris continued to emit dense clouds of smoke throughout Sunday. The force of the flames may be imagined when it is stated, that the paint on the doors and shutters of the shop of Messrs. Jone8. & Co., thirty yards away, were blistered. Among those who rendered valuable aid to the police were Mr Delaney, Mr Lougher, Mr Richard Rogers, Mr Jones (draper), Mr T. Evans (draper), Mr John Morris Jones, Mr Richard Evans (ironmonger), Mr Key (chemist), Mr Robt. Smyth, Mr Miller, Messsr. John & Thos. Forrest; Mrs Delaney, Mrs .Lougher and Mra John, who wete diligent in carrying boiling water for the hydrants. The origin of the fire is un- known. None of the family reside on the pre- mises, but in a private house opposite on the lower street. The proprietor was the last to leave the premises on Saturday night, and he did so in the da.rk, after turning off the gas at the meter. The loss, which is estimated at YA,000 is partially covered by insurance in the Alliance Insurance Society. About twelve months ago the premises were purchased by Mr Daniel Williams from the trustees of the late Rev. Thomas Evans, Calvin- istic Methodist minister.
,AN EXPENSIVE "SPREE" AT YSTRAD.
AN EXPENSIVE "SPREE" AT YSTRAD. At the Pentre police-court on Monday, before Mr G. Williams, Stipendiary, Llewelyn Phillips, Glyn Coli Farm, appeared in answer to two charges, for assaulting Thomas Davies, landlord of the Windsor Hotel, Ton Ystrad, and for maliciously breaking a number of quarts, pints and glasses, the property of the prosecutor. Mr T. Phillips, Aberdare, re- presented defendant. Thomas Davies, landlord of the Windsor Hotel, stated that defendant came to his bouse between 8 and 9 o'elook on Saturday night, 15th inst., to try to sell him some hay. Saturday night being u very busy night with him, he said he would see him on the following Monday about it. His attention was next drawn to an altercation between defen- dant and two others in the room, Evan Jones and Samuel Morgan. He (witness) had previous to this supplied defendant with a glass of beer and two of rum. He had not paid for the rum. Defendant was running down the Cardies and saying that every Oardi ought to ba in the Penygraig pit. Defendant next shoved Howells against Jones and Jones, thinking no doubt that Howells had come against him purposely, struck Samuel Howells a blow in the eye. Witness then told defendant that he must go out. He refused, and said that no man in the room could., turn him oat. He then in the scuffle got against the counter, and witness's wife caught hold of his collar. Defendant then turned round and-attempted to strike her. Witness then turned defendant out of the house. After he was turned out he kept making a noise, and wanted defendant to come out and fight him for 25 in a field close by. When cross-examined by Mr. T. Phillips as to whether the last glass of rum bad not been "tossed" for, witness said there was no tossing going on. Elizabeth Davies, landlandy of the Windsor Hotel, corroborated her husband's testimony. Charles Davies, who had also been assaulted by defendant, said, that he went'to try and stop the quarrel between Evan Morgan and Samuel Jones, when defendant asked him what was his business to interfere, at the same time striking him a severe blow in the taco causing him to fall, hurting his arm by striking it. against something. ° Cross-oxamined Did not see theglasses broken he had euough, to do to look after himself (laughter.) Saw Dftvies carry defendant bodily out of the house, but be came back again like a lion, A number of other witnesses were called and gave similar evidence. For the defence it was stated that Davies bad assaulted defendant by turning him out. Defen- dant denied attempting to strike Mrs Davies. Had only told her if she would take hold of him by the collar again he would surely strike her. Davies at this juncture rushed into the bar from another room and caught hold of Phillips by tho neck, and struck him in the face, and continued to do so until he was out of the house. A number of witness were caHed on both sides. The Stipendiary dismissed the cross-summons for assault by Phillips against Davies. He was inclined to be of opinion that Phillips had had his injuries after leaving Davies* house, and that accounted for the marks oil defendant's face. Defendant was fined 10s. and costs for each offence, amounting in all to £5 4s. 6d.
THE WEATHER AND THE CROPS.…
THE WEATHER AND THE CROPS. The Mark-lane Express of Monday says :-The severity of the weather has brought out-door agricultural operations almost to a standstill. The young crops being protected by the snow are benefitted by the check to their growth, and would prolJably be strengthened by: remain- ing on the ground for a fornight. Difficulties of transit have restricted threshing operations and reduced the bulk of farmers' deliveries during the week. The dry weather previous to the snowfall has induced farmers to thrash some of their wheat, and the condition of recently delivered samples shows an improvement. Prices for breadstuffs arejnominally without change through- out the country. All decent samples of home- grown barley are hardening in value. Oats are about Is dearer since Monday. Beans and peas without change.
PONTYPRIDD URBAN SANITARY…
PONTYPRIDD URBAN SANITARY AUTHORITY, -À. On Friday the usual monthly meeting of the above board was held, under the presidency of Mr Charles Basset. A month ago the Rev D. W. Williams, Fairfield, informed the board that he could not attend the Board at the late hour it wag held at present. Mr D. Leyshon now gave notice that at the next meeting he would propose that the meetings of the Board be in future held at 9.30 an Tuesday morn- ings. A memerial was received by the Board from the inhabitants of Gorpbwysfa Slopes (Typicca), soliciting additional gas lamps. Tl-e matter was re- ferred to the lighting committee. Mr Harry Llewelyn Grower was appointed re- turning officer at trie- ensuing election of four members. It was intimated by the clerk that the Ystrady- todwg Board of Health had written to say that they did not require another interview with Mr Lomax, who had prepared a sewage scheme for the two boards. Mr. Moses Cule agreed with the board. The Clerk stated that Mr Lomax had intimated he was prepared to attend whenever they pleased. The matter then dropped. ■rtr "I"iot.1J'fIr'-v:' ¡' r: V** "5*fT = <
THE PENYGRAIG EXPLOSION.
THE PENYGRAIG EXPLOSION. CONCLUSION OF THE INQUEST. THE VERDICT. CENSURE ON THE MANAGEB. The inquest on the bodies of the colliers who were killed in the recent explosion at the Naval Collieries, Penygraig, Rhondda Valley, was resumed and con. cluded on the 21st Inst., at the Butchers' Arms Inn, Penygraig, before Mr George Overton and Mr E. B. Reece, as Coroners. Mr Simons, of Merthyr, ap- peared on behalf of the proprietors of the colliery, and Mr W. Abraham represented the Rhondda dis- trict of miners. Mr Hall, Inspector of Mines for Lancashire and I North Wales, was first called as a witness. He said he arrived on Sunday following the explosion. He went below on two occasions into the pit, and made himself acquainted with the workings. In his opi- nion the explosion originated between Turberville's heading and the lamp cabin. There were large falls about this point, and he thought these falls must have—as such things had been known to do in pre- vious instances—released a quantity of firedamp. The ignition took place in his (witness's) opinion, from a shot fired near Turberville's heading, or a naked light in the lamp cabin. He thought that blasting operations, under the conditions in which they took place in this colliery, were unwise and dangerous. He also thought that the explosion showed a Want ef knowledge on the part of the manager of the colliery of the precautions necessary in working dangerous mines. He recommended the substitution of the Museler lamp for the Clanny? lamp at present in use at the colliery. i In answer to Mr Howell Davies (a juror) witness stated that canvas doors would be less likely to get out of repair than wooden doors from any crush that might take place, Examined by Mr Overton: Witness thought wooden doors should have been used to supply the air to Turberville's heading. By Mr Simons: Some powder and dynamite was found near the lamp station. Sometimes flames- passed over powder without igniting it. If the ex- plosion originated in the lamp station he shonld have expeeted to find traces there of fire. By Mr Abraham: The powder and dynamite found where the rippers were at work were not more than the regulation quantity. This being the last witness, Mr Overton invited any of the men in the room-there being a large number present—to give evidence, and there being no response, Mr Overton proceeded to sum up the facts of the case to the jury. He said they had come to the con. clusion that no benefit could be derived from pro- tracting the inquiry any further: -The inquiry had not been as satisfactory as they could wish, but they hoped that the jury would be able. aided by their practical knowledge, to give a proper verdict upon this complicated matter. Mr Overton then pruceeded to detail the explosion and its results, all have been already published on more than one oc- casion. He spoke of the violence nt the explosion, and of the fact as spoken to by Mr Wales, that while in some cases 80 per cent. of the men in the pit died from su (location, here the per centage was very low. The falls, too, were numerous and large, which further bore out the fact. The night shift of 106 men were at work at the time, and ot these only five were. rescued alive, bat all had now been taken out on different occasions and from positions they were knowu to have worked in, at various times since the occurrence. There were two theories of the cause of the explosion, one put forth by the pro- prietors—that a shot had been fired in Turberville's heading, and the other by Mr Wales, that a fall took place, which dislodged a quantity of gas, which place, which dislodged a quantity of gas, which being sent forth with great Velocity, caught fire in the heading. Mr Overton read several rules of the colliery, commenting particularly on the 169th rule that the manager ot the colliery s ould, at intervals" of not more than a month, asoertain what quantity air passed through the main airways, and enter the same in the daily report book. That had not been done in this colliery, except in one instance in Sep- tember, when the quantity of air passing throngh the main airways was reported to be 39,000 feet. There were other respects in which the rules di, I not seem to be stricMy obeyed, aud it was for them to consider whether this laxity bad contributed to the calamity. Very little gas and few and slight falls j bad been reported in the colliery during the pre- ceeiii g four months. He did not think a shot had j been fired, as had been suggested, in Turberville's heading, as it woutd be too reckless an act al together to be attributed to a man. He next read extracts from the evidence of the scientific witnesses, and afterwards, commenting on the whole cass, said there were points they had to consider with respect to the colliery—its management, discipline, aud ven- tilatior. He reminded tfiem that they were not bound, like a eriminal jury, to be unanimous. to the colliery-its management, discipline, and ven- tilatior. He reminded tfiem that they were not bound, like a eriminal jury, to be unanimous. Twelve of them, however, were required to be of the samfe opinion. They had to consider whether such negligence had been exercised as had contri- buted to the explosion, or whether the explosion was an accident. The law laid down was that if a person took an engagement in which h s ignorance or negglience caused the death of another he was guilty of manslaughter, but there were such things as accidental slips," which did not make a man liable in the same way. Having further direct I the jury as to their duty in the matter, Mr Reece also addressed the jury, agreeing with Mr Overton that there had been a breach of tke re- gulations in the monthly report of the air not hav- ing been made, and in other ways, particularly in the fact that a "shotm-m" was not appointed in the colliery. Before a verdict of manslaughter could be returned they must be satisfied that a par- ticular rule had been violated, a particular regula- tion negleoted, or some piece of gross ignoranco displayed. There could be no doubt that the lamp station was in a wrong place. He, in oouclusion, called attention to Mr Galloway's theory on coal- dust, which, it was supposed, supplied fuel for tho fire, and ho wished to call the attention of manage: s ofcollieries to this fact. The jury then considered theiv verdict in private. On the public being again admitted after the jury bad deliberated for three hours, the following was handed to the Coroner as the verdict of thejnry:— We, the undersigned, have unanimously come to the conclusion that this great catastrophe took place at or near Tnberville heading, and was caused by a fall in that immediate viciuity, thereby releasing a quantity of gas confined above, which becoming mixed with the necessary quantity of atmospheric air to make it explosive, caused a great velocity of tho mixture, and coming in contact with a lump, became ignited by blowing the flame through the gauze, and decide that it was accidental. We also strongly censure the manager (Mr Moses Rowlands) for not complying with the speeial rules as follows: —1st. Not recording ventilation, as per Rule 29 2nd. The loose manner of not recording the giviag of lamp keys, as per Rule Noi 224; 3rd. Not pro- viding barometer and thermometer, as per No. 26 general rule, and we believe that he was guilty of an error in judgment in erecting the lamp station in the return airway. The inquiry then terminated.
h THE PENYGRAIG DISASTER.
h THE PENYGRAIG DISASTER. PARLIAMENTARY NOTICES BY MR. MACDONALD, M.P. Mr. Alexander Macdonald, M.P., has given notice of the following questions in the House of Commons For Tuesday, the 25th inst. :—" To ask the Sec- retary of State for the Home Department if he will cause to bo printed and laid upon tho table of the Houso the report of the commission sent by the Government to watch over, aud the evidence taken before the Coroner at, the inquest as to the death of the 101 persons who lost their lives by the Peny- graig explosion." For Thursday, the 27th inst. To ask the Sec. retary of State for the Home Department if he will direct a prosecution against Moses Rowlands, the acting manager of the Penygraig Colilery prior to the explosion, under the 60th and 61st clauses of the Mines Regulation Act. for having, by a flagrant neg'ect of the rules, endangered the lives of the workmen there employed." Further, whether, considering the evidence tendered before the coroner's inquest, and the strong consare- by the jury in respect to the con- duct of Moses Rowlands when acting as managerjof tne Penygraig Colliery, he will direct an inquiry into his competency to hold a certificate under the provisions of the Mines Inspection Act." In accordance with these notices, Mr Macdonald on Tuesday formally asked the first of these ques- tions. Sir W. Harcourt, in reply, said These papers have not yet reached the Home Office, but when they do so they shall be printed.
THE IrilSH STATE TRIALS.
THE IrilSH STATE TRIALS. CONCLUSION BUT NO RESULT. The prosecution of traversers at Dublin was con- cluded on Tuesday, when the jury failed to agree. This is just what was expected.
CONDITION OF IRELAND. ,-
CONDITION OF IRELAND. Several landlords in Claremorris district have re- fused to pay any income-tax, alleging that as they have received no rents they are not liable for the taxee. Denis Murphy, a farmer, has been committed for trial at Kilmallock charged with having forcibly en- tered and retained possession of a farm over which William Uniacke Townsend is agent. A resolution has been passed by the Kildysart Land League, calling upon the members not to elect persons as poor-law guardians who were not staunch supporters of the league. A radical change will be effected at the next election if this resolve be adhered to. James M'Namara, Lenninila, has been expelled from the Linycasy Land League for having, m op- position to the resolution of the league, taken posses- sion of a farm which was surrendered six months ago by a farmer named Clancy, on accountlof exorbitant rent. M'Nama.ra haa applied for poMe* protection. Some extensive flax llliI:¡.¡ situate at Ortobracka. near Portadown, were destoyed by fire, supposed to be the work of incendiaries. The property be- longed to Sir Francis M'Naughton, and the mills were worked by- large farmer named Robinson. They were not insured. A number of the tenantty on the estate of Sir Francis have not paid their rents. A letter has been received by Captain Pirn North, a magistrate residing near Moate, threatening him with death if he did not immediately discharge from his employment a servant whom he had engaged a mo nth,jtrairiotii8.Captain North, in. giving infor- mation to the police, expressed his readiness to keep the servant, but the latter refused to stay, and left. The Rome correspondent of the Pall Afall Gazette lays Monsignor Masotti, the secretary to the Propaganda Fide, has written, by express desire-of the jjfop^.to the. Archbishop of Dublin, regretting that, contrary to the instructions given, the Pope's letter to the Archbishop was not published imme- diately all over Ireland, and requesting that there ihould be no longer delay in doing so. A few nights since an armed party attacked the house of a man named Regan, near Moate, Tullam>>re. They were disguised, and had blackened faces. Shots were fired in the yard, and Regan waa threatened that if he did not hold his prate they would do for him." The only cause assigned for tha Outrage; is sympathy expressed by Regan for a man who was some weeks since Boycotted in the locality. A process-server named Henderson, from Holly. mount, who attended the Claremorris quarter session* could not get anyone in the town to give him a bed for the night, and he had to return to Hollymuunt guarded by four policemen. A large crowd followed and hooted them on their way out of town. Henderson had been serving processes at Clareen, where an affray took place between the police and people, which re- sulted in the death of a man named Quinn and the wounding of several others. With the view of commemorating the expedition of Ulstermen who relieved Captain Boycott when isolated lately at Lough Mask, a silver medal has been struck. Each person who took pait in the expedition will be presented with one, his name being engraved thereon. Lord Enniskillen, Grand Master of Orangemen, has ordered one for the British Museum to be engraved with the names of Mr. Wil- liam Manning, who, as "Combination," originated the expedition, and obtained the necessary funds, Captain Somerset H. Maxwell, and Mr. Moiris Goddard, who accomoanied him to Lough Mask. The treasurer of the Charleviile Land League has been committed for trial on a charge of intimidating a farmer named Cagney. Bail was accepted.—At the Ballyhounis petty sessions, Daniel O'Connor, of Irishtown, was brought up on the prosecution of the Crown, on a charge of inciting the public at a meeting at Logby to forcibly enter and dis- possess the holders of certain farms near Irishtown. The evidence against the accused being insufficient, he was discliarged.-Fonr men have been charged at Killagan petty sessions with having shot at and wounded a gamekeeper on the Corkey mountains. The case was dismissed. An Orange and Conservative reunion has been held at Lurgan, at which resolutions were passed amid much ent)-usiasm, expressing abhorrezce of tha murders, the maiming of cattle, the intimidation of traders, and other crimes, which have been and ara being committed in the south and west of Ireland. Another resolution declared that Orangemen were and never had been, antagonistic to a fair and j :.st settlement of the land question, :tii-I that they desired such an Act to be passed by Pari anient as, wiiiltj doing justice to the tenants, should do no injustice to the landlords. The disloyal,seditious,and commit: istic teaching of the Land League was strongly Ieiioiii.ceil. It is believed at Chatham that the Channel squdl- rep,which is now at Vigo, will shortly receive orders to cruise off the coast of Ireland. It is a'jo mentioned that certain of the gun vecsels at Chat- ham will be prepared for service off the Irish Qoa, t, to 1 e employed in conjunction with any military ope- rations r-equiired tQ be undertaken. The reliefs of the Royal Marines to be sent to Ireland to j. ,ia 1 lit) battalion will be selected fr, in the Chatham ai.d other divisions. The Standard undents .is that one of the results of tne confer nee betwteu the officers commanding the naval and military forces in Ireland is a request that a large number of steam launches and pinnaces may be sent over f(,r the purpose of watching the coast and for the ?peeay traiisport of small detachmenti of police and troupe to places where their services may be required. Lord O'Neill has received a threatening letter, and has consequently turned off all his farm servants, to the number of 300.—A man named Moran, a set,- vant of the Catholic clergyman in Westport, received an anonymous letter threatening him with death, and alleging as a reason that he had joined the Land League. He has placed the document, in the hands of the police.—Mr. Edbrook, a g-f'llt!c} man in the employment of Lord Sligo, has heu subjected to a great deal of annoyance recently. Soum time since all his servants received threatening letters, and they left his employment in consequence. Tue local Land League repudiated any connection with the letters, and supplied Mr. Edbrook with a staff of servants. These have also received anonymous notices threatening them with death unless t ey leave their employment. This, however, they have refused to do, ana have armed themselves with I. vers in anticipation of an attack. A Land League meeting was announced to be held adjacent to Ballymacnab, county Armagh, and, notwithstanding the very wintry character of the day, about 1,500 people assembled round a spacious and substantial plattorm. Mr. Millar, R.M., aG- companied by a strong force of constabulary, under Sub-Inspector Bailey, drove up and announced that if the meeting were procee led with it w v l l be suppressed. He then stated that an inforiuat.oa had been sworn to him to the effect that a counter demonstration was going to be h Id near the where they were then assembled, und that the maÓ strates had determined to suppress the meeting nt all hazards. The information had been only swmn at three o'clock on the previous day. It was some« has hard that they should be brought there and not allowed to hold the meeting, but he considered it should be suppressed. He also intended to prohibit the counter meeting. A summons has been issued against PatrickSpilda-ie, secretary of the Skibbereen branch of the L.,id League, charging him with having written and st ri, a, letter requiring Mrs. Maria Long, of Aughadown, to surrender her farm.—Daniel Lane, president of the Killumney Land League, has been committed for trial by the Coach ford magistrates on a charge of "inciting divers persons b form an illegal conspiracy to injure one Cornelius Kelleher," who took a farm from which a man name 1 Heuchin had been evicted. The prosecution was h;.sed en a speech delivered by the defendant at a li-nd meeting held in the district on the 26th of December, when he called upon the people not to have any deal- ings with Kelleher and to Boycott landlordism in general. They did not write shorthand, but took a note in ordinary writing. The prisoner was allowed out on heavy bail.—At the Bruff petty sessions Mr. H. O'Connor, the treasurer of the Char- leville Land League, was returned for trial upon a charge of intimidating a farmer, near Ce oom., the circumstances being similar to those in the Coachford case. Bail was accepted.—At Tralee Messrs. Cowley and Grogan, secretaries of the Land League, were prosecuted for posting a notice on the market- place telling the people to Boycott any process- øervpr who served processes. The notice was in the handwriting of Cawley, and the magistrates com- mitted him for trial on bail. Grogan was discharged. —Four men, named James Fenneliy, David Keogh, Edmund Murphy, and Thomas Sherly, have been charged at Stoneyford (co. Kilkenny) petty with attempting to intimidate Edmund Brady from Belling sheep at Bennett s-bridge, and also to prevent John Kelly from buying. The prisoners pleaded guilty, and were tined Is. and costs each.
[No title]
A Parliamentary return was issued on Saturday jiving the number of prosecutions in Englanf and Wales from January 3, 1875j to January l,f 11879, under the Vaccination Act of 1867. The return shewa those who have neglected to procure the vaccination of a child, and those who have diseb yed the ordei of a justice to vaccinate a'so how often prosecutions with regard to the same child were repeated. Tht return covers 137 pages, giving the names in each case. There is no summary, but it appears that out of an enormous number of prosecutions imprisonment was only resorted to in something less than 50 cases. We (United Service Gazette) learn that the proposal to send a troop of Horse Artillery for service in the Transvaal has been abandoned on the ground of ex. pense. Just after the commencement of the harlequinade in the Park Theatre, Camden Town, London, a loud noise was heard, and a considerable quantity of ceiling came smashing into the dress-circle and the pit. Two gentlemen were struck by large piec" of mortar and wood, one receiving a blow on the right shoulder, and the other's right hand being severely bruised. The audience in great alarm made It rnsii for the doors, and the performance came -to a -.at,, 1, 1 htill. Happily, at this critical moment, it was ol*rjb; n i that it was only a portion of the ciiilbig wliicll comedown, and comparative quietude beihg re; t i. the performance duly proceeded. [ fCilt io K S&B nocjt -J* HipttiA- z/ 'Tr-trr*. ->ww inzni /.o