GENERAL NEWS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 16 April 1913, Page 3

GENERAL NEWS.

Some Imperial pensions might be paid for a century after they have lapsed without the Exchequer, suffer-.. ing Unduly. A years ago, the Daily (\ronicle points ont, there was an old sailor in Portsmouth Workhouse in receipt of what was believed to be the smallest pension extant•fourpence a year. Each quarter he j received a penny stamp, together with a stamped envelope in which to return a receipt. He was usually, granted leave of absence .to convert hiiy asset into cash and'then' into liquid.form of "a half of four-ale." ■ J Imagination haggles at the am-ount-. or ransom which the Suffragists would demand if they succeeded in kidnapping Mr Lloyd George, a move that they have threatened. 4 Twenty thouK.lrttl pounds was paid for the restoration of ICaid Maclean, captured by RaisMi, and £5500 for Mr R. Abbott, who \Y«s captured by brigands at Salonika' As much ay -£40,000 was the sum set upon the head <>f Mr A. Ha.so Id in bv the Spanish brigands who captured him m 1874. At the end of nine days they offered to accept £lO,000, and ultimately-took £6OOO. ' A French marrtjed man, M of age, with five children, should have performed, his service more than thirteen years agfy but the summons to join his regiment never reached him. Last year, believing his country to be in danger ofw'iiW*, he,was seized with remorse and stfVrendered himself to the authorities, Vho appointed him to the 98th IRegnA'ent at: Roanne. He is an itinerant /fcjiair-': mender, and his van, in which lis his wife and <-hildret!V is drawn up piece of waste land outside the b&V* racks. In the intervals between life military duties h«< occupies himself* with, his trade. His comrades frequently take the children tit-bits from the regimental mess.

It .i&• something 'of a surprise to learn, <>/•" no less' the authority of:; "Orockford/" that thirty clergymen' "disappeared", in the course; of .last year, and that there are altogether some foui hundred returned as missing in the l'nited Kingdom. Of course it is not to be assumed that all these, or a tithe of them are to be regarded as "criminous clerks.". In the great majority of cases, we suspect, they have found the burden of their high calling too great for them, and have simply merged themselves into civil life without making too-,., much fuss about it. In ether cases we fear that poverty and lack of employment has been the- cause of their loss to the orders of the Church. They would perhaps be found among the denizens of the Rowton Houses and such-like refiiges, picking up a wretched living as bosh they can, • and striving to ■forget that they have ever borne the sacred commission.

"Stop making a political speech," is an exclamation which might be heard not inappropriately in some ale, leged places of worship. Where it is actually recorded just now, however,?, is in the State Legislature of Indiana,-, where the chaplain", in his opening prayer, enlarged upon the virtues of prohibition, and urged the Almighty to restrain "the right to make other me id drunkards, murderers, and inmates of prisons and benevolent •institutions." It was then that the Governor interposed to prevent a spade from being disguised as a theological implement, and brought the exhibition of mock piety to an end. There is .nothing to present those who take their politics intensely from making them the ...»eme of their private devotions. , The intrusion nof political "digs" into public worship is not only an abuse of tolerance, but hovers upon the verge of blasphemy.

When the curtain went up the other day in the theatre at Boudry, :near Neuchatel, for the final act of the "Chocolate Soldier" (relates the Geneva correspondent of the Standard), the actors and actresses were astonish ,to find that the crowded audience had disappeared during the interval, and that they were playing to art empty "house." As the audience had been v-eiry appreciaitve in the three acts, this sudden and wholesale desertion \vas inexplicable. After making inquiries, it wa,s found that a printer's error was the cause of the mystery . In the programmes i> was stated that the comedy was in three acts, instead of four, and the audience, who, had never seen the piece before, left, the theatre dissatisfied with the abrupt ending. As there was nobody but the employees—who were also surprised to see. the curtain- rise again—in the theatre for the last act, the play was stopped, and all the troupe gathered on the stage to discuss tue strange affair. Everybody is laughing about the mistake.