SO NEAR THE MADDING CROWD

NZ Truth, Issue 1210, 7 February 1929, Page 4

SO NEAR THE MADDING CROWD

You never would think that a few yards from here are brain-weary Wellingtonianap their nerves all a-jangle with the clattering detonation of pneumatic picks and rivetters; with the roaring, swirling rush of street cars and automobile traffic, are hurrying along Courtenay Place, their' minds awhirl with the urgency of those complexities which face them day by day. Near the Opera House is this green, restful oasis, where

■ - : -- — — — — weary folk may while away a few minutes ere they carry on once again. Here, bird and man meet on common ground, where pictures such, 1 as this are merged with the hustle of busy thoroughfares, mellowing them and distilling the sweet anodyne which soothes the, inward vision that cities seek to harden. Here, indeed, the mind is turned from the Inward to the Outward; from the steely strata which is City to the softer shadows which spell Country; where friends meet, arid birds and mankind commune, each with the other. • An oasis, m very truth.

' was an idiot, as her brain was never developed, and she could not speak. If anyone left the gate open, she was gone like a streak. "Last winter, she was -lost for about two houcs. She. wasVhalf a mile away, and was found b#:,th% baker boy sitting down m the Tain .wet through. "Such; times as • that when' 'the child got away she used" to worry me to death; as one; never knows where to go, and: look for her. . I cannot remember ju?t what. I put m the note which I \signed; so I wanted no one blamed. I then got' nyy husband's rifle, a .22 short or : long, from the top of the, sideboard. ; It. has always been kept loaded with tlie safety- catch on." Her account.of.tlie.'tra'gedy then went on to relate how she Shot the child .and then .attempted jo use the gun upon herself. ■This method^ of .taking her life having failed, sliey. thereupon attempted to drown herself m a tank, bu t the persistent; iind' ;pathetic cries of hoi: youngest .baby called .her .back from the step she would have taken,, . In giving his evidence, -Jolin Emanuel Kean Wl]art6n, husband of "the accused Avoman, stated that the child 'Jean had not spoken from the 1 time " ; o;'f its birth.

she could not be cured, but as the child got older she did not get any better. "She never smiled or laughed like ordinary children," said the mother, "but only looked around with a .vacant stare. I tried to ■> teach her things she should know and do, but it was no use. She • used to cry for hours,, and try all. l : could to quieten her, I could not do it. At this juncture Mrs. Wharton collapsed and was attended by a wardress. While waiting for accused to recover the Chief Justice intimated to the jurors that if they had decided on a verdict m favor' of Mrs. Wharton, he would take it, without further evidence being- called. After a brief retirement, the jurors intimated that the verdict would be one of not guilty oh the ground of. insanity. His honor thereupon' ordered that Mrs. Wiiartqn.be kept m strict "custody during the pleasure of the Governor. He added that lie had no doubt that when Mrs. Wharton had sufficiently recovered the authorities would sanction her release. ■ •