THE MURDER CHARGES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XCIII, Issue 10655, 16 May 1895, Page 6

THE MURDER CHARGES.

THE WINTON BABY-FARMING CASE. Tho following details have been supplied to the Otago Daily Times by a special correspondent:— THE DEANS* HOUSE. A photograph of the Deane’ house his been taken, and will probably be product i at the inquest. No adequate idea oa.i, however, bo obtained of the condition of the house without seeing it. It is in truth a wretched hovel, and the former inmates have apparently had little or no regard for cleanliness. Tho house is aa unpaiatad weatherboard structure, measuring ISffc lOin by lift Sin, and with a small lean-to at the back. The waPs are unpapored and the floor uncarpeted, and ia tho room at tho back in which most of the children slept the ground eva be seen between the rough boards of the flooring. There is very little furniture -.n the house, and tho b?de are of a very rougu description, the bedding portion of whicj, consisting of old bags, is also far from clean, and tho whole surroundings are extremely wretched and squalid. The wonder, indeed, is how anyone could be content to live in such a place and in such a state; and it is difficult to conceive how any mother with the slightest spark of feelkg could consent to her child being brought up in such an environment if she once paid a visit to the house. Tho Deans have been known in this district for many years. Mra Dean ia said to bo a native of Scotland, and to have coma to this colony from Tasmania ia 18G5. She then bore the name of Mrs M’Gullough, was supposed to be p. widow, and had two daughters. After her arrival hero she was at the Half-way Bush Hotel in the employ of Mrs Howells, now a hotelkeeper in Invercargill. She married her present husband over twenty years ago, and the pair for some time afterwards kept a hotel at Etal Greek, near Ocautau. Prior to being married Mrs Dean kept a, sms,ll school in the south of Invercargill. So far as can be ascertained tho two daughters already referred to were her only children. Some time ago one of these, 'a married woman was found drowned with her infant in a wall at Longbush. The other daughter is at present living with her husband at Mataura. THE BABY FARM. Sis years ago Mrs Dean appears to have started baby-farming at Winton. She had then two children m her care, but subsequently she obtained possession of thirteen children, all of whom, with two exceptions, were infants, the ages of which ranged from four weeks up to nine months. Tho exceptions referred to are a young woman of twenty und a girl of fifteen, both of whom were living with Mia Dean up to the time of her arrest. The former of those states that she knew of twenty-two children who at one lime or another were iu Mrs Dean’s keeping. Of this number, fourteen have been accounted for in some way or other, including the children whose bodies were found in the garden at The Larches. Oce of tho children, who died on March 23,1891, formed the subject of a coroner’s inquest, in connection with which it was thought advisable to have a post-mortam examination of the body made before taking evidence. The jury also visited tho premises, and, after witnesses had been examined, Mr Coroner Eawaoa said he thought the jury would find no difficulty in arriving at a verdict, as the doctor’s evidence proved conclusively that the child died from natural causes. He, however, was of opinion that the house was too small for the number of children it contained. If the jury had any recommendation to make with regard to giving the police more control over such establishments he would be bappy to forward it to the Government. The inquiry resulted iu tho jury returning a verdict of “ Death from , natural causes,” but a rider was added to tho verdict recommending that something should be done in the way of legislation to restrict persons who adopt such a means of living as Mra Dean to a certain number of children, according to the accommodation provided, and also that they should be under inspection. In consequence of the recommendation tho Government passed “The Infant's Life Protection Act, 1894,” which provides for the registration of premises where children under two years of age not belonging to the owner of the premises are kept. ’ The condition of Mrs Dean’s house, it may be stated, formed about the time of the inquiry tho subject of a good deal of comment, and the matter found its way into Homo newspapers, a paragraph about' the matter appearing in the Yorkshire Weekly Post of May 30, 1891. The inquest had the effect of causing one of tho mothers of the children to withdraw her child from Mrs Dean’s care, and since then the children have gradually decreased in numbers until at tho time of arrest there were only five children in the house, besides the young woman of twenty and the girl of fifteen already referred to. The former is usually away from home in tho daytime, and was absent for about two months prior to Mrs Dean’s arrest, and consequently know nothing whatever of the two children whoso bodies were found. A GOOD, WORD FOR THE DEANS. Those who have come a good deal in contact with Mrs Dean say that she always appeared to have an affectionate regard for the children in her care, and after tho death of one of them she had a memorial card printed, which was framed, and always stood on tho mantelpiece in the principal room of the house. The lines on the c.ard are said to be of her own composition, and road as follow : —“ln loving memory of May Irene Dean, died Oct. 10. 1889, aged eix months. To those who mourn her here below thia consolation’s given : she’s from ai world of woo relieved, and blooms a re so in heaven.” It may bo mentioned that Mrs Dean received a premium of .£3O with this child when it was five weeks old. Ail the children who (wore in her charge at tho time of her arrest are said to be wtllmannered, and show signs ox having had aomo religious training. A MISSING CHILD. Tho North Otago Times states that, ia response to advertisements similar to these published at Timaru, Mrs Doan was successful ia getting an infant from Oamaru —a boy—-the father ol 1 which has since died. The trustee of tho estate, owing to the fact that the boy’s name wan mentioned in tho will, made inquiries, bat could elicit no satisfactory information. Inquiries wore then made through the police, and this led to Mrs Doan giving an assurance that the boy bad been adopted by a person residing ia Sydney, bufcshe declined to give tho name. There the matter of the boy ended, as tho police and trustee were satisfied at the time that the woman’s story was true. Since, however, the revelations have been made, the question naturally arises—What has become of the child? Tho women’s story may be quite true, but under the circumstances there may be a disposition to disbelieve it. It is the opinion of the police that the chill’s skeleton found is that of tho boy from Oamaru.