“HAD THREE DREAMS”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8365, 27 February 1913, Page 11

“HAD THREE DREAMS”

GIRL’S STRANGE CONDUCT.

SETS FIRE TO ST. MARY’S HOME,

A peculiar case in which & sixteen-year-old girl was charged with arson was heard by- Mi' W. G. Riddell, S.M., at the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. The accused was Ivy Myrtle Strong, and she was charged with having wilfully set fire to St. Mary’s Home, Karori, on February 10th. Chief Detective Broberg prosecuted, and Mr P. W. Jackson appeared tor the girt. The evidence showed that between half-past 6 and 7 p.m. on February 10th, Doris Cook, twenty years ol age, an inmate of the home, went to the dressing room and found that some rags which had been used for beeswaxing were burning in a cupboard. She took the rags to the washhouse, where they wore placed in a bucket of water. Emily Logan, also one of the inmates, said accused told her one day that she had dreamt three times about a fire. Accused asked her tho cause, aud she replied, "It’s a sign of hasty news.” The girl Strong then said, “When you dream of a firq three times it is sure to happen.” She inquired of witness what she would do if the place caught hro. On witness saying that she did not know what she woufa do, accused stated that the first tiling she would go for would be her Sunday clothes. Accused also asked if the girls in the home would be allowed to go to their own homes if there were a hr®, and whether witness would take her to witness’s home. Afterwards, accused asked whether the cupboard in the dressing room were looked or not. She then said she was going upstairs to get some collars. A few minutes later the girl Cook came into the washhouse with the burning rags in her hand. Elizabeth Telfer, sub-matron of the home, gave evidence to the effect that no damage was done to the building. Detective Andrews, who interviewed the accused on the 14th inst., stated that the girl had admitted the offence. The reason she gave was if the place were burned down she might be allowed to return to her people. Accused, to a considerable extent, had been associated with fires in the past, but she had never been convicted for attempts made on several houses. •• His Worship held that this latter evidence was not relevant to the present charge, although it gave ground for suspicion. Accused entered a plea of guilty when formally charged, and was committed to the Supreme Court for sentence. Mr Riddell remarked that tho evidence disclosed that tho girl was an irresponsible individual, and did not seem to be alive to tho seriousness ol the offence. Chief Detective Broberg urged his Worship to impress on the accused that she must stay in St. Mary’s Home until brought before tho Supreme Court, and that she must get rid of the idea of taking poison, which she had threatened to do. His Worship followed this course.