A SAD STORY.

NZ Truth, Issue 60, 18 August 1906, Page 8

A SAD STORY.

Child-Mother and Her Offspring Bastard Babe Starved to Death.

A pitiful, sordid story was unfolded at Christchurch t'other day, which was somewhat dramatic m its intensity. A seventeen-year-old girl and her mother, poor forlorn-looking/crea-tures, without friends, were arraigned at the Supreme Court on a charge of "manslaughter. At. the lower court it was murder, but the Crown Prosecutor reduced the charge. The victim was the eighteen months old child qf the young girl, and it was illegitimate. The evidence given at the inquest on the deceased was of such a nature as to call for, prosecution. Both of the accused, Harriet Foster, mother of the infant, and her mother., Ann Foster, pleaded not guilty, and were Represented by Mr Harvey. They are so poor that -they were unable to afford counsel, and the Crown made provision for one. As the girl is on,ly \7 now, and her child was eighteen months old when it died, she must' have been under the age of conseut when she became a mother ; a fearful state of things, truly. Coroner 11. W. Bishop detailed the evidence given by the two females at the inquest. Harriet Foster, the mother, had stat-

ed that she had never suckled the child, but had fed it out of a cup containing condensed milk. She never procured a feeding bottle. Her mother had most to do with it. The infant never took its food properly ; it was fed live times a day, and slept with her mother. The milk' was mixed with 'boiling water. It looked bad the day before its death, and

! DIED THE NEXT AFTERNOON. The testimony of Ann Foster at the inquiry was that the child was a [ full-time one. It did well for a time, but got a cold from which it recovered. She didn't send for a doctor before it died when she noticed its condition ; she was careless. She had seven children of her own. The deceased was thin and small, and didn't take sufficient to keep it. alive. She had 'entire charge of the child. The evidence of Dr. Irving showed that the little, atom must have .neen In a shocking condition. The body was very emaciated ; there was no food m the sli-omach ; the bowels were empty, and were almost transparent. Its weight was 6llis ; the' normal Weight of a child 18 months old should he from between 25 to 301b s ; the average weight at birth was 7^ lbs. To reach deceased's 'stage ol emaciation it couldn't have been supplied with a proper quantity of food for a long, time— months at least. There w,as no cause so far as he could see why the child should not have lived and done well. It appears that the deceased wasn't buried after the inquest, and was still m the house next day when Detective Cox out and took some photographs oi the body with his camera. These pictures of

, THE PUNY MITE were passed round the jury box for inspection. Mr Harvey appealed to the better feelings of the jury m his address. He alluded to the povertystricken condition of the Fo&ter family ; they were m a bad way, there were seven children m all, and it wasn't a surprising thing that such a thing should happen m a home like that. The mother had admitted she ha(l sole control of the child, and that relieved the young girl. The child hadn't thriven apparently, and *had pined away until it became a l;ag of skin and bone. No doubt ignorance was at the bottom of its death, probably carelessness of a sort. If the jury came to the conclusion that ignorance was the cause that was' the end of the matter. It was quite competent for the jury— if they thought they could do so — to take a humane view of tha matter, and give -them their liberty ; or they could do so.ii they h, id any reasonable doubt about it. ' The mother and daughter were unfortunate to find themselves m such a position ; they had never done anything wrong ' previously, and there was no reason why they should he treated as criminals. He would make no bones about.it, but ask them to take a humane view of the case and acquit the accused i In summing up Judge Chapman read the law on the subject, and pointed out the difference between opdinary negligence, and wicked negligence, the party or parties being reckless and careless whether the child lived or died. There were some perfectly well meaning women, said His Honor, who neglected their children owing to their inability to properly i attend them, and others erred through sheer ignorance and lack of proper maternal instinct". While women cherished legitimate children it was unfortunately the case that one occasionally heard that illegitimate children were so neglected as to convoy the impression— without going so far as to actually say so— that the mothers or custodians were careless whether they lived or died. In a case like that it was one of manslaughter ; if it was a mere case of neglect; not • wilful neglect, the jury would be entitled to acquit. The iurv acquitted the mother" of the child, Harriet, but found the grandmother guilty with a strong recommendation to mercy. Judgment was reserved until Monday.

When Ann Foster was placed m the dock for sentence on Monday .morning Mr- Justice Chapman said he had been considering the section of the Criminal Code under which, the indictment was laid, and thought there was suf-" ficient doubt as to the legal responsibility of the prisoner to make it desirable that he should state a case for the Court oi Appeal. The section of the Code was peculiar ;y worded, and it was not made eleae whet-her the responsibilities laid upon the guardian of the child were restricted insomuch that the responsibility w-», r : laid only upon those who undertook a' charge by contract. The ■ accused would be released m her own recognisances, to come up for sentence when called upon. .