Opening Fire
The locals in Penrith were talking about the Salvos before they even arrived. An article in the Nepean Times in 1884 states: There is every probability of a detachment of The Salvation Army being quartered in Penrith for a lengthy period shortly … At present we will refrain from speaking for or against this institution but when they pay us a visit we will explain to our readers more fully the success or otherwise of the detachment. And “open-fire” the Salvos did, led by Captain Bartlett (pictured right). Despite the early skepticism in the press, the reaction to The Salvation Army in Penrith was one of welcome – perhaps due to the visitation of a number of “Salvation Lasses”, as reported in the Nepean Times on 3 March 1884: The Salvation Army at Penrith have indeed worked wonders during the short time they have been in existence here. On Saturday and Sunday 23rd and 24th February there was a large muster of soldiers and hallelujah lasses from Sydney, but since that time … the Army has composed of purely local recruits with Captain Bartlett and Lieutenant Relton, as leaders. We believe that we are not over-stepping the mark when we say that upwards of one hundred have gone to the penitent stool … The whole of their meetings have been perfectly free from disturbance of any kind.
