MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB.

NZ Truth, Issue 67, 29 September 1906, Page 6

MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB.

No Papa Does it Know.

A girl, bearing the rather commonplace name of Mary Brown, had her applecart upset \by the wayside m a most Unexpected fashion at Christchurch and returned to her home down the line m a very disconsolate frame of mind. Maryj who is only 17 years, or thereabouts, has a past and a little atom of humanity to show for it, living evidence of love's sweet dream. She toiled as servant on Rokeby station, but left when her condition became too interesting to be pleasant. When baby was born at her mother's house she placed the blame on one Michael Sheehan, who worked on Homesby station, adjoining, andiwho, by the way, is a second cousin of hers. Sheehan is said to have denied the allegation m vigorous fashion, and as he refused to do anything towards maintaining the lit-, tie nuisance who wasn't wanted, Mary Brown pulled him to court. Magistrate Day heard the case, and the girl's story w^as that one night a fellow servant sent her on a message to the next station, and Sheehan, who was employed as ploughman there, saw her back and seduced her on the way home. Later on she went' with a fellow servant to a dance at Barr Hill, m the ftakaia district, being driven there by the groom at Rokeby, one Scome. Sheehan accompanied them back, and when they got near the men's whare the groom dropped her and Sheehan at the plantation, and took> the fellow servant up to the house. Sheehan took her into' the plantation, so she alleged, and DESPOILED HER PURITY some more. • Further intimacy happened on a third occasion. The only evidence the complainant brought to support her charge was that of her mother, who told the court that she waited on Sheehan about the matter, and told him that "Molly" said he was the father of the kid. She said that he replied, "Oh, well, if 'Molly 1 says the child is mine I suppose I'll have to /pay for it." He then asked the old lady why didn't she send her to the North Island to get over her trouble. The fellow servant of "Molly" was outside the court, but she wasn't called to give testimony. Sheehan denied being the father, and said that complainant's allegations were utterly untrue. The Magistrate, however, decided m favor of the girl, and ordered the defendant to pay 7s (id a week, and to find a surety of £75 a.s a guarantee that he'd keep up

the payments. He resolved, through Mr Donnelly, to appeal against the decision, or at least to apply .to the Supreme Court 'for a rehearing of the case. That was five months ago, but owing to various causes the case didn't come on for settlement; until the other day," when it assumed quite a new complexion. Enquiries had been made regarding the dates of the dances at Barr Hill sworn to m. the lower court, and it was found that the lady was.quite wrong m that connection. She had slated that the first Lime Sheehan .seduced her was on June 1 (last year), and on the second occasion on June 5 coming home from a dance. But tire dance m question was held before that date, and it was found that sue wasn't dropped at the plantation with Sheehan. It was only when she was being examined before Mr Justice Cooper that she was aware that her dates ' were out of joint, so she was obliged to shift her ground. -Her latest statement was that she, had- made amistake,.and instead of ; , ■..".,' ' !, HAVING BEEN SEDUCED, on June 5, the. occurrence took' place: at the end of May— the. 29th. : That: was the last dance, and:, it ,'so , happened that her fellow servant didn't attend it.' The groom, Seome, .who had driven' the girls home- after- . -the' previous dance , gave evidence sayings that he took; them right ,-to : the /b.a'ck-, door, it .... was absurd to say .thatf he' dropped Mary. ' Brown 'and Sheehan at : the plantation a few hundred yards: away. Other witnesses, too, said' that the girl was driven right to the back door, and there was no plantation m the stage setting. Then, as to complainant's yarn about Sheehan taking advantage of her on her way home from Homesby station, witnesses swore that what happened was this : Sheehan was seeing her home all right, and they were overtaken shortly after starting by three men on bikes. They got off and chatted, and the whole four of them saw her to Rokehy. But those at the station didn't know about the cyclists ;' they only saw the girl and Sheehan enter the back door together, and concluded that he and nobody else had walked With her all the way. Complainant took advantage ,pf that, ana never mentioned about the three others on bikes, when giving 'evidence m the lower court. The fellow servant of Brown -discounted her yarn about the plantation business, saying that it was quite untrue ; they drove to the house together and w&nt to bed. So after Lawyer Donnelly had marshalled his 'forces Mary Brown was m a nretty bad fix. Lawyer Kollestou had her case m hand, ancl he engaged Crown Prosecutor Stringer to slash the witnesses, but they were impervious to that operation and their coherent story held good. Mr Justice Cooper said that m a case of this kind he had to be satisfied of the truth of the statements made by the complainant, and. that it was corroborated m some material particular by other evidence. That was to say, the tribunal which, had to be satisfied as to the corroborative evidence was transferred from the Magistrate to the court/ and he had to consider it m the light of the evidence adduced. The case was entirely different . on both sides from that made before the Magistrate ; m the lower court the girl's story was a connected narrative, uncontradicted except by the defendant himself. The re-hearing now presented entirely different aspects. The material points of the girl's evidence WERE NOT CORROBORATED, and they were contradicted by independent and disinterested witnesses. She had so shifted her ground that he was far from satisfied with her. The onus of ' proof being upon her he found that she had failed to establish her case. He would 'allow the appeal, and directed the Magistrate to dismiss the case without prejudice. So that if Mary can discover further evidence, or could prove that the witnesses were not telling the truth she can come at young Slieehan again. Judge Cooper was so, dissatisfied with both sides of the case that he declined to allow costs. .The only certain thing about the whole business is that Mary has a little lamb whose paternity is shrouded m obscurity, and whether she achieved it through going messages or patronising the dreamy wait/, seems to he a mere matter of detail. Anyhow, the promised seven and six a week— a consideration these days— • has assumed an elusive aspect, and doesn't appear to be coming her way, nohow. And that is why Mary Brown is at present lost m a brown study.