A Boy For Burnham

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 49, 18 July 1914, Page 5

A Boy For Burnham

HTGirLY-DEVKLCTEI) CRIMINAL INSTINCT. ROBBING A BLIND MAN. By Telegraph.—Press Association, Auckland, Last Night. An unkempt and rather undersized youngster «f fifteen year., who earn, he«,rc .Mr. F. V. Fr.iscr, S.M., thij mnrrmi- admitted an offence whieV showed an abnormal criminal develoe- " went of an educated kind. He had neen actiajr as guide to a Wind oreaafiniider called Pete, and had evolved a system of fraud by which he had since Miruary extracted from the old mai m sums ranging from £1 to £5, the amount of £2O. W hen the orgaaKnnder was in Cliristchuroh he was roh. bed of something like £6OO. He came on to Auckland, bringing tJhc lad witk him as guide, and the boy in February delighted Ins ears with a story that hi m<l got on the track of the money, which was recoverable. He said that . he had got hold of two men who had gone over to Sydney with the thief, and If ;•? i, nformed h 'm that the thief had died there of Wood-poisoning, but prior to his death had confessed tht theft and directed that "restitutio* should be made. The boy said he wa« making enquiries with a view to recover, ing the, money, and from time to time read the blind man letters to support this story, and got from him mono/, winch he said was necessary lor the - search He also told Pete that he ■ could obtain compensation from the Government for the accident that caused his blindness, and he conducted prdceedmgs to this end, too, writing "fako** letters and drawing money said to be necessary "for preliminaries. Pete at one stage got suspicious, because someone told him a letter he had got wat in the boy's handwriting, bo the hoy afterwards got the letters type-writ-ten. "I have one here," said Ohief-De-tective McMahon, producing a document. winch T ead: "Send me £l. Look out, P. —Menzies, detective." Mr. -McMahoa explained that the "P"' stood for Pet* and "Menzies" was the mythical detective who was making enquiries aboujt the blind man's lost money. The dot had gone to a typist's office and had the ' letter typed for sixpence. "But is is strange that anyone in a typist's office should type a letter like that for a bo}'," exclaimed the Magistrate. "We are enquiring about that," said Mr. McMahon. Detective Hammond said that he knew the stock from which the boy sprang, and that all the lad's brothers showed similar tendencies. Remarking on the highly-developed criminal instinct of the lad, his Worship committed the hoy to the Burnham Industrial School, and informed him that such an offence as this by a man would mean a sentence of five years in gaol. x