Memcached start-up script not working

What steps will reproduce the problem?
Any of the following startup methods leads to malfunctioning
1. service memcached start
2. /etc/init.d/memcached start
I first encountered the problem after a reboot of the system

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?
This is the following output I get when trying to start memcached
Starting memcached: Use of uninitialized value $directive in hash element at 
/usr/share/memcached/scripts/start-memcached line 74, <$etchandle> line 48.
Use of uninitialized value in subroutine entry at 
/usr/share/memcached/scripts/start-memcached line 74, <$etchandle> line 48.
Can't use string ("") as a subroutine ref while "strict refs" in use at 
/usr/share/memcached/scripts/start-memcached line 74, <$etchandle> line 48.

What version of the product are you using? On what operating system?
Memcached: memcached 1.4.14
Operating system:
Description:    Ubuntu 12.10
Release:    12.10
Codename:   quantal
Linux ubuntu 3.5.0-31-generic #52-Ubuntu SMP Thu May 16 16:27:05 UTC 2013 
x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux

Please provide any additional information below.
I use/used memcached with Drupal and when I installed/configured memcached I 
used the following guide: 
http://www.thefanclub.co.za/how-to/how-install-memcached-on-ubuntu-for-drupal

Original issue reported on code.google.com by erik.wik...@gmail.com on 28 May 2013 at 6:33

Hughen / memcached

Memcached start-up script not working #322