Llanelly Star

In the Coils of Battle. (By Sapper Llew. Basset). I Calm before the Storm. I The infantry go over the top at dawn, after a short and heavy bombardment. The men are aware of this now. Thou- sands of troops move up the Imu. Every Division has its road; every Brigade has its allotted track to reach the front line. The moon is lurking behind the clouds. It is light enough to see the way. The sky is overcast with dark clouds, threaten ing Tommy with his constant friend the "rain." Our guns have been thumping away all day, but now they are surpris- ingly quiet. A silence comes over the night. Only a solitary shell is fired here and there from our guns. The German guns are also quiet. The unusual calm, has set them guessing, wondering what our move is next. ThLY know there is something coming off, but they are at a loss to know when we are going to strike. In these quiet hours the men are moving up. They are equipped in battle order, moving along like a human chain. How steady they inarch; what determination is set in their faces. Not a word is spoken. Each cne has a thought in his mind; the thought of "Home, sweet home," and whether they will see it again. Well may their thoughts bo. when soon they will be in the "inferno" of death dealing engines "of destruction, where scientilic barbarism is used to de- stroy human life. The storming infantry have reached. their particular destination ready for the time to go over the top. The Bombardment. The time has come for the bombard- ment. The silence is broken. Our bat- teries open out; heavy guns and light guns are pounding away. A continual roar is heard, a deafening row. Behind the position to he stormed, and where our guns lay, the very earth seems to vomit firk..Rapid red flashes stab the night everywhere. The noise is. terrific; one cannot hear another speaking, be one ever so near. Shells that make a noise like an express train, .shells that shriek and whistle go spinning through the. air. The rapid firing of our held guns is heard Our destructive barrages are over the German line, and all over their communi- cations. Red, white and green star shells, and S.O.S. signals shoot up from the German positions. The Hun gun- ners reply to our shell fire. They also put barrages over the British lines, and a lot of counter battery work is going on- It is a duel between both artilleries. Just picture the infantry in this "in- ferno." Well wo may be proud of our fighting lads. With all the guns we have at work in destroying German strong- holds, it is the infantry after all, with bomb and bayonet', who have to take them. The Attack. I Dawn is breaking fa-st, and with it comes the rain.. Our barrage is lifted farther into the German lines. The word is passed along to the infantry, "Get ready; five minutes to go." What. an ago this scorns- The suspense is great. 1 One can imagine what passes in the mind during this time. At last the command is given "Over the top," and away they go through bursting shell, through machine gun fire. Some of the men are hit early on. The line is weakening, but it istilot broken. On they go undaunted to take their objective. A party of men would -st/orTP- a "Pepper box," and fetch the German machine gunners out, leaving them to find their way down our lines. The Huns fight here as they have never fou ght bef ore. Where they have been caught by our barrage and instead of taking the risk of going through it, thef have taken cover in a shell hole. Our men have come up to them and forced them to fight. Instances there arc, where there had bfvm n. fight. both our Tommy and the German had fought to the death. Through shell holes filled with throiiwli a shell ridden woods in f:"Ce of a murder- ous; machine gun ifre, our men have ad- vanced. Their courage, their dash, their j determined obstinacy is soon rewarded. They have reached their goal. The ob- jective is gained, and now they are look- ing forward to German counter attacks. Prisoners of War. Two hours from the time the British troops went over the top, grey uniformed booted, square headed, grey uniformed, deluded victims of their demi-God, the Kaiser, were plodding down our lines as prisoners of war. One would see one of our Tommies leading as many as fifty of them down, passing them on to the military police, and they in their turn taking them to the P.O.W. cages. From their expression they looked pleased that they were going away from the inferno of battle. Well they may be. Although prisoners of war, they will be safe for the duration of war. Passing through our line they would see our guns, see the abundance of shells, see more troops going up to the battle. All this would give them the impression that their brothers and cousins would still have a rough time. I would not be far wrong in saying that they would rather be be- hind our lines than the German lines. The Wounded.. The battle is still raging, the Bosches Lave counter attacked sevcyal times, but our IlkIs have clung lo their llCW si- tions and repulsed all attacks up to now. In battles like these the coiiditioii lighting are getting beyond the endur- ance of human beings. These last kittles- -iii T l icse 1,-ist are fat worso than Loos, or the Somrno, or any others that have been in this war. It has been a big sacrifice for our men. The wounded are brought down to the front aid posts; the serious cases on stretchers and the walking cases hobbling j along as best they can. The stretcher bearers arc busy carrying their burden of pain. These devoted workers arc do- ing their duty splendidly. They have no fear and self is their last thought. The R.A.M.C. perioral a great and arduous task on these occasions, and it is wonder- ful how perfect their organization is car- ried out. Tile Survivors. The storming troops that have sur- vived the ordeal are relieved by fresh men. They come plodding along; their appearance speaks for itself what priva- tions they have suffered what hardships they have been in. They are covered with mud from boots to their helmet; their boots are soddened with wet. Their faces wear the strain of battle. They are pleased to come out from the inferno. It would lie a blessing if they did not see the line again, but that cannot be. They have survived the battle only to liva to prCpGTO thcmselrcs for the next "do." How soon they will be required cue can- not s.?y. There is on? thllg;Ll L will not deny, and that is, they do not want to see the line again. "The de- ciding issue seems as far off as ever," one remarked. "I wish they had one good splash and have done with it," an- other of them would say. "What do you think Bill ? Do you know that ridge we took." Bill: Yes. "Well they .are after another one again." Bill: ",Yen them damned square heads must be making those ridges." Such would be I another part of their conversation. Weil, there is logic in a great deal of what Tommy says. He is only a mere atom he does not know how distant the end is. He cannot fathom this terrible war. He knows very little; he only knows what he sees, and has seen enough to give him the impression that the end is not in sight yet. The war must go on until Prussian militarism is crushed; that Tommy knows. Although he has a feeling of despondency at times, he will not fail to do his duty until victory is achieved. All the soldiers wish the war was over and won. May they not have to wait lon,?, for the en d  long for the end. After this terrible war may warfare become impossible between humanity. The new engines of destruc- tion that arc for ever being and used, are leading fast to that end. Samper L. Bassebt, mth Field Co., R/R.

Pnper Sandwich Servers for ser'vFng four different kinds of Sandwiches; 7id. Bex.—Star Stationery Stores.

Occasional Notes .— [By Arthur Mee.] MAYOR AND MAYORESS. Some time ago I tried to voice in this column the deep sympathy I felt with Alderman David Davies in his illness, coupled with the earnest hope that a friend and colleague of thirty years might soon be restored to his old sphere of usefulness. It is now announced that Mr. Davies. will retire from public life and devote himself exclusively to journal- ism. This is Swansea's municipal loss, but it is also a great journalistic gain. Swansea, has had few better mayors than Alderman Davies, and as for the Mayoress her praises arc in everybody's mouth. May Mr. Davies have long years of usefulness still in front of him We want such men in these critical times. CARDIFF'S NEW ENGINEER. I was delighted to see that an old Llanelly boy has been appointed Ciuditf's Borough Engineer. It is a mote im- portant post, but Mr Edward LI. Morgan will be fully equal to it. In taking up his new duties Mr. Morgan will fre mat- his ancestral home so to spea k, for his able and eloquent father hailed iroiii 6t. Mellons. The Welsh name of St. Mellons is Llaneurwg, and the Llancllrit-e who has net heard of "Lieurwg" feaa j&tsi jto be discovered. MAN'S FIGURES, AND COD'S. A good many of us have been ponder- ing lately over the five or six thousand million sterling which the great war is costing us—a sum which if disiribuKn! would give a sovereign to ( very man, woman and child OIl the u. fcko earth Stupendous figures, yet after all they sink into insignificance beside those with which the astronomer deals. I have been led to this thought whilst turning over the pages of a little book jusk com- piled by my friend Mr. T. E. Heath, F.R.A.S., of Tenby. Mr Heath has made a special study of the distances, magni- tudes and spectra- of the so-called Fixed Stars, and in this connexion his name is well known in the scientific world. By the way this little book is sold for the h,enefit of the War Emergency Depot at Tenby. It is priced at half-a-orown, and for that sum the reader will get as many figures a.s will last him for the rest of his life. STELLAR £ • PACE. Most people know, or ought to know, that our Sun is really a star, or to put it in another way that the stars are really all suns, and they shine so feebly because of their enormous distaa.ee. Our earth spins round the Sun at a di^Wnco of over ninety million miles, whilst Nep- tune (the outermost planet so far as we know) is thirty times further away tduiii that." Light travels at the rate of 186,000 odd miles a second, and if you take the distance of the earth from tke Sun as one inch, then the distance light travels in i ycat. is represented by aJaiost exactly a mile. I OFF TO THE MIKY WAY. I These estimates are Mr. Heath's, and he tells us further that on the basis of an inch as the distance of the eacfck b-oal the Sun, the distance of -N-eptutio from that great orb is 30 inches. Think of it But there is more to follow. To the great star Arcturus on the same scale is 43 miles, to Rigel or Canopus 4i5 mils "And if we took ship to America we might probably come to the boginniag of the Milky AY ay before we arrived, ai-d get through it before wo came to the Pacific." Such are some of God's figures. Nor is He less prodigal in the magnitude cf his greatest stars, for Canopus is estimated to be one hundred a" twelve million miles in diameter: in othu werds. Canopus is as much larger than our Sun as the Sun is larger than our earth. Ponder these things, my reader, when jloxfc YQu are worried by eur liatili- ties

Board of Guardians, -—— — A meeting of the Board of Guardians was held on Thursday when Mr. W. Y. Nevill presided. A Sad Case. Lady Howard reported that she had not succeeded in finding a permanent home for an epileptic girl in the House. The girl had been sent to two institu- tions, and in each case they declined to keep her. In the second institution it was found necessary owing to the girl's behaviour to place one nurse entirely in her charge, and as the institution was understaffed they could not do so. The girl had since returned to the workhouse. The Board thanked Lady Howard for the interest she had taken in the case. A Woman's Removal. A letter was read from the Local Government Board regarding the re- moval of a woman to the Asylum, and stating that in future the relative should a lways be notified before such removals took place. Mr. Win. Pugh said the woman's hus- band had also seen him upon the matter. The man was much annoyed because he did not see any report of his having sup- • ported the written protest which he sent to the last meeting. Deaiituts Aliens. The Clerk acknowledged the receipt of J.¡a 19s. from the Government for the J j relief of. destitute aliens in the district. I 1 Improved Vagrancy Figures. I The Clerk called attention to the fact I that there was a further improvement- in the vagrancy quarterly returns. LH '.> ,L. v. A Special Operation. The minutes of the- Finance Committee shoved that it was recommended to pay: Dr. E. Evans for a special operation, and i:3 3s. for assistance in administering anaesthetics. The recommendations were adopted. Drapery Tenders. In moving the adoption of the minutes of the House Committee the Chairman (Lady Howard) called attention to the tenders for drapery, and said it had been suggested that a double quantity be ordered as fie prices were likely to rise and it would probably be more difficult to obtain what they required later on. Not desirable. A question arose as to the proposal to employ a lad under 13 years of age on a farm, and Lady Howard said the House Committee felt that it was not desirable that a boy of that age should be placed on a farm <1t£6 10s. I hey thought he should remain in the House until he was 14 years of age at least. It was decided that the boy should re- It (1(,cided tliit the I)oN- sl I nt tl,(, Sytcrsased Wages. Lady Howard said that in these days most of the time of Boards was occupied in considering applications for increased wages, and that Board did not seem to I bo an exception to the rule, but still if they wanted to retain their staff they had I to be prepared to pay as good wages as was being paid elsewhere. Applications for an increase had been received from i the cleaners and dressmaker. I At Bryntirion. I The Master reported that there were I V25 inmates in the House as compared with 140 for the corresponding period of last year. During the last week only five vagrants were dealt with. There was a decrease of 430 inmates during the last six mosths. I The Master reported that Lady Howard, Mr. Samuel Rees, Llangennech, and Mrs. Davies, Brynmair, had given various gifts to the sick. They were also indented to Lady Howard for giving the inmates a drive. j A vote of thanks was accorded the donors.

^lathematicians at a local office on Thursday, after reading a report of the rareTptious made in the House of Lords concerning the purchase of honours, were making ç'akuhtiong as to the sum I paid by a certain Knight. 4J si

Appointment of Teachers I QUESTION OF SALARY. J A meeting of the Borough Education Committee was held on Wednesday even- ing when Coun. J. Walter Thomas pre- sided, and there were present the Mayor (Aid. D. James 'Davies), Aid. Joseph Koberts, Ald. H. D. Rees, Mrs. Phillips, Councillors D R Jones, Thomas Jones, J. L. Jones, John Hughes, W. Powell Pees, Morgan Morgan, D. Jennings, and W. E. Clement. Nothing Fresh. Coun. J. L. JOBes asked whether any correspondence had been received regard- ing Mr. Dan F. Griffiths. The Clerk I have not heard anything I since I la.st reported to the Committee. Appcintment of Certificated Teachers. Seevn application were received for the appointment of two certificated teachers and it was decided to reduce the number to three in the first ballot, the result be- ing as follows;- Mr. J. Edgar Rees Maesteg (late J. l,Igar R-c?es -Nlac,,?teg (ILite Mr. Du. Powell, Neath (I;?c of 40.' (. d. i#(J\\l\H _Ll¡lt¡l .late 01 I J Lll;, n:) 11 C'orpl. Hiram E. Richards (iax-e of a i c Mr. J. Griffiths, Llausamlet 3 Mr. W. J. Harries. Port Talbot 2 Mr. Robert E. Bonllell, Holloway, I (late of Pwli) 1 I Mr. W. H. Mitchell, Abordiire 1 The final ballot resulted as follows:- Mr. David Powell a Corpi. Hijam E. Richards. 9 Corpl. E. J. Pees S I On the motion of the Chairman, Mr. PoweII and Corp!. Richards were ap- p 0 111 L- (I pointed A Que^ior. of Salary. Coun. Clement: What will be the salary paid to these teachers ? The Clerk: It depends what view the committee will take in the matter. A letter has been received from Mr. Powell with regard to the salary. In his letter \1r. Poweil drew the com- mittee's attention to tht! inadequate salary owing to the existing regulations, and asked them to recognize his seven years experience under other authori- ties. The Clerk said that at the last meet- ing of the Committee the minimum salary of the certificated and uncertifi- cated teachers was. raised according to what the Board of Education should be paid. The Mayor: According to cur scale we recognize previous service ? The Clerk: Y L' Aid. Roberts Isn't it three years that we recognize ? The Clerk: Y-. The. salary Coun. Jennings: I submit that he with the other should participate in the Fisher grant. Aid. Roberts: AVe cannot differentiate. Coun. Jennings: He would get a por- Ition of the Fisher grant if he remained at Neath. It was decided that the newly appointed teachers he paid according to scale. Aid. Roberts: In the event of Corpl. Richards being unable to get his dis- charge from the Army, I propose that Mr Pees be appointed. This was secon ded and agreed to. but it was stated that it was not anticipated there would be much difficulty in Corpl. Richards' case as he was in a very low category. Uncertificated Teachers. Nine applications were received for the appointment of two uncertificated teachers, and it was dccided to reduce the number to four in the first ballot after one had on account of her age been disqualified. The result of the first- ballot was as follows:— Miss Muriel D. Tanner, n;gyn rd. 13 Miss Keziah Charles. Sandy 10 M'ss M^. bel M. P;eho,ds, Coldstream street 8 Miss Rachel A. Bowcn, Sandy 6 .ris Arm:; Dr1\'i('" ni!I"l r('[!.t1  | Miss Am? Dnvr? B?g? r?n d o j Miss Sybil Richards, BIgyn road 5 j Mis? Ann)? L. St?phpn- Ponyfon st. 4 [ Miss Edith L. Evans, Bryn 1 In tno final. ballot the result was as follows Miss Muriel D. Tanner 11 Miss Mabel M. Richards 9 j Miss K. Charles 6 J Miss R. A. Bowen 2 I The Clerk formally moved that Miss Tanner and Miss Richards be appointed, j and this was agreed to. Coun. D. R. Jones: There is a great disparity between the average attend- ance and the accommodation at Bigyn I School. Coun. Jennings: Yes, but we cann'? I build new schools now. I A good cause. A letter was read from Mr. Pearson asking the committee to allow the distri- bution of envelopes at the various schools for the purpose of collecting for the purpose of collecting for the institu- tion for blinded soldiers. It was decided to accede to the appli- cation. Tender for Coal. It was resolved to accept the tender of Mr. Wpi. Eynon for the supply of coal.

INFANT WELFARE COMMITTEE. I 1 lijlil J.ihL. s a Amount prevuujely aeknow- ledged 103 11 10 The Mayor of Llanelly J 0 Messrs. Lipton and Co. Ltd. 1 1 0 Dr. Brooks 1 1 0 Total £ 200 IS 10 11th List. Amount previously acknow- ledged 10 Mr. F. A. Davies, Goring road 1 1 0 Mrs. Clifford Bowen 1 1 0 Mrs. Montgomery 1 1 0 Mrs. Kenny 0 10 6 Total £ 204 12 4 I Mary D. Yv\ Spowart, Hon. treasurer, Borough of Llanelly Infant Welfare Fund.

j Join the VoIiMeers. a MEN CAN ENROL AT THE DRILL HALL BETWEEN THE J HOURS OF 7.30 AND 9 O'CLOCK i i| CN TUESDAY AND FRIDAY J EVENINCS.

Volunteer Battalion. 0! *i .I Battalion Orders by Lieut.-Col. W. N. Jones, commanding 1st Battalion, Car- I marthenshire Volunteer ,)Him,il: I n..n.L'??y. ??:?di.? I" Monday, 1.2;3 p.m., N.C.O.'s Class. Tuesday, 7.2o p.m., Plateca Drill and Musketry. p.m., Bayonet Fight- ing and Physical Training. Thursday. p.m.. Bombing. Frida: 1.2;3 p.m., Company Drill and Musketry. Di-ess.-Plain elothes; Armlets to be worn. Sections D. and R.—The Commanding Officer trusts that all members in Sec- tions D. and R. will attend as many drills as possible. Sections A, B and C.—Enrolled mem- bers can enter Sections A, B and C (as eligible) by signing Army Form V. 4010. on any of the above drill nights or duriae the day-time at the temporary ofifces c the Battalion. (Signed) A. G. Thomas, Major,  Acting Adjutant 1st Bat. Carm. Vnl. Rgt I

Recipe for Rheumatism And All Uric Acid CcmDls-nts. Take 1 teaspoonful of FFYNNON SALT in half a pipfc of hot water everv morning before breakfast. FFYNNON SALT clears the brain, heart, liver and kidneys, and neutrai- ise, both Uric and Bilic Acids, snd so effectively clears the Pvsfcem of all troublesome complaints. Jt is sola 1 bv Chemists and Grocers evervwhertc or direct from Evan Jones, Chemist. Llanelly. lB. per 8-oz. tin.

Church Property,. r- T TRANSFERRING GLEBE LAND. At the meeting of the County Council' on A\ ednesday, a communication was considered from the Welsh Church Com- missioners stating they were advised that a clause in the Welsh Churc h Act was now operative anti that they had already received a number of applications for their consent in regard 10 transactions in glebe land. which would ultimately be transferred to County Councils. Owing to certain technicalities the Commission- ers found that unless some arrangement i*. as made all sales of .ancient glebe land under the Act must be foregone until after the date ox Disestablishment, and possibly altogether. The Commissioners had therefore e. t,-> • the matter to all the Welsh county councils and suggest that they should consent yO the holding of any movie's hecomlug payable under the section in th-- /ct bv the Com- missioners in trust, fcr the Conutv Coun- cils until the date of Disestablishment. In moving th> the County Council ac- quiesce in the suggestion. Mr. Morvyn Povl said it d a difh. ulty which the owneis c; the p' ipertv might fed at the p:y-ent time, and aUo remove a technicality T .th regard to the t ans- lerence of that property to the Cojnty Council. He thought every member of the Coun;]]. whatever denominate r he belonged to, would see the rev euabie- ness of the suggestion. Aid. Ben EVaus asked the the County Council. had a vo-ic- in v-i,. sale of the propert. nune'rot; he the money came to the County Cwatscils and therefore it was o.ily fair that they should have some veiee "I the S: iiing and in seeing tl Ilk sale wa-- realized to the best advantage. The Clerk (Mr. J. W. Nichcla.-) saic his reply was "Ye." and that it was based on the s, et:?" Mr. Peel said County Councils he. no Commissioners existed. It was only after-the Commissioners ceased to ■■ xist that. County Councils had such power. Rev. Fuller Mills ;¡;-k"d for more time to consider the Commissioners' h tt e and it was referred to the fhu.rtce committee for a report.

Old Lad y am! her Money. BRYNTiRION IN'M-Alrl WITH £ 300. At the inectki'ig of J, Bo > • d of ( ii-d- ians on Inursday, air. V» said that some or the uouHtos bad J1"(": y in 2-. e V, cii !}; The jnicrest earjK?. v':? -?v 2^ per nt. ??dhp?vctdd i.?i?L.?).- ??di-i- a better ]nvp<-tmci.tc?i'<n'?'??,<-?;Ti?? I?\vcuid bo ol ad\ to the pa .per if she ever leu the house. The Clerk e\-pk:ip<-] thai the Board could only take the cb.t ci her main- tenance from the woman. Mr. Pugh: J. am at the busi- ness > i (lf u; j ],. quosi.jon. Rev. Trevor Jove- "•;<:■! ho km-, the not interfere a. she- pec uliar about her money. The Chairmen < Mr YT. Y \-t ) that if any member I'o.ill give her friendly advice it woi,i-! k good -i.ing. Rev. Trevor Jem> J; -y opinion it will be perfectly useless. b i I. c-st could be doubled, em, h- >twd that Lady Howard niigua u-a L." influence in -0., 12 Lady Howard said some o'd people tho .gM the safest -ace to keep money wa, an 'laughter') Whik- ,,1.> .1id not cars to 111 ten ere wish iair*' cho I" • i',ad vise- her. TL m-as 1ad(:, the moiev ) the War Lean. Mr. Pugli Th.Ji O.'H'.Olilii- best.security in the "1: to-dn" It was d«Nded 1- J- v .d tC advise the old lady.