The Cambria Daily Leader

Sun Rises 4.53, Siln Sets 7.6. Lighting-upTime.S.n. High Watbi,, 7.12.

BACK IN THE MELTING POT. The reference back of the minutes of the Swansea Housing Committee dealing with the Town Hill buildings, puts the housing policy of the Council once again in the melting pot. It seems to be generally recognised now that, whatever class <f house is erected on the estate at Town Hill, the rentals must be beyond the pockets of the class for whose great need the town desires to cater. Even if by some unforeseen luck, it were found possible to charge maximum rentals of seven shillings per week, at least two shilhngs must be added for the tramway fares of a family. What present-day dweller in the meanest streets couki afford this? Such an argument is met, by some of the enthusiasts, with the statement that there are large numbers of better- class artizans, now l!.vi.ng on the low levels, and paying nine to ten tsnillings a week for their houses, who would gladly remove to the hillside residences; and that thus, with the lessening in" the demand for houses caused by the bold building of the Corporation, ren- tals will come down and those dwelling in the slums will be able to occupy better houses. It looks well in theory, but the forgotten factor is the constant increase in the population, t40 advent of new families to Swansea. We doubt very much whether the migration of the fairIy-weU-to-do worker to Town Hill will empty the slums. Councillor Eden sees in the tenement system a possible solution of the dim- culty, but the housing authorities do not provide hopeful reading upon this point. We turn to the "Municipal I Year Book," wherein it Is stated that "tenement houses have become increas- ingly unpopular with the working classes, who very properly prefer the comparative privacy of the separate cottage. As a rule, no local authority would now erect houses of the tenement description unless it were practically forced to by the circumstances of the situation." Such tenements may meet the need of the families who are now either compelled, or are content, to live and stfep in one room and the success of a private scheme on the Strand may encourage the'Council to proceed with a similar one. But at best the tenement system is a makeshift in a town such as Swansea, where half-an-hour's walking will bring us to the open country. Has the Housing Committee ex- hausted every neld of inquiry with regard to the cost of building on Town Ria? It appears strange that nothing can be done there under a rental of ten shilluigs a week. Would it not pay to call.jnto consultation an expert, who may be able to advise means to lessen expenditure? ————— ————-

THE LORD MAYOR S ADDRESS e do not know to which particu- lar report of his Swansea address, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff takes exception, but if it is to either of the local ver- sions of his remarks, we can meet his points at once. "I very much regret," Alderman Thomas said in one of his expianations, "chat the specific state- ment attributed to me was so utterly misleading. This statement was a summary of what I said, and, being taken from the context of my remarks, does not convey the right interpreta- tion." "As far as my .recollection go&s," the Lord Mayor stated in the explanation oRered to another Cardiff journalist, "the words attributed to me are not strictly accurate, iu any case, standing alone, as they do, and, apart from the context, they do not convey the interpretation which anyone who heard the whole of my address would have placed upon the spirit in which I dealt with the question Now the two independent reports of the Lord Mayor's address published in Swansea substantially agree. "He could not, for the life of him, under- stand," ran the contested sentence as it was taken by one reporter, "how a man or woman could be a member of Christ's Church who declines to be a total ahstajuer." 'T can't understand men and women who are members of Christian churches and declining to be toLal abstainers," was the sentence as recorded in the "Leader." It is not for us to enter into the controversy the Lord Mayor's recorded words have aroused; but solely upon the matter of accuracy, we must protest against Aiderman Thomas's subsequent expla- nation. We do not know what he had intended saying, but the agreement of two reports, written independently of each other, Is fau- proof that what he did say was what both local newspapers reported. If there has been any mis- leading, it has been due to his failure to clearly express himself. We have sought and obtained other oounrma.Lion. We have nothing to do with the conclusion alleged to be arrived at by some, according to the Lord Mayor, that he does not believe a man can be a Christian unless he is a total abstainer. We are concerned with the statement be made at Swansea, and amrm the accuracy of the reports. There is far too much "explanation" of thix sort in our public life.

BR YNII YFR YD'S THA!'lKS.1 7'o the Editor. bir,—As a resident iti Brynhyfryd I desire to express on behalf of myself and 1 think I can safely say of the in- hab:tants of the district generally appreciation of the improved service now given by the tramways. Hitherto the last car was at 10.10 p.m., wtKch for this great and growing district, including Treboeth and beyond, was much too eariy. Our only hope of conveniendy arriving home was the theatre car, which wa& mvanablv dowdcd, a..d people rather than wa.t' nn<i run the j';s.k of getting a place preferred to walk. The additional cars, leaving High- street at 10.30 and 11 o'clock, are reaUy a great b<Ton. Our thanks are due to the manager for his consideration of the needs of tbø district, which is becorrung one of the most desirable residentiai parts of Swansea.— Yours etc., Brynhyfryd. 1 _ynhYfrYd.

 !PRIESTLY PL??A?T?! There has been quite an outbreak of bad manners among Bishops lately. We observe that the Bishop of St. Asaph has been asking:— In morals, is our standard of trnth and Honour to be hxed by that of the Calv'inistic Methodists as all Wales knows it in mart and market? It is funny, after thl.s, (says the "Staj-") to tind the editor of "Crcckford," in the 1013 edftion, complaining bitterly about the "unreliability" of some of the ret'trns which he receives from the clergy regarding their annual income! A letter which be prints in support of his complaint concludes:— Under these circumstances the I publishing of gross and net returns j j is a pen<.)ct farce, and it is mo;t hurmtiating to know that priests can- noL be trussed :n such a .llia.1 matter uo tell the truth. Another B".s,iop (his lordship of Peter- borough), preaching at Westminster Abbey on tljat hne Christian topic, the virtues of Koldehug, chose to allude with pne.stly scorn to Little Eng- landers, wliose influence weakened the fibres of PaTi-lotism and debased the honour and lessened the estimation of our country and its throne. Then his lordship delivered a spiteful one at the working classes:— It might be true that many of our misnamed worktng classes thought more of the amount of wages they could ea: n than of the sources from which those wages sprang, and on the safety and security of which those wages must depend. They had to arouse in such persons the dormant patriotism that was being checked by selnshness. Your patriot (comments the Sbar ") must always be insulting som-ebody., but he genei-avy chooses a safe pi ace—say, a pulpit-from which to do it

A VALUABLE PICTURE. I At Christie's yesterday a pair of line ergra.vin.gs, "Children Ba.thtn.g," by J. tti'd. ntt<'r Hoppner, realiRed 1,8UO guineas.

Employed as a workman by a Hull! timber merchant, James Eastbourne has ooen lucky enough to hold a sweep- stake ticket entitling him to jE2,000 on Saturday's football result at the Crys- tal Palace. Eastbourne, who was work- ing as usua! yesteiday, is a widowfr with inur chitdren, and ho !-ays he wtll put thf taonpy to cood use. The ticket I cost halt a crown. 1-'

 South Wales !Musicai Festival. ———— 1—Swansea. f? TRICTLY speaking, no doubt we are ? straining terms w hen we de- scribe the lour concerts of the week, the first of which was given at Swansea..a.t mght, as a Soum \Vaie.s Musical Festival; but the description is not eu.ti.reiy inaocuial-c. ihe quartet of musical events, ajranged by a com- mon council, make up a real fest)val, and they will do the work of festivals as we usually understand it 'If the re- maining three create in the other town& the musical enthusiasm that we felt at the Albert HaU. They will abundantly feed the name of the lamp of art. Possi- bly the novelty of the concert, the great name ot the orchestra, had something to do with the immenRe audience that last night p,Ùl higher prices than are customary, and half explained the zeal of galleryites who lined up in queue (and in rain) over an hour before the doors opened. But one believes also that the new standards of music that are being presented us, and are gradu- ally weaning us from our old-fashioned provinoIaliRins, are having their works. Beecham's orchestra, the combinations of west country players who have ac- companied more recently, the visit of Sir Henry Wood's famous band, have made us discontented with the old class of fare although we are not ungrate- ful to thús.e w ho served us in the days of small things. One practical outcome of these events ought to be the to"1l1a-- tiou of a Welsh Oicue&tral Soe:ety. The eSect of such a soc.ety on the deveiop- ment of music in \\aies would be im- mense. it would solve the perplexities of many conductors who cannot face the finances of London aid, and would directly affect the of composition we wouid hear. < We have a long journey in front of ua in the pilgrim's progress of musical appreciation. Let us tako our minds back to the popular verdict as we gave it last night at the Albert Hall! Did not our greatest praise faU upon the rendition of Dr. Protheroe's "Nun of NIdajoa"? To that emotional chorus we gave our loudest plaudits; we stormed with hands and voice even be- fore the la&t notes of the chorun had ceased echoing, and lung before the band had played its closing bars. What next? Wa.s not the second favourite verdict for the Humoreske by Dvorak, a melodic fancy that pleased us with its prettiness and its piquancy? The grea.t things ol the evening, the "Fifth," the "Flying Dutchman." the "Antigone," came' later in the order of our appreciation. Weii, such a work as the Beethoven Symphony, if not tor the elect, a.t least requires greater knowledge of its de- r..i!s than the majority of us can pos- sibly claim—in Swansea to-day. The profound things of Beethoven are not to bo apprehended save after wrest- ling. They are to be gathered only after patient toil. A well-known Tiiisi- cian once declared to the writer, con- cerning a performance of the Matthew Passion, that Bach had to be heard, not once or twice, but four times or hve, before hi<$ conceptions became clear..N0. 5 Symphony may he made easier to our understanding by such analyses as the programme con- tained, and a local authority save our readers last week, but to each listener the work must whisper its own mes- sage, the commentaries only placing him in the right hrst position: and ,8 must hear it again and again before it can reveal a tithe of its meaning to us. The cuft of Beethoven is a matter of long apprenticeship. To how many of us did the symphony last night express much more than a vague sense of mysterious I sorrow, or an indescribable sense of loveliness, or of mere melod' c charm? We are utterly unused to music that so intimately bears upon the things of the spirit. Truly, our orchestral shore- comings have been heavily paid for. w < I One of the critics assured the writer that the finest thing in the evening's programme was the playing of the slow movement in the symphony that the or- cnestra interpreted this wonderful part with an art that was beyond cntic]sm. What, however, was sure in its imme- diate effect, next to the Humoreske* was the Wagner overture. Here with fair certainty, we could follow the tone- picture, revelling in the intensity of its tragedy; iuterpretiag with some con- ndence the working out of the theme; rejoicing in the grandeur of it, and thrilled by its fury, its eerie strains, its gusts, and its passion. The art of Wagner is nearer the soul of the Welsh- man than the hner appeal of Beeth- oven. It was, then, a memorable evening of orchestral music, such an evening as to leave one compiaining of the barrenness of our ground. Every musician of note who comes to Wa)es tells us that we have one thing lacking: a national orchestra. The South Wales Musical Festival will show us our poverty a hundred times more pftectiveiy than such criticism, valuable though that is. We can never hope to get at the heart of such as Beethoven until we have per- fected an instrument that will educate us, and lead us into these shining fields. We have a long pilgrim's progress be- fore ua. u,, < t Where the doctors do din'er, and differ with some asperity, it is not for the pressman 'nho cannot claim lor himself the essential technical qua.lin- cations. to sit in judgment upon \ienddssohll'S "Antigone." Opinions dcctora where they met in conclave a:-J pronounced verdicts. "The apotheosis of musical expression," deter- mmed.ly said one, In perfect accord with the drama," said another of the music. "ShclMng peas I" said a third. Sincerity is desirable above all things in mustC; anectation or cant is the H'IY devil. One is embarking upon very debatable ground—a,nd the risk is greater to the provincial when he knows of the presence of well-known authori- ties, and wonders what they will say- but the impression remains with the wnter-and it is well to be out with it, no matter the morrow's sorrow—that Mendelssohn provided very uninspired gtuff for the Antigone." Consider the dra.ma.! It is the last in a ttilogy that has no equal in intense tragedy. It remains the most poignant dramatic expression the ancients have given ua. It plunges us from the hrst line into )nexti)\guishable woe. It broods over the riddle of destiny. A t-heme this, not for tuneful IIJts, but ror agonising chords, for music that olumbs the deepest depths of passion Can it be said that Mendelssohn pro- vided it? Can it be said that the setting of the strophes, of the messages of ('},o'us, are adequate to their in- tensity ? \H (aga.in)! The doctors do diSer, but a layman is emboldened to suggest that, here and there where there are nashes of genius—as in the Bacchus chorus with its wonderful climax- Mendelssohn found no inspira.tion, and put into his music no realisation of the great drama in which mankind are puppets; where what the Fates ordain, will be: Prayer nor advances nor retards their stpro decree. The "Antigone" was recommended to the choir by a great mu&icat authority. Of course thsre is not a. wide held of selection open to ma.i.o choirs when they break a,;i-ay from the convention.al ;,Laudards that have railed Wales in the past. Mendelssohn'a wcik is new to South Wales, and it has but i-are'ty been performed in England. One sees ':t suggested this morning that "probably the main reason for rta choice is that it is the only complete work of Mendelssohn written for male voices," and that a better choice would have been the composer's To the Son's of War which, though a frag- ment rather than a complete work lika Antigone,' is far more attractive." However, it was a great thing for the cho.r to break away from the old type of piece, from the Destructton cf Gaza" and Martyrs" type. They, give a fine lead to Wa-les. < As to the work of the Swansea ajid District Male Choir, one can only sa,y what has many times before been sajd of Mr. Llewelyn Bowen's men. They pTO< duced a very fine tone, and they re- sponded to the baton j3f 81r Henry \ood with a &ureness that had its re< ward, when at the close of the ? Anti- the famous conductor sent on the praise of the audience, with an expressive wave of the hand, to the choristers. Mr. Bowen secured his per- sonal triumph in the prolonged a.ppla.us& that followed the Nun of Nidaros "-— meant in great part one ':& sure in re" cognition of the part he had played in the training of the choir in the Anti- gone." In Fair Semole's high-born Son "—the one chorus which has lived ?n the wo;k-,and achieved popularity—- the choir had practically its only greaT opportunity and it used it to the fulL It worked up to a magnificent finale that showed what a perfect singing body M) Bowen has. Sir Henry Wood is credited with the opinion that "I am really delighted with the tone. Everything is perfect. It reflects the highest credit upon all tak- ing part." It would be waste of words, after that judgment, to say more. Mr. Bowtm himself sang, with understanding and power, the solos. Fry (who had abridged the drama, but kept th<) story clear), and Mi&s Emit Leslie; and thc-y Kave the strong lines with sue'. force that none in the audience could fail to bo gripped by the tragedy. When the organisers of the festiva heard of the of Mr. Ernlyn who was one of the vice-presidents, they immediateiy considered the possibility of arranging a memorial. There wen" dimculties in the way, but after a few appropriate introductory words by Mr. William James, the choir sang an "in memorium" verse to the setting 01. Handel's "Dead March." It waR 4 touching tribute to one who, in the words of Mr. James, was not only .t great musician, but a great Welshman also. One must not conclude without grate- fully recognising the hard work the concert cntajled for, among others, Mr. Arthur James, Detective-Inspectop Roberts, Mr. John Dennis, and Mr. Martyn Thomas. The former worked for its success with a zeal that hatk Ïl3 reward in a nnancial as well as a musi- cal succc&s. Ihe choir owes m'jch to Mr. James. The hall dimculty was never more keenly felt. Very many more tickets could have been sold had there heen greater accommodation. Musical eS'o.-t m Swansea is handicapped at the ver< start. J.D.W.

I "PRO PA TR IA. Yn y "-Leader" ynddiweddar, syl< wodd "J.D.W." y geHid, gyda phnod- oldeb, gyfrif yr awenydd, Mr. T. Gwyna Jones, yn Yeats Cy roru a charai y4 fav. r pe gwnai cfe roddi cyfrtn q ih'wyth ei awen gref, dloz,, i'r Sae&on,. yn ogystal ag i'r Cymry. Bamai heiyd fed y Gwynn yn ormod o fai-dd i'w gcn< hadaeth i gael ei chadw y tutewn i gyfliniau cul byd y Cymro yn unig, etc. tn sicr, pe cawsad y Saeson yn eu hiaitb v darn rhyfedd Cymra-eg sydd gan Gwynn Jones o dan a penawd uchod yi "Y Beirniad," am na Mawrth, y gwnai rha.i o honynt ategu yr hyn ysgrifenodd J .D. \V." ae eraill, feallai, a gondemniant y darn. Creodd y bardd dir holloi newydd iddo ei hun. Y mae yn orlawn <! athrylith farddonol. DYwed rhai fod yr iaith ddefnyddia weitbiau yn frwnt—. "iaith rhegu." Onid disgrifiad o betb brwnt sydd ganddoP War is hell, V medd awdwr yn "Y Brython"; 4 phaham y rhaid ci ddarlnnio fel daj-n a neroedd ? Iaith uffern yTi unig a wedda iddo. Feallai fod y geiria.u LIadm c,7vd(i yn bennawd i'r darn yn ddieithr-beth fwyat'rif gi-ei-iri Cymru, a phaham na, fuasant yn (.N-mrteg, nis gr-yddom Tebyg mai "Dros yr hen wiad" vw "Pro Patria" yn Gymraeg. Y mao'r darn yn cyTiwys ystori mihn, cJreuJiodcl fywyd du, anUeiJaidd, a chreulon—i nyrs Gymraeg, wyhal wrth y gWèly, a(! a "hymiai rhyw obaith am Doriad Dydd." A phan "sibrydodd hithau gall synnu Am "waedu dros yr Hen WIa<I," Fe "ch\vardd(Kld y gwr yn y gwely Rhywbeth rhwng chwerthin a na.d/' Ac ehai, "Gwrandmvch ar y givir heb ei gelu Sut yr y'm ni yn earu'n g,dad!" Ac edrydd y gwir heb ei ge!u. rnewn iaith arm ac ergydiol, a'i ysbryd ar dan. Portreada drwy'r "gwir fywyd, du, anan a chreulon, Uawer milwr tebvs iddo ef, dorasant gyfreithiau'n gw[ad, a chalonau maman a chanadon a dywcd iddo unwalth paji wefodd eneth lan" o dan draed saiih cythraul ar hngain," a'i diHad wedi eu rhwygo oddi a'mdan), iddo gono am "wyneh Shani" (ei gariad). ac i'w "enadd fyn'd ar dan!" Gwaoddodd: "Sta.nd ba.ck! rydwyn co6o dweyd hynuy, "Orl'Ubr&iMyot.L.byCcd.t.hat.I'Udo!" Gau droi bon by ughwn i tyuy. R.wy'n colio cynda:iredd y iiw: Nid wn at bo, Ie yr anelaitt. Bob frgyd am chwa.rMr awr, Ond tawodd y twrw. a swelaio Ddnu gl'At o ymeunydd &r lawr!" Mwynhad fyddai dyfynnu yn heiaeth. ach o'r darn lhagorol hwn, ond ni chaniata, gofod. Anodd pejdio dyfynnu niter o'r ilirtelJau old sy'n y darn: A dyna. i chwi'r gwir am d&tu, iian€o. Cymrc wnaeth ga,; u, A d<11 &odd ei gal'iad, O! bha.ni! Ac a fain; A iaddodd dd&u ddiAwl, m'ae'n wir, Ond nid wyf am hynny'n di.fa.m. Y b<T&n eydd yn lJara'n tur Ydi'r meddwl a.m y ddwy fu'n fy ughatil DD dw-edaig y cwbl, ni rii-saie, Na., ML, dydw'i ddim yn Bal, Ond cerddais y ffordd a ddeWiejais, Ac yn &wr 'rydw' i'n myn'd i pael tal." Dywedwn yng ngeiriau y "Macwy" yn "Y Brython" mai "Y gerdd hon yw'r ddyrnod dryrnai, efreithioiaf a gafodd rhyfel erioed yn ein hiaith." C!ra!c!us.

Mrs. Seton, who is now in England with her husband, the author, and chief scout of America., is suffering ftolp diphtheria, but is on the way to rf oovery. Sir William Devon has resigned tht chairmanship of the School of Tropical Medicine, at Liverpool, on the ground that he is frequently called out of the country on business. Major Phillips (late of the 8tb Hussars), one of the few surviving omcers of the Balaclava Charge, is 83 to-day. The veteran oSlcer, who lives at Reading, has been seriously ill for some mouths. A .61,000 anonymous gift for sending Religious Tract Society literature out to China, provided a similar sum is ob- tained from some other source, wa,s an- nniiiire,d at :;I, crowded meeting of the Rociet.y &t the Queen's Hall la.st night.