SEVENTH DAY.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4, 25 January 1906, Page 5

SEVENTH DAY.

On Friday morning Mr. Cassidy,\vas given permission to call Mrs. Temby. Witness said she went to the Ly Helton Orplhanage as assistant matron in 1 ( JOO. Mrs. Carpenter went there the same day as matron. Mrs. Carpenter was also inspector for the Board, and used to leave at 7.30 in the morning, and return at about 5.30 p.m. That continued until witness left, in 1902, having been there a year and eight months. There were no children in at first, but they began to be admitted very soon. Witness had no difficulty with the children ; she had no definite instructions from the Board as to her duties. Witness never beat any of the children, and got along with them all right until a month or so before she left, and that was bbcause Mrs. Carpenter told the children to take no notice of witness, and to annoy her as much as possible. Mrs. Carpenter saidj.she would get witness out of her position, and in January, J 902, she received a month's notice to leave from Mr. N orris. Mr. Norris added in a subsequent letter that there was nothing at all against Mrs. Temby's character, and he hoped to hear of her success on leaving. Mrs. Carpenter also gave her a good testimonial. Witness did not consider Mrs. Carpenter's language ladylike. Mrs. Carpenter used to jeer at witness taking the children to Sunday school, and remarked : ' Oh, dear little , they should go to school.' The matron used to say ' Damn you, go on ' to the children, and had no patience with them. On, one occasion, when witness returned from a day's holiday, Mrs. Carpenter used very bad language to her ; shortly after (witness received notice. When witness complained about the chlildren making a noise, Mrs. Carpenter said, ' Oh, they can make a h of a noise for all I care ' Mrs. Carpenter used to beat the children, generally on a Sunday, when she Avas at home. The Andrews' went to the Orphanage when witness was there, and they .were well behaved and never used bad language. She had never heard Mrs. Carpenter refer to either of the Andrews' as ' Kate.' Mrs. Carpenter used to teach the girls fancy work, but not sewing. Witness used to do all the sewing. She knew Ellen Attwood was strapped twice within half an hour one Sunday. That was a fairly lively day ; Mrs. Carpenter used to say that she ' liked to see thiings moving.' Eva Bashford was not a bad girl ; she was a splendid worker, and very intelligent, but required proper handling. One of the little boys was strapped and made to eat his food at table with his hands tied, because of a certain bad habit he had. No reports were sent to the Board regarding the children individually ; they went to school regularly. She had seen Mrs. Carpenter smoking cigars in the Orphanage. It was not before the children, but m the dining-room of an evening after the children had gone to bed, and on Sunday mornings in witness' sittingroom. « Julia Carpenter was called by (Mr. Harper. She said she had two children of her own, and before, becoming matron at Lyttelton Orphanage acted as inspector for the Board, having to' visit applicants for relief, investigate their cases, and vi&it the boarded out children. She had a great many cases to visit, and for eighteen months was matron and inspector. Mrs. Temby and witness worked well together ; Mrs. Temby complained once or twice in regard to the boy Attwood. Witness

netfer told 'the children to annoy Mrsj Temby. . The boy, Atttwood was disobedientf'afrd witness 'told him she was matron, not Mrs. Temby, and he must obey her. • Witness* did not. (tell him to ; disobey .Mrs. r iemby. At times witness ' fired up' at" Mrs. Teinby, "but' never before the children ; she did not, use the words 'Mrs. Temby 'had mentioned; Witness. neVer called the children ' bastards,' because they were not." She used "to inflict corporal punishment on the;. children ; it was necessary to^do so. She was never moire severe than necessary. After Miss McArthur came she had her present when inflicting punishment, because ! Mrs. made remarks, and witness did not consider it safe, therefore, to;' punish ? them' without -a .witnessT'f They ,-removed to Wiiltham/iri May, > and then was patron only. She knew Mrs: Peachy - before going- to Waltham ; Mrs. Peachy had Leslie Henderson boarded out with her, but gave him up, and he was taken into the Orphanage. It was suggested, that Mrs,, >, Peachy should take Frankie Jtiammonu, and - she'liadrxemfar^ed'tliai wVthess could ' work the point ' ; witness 'said sue could not do' that. Sne had beem very lnenaiy with Mrs. Peachy. On August 6 Mrs. Peachy went to' the Orphanage at about b '.p.m. to take Gertie' Andrews, and Percy whittle was not very well then, having a cold j Mrs. Peachy observed that he did not look very well, and wanted more nourishment ; she ..aid not say that he was a dying child. Percy had an attack of croiipV anft Mfss'McArthur looked 'alter, him ; witness had another child to attend to. Between August 6 and the night of the attack of croup he was welf. ~ He" was given dry bread r !mor|mng, a itortsught, before he was taken to the hospital. It was because he had "been running about in his nightshirt. h fitness Miid-£ofc y amow,,Gf the punishment until after breakfast/, f; fc3fas %#^oi#ejed^h.irn to have hot milk and.-'biscuits.^ WBen&hfi ; was^iakeit seriously ill she put him by the lire and rolled him in blankets. He seemed ' choky.'-so she 'nrade' frini' sick. She gave him, a hot bath on the Saturday night before the fire and rolled him up again in- the blanket. She did not think it was pneumonia he had until the Sunday night. She did what would have been done in the Hospital before sending for the doctor. Witness sent for the doctor on the Monday morning, as she thought then the boy had pneumoniia. He was then thin and delicate, and even a day or two would alter his appearance a lot. She had a letter from Dr. Crooke, dated September 3, saying that Percy wanted witness to take him home. He made a good recovery, but required watching ; he would always be delicate. She did not box his ears when he was ill. Mrs. Peachy was present once when witness gave Leslie Henderson a slap on the ear ; it did not hurt him. She used to have to punish Frankie Hammond sometimes, but it was not severe. On the day referred to by Gladys Wilson, she, gave Frankie half a dozen cuts across the shoulders, and he went downstairs laughing. On the-night spoken of by Mr Mellish, Gertie and Emma Andrews had knocked over a lighted candle ' in the passage ; they had been forbidden to touch it, because the danger of fire, and witness strapped them. They screamed, but she was noti severe ; they told Miss McArthur that Mrs. Peachy had told them to cry as loud as they could when they .^we're,. punished. In regard to the Andrews girls' odresses,. on \?3i< Patrick's „Day the* children wanted somev.grej^i^and'witness/asked if they would like green te S f >p i' witnes s got them the ttges -*s#%^e hats were made uely by ;V%^,ljuriledrinfbvl)oft^^f.- H 'fhe girls never complained Vafcout \the dresses- ;V>y:L^esVh.a'd no intention of makine 'the^-HdjcUlousv^She^Jiadl.lie'rseH been three years in % convent scHob'l,, nM' there'- the children had • to keep silence. She was friendly with Father Cooney and the v alters, .and... often, went tot, see the latter. Witness „. used' tg let Ma> Burbery-' g^o to a neighbor next to the Orphanage at Lytteltoh to"~play with t^he children-and mind,' the baby, and /she. was given 6d a week pocket money by the woman, Mrs. King. She- had; neyer sent children/ for liqtfor, but' on one occasion tfie're were' some, men employed at the Orphanage" shiifting-furniture and they had some beer, and she sent one of the children to Mrs. King v privately to borrow some glasses. She, .had about 34 .children under her care and many of those who ' had left came back *to see , her Witness never heard of any .complaints before /the ''in-- 1 ' * quiry, either as to the punishment or anything else The children .never complained about the food' There was a Jrttle difference between"' the children's food and hers, but not much, and no more than she/ considered, she was entitled to as an official. Whyfvthey^ w.ent ' without potatoes ii '.w£s /jSecause they were very dear at the time. She 'admttjted having said 'darn thecttiidren,' and called them ' little devils.' Witness said she had -smoked occasionally, but .it was on account of a thickness in her throat, caused by diphtheria. The chil-

dren knew nothing, about it, and stie^ had &$& smoked tor some time past: v W,hea she did 'sjttidkV*it A was in private, as y-stated^.b^JVlrs. vTemfoylv; Uiider -the silence punishment it 'the ' OrphanageHhe^childrenA, . spoke a good deal, and were allowed"^6>,l)alk"butsiffe4i i ne^Qi:phanagie. .She took the children' out'ftdt'V sjjenlcif'.'c'if they appeared to be miserable. 1 Ellen At'tfwoott's of, misery ' were caused .by the'^c'aildren. -teasing^her.^Since the inquiry witness' hadv-pot. madeylainy change in the general rules. The water supply> K ,Rad been improved and more baths were given the^ctiildren. .Every child now had a towel and a tooth brush, .and its. own hair brushes and combs ; Mrs. .Henderson fend Mrs. Wells had asked that they be supplied. No instructions were given her when §he* took. the p.ositioir }^s matron. She was supposed to manage' the" best "she could. She was trusted by the Board, and over her _--was-'Mr.;:rNoxris,-who was 'not -hard to get on with • he trusted her a good deal, and was easy to please. It was quite right that she could endeavor' to please Mr. Norris. In a letter to Mrs. Peachy on January 7, she., referred to Mr. , Norris as 'the boss,\ -In ..the same letter she referred to the fact "that a visit" was about to be made by members on the following "Wednesday. She supposed Mr. Norris let her know.- If he wanted her to know a visit»was to be made he would do so. Porridge often > 'got burnt ; if the children showed temper in refusing it for breakfast if was warmed up and given them at dinner time, but they had the usual dinner as well. That was Miss McArthur's idea ; they had- to be strict. She did -not give them dry bread frequently. The children did not get on well during the early days at Lyttelton under Mrs Temby. She had called them ' little liars ' and had also called them ' deceitful.' She had :.nev£r called them ' damned ' children. She had not called the Andrews' ' those Catholic children.' She had referred to them as ' the Catholics,' but there was no harm in that, and she had no intention of ridiculing them. She had not said in front of the others that one of the Andrews' ' crossed herself upside down,' thereby causing much merriment. She thought the green dresses made for the Andrews' were rather nice. She never did refer to the children as bastards ; she might have said that the older girls ' made her life a hell.' She had not used the language alleged by May Burbery. Mrs. Temby had talked about witness's system of -punishment, and that was the reason witness afterwards punished them only in the presence of Miss McArthur. She had not called Emma Andrews l Kate,' but had told the girl that she reminded her of Kate. She had not called^lhe girls 'squeaky' or 'cock-eye.' Ellen Attwoo'd. uWdfto sulk a bit, but witness did not notice it 'much. ,' Witness said she would have resigned, but she had to stand by when the inquiry 'Came on. " The inquiry was adjourned until Friday, February 2. J