The Cambria Daily Leader

I IN THE GUARDS. Mr. Churchill has refused to make Mr. Stephen Graham's al legations in "A Private in the Guards an issue for Parliamentary debate, but this notwithstanding, discussion upon the revelations will not speedily cease. Mr. Graham's story leaves a distressing impression upon the mind of the readsr, al- though men who have been through the mill, whilst acknowledging that the discipline of the Guards was ex- cessively severe, declare that the system had result- thnt appeared 10 justify it. Whenever there was a tight comer to fill, a great hazard to run, or a desperate hope to at- tempt, it was always the Brigade Guards that was called on. • General Francis Lloyd whilst ad- mitting that, the training at Cater- ham is very strenuous and kept up to the highest pitch that is possible, denies that there is any bullying, any winking at peculation, or any unnecessary harshness. The inevi- table retort, to the General will be that the officers could have seen little of what was happening on the parade ground. Dealing with Mr Churchill's answer to a question in the House, the Manchester Guardian" said that some poli- ticians evidently prefer to live under sentimental illusions about the Guards rather than to know the facts. No Experienced private soldier, the journal declares, ne-eds to be told that the system is marked by extraordinary technical efficiency, and is marred by much bullying, some corruption, and a. good deal of a foulness of speech with which the foulest comer of a public school or a university would compete in va-in." General Lloyd says the system is "stiff"; the allegations of Mr. Stephen Graham and the letters of ex- soldiers would show that it is very stiff! All the same it hafc its defenders. The "Morning Post," which makes a fetish of frankness, said yester- day that the task laid upon the non- cómmissiÓtléd dfficers of thë Guards a& 6f othAr regiments, was to pnak e soldiers in the. shortest poosbJe time. Very likely the recruits found the process disagreftble. Some men are naturally more affec- ted than others by strict and in- tense training, but there are few who cannot swallow their medi- cine without tears. Mora fcbao a I few! Alr. J. Byren, an ex-Insh Guardsman, writing from Fulham 'I states that his experience of over five years was "too awful ■ for words. I have seen men kicked and beaten almost to death, both at Caterham and with their unjt. On I one occasion I saw two sergeant- i majors bring a young lad to the bath, and strip and beat him in the I bath until he fainted. His life was inade a hell, and finally he de- serted. Worse still goes on in the Guards' detention barracks and prisons." That tale, if true, is too deep for toal,q ,t Sir John Rees asks if the system which produces the best infantry in the world is not best left alone, and the "Morning Post" thinks. that the results of the discipline of which these complaints are made f are a. sufficient answer. But some I kinds of disciplinary- triumphs are too dearly purchased.

L.M.W.R. AND SWANSEA We commend the example of the Llandilo-Talybont Council to the SW1.Dea Council, and to other authorities affected by the poor facilities the London and North "W estern Railway Co. offer the town and district. Gorseinon has at last I rjsen in revolt, pp(p the Council is to make representations "in the proper quarters. We. wish the complainants erery success. At the same tune we would like to see Swansea taking vigorous action be- fore another summer comes around. It- is absurd that such popular- re- sorts as the Wells, fifty and sixtv miles from Swansea should be a three to four hours' railway journey. I It is scandalous that the run to Pontardulais, scarcely twelve miles, should take, about three-quarters of an hoar by many of the services. As the Llandilo-Talybont Council points out, the distribution of the trains is inconvenient to the public; in fact the L.N.W.P. Co. appear not to have realised that great townships have grown up at Pont- ardulais and Gorseinon that are en- titled to more considerate treatment than villages like Cvngherdy and Llanwrda. As a matter of fact they seem to get less

THE NEW EPIDEMIC. I A year ago we were in the grip of influenza. Now it is catarrh. It. is not anything like so serious as the disease that swept the country in 1018, but it will be unwise to treat it lightly. It generally begins with a, relaxed throat, the "soreness" being most noticeable on waking ;11 the morning. This is followed by a running from t.he nose or eves or both, which has a tendency to recur in a day or two after it seems to be completely cured. It is seldom there is any cough. The temper- ature is little, if at all, alcove the normal, and there is neither sleep- lessne-ss nor loss of appetite, still less that intolerable feeling of physical and mental discomfort, not t) be evaded even by staying in bed, which was an unfailing symp- tom of the so-called Spanish in- tluenza in its first stage. But there can be no doubt that an obstinate case of this cold has a tendency, if j "neglected, to develop into pneu- monia. A learned correspondent writing to a contemporary says that fresh air is, of course, the best, cer- tainly the cheapest, antidote to this and many other ills of the flesh. In- oculation against colds, though more and more practised, is of doubtful efficacy. In many cases' the inoculated person is as mucti subject to colds as ever he was. W hen you have caught the prevail- ing cold, the. best plan is to take a brief holiday and (Spend the first day of it in bed. Going to bed, as the De Goncourt brothers knew, :6 a good remedy net only for all minor physical complaints but also for the hump in any s hape ov fon-n. Failing t.hat, warm dressing and indulgence in all the fresh air you can get, are the best allevia- tions.

I SELFISH MOTORISTS. I I Llanelly Councillor's I Complaint. I The Ministry of Transport liare written to the Llanelly Rural District Council etatiny that complaints have been re- ceived from mptor, omnibus, and chara- banc owners of the danger arising from from overhanging the roads in certain parts of the district. They request the Council to remove the obstructions for the safety of passengers. The letter was mentioned at Thursday's meeting Off the council when the surveyor (Mr. Jenkins) reported that he had served notices to have the ob?trucf'on removed. COUNCILLOR'S COMPLAINT. Mx. David Evans (Trimsaram said it was all vf-rr weJl for the owners of these motor vehicles to look after their own interests. A motor car on the country road, was not turned an inch to avoid pedestrians, who had often to jump into the ditch to pave thsmselve*. One feels at times," added Mr. Evan?, amidst laughter, that he ought to c-airy a 6hot gun and burst their tjrreg. 4

TOWN TALK. Aberavon small boys had quite a peace celebration on the Fifth. — :o:— The American Consul is now familiarly known at the Swansea Docks a:, "A.B.C." -:0: To-day's ad.: Young gent, would liko to assist lady at flanrin-; classes." 0112 La la! k Lord Fisher, it feems, wants to scrap the present Navy. Always ready for a scrap is the gallant Admiral. "A mR it I-, as enooeesful as his wife permits him to be."—The Rev. Tacwyn Evans, B.A., at Ponfardulais. -:0:- Local profiteering, pensions, and committees, are anything but democrati- cally Constituted, so it is alleged. -:0: At a Lambeth inquest yesterday it was ptated that a steam wagon driver earned S5 a day. Oftr office boy left us to get a job this morning7 -:0:- A man in fc certain area complained to a woman that her unmuzzled dog had torn bis trousers. Did she apologise." No; she offered to mend it! Tou can't beat 'em. A Swansea baker says that sincptLe national strike, there has be-en a con- siderable increase in heme bread-making, and the trade ha* Suffered in conse- quence. — • !— Is the Millenium at hand? At a recent lecture by a Wesleyan in a Congrega- tional Chapel, the chair was occupied by å churchman, and the vote of thanks by k -staffheh Calvini-st. —;« Tlicw Tin" this morning publishes an advertisement that £ 1,000.000 will be paid for an English estate. Allotment- eers are strictly forbidden to apply un- less they enclose a stamped envelope. oc I A new con feci i an is about to be placed on the Swansea market, which consists of chocolate and ground nuts in rugged pieces. It is an entirely new invention 'of one of most popular con- fectioners. On being told lMt night that 52,000 guineas had been paid in London for n picture (by Roroney), a dear old Swansea lady exclaimed: Fancy! X 0 wonder the Swansea cinema proprietors have put up the price. of ndmii>s*on. now that pictures are costing so much! -:0:- A young local demobilised soldier a-a- nounr"'rJ to his friends last night that he had decided to get married. He had been eo ac('utom;'o(l'tJ) l"ergeRnts and sergeant- majors that all the mother«-in-law in th-3 world had no terrors for him now. Brave words, what? I shall be with you in a few min- utes," said Mr. Bart Cronin, chairman of the Guardians' Finance Committee, to friend who wanted to speak to "him at the close of the Finance Committee meeting. I have only to write my initials on about 2,P.00 biII6! — :0• A candidate for Parliamentary honours was emphasising his claims. Return me to the House." he bleated, and I will make my voice heard from Land's End to John o' Groats; aye, from Dan to Beereheba." Then came a plaintive vok« from the back of the hall, Speak up, guv'nor." -:0:- Deduction at Cardiff As-size — Counsel: Did she meet you at the sta- tion? Witness: No, sir. Counsel: So you did not meet her either then ? Witness: No, sir. — so.— A correspondent writing from If). Filletted-place wants to say how delighted he is that peace reigns at the Fish Mar- ket again. The prospect of an abundant supply of fish also fiUE; him with joy. If," he adds. i-P could also he pro- mised a cheap supply, our happiness would be complete." He is too sanguine. -:0:- Jazz is dying hard in Swansea. At tha local dances they are introducing weird innovations, each possessing a liberal dash of the jazziest jazz. What with the and the twinkles and the umpteen beginning with La," present (lay dancing is enough to make our fore- fathers turn in their graves! -:0:- A ladv Guardian strongly favoured the increase of salary for the laundry workers at the House." They had many unpleasant duties, she said, and in-, dignantly declared that if they got 10s. a week, Ti. wouldn't be too much In- asmuch a the present wages were 24s., what she probably meant was 10. a day. — -o people who are contemplating making wedding presents to friends should take note of the fact that those in the know state there j", a world demand fo:' scissors. Of course, the list of pre- sents should not consist exclusively of MMttsors. hut ir should include one or two pair. A word to the wi se is sufficient. —o: — The war did it. A Swansea, woman, boasting last night of her hue- band's usefulness—his cooking, especially was rreat-said he went away as useless a man, domestically speaking, as ever woman married, and came back a handy man in the truest sense of the word. Every husband, however, doas not get his merits so generously acknowiedgcdl -:0:- The Rev. Herbert Dunnico at a Labour meeting in Llansamlet Mid, that when the Labour agitation for old age pensions was going on in Parliament, he thought that Mr. Lloyd George then saw in the Bible that a man's lease of life termin- ates at three score and ten yeare, tod that he decided to give five shillings a week at that age—70! -:0:- A London contemporary published an article yesterday on a What Woman Doea With Her Spare Cash." Talking abouc the subject in the r last night one man remarked that he never knew of a woman who had spare cash. Why," he ex- claimed, if I were to give my wife 2101 to-night, the first thing she'd say to me to-morrow evening when I arrived home j would be: Quick I Lend me a penny for the gas I -:0:- The members of the PrêSf; were very fruch in evidence at Towe Lodge Com- mittee on Wednesday, and when, the umpteenth representative strolled in. ).fu. H. D. Williams. the chairman, bb- )eer,ed that she was pleased they were fill interested in the Committee. One of the scribes ventured to suggest that it was a nice walk np the hill. And of course you get nice company." smiled back the Udy- All the Guardians beamed, and the cwihes looked suitably modest. Thote Guardians Lave a wor wid !em." 1