The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-05 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—Yesterday.

MANSION-HOUSE. THE CABBY'S PEPPER'S
GHOST AGAIN.—A man who gave his name as Henry
470 race Linguard, 30 years of age, and described himself as
an a,:ltor, of 9, Buttlees-buildings, East Smithfield. was
brought.' before the Lord Mayor, charged with obtaining a
coat, value' 275., from 'Messrs. Mills and lothieis,

'Ald gate. ,
" The prisoner, it will be remembered was before Mr. Nor-
ton, at Lambeth Poiice- court one day last week, where he
underwent an examination upon a charge of a similar
nature, but was discharged, the evidence not being able to
establish a clear case of fraud, -
Mr. Milli:tones, the manager to Messrs. Mills, said as fol-
lows :—On Saturday afternoon, at about half-past 2 o'clock,
the prisoner came to our shop. He was an entire stranger
to me. He asked to be shown .sme'clothes, and was shown
some, acd selected coats. trousers, And waistcoats, to the
amount of £2l 17s. The bill was made out, and he said he
would write a cheque for the amount. He wrote a cheque
for L2,l 17s. on a piece of note-paper, addresse,:.l. to the Pro-
vident Savings Bank, St. Martin's-lane. The cheque *"
signed "IL H. Linguarde." On trying on the clothes the
prisoner kept one suit on, including an over coat. The pd-
goner then wanted to be shown some hosiery, and he was
shown. into the hosiery department. I sent the cheque on
to the Provident Bank, and told the prisoner I had done so.
While I was showing the prisoner the goods, he complained

- _
of being thirsty, and I sent for wine and cigars for him.
(Laughter.) He selected goods consisting of shirts, drawers,
stockings, and other articles ,of hosiery, to the amount of
£•i3 14s. He ordered the whole of the goods, with the ex-
ceptioii of what he was wearing, to be sent to No. 4,.Oving-
ton •square. Brompton, where he said he resided with his
wife. After he had selected the goods he said he wouldlike
_ _

to go and have some dinner, and asked me if I could re-
commend him to a place. I told him a place a few doors
from the shop, and he asked me if I could dine with him,
and I said I had no objection.

Mr. Goodman (chief clerk)—He had your suit of
clothes on.

Witness—Yes, and I did not want to lose sight of him
We went and had some dinner, and when we had done he
got up to leave. The waiter came to him and asked him if
he had paid, when he replied, " My friend will pay," re-
ferring to me. He requested me to pay and put it down in
the bill, and I paid Bs. 7d. (Laughter, in which the pri-
soner himself joined, and seemed evidently to enjoy the fun.)
We returned to the shop, snd information arrived that the
bank was closed and the money for the cheque could not be
obtained. I told the prisoner, and said that, under those
circumstances, he must pay cash for the clothes which he
was wearing. He replied that he had no cash about him,
but if I would ride with him in his carriage (which was at
the door) to No. 4, Ovington-square, he would give me the
money for the clothes he had on, and also give me a cheque
on Coutts's for the balance. The other cheque was to be
given back to him. He said he had a balance of £2OO at
Coutts's. I goc a carriage with the prisoner—
The Lord Mayor—What kind of carriage was it ?
Witness—An open carriage with one horse. We were
driven to 4; Ovington-square, where the carriage stopped,
and the prisoner alighted. I fo‘lowed him, and he knocked
at the door of No. 4, and asked for some name which I
could not catch, but whatever it was, the ska vent said no,
and shut the door. He then got into the carriage again,
followed by me, and told the coachman to drive to the
livery stables in Russell-square.
Mr. Goodman—But were not your suspicions excited by
that time ?
Witness—Yes, they were rather.' We arrived at the
stables, and the prisoner was about to leave, without paying
for the carriage, which it turned out he had hired from
there—but he was detained, and asked to pay 255. He
said he had no money, and offered to write a cheque, but
that would not be accepted. The proprietor was called,
and told the prisoner that he had better leave his watch,
or chain, or ring, or anything for security. The pri-
soner, however. had neither one nor the other; and he was
then asked to leave a coat. This I protested against, saying
that all the clothes he had on belonged to me. The prisoner,
however, took off his undercoat, and left it. The coat was
worth 275, and belonged to Messrs. Mills. The prisoner then
said we had better take a cab, and go to his sister's in East
Smithfield. I did not like to go to this neighbourhood, so
made an excuse to call at the shop first. The prisoner, how-
ever, wanted to go to East Smithfield first, but we stopped
at Aldgate, and I got out. The prisoner went upstairs with
me, and I then told him that he came to the shop with the
full determination of swindling, and told him to take off the
things which belonged to us. - A policeman was then sent
for, and the prisoner was then given into custody.
Mr. Goodman said the charge would resolve itself into
stealing the coat, value 275, attempting to steal the other
part of the suit, and alscrwith attempting to obtain the other
goods by false pretences.
The prisoner when asked if he had anything to ask the
witness, said to him in a very soft and persuasive manner,
"You are mistaken when you say I said I lived at 4, Oving-
ton-square. The address I gave you was Goat's Head Hotel,
Parnham, was it not ?"
Witness--I asked you if you were marred, and you said
you were, and resided with your wife at Ovington-square.
I asked you if you had any family, and you said you had
one child.
Mr. Goodman (to witness)—This is the man the cabmen
call " Pepper's Ghost," is he not ?
Witness—He is the same man.
A cabman then stepped forward and said the prisoner was
several shillings in his debt for cab fare. The prisoner got
into his cab on Saturday morning in Tavistock-street, and
wanted to know where he could get a dogcart. He told
him, "At Hicks's, in Russell-square, and at the prisoner's
request drove him there. He was supplied there with a
phaeton, and when he, after being kept waiting for some
time, asked the prisoner for his fare, he told him he would
send it to him in postage stamps. He declined, however,
and it was agreed that the prisoner should leave it with Mr.
Hicks, When he sent, however, there was the dispute
about the amount for the phaeton, and he had not got his
fare yet.
Mr. Goodman told the cabman to go to the police-station
in the district and get a warrant, which would be lodged a
that court, and if the prisoner got off on the present charge
he would be taken on that,
The case was then remanded, and the prisoner asked with