A MOTHERLY PERSON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 2349, 17 July 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

A MOTHERLY PERSON.

The New Zealand Herald rep.orts that Mary Ana Hill, wife of John Hill, of Pukekohe Batt, was charged before Captain Jaaksou, R.M., at "'Oapatura, with assaulting and boating Mice Williams, aged thirteen, lately an inmate of the Howe-streefc Industrial School The girl whb lioensed to John Hill in. February last, for. light work, to attend on the baby and do odd jobs; she was to receive no wanes but wn6 to attend sohool during school hours, For tta first three weeks or a month the child went regularly to school, and thingn went on smoothly. Then, a system of gross neglect and ill treatment was''commenced ■■by the accused. The child .was never allowed to go to sohool, and had'to get up at 5 a.m., light the tire, tend the cows, cut and boil the turnips for the pigs, and was kept out o f bed till eleven o'clock at night. On one occasion, when she was cutting'turnips for the pigs. Mrs Pill struck her down with a blow from a turnip on' the head; on another occasion she was boated with a. stick till her back was black and blue, and one evening she was severely beaten for not holding her feet close to the fire when she had chilblains.;; On committing some little fault she was sent out at 5 p.m. to get a stick with, which to beagaia taaten, but Bus ran away to the house of Mrs Roose, distent) about a mile and a half from the Hills. Mrs Roose found her covered -with bruises and in a filthy condition, and having cleaned and put her to bed, she sent for the police, who directed Dr Dalziel to. examine the child and report on her condition. The dootor, in his report, stat«d that there were eighteen bruises <.nv-mous parts of her body, 'vatying insw<fiomhalfaninoh in diameter to one and a half inohes, caused in his opinion, by about fourteen blows. The marks had the appearance of having ■ been caused by » stick, similar in size to ■ an ordinary supplejaok and had been made from four to six days before his examination. The defence set up wig that the ohild was constantly ■in the habit of telling stories, and required punishing, though it was acknowledged that the beating administered was too severe. Captain Jackson, in passing sentence, said that this was certainly a very bad oase, and the child had been treated with groat cruelty. People who received children as servants from industrial Bohools must remember that these poor children, who had no parents to look after them, must, bj treated with as much care and attention as their licensed employers bestowed on their own children. He then sentenced the prisoner to fourteen days' imprisonment with hard labor.