'Newport First Stop' - 100 Years of News Stories
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Newport Past
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1894


South Wales Argus. 1st February, 1894
Defaulting Clerks

The list of defaulting clerks who have of late found it convenient to hurriedly leave their employment in consequence of unwarrantable freedom with their employers' money, is a long one, but two others have recently been added to the list. One was employed by a Newport merchant in whose service he had been for about a year. It was discovered that certain accounts had been collected but not paid in, and the young man thereafter did not put in an appearance at the office, though he has since been seen in Newport. In the other case a relation of the young fellow above referred to, who was in the employ of a firm of Newport coal merchants, is also alleged to have tampered with the money of the firm, and with a considerable deficit to face he thought it better to avoid exposure, though we are informed his employers decided not to prosecute. This young man, it is said, has been living beyond his means and consorting with men whose pockets were better able to afford extravagance than his own, and as he tried to "go the pace" with them his employers had to "pay the piper."


South Wales Argus. 24th April, 1894
Letter to the Editor of the South Wales Argus

Dear Sir,

Knowing that your columns are always open to the oppressed and downtrodden, I venture to address you on a subject that is occupying the attention of many of the people of Newport.

Surprise has often been expressed that many classes, notably the Pleasant Sunday Afternoon and Kindred Meetings, have been restricted to men, but I can restrain my indignation no longer when I find that women are to be excluded from the Rev. Bruce Wallace's meeting next Sunday afternoon. It is to be held at a time when many women could attend, whose home duties would detain them in the evenings.

If either sex must be excluded on that occasion, would it not be far more reasonable to shut out the men for once? They have infinitely greater opportunities for informing themselves on social questions than we have, and yet they exclude us from this most important, most instructive and convenient time to meet him. I am not a member of the "shrieking sisterhood" not even a public speaker, only a quiet "haus frau", but in common with many mothers, I take the keenest interest in this subject.

I am anxious for the social arrangements of the future to be directed on the right lines, so that my little ones may grow up to have a better chance than we have had. I think that the selfish monopoly of a meeting like this by the men is, like our unequal marriage laws, and the denial of the suffrage, and evidence of the time honoured masculine desire to keep women ignorant, lest they should gain too much influence in social and political life. In this desire the men must claim kinship with their "rude forefathers" of the barbaric ages, and with their brethren of savage and uncivilised tribes. Assured that you will use your influence in this and similar matters.

I am, Yours faithfully,

Citoyenne


South Wales Argus. 26th April, 1894
Letter to the Editor of the South Wales Argus

Dear Sir,

The letter signed "Citoyenne" in your issue of yesterday forces me to protest against what I regard as one of the worst signs of our times, viz., the great desire of women to interfere in public affairs. They apparently wish to attend not only Mr. Bruce Wallace's meeting on Sunday afternoon, but all other meetings which hitherto have been very properly reserved for men. Why do they trouble their dear little heads with these abstruse problems? They may safely leave the management of social affairs to the men. If they want to help forward reforms of this kind, their best plan is to attend well to their homes and their families, keep things comfortable for their husbands, and so prevent them going to the public house and engaging in other undesirable pursuits. If they have time to spare for matters outside their homes, let them attend sewing, nursing or cooking classes, which will fit them for woman's proper sphere, and not go filling their minds with subjects calculated to divert their attention from their feminine duties and spoil their womanliness. I am sure that the hysterical and ridiculous letter of Citoyenne only represents the opinion of a small minority; and in that I am supported by a large section of the community.

I am, dear Sir, Yours sincerely,

Propriety


South Wales Argus. 28th April, 1894

"Argus"

The need for public play-grounds is certainly felt in Newport. There is absolutely nowhere for the smaller children of the congested parts of the borough to give vent to their exuberant spirits. From the home they drift to the door-step, from that to the street, and from the street too often to the Police Courts. The grabbing spirit which accounts for houses with nothing but a square yard of flagstone to do duty for a back garden will in the future, I fancy, be compelled to answer a few questions as to the loose morals and the vice abounding in our large towns.


South Wales Argus. 12th May, 1894
A Policeman's Lot

For once a Newport Borough policeman was discovered on Thursday night exactly at the time and place he was required. A young man had fallen on the pavement in Havelock Street and stunned himself. Some friends picked him up, but the poor fellow evidently in a dazed condition was unable to say where his residence was. A policeman at that moment came hurrying round from St. Mary Street on his was to the police station to commence his beat. One of the bystanders appealed to the officer to ascertain the young man's address but the worthy P.C. was not to be bothered. "Go away, go away," was all he could vouchsafe in response to the eager enquiries, and with head down he made his way quickly through the little crowd to that secluded corner of the globe known as " round the corner".

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'Newport First Stop' - 100 Years of News Stories
[ Contents ] [ Acknowledgements ] [ Preface ] [ Postscript ] [ Chronology ]
[ 1800 - 29 ] [ 1830 - 39 ] [ 1840 - 49 ] [ 1850 - 59 ] [ 1860 - 69 ] [ 1870 - 79 ] [ 1880 - 89 ] [ 1890 - 99 ]
[ 1890 ] [ 1891 ] [ 1892 ] [ 1893 ] [ 1894 ] [ 1895 ] [1896 ] [ 1897 ] [ 1898 ] [ 1899 ]

Newport Past
[ Picture Gallery ] [Home Page ]