WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 703, 26 February 1881, Page 2

WELLINGTON.

(JfltOJf OUR COEEESrONDEST.) ' . '' ". ,' ;> Feb. 24th. ; The Asylum.enquiry is, becpmiijg, njo're and more sensational, and is the greatest subject of interest jn- Wellington just now." Of course,, bo far .we have .heard only the witnesses for the'complainant, and it is impossible to aay how- far their evidence may be true. •- Some of them are ex-patients; - while 'others are dis: charged attendants, who may reasonably be supposed to bear;'no very friendly feeling towards tho man at whose instance

they were discharged. Supposing onequarter of their statements to,fee true,' however, there doubtithafc a state of things Has been' allowed t6 exist in the Wellington Asylum whioh is nothing short of a scandal and : a;diagrace,vSome o{ the statements made before the Commissioners remind one of stories of the cruelties practised in private asylums in tho bad old times, as described by Henry Cockton and Charles Reade in/their thril-: liiig r wbrlcs7 Patients, according-to the evidence given, have been tortured under aliower. ba.th.3j and then made to stand;in : .damp;" .cold cells, .with, scarcely ;, any clothing; to coyor them; they have been half-starved) brutally ill-treated and knocked about by waiters,,and even encouniged'to fight with each; other. It. is alleged, also, that the Superintendent was 1 on one occasion alone in a. cell ■ with a woman .who. had .stripped"herself perfectly :naked, and that he.was frequently in habit ojE.performing offices .forthe female 'patients which ought to have! been :done by attendants'of their own sex.: Of course it is possible'that all these allegations may be rebutted by ■the evidence to be adduced- on behalf of Mr; Whitelaw, In the meantime it is evident that Mr J. H, Shaw, the complainant,' is sparing ho pains to make the evidence as complete as he possibly can against the Asylum officials. It may be remembered that Mr Shaw was formerly AssistantOrown Law Officer for this Colony. A quarrel with tho Government, however, led to his va-

eating that position, as well as his appointment as a member, of the Oorhmission'for revising the statutes, Since that time Mr Shaw has principally devsted liimself to writing letters (very able ones, too), against the Property Tax, the injustice of not levying a heavier tax upon land, etc., Prom the general tone of these letters an impression prevailed pretty widely that Mr Shaw would Boon be coming forward as a candidate for Parliament in the Greyite interest. The immediate cause of Iris taking action in the present instance arises from the fact of his having a brother in the Asylum, •whom he alleges to have been ill-treated. Before leaving the subject of the Lunatic Asylum, I may mention that quite a new phase was developed to-day at the Inquiry, when the Superintendent, Mr Whitelaw, was examined by the complainant, It transpired that his mother, Mrs Kettle, was acting as matron, and that she was assisted by a young lady named Brigdbn. Great difficulty was experienced in getting out of Mr Whitelaw whetlier.Miss Brigdon was any relation of his, but ultimately he said that his mother informed him that she was his cousin. Ho declined to say, however, whether his mother ever gave him any further information. Then came the surprise of the day, when Mr Chapman, solicitor,. Baid he appeared for the mother, the ground of whose complaint Was that her son had drawn hev salary (which is at the rate of £IOO a year) aud kept it. This introduces a new element of complication into the Inauir'y, whioh is not likely to be terminated for several days. Mr Whitelaw was not examined as to the truth of tho charges brought against him, his solicitor intimating that he would recall him for the defence. • ,

Mr Shaw, R.M., read a lecture to a Wellington tradesman named William Davidson, this afternoon, which the latter is not likely to forget in a'hurry, and which will doubtless convey a salutary lesson to other persons imbued with the same perverted ideas. Mr Davidson is a general dealer, and somo time ago supplied to a woman named Kate Howard, a quantity of furniture, with the view of enabling her to .ply an improper trade; ■ He now sued her before the KM. to recover £27 3s 2d, balance of the account, His Worship said it had been held that people who give credit to women of this class to enable thorn to carry on an immoral traffic could not come before a Court of law or equity to demand payment thereof. The Magistrate further added that he was astonished at the effrontery|of any rospectable man of business coming to that Court in support of such a claim, The plaintiff had lost his money, and he (the Magistrate) was very glad of it, He hoped it would be a deterrent to him and others, because so long as tradesmen furnished girls like the defendant with the means of carrying on prostitution, so long might such traffic flourish in this city. Plaintiff was then nonsuited with costs, and loft the Court looking exceedingly croslfallon.

There is still considerable excitement over the Terawhiti gold disooverios, but a pretty wide-spread opinion prevails that there is a great risk of tho undertaking being mismanaged. The contingency is greatly to be regretted, becauso, should tho first attempt at developing tho Held fail, it is very probable that legitimate enterprise would be prevented from taking up the work again, however bona fide the field and its disooverprs might appear to be,

Simonsen's Opora Troupe aro at tho Theatre lloyal, enjoying fair success. Madame Siraonson, the prima donna, aings and acts as well as evoi\ Two of hor daughters, who accompany her, appear here for the first time, and show considerable promise, although evidently requiring a great dual of training yet. Biccardi, fwlio is "facilo princeps" in the Colonies as the First Lord in " Pinafore" is one of the company, and acquits himself very ably,