The herald., 1897-11-28
Parishioners Who Took
Sides in a Fight
THE RECT0R'S BACK SALARY
NELoY CoNFESSES TO AN ALIAS
BUT NO PECCADILLOS
"Larry" Hanley, the Actor, in the
Divorce Court-Compton Trial.
Lou Turner Sentenced

The past two years at st. Augustine-b by
who are in blissful ignorance as to the
whereabouts of St. Augustine-by-the
Sea it may incidentally be mentioned
that it is an Episcopal parish at Santa
Monica.
Yesterday petition of the vestrymen
and rector came before Judge Allen. 1t
was desired that permission should be
accorded the vestry to sell the lot at
Santa Monica adjacent to the church
and upon which the parish hall is erect
ed. 1t was set out in the petition that
this step was contemplated in order to
raise money to liquidate an Indebtedness
due to the rector, of 1866.
There are some circumstances in con-
nection with this Indebtedness that are
quite interesting. A couple of years
ago, more or less, the parishioners of
st. Augustine-by -theS Sea We're indebt-
ed to their rector, Rev. I. M. Merlinj
$1191 for salary due. There had been
considerable friction between the shep-
herd and his flock, and the unelect say
that no particular effort had been made
to pay the salary, as it was desired to
freeze out the reverend gentleman.
Whether this be true or not, certain it is
that for time there was quite large
amount Of gossip in which the rector
was concerned. Just one little episode
may be mentioned to illustrate the rig
tdity of his views and the frolicsome
tendencies of some of his flock.
Christmas was approaching, and prep
arations We're being made by certain of
the ladies of the church to decorate the
interior of the edifice in the ornate man
ner usual. AS a rule, ladies engaged in
this work have quite a jolly time-in
a quiet sort of way-and if any gentle
men happen around they are always of
assistance in pulling around steplad-
ders, up and down which the ladies trip
in the course of their work, and their
presence adds much to the pleasant feel
ing so characteristic of the season. The
Rev. Merlinjones, however, had very
decided views as to how the church
should be decorated, and by whom, and
he forbade anyone participating in the
work inside the chancel other than those
who were communicates. One frivolous
young lady, finding herself with others
debarred from finishing the work she
had begun, and finding the doors had
been locked against her, crept through
one of the windows into the church and
pursued her forbidden course to the end
It is not reported whether the floral dec
orations on the altar wilted any the
sooner for having been placed there by
profane hands.
AS time went on the friction between
he rector and his parishioners became
more acute. Bishop Johnson had stopped |
the previous mode of paying salary to
the rector, and Rev. Merlijones was
from that time on dependent upon col
lections. AS there had been and contin-
ued to be large falling away from
grace, the collections were not so large
as to return very fair salary. But
the old salary of s1191 was still outstand-
ing, and latterly the rector demanded
that it should be paid
The guild of st. Mary is an adjunct of |
the church, but, like it, had fallen into
such decrepitude That the guild consist
ed of only one lady. She, good soul, de-
string to do something for the parish
and do the rector good turn at the same
time, gave him a bill of sale for 1925 on
the piano, which was in the parish hall
and belonged to the guild. The solitary
lady was the guild, so, presumably, she !
had warrant for what she did. That re-
duced the Indebtedness to 1856
Not very long ago the rector retired |
from his position, and there was great
rejoicing among the unregenerate of
st. by-the-Sea. But the rev.
erend eX-rector wanted that S966, and. |
as the vestrymen We're with him, he de-
cided to Dust up the church if he didn't
get his money, and that in very origin |
al way. The court was petitioned by the |
vestry to grant permission to sell the |
lot adjacent to the church property, and
If permission had been granted the par
1sh would have been in most curious fix. |
Not only is the parish hall upon it, but
the church itself laps over onto the lot
about three feet. If the parish lot had |
been sold, either a three-foot slice of tho
church would have had to be taken off or |
1t would have had to be moved bodily. |
In either case an expense of $4,000 to $1,000 |
would have had to be incurred
Judge Allen. however, refused to ac-
quiesce in either arrangement. The
rector, through counsel, offered to conf
promise for $500. and as Il parishioner
has offered to advance the amount the
further hearing of the petition was con-
tinued to December 6, to enable the mat
ter to be settled out of court Failing
such settlement, the court intimated ne
would give judgment for the full amount
claimed and order sold forty feet only of
the parish lot, thus preserving the
church edif1ce in it's integrity.
|