Peace on Earth

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 235, 23 December 1927, Page 16

Peace on Earth

FOUR HUNDRED MEN | IN MT. EDEN GAOL RECEIVED THEIR XMAS ] CHEER

THE MAN WHO SANG

The last rays of the setting sun somehow gave the chapel a roseate hue.

Not that the plain coloured glass above the altar could by any stretch of the imagination be dignified as a rose window. There was no figure of the Mother of the Man of Sorrows upon it. Neither did the Christ Himself appear in the decoration. There are few of those fixtures in a prison chapel with which men usually like to adorn the House of their God.

Simplicity, even to severity, is the gospel here. Still, Christmas is Christmas, after all. . . . The rays of the setting sun illuminated the gallery, in particular, with surprising effect, etching the heads of the greyclad men sitting there, in minuto line. For a moment or so the light lingered on the string of imitation holly, which garlanded the gallery rail. A MERRY XMAS

Above the altar lettered, in wadding was: “A Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to You All/* There were flowers on the altar. Directly in front of it was a stage. The chapel was more than comfortably filled. Silent men, grey jackets open exposing bronzed necks, waited for the initial offering from Jaspers, Limited, the Christmas concert party. A break in the dull routine of prison. Something from the big world outside.

Near the front sat a man of more than middle age. Society had not dealt too gently with him. Perhaps he had not dealt too gently with society. Yet it appeared as if nothing could quite efface the half smile which seemed part and parcel of him. A POPULAR TENOR

Yes, he certainly nodded as h§ heard the familiar story of Annie Laurie and “her luve sae true.” The music-hall ballad anent prayers at the mother’s knee left him quite unmoved, though the tenor —he was immensely popular —received no fewer than three recalls. The lilt of “I Want You Only,” lietmotif from “The Chocolate Soldier,” another general favourite, he regarded with mild tolerance.

“Chick-chick Chicken” set moving the arms of a youth sitting near him. “Bye, Bye Blackbird” set the youth’s feet tapping. ... The old man nodded, half smiling. Then came the voice of the newlyappointed chaplain, the Rev. Jasper Calder; “We want pep in our services. If permission can be obtained I shall bring a soloist to brighten them up. . . . Straight talks from the shoulder; honest, sincere, friendly. Man to man. You boys know what I mean. The new assistant chaplain, he assured them, was “simply dying” to get to Mount Eden!

Still, the old man merely smiled, half-amused. Yes, Christmas time, of course. Who could forget it? That was why the entertainers came. The carols — . . . Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinner reconciled. Yet again a fervid— Come let us adore Him, Oh, come let us adore Him. Four thousand and two hundred cigarettes—that was what the chaplain said. Among 400 men, that would be, for each . . . ? OLD-FASHIONED SONGS The “old-fashioned songs” were announced as a finale. “Sweet Marie” had no effect. “Two Little Girls in Blue,” and he smiled. But when the pierrots and Pierrettes stepped to another pld tim >s—it was

none other than Lottie Collins’s old favourite—the old man’s lips moved, and free and unrestrained came—-“Ta-ra-ra-boom-de-ay! ” * * * From between the twin towers, the red glass window of the chapel gleamed solemnly, crimsonly sombre, as the mirth-makers drove out into the night —and freed on**