Yesterday afternoon the Rushden B.W.T.A. Hall was officially reopened by the chairman of the Rushden Urban Council (Alderman C W Horrell, J.P.), after having been closed for the month of August for renovations. The interior of the building presents a very bright appearance, the decoration having been carried out by Mr T C Woods, of Higham Ferrers. The walls of the main hall are in three shades, the upper portion of a pleasing light brown, the lower (panelling) is dark grained finished, and the dividing border in a dual-coloured fancy design. The inscription over the platform is an attractive feature, all the characters being skilfully rejuvenated in gilding and colour.

Mrs T Tailby presided at the opening ceremony, supported by Mr Horrell, Rev. J A Sutherland, Rev. J B Goodridge, Mrs B Vorley, and Mr T C Clarke. Mrs R Denton officiated at the piano. There was a large company present.

Mrs W Spencer nicely sang two solos.

Mrs Tailby welcomed Mr Horrell and others who were not members of the association, and apologised for the absence of Mrs T Gravely, of Wellingborough, and Mrs W H Lovell, of Stanwick. She was pleased that their hall was in a cleaner state. It had been in a rather disgraceful condition. They hoped to do more yet. (Hear, hear.) Mrs Tailby said that the Rushden members of the B.W.T.A. were very grateful for the big contingent of members of the Higham branch and of the visit of others from Thrapston, Wellingborough, and the district. (Applause)

Mr Horrell expressed pleasure at being invited to officiate at that ceremony. He congratulated them as a temperance association on the splendid work they were doing and the way in which they had rallied round so many good caused in the town. They had made an excellent transformation of the hall. (Hear, Hear.) He was not a native of Rushden, but the first thing he could remember about the town was that particular hall. As a youngster he belonged to the Higham Ferrers Wesleyan Band of Hope and used to attend singing practice in that hall in connection with the great choral festivals held annually at the Crystal Palace. When the Wesleyan Church, to which he was proud to belong, first formed a society in Rushden, the members worshipped for a time in what was known as the Public Hall, at the back of the Waverley Hotel, and later on they rented that hall for a considerable time for their Sunday services. They used to get the hall well filled, and from that start they formed a very strong society. He felt thankful that in the early part of his life he was initiated in that hall into the life of Rushden, in which place he had never since felt strange. When the hall was in the property market it was purchased on behalf of the B.W.T.A. At that time some people who were considered very reasonable thought that the association had made a mistake in that venture and would never see their way through. Today they had evidence that the venture had been

More than Justified.

They had not only purchased the hall, but they had put it in good condition to be a home for temperance ever since. (Applause.) There was no town probably in Northamptonshire, possibly in the Midlands, which owed a greater debt to its early temperance reformers than Rushden. (Hear, hear.) He had been told that 80 years ago there was only one boot factory in Rushden and the only street was narrow and dirty. The population was not many hundreds. The advent of one man to Rushden had made all the difference then and to its future prosperity. He referred to the late Rev R E Bradfield. (Applause.) The men who laid the foundations of the boot industry in Rushden were all men who had been converted to temperance. Comparing the town with its state even 30 years ago, they might be proud of it today. He was certain that with an organisation as strong as the Rushden branch of the B.W.T.A. the members would see that the principles for which those pioneers lived and died were upheld. We were living, he said, in peculiar times. Europe would never get back to pre-1911 conditions. They used to think that the least likely country to adopt Prohibition was America, and the world generally was surprised that it had been done. He was convinced that America would never go back. A man who had recently returned from America said that the banks in the principal cities were full of gold, and that, as against every 100 men who had lost jobs through the introduction of Prohibition, 1,000 extra jobs had since been found. Output per employee had increased from 16 to 20 per cent. England had got to face that competition. Although in England at present Prohibition might seem a long way off, no one could tell what would happen in the next five years. There was today a conscience and a public opinion that had never been known before, and there was no greater force than that. It must be considered very seriously. He trusted that the principles which they represented and which had been represented by those whose photographs were on the walls would be preached in that hall and throughout the length of the town and that their mission would be even more successful in the future than it had been in the past. (Applause.)

Mr Sutherland, proposing thanks to Mr Horrell and the soloist, congratulated the members of the Rushden B.W.T.A. on the smart and attractive appearance of the hall. They heard a good deal, he said, about the attraction of the public-house. He had been in a good many public-houses in various parts of the country and had never been struck with either their attraction or their cleanliness. That hall had been a place of enlightenment from the beginning. It was built by their keen sighted forefathers, who laid the foundations of the town’s progress. It had been built in time of great difficulty and at great sacrifice to give the children a better education than they had had. It gave the future generations of Rushden a chance in

The Struggle of Life.

Now the town had better accommodation for education. He was glad that that old hall was still serving its purpose. There yet remained much to be done now to carry temperance education amongst the fathers and mothers of the children of today. He was glad that Mr Horrell had told them of the great debt which the town owed for its material prosperity to the old temperance workers. He would like to know that the rising generations of boot manufacturers and people remembered that. The old temperance enthusiasts knew it was good business, and it still continued to be good business. He urged the temperance workers to hit hard against the drink traffic, to abolish it. He had just come from his own home town, where every public-house had recently been closed. He could remember what it was like 25 years ago for drunkenness, but during the whole of the past month in the busiest season he never saw a drunken man or woman. (Applause.) The people in that town were engaged in deep-sea fishing. It had been supposed that such workers needed stimulants, but they did not need them and were finding out that they could endure the hardship better for not drinking strong drink. Mr Sutherland said he believed there was a delightful surprise in store for them sooner than they realised. There was an international Conference dealing with the whole question of the liquor traffic. Little countries, seeking to be saved from the menace of those larger countries which had a monetary interest in alcohol, were joining together to protect themselves. Japan was coming out in advocacy of being “dry.” He believed there would be a scramble by all the political parties as to who should have the credit for bringing in Prohibition. They would all want the glory of saying “It was we who did it!” The country would owe very little to any political party for Prohibition. No political party could be trusted in temperance reform. Prohibition was coming through the voice of the people, through their expressed intention, and not because it was to be thrust on them. Thought was shaping that way. No political party was proud now of being associated with the liquor traffic. Credit for prohibition would be due to the Churches, and largely to the women in the Churches, and to societies like the B.W.T.A., who through every discouragement had been true to the ideal of a clean country, a Fair Chance for the Children, and for the rights of womanhood. (Applause.) The vote was unanimously accorded.

Giving an interesting account of the history of the B.W.T.A. Hall, Mrs Tailby said it was built as a Temperance Hall and was opened in 1868 by a sermon being preached in it. She and her brother George (Mr G Bayes), then tiny toddlers, were very proud of having each a £1 share in the building. It was used as the first undenominational non-sectarian school at the time of the great educational controversy. The Wesleyans and the Salvation Army members in turn rented the building. When the old Public Hall was built the Temperance Hall was sold. It became a furniture shop, a leather store, and a warehouse. The Rushden branch of the B.W.T.A. was formed in 1892. When they had been working for about seven years they tried get a place of their own, though they were grateful to the Free Churches for the hospitality given to them previously. It had not always been possible for the Churches to meet their wishes. The branch bought a little iron church, itself having been part of St Barnabas’s Church, then erected at Hinwick as a mission station and later at Podington because not enough attended at Hinwick. When the Rushden branch bought it Mr George Denton kindly allowed them to erect it on land belonging to him in Coffee Tavern-lane rent-free. Eventually the iron building got too small for them, and after great consideration and with many fears they decided to buy the present hall with the help of friends. The cost, with renovations and furnishing, was nearly £1,000. That had all been paid for. (Applause.) Now they had got to the plodding stage. Their movement was the first women’s organisation to be formed in Rushden. Since then there had sprung up others, all doing good work. (Applause.)

Following the speeches tea was served to the company.