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BRIDGEND DIFFICULTY SOLVED.

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------..---_-_--.--MR. D.…

THE HONOURS LIST. 4

AMATEUR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP.…

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HINTS FOR THE HOME.

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- --LOCAL GOSSIP.

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LOCAL GOSSIP. Wakor Coffin, a a ot" Mr. A. J. Willi. of Coedyuiwstwr, beio*ged v> typo "t Industry strikingly exomj/li- fied in the careers of Sir John Guest and Richard FothergJ!. He vats equally greai publicist and be found ame to devote j gifts and energies to national servic*. It is uc fortunate that h, was (j6 years of age r- fore he entered o: Comra-a; for j had he cho..en a P :u:i: career he would have rs^ehed m tiw State. But as it was. however, he woa emi- nence as a Frt Tndey, and left a lasting impress on the public-life of his time. And in the romantic devetopnaeiit of the IRhoadia Valley his name iH as that or a pioneer of front rar-k and a popular employer of labour. His father wa* a rich tanner at Bndgend: the »n u her of a distinguished family. Cadwgan Williams. to whom is at- -tributcl the first of Office Assur- ances and Savings Banks. Tia a relative: aad his mother's brother, William Morgan, was a Fellow of the Hopi Society and one of the most celebrated scientists of his time. Youag Walter Coffin, wbnse debt to heredity wai no mean one. was seat m England, but when Ii) returned tc Briiijend in assist in his father's business. At t.i* early age, it is recorded, he beg_»r: to r;. t»al those brilliant qualities or heart foaxi that were after- wards to distinguish u.m -ti public and in pri- vate life. Waiter Coffin (says die "Souta Wales Daily News") was intended for a wider sphere than that of his father's business, large and lucra- tive though that was. The year 1812 stands out in his career. It was the year of kis father's death; and it also witnessed the sink- ing of the first pit a" Dinas. Walter Coffin, in this same year, U-it Bridgend for Llandaff Court, which for a lortg period was to be his home. After a, strenuous struggle he reached his, industrial and comraercial career* was firmly established. Coffin's coal" became a household But the enterprising! pioneer found that transport facilities and a market essential; and he began with a tramway to the Glanusrgan canai. 18., eighteen years after he had found coal at Dinas, he realised that a. railway from Mw- thyr to Cardiff vital to thA development of the Ilhondda; and he bga-ti his great agi- tation. He wos strongly opposed, but he "marched breast forward." After six years of heroic effort he succeeded. la 183fc the Bill was passed, the TtiT Vale Railway came into being. Sir John €hie.st was chair- man. and Walter ("fun a director. The fight had been long and the oppoaitiou bitter, but the men of enterprise and a aesr factor in the adram*e;:wat of South Wales was created. i Walter Coffin, both in industry and in com- merce. revealed the highest business capacity, and his commonsense became proverbial. His influence widened with the years, and we find him in 1352 one of the commanding figures in tha country. He a public spirited citi- zen, and had served the community in divers ways. But his brilliance as an orator and his knowledge of affairs marked him out for the wider sphere of 'Parliamentary Ufa. In 1.)2 he rerred from business and became a Liberal candidate for Cardiff. Cardiff was then Con- servative. and at the election of 1852 there came forward as the nominee of the house of Bute a candidate of influence and learning, the flight Hon. John Nicholi, D.C.L. The Liberals determined that tkeir candidate should be a public man of eminence and power, able to wrest the boroughs from the dominauce of Toryism. Walter Coffin camo forward. He stood for Free Worship, Free Trade, and extended Franchise. His oppon- ent was handicHom-d as a peakr, but his personal influence was powerful. The Liberal candidate hid won fame during the Corn Laws agitation a 3 an orator of the front rank, and a publicist of practical and pro- nounced views. The fight was hearty. Walter Coffin was returned by a majority of twenty-six; and thus at the age of 68 we find him making his maiden speech in the House of Commons. He had entered he House of Commons too late in life. The spirit was willing, but the I flesh was weak. He found the sittings ardu- ous work, and in five years he retired. Ten years later he passed hence at the venerable 8g of 82. To the end his intellect was clear, and his interest in public affairs never waned. His love for the poor was the passion of his life, and in all his dealings he was inspired by it. Men mourned his death as that of a per- sonal frie.ud. His gifts of mind were excep- tionally brilliant; he had the instinct of the statesman. He played many parts as pioneer and publicist, and he played them all well. His end was peace removed from the j turmoil of the life in which he was so popular and so distinguished a figure. His character achievements inspired a well known contemporary bard, wha paid tribute to the pioneer m stirring verse. The bard concludes: Penybont-?r-Ogwy'n ddiwegi Da Gelli di hum dy bawl It' fagu mab anwyl mor enwog 0 feddwl crvf, doniol, di-dawl; Ar ochrau dy lanau dolenog Yn fachgen bywio", y'bu, Cyn meddwl o hono am nenoed, Yn chwareu gyfoed mor gu Dymanaist, ti gefaist, do'n gyfiawn. R' anrhydedd yn gyflawn o' i gael I arffed gla-a Ozvrj H i magwyd I ro' i hun welwyd mo'i hail. It will not be uncommon to hear during the next few months of the returning holiday- maker exclaiming, [ was a bourist and ye took me in." will appreciate the frame of mind Lord Dunraven was in when, in 1876, he penned the following in the pre- face to "The Great Divide.—"Early in summer armies of open-mouthed, expectant sharks, dog-fish, and skate lie waiting for the shoals of tourists to approach. What a rush there is at them! How the victims vainly dash from side to side protesting that they do not want a guide hero and don't care about going there, swearing that there is no enjoy- ment to be found in seeing a half-naked Arab skip down one pyramid and bound up another with inconceivable rapidity, objecting vio- lently to rowing up the middle lake in a rain- storm, expostulating that they have no de- sire to ascend SnoAvdan in a fog. But it is no use. and in the a-utuma the shoals retire feedraggled, bewildered, bedevilled, robbed, pillaged, and sent empty away." Lord IJunraven was so dic-gustod that he went off the beaten track ft; the Yellowstone district and Geyse-rland.

__----_-----STITCH IN TIME.

- BRIDGEND POLICE COURT. .

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AGRICULTURAL NOTES.

ITHE GARDENING.