The Herald of Wales. — 1887-09-24 (Swansea, West Glamorgan, Wales)

IFIR7.  13/1 i. ,pt.  A: CO., astit•F;!  Sparks from the Anvil. ,  [By as lyi  It will shortly be leardei with general satisaction that a movement has been started in Swanne.., with the view of recognising the splendid service* of Mr Yeo, as the Mayor of the town for this Jubilee year. Mr Yeo's second term of office is drawing to a clone., and it it. the opinion of everybody that he has filled the Mayor's chair with marked dignity; w.th great courtesy; with rare liberality, and has sustained the good municipal name of the borough in the happiest poeeible way Mr. Yeo is one of the most promising W. 1,11 m-inbers in the present Parliament. He ie known to have attracted the personal notice of vr. Gladstone. He is in thorough accord with the rank-and-file of the Liberal party, and a permanent recognition of his many merits WI a municipal king will be generally welcomed On another occasion. it will be interesting to bring out the leading questions with which Mr. Yeo has been identified. Who is to be his successor ? I have heard the names of four gentlemen mentioned, but one has personally assured me he is not a candidate, so it may be wime 'lot to prophecy before something more definite i, known.  • • • 0  I am sorry to hear that the direators of another Swansea Building Society are in diffieultiee, through the society in question borrowing beyotd its statutory powers. The result will be a legal contest—notification having been tea& that the directors will be :served ,with writs is. a d.ty or so, in order to make them personally responsible for the sums accepted by the society outside of its borrowing powers. I pity the poor directors who, in innocence and good tenth-signed the illegal notes. Before all is over, I fear some good men in the town will suffer more than they at pre-ent Irealise. The effect of this latest building society trouble will probably be to act as a warning eignal to middle-class men spinet becoming directors in building societies. Poor We Paton, who died so suddenly in Canada, was literally killed by inehee in making up the £4,600 for which he tied *ivied notes, as chairman of well-known society. And yet, as he repeatedly said to myself, he was no more reeporeible than the directors in the society in which Harris's evil genial{ dominated. • • • •  Russia ;is not only honeycombed with Lili-m, but the parts most affect.d ere toe academical institutions, where pupils wilt be the revolutionary leaders of the future. As English resident in the Kingdom of the Czar says : Whilst the Russian Government hoe hi•hertr, devoted its undivided attention with very partial success to the suppression of Nihilistic tendencies among the students of the Universities, the Gymnasia, and Pro-gymnasia, the Polytechnic schools and private Lycenms have escaped the inquisitorial measures of the Ministers of Police and Pnblio Instruction. Recently the most alarming discoveries have been made among the male and female students of these seholsetic institutions. At Ekaterinoslav it woe first discovered that the elder boys and girls of the different gymnasia met on certain evenings in private rooms for the reading and discussion of cialistic literature, and each member of the I secret society contributed a small sum towards the clandestine purchase of the forbidden brochures as fast as they appeared. 'This discovery resulted immediately in the arrest of a large number of students of both sexes, and a general investigation was at once instituted in all the chief scholastic centres. In Rsratoff a similar but much better organized secret society of male and female students was discovered. Her they had a complete secret library of Nihilistic and Socialistic literature in active circulation, with a president, secretary, and treasurer. The worst feature in the eyes of the authorities of the Raratoff discovery is that the majority of the male members of the society were students of the ecclesiastical seminary. It was fouud, too, that them young seminarists had for single copies lithographei an immense number of copies of Nihilist roclamations, which were circulated almost broadcast. Similar discoveries have been made here in Odessa, and at Kief, Kassa, Moecaw, Ananiev, Smolensk, Tver, Memiroff, and other please. In Odessa I do not think that the propaganda is so deeply rooted or widespread among the younger students of both sexes as in the other but termer centres. I am taking into consideration, of course, the extremely numerous gymneeia of all classes in Odessa. lbe little town of Memiroff appears to possess the most uniquely sad character. There, it is stated on the authority of the Ministerial investigating agents, the whole of the students, male and female, in I every class, are concerned in the secret propaganda and study of forbidden literature. The essentially Russian method of driving ell evils under the surfece has apparently lost its Ad efficacy.  What a sad people the Prosaism are! It ia reported that in the kingdom of Prussia during the year 1885 there were 6,028 cases of ritrioide, as compared with 5,900 cases in 1894, and 6,171 in 1883; so that while there had been a decrease from 1883 to 1884 of 271 persons, or 4.39 per cent., the sum had risen from 1884 to 1885 by 123 :ages, or 2.66 per cent. The suicides, of the year 1885 *redivided into 4,811 men and 1,257 women. In 4,928 canes the motive for suicide was known, and is catalogued an follows :-1,682 eases from in, sanity, 766 grief. 659 vice, 611 weariness of life, 477 physical suffering, 43.5 remorse, shame, &c. It is naturally often imposieble to ascertain the real cause. Moat of these suicides, namely, 3,632, ended their lives by hanging. The rest are divided thus: drowning, 1,159; shooting, 636; poison, 245; cutting the throat, 123 ; jumping from a height, 81; under railway trains, 71; opening a vein, 46, &c. Suicide waa relatively most frequent above middle age, for 21.3 per 130,000 persona were from 20 to 30 years of age: 28.1 from 30 to 40; 39.1 from 40 , to 50; 62.7 from 50 to 60; 69.7 from 60 to 70 ; 63.7 from 70 to 80; and 55.2 above 80 years of age.