SIMPLE COUNTRY GIRL

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 105, 25 July 1927, Page 1

SIMPLE COUNTRY GIRL

DAZZLED BY DISPLAYS EXCUSE FOR SHOP-LIFTING THE simple country girl from Puhoi was dazzled by the glittering displays of feminine apparel in Auckland drapers’ windows. She did not know what she was doing when she took ribbons and underwear to the value of 22s from two firms on Saturday morning - . So said Mr. C. O. Mahoney, counsel for Lena Schischka, aged 28 years, who appeared before Mr. W. R. McKean, S.M., to-day, charged with shop-lift-ing. Chief-Detective Cummings said that the woman had never been convicted before. “It is a painful case,” said Mr. Mahoney. “The girl had a holiday and she made one of her very infrequent visits from Puhoi to Auckland. She evidently gave way to temptation without realising what she was doing. “The girl is obviously simple and allowance must be made for the effect of the scintillating display and glitter of the shops on her mind.” The Rev. Father Shore said that the Schischka family was a very respectable and well-known one. There was a strain of mental weakness, however, and the girl should not be allowed to come to Auckland alone. “Shop-lifting is on the increase, we had two cases last week,” said the chief-detective, when application was made for suppression of name. The magistrate said that he would take into account the mental weakness, but he could not believe that the girl did not know the difference between Tbfht and wrong. She would be fined £5 on each carge, in default 14 days’ imprisonment.