GIRLS IN CELLS.
TE OttANGA INQUIRY.
FURTHER EVIDENCE.
PENALTY OF ABSCONDING
[BY -IEUMRAVII. —PRESS ASSOCIATION.]
CheistchueCH, Wednesday. When the inquiry into the management of the To Oranga Home was resumed to-day Mr. Salter drew attention to the fact that the girl who had given evidence in chief the previous day and wax being tendered for cross-examination had been lodged in a cell during the interval. The girl gave evidence in support of this, but. under cross-examination she admitted that she had been quite comfortably accommodated, and that it had been explained to her that she. Mas not being punished by being lodged in the cell.
When the examination of the witness was concluded Mr. Saltei inquired whether she was to be sent back to the cell.
Mr. Bishop said that it- was understood that the girls should be kept entirely separate j.rom the others, and that they should have no communication during the progress of the inquiry. In the course of her examination, the witness said she was quite prepared to slay in the home if she were treated justly.
A girl of 20, who had been in the home for 4;', years, was the next witness. She said tnat she had been out at service. Once she ran away from her place because she objected to being in the country. When die was brought back she was put into the cells fur a month, but she was only locked up for one day ; the rest of the time the door was unlocked, and she could get into the. detention yard. When she was brought back she received 12 cuts of the strap from, the matron. She had been strapped for sitting on another girl's bed. ,
In cross-examination the witness was very reticent about her reasons for running away from her situation, and the Commissioner said that ho would place his own construction on her silence. She denied that .she was found with it man at two a.m., though the police report made that statement. It was the matron's practice to have a chat with the girls in the evenings, and encourage them to tell their troubles. The next witness, a girl of 18, said she had once ,'ried to abscond. She was punished with a month in the cells and detention yard, and was locked up for a. day in the cell. She wore the punishment dress for two month', and a week. She had seen the matron knock a girl's bead against the wall. The next witness was a girl of 20, who had been in the home for seven years. i'he stated that she had been out at service and ran away. When she was brought back she had three weeks: in the cell, and she got 12 strokes of the strap. Later on she absconded from the home, and was similarly punished. She felt this strapping for three days afterwards. Some days later the doctor saw her, and she was sent to the hospital, where she remained for a month. The inquiry was adjourned till to-mor-row, when Mr. Salter will call some exinmates of the home.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19080305.2.46
Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13690, 5 March 1908, Page 5
Word Count
520GIRLS IN CELLS. New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13690, 5 March 1908, Page 5
Using This Item
NZME is the copyright owner for the New Zealand Herald. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence . This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of NZME. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Acknowledgements
This newspaper was digitised in partnership with Auckland Libraries and NZME.