FAMILY ADVENTURE

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 53, 4 March 1922, Page 5

FAMILY ADVENTURE

GIRL DISAPPEARS WITH FOUR CHILDREN

(FROM OUR OWN CORRBSPONBINT.)

SYDNEY, 22nd February. That initiative is not lacking in the young Australian has just been demonstrated by a fifteen-year-old girl named, Daisy White, of Sydney, who, tired of ..the domestic worries of her. father's' home, took her two brothers and two sisters (all of them younger than herself) to their grandparents' home in Melbourne. For some days their disappearance was a mystery, and the police of two States' were engaged in trying to locate them. Over two years ago the White family, it appears, left Melbourne for Sydney. Shortly afterwards Mrs. WHlte died. Frqin. then onwards many of her responsibilities fell upon Daisy White, then only 13 years old. And because there were four younger children to watch over, and money was never too plentiful, the responsibilities were not light. But for months the "struggle went on in the home in Balmain—a house which, according to the description of one of the children, was merely a bare cottage with two chairs, a table, and three beds. Despite the kindness of neighbours, the thoughts of ■ the children frequently returned to Melbourne. They were helped in the meantime by. their grandfather and, grandmother. Many small sums of money, the children declared, were sent over to Sydney, so that clothing could be obtained. But the children were becoming so dissatisfied and discontented with the conditions of. their home, that the money was hoarded lip, and later the eldest girl started'a banking account. And when enough money was saved they prepared their plans for leaving' Sydney. They decided to leave for Melbourne by boat. In a letter from the girl Daisy, the father was informed that they had gone for a holiday to see their "dear old grandfather again." Then with very little luggage, but immense) confidence in their , adventure, the band. ( of five set out for the docks. They secured a passage on the steamer Karoola. Time was not wasted on the voyage over. Graoie, aged 13, confessed to considerable theatrical experience for so young a child. Already, she stated, she had taken part; in the productions of "Sinbad the Sailor," "Daddies." and "The Fatal Wedding." Also she admitted, as a concession to art, that she had done a lot cf "vaudeville stuff." And so, on the boat, she amused the passengers by some dancing and acrobatic turns, for which she was rewarded by the sum of £1 ss. She intends, she says, to buy a hat. Connie, the baby of the party, won the infants' singing competition by rendering one of the latest syncopated airs. When the Karoola arrived in Melbourne the children immediately made their way to the home- of their grandparents. When the grandmother discovered the circumstances of their departure from Sydney—she expressed absolute surprise at their arrival—she informed the local police. Police headquarters in Sydney wore notified. So far no decision has been reached as to the future disposal of the children. They ore quite happy' and contented in Melbourne. .They say they do not want ty> go home again.