The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1894-09-24
WELCOME TO Singers
Concluded from Page y


You may 60 out driving, turn cor
ner and come across The Red Cow ian
inn( Further on you cut across the
Silver Scissors. Then you may pass
one called The Driblings and another
the jug and Bottle. Then the Feathered
Hat looms into view, and the Lutte and
Harp. and so on. Some OF these hotels
are London ones, but the majority are
in this vicinity.
A DENSELY DOTTED MAP.
1t is surprising how close to one an
other the towns are, here in Wales.
Every road and street is labeled dis
tinctly and often, so that one can never
lose oneself at all. You can see your
whereabouts printed on almost every
corner you come to. The towns are
likewise labeled. as You come to them,
and as | was saying. they are 80 very
close to each other. there being no unoc-
eupied land at all between them, that
you would think you were in one big
town II at some bridge or pass in the
hills you did not come to a sign and
realize that you are in different town.
AS one of the party remarked, while
out driving the other day, they fairly
Jostle one another here. Every one OF
them, too. no matter how small. has
its own town hall, for courts. bazaars
and the like, its free library and its
choruses and singing societies. Often
the superintendent Of mines is lead
er OF choir, the members Of which
are mostly his own miners; he estab-
fishes the free library of the town,
presides over eisteddfods, and leads his
choirs in competition, too.
Perhaps that is one OF the reasons
why there is 80 little discomfort among
these people. and 80 few strikes, or
none at all. They work harder and for
less than in America, but their inter.
ests and the interests Of those in au.
thority over them seem to be more in
common than with u.s. / notice that
the miners here get 80 much blacker
and dirtier than 10 Pennsylvanis They
are just black when they come from
the mines. Itmust be the softness Of
the coal. | detest this horrid soft,
black. smudgy coal thev have here
Give me America and the hard, glitter
ing anthracite.
RIsTEDDFoDIC ACTIVITY.
There are eisteddfods going on all
the time over here. somewhere or
other. Last week there was tre-
pendous one somewhere near here,
Treorky, l think the name was. 1t
w6s held in an immense tent like cir
Gus tent, pitched out in a large field,
and was attended by choirs, soloists
and bands from all the towns within
radius Of twenty-five and thirty
miles. There was an immense crowd
there. The competitions were very
good, some of them. especially that
between brass bands. several of which
were magnificent As for the
voices which competed on the
solos, there were no remarkable
ones, save the tenor, who was excel
lent For my part, think the average
American voice is in every case as good
as and in some cases better than the
average Welsh voice, or English voice,
or voice of any other nationality, fol
that matter. Since l have left home
my admiration and respect for the
average Americans attainments has
gone up fifty per cent and it was never
low, even before. We are not behind
any people and indeed greatly in ad
vance Of the majority of people, l an
sure, IN everything. How glad l an
that belong to the Stars and Stripes
GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.
Apropos of the Stars and Stripes. how
funny it seems. when concert 10 end
ed, to sing God Save the Queen" In
stead Of going off the stage at the enc
OF the last quartette, we stand still
while Professor Evans modulates to tn,
key in which 1t is sung. and "a we star
to sing God Save the Queen" all th,
people get up aud stand with baret
heads till it is finished. and then z,
out. 1t makes me- think Of the dox
ology.
A young pianist was telling me las,
evening an amusing incident in which
he was involved while travelling il
America, where he was the piano solo
ist of very fine musical organization
a few years ago. He said that he hat
the last number on the programme
had finished, and, without thinking
where he was, turned off and strucl
boldly into God Save the Queen,
when, happening to look up, ne saw
the eyes Of several of his company
fixed upon him with something like
twinkle and recolleeted that he wa
not now in the United Kingdom. Il
stopped in dire confusion, made hi