Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1923-10-31

labor, born in Tredegar, Wales, and
Secretary of State Charles Evans
Hughes, born in Glens Falls. N. Y.
George, Davis and Hughes are three
good Welsh names, and men bearing
them are to be found in all parts of
the United States.
Secretary Davis went to New York
to greet Lloyd George as a representa-
tive Of the people of Welsh blood in
the United States. 1t is understood
that the private car in which the for
mer British premier is to travel was
furnished by American citizens OF
Welsh descent, who prevailed upon
Lloyd George to accept the cour-
tesy. Secretary Davis was in England
and Wales last summer. He saw
good deal Of Lloyd George and it prob
ably is due more to his persuasion
than to anything else that the British
statesman made up his mind to visit
Canada and the United States.
Reception Is American, Not Welsh.
Lloyd George speaks Welsh as well
as he does English. 1t is. his native
tongue. Davis knows Welsh and Sec
rotary Hughes is not unfamiliar with
it. He heard it as a small boy and 50
did a great many other residents of the
central part of New York state who
did not have a drop of Welsh blood in
their veins There are certain coun-
ties in New York where for long time
Welsh residents had, so to speak. a
balance of power but they did not need
to exercise it as balancing power, for
most of them belonged to one political
party
1t was at one time feared that the
Americans of Welsh descent would
make the reception to Lloyd George in
this country seem like a wholly Welsh
affair. Leading Americans of the
Welsh racial stock prevented this, for
they said that it was America and not
Wales that was welcoming the former
premier and that as the Welsh never
had thought of hyphenating themselves
it would not do even to allow the I'm
preston of a hyphen to creep into the
reception. The result has been, there
FORE that except for the courtesy Of
the private car, Lloyd Georges recep-
ton Is to be an all-American affair.
Some natives Of Wales came to the
United States in the early days, bur
the great immigration did not take
place until between the years 1885
1850 Central New York seemed to he
lodestone TOR Welsh Immigrants.
Hundreds of Welsh families settled in
Oneida county, of which Utica is the
principal city.
Lots Of Welsh in Utica.
One ward in the city of Utica sixty
years ago was full of Welsh people and
of children of the first generation born
in America. Ellis II. Roberts, long
time member of congress and long time
treasurer of the United States, was
man of Welsh birth, resident in the
Second ward of Utica.
The writer of this letter is product
of the Second ward of Utica. Although
his parents were not Welsh, he heard.
as a boy, more Welsh spoken than he
did English, except, of course, In his
family. On Sunday mora
ings in summer he could hear at one
time through the open windows of his
home three sermons in the Welsh lam
guage at once. There was a Welsh
church directly across the street, an
other at the side Of the family resi-
dence and another just back of it. The
Welsh clergymen were lusty-voiced
sermoniZerS.
Americans of Welsh birth or extrac-
ton are represented in considerable
numbers in nearly all the states of the
Union. Secretary Davis said to the
writer the other day that it would be
possible in any city of fair size in this
country to fill any large hall in which
Lloyd George might speak with Amer
leans of pure Welsh descent.
In the old days in this country, and
perhaps it is so now, the Welsh immi-
grants had an almost fixed habit of
giving their children Christian names
that were virtually the same as their
surnames. The writer of this went to
school with Richard Richards,
David Davies, an Evan Evans, Thorn
as Thomas, and a Humphrey Hum
phries. He also has a distinct recol.
lection of boy whose name was Rhes
Gwesyn Jones. Just what the Rhes
Gwesyn means the writer did not know
and does not know TO this day, but it
looks like good Welsh, although it is
possible that after lapse of many
years poor memory may have caused
a misspelling of the second part Of
the name.