ENGLAND HOAXED

New Zealand Times, Volume LIII, Issue 12528, 18 August 1926, Page 3

ENGLAND HOAXED

COFFIN SAID TO CONTAIN KITCHENER’S BODY WAS EMPTY MEODRAMA FOR THE FILMS FRANK POWER, FILM AGENT, HAS MADE HIMSELF SCARCE The coffin which was alleged to contain Kitchener’s body was empty. The truth is that Power was the representative of a filming company, and before reaching London he had already made part of the picture in Norway.

By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright. Reuter’s Telegram. LONDON, August 16. A crowd gathered outside tho Lambeth Coroner’s Court, where the coffin that was alleged to contain the body of the late Lord Kitchener was The proceedings were very secret. Tlie coroner was attended by Sir Bernard Spilsbury, the Home Office pathologist, and hy Scotland Yard officials and detectives. The examination lasted threequarters of an hour. Subsequently the Home Office announced that when the packing case was opened, it was found to contain an empty coffin, apparently new, which had obviously never contained human remains. TRUTH TOLD FROM NORWAY (Received August 17, 7.45 p.m.) The “Daily News” special representative at Stavanger telegraphs an amazing revelation of Frank Power’s activities in Norway as the representative of a filming company. Without mentioning Kitchener, Power explained that he was preparing a melodrama, in which a tourist was supposed to die, and be transferred to England for burial. Power and a cinematographer proceeded to the cemetery and photographed a coffin which contained the Body of a Stavanger magnate, resting in a chapel preparatory to its interment. A big episode was staged at noon, on July 31st, when Power hired an empty coffin and a hearse and a number of hotel servants as mourners. The hotel proprietor provided a Union Jack to drape the coffin. CROWDS LOOKED DOLEFUL After Power had persuaded the crowds to give the ceremony through their doleful attitude an air of verisimilitude, the cortege moved solemnly to the quay, where the captain of a Norwegian vessel allowed the coffin to he brought aboard, though he declined to half-mast the ship’s flag. As soon as the scene had been photographed, Power remunerated tho “supers” and returned the coffin to the undertaker. The Norwegian Government was contemplating an official protest against body-snatching when it was, to its relief, informed that it was a hoax.

The interest in England in the Kitchener incident has turned to resentment against the perpetrators of the hoax. The “Daily Express,” editorially says: “It is difficult to decide what steps can be taken against Power, who perpetrated a sttipid imposture in connection with an honoured name. The brazen author of the ugly hoax might have derived a considerable profit by exploiting the film rights and other financial possibilities of his masquerade. The exposure of the fraud will serve finally to settle all doubts.” COMMERCIAL BASIS The “Daily Herald” declares: “The whole business appears to have had a commercial basis. The filming of the funeral procession in Norway supplies a clue to the hitherto unexplainable stir made about Kitchener’6 last voyage. Now we know all about it. "What a lot the films are responsible for!” The “Daily Mail” states that Mr Broome, Kitchener’s nephew, when interviewed, said it had been painful for the family, bjit it was their duty to stand aside until the authorities had determined the truth or otherwise of the story. He now hoped that the whole miserable business would be dismissed from the public mind. If any attempt were made to show the film the family would try to prevent it. Mr Foster, manager of the filming company, explains the company’s share in Power’s adventure. He says that Power stipulated that nothing offending public taste should be attempted, hence there was no filming of the actual remains, but the grave, the churchyard, and the cemetery were filmed, and 1800 feet of typical Norwegian scenery was taken. Power could not possibly make much money, because the whole film was only equivalent to an episode in a topical film, and his share was 5 per cent, of the proceeds. The Home Office requested the company to withhold the exhibition of Hie film. Foster adds that mysteries always fascinated Power. He last saw Mm on Saturday evening. He understood Power left London, taking hia wife with him, in order to spare her the worry of polio© investigations. He did not know where they had gone.