The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-20 00:00:00

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POLICE INT.PILLIGENCE.

THE NEW HACKNEY CARRIAGE ACT. 4>4's'
BOW-STREET.—The beneficial working of the nelcil';%
Hackney Carriage Act continues to be in a great mom+
sure frustrated by the non-publication of the official book
of fares. The want of some conclusive authority of this
description, to settle questions of distance, is constantly
attended with great inconvenience to the public, and in
some instances. no doubt, with considerable injustice to
cabmen.

Yesterday afternoon Mr. Bond, a gentleman residing
at Victoria-grove, Fulham-road, attended s ith a cabman
named Thomas Phillips, to have a dispute upon the
above point settled before Mr. Henry.
Mr. Bond stated that he was driven by the defendant
from his residence (opposite the Cemetery), to the cor-
ner of Wellington-street, Strand. Several stoppages
occurred, and the cab went round by Bird-cage walk,
instead of the more direct road ; but still witness was
satisfied that the distance did not exceed three miles.
There was no dispute about the stoppages, each party
having estimated these at one hour, or 2s. ; but there
was an extra passenger, &I.—making in all 4s. The
defendant claimed 55., on the ground that the distance
exceeded four miles, and this was the question at;issue.
The cabman stated that he was engaged the previous
night to call for Mr. Bond, and was consequently en-
titled to charge for the distance from his stand to Mr.
Bond's house, which was three-quarters of a mile. This,
he contended, made the whole distance four miles and a
half.

Mr. Henry said the official book of fares had not yet
appeared, unfortunately ; but if the parties were disposed
to have the ground measured, it could be done on pay
ment of ss. each into court.

The complainant agreed to this proposal, but the cab-
man said he had not got ss. in his pocket, for it wa; his
first job that day.

Mr. Henry—Then as you cannot pay the ss. deposit,
I shall take Mr. Bond's statement as evidence of the fact,
and convict you of the overcharge, for which you Must
pay the penalty of 405., or go to prison for a month.
Mr. Bond, who appeared rather startled at the sud-
denness and severity of the decision, said he did not
think the matter would have taken this turn. The cab•
man was very civil throughout the transaction, and he
hoped that the penalty would not be imposed.
Mr. Henry refused to listen to this appeal. The ob-
ject of the act in enabling passengers to get at once' to
the police station was not to dispense with the penalties,
but to save the complainants the trouble of applying for
summonses.

The cabman was committed to gaol in default of pay-
ing the fine, and his horse and cab was sent to the
greenyard.

Robert Clark, cab-driver, appeared to the summons
obtained by Mr. Bigg, fruiterer, whose application in
the " pine apple" case has been already noticed.
The defendant admitted that he was in error as to
charging 2d. each for the 120 pine apples, although they
nearly filled the inside of his cab ; still he thought it *as
worth 3s. to take the lot, with Mr. Bigg, from Monu-
ment-yard to Covent-garden Market, but the gentlethan
would not go to Bow•street at once and settle it.
Mr. Henry sad the defendant was in error on every
point. He was wrong in consenting to take a load of
pine apples in the first place, for cabs were not designed
for any such purpose. Then he was wrong in seeking to
charge them as " luggage." He was wrong in demand-
ing more than his fare for the distance, and f flatly' he
was wrong in supposing that the new act gave b'm the
power to take the hirer of his carriage to a police-court
upon the question of a disputed fare. By the law, the
hirer could compel the driver to go to the nearest magis-
trate, but the act gave no power to the driver to convey
the hirer to a police-court without the consent of the
latter. The defendant, therefore, was altogether wrong.
The defendant—But I did not use any abusive lan-
guage.
Mr. Henry—Neither are you charged with that
offence. Your object in taking the pine apples, no
doubt, was the belief in your mind that you could make
them the excuse for extorting an extravagant fare.
You must pay the penalty of 405.. or be committed for
a month.

The defendant preferred the latter alternative, and
was accordingly sent to prison.

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.--Afr. Barry Du Barry
was summoned for refusing to pay James Russell, cab
driver, his legal fare.
The complainant said that on the 11th inst. he was on
the Haymarket stand. The defendant asked him if he
would go to Finsbury-circus, Fenchurch-street, and
back for 3s Gd. As this was more than the mileage fare
under the new act, he consented, and drove the defend-
ant to Finsbury-circus, remaining there a quarter of
an hour ; then to Fenchurch-street, where, having
waited an hour, he sent a message to the defendant to
state that he could not wait longer for the money pro-
mised. The defendant came out soon afterwards, and
witness drove him to Regent-circus, and when dis-
missed was paid only 55., though he demanded Bs. as his
fare. He had been altogether engaged three hours and
a quarter. _ _ _ _

Mr. Du Barry relied upon the bargain made in the
first instance, but as he had detained the cabman longer
than he expected, he had given him an additional is. 6d.
as compensation.
Mr. Bingham said this was the clearest case that had
yet come before him. The cabman, in addition to his
fare, was entitled to the waiting time, and this made his
demand of 3s. more than he was paid even less than-
he was legally entitled to. With respect to the bargain,
he had to remark when a bargain was made it was
to be interpreted fairly on both sides. The arrange-
ment to go to Finsbury-circus, Fenchurch-street
and back for 3s. 6d., no doubt meant on the part of
the cabman, that he would perform the contract in such
a way as• to allow of five or ten minutes waiting, but
certainlynot that he was to have more than three hours
of his time occupied in waiting. It was not likely
that any gentleman in making a bargain of this kind
could have meant to diddle a cabman out of three hours.
Therefore, he must consider the contract as set aside,
and must require the defendant to pay 3s. additional
fare, 2s. summons, and 2s. 6d. loss of time.
TVni. Parker, cabman, was charged by Mr. Michael
Craig, 16, Charles-street, St. James's-square, with de-
manding more than his fare.
Mr. Craig hired the defendant in Pall-mall, and before
getting into the cab said " Mind, I hire you by the
hour." The defendant went to Kensington-gardens and
back, and then refused to be paid by time, alleging that
he had gone more than four miles within the hour.
The defendant said he agreed by the hour, but as the
distance he had gone exceeded the four miles prescribed
by the act of Parliament, he conceived he had a right to
the fare by distance, which would be 3s.
Mr. Bingham asked the complainant-if he required
the defendant to go quickly, or any particular pace ?
The complainant said he made no stipulation of the
sort.
Mr. Bingham' on referring to the act, said it appeared
to him that the defendant was not entitled to the shil-
ling over the two shillings for the hour which he claimed,
for though he had gone over six miles of ground, he had
not been required to do that distance. He ought to
have kept within the four miles, which was the d istance
he was to accomplish for two 4hillings. If he chose to
drive such a spirited horse as could not be restrained to
that distance within the hour, the driver must be at the
loss. ••

Case dismissed.
Wm. Hatton, cab driver, was fined 10s. and costs,
for taking ls, when his fare was Gd.
Mr. Gee. Russell was ordered to pay Gd. additional
fare, 2s. summons, and 2s. 6d. loss of time to a cabman.
Mr. Edward Penford was ordered to pay 4d. addi-
tional fare on a dispute whether the distance gone was
over or under eight miles, ss. for measuring distance, 2s.
summons, and 4s. Gd. loss of time to driver.

LAMBETH.—Iienry Grout, driver of the cab No.
takingl 35 0,
wascar of e ch
h '‘ri horse vehicle. charged
edo
wr
sit be
ingdrunk and incapable of
Police-constable Thomas Lee, 188 L, having proved
the offence, said that' on searching him at the station-
house he found on his person two sets of tickets, such as
the recent act of Parliament requires the drivers of cabs
to supply their fare with when they are required. One
of these sets consisted of the proper number of the cab
which the prisoner drove, and which were in writing,
and the other in print, and of a different number.
Mr. Elliott remarked that the fact of the double set of
tickets having been found on the prisoner looked very
suspicious, and proved the necessity of those who had
any fault to find with the conduct or regularity of the
cabmen comparing the number handed to them with
that on the cab. He then convicted the defendant in
the penalty of 205., or, in default of payment, to 14 days'
imprisonment.

WESTMINSTER. —Lieut.-Colonel Boyle, No. 22,
Chester-square, was summoned by John Estwell, owner
of a cab, No. 1,281, for refusing to pay the sum of 6d„
the fare justly due to him for the hire of the carriage.
Lieut.-Colonel Boyle, previous to the statement of the
complainant being received, was asked what he had to
say why an order should not be served upon bim, when
he stated that on Tuesday last he hired the complainant's
cab at Palace-yard, and directed that he should be
driven to Buckingham Palace. The fare for the dis-
tance is 6d. Before he got into the cab he observed
some of the cabmen laugh, and some of them made a
remark to the complainant. After he got a little dis-
tance on the road, he told the driver to;go quicker, and
observed that if he did not he should leave the cab and
walk. He said that he could not go quicker. The
horse was not going at a rate more than five miles an
hour. He went a little further in the cab, when he got
out, as the complainant did not go any faster, and
walked to Buckingham Palace. He asked complainant
for his ticket, as he intended to summon him. He was
compelled to leave town, and the cabman had summoned
him.
Mr. Broderip—Are you prepared to swear that he did
not drive you six miles an hour ?
Lieut.-Col. Boyle—Yes ; I am.
Lieut.-Col. Boyle was then sworn, and having re-
peated his statement, again alluded to the laughter that
was raised among the cabmen upon hiring the cab to take
him to Buckingham Palace.
Mr. Broderip —Did it appear to you that there was an
intention to drive slow on purpose, in consequence of
the small fare ?

Lieut.-Col. Boyle—That is my impression from tLe
amusement among them.
The complainant said that his horse could walk for r
miles an hour, and that it was in full trot wh Lieni
Col. Boyle was in the cab.
Mr. Broderip observed that his opinion was, that the
complainant was going at a slower pace than required by
the act of Parliament, in consequence of the smallness of
the fare. He should, therefore, dismiss the summons
with costs. The complainant must be cautious, and nqt
try the experiment again; or if he did he would he