The North Wales Times

_c_ \v~ ■. m > TA li ■ -L> DRAPER, ( iv ,:orm the public generaJi all ASStJ LVIENT <> .vhV GOubh t, -st design, and of the bt- can procure Ll' t ERIES of every descriptio -notice. I2.id.ita.Breeches < H.W. being A pr.. Tailor and Cutter (holder (11., su-d having a of experienc men fit and style is guaranteed, c, ut with MODERATE Charges. A TRIAL ORDER RE>PL TtUI L\ SOLICITED. 1- 3 WILLIAMS. Denbigh, Begs to announce that all Departments in in Establishments have just been replenished with a large Assortment of ik 'v NEW GOODS, Bought for Ca-h, And will be offered at most advantageous prices T. J. WILLIAMS assures his Customers that this is a grand opportunity to secure all classes of the Newest Goods at extraordinary low prices. A Grand Display Is now made of NEW GOODS suitable for Christmas Presents AND New Years Gifts. AN EARLY CALL IS SOLICITED. 0 34, HIGH STREET & TEMPLE BAR, DENBIGH. f~* Q Q Balm o Gilead fu (j I r\Vjl O GEORGE'S PILLS i mi." "They are more than Gold to me—they saved my life." One wonders that things so small should produce such mighty results." PILE & GRAVEL Many of my customers have been cured who have suffered for twenty years." The three forms of this Remedy:— No, 1.—George's Pile and Gravel Pills j J II | O No. 2.- George's Gravel Pills p | L,, L f). 3.-George's Pills for the Piles. In Boxes, Is. lid. and 2s. 9d. post, Is. 3d. and 3s. Proprietor :-J. E. GEORGE, M.R.P,S., Hirwain, Glam. N. Splendid Value in New Season's Teas. XjKV is. TEA *0/ N. IS INStlRPASSABLE TOE \(y/ STRENGTH AND X O/ —— FLAVOR. „ Is. Sd. *0 28. TELJ3L TEA IS A SPLENDID \/ESTABLISHMENT wn,L COMPARE WITH FAMILY TEA, L^TAND/L ANY TEA AND /VBACON. INTHB STANDS UNITED Unrivalled. AY28' \*V\KINGDOM. /<bx tea \*x\ — /PURE & FRAGRANT, \^l AO/ AND IS OF N. The Finest Growth, "ETmxIs^ CHESTER, r t>ivt ARYON, k Illustrated V Catalogues 1 y *v sent post free on application. 10s. per month s. ditto. CASH. periodically. v. Chester. < (Welsh) HUNDRED Im and other Articlee i 8vo. volumes, pries Us. Od.; ditto, extra,

CAMBRIAN GO I P. s a London paper of the Chester Cil soras Eist",idvod: 'l'bt" iruid of %tale, VIas present, ai d the test piece for 11fe ch■ ef choral contest ,as -it,otie im to de, Poor old Hw'a! o o o Judging the number of t'nres it has been reprinted, tbe most popular Welsh book is Canwyil y Gymry, bj Rhys Pritch- ard, which has been reprinted almost as DOh ny tim6S as the W Ish Bible oo o Welsh antiquaries will note with pleasure that a copy of Churchyard'- Worthies of Wales, black letter, Lo don, 1587, has been secured for the Welsh section of the Cardiff Library It is an extremely rare book 000 Steps are being taken by the Anti Ri- tualistic Society to send a commissioner tnrough Wales early in the new year to collect statistics as to the Ritualistic cere monies and practices in use in the Princi pality. The inquiry will be conducted with as much secrecy as possible. 000 Welshmen will have really to look to their laurels At the Liverpool Christmas Eis teddvod the 'chair was withheld for lack of merit in the three compositions received, and-unkindest cut of all in the chief choral contest the Welsh singers were beat- en by a choir of Lancas rians 000 A wily defendant, charged at the Moun tain Ash Police Court with using bad lan- guage, set up the novel plea that he was not swearing at all-he was only trying to learn Welsh Unhappily f ir him, his swear words were in English, and he was called upon to pay the fine, or take the 4 option' 000 The programme of the concert given at Windsor Castle last February by the Rhon dda Glee Society, of which a copy has been presented to the Cardiff Library by Mr. W. A. Morgan, is a sumptuous piece of local printing, adorned with several illustrations of local scenery, portraits, historic buildings, and industries. The programme has now been bound to secure its preservation. ooo The Catholic Directory for 1899 does not shed much light upon the question whether Roman Catholicism is making any progressor not in Wales. The returns for the Diocese of Menevia (Wales) give the number of priests as 58 (20 secular, 37 regular, including 19 in Jesuit College, and one on sick leave), the number of public churches, chapels, and stations as 37, and other chapels of commu- nities 5. There seems to be no estimate of the number of adherents. 000 A piece of literary information-which will doubtless be welcomed with special gratifi cation in Wales, is that the Queen of Rou mania has completed a poetic romance, the central figure of which is Owen Glyndwr, and its scenes are located entirely in the Principality. The story is said to have a graceful touch of local colour, and to re- veal in a most interesting manner how closely'Carmen Sylva; has studied Welsh characteristics. It is to be dedicated to certain of her friends in the Principality. ooo The Vicar of Portmadoc (says the Goleuad) —and, by the way, the said vicar is the Rev. Llewellyn Hughes, a brother of Pro- fessor Alfred Hughes, late of the Cardiff University College-has been presiding over a literary meeting in a Methodist chapel, and the Church papers create as much fuss over the incident as if the Bishop of St. Asaph had been preaching at a morning service in a Welsh Methodist 'sassiwn.' Why should incidents of this description be so rare among us ? Why should not the newly-elected Moderator of the North Wales Association be invited to the conse- cration service of the Bishop of Bangor, and why should not that bishop in his tura look in at a Methodist Cymmanfa ? Talk of unity and brotherly love! Almost at the begin- ning of the twentieth century in enlightened Wales, the papers announce with astonish- ment that a vicar has ventured into a Methodist chapel, as if he had ventured into a powder magazine during a storm of light- ning. 000 The Prince Llewelyn National Memorial Fund has just been closed. The movement, which has been before the country for over three years, has not met with the support which its promoters anticipated. What form the memorial is to take will be made known when the committee meets, as early as possible in the new year, after the re- turn of the Rev. J. Gwynoro Davies, J.P., of Barmouth, the secretary of the move- ment, from his trip in the east. The gene ral voice of the subscribers will-determine the form of the memorial. Some donors have already expressed a wish that the first effort should be to rear a tombstone over the burial place of the Prince among the ruins of Abbey Cwm-Hir; others as strongly desire a monument to be erected as near as possible to the place were Lle- welyn was killed whilst a third section wishes to see the memory of Ein Llyw Olaf 1 honoured in his native Gwynedd (North Wales). Who says Denbigh, where he beld bis last parliament 1 000 The Cambrian Railways Company, under the %ble management of Mr. C. S. Denniss, are establishing a record among the most go ahead and enterprising concerns in the kingdom. The latest demonstration of this fact is the adoption by the company of the thousand-mile' ticket system which is so popular in the States. Beginning with the New Year, the Cambrian Company pro poses to issue 1,000 and 500 mile tickets at a charge of £5 5s. and £2 17s. 6d. respec- tively. The tickets will be issued in the form of a book of coupons, each coupon re- presenting a mile, and these have to be exchanged at the booking office at the start ing station for a single or return ticket as required by the passenger. The coupons can also be Imade use of in part payment for through tickets to other companies' lines. Bocks of certificates are also to be issued, authorising the use of the coupon book by the purchaser's familv, guests, or employees. The cost of the tickets, which enable the purchaser to travel first-class, are available for one year from date of issue, works out at about lid. per mile. But why all this bother, why not have a flat rate, and put it as low as possible ? o e o Several Welsh newspapers find their way into the Turkish Empire, and the task of scanning them, lest they contain any trea- sonable references to the Sultan, is entrus- ted to a Wrexham Welshman, who acts as a pilot on the Dardanelles. The Cymro relates that on one occasion two master mariners from Carnarvonshire, on their way to the Black Sea, were detained by stress of weather at Constantinople. Going_ ashore they entered a iposque and followed with interest the movements of the chief men -u_uu -u- UU in the neighbourhood of the 'set fawr,'as they described it Suddenly a strapping I Arab stood up and interrupted teir view, when one of the captains broke out im .1 patiently in his native VVelsh-' Be inae'r b.vgan du yma yn StfyJl reit o'n blaen, deydwch ?' (Say, why does this black scare crow stand up in front of u like this?) Judge of their surpri e "hen the 'Arab' tu-ned round suddenly ana retorted in Welsh—' Oes dim cwilidd a,rnochi gymeryd eu'\ Duw'n ofer mewn lie o addoiiad V (Are you not ashamed of taking God's name ill vain in a place of worship ?) Afterwards they found that the Arab was a Welshman from the middle of Montgomeryshire, who bad embraced he religion 'If Mahomet with the zeal of a proselyte. But from that time out the two captains were careful with cheir Welsh in foreign parts.

WOMEN'S CHAT. "J'r-j- The Queen has allowed the Oxford Vulgate to be dedicated to her, and recently receive the first volume, for which she forwarded her best thanks both to the editors, and to the delegates of the Oxford University Press. Her Majesty has also lately received presentation copies of the new revised Bible with references, and of tihe English folio edition of the new revised version. The Queen has always taken a deep interest in everything connected with the Bible, and it was fully shared by the late Prince Consort, who, like his ancestors was an ardent Lutheran. -0,- There is a story which goes to show that Her Majesty's study of the Bible has ever been scholarly as well as deeply devotional. She and the Prince Consort, soon after their mar- riage, were one morning reading a portion of Scripture together, and discussing its meaning, when a point rose in connection with the elifferent rendering of the passage in the En- lish and Lutheran versions. To settle it, the Prince sent a messenger to the British museum to borrow a copy of Luther's Bible. When the official from the museum arrived with the volume, the Prince was very pleased to find that it supported his views. —o— The most ancient Hebrew manuscript of any part of the Bible, is in St. Petersburg, and dates no earlier than the tenth century. More than two thousand copies of the Hebrew Old Testament have been compared and very few variations have been found. This is.accounted for by the fact that from the time when the Hebrew canon was formed, and even before that time, very strict rules werel-tid down for the scribes who copied the Bible. The lines and letters were counted, and each copy had to correspond precisely with the one from which it was taken. -0- Princess Edward of Saxe-Weimar, who has been indisposed for some time, suffering from sciatica and feverish chills, is now better, to the delight of her many friends and acquain- tances among whom she is a great favourite. Her position is a peculiar one. She is the daughter of the late Duke of Richmond, and nearly half a century ago, married Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar. Until 1887 she had no official name being known as the Countess of Dornberg. At the time of the Queen's Jubilee however, Her Majesty permitted the Countess to be styled Princess,' and intimated that she would henceforth be received at Court as Princess Edward. In Germany the Princess would not rank with her husband, and she steadily refuses to go to the Fatherland. — o— Whenever a Prince marries other than a Princess, there is always trouble. Princess Victor Dulep Singh had a sorry time. The Queen though, fully aware of the bare faced slights which she had suffered from those who should have upheld her, has shown her marked favour, ani supported by Royalty as she is, and with her charming manners, she will doubtless make for herself a brilliant position in English society. When the Duke of West- minster's daughter married Prince Adolphus of Teck, much jealousy was excited, and lovely Princess Henry of, Pless 'did not escape alto- gether. —o— The Duchess of Rutland, who with the Duke has left for Cannes, possesses the most wonder- ful jewels, and although she is a very simple dresser, nearly always wearing black, on great I occasions she is a blaze of diamonds. The Rutland crown of diamonds is superb. The Duchess is passionately fond of utusic, and in her time has frequently taken part in charity concerts. As Lord John Manners, the Duke was one of the most notable figures in the Commons, until, on the death of his brother, he entered the House of Lords as the Duke of Rutland. -0- Madame Albani, will, according to present arrangements, sail next month for a concert tour in South Affrica, returning towards the end of the London season. As is well-known, the prima donna is the Queen's favourite voca- list. Those who have heard the great singer will readily understand the reason for the Royal preference. Madame Albani has the rare charm of a sympathetic personality, a fact of which her singing gives evidence. Among the many gifts showered npon her by the Sovereign, Madame Albani regards with par- ticular affection, a photograph of Her Majesty with Prince Edward of York at her knee. Underneath in Queen Victoria's handwriting are the words Victoria and little Edward.' -0- A tour round Madame Albani's drawing rooms, at The Bottoms her beautiful London home, is quite an object lesson in the apprecia- tion of good Binging. Photographs of every member of the Royal Family, together with souveniers of various descriptions, are crowded on every table, and cluster even on the splen- did grand piano, which stands by one of the windows. Musical composers, managers, and critics are all represented with photographs, silver repousse knick-knacks, or gem encrus ted trinkets. The house stands in its own grounds, and has the utmost disregard for the usual limitations of space, which gives to the rooms the pleasant airiness of the country. Madame greatly dislikes change in her sur- roundings, and has allowed the retention of upholstery, which in other homes would pro. bably have been long since chased away by the uneasy advocates of Morris and Liberty. —o— If only young people starting in housekeeping I would be content to furnish their homes by degrees, instead of rushing off, as the majority do, to some large establishment, and choosing the whole of the furniture and fittings in one day, the artistic among us would be spared many a shock. A house must be a growth, if one wishes to create an atmosphere of one's own. And what is true in every other act of life, is tr.ue of selecting a wall paper, or a chair, no act is single, any more than the steps of the stairway are independent of each other. The agreement of the several acts, like the blending )f sounds or colours, is called harmony. Upon atmosphere and harmony depend all the charm of a home-though a house, like a woman, may be entirely comfortable and lack charm. The reason that few fashions in furniture are per- manent, is in the fact that few are artistic-or have any reason for existing. They are accep- ted and followed because they are fashions, and their lack of beauty, or their grotesqueness is overlooked because we become accustomed to them. But there is real beauty and fitness in the character of some things which insure them against ever seeming out of place. —o— Whatever be the mood of Dame Fashion, with regard to outline, the stout woman must I always bear in mind that surface is very im- portant in her case. She must indulge in nothing rough or large grained, but look out/ for the close grained finti surfaces. The stout woman has always to do battle with a ten- (wney to look course. Fine face cloth, cash. mere, crepe de chine, and close soft silks are her safest allies. C rep on was her deadly j enemy. It was on the other hand, the lean woman's best friend. -0- Coats which have very long basques, cut away from the front and hanging down at the back, are being shunned by the best dressed woman The basque arrangement, which is a kind of hesitation between a man's dress coat tails, and a magnified double tab, rarely proved becoming, especially to the 'well-proportioned' and one can only rejoice that so senseless and ugly a mode should so speedily depart into the limbo of dead and gon o fashions. —o— Just now there is quite an epidemic of buckles. They glitter at the waist, both be hind and before. They flash at the tnroafc, and upon the shoes,they assist a muff in its en- deavours to appear a lace cravat, and they are nearly as essential to a hat or toque as is a head. Some of these buckles are of great beauty and add considerably to the appearance of a toilette. Those of my readers who possess treasures of this description should forthwith unearth the same and exhibit them to the best advantage. T" «

REVIEW OF BOOKS. ,r.J- HorticulturalThe 84th annual Garden Seed Guide, printed and published by Messrs. Too. good and Sons, the Royal Seedmen, of South- ampton, has just reached us, and proves to be a useful and very beautiful handbook to the flowers and vegetables that can be grown from seeds. A special feature of the work is the remarkable number—some hundreds in all-of accurate and artistic illustrations reproduced to scale from actual photographs, and thus fur- nishing a very useful aid to the selection of varieties. An interesting prefatory history of this eminent business house is given this year; and we remark that the Messrs. Toogood, who claim to be the largest seedgrowers in the South and West of England, attribute the un- broken career of prosperity enjoyed by the firm since its foundation, nearly a century ago, to the business principles of personally supervis- ing every detail, and of selling produce at the lowest prices consistent with the production of nothing but the very best seeds that can be en. sured by human foresight, all new, most care- fully re-selected, and of guaranteed germina- ting power. The account of the work of special departments, such as the experimental depart- ment, seed control offices, experimental farms, literary division, etc., are specially interesting as showing the vast scope covered by the operations of this eminent house. We notice an excellent full page illustration of a well- known exhibitor at horticultural shows sitting surrounded by costly trophies won with the produce of Toogood's seeds; and a great number of letters are interesting from customers whose prizes, secured with the Messrs. Toogood's strains, vary in number from 100 to 5,000. No less than six pages of matter are devoted to the firm's introductions for 1899. Amongst the most interesting of these are Toogood's Chame leon Nasturtium, which has every shade and marking of dower growing on the same plant, and Toogood's Begonia Hybrida Cristata, a beautiful aiad very interesting novelty, which may be aptly described as a bearded Begonia. Messrs. Toogood and Sons claim their prices to be fully 50 per cent. lower than those of any other house of repute. To take a specific illus- tration we find all Sweet Peas, including such rare and dehghtful novelties as the new dwarf pink Cupid variety, ottered at Sd. per packet, instead of at from 6d. to Is. 6d. About a year since, Toodgood's Culture of Vegetables was published at the cost of printing, and the enor- mous sale of upwards of ten thousand copies testified to the need of such a book. Gardeners will now be interested to learn from page 79 that two further horticultural books have ap- peared lately, each of which is sold at produc- tion cost. In conclusion, we may add that thia really beautiful and ornate guide will be posted freely to every intending purchaser.

How curious it is to talk of doctors paying visits. Everyone knows that the visits pay iihe doctor.

THE PEACE' CRUSADE. PROGRESS OF THE MOVEMENT-. By W. T. STEAD. The Crusade prospers bravely. The Duke of Argyll many years ago spoke of the House of Lords as the house-top of the world." That the same phrase may be applied to London the proclamation of this Crusade is a notable example. 'The echoes of the word which has been uttered in favour of an international movement in favour of Peace have gone round the world. It has produced immediate and exeellen! results in the places where, of all others, it was most needful to make its influence felt, viz., ill the Governments of Russia and of England. The great meeting at St. James's Hall and the strong expressions of sympathy from influential leaders of English opinion have done much to encourage the Emperor of Russia in his resolve to persevere in his philanthropic designs. From the first time the Peace Rescript was issued, opinion in iiussia has been divided, very much as it is here. ,Th<; Emperor's initiative was hailed in some quarters with enthusiasm; in others was regarded as L'topian and impracticable. The Jatter party, consisting largely of the old men, the Czar's uncles, the Grand Dukes, and the cynical pessimists who abound in high places, did their best to minimise its significance and to pour cold water upon the t zar's enthusiasm. They declared that he won]c]. iiale Russia a laughing-stock, inasmuch as no one really cared a fig about arresting the growth of armaments, and that England was certain to meet the proposal with the deadliest animosity. The long delay which took place in the despatch of Lord Salisbury's answer to the Rescript, gave the party of reaction a great chance and the preparations for war carried on in England, in view of the Fashoda difficulty, tended in the same direction. The hopes of the party of progress, with the Czar at its head, sank steadily, until at last they were so discouraged as to contemplate getting out of an impossible position by the expedient of reducing the Conference to a mere confabulation of the Ambassadors at St., Petersburg. ft is not difficult to imagine with what joy, therefore, the proclamation of the Crusade in England has been received in Russia. It has been as a sudden outburst of light in a very dark place, and the Russians, who are keen, y sensitive to the movement of opinion on the Conti- nent, note with surprise and delight. that the action of England has already produced a sensible effect upon the Press of Ei.rope. If the English initia- tive is followed throughout the country, no one can predict how far-reaching may be its beneficent results. A very striking instance of the value of public meetings and of popular expressions of opinion wus afforded by Lord Salisbury's despatch to the Russian Government acknowledging the receipt of the Rescript. In the ordinary course, that, despatch would not have been published until the meeting of Parliament. Its publication is a slight, but significant, sign of the goodwill of the Govern- ment to the Crusade but still stronger evidence is afforded by the passage in the despatch in which Lord Salisbury, writing to the Russian Govern- ment, calls the special attention of the Emperor to the public meetings which had been held and the resolutions which had been passed in England in support of his proposal. After such a friendly lead as this from the Prime Minister, it is felt that no true Briton need hang hack from participat- ing' in' the agitation. There m, muehl. .,io reason ruuunKtbat they will hang back. The Christinas holidays are barely over, but already it is evident, that people will manifest their withes and aspirations in this matter with a iiiitililtl;i.v and an earnestness for which previous agitations afford no precedent. Brighton is not exatih ,,e most enthusiastic place in the world, that in which advanced political movements find their most (•■•>ngenial soil, but the report from that precious city of the southern coast shews what may be expected where interest in public questions is much keener. The local magistrate who took in hand the requisition to the Mayor for a town's meeting on the subject obtained at once the signa- tures of the leac'hig men in both political parties, and when their imiues were seen at the head of the requisition, the ^Mermen, members of the Town Council, and the School Board at once appended p their signatures. In the whole town, of all the leading householders to whom application was made, there was not a single refusal. The Mayor, therefore, will od; a town's meeting at an earlv date. Equally good r.amlis are reported from the great cities whose -identity is merged in the metropolis. London, which really consists of a dozen cities the size of Birmingham or Manchester, can only act through its constituencies, and before the week is out what are practically town's meetings will be arranged in several of the largest and most. influential divisions of the metropolis. Throughout the week the task of sowing the seed and spreading the light, in the shape of the dissemination broad- cast throughout the country of 1.000,000 copies of the Crusade broadsheet containing the Czar's Rescript, the manifesto of the Crusade, and a report of the Conference in St. James's Hall, has been energetically carried on. At the headquarters at first considerable misgivings were entertained as to the possibility of distributing 1,000,000 copies of ■o large a broadsheet in such a short space of time The paper alone weighed twenty-seven tons. The task has been accomplished, however, with such celerity and ease that the committee is already considering yvhether the issue of another million copies may not be necessary. To quote even a tithe of the letters which have been received at the offices of the Crusade would fill many columns. Men and women of all parties and of all creeds have vied with one another in expressing their sympathy, and in urging the neces- sity of a truly International movement. The clergy are throwing themselves into the Crusade with an enthusiasm which promises to be contagious. Sup- port, however, does not come alone from the pulpit, and from those whose names are associated with every philanthropic movement. Men like Colonel Rotton and Mr. Ct R. Sims, whom nobody would dream of accusing of being visionaries or senti- mentalists, have not been behind in their expres- sions of approval, the former remarking that no one realises the horrors of war more keenly than those who have practical experience." The Crusade has this week established its journalistic organ in the shape of a penny weekly paper entitled War Jyainst War, the Chronicle of the Crusade. The first number is a curiosity in journalism, and a phenomenon absolutely without, record in the annals of peace propaganda. The middle pages of the paper coritain, besides an original drawing by Mr. Holiday, alle- gorical of the triumph of Peace over War, a collection of autogmphs of eminent men and women, which, for number, variety and interest, has no parallel in the history of British journalism. The first two signatures among the autograph benedictions with which the new organ appears in the interests of peace are these of Lord Wolseley, Commander-in-Chief, and one of our Admirals, Sir Anthony Hoskins. Altogether there are about fifty autographs reproduced in facsimile, a collec- tion which makes the first number of War Against War unique. Besides the chronicles of the Crusade, the new number contains a very important signed article by Mr. Bryce, concerning the bearing of the Anglo-American Alliance on the future of peace. This is supported by signed letters from many of the most famous American statesmen and senators. There is an illustrated character-sketch of the Czar, which will be followed in other numbers by sketches of leading p:oneers in the cause of Peace. Mr. Kipling's Recessional poem, which he published in the Times in 1897, i* republished by permission as the first contribution to the psalter of the Crusade. One hundred thousand copies of the first number will be ready for issue to the trade on, Friday.

He What a wretchedly bad play I wonder the people don't hiss it.' She I Well, they can't very well yawn an hiss at the same time.'