SPECIMENS OF MEANNESS.

Temuka Leader, Volume I, Issue 100, 30 November 1878, Page 3

SPECIMENS OF MEANNESS.

It is astonishing how mean people can be when they give their minds to it, and there are people who can give their minds to it with astonishing success, as the claims of some of the survivors of the Princess Alice catastrophe'’prove. We have all heard of the mean man who traded away his wedding - present in order to return the compliment to the donor, but he sinks into obscurity when compared with these people, A fund having been started at the Mansion House for the relief of the sufferers by the accident applications for relief were invited.' When the Committee sat to consider the claims sent in, there were found among them one from a woman who was rescued, saying that she had had her dress torn while being saved, and hoped, she would be compensated for that damage. Another claim was from a gentleman who was rescued, but who had lost his hat, and he desired that it should he replaced by a new one ; and lie was followed by another asking that the loss of his hat and umbrella might be made good. It makes us blush for our humanity when we. think that people can. be found to make such claims on a fund intended for the succor of the widowed and the fatherless. The Committee, however, very properly_ refused to consider them. Meanwhile it is satisfactory to note that the fund is rapidly increasing, having - reached a total of L 36,000. it is now ascertained that 304 persons have lost wives, parents, husbands, or children ; there being 222 orphans, 29 widows, and 53 widowers. • It is a mean action for a man who finds himself in possession of a base coin to try to pass it off bn another person, but that other person would undoubtedly prefer to have a bad half-crown foisted upon him rather than a joint of diseased meat. This fact is apparently not recognised by the Rev W. Hooper, who appears as the chief actor in a charming little ‘ scene from rural life iu Dorsetshire, which has obtained unexpected publicity owing to proceedings in the Police Court., I the quiet little hamlet of Chdfrome there lives a rector who, with L 242 a-year and a residence, is above the reach of poverty, and who, with a population of 105 souls in the parish, is not overburdened with work. A cow belonging to the rector fell ill, and the cow-doctor, after treating it for a few days, said that though he could cure it for the time, it would die in calving. The rector, anxious to save some part of his loss, if possible, sent to a butt her and sold the beast t<» him for L2. When people sell anumds to butchers they may be pretty certain what will become of them. In this case the butcher killed the cow and then sold the care se to another but u er. who sent it up to London, where it was detected and seized by a vigi ant inspector. The butcher wat fined L2O. The rertor was not chargahle with any oil'-nee, and the only penalt} - inllicted upon him was a severe castigation from the magistrate, who could come to no other conclusion than that it was scandalous conduct on the p rt of a clergyman. I 'should have tnonght the law could riavh such a ■ ase, but, if not, public opinion will.—L-mdon correspondent Dunedin ‘ Morning Herald. ’