Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 126, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 May 1914 — JUST SAVED THE SITUATION [ARTICLE]

JUST SAVED THE SITUATION

British Royalty's Narrow Escape From What Might Be Called "Simply Awful” Position. When truth gets a fair Inning she rarely fails to be much funnier than fiction. Strange to say, old England, where truth is supposed to be always dismally sober, now and then makes quite a merry record. A rector of the Church of England, in a, remote parish In Wiltshire recently discovered among his parishioners a fine old figure of a woman, age one hundred and four, the widow of an innkeeper. This ancient dame has eight sons living, six of whom have served in either the army or the navy. The rector wrote informing King George of these things, and the king ordered a warm congratulatory telegram to be sent to her. Just as the telegram was sent off, the rector, having received additional testimony concerning the “old un," wrote again, explaining that she had been twice divorced, and had not gone through the marriage ceremony at all with the man of her latest household. Another wire was promptly set at work at the king's command, ordering the postmaster at the other end to stop delivery of the royal congratulations, and that functionary had barely time to grab the coattails of the messenger with the bicycle as he was about to-make delivery.