HORRIBLE CRUELTY TO A CHILD.

Observer, Volume 7, Issue 159, 29 September 1883, Page 3

HORRIBLE CRUELTY TO A CHILD.

'. >■ Not iong fj sihce a man '■. was i summoned for the i 1 *" iiritenanee of his son!. The brute of a father ad for years lived in concubinage with a woman, ad cast his son, a mere lad, adrift. Through iposure, ill-treatment, .' and starvation, the boy ,icame a half-witted, outcast, slept in the; Domain '.••• I the Cemetery, was infested with vermin, and •agged out a miserable existence on the chance tarity of people who pitied his wretched, ragged ndition. But particulars .have reached us from .S West Coast of another -case which, for sheei* _ utal callousness , and despicable meanness, is '^^n i^fc c ' than the above. The man .in this v+f'se isJK^manufacturer of a certain beverage, ' (^ aieh is d.n article of heavy consumption among ' 'v Ihirsty,. -.8,0,^18,. . Somo time; ago he found himself i /he putative father of a healthy little daughter, • , „'d in order to avoid, exposure, deemed it ad- *' v,:dable ; to, ve.lieve the unfortunate young mother, k c>' '?. her charge • She was thus at liberty to 'earn a yelihood-at' . distance from the place. i

,The perplexed parent could not, without risk ','•■?>• his own domestic,, peace, take, the inf,ant_home '•^i'.his young bride, so through ' the agency of a ■feendjy publican,- a' family was induced to take ■Sargeof the child in- consideration of 'an'allpwH|^Lof ; 7s Qd a-week. The footer-mother the effectiou.s of & real mother charge. - For some months fhe ' " .' ■■'•■"' ' •""■' l --' * '-'

~aijpwan.ee was regularly , paid^ but at length it $as disb6ntmUedl'''Whya th'e .arrears'^mounted fo '"£!s,' tlie' ; i ost;er-mot|ier ; , ! ' 'tier.; husband' bding v incapacitated 1 by illness,' waite'4 on the father of , the child and solicited" a settlement^ 'The mean" ! seouddrel repudiated the liability, < bullied ■ the poor • woman, tore up the account, and drove her from the 1 premises. • But after some time her husband recovered, and a second application was' itnide for payment, accompanied by :a statement, of the consequences in the event of refusal. The father .tried to i haggle, offered half the money, but, finding this of no avail, paid the full, amount '6i/ condition, that the child" should .be handed over; to the Believing Officer, who was willing to undertake, the charge.-on reduced terms. ,

A few days later, the husband of the former nurse, moved by solicitude for the youngster's welfar'ej and doubtless entertaining some suspicions of bad treatment, sought the house where the infant was lodged. To his horror, he discovered a wretched little object, covered with dirt arid bruises,' squatting on an old sack in the corner of a filthy hovel. Its only clothing was a piece of dirty calico wrapped about its body. It lodked half-starved, and was shivering with cold. He started in quest. of a policeman, and on the way encountered the father, to whom he told the shocking tale, which was disbelieved and denounced as, another attempt to extort money. Persistent pleading and threats availed nothing, until the noble-hearted fellow said, ".Will you give me back the child, if I return you the money ?" To this proposal the callous and mercenary father consented, and the money, muchneeded as it was, was paid over to the amount of. £11 10s, the balance being deducted, for legal expenses. Legal adoption was mutually agreed upon, and the necessary documents duly prepared and signed.

Thus the curmudgeon of a father has succeeded in transferring the burden of his own vice to innocent shoulders, unfortunately but ill able to bear it. The foster-mother has another nursling, the husband's earnings are small, and the woman is struggling to pay by instalments a longstanding doctor's bill, which has been a sore burden to her honest soul. Itdoes not say much for the people of the place if, knowing the main facts of the case, though they have been carefully suppressed by the local newspapers, they do not take steps to assist this bemvoient family with a subscription adequate to the circumstances, while, at the same timo ; s<>tiaiiy boycotting from all decent society ' lie iicari loss profligate who ought to be helf'. responsible for all the misery and suffering he l-ir; cause i.