FINING A CAT.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8104, 1 September 1904, Page 2

FINING A CAT.

SCOTSMAN'S STRINSE METHODS OF DISCIPLINE. Burial in a -wicker or other slight coffin,, " so as to hava a chance to be in. early ati the general scramble at the Resurrection," ■was a desire, expressed in his •will, of the late Sheriff Thorns, advocate, of Edinburgh. Under the Sheriffs will leading bene•ficiaries were the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, the Moderator of the Kirk Session of Sfc Giles? Cathedral, and the provost and magistrates of Kirkwall ; and thei children of the testator's brother axe now. seeking to contest the trill. In tha Court of Sessions Lord Kincaimey ordered issues for the trial of the -action byi jury. Very amusing are the allegations of eccentricity on the part of Sheriff Thorns. He was in, the habit, it ie said, oi carrying*" about frith thini a pair of tawse, a| kind of leather strap,, which he vigorously applied to the children of his friends addrelatives for minor ofienceg committed by them. Elaiborate rules for the 'guidance of his servants -were printed, and he fined all and. sundry, himself included, for any breach of thc-m. Even. "Sambo^' the Sheriff's favourite cat, learned to assume «, very virtuous air as it stalked through the house, for any misdemeanour on its part was visited by a "fine.'' Any disturbance oi the order of the house by Sambo was a j crime within the meaning of the printed rules. , When thei Sheriff -went out to dinner "he invariably wore a "laughing •waistcoat," at garment with elastic sides. For some yeajrs before his death, although his income was nearly £3000 a year,, it is said that Sheriff Thorns believed! he was a poor man. His house in Clunyi Drive was never (papered or painted. j