View report page

Built to a now of musical and other entertain
ments whilst the swimming bath was closed
during the winter months, always yielded a good
revenue. Of course there were public halls in
the town, and so there were in the places where
baths referred to by Mr. Tiltman were erected.
There seemed to be an idea that the proposed
building would not be high enough for musical
and other entertainments, but he thought the hall
which would be provided would be a very good
one for singing or any other purpose. The
distance from the boarded floor over the swimming
hath to the wall plate of the roof would be 17ft.,
to the principal 29ft. Gin., and to the top of the
skylight 34ft. Gin. The length of the hall would
he 100ft., the width 46ft., and there would be a
clear space of 38ft. within the boxes. Roughly
speaking the hall would provide accommodation
for about 1000 people, 600 on the floor and 400
in the galleries. Referring to the opinion
expressed at the recent town's meeting, he said
that at the close a councillor who had passed the
mayoral chair, and who he thought was not in
favour of baths, told him that after such a meeting
the corporation were quite justified in spending
£6000 on baths, and he should be prepared to vote
for £8000 if necessary. The committee had done
their best to carry out the resolution of the
council, and he had great pleasure in moving the
adoption of the minutes.
Councillor Huckle seconded the motion. He
said he represented a ward which was in need of
baths, and referred to the number of members
added to the council during late years who had
put baths forward as one of the prominent questions
to be decided. In bringing forward plans
for baths he took it that the council were fulfilling
the wishes of the burgesses as expressed at the
elections. In serving on the Baths Committee it
had been his pleasure to sit under three chairmen,
Aid. J. Marsh, Aid. Allard and Aid. Coppinger,
and he was pleased to find that the latter had
been able to present plans which would satisfy the
requirements of the town.
Councillor Glover had very great pleasure in
supporting the motion. After giving a racy description
of the opposition to the baths scheme,
showing how the anti-bathites were beaten at the
recent town's meeting, he said that not satisfied
with defeat the objectors had come on again. It
had been asked how they would get any revenue
out of the proposed baths, and he thought that
was a vital point. (Hear, hear.) There were
sources of revenue, however. People heard of
Kingston, of its beauties, and its splendid situation,
but when they came where could they find
houses with baths? There were houses rented at
£40, £50 and £60 per annum without baths, which
was deplorable. Even the Romans, before they
came to England, had their baths, and now, at
the end of the nineteenth century, Kingstonians
were found opposing their introduction. When
he came to the town it was only after great difficulty
that he found a house with a bath.
The only public accommodation for bathers
at the time was an "old tin-pot craft,"
which he supposed was brought over by
the Spanish Armada, and which would probably
have sunk if the career of the inglorious
expedition had been prolonged another day.
With public baths they would find people coming
to the town and taking houses although they
might be without baths; there would be more
visitors in the summer, and the result would be
that the rateable value of the borough would
increase. Metropolitan swimming clubs had
offered to come and compete against similar local
institutions, but were unable to do so owing to
the absence of suitable accommodation. They
were afraid of the old tin, wooden ship sinking
with all the people on board. It would be an
honour to all who supported the erection of the
baths, and it would be a matter of greater pride
to support the construction of apparatus to save
life than Maxim guns to destroy life. On the
ground of morality baths were a necessity, and
after remarking upon the practice of youths
stripping upon the banks of the Thames and
???