Welsh Newspapers
Search 15 million Welsh newspaper articles
7 articles on this Page
Advertising
CAMBRIAN PRINTING WORKS, 211, HIGH STREET, SWANSEA, POSTERS, HANDBILLS AND SALE BILLS
Advertising
For all Classes of Printing Work At Moderate Prioes WRITE OR CALL AT THE OFFICE OF THE SOUTH WALES DAILY POST WHERE SAMPLES CAN BE INSPECTED AND LoWEST QUOTATIONS ORTAIN-TIU
[No title]
In diagnosing the elements contributing to the ultimate victory which we have to achieve, or go under in this great war, critics emphasise the importance of certain factors, their estimates of the latter being rareJy ;ll agreement. The financial factor, to eome, appears the deadliest in its effect, though there is not an instarce in modern times u1 a war being brought to a stand- still by the scarcity of money, and we had a recent example in the Balkans of success- ful campaigns being waged by nations against whom were ranged the moneyed in- terests of the world. Mr. Lloyd George had plainly in mind the financier's conception of tlie power of money when he spoke of the battles that would be won by silver bullets. It is practically certain, however, that whilst every week of warfare adds to the ruinous consequences for Germany, these will not deter the latter from continuing-to fight or even appreciably impair its capacity to strike and endure blows in the field. In point of fact, the extent of the financial wreckage will not be realised or seriously telt until the fighting is over Then there are the economic factor re- presented by the partial paralysis of Ger- man trade and industries the food factor, and the factor of war material supply, which is running short in essential things like ni- trates, which enter into the composition of explosives, copper for the shells and cart- ridges, petrol for the motors that propel a proportion of the sea-craft, including the submarines, all the airships and aeroplanes and the huge array of lorries a.nd cars em- ployed for trausport;1 nd other purposes, the tyres of which require frequent renewal, a circumstance responsible for the rubber factor. But the economic factor can be bracketted with the financial as disastrous t" individuals and companies, but incapable of having any decisive effect upon the war. Nor for months yet is the food factor !Her,I- to have n determining character if the Kaiser'e Government is able to keep up the fwirits of the German people and preserve their strength of will unbroken. The Par- isians in 1871 disci capacity of a re- solute population for self-denial and suffer- ing. and even though the stomach is the vv-akest part of the modern Teuton's or- ganism yet we arc too long away from the time when the enemy can possibly be sub- jected to the same severity of test as the French forty-four years ago to count the scantiness and the inferiority of food as a factor capable of anticipating or contribut- ing to the outcome of tboi battles that will be fought in the interval. Substitutes used to eke out the supply of Ates ?md copper nay ?Hmin?h. the effect- iveneps of the ',G?rn),gi There is already a suspicious weakening in the de- structive power of the torpedoes, shells fail to explode with greater frequency, and v.-hero steel has been tried to replace copper! the lives have been shortened of the guns through which they have been emitted. But this diminution in the efficiency of project- iles, whilst handicapping the Germans, will not alone prevent thain from making war. .And a short supply of petrol may be a source of embarrassment, but in a measure this can be relieved hy the manufacture of alcohol and other artificial substitutes. I The chiefest factor of all in determining the character and outcome of the war is the human factor, and this not so much by the relative proportions of the antagonistic masses as by their respective quality. Mr. IT. C. O'Neill, in the "Strand Magazine" for March, observes that "the deciding factor in warfare, other things being equal, is num- bers." But the other things are never equal; if they always were wars would be useless, since the result could be ascertained in advance by the mere counting of adult males. History is compact with instances where the smaller body has overcome the larger. Sometimes because of the better equipment and training of the former, or of advantages enjoyed by reason of the position occupied; but more often the cause is to be found in the physical condition and, even more, in the moral," or spiritual state, of the victors. Belgian resistance offered to the German hosts and the Servian double disper- sion of Austrian armies might he, cited as recent examples. Into the human factor appreciating its ■force and value enter, however, certain qualities or attributes which elude definite analysis, and yet are recognised to exist, profoundly influencing the course of history. Bravery is not peculiar to any particular race or nationality, nor can it truthfully be said that the ability to face death or bear injury is possessed to a greater degree by one people than by another. In this war every section engaged has been brave. We must, therefore, look elsewhere for the secret of sustained-though not necessarily un- broken—success in warfare which distin- guishes the life-story of a people—the. Japanese, for example. For a period of time stretching back to the dim ages, this race of amall stature, in close contact with powerful and aggressive neighbours, have wntuniously maintained their independence, and, 80 far as history can be consulted, ha.ye lost single battles, but never a cam- paign. The claim of the Teutons to be super-  mwar and peace alike is based in re- 8»»w Of the former upon the defeat of Austrio, by the Prussians in 1866, and of Fra.r> by united Germany four years later, and pon the triumphs achieved in the 18th ?n?ry, chiefly through the ganius—most pulously exploited-of Frederick the r;t. But between the time of the latter and 1866, the Prussian war-record was one alo8t invariable deiæt. In peace the "'at-W development of Germany, which ha« W~ on the marvellous, represented in the in • the cumulative effect of the re- lec%s" "f forces held in a. '?? of arrest for many de4c?ades by a system which ?p? up t-he count ry \nto forty-two separate states, each With f "o"?'? and customs that ejogged tile free flow of trade and imPe<le<1 the develop^ ? the national resources in Men and m In part it was the fruit of the amV! 1 In part 11 was the merce of the ?' to industry and com- proved of the '?'T? ? organisation of p-v,,d ,Ifi, 2, .? Army. During the .e Wrrt th 1 th years that the ri,er ? thege ? other columns owf as  ?? peril to the Germ-u *mbitions and deigns, it was never s,i^ that the nermans were an illferior in war was Overrat e' ?'' ?? their might war Was 0 er t ed- the contrary, the ger was cortsstentl.v  ?.?'? that dan- was the gre????? ? t!?"- q"aii- ces ?efaA??????of their hM justified .pprehetoT h? justly! the  h e, result, he IJamy ger .nd otf he t?ap?p?,??St??a J'gnI on of their trengtL 0 I In the speeches of the Kaiser and his statesmen and soldiers, and in the writings of professors ajid pressmen, there is one constant note—the superiority of the Ger- man over every other nationality. In war, in peace, in intellect, spirituality, Kul- t- in commerce, science, art, the Teuton bestrides the world as a Colossus. Conse- quently his manifest destiny is to inherit the earth, and every one that tries and fails to socept the inevitable must be swept aside. Recent happenings have had a moderating effect upon the declarations of this fa.ith, but it exists nevertheless, ready to assert itself with an aaroganoe which to the rest of the world verges on insanity. For what after all have Germany a.nd the Germans dome to warrant these pretensions? Their En pire is a thing of yesterday, and may not survive the morrow their success is confined to a short period which counts for little in world-history, amd may prove a mere' flash in the pan. Foreigners, both the friendly and the hostile, are agreed in the judgment that the British baffle comprehension. Most writers who have tried to explain us to their neighbours usually begin oy stating that we are difficult to understand. They are right; even we do not understand ourselves. Our inconsistencies are the despair of friend and foe aOike. Germany sees the prepara- tive work of decades spoiled and fond hopes wrecked because her statesmen ima.gined they knew the condition of this country last gammer, and understood us so wc-11 that British action or inaction in certain eventu- alities could be foreseen. But they did not, and the subsequent disillusion first took their breath away, and later, when the conse- quences began to come home, found expres- sion In the Hymn of Ha.te/' and other like manifestations of feeling which at bot- tom implies the highest compliment to the Power and the people they had wantonly forced into the war. It would neither be seemly nor expedient to compete with the Germans in the prac- tice of self-glorification. But in a common sensible way we may be permitted to adduce reasons for the assertion that on the grounds of achievement m all the realms of thought and action the Germans have not a tithe of the British claim to distinc- tion amongst the races of the world. Let them look at the map of the universe and mark how much of it is British red; let them read the history of the little Island Kingdom confronting and beating down during the centuries every tyrant power menacing its liberty, winning and holding by valiant efforts the command of the sea essential to its independent existence, ac- quiring territories all the world over, and despite the imperfections inseparable from al: human endeavours, making, the lot better of every people brought within the orbit of its influence. Let them contemplate, dispassion- ately if they can, the British Empire as it stands, examine the many constituent parts and try to under- stand why India, with its 300,000,000 of many races, can be denuded of white troops why the Princes and the peoples have in the hour of ;»tress rallied to the .support of the British J$aj. why Egypt is as safe as Mentone in the enjoyment of a prosperity and freedom unknown for centuries; why the overwhelming mass of the Dutch in South Africa are doing the work of the Empire against which they were fighting a dozen years ago, and why Australia, iN-nv Zeaknd, Canada, and every colony and dependency are sending their stalwart sons to take a hand in the fight for tbp, Motherland. And, by way of contrast, let them turn to Prussian Poland, Prussian Schleswig- Holstein, Alsace and Lorraine, and ascertain why throughout these provinces the Ger- man is execrated. Or roam further afield and furnish the explanation why Germany, which has sent many millions of emi- grants to other continents, has not-e-nd had not before the Alilies began to mop up her over-sea possessions—a single success- ful colony. Supermen, indeed—why, the Germans, compared with the British, are barren boast- ers, the upstarts of a day, whom a relatively small measure of success has intoxicated beyond all reason. If our people had the Teutonic weakness for self-glorification, they have more than enough of historical sanc- tion to strut about like peacocks, rendering themselves more intolerable and offensive to others than even the Germans, who wonder why no one loves them. Even in the field, where the Germans c-oii- gider themselves supreme (or did until belief in their own invincibility suffered serious shocks), the British, least military of the [leading nations, have not only a record of long bygone achievements transcending—to a degree rendering comparison hopeless—that of Germany or Prussia, but also proof upon proof of the present-day superiority of their soldiery over the German. When the war began, the German newspapers with one accord referred in contemptuous terms to the British Army, contemptible in point of numbers, mercenary and decadent, and the cartoonists invariably gave our "Tom-ies" long legs to enable them to run away at the sight of the invincibly helmetted ones. Their Kaiser set his subjects the example m disparaging the British soldier. but there has been an all-round change since then Germans who had met our men in combat found the picture postcards grotesque and painfully misleading, and said so in their letters. And a new estimate of the contemptible little army was gradually formed, aided by the long lists of the dead and wounded compiled in the sectors where the men in kharki were encountered. So far from making light of the British soldiers, the Germans are now eager and anxious to know how many more of them Kitchener is really able to send to the front. A German staff officer has made public his frank confession, extorted by practical ex- perience, that the British soldiers possess all the three qualities desirable in the fighting man. Their physical strength makes them receive a charge easily they are undaunted by the fiercest bombardment by shells; they are a cool lot and their efficiency makes them formidable opponents." They have always I been" formidable opponents," otherwise no British Empire could have been created and held. The reasons for it are elusive of de- scription or definition. But they must be real and effective or now explain the tenac- ity of the fight for the mastery of the sea, the long list of victories on the Continent and iR distant lands, the winning of empires by the sword, the subjugation by small forces of savage and warlike vyo-f ? The German campaign against t:: f! small tribe of 1 Herreroes and the bastard Hottentots, the least manly of Africans, prolonged and sadly inflective, compared badly with our subjugation of the Kaffirs and ZnlnFI the fiercest and most formidable warriors ever produced by Africa. The retreat from Mons, where glory was I snatched from adversity by the dogged re- sistance offered to an enemy in overwhelm- I ing numbers, convinced that the British were delivered into their hands; the energy with which the British, after an experience tt would have broken the spirit beyond repair of most troops, turned upon the Ger- mans and drove them helter-skelter across the Marne, and later the great fight against, odds—at points equal to one against eight— in the battle of Ypres, 'will stand out a most glorious page in British historv. Here the British line, 25 miles in length, was so thinned that towards the close of a victory that saved Paris and Calais our men were twenty-five yards apart. It has been I left to an American journalist. Will Irwin, to write the description of the battle in the I terms of an epic in prose. Over 600,000 Ger- mans were pitted against 120,000 British, a large proportion of them worn out to the point of utter exhaustion in covering the retreat of the Belgian Army from Antwerp. Irwin suggests that the soldiers of the future will study the strategical moves of General French on the eve of the crucial struggle for their brilliance and for their defiance of military tradition." His allu- sions to the British Army Corps which, aided by the French 75. m.m. guns, took the hill of Mont des Cats against odds, has a particular interest for us for it embraced the 2nd Welsh and the South Wales Bor- derers who fought almost to the point of ex- tinction. That same 3rd corps" (observes the American writer)-" always the attack- ing force and almost always against odds— went forward in a week to Armentieres, a gain of twenty miles or more." Thus the line, by stupendous sacrifices and heroic fighting, was finally strfi "ghtened out and the German plan frustrated. But at what a cost. The British lost 50,000 out of the 120,000 engaged-a proportion of loss grea- ter than any previous war ever knew. It cost the French and Belgians 70,0000 and the Germans probably not fewer than 370,000. 1.1 this one long battle as many men were lost as the North lost in the whole course of the American Civil War. Ypres furnished a conclusive demonstration of the relative I fighting value of British and German. No wonder that in Germany the views regard- ing the former have been readjusted—especi- ally in military circles. —————— 4--
[No title]
When the time comes for the historian to deal with the present war in its complete- ness he will have much to say of Russia's self-sacrifice, tireless pertinacity, and noble achievements in the earlier stages. Austro- German strategy aimed and still aims at se- curing rest behind strong lines in the East in order that overwhelming numbers may be flung against the Allies in the West, where the only hope lies of achieving deci- sive results. But the Grand Duke and his armies have kept the enemy persistently on the move, either attempting ambitious ad- vances, which so far have every time ended in failure, or falling back to avert disaster. Heavily handicapped in respect of railway means of communication more than ever es- sential in winter, and where enormous t armies have to be reinforced and fed and kept supplied with the ammunition fired from guns and rifles of niofli voracious ap- petitesi and by the lack of adequate equip- ment for the men ready to step into the fighting lines, Russia has, nevertheless, proved a powerful and nobly loyal friend. As Mr. A. H. Pollen, in the Sunday Chronicle," reminds us :—Instead of think- ing of herself alone and retreating to the Steppes, there to harass but not to dispute a hostile advance, Russia has never once given the German's a moment's rest. "Twice she has invaded East Prussia, twice she has driven the invaders out of Poland, twice she has advanced almost up to the gates of Cl-acow. She has taken and lost the Bukowina, she has crossed and recrossed the Carpathians. If the French and Eng- lish have staggered under the massed Ger- man attack-once in the first advance on Paris, and again in the terrible fighting for the road to Calais-Russia has stood these attacks not once, but a dozen times. The lines of the Bzura have seen, again and again, quite as heavy fighting as was wit- nessed on the lines of Ypres and La Bassee. But never once have the Germany broken through or thrown her main forces into con- fusion." Truly a splendid record having re- gard to the circumstances. And now she is en- gaged once more in delivering thrusts OIl the borders of East Prussia and in the Buko- wina, conscious that every counter-thrust must deplete the resources of the enemy and that every day the latter is kept fully occu- I pied in the East the chances are being im- I proved for a definite move on the prvrt of the Allies in France and Flanders as soon as the passing awav of winter provides the needful conditions for making effective use of the forces now available there. In the Western theatre of operations the Anglo-French-Belgic Armies have hitherto been reduced to the -role of defenders, the persistent efforts in separate sectors to snatch local advantages conforming with Joffre's plan of "nibbling" and searching cut weak- ness preparative to the grand assault im- I pending on some point or another of the long line. Thus the principal burden on land I hitherto has been shouldered by Russia. But on sea the parts have been reversed. And in this maritime war Great Britain has been the outstanding giant amongst the Allies. The seas have been swept clean of German and Austrian shipping; the Kaiser's High Sea Fleet is as effectually cooped up in the fortified harbours of Germanv in the North Sea as the fleet of Francis Joseph is in the Austrian ports of the Adriatic. Meanwhile tho third of the enemy empires, Turkey, is cut awav from intercourse by sea with the rest of the world, and the defences of Con- st.a.ntinople-fa voured beyond all capitals by the character of the water approaches to it- are being assailed in such determined fashion as offers a reasonable prospect of their com- plete subjugation. To complete the astonishing demonstration of naval power, the British East Indian Squadron has reached Smyrna, which it is steadily bombarding. If the German people were permitted to know the truth, the I growth of the Allied Fleet in the Dardanelles —there are ?cesa?ns daily as warships, re- iensed by the completion of their tasks else- where. flock to the Straits—wo'Ud furbish a cinUu]? comment on the mendacious preten- sions that the German fleet controls the i North Sea, into which in truth it dare not emerge—as somewhat tardily admitted by Von Tirpitz—without inviting destruction. The weight of British sea-power as a fac- tor in the war may not be adequately •'•ppieciat-ed by the French people, however willing and eager to do justice to OUT efforts. There is a more gmerous appreciation of the services of the British Expeditionary Force, because th-,e ha-ve been more visible. But how would mutters have stood for the Powers of the Dual Alliance if in fatal blind- ness to its own interests this country had been induced by pro-German and other in- flqlenoes to'staiid aside. In honour we ware bound to protect the northern coast of Fiance from German naval attack, because to guard against the menace to our safety in the North Sea. it had been necessary to withdraw battleships from the Meditor- ran.ean and arrange with France for a joint protection of the latter. i'f, as the German Chancetlor suggested, (ur co-operation had stopped short at this "v giving an under- talking to remain neutral as the price of the immunity of the French ports from German attack, what would have been ths conse- quent situation? The. Austro-Germen com- bined fleets would have appears! in over- powering strength in the ti(id (ce a»aa—-in wihidh event Italy, relieved of tl.8 apprehen- ion of finding herself confronted by Great Britain, miight have been persuaded to stand by the Triiplii.ee—and as a first result France would have been unable to bring to Europe the army corps from Algeria. With the Dardanelles closed and the Baltic fleet held by ice, and when this melted contained by a reserve of Ger- man warships, Russia would have been powerless to assist France in preventing the Anst.ro-Gernifui meshes drawn around her ports. And there would have been danger- ous attawks upon Algeria and French pos- sessions like Martinique and in the Far East. The intrusion of Great Britain into the wair wholly transformed the situation. Amongst other consequences it secured for Franoe in the Far East Japanese oo-opera- tion under treaty ensured for Great Britain. In short, Great Britain-marked out for treatment later in the scheme of the Pots- dam war-lords—upset all by intervening. The of the inspiration of the German hymn of hatred may be found in this fact. —————
[No title]
The German submarine blockade" of the British Islands must, up to the present, be written off as an absolute nasco, expe iSive to the enemy out of an proportion to ths results obtained by the occasional torpedo- ing of small merchantmen. There is strong presumptive evidence that the Thordis sank the submarine which tideavoured U-. put a torpedo into her, and is certain that U8 is certain that IT8, one of the most mode. 1 German boat& has been sent to the bottor by a destroyer. The question arises as to ihe extent of the enemy's losses in this t ?aft, the use of which furnishes his only practical effective method of inflicting serious r" val injury upon us. At the outbreak of the war he wae credited with possessing 24 in being and 12 more building. There wer.. in addition, some half-a-dozen submarine craft building for Austria and Norway. Others may have been secretly upon the stocks, and it is cer- tain that the German shipbuilding yards at the outbreak of war were set to work upon augmenting tileiit- flotillas, and whilst their capacity, in point -of time, is unknown, it, is not unreasonable to expect that with the very extensive resources for shipbuilding the Germans po&eess fit Bremen, Wilhelms- haven, Hamburg, Kiel. Rostock, Stettin. Danzig and Elbing, th' will be able to put into the 'water considerable flotillas at an early date, and keep t,n increasing them. With the British ,tid the French, who between them possessed about 000 submar- ines, built or building, ;tt the outbreak of the war. the numbers that arc afloat do not greatly matter as Ion!, as the German and Austria': nwre active policy upon the partv ftf the enemy's fleets would, however,, at once bring into play the much larger forces that the Allies possess. As to the extent of the German losses there is much uncertainty. It is known for certain that U15 was sunk by the Birmingham, that U18 was 'lmk after being rammed off the Scottish coast, and that U8 has gone down Dover,whilst U( ?) hafe it 6eems certain been sunk by the Thordis. The Badger claimed to have rammed and sunk another off the Bel- gian coast. The Germans claimed that she s?dely to port, though injured. This is at least possible, as the recovery of the crews of the U8 and U18, some time after these vessels had been fatally injured, as well as of the crews of the French submar ille Curie by the Austrians and Sophir by the Turks, shows that these ships can remain afloat some time aft;"r being disabled. A French submarine advanced a similar claim. The Russians officially claimed to have sunk two more in the Baltic, and the French one by gunfire off Havre. There is thus the certain loss of four German vessels, U8, U15, U18, and U(?), and the less completely verified loss of five more. An Aus- trian submarine was also sunk by French gunfire. Then after the destruction of the Pathfinder by un, there was a most circumstantial story of seven British war- ships lying in wait, until the submarine rose to the surface, whereupon each tired one shot. All seven shots took effect, and U21 went to the bottom-to rise again, as we know very well! Had all the reports been verified, the original German submarine flotillas would by this time be reduced to a very small number. The actual losses, established or probable, do not amount to more than eight; but in the nature of things it would be possible for further losses to be sustained without their ever coming to the knowledge of the Allies, e.g., by the sub-! marines striking mines in the Jsortlv Sea. As to the numbers injured by aerial at- tack on Zeebrugge, there is no authentic knowledge.
[No title]
The arrival of the Turkish fleet in the "N arrows" in the Dardanelles stimulates public curiosity as to the part it is likely to play. Its utility would be that of float- ing batteries. Manoeuvring wouild not be mailed for. The position of Allied warships advancing up the Dardanelles would be that of a man who turns a sharp corner to find I himself covered by the weapons of opponents hitherto invisible. The Goeben, with her broadside of ten 11 inch and six 6 inch quickfirers; the Hadr-ed-din BarharoSisa and Torgut Reiss, the ex-German battleships, with twelve 11 inch guns, of a very old but by no means negligible type, axe the main- stay of a fleet that has for many years been the butt of maritime wits. When one has said that it is capable of inflicting serious injury if the guns are well served—and the range will be short enough, and the vessels I stationary--one has said the most that can be spoken with regard to its powers. There will be in addition to mines, the tor- pedoes of the Turkish mosquito craft. I Given a good observation post, it would be possible to shell t e Turkish ships out of I the Dardanelles. The Japanese demonstrat- ed this at Port Arthur, where, from 203 Metre Hill, seized at a cost of 15,000 killed and wounded, their 11-inch howitzers de- stroyed the Russian ships at anchor, though the latter were invisible to the Japanese runners. The aeroplane will act as markers for the Allied gunners. The c-hief impediment to the speedy success of the latter is in the fact that some of the batteries commanding the "Narrows" are at 'he foot of steep and high clin?. Let anyone iry to throw a stone over a garden wall from a distance, so that it shall fall, not in the I garden but at the foot of the wall itself that will illustrate the difficulty which has now to be overcome: and whilst the indirect bombardment of vessels firing across the pen- insula, tha.t forms the western boundary of the Dardanelles, can be very destructive, the problem is in this case of a peculiar a.nd exceedingly difficult nature.
[No title]
I The "War Cry" A gang of Jellicoe v. Tirpitz schoolboys at Mount Pleasant. .¡: Morriston's virgin cemetery site is attract- ing large numbers of visitors. All ''sights" should. There was no question about Humpty Dumptv's fate when the Mayoress of Swan- sea pulled the strings yesterday. One of the Lancashire men in the N ational Reserve at Swansea, bears a rather startling resemblance to the late General Buller. It was stated at the Belgian inquiry at Swansea on Thursday that 75,000 houses in Belgium had been burnt to the ground. The three villages of Mumbles, Newton and Blackpill have between them contributed oaie colonel, one major, five captains, nine lieutenants, five sergeants, and 227 men to the colours. Bravo! <xsx3x$x>-<t> A wag tells us there are three gas cham- bers in Swansea just now The one at the Grand Theatre, the second in Wind-street, and the third at the Guildhall. Were last :y's members oi the Council of the Swansea Chamber of Commerce su- perstitious? Summoned to 13 meetings one of their number did turn up upon a dozen ocasions but none risked a full at- tendance. A caustic individual who read about some of the Belgians at Swansea cooking their meals in their bedrooms says that's nothing new. He once had occasion to visit a house a.nd had the "felicity" of seeing the ba-by being washed in the one and only family saucepan The Easter football. festival at St. Helen's provided by the willing lads who have flocked to the Ootlouirs in response to the call of the "country in danger," may be trusted to draw the crowd. For the players will be those who have proved that they axe ready for the greater game abroad. "The Belgians are the most adaptable peo- ple in Europe, and judging from the occupa- tions they have found, they are ready to turn their hands to anything. Of the 24 men who are still without employment at Swansea eight belong to the professional classes, and for these I know it is most difficult to find work." -(Sir Ernest Hatch at Swansea.) CI ;to. As on i'UustaHJOWGerman nrrogance mid insolence tire J&ev. Ch'eyme OnsddooK. recounted story, at his lecture at Swanseft on1 Thursday evening, of Prince Bismarck. Once the latter was asked what, would be do if a hundred thousand British troops were landed in north-east Germany. Bis- niarck replied Order the local police to aa-rest them "8" Mr. Lloyd George says ^writes a corres- pondent) that drink is the lure" which takes men from their work. I seem to re- member a Budget speech by the Chancellor in which he congratulated the workmen on being a.ble to subscribe Id. towards the oost of the Aar for very 3d. they spent, arc. metaphorically, rubbing his hands in antici- pation of the splendid mml in revenue. ♦ » i» A Scotsman the other day went out for a stroll with an English pal in the same battalion. At the beginning of their stroll they happened to pag a public-nouse, and this is the dialogue which an officer of the reriment overheard: The Scot (inclining his head towards the pub): "I suppose you d like a drink. Bill?" The Englishman (eagerly): "R*thci- The Scot "All right; I'll v.-ait for you here. Bill." A Swansea gentleman winlst at Lristol en Wednesday came across a party of "vy men who were on their wr.y home to ( orn- wr.ll These brave young fellows have for the past seven months been the North Sea. silently but very effectively. tin Monday they were landed in the North of Scotland and given seven days' leave from their ship, which will just allow them two days at their homes. However, they did not complain, but one jocularly expressed the hope that his motiier would not send him on messages during Iris visit. .c S SI ¡ No fewer thar eighteen sons of members of the SwanRea Council were with the flag —besides Councillors Miller and Milbourne Wililiiams who are rendering personal ser- r-ice-when the news came that Mr. Ralph Matthews, sen of Oun. Matthews, is with the New Zealand • contingent that left the I Antipodes for Egypt on the 28th January. Taking into accou it the bachelor members and the oth ers wit1.out sons of military age Ii if is doubtful if. any other public body in the country ha; ex ^lled proportionately I that of Swansea in its contribution of mtionaiT defenders. "Charlev's Aunt," the famous comedy, at the Grand' Theatre. Swansea, next week, was originall* y produced in London at the Royally Theatre, 21st Deconher, 1892, and shortly aflerwards transferred to the old Globe Theatre. Strand, where it had the longest run on record of any theatrical production in London—over four years. Since this period there has al ways been at least one company, a,ii d at times two or three, touiing the British Isles with the play. besides the innumerable productions of it in various lan- all over the world. For tiie last nine years the principal company has had a genes oi London seasons in the West End. meeting CL .I- ,vs,vs with the same wonderful success and favour. The words of the famous prophecy of Talie-iii, concerning the Welsh, have been altered. so as to apply to the Belgian people, as follows :— A coiling serpent, Prdnd and merciless, On. her airplane wings From Germany. She has overrun r)'h<; land of Belgium, From Liege to the Y se-r, And unto the North Sea. And now the Belgians Are as prisoners, By strangers swayed "From Saxony. Their Lord th:y will praise, j Their speech they will keep Their land shall be freed, With the help of Wales. Swansea dockers call their necessary dock pass "the bread ticket." Is it because "Charley's unt" is running after "Jimmy Valentine" that "The Colour 8ørgeant" i? "Grump y"?  > The drawing of Newcastle with Chelsea— and after extra time—suggests infinite pos- sibilities had the Swans—but there I $;iI' The battle between the tobacconist-barbers and the barber-tobacconists in a principal Swansea thoroughfare waxes interesting. Who a.re the ardent West Wales patriots whose nearest approach to personal interest in our life—or death—struggle is—skittles? Messrs. Allies and Co., the famous firm of international caterers, have undertaken a contract, in the Near East. It chiefly con- sists of cooking Turkey's goose. Really, the Swans' promotion chances are not so hopeless after all. But in another direction—Ton Pentre! Whatever can Blackburn and Newcastle think?!? u» ♦ ♦ 1 Swansea and Sketty lovers on Sunday evening found their "Elysium" in Brvnmilll-lane where alL the lamps were again extinguished, and all wa6 darkness. Some of Swansea's most famous Rugby ex- internationals are in the local voluntary training corps. None know better than they' the physical advantages of keeping always fit. The latest blast from Berlin announces that the fight <av -st, England must be "war to the all right, for in the grand squaring up Germany will have to 'fork out." "Smyrna, S lyrna," repeated the man in the Swansea street: "let's see; that's where the figs come from. And now it's but a figment, speakng figuratively, of course." Then he turned the corner—rapidly. On the way to Victoria. Park for the Swan- sea. Drumhead Parsde oil Palm Sunday the bands will only play at the ground and on the way home, so as not to interfere with church servi-ces-a tactful provision. .fI.. The accepted hazard of some of the know- alls, as they saw the Salisbury Civic Guard returning from church parade on Sunday evening, was that they had been guarding the docks. Well, one never knows What with the Dublin shelling the Dar- danelles, "Tipperavy," the new "National Anthem," and a great contingent of Swansea Hibernians with the colours, Greenhill is a proud place these days. And, wait you The waya of the world are. very curious. Whilst the Swan-sea Fire Brigade were work- ing might and ma in to get the South 1) » k tire under, the crowd of spectators on the quaysides were hoping to see the flame* shoot hagilitr ard higher! j Mr. Samuel Jenkins, J.P., Cwmgorse, has now three sons with the colours-a''1 in Weilsh regiments. Another son, Mr. Daii Jenkins, M. Sc., is a prisoner of war in Ger- many, where, before the outbreak of hos- tilities, he held an important post in an engineering firm. There is a good deal of talk at times when the subject of "Black Glamorgan" is be- ing discussed as to the foreign element in the seaports accounting for the abnormal proport-ion of prisoners. At Swansea, in 1914, out of 1,300 prisoners taken into custody, only 81 were foreigners. Sir Griffith Thomas, who was re-elected chairman of the Swansea Harbour Trust to- day, is both a statutory and a proprietary trustee. There are only six statutory the others being -N l essrs. A. T. trustees, the others being lessrs. A. T. Wi'Tis. R. W. Beor, F. H. Glynn Price, John Glaslbrooik and J. Aeron Thomas. A passport is, necessary before you can pass the sentries at the docks, but the "Tommies" 011 duty at the South Dock on the occasion of thr l'nt. fine were quite j powerless £ 0 deal with the attack of the civilian 3rip,v. who sealed walls and dodged between and underneath railway trucks. ( Mr. Bert Thomas, who as an artist in black j ?lr. Bert'l"?- ?vllf) as an artist in bL'ck j and whit, i; rapidly making his way to the very forenuwfc ran k in London, began his ??,?:. ?? Hp'Y?n:?-i' c:-irtqmist on the "S.'uth Wa l es Da-iiv F'osi. and to jg honour It j W?t- Daiiv fc?." 'uid to Ins ho'x):?' it might be added that e in the hey? d his success he has no* forgotten the tact,. I "On the sick list?" asked the .genial party of the invalid in the Swansea ^moke-room corner. "Yes," replied the sick man.! "What's the nwtter" queried he of the in- quisitive mind. "Lead poisoning, was the reply. "Oh, I see; T at those iead works. I suppose?" No, replied the war- rior, "at those 'earth' works in Flanders Someone asked whether the flash the three black ribbons worn at the back by the Royal Welsh Fusiliers—is known in ?" The question was Germany "Der Tag." The question was put to a soldier from the trenches, and hd. [answers "N o." "The Germans," he says. "are not even aware of its existence, as they have never seen the backs of the Royal Welsh Fusilliers." Canon Edwards-Ptees, who conducts the dinner-hour services at Cardiff Docks this week, is one of the cleverest and most eloquent. of the sons of the tinplate town who have found distinction in the outside worid. As a lad he had a high reputation for scholastic thoroughness, and in the early days of the old Llanelly Debating Society, now long defunct, some of the most elo- quent of the speeches were his. Some of the good stuff finding its way into Kitchener's Army was made known re- cently to a "Daily Post" man in a journey to the North. In the same train was a former resident of Neath, keen and earnest on Biblical and theological topics. It tran- spired that he was 3. former Bible-clags teacher, and that 38 of his scholars followed 1 him into the "Pals" Regiment. Men of his and their class must upset the old- fashioned notions of a Foldier in Wales. Miss Clement, daughter of Mr. Charles Clement, Porthcawl. is a ntirse in charge of a ward in -it, British base hospital in France. In letter to a. relative at Swansea, she described how deficient in mufflers, socks and mittens m?ere the poor wounded soldiers under tr?<nrnent. The result was Lh?t a woodly p?re?l of these "corn fort s"-i-epre3 ?enti? t'?P?'?ts?? the joint labours ,¡uld II sacrifice of a smaH circle of girlq-wis dis- I patched to the bœpltaL A day or two ago j a letter rt??whed the sender from a "Gl'ateiul/ Tommy" -a sergeant in an Indian ba,tt?ry— I who is now back in the fighting line, ex-II pressing in the most manly and even touch- ( ing terms' bis appreciation of the "line muffler" that fell to his lot. For the second time in succession there was a clean sheet at t-he CaA-marthen County Petty Sessions last week. The small Swansea boy only saw in the fire at the South Dock fish-wharf a possible medium for cheaper "shoulders. The three desiderati of the Swansea boys who have joined the Colours appeaa- to be very simple—the "Post," cigarettes and a football. There should be more in the Palm Sunday .r!il.it,;¡ i'Y procession at Swansea on the home- ward march than there were at the start. Verb. sap. .00000- "Ah," said the large man with the puce tie, "I see the Turkish fleet has anchored in the Narrows. That's a sign of the straits they are in." s Enormous laibour, says a correspondent, was expended by the Germans on fortifying a mountain position in Alsace. Barrels of beer were rolled to the top. A "labour of low. ♦♦♦»»» Professor Kuno Meyer, the German who came to Wales, and who now openly boasts of his infamous conduct, is still a member of the Carmarthenshire Antiquarian Society. Come, come, Carmarthen Mr. Jenkin Jones bad a trying ordeal at the Swansea Police Court on Friday in en- dcavouring to pronounce correctly some of the "tic doloreux" names—some of them sounded quite foreign—on the rate sum- mons list. "Where did you get t-hat cough?" "Oh, my wife leaves the window wide open every night when the baby is wakeful and allows the wind to blow on me because it amuses the baby to hear me cough." The following dialogue took place between a magistrate and a defendant at a local police court:—Magistrate Are you guilty, or not? —Defendant: Yes. "—Magistrate Yes, what? Defendant (politely): Yes, your Worship." We have heard of German arrogance and "Kultur," and the latest addition to the category of virtues is unparalleled cheek. A German who was brought up at the Swansea Police Court this week masqueraded alter- nately as a Swiss, Norwegian, and Swedish seaman, only to get "floored" by a smart Swansea officer. The present war has brought in its train many surprises," said Mi*. Llewelyn Wil- liams the other day, but the greatest sur- prise of all was to see the people of Wales flocking into a theatre on a Sunday after- noon to hear a political oration by Mr. Lloyd George. Who could have predicted such a thing—say, twenty years ago!—("The London Welshman ") A. sailor belonging to the Norwegian steamer which waa pulled up by a German submarine for Port Tslbot ■ £ £ .vexsation took between '¡\lá,f and t sub- marine commander :—German Commander: Where arc you bound for? The Skipper: Port Tallbot. German Commander: Where the is that? The Skipper: Near Briton Ferry (?!?) Celebrations in connection with St. David's Day have for many years taken an interest- ing form at Llanycrwys. This year the chairman was Sir James Hills-Johnes, V. C., and it was appropriate that his old friend Lord Roberts should be selected as one of the heroes to be commemorated on the occasion. Penillion singing always forms a feature of the gatherings, the most topical this year being the following :— Lord Roberts a Dvledswydd Bob amser o'ent ynglyn, A dyna hefyd hanes Syr James Hills-Johnes ei hun. <  -?<XX:>-  Writing in the "Daily Mail," a corre- spondent, says :—Now that the King has gra- ciously consented to the formation of the Welsh Guards many" of his loyal subjects will oc eageriy looking forward to one of the quarters of the royal aims bearing the Welsh dragon instead, of the three lions ambulant of England, which are found in two quarters. Whether the figure be ambulant or rampant (as, of course, is the Scotch lion) is either a question for the heialdic authorities or ar- tistic taste perhaps, but the appearance of the familiar form ao dear to the hearts of Welshmen in the royal standard floating over the King's residence will be as weiccine as the sight of Welsn Guardsmen mounting for sentS-y duty outside Buckingham l aiace is on St, David's Day, 1915. !ilgi)aiii I'al ace is Glamorgan men stationed in England are not infrequently astonished to find the Welsh language prominently in evidence. For instance, over a house door in North- ampton they found, to their. surprise, a Welsh coat-of-arm, craved in the stone- work abovo the lintel, with the double eisteddfodic motto I Heb Ddu. Heb Ddim." Duw a Digort." Northampton was the scene of one of the. battles in the Civil War, and it is sur- mised that a Welsh Roundhead Cromwellite settled down in the town after the battle, and carved his religious faith over his door- way for the edification and guidance of hia descendants. The D- and the Kaiser. The D one day said to Kaiser Bill, "I'm proud of the.way you perform my will. With me, it is plain, you throw your lot, Though you claim to be the elect of Gott. Yotir work for Him must arouse great pain, When you sack and kill, and gloat o'er the slain. When babes are murdered and women be- trayed. YOU (-all it 'Kultur,' I call it MY trade. St. Thomas. D. J. S. The Rev. Evan Mathias, an old Llauelly boy, who is Nonconformist chaplain with the Forces, gives an interesting account of the ceremony at the Gwyl Dc.vi dinner of the 11th Royal Welsh Fusiliers, at Hastings. The regimental goat was brought in, jl S horns gilded and a massive leek tied be- tween them. A North VValian led his charge round the dining hall, and then, according to immemorial custom, the drum major en- tered, accompanied by two drummers, and presented a huge plate of leeks to the colonel. Colonel Lloyd, himself a Carmarthenshire man. then called upon those officers who were not Welshmen to eat the leek—as the gallant Fluellen did to Pistol. They got np in their turn (adds Mr. M^athias), and bravely ate the pungent vegetable, to the accompaniment of furious drumming on the part of the drummers and of roars of laughter on the part of the other officers and guests, after which initiation they were sufficiently Cymric in spirit to drink to the honour of Dewi Sant a-nd Shenkin a-p Morgan with as much enthusiasm as they drank the cus- tomary loyal toasts.