THE WRONG TWIST.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 136, 10 June 1922, Page 5

THE WRONG TWIST.

BRIGHT BOY'S ESCAPADES. Exceptional resource and initiative, wrongly used, .was the cause of a nine-year-old youngster appearing before the magistrate to-day on two charges of theft. Offering 'to keep the business going while a newsboy was away getting a further stock of evening papers, the little fellow had decamped to another part of the <-ity with eleven dozen papers as soon as his friend was round the corner, and sold out and appropriated the proceeds. {Some evenings later he observed a lady nea.r him at a picture theatre, whence 'his ill-gotten gain had carried him. carelessly put her handbag on the seat 'beside her. and : whiile "she was enthralled with tho ■ romance of *he film he stole away under cover of the movie twilight with the neglected handbag. A purse, a sovereign CaTe and albout Vt in cash wore inside the 'handibaff, and as the boy overlooked a couple nf sovereigns in throwing tihe j purse and handbag away, the gold and I the 'bags were rrcovcre-1 through tno j honesty of the tinder. With the £3 odd i that the boy trot he reimbursed the j newslbov he had rcWbed pTPvioHply, an<l i treated 'himself and friends. The lad, | who had got out of +,hfi control of a ' mother Tm'iwcd try the rare of four! voun-gnr children, was not considered to ! be Ibcvond redemption, and wa« put on . probation for a year. wifh n en-tinto of j residence to tho boys' prc ! bntion Tiom rt j in oTder that Tii* taints mia'Tit be given a twis-t in a useful direction.