The School Case.
MASTER FINED. At the Magistrate's Coart on Thurs« day last, before A. Greenfield, Esq., Washington S. Stewart, bead* master of the Foxton State School, . ;is charged with assaulting and beating Albert Raymond Andreason. Mr J. T. Ray appeared for defendant. Mr Hankins appeared for Hans p Andreason, father of the child. W. S. Stewart pleaded not guilty. Andreason, the wife of Hans Andreason, deposed — The child in court is mine, and will be 6 years old next October; he goes to the State School, and Mr W. S. Stewart is the headmaster; on the 24th August last the child came home and was marked t across the thigh, across the hip, and the skin bruised on his nose; one bruise was very much swollen ; he had also wales across the back of his hands ; the child had been crying terribly ; I took the child up to Mr Woollass, who is chairman of the School Committee, and showed him the marks ; I took him to Mr Hamer's, the chemist, and also to Mr Walsh, a member of the committee, and Mr Spring ; I saw Mr Stewart the same day ; he came to the door ; I said " you are just the gentleman I want to see " ; I had the child with me and asked what he had thrashed the child for and he said, " I will thrash him, and thrash him, and thrash him," stamping his foot at the same time ; I told him I had taken the child to Mr Woollass, and he said he .!M not care ; he refused to discuss the ••ia?*f-. and he savl he did n~t care, I ■■-••\] do what I l:k~? ; I said I would go to the clerk of the Court, and he said he did not care ; he slammed the <loor in my face. Cross-examined — The child has not been very long at school ; he did not regularly ; I send him regularly but he does not like to go as the teachers hit him ab^nt the legs so; I did not hea- Mr Stewart say it was for disobedience he was caned ; he is kept in order at home ; Mr Stewart certainly said, " 111 thrash him, and thrash him, and thrash him." Mr Woollass deposed— l am a clergyman, and am the chairman of the Foxton School Committee ; I remember Mrs Andreason bringing the child to me on the 24th August last; she . complained of the treatment the child had received ; he was partly stripped for my inspection ; the child had his nose skinned . and had another jnark on his face; the leg was black and blue; I thought the punishment unduly severe ; I would not have liked to have punished a child like that. William Hamer deposed— l am a chemist at Foxton; on 24th August the child was examined by me ; the child's face had a cut on the nose, and there were bruises about the leg as though caused by a cane ; there were two' or three black marks ; the bruises w»>re rather severe taking into consideration the age of the child ; I should not have liked to have struck a child that age so as to have produced such bruises. Claude H. Speirs deposed— l am a pupil at the school ; have bad my share of the cane ; have no ill-feeling against Mr Stewart ; I know H. Andreason; on the 24th August he was thrashed by Mr Stewart; he had a bad thrashing ; Mr Stewart told him to hold out his hand ; he tapped on his knuckles with a cane, and as he cried he made him open his hand and gave him 3 'hard cuts and the child cried badly, then Mr Stewart hit him about the legs and as the .child cried more he put his hand over his mouth to stop his being heard ; after he had thrashed him Mr Stewart took him up in his arms and shook him ; Mr Stewart then sent him back to the infant room. Cross-examined— Mr Stewart said to the child " Open your hand " ; it is true Mr Stewart put his hand over the boy's mouth ; he was brought in by •* Miss Wallis. Oswald Cozens deposed — I am a pupil at the State School; on 24th August last saw Miss Wallis bring the child into Mr Stewart ; she said she brought him in for not knowing his lessons ; he was told to hold out hi» band, and as he did not do ao pro-
perly he was punished. (This witness entirely corroborated Claude H. Speirs' evidence.) Cross-examined— Mr Stewart told him to open his hand ; atter he had been struck on the leg he held out his hand. Mary Andreason deposed — The boy is my brother; I saw him thrashed on the 24th August last. The witness gave similar evidence to the previous witnesses. This was the case for the plaintiff. At thi3 stage the Magistrate went into his private room and inspected the bruises still showing on the child. For the defence were called Esther Wallace, who deposed — I am a teacher at the State School ; the child is in my class, Primer I ; he is a very • disobedient, stubborn, and self-willed child ; when he is spoken to he sulks : when he is called from the form he does not come and I have to carry him out ; when he was in the porch with a Monitor, reading, he would not pay attention, and L ordered him in, and as he would not come I carried him in and took him into Mr Stewart ; I had to take him by the arm ; 1 cannot recollect what I told Mr Stewart except that I wished him to be punished : I went back to my class ; I did not see the punishment ; after a while he came back ; he was crying. Cross-examined — Primer I is the baby class ; I was not teaching the child at the time; Master Harold Collins was teaching the child ; it was. something Master Collins said that I took the child into Mr Stewart. Alice Voysey deposed — I am a teacher at the school ; I know the child Andreason ; I teach in the same room as Miss Wallace ; he is a very stubborn and disobedient boy. Cross-examined— l use the stick occasionally. Charles Cummerfield deposed— l did not hear what Miss Wallace said to Mr Stewart ; Ido not remember what Mr Stewart said to the boy; he told him several times to open his hand ; after hitting him on the hand he hit him on the leg; Mr Stewart shook him. Cross-examined— The boy had 6 or 7 strokes on the back of the hand ; after being hit on the legs he was caned on the palm of the hand ; he was struck on the back after having opened his hand; the child was crying bitterly; saw Mr Sttwart put his hand over the child's mouth to stifle the crying. Kenneth Furrie deposed— l am in the sth Standard. (This witness corroborated the manner of the assault.) Cross-examined— l have a brother a teacher at the school. Mr Hankins asked, " If you had a thrashing like that would you have thought it right." Answer : " I should think it was proper." (Laughter.) W. S. Stewart deposed— l am headmaster of the Foxton State School ; have been 18 years under the School Board ; on Friday morning last Miss Wallace brought Raymond Andreason to my room ; she said " I wish you would punish this boy for disobedience " ; she said nothing further that time ; she made no reference to any particular act; I said to the child •'You know you must obey your teacher; I am sorry I must punish you " ; I took him by the wrist ; he held his hand out shut, and I said " Open your hand " ; he would not open it ; I tapped him on the knuckles and I said, you had bettet open it, it will hurt you ; whilst I was tapping his hand he put it up and his head down, and the rod may have touched his nose ; I hit him on the leg 3 or 4 times ; he then said " 1 will be a good boy and open my hand " ; after this, to show obedience must be maintained, I gave him a cut on the -hand ; as he was cry'"? T chonl" In no Wv t^"* shnni- i dersto stop 'v-" ■•*•«•"..•* ■ the o'v!d hac a j voice like a lii* 1 <: V- m, and as he howled I put my hand in front of his face and moved it up and down and said " Now stop it, stop it, stop it." Cross-examined— l did not say "VU thrash him, thrash him, thrash him " to Mrs Andreason; I may have stamped'; I did not slam the door but closed it ; I always meet the punishment to the fault ; Miss Wallace did not tell me nor did I ask, what act of disobedience it was ; I shook the child to stop him crying ; Ido not know but I may have lifted him off the ground when I shook him. This closed the case for the defendant. The Magistrate said he was not one of those who disapproved ot the use of the cane on boys, as at times it did them a lot of good, but this case was one of excessive punishment on one so small. He therefore convicted the defendant and .fined him £2 with solicitor's fee 21s.
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Manawatu Herald, 1 September 1900, Page 2
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1,576The School Case. Manawatu Herald, 1 September 1900, Page 2
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