A QUARTETTE OF INCORRIGIBLES.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1671, 5 March 1890, Page 5

A QUARTETTE OF INCORRIGIBLES.

Those who may find it necessary to go so far afield as Dunedin for labour at this busy season had better exercise more than ordinary caution in the selections they make. A day or two ago a settler in the district found it necessary to go up to the city in search of a boy able to milk and do odd jobs about the farm, boy labour being at present scarce in the district owing to the advent of the flax-mills. He engaged a sturdy, and, to all outward appearance, a well-disposed lad at one of the labour agencies, paying the usual fee for the privilege, and took him on to Lawrence with him. Next morning the lad showed a decided disinclination to tackle work of any kind, refused to disencumber himself of his coat, skulked around, amused himself with the rabbits and small birds until dinner-time, and finally informed the boss that he didn't like the look of the work, considered that he had been grossly deceived, and finally decided to skip. After a little time three other youths, some- | what younger than himself, made their appearance before the homestead of the astonished settler, having followed their mate up from Dunedin by the next train. Having uttered the well-known whistle peculiar to the Dunedin street gamin, the discontented one emerged, and in a little time two of the party turned up and menacingly demanded "the chap's blooming drum," the " drum " consisting of a consumptive looking blanket, with which the company were allowed to depart. Having arrived in Lawrence they adjourned for refreshments, and amused themselves by playing cards, one of the young gentlemen carrying a pack in his pocket. Having attracted the attention of the police, the four were incontinently "run in," the capture being made in a local draper's, whither they had gone on a kind of half -business, halfmarauding expedition. One of the youths was found to have over £3 in his possession, which, it is reported, he had plundered in his parents' house before leaving Dunedin. In the police cells they conducted themselves as if being " run in " was a mere matter of everyday occurrence- sang, whistled, and danced and made themselves particularly merry over the incident. Having- entered a garden on the previous night, and stripped some fruit trees, it was thought the owner would attend to prosecute, but as he refrained from doing so, and there being nothing else very definite against them, they were discharged. One of the company subsequently went back by rail to the city, and the other three, finding themselves under police surveillance, made themselves scarce. These boys, though mere children in years, appear to have completely shaken off all parental control, almost lived on the streets in Dunedin, were generally regarded as incorrigible, and had been birched by order of the Magistrate once or twice. To put a match to a settler's stacks or burn down his outbuildings while he slept at night on some small pretext of revenge would not stand much in the way of such viciously-disposed lads ; and were it not for the vigilance of the police in hunting them up smartly a fire or two, not to speak of petty thefts, might have taken place some night, and no one would be the wiser as tothe cause. The folly of introducing such ugly specimens of the small boy into the district should be considered by farmers particularly during the harvest season.