BAKER'S BAIRNS.

NZ Truth, Issue 133, 17 August 1907, Page 6

BAKER'S BAIRNS.

-Where is the Truth? f One doesn't need to go to ,a court" , Ihouse to hear yarns diametrically: j opposed to each other about a certain circumstance, or set of circuml stances. There is plenty of it done •m private life. Take the case of fiArthur Baker, a laborer, living m ( iSpringfield-road, Christchuxch. , He had been living at Prebbleton for some little time previously, and complains bitterly of the way, some people treated him tliere. He avers .that his children attended scliool regularly, but were sent home by the. teacher because they had vermin m ..their heads. Well, they were kept at home for a week, and then sent /back to the institution.- It was ;soon found that they were badly ;dnfested again, but this- time the parents took them home. Baker says that his children are always £lean. and that they, got the ver;mm from other scholars, which' may jor may not be. However, his explanation is a most feasible one.. ..The man worked at Islington a few miles away, and as he and his .wife was rarely seen, the inquisitive, neighbors /jumped to the conclusion (that the children were being neglecited, and left to drift along' anyhow ithey liked. Some people m little communities are built just that way 1 and if one woman doesn't talk over .jthe fence to her neighbors, and the ,-butcher, and the baker, anil the vegjctable producer, and sundries don't ttell yarns about her because they can't, the rest of the femininity makes remarks of great profundity, and winks its eye with knowing significance. The yarn got about THAT THE YOUNCrSTERS WERE STARVED. ' and a message was sent to Constable Mayne, who has charge of : . the district, and vrho lives at Lincoln. He investigated matters, and • Baker says that Mrs Baker went into hysterics when, she found a uniformed man m her kitchen. Only previously she had been confined of yet another child. Mayne is said to hav-g expressed, surprise at the •healthiness of the, little flock, and said someone had made a gross mistake. One kid'lie aged three years and five months weighed 4st 81b, However* storekeeper Fore-

wood itold Baker, ttiat it was not of much use him sticking .up a bill for. as much as Gs 9d — it didn't -pay him. That is Baker's yarn. Why he owed such a small amount' for groceries was that he- also dealt with storekeeper Burrows. Forwood hadi been cadging, clothes for Baker's family, and he took them round to the house, but as they ,were only rags, acceptance was reJusedv there being better togs m "tha house. The upshot of the whole business was that the chap "had got the bullet from Islington, where he •toiled, and went to live at Riccarton, where his family stopped a month. The Charitable Aid Board had^ been apprised of their allegedly poor condition by the police, and it was affirmed, that the woman was either ill or not dn her right owing to one reason or another, Dr. Clayton was deputed to go and call on her.. He found (according to Baker) that he had been sent out on a wild-goose chase, and that thepre was really nothing the matter with the woman at all. He at once shifted to town, and swears that he doesn't want charitable aid at all, and never did want it. Constable Mayne, of Lincoln, tells a totally different story. On being apprised of the Bakers by wellintentioned people at Prebbleton he called at their house, and was met at the door by an almost intolerable stench. The place was m a filthy condition and the children were •verminous./ There wasn't much food m the house and good clothes were wanted, and storekeeper Forwoocl m securing .these was only acting the part of the good . Samaritan.- The family had been visited by the Rev. and Mrs Williams, but an asseveration made that the reason why the parson was retiring from

THE BILLET OF CURING SOULS there because there was too much scandal m the tw|ppenny ha'penny district was an amusing one. His Rev. is 75 years of age, and thinks he has been pulnitising long enough. Certainly the scandal-mongering of his wicked flock and friends has nothing to do with it. The constable also states that Mrs Baker never went into hysterics when she saw him, nor does any woman go into hysterics when she views his smiling face, and listens to his kindly voice 1 , which resembles that of a postman when he gives you a letter containing a cheque for a hundred quid. In the meantime, Prudish Prebbletonians, will, no doubt, be .awfully' shocked at what is being said about them, •;