A NEGLECTED FAMILY. A STORY TOLD IN COURT. WITH A SEQUEL.

Evening Post, Volume LX, Issue 115, 12 November 1900, Page 5

A NEGLECTED FAMILY. A STORY TOLD IN COURT. WITH A SEQUEL.

Six small children, three boys and three girls, the eldest being thirteen years of age,, and the youngest a tot of two years, were brought before tha Magistrate's Court this morning as neglected children. The constable in charge of the case said he had found the children at Ngahauranga in a filthy state, and a source of complaint by some of the people there. The father was in constant work, earning £6 per week ; the mother was a drunlsard, and was leading a dissolute life in town-. ■ She was said to be keeping a boardinghouse an*d living with another man, yet "wanted the children. The latter spent some time with the mother and then went back to the father. They had not been to school since July last, the eldest (a boy) had not passed the first standard, and the father had already been fined for neglecting to send the children to school. In answer toquestions from the father, the constable said he had warned him several times about the filthy state of the children, and had no desire to prosecute him. Inspector Pender said he had, had very bad reports about the bad habits of the mother, who was said to be a habitual drunkard. She was more to blame for the condition of the children than the father. \ A woman here rose in the Court and asked leave to give evidence. On going into the box, she said she was the mother of the children. She had lived with her husband, but could no longer* live with him because they could not agree. During the time she had lived with her hus-« band he did not drink, and he never illused the children. She warmly denied the constable's statement that she was a drunkard. She was keeping a boardinghouse, she did not drink, and she was* willing to take the care of the children. The Magistrate remarked that a boardinghouse was no place in which to bring up children. The father said he had done his best for the children, and had given up half his wages for their care. But he could not keep them away from the mother, who would take them for a while, anJ then send them back. He urged the Magistrate not to take the children away from him, as he would ,like to have the care of them. Asked as to his religion, the father hesitated, and then said some of the children went to the Presbyterian and others to the Anglican, school. If the Court would give him time, lie thought he could secure a housekeeper, and then the children would be properly looked after. Mrs. viaters, Secretary of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Women and Children, testified to the neglected state of the children. At a late stage Mr. T. Young ,anie into Court, and after a brief talk wit»i the mother, said he was instructed to appear on her behalf, \nth the' object of securing some control of the children mr her. Mr. Haselden explained . the case fcr Mr. Young's benefit, and then a (general discussion between tho various parties and the Bench ensued. Finally, the Magistrate adjourned the case for a week in order to allow the father to make arrangements for the proper care of the children. As the father was taking his troop of little ones away, he pointed across to a group of spectators in the railcd-off portion of the Court, and exclaimed : "There's the bloke who broke up my home !" As the public made their way out into the passages, a scuffle took place, the father having struck the man he had already pointed out. The Court had by this time risen, and so quietly was the thing done that the first intimation inside was made' by the Magistrate, who returned to inform the orderly that "The presence of the police was required " outside." Constable Johnston found the assaulted person waiting in the passage for "the man who had struck him," and moved him outside the precincts of the Court. The last scene in the incident was the hurried arrival of the father looking for the man who had cuused all his family trouble.?. On being told that the man he was looking for had gone down town, he went after him.