A FALSE ALARM.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2510, 6 April 1881, Page 4

A FALSE ALARM.

The “ Scotsman” gives an account of an almost incredible scare of which the the people of Skye have recently been the victims. A Free Church minister made the startling announcement on a recent Sunday morning that the Rnssians had invaded England, and he warned his congregation to betake themselves at once to the defence of their hearths and homes. The Russian invasion was further declared to be prompted by domestic treason, and the Queen, acting on her own responsibility, had committed Mr Gladstone to prison for complicity therein. The story was accepted in good faith by the simple islanders, and their consternation was unbounded until some superior person discovered it to be a hallucination. The explanation of the whole affair was not that the minister had been hoaxed or had gone mad, or had played off a practical joke upon his people, nor was the story of Mr Gladstone’s imprisonment a distorted version of recent events in the House of Commons. The innocent cause of the scare was an English comic paper, containing some sorry jest about the Russians invading England and Mr Gladstone being sent to the Tower. It had found its way to Skye, and, falling into the hands of the minister, had been mistaken by that worthy man fora serious newspaper. All Scotland is laughing at the joke, and wondering how many ministers of like simplicity are still to be found in the Highlands or in the Free Kirk.