Penarth Chronicle and District Advertiser

MR. THOMAS'S PERTINACITY. Mr Thomas was not sure of his being in order in mentioning again Batchelor and Snowdon's claim but, if he remembered aright, he gave notice of motion to ask the Surveyor a few questions on the matter. He thought it a great shame of the Council not to allow a small committee to investigate the claims of one of their most respectable citizens. MrCyril Batchelor was a friend of his of 30 years' staading, but he would do the same for a foe. The firm had made a clear case, and it was therefore grossly improper for them to be So upstart as not to bear what the aggrieved party had to say. Legal and expert opinion had been taken in the case, and they were really and substantially en- titled to something. Upon the Chairman asking if Mr Thomas wished to propose anything Mr Thomas replied, I don't propose anything. I'm Simply giving you my mind." 0 Murmurs of dissent being heard, Mr Thomas seized the opportunity, and proposed that the minute de- clining to further investigate Messrs Batchelor and Snowdon's claim be rescinded. Mr R. Bevan seconded. Messrs Thomas, LJoyd, R. Bevan, and W, L. Morris voted for it, and Messrs Morgan, Snell, Purnell and Strawson against it- Board PurDe11 th01^ v6ty UQra"* to the old Mr Strawson deprecated the precedent; every case in dispute could be raised again. Mr Thomas: I don't think there was one ton the Board who understood it. Jfr Snell: I'm very much obliged to Mr Thomas. Mr Thomas; You are quite welcome, quite wel- come to it. Mr Snell: This is infinitely ridiculous Mr Thomas I move that Messrs Snell, L. Purnell, T. Bevan, and myself be appointed the committee. Mr Snell: I decline to act. Mr Purnell: So do I. Mr Guy: The Surveyor is anxious to have it thrasnedout. If carefully considered, the commit- tee may discover fresh features. I propose the Chair- man be added to the committee. Mr Snell: I decline. I don't see how we can go on against our own contract. The Chairman; Mr Thomas deserves it for his pluck. Mr Thomas I don't want to be thought plucky or courageous- The Surveyor: If not out of order, I should like Mr Snell and Mr Purnell on the committee. The Chairman In common fairness to Mr Evans I altered my mind, and now vote for the in. vestigation. Mr Snell said no more on the subject, but whether he gave a tacit assent or is still determined to adhere to his determination not to stultify the old Board re- mains to be seen. MISCELLANEOUS. The Pier Company submitted lavatory plans of the drains which would pass out to sea, but upon Mr Snell's suggestion, it was resolved that these drains must be connected with the public sewer. Mr Purnell gave notice of motion that the Surveyor be kept to principal's work, and not be worried with petty work, and that Mr T. Meazey be appointed inspector of house building at an increased wage of £ 10 or il5 Der annum, Provisional sanction was given for the Water Witch" to ply as a beach pleasure boat.

Correspondence. THE SALVATION ARMY. To the Editor of the Penarth Chronicle. Dear Sir,—Whilst being an advocate for open-air 11 preaching, I think the action of the Salvation Army is strongly to be deprecated, and if they are not care- tui their own actions will be their own rum. The forward Movement have for some months been meet- ing in Andrews' Lesser Hall, and previous to their alternoon and evening services the leaders have con- ducted meetings in the open-air close by the hall. At one time, evidently out of a spirit of opposition, the Army attempted to hold services whilst the Move ment sevices were proceeding, opposite the old Post umce, and this at a time when the latter had no band, the result being that the terrific beating of the Army drum made it almost impossible for the others to pro- Ceed yet they gallantly held their ground, and at last the Army desisted. Cb Sunday last, however, that spirit of opposition on the part of the Army appeared to reasserted itself, and for upwards of half -an-hour, op- posite Mr Cornwell's shop, there was an incessant row being made by tlx, balid-music it cannot be called because of th fearful discords made by the players of the different instfutnentsintheirevidentde- sire to drown the voices of those who were preaching I 'Christ a hnnlred and fifty yards away. The motto of the Army appears to be "destroy the Forward Move- ment at any price," instead of "Christ, and Him crucified It is for certain that the one whom they profess to serve does not look down with approval upon this spirit of opposition, and it is also certain that the people of Penarth will not aid efforts of this fcind The Army have been left with a broad field wherein to work, and, I say it kindly, they have no business to actii* a spirit of opposition to any o her section of Christ's followers. I heard one of the Move- ment say, 11 If Christ is with us, and He is stronger than the powers of Satan and all those who may be against us, we have nothing to fear. We are work. ing in His name and for His glory, and He will bless our efforts. Let the Army adept similar principles, and their efforts will be owned and blessed of God, but He will never permit the efforts of cne section of His kingdom to destroy the work of another. Yours truly, OBSERVER. To the Editor of the Penarth Chronicle. Dear Sir,—I am sure that for the sake of justice, if for no other reason, you will let me have a small space in your valuaMe paper to protest against the unwarrantable action of the Salvation Army in holding their open-air services last Sunday evening so near to the stand occupied by the Foward Movement. That many on lcoksrs were disgusted, not even the members of the Army themselves. I think, can deny, after the attitude of the people around them, in leav- ing them for the Movement. No possible excuse can the Army offer for this public show of opposition. The Movement always oc- cupies the same stand, it being just outside their hall, and, unlike the Army, do not go from place to place occupying different ground almost every Sunday. It would not, perhaps, have been so bad if they had been the other side of the road, a place they often occupy of a week-night. But to go where they did, in full sight of the Movement, and where they could be of most annoyance, it would appear, is altogether too conspicuous and noticeable to everyone, and clearly shows the feeling possessed by the Army towards their" brethren." I do not hesitate to say that the Gospel under such circumstances cannot possibly be preached from the heart, but is only an empty utterance of words from the lips, This people know, and therefore lend not their ears to what may be said. If the Salvation Army wish to prosper and make themselves a power for good in Penartb, they must carry on their work in a different manner to this. There is plenty of room here to do all the work they can manage without stopping to show animosity and ill-feeling to other sections of the religious Church. "Let brotherly love continue*' is a motto they might adopt with advantage. Let us hope that perfect good- will and unanimity will now reign between these two bodies. Perhaps we shall have the pleasure of seeing them uniting once now and again soon. Yours truly. JUSTICE- CONGREGATIONAL SINGING. I To the Editor of the Penarth Chronicle. Sir,- I read with much interest your article on congregational singing which appeared in the Chronicle last week, and as you so kindly offered your columns for the discussion of the question, I venture to ex- press my approval of the proposition to establish a united musical festival for Penarth Nonconformist choirs. I should 'ike to hav < embraced the Church choirs as well, but the music in one is somewhat dif- ferent to that in the other, although I tbiuk it would be to the advantage of the Church choirs if they would unite in a similar manner. There can be no disputing the fact that the singing in moat of our Noncon- formist Churches is slovenly, and is not the attraction and help in worship that it should be? Prom in- quiries I have been led to believe that few of our choirs meet for the study of music, or even for prac- tice, only when something special is to take place, I whereas to keep the singing in an efficient state constant practice is required. I would suggest, in order to discuss the advisability of a musical festival, the call- ing together of the leadsrs of the various choiry in the town, and others who may be interested, when the views of each other could be obtained, and then, if thought advisable by them, that a union be formed, conductor and other officers elected, and rehearsals commenced not later than the beginning of Septem- ber. To start earlier I do not think would be wise, for young people are attracted by the summer weather, and like their walks. I am, Yours faithfully. A MEMBER OF A CHOIR. To the Editor of the Penarth Chronicle. Sir,-In glancing through the last i:osue of your valuable paper I was greatly pleased to find you I drawing the attention of all readers to the above sub- ject. Whilst fully agreeing with you that the sing- I ing in the various chapels is not what it ought to be, but, on the contrary, is very imperfect indeed, I am not sure that by forming the various choirs into a union, with the object of holding an annual festival, will bring the singing up to its proper level. True, much good has been done in this way in the musical world, where properly trained and skilled choirs have been concerned; but is it not a fact that in all cases wh.es e the attempt has been made with the untrained singers t s proved a missrable failure. It is,perhaps, possible for one of our leading musicians, even with the un- trained singers, on a festival day to convey to them his ideas, form and expression in the various hvmns; but is not that to the majority-artificial and mechani- cal, la,ting only for the day ? And why ? Because the bm ding he tried to erect is placed on an unpre- pared foundation, the singers not being acquainted even with the rudimentary part of music. Now, sir, the question for us to consider is, where do we stand as choirs in this respect ? Is it not safe to say that the majority of our singers are in that unfortunate condition ? Many of them are not able to distinguish between a volume of sound and a pure musical tone." They do not know the difference between a major and minor chord or interval; they do not understand the difference between a strong-, medium, or weak accent; and as for management of breath, which is one of the principal things even in hymn singing, are sadly wanting. Many of them cannot through force of habit sing more than from three to four pulses consecutively without taking breath, and even then in the middle of a verbal or musical phrase or sentence, and those are but a portion of the elementary part of music. Now, sir, under these circumstances, would it not be better for the different conductors to meet together and form some system of teaching the elementary part at leastto the different choir members in the district ? It W°^3 i be the la7iDS" of a foundation oa which we could hope to build a more beautiful edifice. After thus obtaining a good foundation, your suggestion would be of great service. We should then hope to have true worshipful and soul singing in the sanctuary, but until then, in my humble opinion, the suggestion is premature. Apologising for taking up so much of your valuable paper, Yours, etc., VERITAS.-

Fire at Cogan Hall Farm. „T?n I ue.sday, about 11 a.m., a farm labourer named v\ ilham Smiih discovered that a large hay rick, the property of Mr William Blake, of Cogan Hall Farm, which fronts the pI ivate road leading from Cogan to Lavernock, was on fire. It was a large rick contain. ing some of the best clover hay in the district, and immediately adjoining it was another rick still larger* 9 n Smith immediately gave the alarm, and Mrs Blake, whose husband had sailed for America for a three montns trip only the previous Saturday, drove at onca to the Penarth Police Station and informed Inspector Roberts of the occurrence. The latter im- mediately ordered out the manual engine, and within a remarkably short line after receiving information of the fire the 1-rigade were on the scene. It wis too late, however, to admit of any hope of saving ihe ricks !or in the mean time the other rick, which was but barely separated from that in which the flames origi- nated, had caught fire; and there being a strong north-east wind blowing it was already enveloped in flames, so the brigade adopted the best course possible for loosening the hay as much as they could in order that it might be the more speedily consumed, and thus minimise the danger of the flames spreading to the adjoining church and farm buildings, which were only separated from the burning ricks by a low wall, Fortunately there was a good supply of water handy, and soon a good stream of water was being poured on the roof of the church, which has only just been newly restored, this course having the effect of keeping the building- cool and the better able to withstand the scorching heat of the flan-ie3, which rose to a great height- Moreover, the wind was blowing in a con- trary direction, and considerably aided; the efforts of the brigade in their work of saving the adjoining buildings. The two ricks contained altogether aboufc 150 tons of hay, vilued at about £ 500, which, we un- derstand. is partly, if not wholly covered by insurance, now the fire originated is a mystery, though there seems no doubt that it must have been the result of a lighted match thrown carelessly or intentionally amongst the hay. On -Thursday" morning, the Penarth fire manual was again requisitioned, it having been reported i fiat sparkat from t:ie smouldering hayricks had set afire the old Church and Cogan Hall Farm- One of our represen- tatives, therefore, proceeded to the spot, but happily found such was not the ;case, and there is no likeli- hood of a further conflagration, as the two ricks are entirely consumed.