Llangollen Advertiser Denbighshire Merionethshire and North Wales Journal

IPhrtha, IRarriageo ant) ptatits. DEATH. SJONfeS.—On Mav 11. ag-ed 61. GMnor, widow of the late Thomas Jones, Britannia,- Vron, LiaaxgoUen.

Local Wills, I I Miss M. E. Heigh way, Shrewsbury, left estate of the gross value of £ 13,986. Mr. Hunter Spence, Roden Lodge, Wem, left estate of the value of £ 1,106 17s. lid. Mr. Benjamin Bryan, of Burgedin, Mont- gomeryshire, retired hawker, left estate of t be gross value of £ 19,599. Mr. John Issaxd Davies, a native of Tref- eglwys, of Llys Meiriou, Carnarvon, who died on March 8, left estate of the gross value of £ 33,350, of which £ 10,728 is net personalty. Dame Emily G. E. Pigot of Hebron, Brack- 11611, Berks, widow of Sir Robert Pigot, Bart., M.P. for Bridgnorth until 1852, when I .be was unseated on petition, left £ 10,127 18s: i f3d, Testatrix bequeathed, her Ottoman Bonds and £100 and shares in any Briskfield or Brick- Company to Eric and Aliston McQuiston; .01 Our Hall to her son, desiring him to allow It to be used for Christian work and preaching Mrs. Eliner Jacobson, and certain picturcs to her son and daughter equally. The residae of her property she left to her said son.

The Council of the Na&snal Library of (Wales having no funds at its disposal to pur- chase rare books, manuscripts, or literature of a general character, a sum of £ 5,000 has been placed at the disposal of the Library b-y an anonymous donor. The sum will be miaid in instalments of iLlgW a year., Ifi.r;¥j1,Œq, ;).

I I Redistribution Prospects. f 11. Problems arising out of the Representation of the People Bill, which passed it's second reading in the House of Commons last week, I are likely to exercise the mind of party officials and politicians more acutely than that of the man-in-the street. But they must have con- siderable interest for every intelligent elector, i and the operations of the Boundary Gom- i missioners, engaged on readjusting the I demarcations 1,. of electoral divisions will be I watched with very general attention by j many of our readers. Possibly, the Com- missioners have got rather further ahead with their work than many people imagine. At any rate, there is plenty of evidence that things are stirring behind the scenes, though no j information has yet been officially published. II, is, however, not difficult to assume what ¡ will be the result of the application of certain general principles of the relationship of repre- sentation to population. Working on this assumption, Mr. Cyrus J. Evans, secretary of the Welsh National Liberal Council, has j prepared a statement relating to Wales, from which it appears that, applying strictly the Speaker's Conference report proposals, the Principality will lose two seats. If, on the other hand, Wales is given. the number of seats which the population entitles it to as a separate unit-and this is a point for which the Welsh Parliamentary Party, through Sir I Herbert Roberts are pleading—it will gain two seats, and have 36 members. But, in either case, it is obvious that the weight of representation will be considerably shifted from North to South Wales. Almost inevitably all the North Wales Boroughs will be merged into their respective county divisions, and even two county constituencies, Merioneth and Radnor, may disappear as separate Parliamentary units. What will become of them is not quite clear. Nor is it possible at present to speak definitely of the reshuffling of the Shropshire seats, which will probably be reduced to three. Shrewsbury, of course, will cease to return its own borough member, and presumably will become the headquarters, though not necessarily, or even probably, the geographical centre of a county division. As to the present Oswestry Division, shall we return to something analogous to the old "North Shropshire" of the days before the last redistribution of 1885, leaving Ludlow to spread its tentacles eastward along the southern boundary ? Well, we can only advise our readers to "wait and see." All that does seem certain is that both Shropshire and North Wales must make up their mind to a reduction in their numerical representation in the House of Commons. It will be naturally regretted, for local reasons, but, under the new basis of allotment aocording to popula- tion, it is unavoidable.

Welsh War Memorial& i Sir Watkin said the other day that it might be thought a little premature to talk of war memorials at the present time, but he hastened to defend their early dis- cussion on the ground that we have to think of the future. It would be folly not to do so, and we are glad to learn that the subject is so largely occupying public at- tention in North Wales. The chief danger, indeed, seems to be lest, in our enthusiasm, we suffer some overlapping, and allow varioHB schemes to' be regarded as rival appellants for public favour. This would be very unfortunate and should be avoided at all costs. We think it can be avoided, though it does not follow that there need be only one scheme. So far as North Wales as a whole is concerned undoubtedly the general project which holds the field is that to which Mr. R. J. Thomas of Holyhead has so generously contributed and on whose behalf Lord Kenyon and others so forcibly pleaded at Wrexham, last week, for the ¡I erection of new science buildings in con- nection with the University College at Bangor. It is a heroic iflea which will, we hope, command generous support in that part of the Principality educationally served by Bangor, and small towns like Llanfyllin, where the difficulties of raising a purely local memorial were discussed by the Town Council on Thursday, may well be urged to contribute their quota to this more general scheme. On the other hand, there are larger towns where a more directly local scheme I is likely to capture the imagination, and ,among these is the admirable proposal, successfully launched at Wrexham last v/eek, for the erection of a new Infirmary I to serve the growing and insistent needs of ¡ that borough and the teeming industrial villages of East Denbighshire. No doubt, Ias Lord Kenyon said, such a scheme is necessary in any case, but we confess we? j fail to understand what wto be gained, in 1 the interest of the Bangor College project, I by ruling it out of count as a war m?mo- rial. We think the Mayor of Wrexham struck a happier note when he pointed out that there is ample room for both schemes, and that both memorials were needed. It is, indeed, significant that Mr. R. J. Thomas has himself contributed J3100 to the Wrexham, project, thus ruling any idea of rivalry out of reasonable reckoning. Certainly as a local war memorial we can conceive no more appropriate proposal than the new Intirmary, and its appositeness will be still further enforced if, as we earnestly trust, it is designed to provide for the treatment not only of local indus- trial casualties but of the war-disabled, who will for some years to come have so large a claim upon our solicitude and constant medical attention. For this reason, in our opinion, it obviously excludes the possi- bility of any serious local alternative, and we note, without regret, that the Town Council's consideration of the Vicar of Wrexham's suggestion that the borough memorial should take the form of alter- ations to the parish church was, at their last meeting, "deferred for another two months The Military and Tribunals. I Certain incidents which have lately occurred at some of our Welsh border local tribunals seem to point to the advantage of a clear re-statement as to what the functions of the | tribunals are and what they are not. It should j be, and, we hope, is unnecessary to remind the military authorities that these courts are not part of the military system. They are not a recruiting agency whose business is to find men for the Army. As an authority on this subject has just pointed out, as a matter of fact, all the men who come before them are already m the Army. Their duty is to pro- I tect the men from being called up by the Military when they' are entitled to a certi- ficate undet "a," b," "c," or d." A Tribunal, as the term signifies, is a judicial body and must act with strict impartiality, arriving at a decision in each instance in accordance with the evidence placed before it. The military authorities, of course, are repre- sented at the sittings, and generally very efficiently represented, but they appear as advocates and not as dictators, a position duly emphasized by the recent declaration of the King's Bench that they must retire, with other parties to the case, when the decision of the court is being discussed. I Uniform Weights We are particularly glad to note that the Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture, on Saturday, made, up its mind almost unani- mously that the time is ripe for the adop- tion of a uniform scale of weights. Most business men have long ago realised the absolute necessity, to say nothing of the convenience, of such a change in view of the growth of international trade likely to develop after the war, and it is satisfactory to learn that at last even farmers are fall- ing into line. Whether the particular system adopted be the metric or the cental matters less than that the general principle of an abandonment of our stupid insular eccentricities should be agreed upon. They confuse even traders in our own different markets, where local custom" often varies bewilderingly, and they are utterly useless for foreign interchange. Our colonies have long since learned the advan- tage of uniformity, and a British Colum- bian Government official who recently visited the writer expressed his astonish- ment that English and Welsh farmers should. still cling to their "local weights." It is surprising; but we hope we may now count on a greater prospect of early reform. And if the cental system can be proved to be superior to the metric let that be the standard, at any rate in agriculture. It would at least be the gain of a most im- portant and welcome principle of trade Isimplification.

I-LANRH AI ADR. THE SCHOOL.—-The diocesan inspector Who visited the se-hpol on May 1. reports: Pbis school Ihas done well as usual.' The rekgious teaching continues to receive the attention it deserves and is thoroughly well done." The remark of "excellent" has been gained in regard to the religioi-is education and the discipline and tone of the school. The following soholaim have gained certificates: Black: Noo-a. Jones, Barbara E. Buckley, William T. Davies, Edwud Thomas, Sarah E. Davies, and Sarah 1?. Jubb? Blue: &ar?h E. DavEieds. ith Thomas, Elsie M. DCnias, winiam J. Evens, (?m,l F. Emeat Hughes, E. Vincent Davies, ajid "fames Roberts; Red Mary E. Butcher, Iris H. Evans, and Sarah Breeee; V lolet: Gertrude Evans, Annie E. Thomas, Milctmi M. Buckley, and Mary C. Price; Cold Sairah Williams, Annie M. Davies, C. Sus- annaJh Jones, S. Elizabeth Vaug-han, Frederick H. Howell, and Edward Breese; Honour Katie BuUock, Ada b. Bwklev. Amy F\J«ines. Fl-he; • Evans, and David Thomas; ex-Honour: Recom- mended for a prize, Robeirt Hughes. »

I Senator Pearce, Australian Minister of Defence, announces that he has proposed o the Federal Government that the remnant of the first Australian contingent should be given leuve and sent back to Australia to recuperate. Fifteen persons were killed in a recent fire caused by explosions in a munition factory at Bolovec, in Bohemia, and it is believed that 50 others are buried under the wreckage. Information received at Havre -indicates that at Ghent and other districts behind the front the Germans have taken measures for the deportation of all men from 15 to 60 years of age. Many of them will be sent to the oorth of France.

I PERSONAL. Lord and Lady Harlech spent Whitsuntide at Brogyntyn. Sir Charles Henry, Bart., M.P., has been added to Lord Balfour of Burleigh's Com- mittee on Commercial and Industrial Policy. I Captain M. C. D. Cordeaux, R.G.A., who was seriously wounded during the last ad. vanco in France, has been awarded the Mili- tary Cross. He is a cousin of Mr. C. Whitley Owen, Fronfraith, Abermule. The King of Italy has conferred. the order of commander of the Crown of Italy on Col. (temp. Major-General) Edward Ranulph Kenyon, R.E., brother of Mr. R. Ll. Kenyon, Pradoe, chairman of Shropshire Quarter Ses- sions and recorder of Oswestry. Mr. John Redmond, M.P., the Irish leader, arrived in Llangollen on Wednesday evening en route via the Holyhead road from Ireland to London. He appeared in the best of health and spirits, remaining with Mrs. Redmond at the Hand Hotel, and had nothing at all to say on political matters. He left for London on Thursday. The marriage of Captain lienyon-Slaney, Grenadier Guards, Aide-de-Camp to the Duke of Devonshire, Governor General of Canada, only son of the late C-Ionel Kenyon-Slaney, M.P. for Newport and Lady Mabel Kenyon- Slaney, and Lady Mary Hamilton, eldest daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Abac* oorn took place at Ottawa on Thursday. Amongst the large congregation present at a memorial service for officers, non-commis- sioned officers and troopers of the Household Battalion who fell in the battle of Arras, held at Brompton parish church, S.W., on Friday, were Major Lord Penrhyn and officers of the I-st Life Guards, General the Hon. F. Bridge- man and the Hon. Mrs. Bridgeman, and Capt. Sir John Shelley, representing Lieut.-General Sir Francis Lloyd. Amongst the officers who had the honour of being received by the King on Wednesday and invested with the Distinguisl- a Service Order, was Lieut-Col-Ralph C. Donaldson- Hudson, Royal Flying Corps, formerly of the 12th Lancers and Shropshire Yeomanry, only son of the late Mr.C.Donaldson-Hudson,M.P., for Newcastle-under Lyme. He was mention- ed in dispatches in April 1916. Captain William G. Thomas, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was decorated with the Military Cross the game day. We regret to state that the latest news from the War Offioe is that Mr. Julian A. Soamea, son of Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Soamea of Bryn Estyn, Wrexham, is not only wound- ed, but probably missing. Mr. Soames was at the battle of Mons, was wounded at Com- piegne before the battle of the Marne, and has been abroad throughout the war with very little leave. He was on the Somme front as Flight Commander, Royal Flying Corps, at the beginning of those operations, and only recently rejoined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers at Arras. The death has occurred at Middlewich Manor of Mr. William Roy lance Court, who was one of the best-known Cheshire sports- men of his time. When the Duke of West- minster gave up the Mastership. of the, Cheshire Foxhounds in 1911 Mr. Court and Captain W. Higson were elected- to succeed him in joint control, and the arrangement was carried on sunccessfully until their retire- ment in 1915. Mr. Court, who was born in 1852, had hunted for half-a-century with the Cheshire Hounds. He was for 38 years a member of the famous Tarporley Hunt Club, and formerly its President, A memorial service for the late Rajah of Sarawak, cousin of Mrs. Arthur Lovett. Greenfields, Weston Rhyn, was held on Thursday in the chapel of St. Michael and St. George at St. Paul's Cathedral. The service was oonducted by Bishop Montgomery, Prelat-e of the Order, with whom was the Bishop of Sarawak. In the chapel were the Tuan Muda and the Dayang Muda of Sarar wak (Capt. Bertram Brooke, R.A., and Mrs. Brooke), Mr. Willes Johnson (nephew) and Mrs. Johnson, and Capt. Brooke Johnson (,nephew), Mr. Walter Long, M.P., Secretary for the Colonies (cousin), was repesented by the Earl of Leitrim. The Rev. the Hon. Maurice Berkeley Peel, M.C., who has been killed while rescuing j wounded, was the younger son of the first Viscount Peel, some time Speaker of the House of Commons. He was born in 1784, j and was educated at Winchester and New College, Oxford, where he took honours in the History Schools. After leaving Oxford House, Bethnal-green, and was eventually or- dained in 1899. From 1899 tol906 he was attached to St. Simon Zelotes, Bethnal-green, and, after filling the position of Rector of Wrestlingworth for a few years, became Rector of 8t. Paul's, Beckenham, in 1909. lvhile thare he married Emily Alington, daughter of the late Mr. Jhilius Alington and Mrs. Alington, St. Neots, and niece of Mrs. Swann, Halston, and was left a widower in 1912 with two children. In the autumn of 1914 be joined and went to France. Early in 1915 he was ) awarded the Military Cross, and a few months later was severely wounded.. As the result I of his wounds he was obliged to return to England, and in the summer of 1915 was app- ointed Vicar of Tamworth. In the beginning of 1917, however he returned again to the front and was awarded a bar to the Military Cross for service with the wounded in front of the position with advanced patrols. The Divisional Chaplain writes:—"He was killmd on the 14 inst. while trying to get in a wound- ed man. It is no use telling you how every one worshipped him, for you must know Uj wonderfal qualities."