The Welsh Coast Pioneer and Review for North Cambria

Wholesale Objections at Denbigh. Of thirty-six licences in the borough of Den- bigh, the 'licensing magistrates only granted the renewal of s x. The Superintendent of Police p,aiia,te?d out th,a?t the Ion,, pull was the cause of a great d!eail of dru,nl?enin" I ei,s amongst women, an,l that games, suich as dominoes and rings, tended to increase' intemperance among the young men. Objections were then made to a large number of •licences, and after -a. short, consultation the Bench decided to renew only Iix licences uncon- ditionally. The others were objected to on ac- count of the long pull, the games played, and too many back doors, and will be the subject of con- sideration at the adjourned sessions.

Oswestry Magistrates Take Action. The N'icar of Os,,westry, the Ogilve3,, headed a dep,Li'tation of c?,er,,v and m i i-it' s,tens a?zliing for a reduct.'oil ?tlie boroui,,b. c,ence.,? in The -Iavor replie,d that if the 1-lurt,,L-er v-as not materially. red.uc,e,-i they ?%louild, be,fore next licensing s,es?.,ions, serve ilotice,? or tali?.? other step?, a,rd tiiie licensees iv, .ould -ha\? to show strong reasons for retaining the'r licences. They, therefore, requested owners to state their views on the matter before June 1st.

Conven. At these sessions, last week, a deputation at- tended from the Corwen and District Temper- ance Association and presented a memorial pray:ng the Bench to str'nge.ntly use the powers conferred upon them by the new Act with a view to reducing the number of licences in the division, and thus arresting the spread of drunkenness. A petition in the same connect1011 was also read from the Free Church Council, and also one from the clergy and ministers of Corwen. The Chairman (Hon. F. G. Wynn) assured the deputations of the sympathy of the Bench. —o

Rhyl Urban District Council. Small-pox Precautions. Promenade Band. ThelLfght Railway Dispute. "STRICT business" was again the motto of the Rhyl Urban Council on Monday, when they met to administer.town affairs. There was a good, attendance, Mr T'il'by presiding. The Smallpox Question. In the report of the Sanitary Committee it was stated thait plans, of tempmary hospitals for smallpox purposes had been under considera- tion, and, it being the opinion, of the medical officer (Dr. A. Eyton Lloyd) that at least ki,ooo would be required to provide a suitable hospital, apart from. a silte, the clerk had been authorised to communicate with the Local, Government Board generally on the subject for their advice and guidance. Mr F. J. Gamlin, chairman, of the committee, replying to Mr A. L. Clews, said, it was of no use for the Council to continue to play the part of the ostrich burying its head in the Sand, for they could, not stout their eyes to the fact thait smallpox was on the increase: in the country generally. The Medical Officer saH the question came before-the committee in consequence, of a request by the Rural District Council that Rhyl should) joini in a scheme for a hospital for the district. A Case of smallpox had made its appearance at Connah's Quay, and another at Flint, and both cases had been taken to the Port Sanitary Authority's Hospital, at Mostyn, towards w.uch the Rhyl Council were contributors. Should a Case of bubonic plague ox cholera now make its appearance in the Foryd, tne Rhyl Council, though they had been paying their contributions to the Port Sanitary Authority with the view of be ng protected in such a contingency, would have no hospital in which such cases, might be treated. The Mostyn Hospital, was for in- fectious cases which occurred on shipboard, and should not have been used as it had been. The matter had already come to the notice of the Local Government Board, who had since sent an inspector down. Mr A. L. Clews proposed as an amendment that the matter be deferred. This was seconded by Mr Ell's, but after a discussion the amend- ment was defeated, and Dr. Eyton Lloyd's views as to the use to which 'the' port sanitary authority's hospital had been applied, thorough- ly endorsed. Workmen's Dwellin, House Fc*.Ienle Rejected. The Clerk reported1 the receipt of a. letter from the Local Government Board with T'especrt to the application by the Council for sanction to borrow ^1,896 for workmen's dwellings, and ^504 for library purposes. The Board were not satis- fied that it was necessary for the, Council to provide additional houses of the type proposed. There was in the district some need for small coltitaigles,and the Board thought it would be desirable for the Council to reconsider the whole matter. The matter was referred to the General Purposes Committee: Alleged Encroachment in Crescent Road. A MEMORIAL OF PROTEST. The Clerk read a letter from Mr Joseph Lloyd, solicitor, to the effect that he had been asked to present a memorial to the Council on behalf of certain ratepayers with reference to an encroach- ment oni the: road by a building, the property of Mr J. H. Ellis, a member of the Council. He proposed to attend the meeting of the Council for that purpose. The Chairm,an-s.aidi the letter brought them face to face with a posit ion of affairs' to which ,they were not accustomed. He understood the ocmplaint 'was as to an alleged breach of the bye-laws; otherwise, there would be nio appeal to them. The proposal was that they should receive a clepLItat oi-i- and a memorial, and it seemed to him that the most desirable course to adopt, certainly from a business1 point of view, was that the >memor'al should be first of all p,rese;iliti,d to the committee. who had to deal with the matter. All grievances would receive the attention, of the committee, and he was sure the committee would see that justice was done. But it was a matter of impossibility for them to re- ceive deputations as to every alleged encroach- ment or alleged breach of bye laws. He took it ,that the members of the Council a'greed With this view. Mr Joseph Lloyd I think the course which you have proposed is one which will entirely mecii the views of the gentlemen I represent. (Hear, hear.) Promenade Band for the Summer. The Council having considered, offers from. Mr Forsyth, of Folkestone, and Mr Underwood, of Wolverhampton, to provide a municipal band for the next season, accepted the proposal of the former. Mr Underwood, it was stated, had been ten years at Llandudno, and last year he was. at Col wyn, Bay. The offer of Mr Forsyth, which was agreed to, was that the band should comprise ten, performers, with one: vocalist, from June 1 to July 13; fourteen performers, with two vocalist's, from July 14 to September 12 and ten, performers, with one vocalist, from Sep- tember 12 to October 3. The band would not play in the sitreeits, but would play in the fore- noon, afternoon, and evening on the Promenade on wleek-days, -anid on Sunday evenings (sacred music) if required. The subsidy to be paid was to be £100. Rhyl and Prestahn Light Railway. The General Purposes Committee intiirnated that they had received counsel's opinion as' to the agreement between the Council and the Rhyl and Prestatyn Light Railway Company. It was distinctly in favour of the Council's right to recover from the company the payment stipu- lated fhereiin. The clerk was instructed to write to the company's solicitors to ask (withott pre- jud ce) iff the company had any proposal to make to discharge their liabilities to the Council under the agreement. Mr A. Rowlands now stated that he had re- ceived the reply of the solicitors, thousfo it was not what he had expected. After a brief conversation as to whether the lettter should be eonside.red (forth wth or re- ferred sto a committee, the latter cour-e was adopted.

Hotels. RHYL. WHITE LION HOTEL (Family and Commercial). Clubs, LARGE STOCK ROOMS suitable for Auction Sales, and Picnic Parties. ON1*' EVEBYTHING SUPPLIED OJF THE BEST QUALITY POSTING IN ALL ITS BRANCHES- A. HAYTON, Proprietor ries^t]- 6189 (Late of Albion Hotel t ¡ Under New Managemellt The Gwydyr Arms Hotel, DOLWYDDELEN, HOSTB. e. A A FAVOUKITK HAUNT FOR TOURISTS, JI AND CXCLISXS. Ii FISHING. PARTLES Có_TEBED FO r 5876 Mrs. PIARY ROBI RTS, preprietrllll- THE PLOUGH HOTEl* OLD COLWYN. RE-BUILT AND RENOVATED THROUGHOUT. LUNCHEONS, TEAS, DINNERS, &C.r On the shortest notice. EXCELLENT ACCOMMODATION FOR CYCLI?STS Ati-L) 105. FIBST-CLASS SY',IBLI-NG ICCO,11.310D," Be Wines, Spiizits and Cigars Df tl,e 4962 Proprietress Miss WATERLOO tioTEL, BETTWS-Y-COED. OOCUPlES THE FINEST POSITION Billiards. Tennis. Posting. FIstl„g TBA??' EXCELLENT STABLING. OMNIBUS MEETS Mrs. McCULLOCH, Proprietress. ABERGELE. ,wlf Hesketh Arms Hotel, FAMILY AND COMMERCINL' This old-est:blis ,,d SP d ,hed Hotel, free froi-n Brewer ?ias been e ed and rl-de' Merchant I utirely re-f,,Lrnish orate SPECIAL WEFK-END TARIFF 1316' 1316 f After, 1 1 (including Board froixi Saturday, noon to Monday Morning". Omnibus meets all Tra-i I "n-S. 015,, Coffeep Commercial & Private ROO GOOD STOCK & BILLIARD » &c' CARRIAGES.—Open and Closed CARRIAGES dri^i The only Hotel that enjoys the privilege oj through the Gicrych Castle Grounds, the seat Dundonald. etc. Spacious Room for Concerts, Dinners, "a ..f, 4519 C. R. ALLINSON^KGL^ COLWYN BAY J "Rothesay" Private AND SIT. Boarding Establishing*1 WEST Near Station, Pier and Woods. HIGHLY RECOMMr,,I?'DBD. 171cx Sole PrOPrietress ffrs. KIRKP,4 41 TULEGBAMS—" KIRKPATBICK^C^ P LA.s = v = c, 0 fi (HOME-FROM-HOME), Boarding If Establishment. 1' 1\foD¡; LARGE RECREATION ROOMS. TERMS).J MRS. BRACKSTONE, rBJtPs. 604 PROFRtg_ J -t -t LLANRWST Eagle;- Hotel, FAMILY AND COMMKBCl^' Omnibus meets all Tral 1 Priv**g Coffee, Commercial ana ri Rooms, OrJS. STOCK AND BILLIARD EO, 'ro tiot Qfaod Stabling and Leak-up Coach House*" 61 S 36 MISS PARI?r, lr1sflSgereS

Welsh Licensing Sessions. THE following reports will show that magisterial benches all over the country are determined to make a more reasonable propertied in the number of houses and the population. Rhyl. VOLUNTARY SURRENDER OF A GROCER'S LICENCE. 'PROPOSED ENLARGEMENT OE THE QUEENS HOTEL. The annual brewster sessions for the Rhyl division were held on Tuesday in. the Town Hall, before Messrs Sam Perks (inthe chair), W. Elwy WilEams, M. A. Ralli, J. Foulke.s, R. M. Hugh Jones, J. B. Linnell, W. H. Coward, R. C. Eaiyon, and W. Butleock, Poiico Report. Mr Superintendent Jones reported that there were 50 licensed houses in the division, insclud- ing 34 fully-licensed houses, 8 beier-houses, and 8 off-beerhouses and grocers' licenses. The population was 8,473, giving one licensed house to eve!r-?- i 169 of ?th;e inhabitants. Of the 50 houses 36 had seven dayiV licences, and I4 had six days' licenses. TwenltY-lsix were tied to brewers, and twenty-four were free-houses. During the year four licensed-holders had been convicted of offences, and 109 persons had been convicted of drunkenness, being a decrease of four as compared with the previous year. Tcir,peranee Petition. Mr Lewis Jones, solicitor, presented a memorial to the Bench on behalf of the repre- sentatives of the Nonconformist Churches :,n the town, calling attention, to recent legislation, and starting, that in the intereSlts of moraliy and pub- lic safety the number of licences in the town should be considerably reduced. There were many houses that had no hotel accommodation, but were mere drinking shop's, which tended to promote- drunkenness amongst working: me,n. The evils resulting from drunkenness were-, patent to them all, and they wished to co-operate with the magistrates in putting down the evil as much as possible. In days gone* by people obtained licences as a matter of course, and very little attention was paid to the accommodation afforded by those particular houses, which was probably the reason why so many small beer-houses were in existence at the present day. It might, be urged that statistics- would prove anything, but he thought the proportion of one house to every 169 inhabitants was out of all reason. At East- bourne they had 355 inhabitants to one house, at Blackpool 358, at Bouirnemomth 449, and at Col- J wyn Bay the average was over 1,000. The ad- vocate quoted particulars of where the popula- tions had increased, and where the'licences had been reduced to the benefit of the localite's. The recent cases of arsenical poisoning was a revelation to the public of the kind of stuff put iriio beeT to increase the thirst of the consumer, and so increase the sale of drink. The Brewing Interest Mr E. J. Gamlin, who represented the brewing interest, commented upon the petition, which no daubt would be giveil the consideration: it was entitled to. They were all in favour of true temperance, but he doubted very much whether the mode suggested by his friend to promote temperance was a good one. If they reduced the number of licences to one-half, he argued that drunkenness would be -decreased to thait extent. Therefore, if that wa's followed to. its logical sequence, it w'ouil-d mean that if all the l'cences were abolished there would be no drunk- enness at all. (Laughter.) That argument would not hold water for a moment. T'he tendency would be to increase the consumption of liquor. Mem and women, would get drink whether public-houses were in existence or not, and he put it to any sensible person if it would not be better for a man, to get what liquor he re- quired in a publ'fc-house in the presence of the public than go home and booze in the presence of his wife and family. (Laughter, and hear, hear.) It was all very well to quote the normal population of the town the opposition should mention the fact that in summer there was a floating population of between' 25,000 and 30,000 visitors. As far as the old beer-houses of 1869 wer,2 concerned, their worships Would noit be able to touch them. Referring to the arsenic, sicare, the advocate said no beer containing arsenic was sent to Rhyl, d becau??e one brewing firm were four.,d? doing that -,oi-. Of ',him- it w-.t,s not fair that all the bre\??-e,-s c-zhould be h.eld, responsib,e. He had -0 1 ,,I od rews for thle opposi't:on iii this way, that l?,tr ?,. T. Smalley, who for some years had held a wine and spirit licence, had instructed him to say that he would voluntarily surrender his licence, so that at least there would be one grocer's licence the less. (Hear, hear.) A Legil Spoilation. Mr Joseph Lloyd (who appeared for the Rhyl and District Victuallers' Associat on) said the comparison which the temperanlce reformers put before the public as to the population and the number of houses was an absolutely mislead- ing one, because every one knew that. a public- house depended upon the Isuppart of the local public, and the travelling public, and u s friend in his own petition asked where were the houses that had acommodation for man and beast. If they were only supported by the local public the}- did not want accommodation for man and beast, and his petition showed that the houses were supported by the travell'ag public. "For Heavens sake," as Lord Rosebery said—(laugh- ter).—let them drop this nonseuical comparison between the population and the number of houses. Were the rates in Rhyl so low that they could lower the rateable value of the town? Was the income of the country so -igh that they could help to dislocate it? Were they going to put an extra tax upon the struggling tradesman? And why? Because a certain section of the com- mit n'ty had formed the opinion that less drunk- enness would follow the reduction of licences. But that was only an opinion, and had n:vr been proved,—even the Royal -ommiss'on did not accept it as a fact-and for that opinion they were asked to stultify their actions in the past. Drunkenness was- a problem as old- as- the world, aii,l ??-a-? go ng to b,e s,ettled by a petit' 1011. nor was it going to be settled, by taking the money cut of the smaller publicans, and putting it in hands of the larger ones. It wr« not going to be settled by a legal spoliation, because that was what it came to. (Hear, hear.) The te-?,,iil-)erai,,ce ?arty ,?ai'd "this licence was but he would welve months, a tl-,ep?i a? ,i,,aii to ma,-i whether th,e?l' had any 'cl"?a,, o a, i o i-i ",i the-.r ni-,id?s whe?,e tli,e,,7 grart,- the licences for a year, or did that occur to the men who had invested their savings in the pur- chase of public-houses? (Hear, hear.) In all the petitions -presented to benches of magistrates not one word was said about compensation. These; reformers! How generous they were at other people's expense. (Laughter.) As a con- scientious t'emperancei reformer himself—(laugh- tet)-hie would warn those people not to press their opposition with too much zeal, otherwise they would create a revulsion of feeling they would not be able to control. (Applause.) The Chairman referred 'to the arrangement which had beeiii come to at the Quarter Sessions, when a committee was appointed to deal with the question throughout the county. The drink evil had assumed such magnitude that it had become a necessity to lessen the number of licences, which would check if not stop the evil. Under the circumstances, the justices would re- new the licences on this occasion. Appl:"c stiosi for New Licence Refused. Mr Gamlin applied for a full licence on behalf of Mr W. G. Storey, manager of the Rhyl Hydro- pathic Establishment. He said. they would be content w-ith a six days' licence, and- it was re- quired for the use of visitors in the house. One of the directors of the hydro was Mr Llewelyn Jones, a member of the Joint Polce Committee for Fl-,intsh-ire, and he believed -the opposition to his application was led by a brother of his, Mr C. W. Jones. (Laughter.) The management had to send down to the town for liquid refresh- ments, and the consequence was that full and half full bottles of spirits, and wines were left about the place, and was a temptation, to the domestics. The grantiing of a licence would add materially to the prosperity of the hydro, which of late had not been very flourishing, and it would also add to the prosperity of me town, and supply a long-felt want. Evidence in support of the application was given by Mr A. L. Clews (chairman of the direc- tors), Mr W. G. Storey (the manager). and Mr Jos. Williams (the secretary). Mr Lewis cues, who objected on behalf of Mr C. W. Jone: rid the present was not the time to .apply for 7.[' licences. It was clear that the directors v ished to infuse new life and prosperity in a dying concern, by securing a licence,, which v. :;uld raiis'e their income. He alleged that the duedtors were contravening' their own articles of association by making such an application. He asked them not to assist in further demoralising the rtown by grarjting a licence for the convenience of a few in the summer season. They would be putting a strong temptation in the way of young people, and would promote: illicit drinking, because the situation of the hydro, which was surrounded by high walls and .trees, was difficult to allow of proper police supervision. The Berich retired, and in a few minutes re- turned, the Chairman announcing that the Bench unanimously refused the application. Alter; tions at the Queen's Hotel. Mr F. J. Gamlin produced plans of structural alterations proposed to be made at the Queen's Hotel, belonging to the Rhyl Property Com- pany. It was intended to add 17 additional bedrooms and a large stock-room, 1..vith the usual lavatories, etc., bathrooms, ^gether with a dining-saloon 71 feat by 45 feet. j.ney pro- posed to do away with an underground vaults, and close up the present entrance to the buffet, and have instead a new entrance leading from, the adjacent arcade into the dining-saloon. Mr Frank Biddiscombe, one of the syndicate who own the Queen's Palace, described in. deta.'l the alterations. After some discussion, it was decided to ad- journ 'the application for a fortnight, and on Saturday the justices will view the site of the proposed enlargement.

A Two-Third's Redaction. At the Carnarvon County Brewster Sessions on-Saturrday, -Ir John -Alei-izies, the chairman., pointed cut that ',here had only been two con?,* tions a,-ainst pu,b,lic-hou'ses during a x-.ear an,cllca hal; and, clonsi,d?e,r,iii,, that tii.ere were 56 hc)u?es ?iii, the d-iv s' on, that'conipared fa?-otirably with a?ii,i, ot?hi 'ivis' er d ",(In in Nort,ii Wale?.s. But the ju.stices objected to 36 c)tlt of the 56, because they considered the,re were far too many public- houses in the mining villages. Between that day and the adjourned sessions, the magis- trates proposed visiting all these houses,' and some of them would have to go. It war, clear that the closing of some houses would increase the value of others, and it would not be unrea- sonable that the licensees shoudd endeavour to come to some arrangement to compensate each other.

A "Model Division." At Overton (Flintshire:) Licensing Sessions. Inspector Pearson, reported that In. the division^ which contained an area of 30,000 acres and a population of 5,000, there had only been two convictions for drunkenness. Tn five parishes, with an aggregate population of -2,000, there was net one puhl,ic-h:ouse. The division has been described by Mr Peel, cha'rman of the Overton and Ruabo-n magistrates, as a model division.