A MUSCULAR CHRISTIAN.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2602, 23 July 1881, Page 3

A MUSCULAR CHRISTIAN.

A strange incident is reported from Same, a little town on the other side of Vesuvius, in the Province of Salerno. Th% priests of the church of San Francisco had an automatic image of Christ made for the recent festival, and curiosity to see a figure with moving head, eyes, and nrms, attracted to the church an unusual crowd, who pressed round the altar, laughing and talking loudly, and disturbing the religious ceremonies. One of the priests a robust man, mounted, the pulpit and implored silence with all the power of his lungs*. But it was of no avail. The noise soon became louder than ever. All at once the reverend gentleman flew into a great rage, descended from the pulpit, seized the figure of Christ, and brandishing it like a bludgeon, hit out rijit and left among the crowd, till the figure was smashed lo atoms and all the altar ornaments upset. Then, finding his weapon no longer useful, he look his fists, dealing out furious blows, one of which broke the jawbone of a fellow priest who tried to intervene. The congregation fled in terror, and of course soon hT,eked up the door, falling one over the o-l;::r. Legs, aims, and heads were broken ; and at the end of this exciting seme it was found that no fewer than Go poisons had received injuries.