Brutal Assault by a Father.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume IX, Issue 3083, 18 December 1888, Page 3

Brutal Assault by a Father.

Samuel Higgott was charged at Cliristchurch on Thursday with having assaulted, by beating/llis daughter Ida, aged thirteen' years. _ The wife of the defendant also applied for. an order .protecting her property and giving her the custody of four children on tho ground of his drunken habits and cruelty, MrKippenbergor appeared to' prosecute, Mrs lliggot stated that on November 15th in the

morning lio called Lis daughter to him, but she, seeing he hod a whip in his hand, and having recollection ▼ of former experiences, suspected that he wanted to whip her, and ran away, filso went away, hut returned that t, went to the bed where the girl . turned the clothes down, imd heather with great violence. The whip he used was broken into piece?. The girl's skin was bruised, and iu Borno places broken, her ear especially .being out, and her night-clotlioswore stained with blood, For some time before this and up to the present time the defendant had been drinking heavily. Mrs Higgot interfered to protect her daughter,' and defendant beat her, and afterwards resumed the beating of his daughter, leaving iter in great pain. A week afterwards lie came home, boat his children, turned all his family out and locked the door, Mrs Higgott and her children were now in great fear of his violence, •He had been brought- up in Court before for similar conduct, but lie

then expressed great contrition and

promised to make amends. He, boffin ever, had gone from bad to worse,and ( . she was compelled aqaiu to seek the proteotion of the Court. Emma E, Paoke, a friend' of the family, stated that she saw the child and the broken jdiip, and in conversation with Hig•|it he did not dony having heaten the girl,.bat said lie had done so because blio ran ait ay from him. She knew he drank heavily, but when sober he was fond of his children. The defendant did not deny the charge, said lie was sorry for it, and that he now wished the Bench to issue a prohibition vrder so that he oould got no more drisk, Mr Whiteford said Mrs Higgot in her daughter's case only asked that her husband be bound over to keep the peace but the Benoh could not pass it over so lightly. He would be, for the assault, sentenced to seven days imprisonment with hard labor. The order protecting his wife's earnings would be granted, and he would bo ordered to pay her 10s per week towards the maintenance o( her four childron, and the Bench also would M* issue an order prohibiting publicans others in (Jhristchurch and «|urbs from supplying him with oxicating liquor for the period of one year. On hearing this the defendant began to cry and begged Mr Whiteford not to send him to gaol. Mr Whiteford'-The term of imprisonment would sober him and do him 'good. Defendant renewed his entreaties, but no alteration in the sentence was made.—Telegraph,

Turf Swindles, The trotter Hawkdun, who was not long ago taken from Dunodiu to Mel* bourno, competed at the Bendigo Jockey Club's Spring meeting on the 29th :ilt. in the Handicap trot oi 70 sots three miles. He was placed 30 seo bhd scr, and ran in the name of w, T. Lefevre, who rode him, He was backed first of all at 6 to 4, and then receded -to 10 to 1, and was, of fie beaten out ot place, 'l'lie ards looked on the matter as "fishy," and partly investigated it, bat they adjourned their deliberations and no further particulars are yet to x hand, The winner of tho race was a jpmare called Brunetto lOsec behind sor and here again thero was "tronblo" The Sportsman thus comments on the affair"Brunette was entered as a maiden, and placed on tho 10 seconds mark. It was a three mile race, and this mare, laying woll behind tho leaders until the last mile, came with Buch a marvellously fast dash at the finish, that people woll versed in tho sport simultaneously ejaculated, ' That's no maiden l_ That's the fastest trotting mare in Australia, wherever they'yo brought her from 1' Then knowing individuals remembered that the mare was backed to win many hundreds—thirteen or fourteen—a 1 ! longest odds by strangers evidently 'in ttJkoow,' Later on—the moment infaetjabat she left the weighing en-

olosuro—the aforesaid wily strangers ( presented their tickets, collected their *1), and silently departed in company mth the mare, all withiu, I believe, the space of about a quartet of an hour from the time the race was run. Then the stewards determined to hold an inquiry, But, alas 1 'twas too late, for many of thß bookmakers, including Mr Joe Thompson, bad paid out, ane Brunette's backers had departed. V It wasjhen currently reported that the i mare was a celebrated New Zealand trotter, and people even went so far as to assert that she was identijal with the notorious Lady disqualified at Elsiernwiok for being somebody else.' Until the Sandhurst' stewards have finally decided the case tbeniaro's identity is likely to remain unsettled, # * f. There was another unsavoury matter in connection with this trot which will probably influence the stewards,, in declaring it no race. Hawkduri was installed a very hot favourite when the: betting ■ opened but such" marked hostility was displayed against him that'he ultimately receded to twenty to one, and it wbb ascerted that tome of those connected with him had baoked Brunette, The smelt very fishy from; opening of the betting to the departure of Brunette and her; backers from the course, and the, stewards have a rnosfc complicated trouble to disentangle, f, * Since the above was written the . following ad< ditional facta bavareached us officially:

l'ho niaiv .-./argo of the inaro staled lliui Huntor was a coimnission agent 192 at Bourkc-sLrceb emit. 'Hie Coramittco meet on Tucfday tins 11th Inst. Therider of lirunetus (Wallace) has beenidentified. us a New Zealand trotting : jockey named M'Liiron, Tlio man in charge of tlio nmro tins been recognised as a Imunter of Now Zealand racecourses tlicro. Tlio mare ,I3runnnlte flan entered as having no performances. She in a handsome lowset low-barrelled mare, with a rullio r coarse head, dark brown in color, possibly dyed. Tha brands appear to iw tampered with; tlioy now look like L W lon the off shoulder, The )l«ro tins not yet been identified. Wo have instituted enquiries at 189 Bourke-streot East, a restaurant, where litlle or nothing appears to be known about Hunter,"