UNABASHED.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 135, 21 January 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

UNABASHED.

A certain minister, who was in charge of a Ittle country church, had been for aeonsiderable time groi'.tlj perturbed in mind by the utter lack of punctuality on the part of several members oi'the eongregat : on in attending the Sunday services. Some came into church so uncommonly late that they heard not a line of the preliminaries and were only just in time to hear the sermon. At last these lateconvng practices had s6 increased that the minister felt it necessary to determine upon some drastic method for their suppression. The fo'olwing Sunday morning, after tin's resolve had been made, gave, the minister an opportunity to put his pur. peso into practice, .lust as he was flushing giving otu the text for hii'sermon he noticed one of the offenders—a farm labourer entering the church. The preacher had already discovered that delicate hints, and even severe looks, were wholly without effect in ft like tin's, so, hoping to shame the he now spoke directly from' the pulpit, "Mr.* Churchwarden." said the clergyman, and his tones rang through tlie building, "wll voir please find 1 a p'ace in a comfortable pew for the gentleman who has just arrived at eh"..-ch?" "Thank yep kindly." rejoined the farm labourer, making an unexpected reply and fully rising to the demands of the occasion, "and p'r'haps yer wouldn't mind givin' us the text just once agam. Yer know. I d : dn't quite catch : t." ware of kissing any lady, even <iis wife, on the beach. If in a weak moment he yields to temptation, he may expect to pav a line of at least ten dollars (£2) for his weakness. When one man, caught in the act, pleaded that the kissec was no other than his own wife, the judge answered sternly, "AH the more shame to you! A marred man ought to set a better example. You must pav 15 dollars.'' In Wisconsin a recent Act compels hotel-keepers to provide sheets at least eight feet long for every bed; and in Pennsylvania the man who dares to print an advertisement on a ropy of the St:rs and Stripes is liable to a sentence of s'x months' imprisonment. But it would lie difficult to find anytii ng n.oic iihsurd in the law than s:mie of the sentences passed on criminals. It is not very long since Don .lose Kmilio Guardiola was convicted in the Courts of Madrid on fifty separate charges of fraud and was condemned to twenty years' imprisonment for each offence, the sentences to run consecutively. As Don Jose, at the tune, was a man of middle-age, the prospect of 1,000 years' durance might well have appalled him; hut, as luck would have it, he ltyl only served one-hundredth part of his sentence when, through the influence of friends, he found himself a free man again. More extraordinary still was the ease of Don .lose fialindo, who was called on to face no fewer than 217 separate indictments, on each of which he was found gu'lty and sentenced to a term of fourteen years' imprisonment —making a total'of 3,038 years. We get some concept on of the length of + his sentence when we consider that, if the unhappy Don had been sent to prison when the destruet on of Troy was a recent memory and Homer had long years to wait for his cradling, he would only now be completing Irs punishment- that is. if good conduct had Hot earned for him some remission.