VICIOUS VICARS.

NZ Truth, Issue 405, 29 March 1913, Page 8

VICIOUS VICARS.

THE KNIGHT AND EAYRE DAMSEL. GRIMY STORY OF liIiNSLETS HALOED PASTOR. The Pretty Girl Feeding the Chooksi

The amazing story of the Vicar of HunsJet'has proved that a story of a man's attempt to hide himself can hold public interest for days. New Zealand is interested m the affair ,too, 'as the vicar, when tired of his wife, decided to try life with the lady of his choice under the Southern' Cross. i THE CLI.IfF "TRAGEDY." To get the hang of the affair, it Is necessary to go back to' the middle of 1 January, when Mrs. Knight, wife of the Vicar of Hunslet, announced that, while taking flashlight photographs off Flamhoroagh Head,' her husband had fallen oWr the cliff,' a distance of 200 feet, into the sea. The woman's distress appealed to the simple fisher-folk of Flamborough, and they took unnatural risks to recover the body. That none of them was killed was simply, luck; Day after day they kept looking for the rest of the Vicar, and day after day the latter's wife kept wiring from her homo to spur the seekers onto fresh daring.' Then a Hunslet brewer .offered a "tenner" for the recovery, of the 4 body. / But subsequently' the Chief of Police at Leeds intervened, and said straight out that he wouldn't -have the fishermen's legs pulled any longer for the sake of recovering a corpse that- didn't exist. He asked the newspapers to publish the fact that he had information that the Vicar hadn't fallen over, the cliff, but had cleared out with a mill girlto Australia. And he said, too, , 'that his information came right from the: jockey's mouth. The anger of the fishermen • made> it necessary to tell- the! whole story to the And an amazing story it is, too. THE MUSCULAR CHRISTIAN. It appears that thejreverend gentleman had been the Vicar-of Hunslet for five or six years, and was just the right sort of a, parson for a niill; town. His frenzied, fanatical preaching appealed to his • parishioners just as- much as: his dirty left did, for Knight; was the goods with his hands. In fact, tne people of Hunslet gave their . v Vicar- ,a chance with Jack Johnson, and claimed^ that hei had the ; "dream dope"- m either hand. He was death on the "googlle," too, and, made his hundred regularly; for .the . church team: « Altogether, he, was a sporting parson of the type that appeals so much to the rough, rugged people m the. north' of England. ' His popularity lifted . the attendance at 'services from' four or five to a full house every' week, and the collection plate swelled m proportion. Then the gossips got busy, and accused the Vicar of • neglecting his wife to enjoy the society of a Miss Grimes, a valuable worker on behalf of the church. The gossip became so general that last year Miss Grimes left the parish altogether. Then Knight began to neglect the church affairs, just as much as ho haa formerly tolled for, them. He was. In charge of the building fund and other Innocent devices for extracting coin from the people, but he neglected to is'bus any balance-sheets. v He took to stopping away from homo for a night or two, and finally, when his holidays came round, cleared out and left no address, giving as his excuse that ho. wanted a real holiday, and didn't want .to be bothered with parish affairs. THE POLICE INTERVENE. After his return at the end of the month he seemed to steady up a bit, and to pay a little more attention, publicly, at all events, to his wife. In fact, . he took her for a walk to Flamborough Cliff on January IS, and, according to her first story, was only a few yards off her when he suddenly slipped and fell over the precipice, and disappeared. That was when the' search began, for Mrs. Knight gave the alarm. It finishes when the Chief of the Leeds Police issued the following note;— "l am In possession of certain information from which it is certain that the Rev. Mr. A. Knight did not meet his death at Flam^ borough, aa described. Mr. Knight has been traced In England since the alleged tragedy, and there Is little doubt but that he left England under an assumed name. The information tln my possession, which has led mo to this -conclusion. Is official and strictly confidential, and I regret that I am unable to give more details. In fairness, however, to the public, and those making diligent search for the . body-r-some of whom are dally risking their lives— l think it is ray duty to make this statement public. It Is known that Mr. Knight has sailed for Australia, but I am unable to say from ■which port he sailed or to which port he 'Is making." A MEMORIAL SERVICE. Bven that bombshell didn't shake the faith of tho people of Hunslet m their .parson. They are stickers up In Oio North of England, and they decided to hold, a memorial service for him. It was a bit of a surprise when Mrs Knight announced that she was against the idea, and whon 'slio didn't turn 'ip at the church to mourn for the departed tliero were some hard things sal'l about her.. But they held the aer^leo all rho same. The Bishop of Wlgan was tlie big gun of tho affair, and fired off somo wonderful stuff about the example that Uio lato . Vicar's Mo and service to God should bo to thorn ail. "GONE TO HEAVEN" OR AUSTRALIA ? Then the curate of tho parish sot busy. He said, "I cannot, at this service, answer the diabolical rumors, that have been afloat. I liavo been wondering whether It would bo worth while to do ao or to treat them with the contempt they deserve. 'Taking all thlngn Into con»l---dcratlon, I will merely say: You don't doubt his life. You know that so well that I ara Huro you will treat these diabolical rumors as they deacrvo to ho treated. Our dear Vicar has left us an example. His life was beautiful, and a few years of such service as ho «avo Christ aro worth a hundred years of humdrum toll. Wo neoded the Inspiration of such a Itfo aa his. Heaven, too, ts tho richer for such a man and such a life. And that is whoro ho Is gone dear friends." The curate was wrong. The Vicar had only Rone to Australia, but whether liln life will bo'takon o» an example to au.v tralla or not Is QUito another matter. Anyway, wo'll tako evens. It was tho London presa that eventually dragged tho whole sordid affair Into daylight, and not tho least OBtoundlns pan of it was the action of Mrs. Knight. Bho had declared that sho saw her husband disappear In a blaze of flashliKht. That story sho stuck to ovon when sho opposed tho Utaa. of tho memorial jtorvlco. But when tho roporu>rn Kot btmy on her, HhoVyHUod nwny to nothing, and told of her irtuu-o m tho awful deception. Bho told tho usual story of tho neglect•6 woman, -ami wua sho had. saianotbing

about the love affair of her husband for fear of getting a good belting for her trouble. Coming to the night of the disappearance, she admitted that the whole of her story", was a fake. The excuse she offered for her share was' that her husband had threatened to kill/ her if she did not agree to say that he ;had been killed. Mrs. Knight wasn't hankering for the quick route to heaven just then, so she consented to do as he directed. According to her, she had previously experien-, ced his fist, and believed him quite capable of carrying out his threat. Anyway, she agreed to circulate the story of the cliff disaster. ' ' • • . THE POULTRY FARM. The publicity given to the story soon brought additional facts to light. It was

found that since last September the Vica"r had been paying surreptitious visits to Knowle poultry farm, Heathfield, Sussex. After his first visit, Miss Grimes took up her residence at the farm, and proceeded to learn the business of poul-try-raising for profit. ' "When Knight went there at the outset, he explained that he was intending to go to Victoria and take up poultry-raising. A little later, the girl came on the scene, and he remained at the farm even when his duties at Hunslet demanded that Knight should be away from her. The day after the supposed cliff fatality, the Vicar turned up at the Sussex farm, and remained there until he sailed for Australia with Miss Grimes under the names of Mr. and Mrs. King. ASSISTED VICTORIAN IMMIGRANTS. Investigations showed that as far back as December last, Knight was m com-; munlcatlon with the Victorian Government seeking an assisted passage to that State as an experienced farmer. He stated that he intended to devote himself to poultry, and so convinced the authorities that he knew all about the hen roost that- the officials promptly granted him and Miss Grimes assisted passages. As a further proof of his intention to- settle permanently m Victoria, ' he deposited £350' with the Agent-General: For a week or so after that he remanied at tho farm learning all that he could about the art of cramming chickens. Then the "Daily Mail" published a rumor to the effect that a barber at a village had said that on the day following his disappearance Knight called, and had his hair cut short and the parting altered as much as possible. ON BOARD THE PORT LINCOLN. Nosing around tho Victorian office, the Scotland '•■' Yard people learned that Knight and Miss Grimes had sailed from Tilbury, for Melbourne, via Cape Town, on January 2S, on board the steamer Port Lincoln. The vessel being fitted with wireless, when he arrived at Cape Town Knight learned' that the whole yarn had been found out, and. that his destination had been well advertised. When questioned on the matter of thY assisted passages, the Victorian AgontG'eneml said that, as they had been obtained as the result of false Information, the Government would certainly deduct the difference between the two ordinary and assisted passages before handing over Knight's money to him. The Agent-General Is also going to busy himself finding out the source of tho Vicar's money, so that If it Is tainted the lot can be handed to the police. i CURIOUS CORRESPONDENCE. Just as the mail was closing, the English evening papers, which were neglectIng even the war to keep tholr readers posted as to the developments In this amazing affair, published a good deal of the correspondence connected with It. Those "from Kinght under the .name of. King are just tho usual letters that ono would expect on the subject. It appears that after .sending tho news by telegraph to her husband's parents, Mrs. Knight sent them the following »ob a further explanation of the "lragedy %< : "My dear Mother, Daddy, and all. — You. will have got my telegram telling you of Albert's accident, but how can I tell you the worst? Yesterday we c^une over to Flamborough for tho day. thinking we would bring Sonnlo (their son. aged 8) over for a few days, and tm Albert has been suffering ho much ttpm his head lately, . wo thought a few days would set us all up again bofbre Lent Wo wont over to tho cliffs, as Albert wanted to tako a flashlight, photograph, and, when, turning, he either slipped or went 6\7,zy, and fell over. And, oh! mother, and Daddy, how can I tell you. Wo have not found him yet. It Is tho most dangermro part of tho cliff rouml here, they say, ami drops straight down Into the flea. I' am nearly besldo mya^if wondering about our little Hon at homo, and I don't know what to do for the best. "I feel I cannot tenr myself away from this place. It Is foßjjy out at sea, Ahd tho sound of Hie foghorns nearly drives mo mad. Try and be brave, dear mother, and Daddy, for you know ho would wish that." Mrs. Knlffht sayn, too. that «he was afraid to toll the truth about tho affair until she was quite suro Knight had clcnrcd' out. because he had several times .tried to «tranßlo her. Writing from tho Sussex farm to a frloml at Tluiwlct two day* after tho report of tho "irarfrfly," Miss Grimes, tho girl who has gone to Victoria with Knight, said: "I hnvo Just heard about j the awful death of poor Mr. Knight. I am no sorry for his poor wife and child. My heart b!ft*«l» for them." KNIOHT'9 ACCOUNTS. That Is the Htory «» far as tt I* knotvn. Tho fact* are beyond question; | even tho church authorities admit that, j At first the Bishop of defeadod j

the missing Vicar. Later, when the rumois became thicker, he said: "I -would as soon think evil of an angel from Heaven as of Mr. Knight" To-day, all that he can say is: "I am overwhelmed." "Whether Knight's -accounts are m order or not remains to be seen. Tho books are so confused that a careful audit will be necessary. The Church authorities are taking the necessary steps to have the eloper unfrocked. Knight left about £500 In the bank, but, lit addition to that deposited with tho Victorian Government, is believed "to have £200 m gold m his trousers pockets. . The steamer Port Lincoln duly reached Melbourne on Monday week, and as soon as the vessel's anchor was dropped the Immigration officers trooped aboard m quest of Knight and his mill girl flame. The -heroine turned out to be quite a staid bit of goods, about 35 years of age. Knight was requested to refund the difference,. £10, between the ordinary and assisted passages. This he did quietly, and shortly, afterwards the pair Jeft the vessel-, amid the lusty cheers of their fellow-passengers. KnigHt and his lassie had made themselves popular on the way out, and passengers aboard immigrant steamers never concern themselves with Mother Grundy.