MAYOR HOAXED

Greymouth Evening Star, 29 May 1936, Page 10

MAYOR HOAXED

SMALL BOY’S STORY.

WAIHI, May 15

The dangers to which a public man may he exposed, and the possibility of circumstantial evidence or appealances being against him, though enlirely innocent, were recently demonstrated by the experience of .the Mayor of Waihi, Mr. W. M. Wallnutt. It also demonstrated the extraordinary depths and facile quality of the small boys mind. The story, .as recounted by Mr. Wallnutt, is as follows: — A small boy about nine years of ago camo to the back door of his home when it was nearly midnight, and on a very cold night. The lad was scantily clothed, having no coat and only a thin shirt. He was shivering, and mumbled something to the effect that his mother had gone down town and hail left him standing under a lamppost with instructions to wait there until she returned. After giving the boy an apple. Mr. Wallnutt thought the best thing to do in the circumstances was to escort the little wanderer home. On the way, in answer to questions, the boy said he lived alone with his mother and that his father had been killed in the war! Obviously, this was a “bad break,” but it was little compared with what follow-

MAYOR SHOWS CAUTION

After going through a rather sparsely occupied area, the lad pointed to a house standing on a bare-looking corner section, and intimated that that was his home. The building presented a monument of solitude and was wrapped in darkness. The boy had previously said that he could get jn through one of the windows. At this moment, however, face to face with realties, he expressed a doubt whether he could achieve his object, the inference being that it was now up to his escort to provide a means of access to the dwelling. Here was predicament, and a situation wrought with uncertainty. The sense of caution, however, made itself felt to the mind of the escort, who suggested a reconnaissance of the back premises.

The attempt to open a front window late at night and in bleak surroundings, even if the general circumstances were in order, did not appeal to the Mayor. On approaching the rear of the dwelling, the boy began to speak in whispers. This intensified the feeling of caution in face of a supposedly empty house. Telling the boy to open the scullery door, Mr Wallnutt stood back a little. The door was opened. Nothing happened- The boy was further instructed to try the inner door leading into the main portion of the house." This he did, but it was found to be locked. Mr. Wallnutt, instead of taking other steps to gain an entry for.the boy, advised him to lie down in tire scullery on some articles of clothing which were on a bench, and wait until his mother returned home. He then left, feeling that the boy’s story did not hang together, and that there was a hidden motive somewhere.

STORY EXPLODED.

And now for the sequel. A few days later, JWr. Wallnutt was in the same vicinity with a friend, and informed him of his midnight experience. Pointing to the hcuse of mystery, he added that that was where Airs. Blank lived with the .boy. • He was, to say the least, astounded when his friend replied that she did not live there at a.ll. but in another street some dislance aV.ay, and that, instead of the boy being the only boy in the family, I here was at least another and younger brother.

•Here was revelation, and the possibility of what the circumstances prevailed on that dark .night might have resulted in proved rather appalling to, the Mayor. If he had attempted to open the window, the inmates would have been disturbed, and naturally coma to the conclusion that a midnight marauder was paying them some attention. It was also apparent that, as soon as trouble started, the small boy. kpawing w,hat ,he d,id, and having sprung the trap, would have melted away like snow in the morning sun, and .the unfortunate Mayor would be left to explain as best he could an awkward and dramatic situation, and perhaps faee rough treatment. Possibly, even, the existence of the small boy being in the picture at all. would, have been questioned by some of the public critics and doubting Thomases. “How easily one may be led into a trap,” commented Mr. Wallnutt, who added that, front the judicial standpoint, in face of his experience, the value of circumstantial evidence, in his own mind at any rate, had received a shoqk. What was the object of the small boy? Probably the answer is a very old one. Having told one story he had to tell another one to cover up the first, and .explain the predicament in which he found himself in being promptly escorted to what should have proved to be his real home.