WISH NOT FULFILLED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21384, 11 July 1931, Page 12

WISH NOT FULFILLED

FUNERAL SERVICE INCIDENT. i ‘ ■ The written request of LieutenantCommander Glen Kidston, who was killed while flying in Africa, that if anything should happen to him he would like “ Rule Britannia ” played at his funeral service, was not fulfilled. Permission to sing it at the memorial service held at St. Mark’s Church, North Audley street, London, was refused. The vicar, the Rev. W, J. Perryman, stated: “I could not permit any variation of the service, which had been arranged, printed and passed by, the closest relatives of Mr Kidston, and did not include ‘Rule Britannia.’ The request was made by some unofficial person just as the choir was about to enter the church, and I was obliged to refuse.” ■ Mrs Glen Kidston said: “It is quite true that my husband did leave the written request. But we were advised that ‘Rule Britannia’ cannot be played in a church. The National Anthem, and “Fight the Good Fight,” Lieutenant-Commander Kidston’s favourite hymn, were sung.

Some years ago the painter Camoih cut to pieces 60 pictures and studies which he had made, and threw them into the duetbin. He forgot the activities of the ragpickers, who search every dustbin in Paris in the early morning. They collected the remains and sold them to a dealer. The dealer pierced them together, and eold them again ae complete pictures. Eventually Camoin saw one of the pictures in the sale of a collection of Francis Carco, against whom he brought an actioif. According to the judgment the pictures, having been thrown- away, became the property of anyone who* found them; but the finder had ho right to destroy the intention of the artist by putting them together again. An order was made that they be once more cut up by an ofli-. cer of the court, in the presence of the two parties.

The German authorities are letting nothing escape in the search for methods of raising money for the State. A recent development is a graduated tax on dogs. For one dog the owner pays an annual tax of £3, for a second dog £4 10s and so on. It is argued that doge are a luxury, and may be a nuisance, and therefore ought to contribute to the revenue. There are exemptions for sheep dogs and bona fide watchdogs used to guard buildings not occupied at night. Bicycles are taxed 10s a year, the argument in this case being that cyclists occupy a great deal of the. time of the regular police and of traffic police. It is said that there has been a heavy decline in the dog population of Germany, but the bicycle tax has not diminished the number of cycles in use.