DRINK AND DEBAUCHERY.

NZ Truth, 4 January 1908, Page 6

DRINK AND DEBAUCHERY.

A SHOCKING CASE IN CHRISTCHURCH. Widowed Mother and Daughters Run a Low-down Brothel. A DIRTY AND WSGUSTING STATE OF AFFAIRS. Tht Sins, Sorrows. and Shame of the Sheehafis.

Consider the misery suffered' by ■children of a metropolis ; the awful lives they -have to ,le%d ;• the damnable negligence of parents who are supposed to, and who are m duty bound to, support their offspring, and to bring them up m a p.roper manner. We, all know that the children of the poor are Jiable to neglect m this particular respect ; .. either through poverty or the largeness pf the family, or drink, or misfortune, they're subject to that kind of treatment, and often apparently it cannot be helped. But what shall we say of the parent or parents of the well-to-do class neglecting their offspring m such a'■ criminally hare-faced fashion. There is absolutely no excuse for them. Yet it frequently happens, worse lack, and is a, veritable disgrace to those concerned. In fact, they should be jugged for it. A ,most lamentable case m this particular connection comes from Christchurch. and it is almost incredible. .A prosperous farmer named '.Sheehan died m the district— a saving ,man ; a man of thrift, who was one of the most desirable settlers that a place could wish for. When he pegged out . his property passed to, his widow, a woman of accomplishments, and of some beauty, who was Messed with a quiv-. erful, or something near. to it, and wtio started her life of single blessedness under particularly auspicious circumstances. She had a farm and cash and wanted nothing else. All went well at first, but. she got m. - with drinky companions, and the end up— the inevitable end up— came : along . m due course, and she succumbed to the seductive habit of seeking oblivion from the cares of the world m the flowing bow.l. And she hao* cares, too, did that woman ; but they needn't ' have troubled her seeing that -she was m a state of affluence. '.. However, she got lower and lower and neglected her home and encoura/ged people of doubtful nature to yisit her to that extent that peelerdom m all its. -ltd ©hi and original officiousness stepped m and ' informed the bibulous lady of handsome proportions that she must REFORM , HER WICKED WAYS and look after the kids, m a proper manner. Then she reformed until_ someone came along and tempted her" —a female devil, no doubV who was solicitous for the lady's health and her fortune. Wine sparkled agahrand, efiervesoed and rambled down sundry gullets as of yore, and Madame Sheehan paid the freight. But the excess bf throat scratching with drinky matter degraded Sheehan to a not inconsiderable extent. The children hads perforce to mix with these depraved creatures and men who battened on harlotry. And' two of these were her children, aged 17 and 18-^and both girls. It behoved the police to take the matter up, and they did ; ..but : they didn't know about the 'brothel until Sunday last. Yet.it had been m a flourishing condition, for some time. The police, however, cannot be expected to know everything that is going forward right on the nail, but so long as they get there some time is good enough. Except this : -That, m the casesvaf houses of ill-fame there may be young girls to be reclaimed ; souls to 'be redeemed ; girls if caught m time might lead excellent lives ~in the near and distant future. There were same bad^ aspects ab6ut the case of Mrs Sheehan. It might be stated that as there are more of that- name m Ohiustchurch site resided at 118 Moorhouse Avenue. When' the police ibecame aware of what was 'going on m that show they set out to rescue the children. T ( hey were m a pitiable .plight, and four of them^— Annie, aged 12 years ; Martin, aged 10 ; John, aged 8, and Jane, aged 10, were brought before Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., at. a sitting of the ' Juvenile Court on Tuesday-, when a nominal charge was preferred against j,hem, that of being inmates of a brothel. ' s ■' ■• ' •It was stated by Sub-Inspector Dwyer, who lias once again resumed duty in\ Christchurch, that 'the late father of the children died well , off, and that the mother was .well able to keep them, but didn't do so. Mr Bishop : How old is she ? About 45 years. .Constable Mick Carney stated to* the Court that he was sent to report upon the shanty. It was a house of six rooms; situate' in Moorhouse Avenue, and the interior was m a most DISGUSTINGLY DIRTY CONy DITION. There were only three beds m all, arid thebpdclothes were filthy ; something awful; as black as one could expect such things to be under the worst conditions. In the kitchen there were signs of revelry, or incidentals thereto. Two beer barrels, or bairels of beer, reared themselves m a conspicuous position against the wall ; they \\oA cost money, these hoop-ironed* fakem;ents, and they had cost . thirsts and sore heads, but at anyi'ate they were there and Carney was asked to help himself just as though he were requested to take what oranges., he liked off a tree. Ke refused with cavalier-like exactitude and then he was invited to gargle stout. There appeared to be no wine on. the premises. As the loom smelt like a side room m Sheol Carney rigorously declined." He then looked about him and made a ment~. al .note of things. There was an odor of drink everywhere. There were two daughters pervading the premises, one aged eighteen and the other seventeen. Then there were minors of the Shcehan family, kiddies numbering four m nil. Further* navigation of the house disclosed a man named | Bates asleep m the front bedroom., :He was lying down m his clothes. He woke him up. Then the to was anothJer sorrowful soul named McVay m. 'another roonj asleep. The constable

didn't think much of McVay because lie couldn't wake him up— he was dead to the bally world, and didn't seem to care about it either >vhen he first took to bunk, kecording to celiablo. auditors. Mrs ' Sheehan herself, the boss of the show, suddenly emerged from a \ back roon\, with a black eye and other appurtenances, disclosing the fact that the lady • HAD BEEN HjAVING- A SCRAP, of some dimensions. She was very drunk. Later that night. Carney revisited the scene with Sergeant Bird. They entered the domicile and found a sec-ond-hand class of a man lying on a bed ;, his moniker was 'Connolly. Katie Sheehan, the seventeen-year-old daughter of the missus, was with him, but both were dressed m their day clothes. In a back bedroom they found the sooner, Bartes, who was there m the morning. He had apparently been there all day. Then appeared on the scene a prostitute named Connolly, alleged to be a sister of the Conrioily aforesaid ; she was with ragamuffin McVay. They then alighted upon M,?s Chaffey, no less, the woman who was divorced by her huslxand' at the last sittings of the Chvistchurch Supreme Court, arid who swore that she hadn't been guilty of improper conduct with anyone, although she had /been convicted at the ChTistchurch Magistrate's Court of keeping a" torothel on, undoubted evidence. Then came to light Miss v McCully, her darling mate, one of the precious crew of McCullys who once threatened "Truth" with a writ for JiLfcl because we reported a Court case m which they were more or less des-' cribed as prostitutes. . Chaffey and McCully have been at the game ever since. Have you been to the house since Sunday? asked .the.. S.M, "Yes, I was there this morning and the house looked more cleanly, b<ut it is very bad still." ,' What I want to know about it is this : Is it, a brothel ?— Yes, and M*s Sheehan mentioned the names of prostitutes who had visited the place; , Sergeant Bird was very denunciatory m his evidence. Hjp said that he had visited the place on Sunday evening: The place .was m darkness, and dh knocking no one came to the door for >a momient, and then he walked m. One. of the Steehan girls arrived at this juncture, ami he asked her for a light. Then he went into the front room and found Kkite Sheehan and Connolly there. They were on the bed together. Then there was a sister of Connolly's— a bad character— in the house also. The fellow Bates, who had been alarmed, rushed to the back yard, . where tlie officers found him.- The place was m a most filthy condition right through. Mary and Katie, the eldest of the Sheohans, were there, as well as THREE OTBER YOUNGER ONES, the fourth being alleged to be away on a message. McVay told the sergeant that he was a lodger at the house, and as there was Mrs' Sheehan and Bates left, to say nothing of the two elder daughters, and as there were only three bedss i-n the house, what kind of a hell-hole— an awful den of infamy— must it 'have ' been ? * ■• ■ "It is the worst house that I have been m m Christchurch," remarked S.ergeanl Bird, and perhaps he is right. Wo don't want any m.ore of 'that sort m Chfistchurqh, and if they do exist they sircmld be ruthlessly blotted out right away. The bedclothes were not even an apology for the correct article ; ishey were aibsoluteiy l/ags, said tflie ' ' officer. He didn't think there was such a place m the city. The S.M. : When you caught this 17-year-old girl Katie and this man together, what did you say ?— I asked -them what they were doing., - : And what did she reply ?— Well', she becamie impudent and showered abuse on crur heads, ami kept it up, .wanting to know why we dared intrude m a private house m that fashion, Arid what did the man say ?— Hje replied that he had only entered the premises a few minutes before. / Do you think this place is a ■■' brothel ?— Most assuredly -I do ; and it isn't a proper place for children. And you say they were lying under rags ?— Yes, why they are half naked now, and. two of them are without boots. And what about the eldest girl M!ary 7-JWall, she is a good girl and has been Working m the Union Brewery, but had just returned home. She is a girl of retired appearance. You , would label Kate, I .should say ?— Yes, I should say so. / Sub-Inspector Dwyer'': These two girls only came home* a week or so ago, and THEY HAVE BEEN RESPECTABLE. The S.M. : What, a girl who is found on a bed with a man respectable ?— Well, they have borne that reputation. The S.M. : You can't say that girls who are living m a brothel are that, surely-. Anyhow, you can deal with The sister of 18 won't come under the 17-year-old girl under the Act. the provisions, . but this younger girl must be saved. Sub-Inspector : We. intend doing:' that and "bringing her up. The S.M. : You say, Sergeant Bird, that this giil was very impudent ? Bird : Yes, she said she didn't care for the whole police force of New Zealand. y6.M. : That's a big statement to make ; she couldn't have been -much im'pressixt with your appearance. (Sniggers.) . S.M. : Why hasn't the mother turned up lieie to-day about these children ? Sergeant Bird : Because she has a black eye, and said she wasn't going