THE UNAUTHORISED INFANT.

NZ Truth, Issue 133, 17 August 1907, Page 5

THE UNAUTHORISED INFANT.

BOTHER ABOUT BABY'S BURIAL

Fred Hitchcock Brought to the Scratch,

The Fatal Result of P

TKe somnolent village of Takaka, • which reposes peacefully m the bosom of Nelson Province, was startled out of its perennial' calm early this year ■by the sensational news that- one 1 of its' girls, namely Bertha Welham, had acted with grave imprudence m her love affair. Bertha came to Wellington m March last, and on the 26th, at the Salvation Army Home, she contributed to the population by the addition of one mighty atom. The youngster struck a hard and unsympathetic world, and after batk tlin& against adverse circumstances 3 for three months, it threw up the f feeding bottle and joined the cherubim. Bertha then consulted a solicitor and brought a young man named Frederick 'Hitchcock to Wellington to J answer a charge of being father of the unauthorised infant, and as such with having failed to pay the expenses of the girl's confinement, and, subsequently, the burial dues of the unwelcome offspring. ■-< • ■■ ■ ■ Hitchcock denied paternity, and was' represented, before Mr Riddell, by solicitor Gray, while Mr Dunn conducted the case for the' girl. The trusting maiden, who was as cool as a watermelon m the witness box, remarked that she had known Hitchcock for upwards of five years, and Ihe youth was a most devoted swain. He visited her or -w^ed out with her twice and sometimes three times a week. Last year she was m service successively at "Ellis's, Winter's, and Reilly's, but she' was at home on a spell when she first plucked the forbidden apple of self-indulg-ence and handed it to Hitchcock. That was about eighteen months ago, and the apple was partaken of continuously twice a week up to August of last year. Sometimes he might be there once m a week, but subsequently made up for lost times .so that the average was maintained. - She first noticed her condition' m July sand told Hitchcock. He recommended her to get some stuff usually TAKEN BY UNMARRIED GIRLS suffering from the same form of indisposition. After this confidence he continued going with her, she at that time being a servant at Reilly's. She did not tell her; mother about the matter until January, and en the advice- pf 'her parents she wrote to Hitohcock, entrusting: the letter for delivery to her brother Leo, who is twelve years of age. Saw Hitchcock m the same week at her home. Her mother and herself met him m the street and walked inside. The mater a sked him what his intentions were, and he replied that he was not m a position to marryHe then asked to see the girl by herself and moved with her into the yard. Hitchcock then requested Bertha nob to tell anyone that he was responsible for her trouble, adding, ! "You know what my intentions are." When m the Wellington Home she wrote to Hitchcock, and wrote again when she left the Home asking -him to assist her. To this he sent a let-, t<?r of refusal. She had never had improper relations with any other man but Hitchcock, who usedi to wait for her to take her home after tripping ■■: the heavy fantastic at the village dances. It was not true that her father had locked her up to force her to tell ham who the author of th? child was, nor had he threatened to turn her out of the family abode unless she parted up the same information. The girl endeavored to give specific dates when her mother had seen her with Hitchcock, and she swore to August 5 because there was a church bazaar on that date 1 - He took her out Ihat night after tea. Also on Christmas Eve Hitchcock lavished his loving caresses on herl To Mr Gray. Bertha said she Was ei<rh'teen at this time and Hitchcock h?d reaohed the mature age of nineteen. He used to call at her parents' house, and was familiar with the family. There was an understanding., between the pair that they were to >l>e married later on- She first went to service at Mackie's four years a c o. and she had been there about elevfn months when she accepted HITCHCOCK AS HER BLOKE,, ahhouph the forbidden fruit was unplucked untdl eighteen months ago, and the fatal lapse occurred m a district called "the Bubu." The pleasant happenings subsequently alrcrays took place outside in ' the open air. He was the first man to have anything to do with her, although she was not altogether ignorant of such things. When it was palpable that she was 'm for it, he recommended her to get several t>:ngs, but she coul-d not get hold of these illicit nostrums. She was at Reilly's m July, prior to that for three months at Winter's. Her mother did rot care for Hitchcock, uuon the morality of whose connections v she cast reflections. Once having plucked the forbidden apple she kept at it until circumstances prevented her continuing. One evening m November 1905, she was with Hitohcock when her mother called her m sharply. Hitchcock took offence and! surmised tii at the mother thought he was not gocd enough for her. He broke off with her that night, and started corting out Bertha's sister VioletThis unpleasant period lasted three months, when he had a row with Vi. and took on HIS OLD LOVE AGAIN.When she was at Ellis's Mrs Ellis ,was confined, and when she went on to "/inter's Mrs Winters went through tho same interesting;, experience. Was it ever complained that you i were rather free with EJlis or Winter "—lt is not true. Or that you sat on their knnes ?— I did not. Have you heard it is common gossip m Takaka that Winter is father of the chile! ?— No. Witness said that- when she wrote to Hitchcock from the Salvarmy Ho™ it was a cheerful, chatty letter, and she said nothing about him being the father of the child. Hitchcock wrote m reply that some people at Takaka had the cheek to say 'that he was father of the child, and '

[ucking Forbidden Fruit,

he wrote asking- her to 3eny that He was the author of the unfortunate kid. Subsequently she saw a solicitor and she then wrote 'asking him for help- When Hitchcock came to see her and called her into the yard and told her not to tell anybody her mother surprised him with his- arm round her waistIn addition to the above, corroborative affidavits signed by the father, mother and brother of the girl, were put m. For the defence Mr Gray called Hitchcock, who denied paternity. He was a farm laborer employed by one Burns, five miles from Takaka. Had known the girl for four years and frequently had meals at her houseHis yarn differed from the girl's m that after he had the tiff with her, whereas the girl said the coldness lasted three months, Hitchcock said he did not resume friendly relations with her .igain for two years- He denied the interesting occurrence at "•the Bubu," and said he did not speak to her AFTER THE ESTRANGEMENT till last December. It was m the street, about 8 p.m., and the girl spoke first. He accompanied her to Ellis's gate, and did not speak to her' again. The girl's father came up to see him at Burns's and asked, "What are you going to do about the girl ?" Hitchcock moved him out of earshot of the inquisitive family, when the old man repeated the iquestion. Hitchcock replied, "What do you 1 mean ; do you want me to marry her ?',' The father answered m the a ffirmative, then Hitchcock said, "I refuse to answer such a ridiculous question." On the same day he had heard from the chaps he was working, with something about "the girl's trouble. He denied absolutely receiving a letter from the girl while at Burns's. The lad Leo did not deliver such an epistle. He also said that the alleged interview with the girl and her mother did not take place, and the assertion that he said he wasn't' m a position t 0 marry was A FIGMENT OF THE IMAGINATION. He bad been up from Takaka twice m connection with the case, and he had refused to settle it for £10. When he fell out with Bertha he had taken Violet out, but although they were on terms of intimacy for three months, he had only been with her four or five times. He could not have been with Bertha twice a week when at Burns's, as it was six

(Wanganui.) A' railway mechanic is Hogan, An orator earnest is he, A person devoid of the brogue,' an' A democrat bred rigidly. Monopoly finds him a fighter, And the worker a helper indeed ; Hogan was never a skiter, , But grafts against grabber and greed.

miles distant, the roads were bad for a bike, and he did. not visit Takaka" sometimes for three weeks. , He wasn't with her on Christmas Eve. Magistrate Riddell decided m favor of the girl, principally because the weight of evidence was against Hitchcock, although his ' Worship was not entirely satisfied with that evidence. He ordered defendant :to pay doctor's expenses, £1 17s 6d ; confinement expenses, £6 6s ; burial dues, £2 ; and solicitor £l v Is.

The .total wealth 0f .." the United Kingdom is estimated at £11,500,---000,000, arod of this 5,000,000 people possess £10,900,000,000, leaving £600,000,000 for 39,000,000 people. Thus 95 per cent, of the entire wealth is owned by one-ninth of the population. Of all businesses that suit a spieler, the profession of a dentist is unrivalled. A suburban fang-puller, after secuTing as many deposits as he could from confiding female clients, lit out for the landscape serenely. He knew well that women, especially young ones, do not care about appearing m court and discussing the false teeth they expected. The fellow should ,be made to disgorge his ill-gotten gains . Rev. R. f J. Campbell, City Temple, London, 1 declares that the first great conrmandnrem't was "Get hoM of the Land," and now the author of the "New Theology" has been asked to stand for Parliament- Here m the Antipodes the order of things m reversed, the plan being to first of all get into Parliament, and then lay you're ears back, and' going for all you're worth, "Get hold of the Land." "New" theology forsooth— why. it's as old as the hills this kind of (thing m Nftw Zealand.