UPROAR IN CHURCH.

Waikato Times, Volume 116, Issue 19458, 24 December 1934, Page 9

UPROAR IN CHURCH.

MEN BTORM PULPIT. WOMEN IN TEARS. Pandemonium- broke loose during the sermon at the evening service at £t. Luke’s Parish Church, says the Stoke Hammond correspondent of a London paper. Members ! of the congregation stood up and shouted at the rector; women and children burst into tears; and ■ finally men and women swarmed round the pulpit arguing with the rector until the organist struck up the opening chords of the last hymn, and the service was abandoned. The tiny oil-lit church, which normally has a .gongregation of ten or a dozen, was crowded, for the rector, the Rev. E. T. Bradley, who Is a bachelor, aged 60, had distributed postcards throughout the district announcing that lie would reply to charges against him which he alleged had been made to the Suffragan Bishop of Buckingham, the Right. Rev. P. 11. Eliot. Mr Bradley said there had been a libel instituted by railwaymen. A Woman’s Voice. He referred to a sermon which he preached in August, 1931, on libel, and said that afterwards there was a scene in the churchyard. He heard a voice say: “Is he going to face it?” and then a woman’s voice said: "It’s no use waiting., He will only ask for evidence, you may be sure.” At this point in his sermon Mr Bradley referred to a man by name, whereupon a man in the congregation stood up and shouted: “You’re a lying humbug!" The man took off his overcoat and was rushing down the aisle towards the pulpit when other members of the congregation held him back and persuaded him to return to his seat. The rest of the congregation stood up, and there were calls of “Gall the police!" Call for Silence. A little later the interrupter again stood up, shook his fist at the rector and shouted: “Tell the truth!" Loud applause followed, and Mr Bradley shouted several times' “Silence!" lie proceeded with his sermon, and was referring to a woman in the parish when another man stood up and shouted: “That’s an insolent lie!" Mr Bradley continued speaking amid the din of conversation until eventually men were surrounding the pulpit arguing with him. The congregation left the church in animated conversation, and hisses and booing greeted Mr Bradley as he walked to the rectory. BISHOP AND AN INQUIRY. The Right Rev. P. 11. Eliot, Suffragan Bishop of Buckingham, speaking to the ' London Daily Mail regarding the dls- i turhance at Stoke Hammond, v snid Iho j I situation was an unfortunate one. He i ! added that any action resulting from ! the statutory inquiry which had been j held previously waited on certain eventualities. COMING TO N.Z. OVER TASMAN. Not one of the air race machines hut another of the anti-cyclones we hear so much about. Regularly come these spells of unsettled weather. Watch out for colds and chills. Influenza and chest troubles. Keep Baxter's Lung Preserver ready. Tills pleasant and reliable remedy will keep you and your family absolutely free from trouble. Be sure it's "Baxter’s"—the proved remedy. Three popular sizes, .1/6, 2/6 and 4/6 everywhere. (6) i —— -— = !