REVEREND VANDAL.

Shannon News, 10 April 1923, Page 4

REVEREND VANDAL.

CLERGYMAN COMMUTED FOR TRIAL. (Received Monday, 2 a.m.) LONDON, April 8. The Rev. Charles Barton,' rector of Harbledon, Kent,,-was committed for trial for damaging a grave monument in the churchyard. Witnesses said they saw the Rev. Barton hammer a sun dial off the monument. The defence was that it was a case of mistaken identity. STIPEND TOO SLENDER. CURATE’S BOMBSHELL. (Received Sunday, 7 p.m. LONDON, April 7. The Rev. J. Thomas, precentor of Chelmsford Cathedral, caused'a sensation at a meeting for discussing an improvement in Church finances by stating: “What can you expect from a starved clergyman? You cannot expect a curate to do his best when he receives only a dustman’s wage. I shall do better work if I am paid a living wage.” Mr Thomas, on being interviewed subsequently, said he did not suggest that the clergy were influenced in their spiritual work by the amount of money they received, but they could give more time to church work if they were adequately paid. He had to do all his own heavy house-work and take a lodger in order to pay his way. ' '