SERVANTS, SOLDIERS, AND CHAMPAGNE.

Evening Star, Issue 11251, 26 May 1900, Page 3

SERVANTS, SOLDIERS, AND CHAMPAGNE.

At the Shoreditch County Court, before Judge French, Q.C., a servant girl named Smales sued her late mistress for a month’s wages in lieu of notice. His Honor : What did she discharge you fori Plaintiff: She came down into the kitchen one evening and found two young men there with me and the housemaid.—(Laughter). Defendant: Two soldiers. Plaintiff: Ain’t they as good as anybody else ? Defendant: If you had told me you had a soldier sweetheart when you came to me I would not have objected, but to find you as I did shocked me.—(Laughter.) Plaintiff: You was celebrating upstairs, and we was celebrating downs'a rs. His Honor : Celebrating what ? Plaintiff : It was the day of the relief of Ladysmith—(laughter)—and my young man he came round to tell me all about it.— (Loud laughter.) Defendant; I would nob so much have objected to that, only it was the condition I found you in. Plaintiff; You objected just because I was sitting on his knee and the housemaid was sitting on the other one’s ; but we was doing no harm.—(Lrughter.) *1 daresay you have sat on a man’s knee before to-day. His Honor ; Keep yourself to the point. Defendant: I may say that the girl had been drinking very heavily, ami on the table were three empty bottles of champagne. Plaintiff : Oh, they were “ overs.” (Laughter.) Defendant: What do you call “ overs ” ? Plaintiff: There was some left in them from upstairs, so we had a little drop of it, of course.” Defendant; I am.confident it was taken wrongfully. When I spoke to her and said that the beat thing she could do was to tell these soldiers to leave the house, she said : “ Where my Jim goes I goes.”—(Loud laughtei). His Honor: And did she go ? Defendant: She went upstairs, got her things, put an empty champagne bottle under each arm, and marched out of the front door, and I have never seen her since until to-day. His Honor : Judgment for the defendant. Russia is preparing a line of defence in Manchuria, adjacent to the Corean frontier. At Sydney yesterday the rain was terrific. Nearly Sin fell in thirty-five minutes. The low-lying suburbs were submerged. During the pisb four and a-half days 10 \sn had fallen. The North Canterbury school committees have decided to strongly urge- the Government to increase the capitation grant to not less than £4 per child.