Welsh Journals

THE USK GLEANER A Local Register of Events and Magazine of Information. No. 4. PffHLisHED bt J. H. CL.1RK, at "The Coctntv Observer" Office, Use. PRICE 3d CHEPSTOW GAS COMPANIES. Gas! Gas! Gas !—In January, 1856, the Chep¬ stow people were quite elated at the thoughts of having brilliant gas substituted for the wretched blue flame they had had to put up with for so many years, and all their cry was gas ! The excitement Mr.Atkins aroused for the C'hepstonians was typical of John Bull; they grumble a long time before they get into a passion, and if Messrs. Price and Co., the proprietors of the old works, had acted anything like prudently, they might have continued to enjoy for years the sweet returns from foul gas. The golden opportunity had fled, a new company was started, the shares taken up, a provisional committee was formed, trustees, treasurer, bankers, solicitors, en¬ gineers, secretary, and auditors were appointed, the lanel was purchased, and everything connected with the new company went "merry as a marriage bell," They had even a poet in their train, who effused under the nom de plume of " Vicina Vox" the fol¬ lowing prologue :— Ring ! ring! ring ! ye merry Christmas bells ! And shout! shout! shout I ye happy Chepstow swells ! Unwonted rays are coming, your darken'd street to cheer, And the sable monarch of the night is closing his career. As capital and energy their might are now combining, Throughout your little city bright lights will soon be shining, For the champions of the people have listened to your woes, ' And will scatter to confusion your darkness-loving foes. A PRiCE-less light is coming to dissipate the gloom, That nightly falls upon you as the shadows of the tomb ; The Price of darkness visable will sink your funds no more, For " Slmrp's the word," and Sharpe's the name, that echoes from each door. No longer shall the smoky stuff that flickers from each jet Be said to be the purest gas the Chepstow folks can get: The darkest nights of winter shall be as bright as day, And every street and every house shall share the new¬ born ray. Then ring! ring! ring! a long and merry peal! And with a hearty English cheer, proclaim your common weal, Aye shout ! for tis your privilege to shout when Prices fall: And hail the friends who give us light without a Price atall. This activity on the part of the people set the pro¬ prietors of the old Chepstow Gas Works on the qui vive, they issued a counter prospectus offering ad¬ vantages to the people of Chepstow if they would join them by adding £3,50 >, in shares of £5 each, to enable them to supply good, pure, and cheap gas. The inhabitants, however, turned a deaf ear to this very modest proposition, having gained quite suffi¬ cient knowledge from past experience, to elude the meshes spread for their ruin. 'J he gas mania was not confined to Chepstow, the little towns of Lydney and Newnham also took the hint, established com¬ panies, had works erected and are now enjoying the comfort of a sufficient supply of good gas. The affairs of the new company, however, did not proceed as smoothly as was at first anticipated; a large amount of opposition was shown by the old Company, and the question of legality was raised as to the power of the new Company to break up the roads to lay their mains. Matters went so far that information was laid against the engineer- Mr, At¬ kins, and others, at the petty sessions held on the 20th June, 1856, for illegally laying the pipes, but the case was dismissed, each party paying their own costs. On several occasions the pipes of the new Company were found torn up and broken, and on the 23 nd May, three men were summoned on a charge of breaking up the streets, and displacing the pipes in Middle and Upper Church-streets, thereby causing a mob to collect, and leading to a breach of the peace. It appeared from the evidence that there was a vast amount of ill feeling between the rival companies and their supporters, and but or the interference of the police there would, in all proba¬ bility, have been a riot on that occasion. But these checks did not stay the onward progress of the new Company, which has, since that time, supplied the town of Chepstow with gas of better quality. THE CLAIM TO THE LLAMA RN AM ABBEY ESTATES, MONMOUTHSHIRE. The claim of Mr. Reginald James Blewett to the Llantarnam Abbey Estates is just now exciting great sensation in Monmouthshire and the West of England. It is generally supposed that on the occasion of the failure of the Monmouth and Glamorgan Bank, in which he was largely interested,