Untitled

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 560, 26 October 1871, Page 2

A young man who was caught pressing his sweetheart to his breast the other night, justifies himself on the ground that he has a right to strain his own honey.

A CHILD SM.QTHISJftSD. If anything were wanting to increase the general desire for stringent regulations of the liquor traffic, it should be supplied in the horrible case that has just occurred I at the Thames. It appears that the mother j had been in one continual round of drun- j kenuess, although her infant was but two months' old. The immoral relations of j the parents, the evident perjury of the j father, the inability of the mother to give J evidence because she was drunk, the in- . fluences under which the other little children were living, the freedom with ; which drink was obtained, aud the painful j but natural result, combine to produce a, picture of the most revolting kind perhaps j ever presented iv the district. That the ; child was smothered' by his drunken j mother is clear, and it is impossible to j suppress indignation on seeing that the law cannot reach the murderess, arid reading the grim commentary on our boasted institutions—" Mrs. Sherrard was then discharged from custody." We give the following extracts from tho evidence, as published in the Thames Advertiser .—

The inquest on the remains of Thomas George Hart was held in the afternoon at the Globe Hotel, before Dr. Kilgour, District Coroner, and a jury, of whom Dr. Cowcll was foreman.—Mr. Bullen watched the proceedings on behalf of the Crown. The jury having viewed the body, tho following evidence was taken :—The mother of the child was called, but Mr. Bullcn called .attention to the fact that the witness was not, in a fit state to give evidence, and asked that she be detained in custody.—William John Hart, father of the deceased child, deposed that at about one o'clock iv the morning tho child cried. He got up and gave it to its mother, who suckled it. He then went to sleep, as did also his wife. At three o'clock his wife got up to make herself a cup of tea, and during the time she was up he leant across the bod, remarking that lie was very cold. His wife then caught up the child mid said he was dead. Witness then went for Dr. Leth'oridge, who came immediately. Sometimes the child slept with _>Irs. Hart and witness, but, at other times in a cradle. Witness said he wis sometimes away all night at the claim. Last night the child was ill their bed. Witness lined it out of the cradle al, about 1 o'clock', when he gave l!i<; child to its mother. The child was then crying, but became pacified when taken by the mother. Tho child was sickly for the last four weeks, and vomited up its food. Ho did not know whether it was teething. It was nine weeks old. It. was constantly vomiting. It, was fed with other food besides its mother's milk. The mother's milk was short, indeed so short that she had live or six times gone into fits or mad through scarcity of it. This was occasionally; for two or three days she would bo right enough, then again it would become short. By Mr. 1. alien : The name of the mother of the* deceased is Elizabeth Park Sherrard. Witness was not married iv her, but was living with her for 15 or 10 months. riio child was born on the 11th of August.— On last Thursday or Friday she was not sober. She was sober on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday—thai is, sober enough to attend to her household duties. He saw her tako some liquor during that time. She had a glass o! ale with him un Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. He did not sec her take any spirits for neve", weeks. Sometimes They got their beer from this pnblic-hou'e, sometimes from Mr. Edwards, Mr. James, Mr. Morrow, Mr. Bonfield, and others. —The Coroner: You must have been a pretty good customei to the ale houses. —Examination resumed : die went to bed about eleven last night. He was sober, but could not tell which went to bed first. He did not help her to bed because she was the worse for liquor. She was not drunk. He had no spirits in the house last night. There might have been some there, and he not know of it. He was awakened at about one o'clock by the child's crying. He was not called by anyone. De took the child from the cradle and gave it to tho mother. After he gave the child to the mother it ceased crying. Witness t lien went to sleep. He slept at the outside of the bed. The inside of the bed is placed against the wall. The deceased was on the other side of its mother, next the wall. The next thing he knew was when tho mother got up about, three o'clock, to make tea for lit rseii*. Witness was awoke by her getting up. Ho felt the child after she got out of bed. Anne Sh-.rrard was in the room at the time, in another bed in the same room. Ho discovered that the child was very cold. The mother caught it up, and said, "The child is dead — is dead —is dead!" Witness then went for Dr. Lethbridgo. She said nothing else. This was after three o'clock in the morning, aud she was quite sober then. Ho (witness) was a miner, and frequently absent from home for a day and a night, and sometimes two days and a night, from what ho knew of his own knowledge the child had received every care and attention bince its birth. He heard Mrs. Sherrard ask for brandy at about two o'clock this morning. She asked little Anne for it. He did not see Anne give it to her. She put it on the table, and told her to fake it, for herself. He did not know where tho child got tho brandy from, but it was somewhere inside the house. She might havo got it from under the bed. He did not see how much the child gave to her mother, but she did not have above one glass of brandy.—Mr. Bullen drew attention to the previous evidence of this witness, and said that no doubt the coroner and jury would regard his evidence as worthless. —Witness was asked how ho reconciled tho statement that he had not seen her drink spirits for seven weeks, with the statement now made, that she had only drunk .a glass ?—He sail that he did not tin n see her drink. The child had put the bottle on the table, and told tho mother to help herself.— Tho Oo" mer and jury remarked on the evident prevarication of the witness throughout;, aud his Worship said that if ho was asked to commit the prisoner he should certainly do so. —Anne Elizabeth Sherrard, tho girl before referred to, apparently of five years of age, was called, but was too young to be sworn. She did not know how oklshe was. She recollected her little brother dying lust night. Her father and mother went out last night before dark, and sir..: took care of her litthi brother. She had often taken care of her brother. Her mother often went: out and left, witness tio take care of the child. Last Saturday night and Sunday ber mother was drunk. When her mother wen!, away no one was in tljo house to take charge of the child but her. Her mother left meat, and witness gave it, to the ehil; when it cried. Sometimes witness went for bee:- lev her 11101,1101-, and sometimes ber ither sister. Scmcfimfcs her father would

bring brandy. lJ.it.her and mother went out last night before dark, leaving her to Ujiiul the baby. \V!ie:i mother and father c;i„„o<huDiiv mother was "half-tight." J hey went to bed when they came in. Baby was a'eeping in the cradle in the kitchen, Wiluess went to bod iv the kitchen at the samo-time as her father and mother. She heard the baby cry at one o'clock.- Sho knew it was one o'clock because her father got up, looked at the watch, and told her mother. He lifted tho b'atjy' out of the cradle, and put it beside the mother, who was lying down on the bed. . Baby stopped crying when it got the breast. Witness did not go to sieep. After the baby

stopped crying, mother asked witness to give her some brandy. When witness's father and mother came in last night, her mother went out again and got a shilling's worth ot brandy. Both had some before they went to bed. ' When her mother asked witness to get, some brandy, she brought out the bottle which was in the safe. Witness poured the brandy into a tumbler, and gave it to her father. He drank half of it, and gave the. other half to her mother. After drinking the brandy her mother lay down, and afterwards got up to make herself a cup of tea. During this time witness was in bed. There way a li^ht in the room all night. When her mother was on the floor, he put his hand over and said, "Tommy is eo'd," his mother said, " then he is dead," When her father gave mother the baby, her face was to tho wall. Tommy's face was all blue when her mother got up to make tho tea. Sometimes witness had bread and milk for breakfast, and sometimes broad an i butter. She bad always plenty to eat.—Margaret Erick deposed : I reside in Bailliestreet. On Friday evening Mrs. Sherrard was drunk, and also Mr. Hart She went out and left the baby with the lit.tie girl (the previous witness). The girl was carrying the baby like a lump, and 1 toll her to lay it down. She then gave it some cold milk out of a bottle. On one day, Mrs. Sherrard went out all day, leaving the baby to the children. The baby was crying, and I went and gave it a drink from my own breast. On Friday aLernoon, Hart fetched a policeman, but he did not take her. The neighbours have been annoyed at Mrs. Sherrard's screaming. She is vevy good to her children when sober. I consider that she neglects her children from her drunken habits.—By Mr. Bullen : Mrs. Sherrard has been drinking on Saturday, Sunday, aud Monday ; but she was not as she is to-day. ..he was not perfectly sober on any of these days. I saw her yesterday (Monday), about, one o'clock. She appeared steady, but it was at some distance I saw her. At six o'clock this morning I saw her I with Hart. They were linked arm-in-arm. She was drunk, and he was not sober. — After some further evidence had been adduced, the Coronor said that it had been the intention to examine the mother of the child, but ho believed she was not now in a lit state to give evidence. It was a question whether her testimony was necessary. — 'he foreman, after consulting the jurors, said that they did not consider it necessary to examine the.mother. — The jury, after aboutan hour's deliberation, returned the following verdict: —"That Thomas George Hart came to his death by being overlaid by his mother on the night of the :43rd October, while under the influence of liquor." — Mrs. Sherrard was then discharged from custody.