YOUNG HOPEFULS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 41, 25 March 1914, Page 5

YOUNG HOPEFULS.

BEFORE THE JUVENILE COURT.

AN INCORRIGIBLE GIRL. A well-dressed young girl, who had previously appeared before the magistrate for not being under proper control, was again before Mr H. W. Bishop, S.M., to-day. On the previous occasion she had been found on the riverbank, talking about suicide, and being tired of life. On the present occasion she was charged with being found wandering on Sea View Road, New Brighton, not under proper control. - Senior-Sergeant Mathieson said that the girl had not kept her promise to go to work.

Mr Bishop: I thought she would come back.

Senior-Sergeant Mathieson: She is really more impudent than ever. The mother was called up, and the magistrate informed her that the best thing to do was to put the girl under control. The mother had a large family, and had done very well in bringing them up under very difficult circumstances. The mother said that she did not like the idea of the girl going to a home. She was all right at home, and did not give her (the mother) any cheek at home, but when she got away she did wrong. She would not go to work. Mr Bishop: That is the difficulty. The mother asked the magistrate to let her counsel consult with her husband as to the course to be followed. Her husband was away, and she would have to communicate with him. The magistrate said that he had no objection to this.

The matron of the Army Home was requested to take charge of the girl, and on the slightest trouble with her hand her over to the police again. In the meantime the girl could be ordered to come up for sentence when called upon, and the mother could communicate with her husband. A FOWL TRAGEDY.

The other young New Zealander to appear was a smart-looking boy who was charged, before Mr T. A. B. Bailey, with cruelly ill-treating some fowls. The boy was in tears, and he said that "he did."

Senior-Sergeant Mathieson said that three other lads were in the affair, but they were too young to bring before the court. Two of the boys made a raid on a fowlyard, caught some of the fowls, strung them to a fence by the neck, and set a dog oh them. The result was fatal to four of the fowls. The boy before the court had been warned on previous occasions by the police. The Rev. F. Rule said that the boy was a mischievous lad, and had caused his father a good deal of trouble. The magistrate admonished the boy for his cruelty. He was directed to report himself to Mr Rule periodically for six months.

The boy's father was directed to pay the costs.