H.—2l

48

J. BEAN

She had not been sleeping at Te Oranga, and I advised her to take more rest. However, she was at liberty to leave. 56. If Mrs. Branting thought your place too hard for the girl ?•—Mrs. Branting knew nothing about my place. If she did, why did she not give me that reason, instead of telling me all those other things against the girl ? 57. You have seen the Rev. Mr. Fendall's letter in the papers : were you aware before that letter came out that it was to be published? —Yes. Mr. Fendall got that information from our house. A G examined on oath. 1. Mr. Salter.] You are in service with Mrs. Bean ?—Yes. 2. Do you remember how old you were when you were committed to Te Oranga Home?—l was seventeen years and nine months. 3. Mr. Russell.] How do you know your age?— Because the Magistrate said if I was three months older I could not be committed. 4. Who was the Magistrate?— Mr. Bishop. 5. Mr. Salter.] I find by the records you were committed in March, 1905. How long were you in Te Oranga Home the first time?—l am not certain. I think about thirteen months. 6. What kind of treatment did you receive at the Home from March, 1906—that is, two years from now —up till the time you left? —I think I was in the Mental Hospital in March, 1906. 7. During the latter part of your stay in the Home, what sort of treatment did you receive? — Not good treatment at all, 8. What, work had you to do?— Chopping and sawing and mauling and digging in the garden, which I found very hard. 9. In felling the trees, had you to chop at the base of the trees? —Yes; I used to help the other girls. 10. You had to use wedges and mauls in splitting?— Yes; I was using them the Friday before I was committed to the Mental Hospital. 11. Did you ever complain to the Matron that the work was too hard? —It was no use. I did so once, and I was thumped on the back, and told I was always complaining. 12. By whom were you thumped on the back? —By the Matron. 13. Did you make any honest endeavour to do your duty there?—l did. I tried very hard to be good, but the harder I tried the more everything went against me, and the more the staff growled at me. When I tried hard to please them, and thought I was pleasing them, I found I was displeasing them, 14. And you were discouraged?— Yes, very much discouraged. 15. Were you satisfied with the food you got there? —Not at all, especially in the winter. We used to put grease on the saw, and Us girls felt more like eating it than placing it on the saw. 16. Had you not sufficient breakfast?— Neither breakfast, dinner, nor tea. 17. Did you ever complain to the Matron about the food not being sufficient? —No, not once. Many times we have eaten raw artichokes because we were hungry, and we have picked up carrots in the same way, and have been called " dirty pigs " because we have eaten them when hungry. 18. In the winter, did you hang out the clothes?— One winter A B and I were made to hang out the clothes in our bare feet, when there was snow on the ground. 19. And in washing the clothes, did you have warm water or cold?— Even in the winter we had cold water. We would get half a bucket of lukewarm water, and be made to fill our tubs with cold water, and then they would growl at us if the clothes were not clean. 20. Did you find the work there fitted you for domestic service? —It was work that unfitted us to take service in a gentleman's house. 21. You were baptised there?— Yes, and also confirmed, and took my first communion there. 22. You made up your mind then you would be exemplary in your conduct?— Yes; I made up my mind I would turn over a new leaf, and I could not. Why, the first night after that, in the dormitory, there was not a murmur. We were not allowed to talk. Suddenly the door opened, and Miss Mills put her head in and said, " A G , you are talking," when I had not been saying a word. I said, "Miss Mills, excuse me, I was not talking." I said it was.always the same. It was always me they jumped upon. I was taken from bed only in my nightgown, and marched down and put in the bucket cupboard, and left there from 8 to 10, and it was freezing hard that night. 23. Miss Mills put you there?— Yes. 24. Do you know whether she spoke to the Matron before doing so? —I do not know. The Matron never said anything to me about it. 25. When girls express a desire to leave the Home and go to service, are they encouraged? — They are accused of bad motives. 26. What is said to them? —The Matron said, " If I thought you girls were anxious to get to service and do well I would put you there, but I think otherwise." That meant we wanted to lead a bad life. 27. When the Matron spoke of your faults, did she do it privately?—No, in front of all the girls. 28. When did she generally do this?— Generally before taking prayers. 29. Sometimes there were men working at Te Oranga?—Yes, when the schoolhouse was being built. 30. Were the girls accused of any desire to talk to these men?— There was no desire on the girls' part, but they were constantly being shown up by the staff in front of them. The men heard the staff calling, " Here, I will see you go to the cell to-night " ; and, " It will be dry bread for you," and so on. They made us girls seem very small.