South Wales Weekly Post

^^xsedw^^giaamiyiMia |0AMSRUN. | [.PRINTING WORKS, f 211, HIGH S T SWA.^rS2SA. | SPOSTERS, HA NDBILLS, KAND SALE BILLS, £

The action of grocers, tobacconists, and, others, in clapping oa the new duties im- mediately they became known, in respect of goods which had passed beyond the reach of the duties, has given rise to general and keen public resentment. It Is felt that tocriiicee exacted ;¡J. aft be,ing added to for persons pront. Many reasons have been put forward for charging the consumer with a t-ax. that has not been paid, and the proceeds of which will not pass into the Government purse, but none that either convinces or satisfies the customer class. If a little less haste had been shown greater weight would be attached to the indisputably sound consideration that whole- gale houses, by keeping down supplies dur- ing the period of uncertainty, had reducad to small proportions the quantity of the dutiable articles held by the retailer. But the decision of the organised tradesmen, whether in respect of tea or tobacco, coffee, coooa, or sugar, to impose the higher prices forthwith left the public in no doubt re- garding what they believe to be unfair treatment. Since, however, the latter are not themselves organised for protective pur- poses, they are, for the moment, practicallv helpless, which fact tends to intensify the bitterness and to make a cleavage between the retailers and the consumers. This is deplorable from every standpoint. The country is engaged in a great war which is applying a severe test to the patience and self-sacrifice of the people. We want unity, not only in the spheres of warlike action, but also among the classes who have to live together at home. The readiness to enforce the duty against the consumer at the earliest possible moment has been interpreted as evi- dence that, so far from sympathising with the difficulties'of their clients, the retailors were ready for selfish reasons to accentuate them. There have been individual excep- tions who, in the end, will not be losers by their forbearance, £ nd dou btless there would have been more but for a sense of loyalty to organisations. whose decisions, as a rule. are dictated by the relatively few who attend the meetings. The centiment aroused at a time when people are most susceptible to impressions is bound to become a factor in the increasing truggle between the retail t-rades and the Co-operative Societies, which are making great, advances in Wales, as may j be inferred from ih? gigantic building—the j largest in the city—now Apj?oach'ng COm- j  ptation in Cardie. ?'' '?e l?eve ':hàt the   t.Å.J;b'b..j ""01' .rt" d' ;¡"I -r' d' ..r"Jr,j.gr i' .<po.n!s??a?d atAer? mdivcd? <tt?b?<?a? ? tbcrlO. req'l:ad by th! public have and ere ful&?ng outfit! functions ni the aocll tystem? and that in tbe? maj?Tity of cases they provide tha-t human touch and friendly association between buyer and seller which tend '^o* disappear with the appearance of gia^fc organisations operating with the pre- citsion and coldness of machinery. Having this conviction, we regret as ah irreparable blunder the failure ,to give the consuming public a few days grace and the benefit of the., goods free from the new. taxes before lifting the prices, for the immediate gain may prove incommensurate with the ulti- mate loss. People feetl relatively amafll grievances' which are visible and unmistak- able more deeply than the greater ones only vaguely understood and the present out- burst of, anger of which every retailer is made conscious is a symptom not to be lightly disregarded. A related matters is the action of cottage proprietors in increasing rents to reimburse themselves for additional rates or taxes. Whore as at Swansea the rents were adready excessively high because of the scarcity of houses, this passing over of obligatibns imposed upon property-owners to harassed tenants is utterly op- pose d to ° the national and pat- riotic^ spirit. In France, where practically every able-bodied man is with I the colours, this determination that homes shall not be left at the mercy of house- owners has gone to such lengths as to make the latter victims of real hardship. For- during the wa.r they cannot compuhsorily collect rents or eject defaulting tenants. -whether or not the latter are disabled from paving by reason of the war. The Vrerch and the British methods mark extreme-i- one which represents the fullest, exploita- tion of privak ownership and the other a protection for the tenant too sweeping to I be altogether just. There should be a golden mean. We venture upon a friendly warn- ing to cottage proprietors in Hus district t V at the burdens deliber&wly dmd by the LegMlaturc upon them were not meant to be transferred to the pwpertyl tenants,' I and 6it they would be prudent r?ti.0 n-1 mi&rate ?n exercising the powers conferred upon them by law, and by the fact that the Mipply of houses falls short of the demand. This is a time of national stress, wh«n every man is cXpected to contribute to the strength Of the Empire by revealing the best that is in him. I lop

III -t&lt Napoleonic war, and that of the Spanish succession, the role of Britain waa naval, financial, and to a small extent mili- tary. We took over exclusively such fight- ang as.needed to be done at sea, financed our Allies, and sent them a small but ifrst-class military contingent, arid one or two brilliant leaders. In this war we are oertainly sur- passing ourselves. A discreet secrecy veils the financial troubles of our Aflie.9 though w-ekhow that due of the richest areas of France is being, bled by tiie Germans, and that Russia lias deliberately sacrificed her chief source of revenue on t4te altai- of mili- tary efficiency, whilst with both countries trade is stopped. It is, however, clear that we are paying their way as well !WI onr own to a great and iiicrea-Fing dpgme. By sea. we are undertaking an enormously expensive laval effort which is slow in yielding results, and in certain important directions may not vield results at all. On land, we are aspir- ing to become one of the major Powers. And 4t home., we are making munitions, of all kinds for our Allies. The questions arise: To what extent can we put our energies into every one of the efforts named; what par- ticular effort must suffer, if any; and, can we do all these things at once—raise a first- class Army, maiiitain supremacy over the seas, make ourselves the workshop of the Allies, and their banker? j We have never seen a definition of our role, and all the outward signs point'to ex- treme efforts in every < irection indicated, and no stinting of energy in any one. Men, j munitions, money, all ire pouring out of the country., We do not know whether the Government has thought out the problem, It is not quite safe to assume it ha-s, for there i> a ocd deal of confusion of thought and "HTMfilP Vt be observed in the public utter ances of its members, so that the public at times hardly know if it is standing on its I had or its heels, whether to be depressed with Mr. Lloyd George or buoyed up with Mr. Harcourt. Let us hope that clear thinking has not gone out of the Cabinet with Lord Haldane. Certainly it is not wise to assume that in every case the obvious thing is, being done. 1 One of these obvious things is to decide to what extent we can do more than the all that our Allies are doing. When it was decided in August, 1914, to raise a great new army, it was tolerably obvious lha-t im- mense quantities of ammunition would be needed. There would be millions more rifies to feed, md four ox live liicusaikl riinto pieces of artillery. This was not attends.' to. There was not enough for the small pro- portion of our forces that we actually had in the field. When we had got the men to fire the guiw, and the guns to fire, we sud- denly remembered about the ammunition. That is a case in point where the obvious thing to do was not done. Has, or has not there been a discussion and a decision-as to the extent of our national effort in this war? It is certainly vital, for whilst an exertion of great violence next spring may bring matters to a head, there is also the possibil- ity to he reckoned with of a war of attrition —a war in which the state of the victor is pretty hard to distinguish from that of the vanquished. This war will require econo- mising our strength.

I It is not really material whether or not the Kaiser some months ago declared thatl there would bo peace on German terms in October and that his soldiers would be spared a second winter campaign. That which is material is the fact that his sub- jects, in and out of uniform, believed that he did, and have been sustained in spirit by the expectation. The report obtained cur- rency when the first stages of the great "drive" were yielding promise of colossal results in the East, and both the British and the French efforts to break through the Ger- man line in the West had failed, and a re petition was deferred for months by the need of diverting all available guns an' munitions to Russia. At this period there would have seemed justification for so im- petuous a. man as the Kaiser to conclude that Russian military power was about to be crumpled up, compelling the acceptance <:f peace on the enemy's terms by the van- quished, and that the Allies in France and Flanders could be safely held until the great ma-el Ile employed against the Russians waF transported to repeat in the West its Cosnfi dently expected crushing work in the East. However that may be, the message of hope and a speedy victorious peace—whe- ther ever*delivered—-spread through Ger- many aiid into every sphere of German mili- tary and naval activity. Much has hap- pened since—territorially in favour of tl- Central Powers, since the Russians have beei^cleared out of all save a strip of GQli. :11' ,p is 1, enemy poases- t'fifdrJ.. Änd. meaavrMfeJwye nrtt related their bold on Belgium and the North of France. But, we are about to reach Ootob&r with peace a remote contin- gency, the- Russian armies unbroken, and the certainty of another winter campaign opening out before the Germans. The chag- rin and disappointment will be in proportion to the eager acceptance and complete faith in the promise attributed to the Emperor. The moral effect is a factor of importance,, il.avingregard to the necessity imposed upon the German war-lords of preserving unim- paired the popular confideiicet in ultimate victory. From the outset the means for fostering this have bean as thoroughly or- ganised as the armies in the field. When there has been failure in one direction mea- sures have invariably been adopted to dis- tract attention from it by promises of great achievements elsewhere. The cruiser raid on the East Coast was cUngned to soothe the disappointment over the passivity of a fleet—upon whic; £ 300,000,000 had been spent—that bv reason ot its alleged superior quality was destined to effect the destruction of its numerically superior British rival. Throughout the length and breadth of Germany the people were asked to believe on the highest author- ity tba-t the German warships were scouring the North Sea in search of the enemy flotilla. evading contact by hiding away in places of refuge. Whereas every intelligent. Ge-r2 man with even an elementary knowledge of naval matters knew that the first raid meant no more than a furtive dash which, but for the intervention of a thick fog, would probably have resulted in the sinking of the raiders, and that at the second attempt, weeks later, the punishment suffered was so severe that there has not been a third. The Germans, by way of consolation for the subsequent naval inactivity, were then regaled with predictions of the thrilling achievements awaiting the fleet of Zeppelins about to be fitted out to spread red ruin over London and the principal provincial centres. As these failed of fulfilment it be- came necessary to introduce the blockade of these islands by submarines whereby our over-sea trade was to be brought to a stand- still, our food supplies cut off, and the Brit- ish people be reduced to such extremities, mentally and physically, as to welcome iJ :the most abject spirit German conditions of peace..Now that these piratical pests Are being steadily extirpated we ha.ve the re- currence of the Zeppelin terror en a very modest scale producing results of no mili- tary value whatever. There is need to keep up the German spirits by another diversion. More particu- larly as the supreme effort in the Easfc, which, up to a point, caused recurrent de- mands upon the diminishing capacity of the Teutons to rejoiCe-as, offieia.n. ordered- over victories which involved tremendous sacrifices without yielding commensurate re- sults. has definitely failed of its purpose. It, is true that Russian fortresses U.v. been captured, the cities of Poland oc- cupied. and a vast area devastated. But thess were not the ends of the campaign. The Russian Armies have uot been de- stroyed. though teduced, yet unbroken in spirit and Russia stands erect and unbeaten, strong in the consciousness of he* limitless resources in men, and the knowledge that by internal effort and the a.1Id of Allies the ade- quate sujbpies of guns and munitions will presently be forthcoming. Whilst the Austro-Germans, after months of scheming and marching and fighting, accompanied by a. terrible wast?e of Hfe, find thmselvoo in a w as t e country—with an .eluswe enerm capable of iiitting hard blows when the chance offers-whieli at this season of the year is liable to be reduced to a quagmire by the torrential dewnpouring of ra.in, with the certainty that a change, when it comes, will mean snow, frost and the most biting cold witide. In America German schemes to imoede the 4ilpTxly of guns and ammunition for the Allit-i have all miscarried, and incidentally helped to enforce demands for GermaJl ohserva.ïlœil | of ??euira? rights on the 8M; that imply such rest.nct?ans on German n?val fhghtful- ness" as to deprive the subject of the Kaiser of any hope of neutrahsing the AHies' com- man d of the oce mand of the oceans. For the n.c;ity of con- c'1hatmg the l?nited Sta.tes i? now being j realised-a circumstance sugg^wtive of the chastened mood—and even though it is now apparent that the Western Republic will to the end be constant to an unheroic part in the world's drama, there is substantial satis faction to be derived from the knowledge that henceforward her manufacturers and financiers will hp free to lend their aid—on commetrcial Sines it is true, ,but nevertheless in a fraternal spirit, the value and reality of which will not be a,ppreciated until the end permits all the secrets to be re- :&.k.:i.J breaking beyond repair Prussian militarism -and: all it connotes. This,is the general aspect in the fourteenth month of the war when on the eve of mo- mentous events. Russia has extricated her armies from peril, and on the extreme left and right is demonstrating her vitality by assuming the offensive. In the West, where he AIIkis are redieved from the tension in- duced by the dangers besetting the Russians, the official reports, terse and baM, recording only artillery duels with an entire absence of infantry action on a considerable scale, and ih,e disappearance of the descriptive un- official reports wh ich until lately were a con- spicuous feature in our leading newspapers, j appear to presage the ooming of great hap- pemngs. Joffre t-he silent has now an enor- ,iir,tls striking force in hand. The compara- tive calm is likely to be that which precedes t,he storm. Wintry conditions in the West do not preclude military operations on the rrand scale as we learnt a year ago, and on sither side the lessons of t-he experience then gained have not been lost. The Italians doggedly persevere with their i offensive under difficulties only realisable by those who have seeii the Carnic Alps and he mighty bastions they present to an ad- vance from the South. Cadorna and his -oldiers had a taskset them the greatness of which will never be adequately appreciated —except by Italians with an expert 'know- ledge of the conditions. Austria seS-ected the frontier line, giving her all the mountain ummits. and spent miUions of pounds on ( naking them, as she believed, absolutely npregnable. During the continuance of the Triple Alliance I'taly was debarred from ittempting counter-defences even on the inferior natural positions below bv the fear that precautionary measures would be interpreted as evidence of distrust in an Vilv. Her first efforts, distinguished by the greatest courage and resourcefulness, have tiherefore been concentrated upon the adjust- "tlent of a balaiwje greatly biassed against her. Li no sphere of action has any con- stituent part of the Grand Alliance achieved suqh substantial success as the Italian, tak- ing into account the whole circumstances. The reward will emerge presently in a dramatic manner.

l Shortly after one o'clock on Sunday after- .ooij-a?most invariably the most important ,.y'X''oiw*y -he Sabbath—-the trunk line t-ele?pn? tK?gtit Sir Jtim??Frofk*?s r.,r .o,,tne eSect t hit on Saturday the Germans ?d been ttackedouth of La Bassee, with uhe result that their trenches had been cap- tured on a front of over tive miles and their anes penetrated in some places to a depth of 4,000 yards, or about two and a haJf milegv Further, that about 1,700 prisoners nad been secured, together with eight big guns and an unascertained number of ,Uae i iine- g un,q. T h ere .uachine-guns. There vere other details, concerned chiefly with feints at other points, but the foregoing represented the outstand- ing facts. The attack, it was reasonable to conclude, was launched in concert with Jthers by our Allies, and one awaited, not without impatience and a high degree of ex- pectancy, the French official communique This came a couple of hours later and was I *f a splendid character. In the Champagne ountry the French had broken through the German lines, over a front of 25 kilometres miles) and made a haul of 12,000 prisoners. By Monday the official reports brought, the total of unwounded prisoners taken up to 22,800 and the field guns to 32. This is the best news yet yielded from the Western front. The battle of the Marne stood for a check to the enemy's offensive at a critical stage; the defeat inflicted on the sixth German Army, under the command if the Crown Prince, was, in. its nature, es- sentially defensive, md the proportions of the victory were, at the time, not realised by even the victors. But the official reports of Sunday indicate not only the assumption of a general offensive but also such initial succesaes as to afford promise of greater things. Lord Kitchener recently described the Allied line in France and Flanders as practically impregnable; it was the general belief amongst civilians, infected, it must be added, by prevalent impressions of actual fighters, that the entrenched positions of the enemy "ére equally secure. We now know they are not, if our artillery be granted an rdeqiiato supply of ammuni- tion. The substantial advance made will hearten our soldiers, and, to a correspond- ing degree, depress the enemy. The latter' may be depended upon fo make determined counter-attacks, and we must defer the counting of the chickens for a day or two. What happened on the British front can b-i convincingly deduced from the German report and that of Sir John French. For once these are in agreement—with a differ- ence. It lEt evident from the latter that the real attack was delivered south of La Bassee, with feints elsewhere to draw the German reserves. In the Geriiian coinmiuiique the withdrawal of the British forces after their purpose had been served is described aA the result of repulse, whilst the real and effect- ive movement is left "in the air" with the inconclusive statement: "The British also attacked north-east and south-east of Ar- mentieres and north of the La Bassee Canal." Note the absence of any allusion to the actual outcome. The plaiin English of it all is that tihe general offensive has been taken up by the Allies in France and Flanders, and that the first effort, 1135 been abundantly fruitful. There were indications of the determination to end the stalemate in the bombardmant of the Belgian .coast and in the accumulation of men, guns and munitions in the firing line. All France, as if by instinct, fhas for the last week or so been on tenterhooks in anticipat- ing the ordered and calculated onslaught on the German lines. The effort svnchroiiises, •as no doubt it was meant to, witih a Russian rally, the strezyth of which has been at- tested by victories north, centre and south. The Austro-Germans, deeply involved in a campaign iih. Poland and Russia when winter is near at hand, are now being put to the strain of fighting strenuously on two fronts. This neutralises the advantage of the Cen- tral Powers in operating on interior lines. For all/the troops available are needed to cope with Russia in the East, and in the West German resistance is liable to collapse for want of reinforcements. And meanwhile an entire army of at least half a mill ion is required to hack a way through Serbia, if Constantinople is to be Mved for tihV Turks and the Austro Geirnans- We have .a fair idea .of, the difficulties that 1 wnfront the soombers of> the Grand AUiance, ,.1 but not of t'h<.?? i?'tuch. the enemy has k face. BuJ?fta? &I<jL?5 as the straw at by a drowning man. The Bulgars hesitatt to take the plunge, and the hesitation will grow with the realisation that Russia i& turning upon her enemies, and that in t' hc; West the Allies are more and more asserting their superiority.

The great British attack upon the German lines, south oiLa. Bassee, and the French onslaught in Champagne, represent thethiru great Allied offensive this year. The first was made almost exclusively by the French, in Chaj»pagt»«, ia^ .February and March. The fighting was piotonged, but the results insignificant, our Ally's advance (incredible though it appears) only averaging five yards a dal, upon a very harrow front whilst the fighting endare.d. It- is not certain whether the British'attack ttt Neuv& Chapelle in the second weett in March was connected with the Champagne offensive; but it was the first important offensive of the British this year. The seeoftd great Allied offensive was made at the beginning of May. This time the French concentrated upon a front to the north of Arras; the British attacks were made on May Sth at Fromelles, and May 16th at. Richabourt. The fightinar that proceeded at the same time around Y pres, that gave the apoearanoe of a German offen- sive, was not impipbably intended by the ensmy to upset the British preparations, and it certainly drew a £ reat part of our strength from Fro.ueiles end Richebourg. The onslaught of urdy represented the third offensive. In the earlier efforts, because of the limited advance made, months of inacitivity followed, and in both cases, such success &S was attained was gained at the ooaimencement, and after the first paroxysm of energy the fighting died down in a f-eries of f eree local engage- ments of diminishing severity. The number of prisoners taken by the French in Champagne (over 20,000) is much the largest reported at a single coup by the Allies in the West Fince the war began. The British capture*? (2,800) afre nearly double those secured, at Neuve Chapelle. The main points are, however, -the degree of success in shaking the German line of de- ience;. whether it 'be possible to develop the present res«itf; brilliant in comparison with- their predecessors, to a degree making untenable the wholo line now held by ,tihe eitemy for some eleven months. The points of attack have bato skilfully chosen. A thrust south of "rg. would menace the enemy's foitress. position of La Bassee— probably jmprble to a direct frontal attack-and tlireateuhis tenure of Lille. A break through io Cha-mpagne would yield far more sweeping results • it would be com- parable to the German, victory (oh the Duna- iefcz, which broke ap the Russian offensive 111 the Carpathian** for this French would be directly m the ."war of the German lines 41op he.Ai!!ll" ,.W the uaglaot Noycn, and northwards to Airas and La Bassee. The whole great- tracti of territory would have practically to be abandoned if the French succeed in making1 a gap sufficiently broad through which to pour armies iai a fit condi- tion for field operations. These armleS wopld have to be entirely fresh, for the ac- tual attacking forces become 80 weakened and disorganised that they are usually, too exhausted to do more than consolidate the ground gained and incorporate it in, their own scheme of defence. The French are making this offensive. at their maximum strength; the British are still considerably short of their maximum, though out army must be far more numerous than any we have ever before put into the field. Oar main at- tack was made upon a front of five miles the French upon a front of fifteen to sixteen in Champagne, and a much nar- rower front north of Arras, where the French efforts may be regarded as a continu- ation of the May offensive, that gave them control of the height of Noue Dame de Lorette, overlooking the territory now as- saulted, and when they entered the "Labyrinth." What is now to be hoped for is a following up of the success gained by an incessant offensive, straining the Ger- man defensive to its utmost powers, using up its resources said finally overpowering it by sheer exhauatieh, whilst the Allies utilise their great numerical superiority to put j ever "fresh armiee, to the assault. We have yet to see whether this will be done; this week should decide whether the rest of 1915 is to pass in France upon the old line, substantially bitten into at one or two vital sectors, or vvhuther the enemy's great salient with its apex around Noyon is to be cut clean out.

There is no reason why we should refuse to accept the Bulgarian assurance that there is no quarrel with France or England—and certainly not with Russia. But there is a Bulgarian quawel with Serbia.. Obviously, now is the time to settle it, before Serbia, is made more powerful by the acquisition of rich soiitheni Slavonic pro- yincee at present under Hungar- ian rule—or misrule. It is a business in which we must. )1;cep our heads—and our tempers-and nix, fly in a rage with every little Power thftt does not play our game; German fashion. We, in France and Eng- land, admit the justice of .Bulgarian claims, for we have been persuading Serbia. to re- tj-ocede this territory t-o Bulgaria. We could only deny it by admitting the prin- ciple of nationality for the Allies and deny- ing it to enemies That would, by the way, not be discreet, to say the least. National problems are not confined to German and Anstro-Hungarian territory. That Bi*lgwia,fi hostility wouiid be a blow to the Allied cause is not difficult to demonstrate. At any other tame it would be a matter of profound unconcern to us how the Balkan countries settled their quarrels. At the present moment the Bul- garian movment against Serbia (&nd =el, her partner) suspiciously resembles ?a plan of Cù-opr&tion with Germany to attack Serbia ii the rear and clear a road from Berlin to "Constantinople. We may foresee a Bulgaiian army pressing on towards the Danube (the Serbians resisting) to join hands with an Austro-Gorman army advancing fr<»n the Danube. Bulgaria's acceptance of a loan from Berlin, and Ger man decorations for heT ministers and ruler, fit in with the idea of a plan. Morally, too Bulgarian action shows a certain lack of gratitude to Russia* which'gave Bulgaria her freedom for a variety of motives, no doubt, but certainly disinterestedly as far as the mass of the Russian people went There is also a lack of chivalry in attacking from the rear A nation of kindred blood (though the Bulbars are really as much akh. to the Hungarians as they are to the Rus- sians) but Rumania in 1913 sot the example, in her cynical interposition when Bulgaria bad been beaten to the ground in the Second Balkan War, after' bavini- drained her strength ag.tinst Turkey.

Swansea "Bobbies" were busy in the Police Station on Friday morning trying Lheir new suits on. "Let me like a soldier fall" is a favourite song of the young man who ought to be .vith the colours but who isn't. The Germans are using wiping sh&ils. ?<?<$x?x!>-? we-e p in?k Sllej7ls. If they resort to laughing gas, the AUIc? won't know whether to laugh or to cry. 'I Extract from a Kidwelly soldier's letter:— The 9th Welsh are flldn it like tigers, and not like a new army, but like old sweats." .c>4 III $: 't ill Had been gassed, but made light of it," says a headline in a. Cardiff journal. Very illuminating. -+-<t>-+4 I\!I When the deputy clerk (Mi- J. W. Thorpe) asked a defendant in a rate summons case at Swansea. Police Court on Thursday why he ¡ did not pay the rates, he replied, *'I :by he deaf. m very ■* ft I All profits made above the average are war profits. No man can do his neigh- hour with a certainty of immunity (ob- serves a correspondent). But can we be so sure of that ? Ex-Councillor "Bob" Williams, of Swan sea, says the Government, by taxing war profits, are "compounding a felony." What (asks a correspondent)' d the coal miners who struck to get a share of the owners' war-time profitfi- What's the price of cigarettes to-day?" as&ed a. Neath man at a local tobacconist's. "-You can have 'em at the old price," was the reply, with the addendum, Don't tell the others, or they'll scratch my eyes out." It was a deal. f had only just come out of prison and I was a bit excited," was the reason given by a Seven asters defendant at Neath on I Friday, < when a lady accused him of rav- ing things which he ought not to have said. I However, the excuse didn't save his pocket. -<?-< t =? $ ?>- < xs' Mr. A. H. Thomas, chairman of the i Bench, at,Z-Aansea Police Court on Wednes-! day, gave Mr. Hy. Thompson A let-son m I Welsh pronunciation. The efforte of the! latter to pronounce Cwmtwrch were more ) than once successful. | > JMivoyet, a Jpaqnth fiincfl the I!.s. Haakon j YtL, 4 -JSForwegian .awfe. steamer, wai siink by a German, submarine and hit, niails j taken. One day this weet business letters arrived iA S,,v e& b<,AX!ng the German post-maric, havsng been re-directed after scrutiny by the Huns. It's all a miatter of temperament. Some people don't mind selling goods at a profit on the cost price, but others take the oppor- tunities presented by the Budget at the ear- llie-st possible moment. Of course, the argu- I ment is that they would take off the ta.x just j ae quickly. We shall se«. A lance-corporal in the 6th Welsh, writing to a xpular Swansea High-street anT,?n?dn t-h-akmg him for smokes sent out, says:— I think the boys will smoke your health, I'm sure, not only think it: And if they all reiiirn to Wales, I'm certain they will drink it." Swansea tobacconists have had a tough patch to hoe the last day or two in justify- ing war tax prices for tobacco and cigar- ettes that had, obviously escaped the duty. No smaH proportion of the protestants against obviously unfair prices are ripe for enlistment in the Anti-Tobacco League. A Cardiff paper claims the skipper of an Elder-Dempster bout as the original Captain Kettle." Swansea shipping folk, however, think they have the real thing in a fiery little Ulster man, who wears his hat at a yery rakish angle, smokes cigars eternally, and quotes patriotic poetry by the yard. He has also the short goatee." This fills the bi21 pretty closely. An unfortunate step taken by Swapsea de- tectives nearly a year ago has cost the rate- payers over LM. But if all the circum- stances could be frankly revealed there would be a general endorsement of the Watch Committee's finding that the oiffcers acted conscientiously, though mistakenly, and from an excess of zeal and misconcep- tion of their powers. After hours ,of inves- tigation, this was the unanimous judgment of the Watch Committee. -< x Miss Lily Bray ton, who appears in "The Spanish Main" at the Grand Theatre next week, is in the front rank of England's lead- ing artistes..Her performance in "The Taming of the Shrew," "The Darling of the Gods," "Romeo and Juliet," and her "Cleo- patra" are household words throughout Eng- land and Australia. The latter country has claimed this great artist to the detriment of h-er. English admirers. So far Miss Bray- todn has only paid a flying visit to Swansea; next week is the first time she has made a protracted stay. Miss Bravton is famed for her wonderful musical voice, charming per- sonality, and ability to play "intense" characters. With wars abroad and rumoun of i]\tr-I nal dissensions at home serious times are be- fore this omtry (says Pro Patria ") which fact inspires an eminent London writer to express himself thus: "There is only one way to win the war and that is by all work- ing together; a.nd if the war is not won there will be iw afterwards to be con- sidered, except in the terms of a German We are in tor a bayonet." And, again, We are in for a fignt to the death with a nation which ie vek-ced both its strength in peace and it., demoniac resources in war upon the prin- ciple of discipline." Mighty words these; providing food for thought.—(" Pro Patria. ") ?i-<:>-< >- < >-?-<?? poor Old Johnl 1 He's backed them up with British cash, He's fed them with munitions, In Flanders he has saved a crash, At sea he's made a- decent splash, VryU Tirpitz he's contrived to hash: And yet John Bull the carpers lash; At him their angry teeth they gnash, When Hindy's serried armies smash Alexeieff's positions. Or Buprecht, like a lightning Sash, In Alsace make? a forward dash; By general recognitions, 'Tis John's to blame; he's made the hash; His efforts have been simple trwsh: Kig only arc all blunders rash, And his 8.1-1 slack omissions. —"Truth." The stout-hearted veteran who utilised a bathing cap to cover the plaoe where his hair used to be finished, alas, among the hlso I ,an H last Saturday. ♦ One of the curiosities of the new income- tax is that a man earning 213-0 pays nothing; a man earning JE131 pays 19s. 9d. How is ct done? Ah! ask McKenna! During Saturday's fighting In the West, the Germans lost in prisoners alone the equivalent of the whole Welsh Army Divi- sion at Winchester "If the gentlemen will give me time toO pay, I will pay immediately." Thus wrote a defendant- to the Neath county justices. It was "immediately" or "thirteen days." One of Swansea's leading grocers still re- tains on the front of his carrier bicycle an invitation to the public to "try our Is. 6d. t.ea." We will. Our preliminary order will be about a ton I-("Mark Once.") The war edition of the "Daily Post" on Sunday gave the Swansea people hours in advance of any other paper the news of the greatest event on the West front since the battle ot the Marne. A fisherman passing through the turn at'le at Mumbles Pier on Sunday evening acci- dentally hooked a soldier, which drew from Captain Twomey the remark that he won- dered "if he was one of those fihers of men we read a bout. The V.T.C. Sports suffered from an excess of good things. Like Barnum and Bailey's Show, tit had to keep going two or three things at a time. And even then it was dark before the last item on the pro- gramme was dealt with. S >* T 0 -< t >-< >-  It was so kind and thoughtful of the dear Cittle boys to line up a party of visitors from the hills at a side entrance of the Swansea Central Police Staition, informing them that it was the early door for I'ictúres and then to dkreetly retire. The tugs-of-war provided the most excit- ing contests at the V.T.C. sports. Some of the tussles were thrillingly even. For in- stance, the finals between the Mumbles and the Salisbury Club, an d the Brecknocks and the 2nd/6th Welsh teams. O-dxXXxfc" The Palace, Neath, is showing this week 7 number of the young heroes who are fight- ing for all that is dear to us. Yes, and hundreds of young men, who ought to be doing the same, have cheered the portraits twice nightly.—("Hotspur.") It was when the gallant 40 to 49 years lined up for their sprint that the porigy lady in the grand xfcand at St. Helen's on Satur- day expressed herself. This is where men are so weak-minded, my dear; fancy us women flaunting our ages before all these thousands of people." Private Billy Morgan, who boied Set- geant Basham, a national champion, at the Y.T.C. Sports, just missed btrr-g cue 004,; th? most famous boxers of hig time. In j point of physique and naf,ûr aptitude, he } bad few equals. t <t>-< i Councillor'-ChallacQmbe was in the soup I again at the Neath Towai Council meeting on Friday. After the report of the Gas Committee had been duly confirmed he wanted to move an amendment. Of course he couidiit. The Mayor told him so. Then he became .very cross. Others also. Then the soup and a vigorous stirring. 3x$»-<jx £ » "One Who Knows" writes:-A lady liv- I ing in Swansea Borough has five sons, I and not one of them has joined. She has the coolness to go talking to her neigh- bours and running them down because their sons or husbands have joined, saying, "My sons will not join because they dress up in good clot-hes;, they don't want army clothes like others." Don't they? Sergt.-major Barrett, the officer in charge of the Briton Ferry recruiting offices, is claimed to be the oldest soldier in uniform in all Wales. The sergeant is 69 years of age, and of smart appearance. It was in I '65 that he took the Queen's shilling and joinoo the South Staffs 58th Regiment. He Jlas seen active service in India where he got the medal and baa- in 1868, and aileo in Egypt in 1882. He also possesses the long-service and good conduct medals. After 27 years' service he was pensioned off, and since that date he has acted as theatrical tour manager with Robert Arthur, Oswald Stoll, Wilson Barrett, and others. On the outbreak of Avar he volunteered as recruiting sergeant, and was accepted and drafted to Briton Ferry, where he has done good work. During the recent colliery troubles in Wales" (writes Mrs. Keyser in the "Pall Mall Gazette," in an article on the women of Frane;e), .some of the women asked me if it were true that a large number of men had stopped work in England. Is it pos- sible? they said, and they looked puzzled, Such a thing could not occur with us. What are the women cf England made, of? We should put an end to it in four-and- twenty hours. How? Why, every woman and girl would spit in the face of the man who wculd lay down his tools in this ter- rible moment. Not one of us would bake a loaf or cook a potato for him who would leave our soldiers in the lurch! Wasn't it a Rhondda. woman who is said to have j said, The Germans are very good to us?" It seems to me that one of the weaknesses of the Church, one of the, defects and faults of the Church to-day, just comes from the fact that we desire as Christians to dis- tinguish ourselves from other Christians who do not quite agree with us upon some minor points and questions, rather than to distinguish ourselves from the world that is outside of us. When we emphasise the fact that, we are Presbyterians, that we are Bap- t.ÎlltP! that we are Congregationalists, or that we are Anglicaiip, we are coining perilously near < denying the Name,' The ouly way to get rid of a pernicious sectional and schismatical religion is to place all the em- phasis upon the all-sufficient name that is above, every name. —(Rev. A. Wynne Thomas, at Argyle Chapel.) 4.<t>-4>' I Corporal V. JoniIIet., recently on short I leave in S-wansea. where his family lives, but now again in the French fighting line, sends a letter to the editor of the Daily Post," of which the following is a transla- tion:—" I sincerely regret that my short stay in Swansea did not jallow me to come to see you. I cherish the dearest memories of this visit and shall never forget the marks of sympathy of which I was the object with the members of the Chamber of Commerce and my other friends in this town, which has been so good to me. The cordial reception I received everywhere has touched me all the more because it was ad- dressed less to the man than to the uniform of the country he represents. Through the intermediary of --olli- valuable paper I send to. all, from the. b-\ttnm of, my heart, my sincerest thanks and beat wishes." < A Swansea "special" had four hours in the ram the other night. One has to take the rough with the smooth. i Many German officers have been made prisoners in Champagne. Not the first time they have been taken in drink. A sioly es told $8 a. sDeci,aJ w h o A story ? told of a ?uecM.T' who coaxed a, vigorous looking inebriated foreigner lying in a park on to a neighbour- mg beat. We refuse to believe it. The- members of the British Mycological Society, now visiting Swansea, can find out some dry-rot in more places than wood if wi-ey inquire in the proper quarter. There was quite a corps of Charlie Chap- lins (?) at the V.T.C. sports on Saturday, but just as the crowd were begnming to enjoy the fun the youthful impersonators were turned off the field. Mr. William Con f-t g, the over- active amusement caterer, is about to ini- tiate at the Palace what may prove to be a most popular innovation. What is it? Wait and see -("Mark Once.") Some think Welsh bad enough, but the Swansea public this week are being invited to take an interest in polysticlus, hebeloma, clandopus, schizcrphyllum, and other fungi. Sounds like -a Russian communique. I You have been through your evidence Nith the other witnesses." suggested a croeE- examining solicitor at Ammanford on Mon- day. I have 1ARn through it with myself, that s all," came the triumphant reply. The whole of the water-colour drawings of British fungi by Mrs. Rea now on exhibition at t'he Royal Institution, Swansea, were drawn from nature. They constitute a most valuable collection, but we do not profess to give their scientific names. t t: t. The ground stewards who had the starters for No. 2 heat lined up ready by the time No. 1 were breasting the tape the other end knew their business, and must be highly complimented for the manner they worked off Saturday afternoon's events.—("Proe- pero. ") What gross extravagance! The Neath Town Council have granted the gas manager the sum of L4 for the purchase of two second-hand bicycles for the use of fitters called to the outlying districts. My wprd, there will be some bone-shaking.—("Hot- spur.") The Ven. Archdeacon Wakeford, who ad- dressed a magnificent congregation of men at St. Alhan's Church, Llanelly, on .Sunday; afternoon, was the clergyman who, eight years ago at the Swansea Church Confer- ence, advocated the nationalisation of minerals and railways t ><> < > Johnny's motto presented "him with a tov donkey on the occasion of his birthday, asked Johnny to call it General French, but that it. wiyuld be.1 a tÙw: on the iamous GeneralY name. mother then suggested that he should call it Kaiser, but the ooy became quite indignant, because he thought that the name Kaiser was an into, to the donkey. At one of the institutions in Swansea an inmate obta-ined his discharge. -Az -he failed to obtain, work of any kind he got the neces- sary admission, order and returned. He was accosted with the remark, "You have returned? Yes, -air. Why didn't you enlist and get out to the front?"—"There is too much smoke out there, sir."—(Col- lapse of official.) ♦ ♦♦ There were many collectors at the V.T.OL sports on Saturday but, according to the Mayor of Swansea, who acted as treasurer, the largest takings were those made by » little lady who acted as keeper for the "bear," and who only had a collecting box for half-an-hour. Her name is Miss Violet Littlewood, of Porthcawl, and she was at- tired in a dress a la mode Italian. Public faith in the assurance that no "Daily Post" special war edition will be issued withfout good aaid sufficient cause was demonstrated on Sunday in the great run made upon the papers containing the best news yet yielded by the efforts of the Allies in the West. The British and French suo- Icesses were announced- in the "Post" hours iii advance of any other paper. And there was no catchpenny taint about the news. It was official and good. j Neath, like most other towns, possesses doubtful assets in the loafing line. These II gentiLemen never seem to work, but generally manage, by some mysterious means, to get their daily whack of beer. Twp of the type were discussing the Budget on Friday. "What do you think of it? asked one of the other. Well," came the reply, I don't see no "arm in it. Strikes me it's only right. If we 'as a Army and Navy we must keep 7,1. up. We must pay, B21; and me and you'll do our bit towards The revocation of the Edict of Nantes— denying freedom of thought to French Pro- testants—brought Huguenot refugees by the thousand to this country. These laid the' foundation for our supremacy in textile gpods. On a smaller scale, the exodus from, Belgium may have the like effect. Before the war 500,000 Belgians lived by lace- making. Under the expert guidance of a.1 Belgian lady the secrets of hand-made lace are being revealed at Swansea in the Arts and Crafts School. ♦♦<><»♦«> Sergeant Johnny Basham is not like some champion boxers we know. He might have gone to America when the war broke out and made thousands rnd thousands of pounds. But he decided for King and country and proudly wears the King's vniform. Basham is a real good sport. After boxing at Ply- mouth on Friday evening he travelled all the way from Ply.nouth to Swansea to keep faith with the public cfter he had promised f to appear and only crrived here at, 4.30 on Saturday afternoon. The great re- ception accorded him fully repaid Basham for his long journey. May he become cham- pion of Europe next month! The most amusing item was not in the program me of the .T.C. Sports on Satu;t' dav at Swansea. An officei- and three.oi". four men in khaki were" holding on to the rope for the tut? of war, when a bevy of small Girl Guides took up the loose end and began to pull. The ofiker, who held* on, whilst the others one by one dropped off, was dragged helplessly over the sward Then, to the order Stand by!" men and boys attached themselves to the rope and by sheer weight of numbers checked the victorious course of the maidens. The ilatter, though, had their revenge. When being pulled against most violently they all sad- denly let go. with the result taat thoir: rivals went down in a bunch. • V