1914-12-11a

“Life is a queer old game. There’s bad and there’s good on this little old mud ball, and the ancient sage who remarked that there was a little bit of both in the makeup of every human was batting at a .500 clip in the philosophy league.”

          Hamilton Spectator.  December 11, 1914

          It was both an unusual and a very sad case that was presented to Magistrate Jelfs at the Hamilton Police Court session of December 11, 1914.

W. E. Stevenson was charged with the assault and robbery of Robert Hawkes :

          “It was a really brutal case. Hawkes swore that Stevenson attacked him in his office, beat him into insensibility and robbed him of $5.

          “Many would have spent the money in barrooms, but the police say that Steven son had no such idea.

          “His two wee kiddies were building air castles about the visit of Santa Claus on Christmas eve. They really expected the white-whiskered old chap would come down the chimney and fill their stockings with all sorts of wonderful things.

          “Stevenson, out of work, knew that it would be a gloomy Christmas; that there would be empty stockings and empty hearts – unless he got some money.”¹

               ¹ Claim He Stole For His Kiddies : Stevenson Accused of Assault and Robbery”

          Hamilton Spectator. December 11, 1914.

          Two Hamilton police detectives, Goodman and Cameron, brought the evidence in the case into the court room and placed them before Magistrate Jelfs.

          Detective Cameron testified as follows : “We learned that Stevenson bought these things on Tuesday night. The assault occurred Tuesday afternoon.” ¹

               The “things” that the detective referred to were a doll’s buggy, a cute squint-eyed doll and two pairs of children’s shoes:

          “The magistrate transferred his gaze from the buggy and the doll to Stevenson, sitting in the prisoner’s dock. Two big tears rolled down his grimy cheeks, and it was unbelievable that this could be the man Hawkes swore assaulted him.” ¹

               Tears or no tears, Magistrate Jelfs had to apply the law. Stevenson was remanded in custody to await his trial on the charges. The children would be placed in institutional care in the meantime.

          After the police court session, Magistrate Jelfs told a Spectator reporter that he had been deeply affected by the circumstances of the case:

          “ ‘There’s a whole lot of good in that man – a whole lot of good,’ sighed the magistrate. ‘Any man who loves his children as he does is certainly not wholly bad.’ ”¹