ONE hundred years ago The Caernarfon and Denbigh Herald was going strong and celebrating its 71st year as a newspaper. In 1902, the newspaper covered Anglesey, and as far away as Llandudno and Monmouthshire, and it cost one penny. However, it is not only the area and the themes of the day which have changed, but also the layout of the paper. The paper took the form of a broadsheet, and the front page consisted of adverts and public notices and the main stories were found on pages two and three. Some of the advertisementsin particular provide today's reader with a perfect example of attitudes of the day. For example, the following advert starts with calling upon the attention of 'Manly Men'. "Why suffer the pains and misery caused by nervousness, premature exhaustion and wasting weakness! Send for my book which shows how a man, young and old, can be thoroughly and quickly cured without stomach medicine or electricity." The Herald also managed to include items of specific interest to women, including Grannie's Romantic Story, and adverts such as the following: "The Kearsley's Widow Welch's Female Pills. Awarded the certificate of merit for the cure of irregularities, anaemia, and all female complaints. They have the approval of the medical profession. Beware of imitations. The only genuine ones are in white paper wrappers. A 2s 9d box contains three times the pills." The newspaper did not include any photographs, but hand-drawn pictures of people, and in court reports, the reporter would highlight where bursts of laughter from the public had occurred. And 1902 was a time when war and the Penrhyn Strike affected families. In the specially contributed political notes, the writer states: "Another year is gone, and, like its predecessor, it has been a year of war.The graves of South Africa have multiplied by 1,000." The newspaper also carried accounts nearly every week of fatal accidents at the quarries. On a lighter note, the paper reports the events of a party at the workhouse, under the leadership of Robert Roberts of South Penrallt, and also that the Welsh translation of Macbeth would be appearing in Y Pawb, described by Prof O M Edwards as: "The gem of English literature." A complaint was also made in the newspaper about the high ideas of the Caernarfon town council of the day. The complaint was founded on the council's good ideas, but failure to carry any of them out, such as building offices for the University and accommodation for the Welsh National Museum, but not carrying out repairs to the Anglesey Ferry. The first few weeks in January 1902 saw heavy rain which postponed many football matches, and because of the rain and high tides Madog Vale was flooded, so that the bed of the Glaslyn could hardly be traced. Meanwhile, cases at the Caernarfon Borough Petty Sessions included someone throwing stones at a lame man, begging at Christmas and a woman drunk in the street. | 
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