TOO SHARP BY HALF.

Kumara Times, Issue 567, 22 July 1878, Page 2

TOO SHARP BY HALF.

It is plain they manage these things better in Vienna. The other day a poorly-clad woman appeared before a well-known and highly respected priest in Vienna and told him with tears that her husband, a silversmith, was greatly given to drink, that he" beat her and the children daily, and neglected all tiie duties of a husband and father. The priest promised to see the workman and dismissed the wVrraan, She straight- - way went to a silversmith’s and ordered him to go the - next morning, at ll o’clock, to the priests house,, that she .was his cook and that he wished ta buy a snuff-box. The silversmith appeared next morning punctually at the stated time, with ab»ut a dozen silver snuff-boxes. The woman# who awaited him in the hall, .took the goods from him, and entering the priest’s room said, “ Sir my husband ie here.” “ Tell him to come in,’’ said the priest ; whereupon the woman,left the room and bade the silversmith enter* The good father proceeded to address him in a long sermon, saying a good deal about drunkenness, wife-beating# and so forth. The silversmith was at first astonished, then indignant# and eventually the mystery was solved. The woman did not wait for the conclusion of the'Sinterview, and the snuffboxes have not since been heard of.