The Sun.
London, England, 1851-01-10 00:00:00

manner, the peculiarity of his style of head-dress, and
his general bearing, all of which were quite suffi-
cient to indicate the sort of person he was. Ad-
dressing the prosecutor, the Learned Judge said,
" Go away you filthy fellow—leave the court."
[The prosecutor gladly made his way out of the
court amid such a general demonstration of expres-
sions of detestation that an experience of thirty years
fails to recal its equal to the memory of the writer.]

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.
John Davis, a cabman, was brought before the
Lord Mayor charged with having left his cab, and
having got drunk.
The cab was found by a policeman with a horse,
but without a driver, and the cabman was roused up
from a drunken sleep in a taproom, where he had
been spending his employer's money. The wretched
fellow appeared with a bruised nose and swelled eyes,
and cut a most melancholy figure.
The LORD MAYOR—Why, defendant, you might
have caused loss of life or broken limbs by this
drunken freak of yours. What have you to say about
the accusation ? Cabman—Please sour Lordship, I
hare been seventeen years upon the streets, and I
never was before a beak before in my life. Ido
assure your Lordship that neither me nor my cab
ever killed anybody or broke their limbs, to my
knowledge, though I have been so long about town ;
and I wish any other man belonging to this sort of
wehicle could say as much.—(Laughter.)
The LORD MAYOR—Why, you don't seem to be
sober yet. What's the matter with your face ? Cab-
man—Please your Lordship, I'm co sorry for what I
have done that I've been having a cry in private, and
that makes me look poorly. There's my master, your
Lordship, and he'll answer for my being a sober
party.
Here the cab owner stepped into the witness-box,
with a very bad pair of cold weather eyes and a wet
moutb.
The LORD MAYOR—What have you to say about
your driver? Witness—l've nothing particular to
say about him, only that he ain't my driver now.
The LORD MAYOR—Is he a sober man ? Witness
—Yes, he's sober enough. I never seed him drunk.
The LORD MAYOR—HOW long has he been with
you ? Witness—Three days.—(Laughter.)
The LORD MAYOR—Don't you get drunk yourself
now and then ? Witness---No, my Lord, not often to
my knowledge.
The LORD MAYOR—Then I suppose you discharged
this defendant for taking too much ? Witness—Oh
dear no, my Lord. I discharged him for bringing
home too little. I believe he's sober enough, but he
don't drive no more for me. That's all.
The defendant said he had been driving a couple
about for some time, and as they gave him a glass or
two too much, and as he never would drive when he
had too much, he supposed he left the cab in their
care while he went to sleep it off.
The LORD MAYOR—If you had been here before I
would new send you to prison without giving you
the alternative of paying a fine ; but as you have not,
and as you are punished with the loss of your place, I
shall be satisfied with a penalty of 59. His Lordship
then gave a hint to the master to take care how he
followed the example of his man.
A young fellow, in a most ragged condition, was
brought up. He was recognized by the crowd in the
justice-room as a steady customer in the streets in the
cold weather, and has a peculiar way of attracting
commiseration.
A policeman saw the defendant crouching up in a
corner where he was sure to attract the attention of
passengers, and desired him to move away, but the
request was not attended to, for the station was a pro-
fi7able one, and the silent beggar knew that if any-
body attempted to pull him by the clothes he would
in an instant become as naked as when he was born.
Relying upon this mode of effecting impunity, he ge-
nerally disregarded the appeals of the police. One of
the force, however, who had been some time practising
with unruly beggars, contrived to carry him and all
his rags before the Lord Mayor.
The LORD Marcos—Defendant, how long have you
been at this sort of work ?
The policeman—He won't answer a word, my Lord.
I'll do him the justice to say, that I never heard him
ask anybody for the value of a farthing.
The LORD MAYOR—No, he trusts to the superior
eloquence of his dress.—(Laughter.) I dare say the
colder the weather is the more ragged he becomes.
The policeman—Exactly so, my Lord. It is in the
bitter frost he appears in full character. He has then
scarcely a tatter upon him.
The LORD MAYOR-IVell, I shall take him out of
the misery he delights in for some time, however. He
shall have six weeks' hard labour in Bridewell.
The defendant cast a look upon the Lord Mayor
which would no doubt have had a powerful effect
upon an ordinary observer of street distress; but his
Lordship was impenetrable, and the silent mendicant
was committed to prison.
WESTMINSTER.
Mr. W. F. Fenton, of 11, Beaufort-street, Chelsea,
traveller, attended to prefer a complaint against the
conductor of a Chelsea omnibus, for deceiving him as
to the route or destination of the carriage on the night
of the lit inst.
The proprietor, as is usual in these cases, had been
summoned to produce the conductor, and _Henry
Bagger (badge 227) appeared, and pleaded not guilty.
Mr. Fenton stated that he hailed the omnibus in
question at a little before eleven on the night of the
Ist inst., in St. Paul's churchyard, and inquired of
the conductor whether it went to Battersea- bridge or
Beaufort-street, to which he replied " yes." In order
to make himself particularly safe in the matter, he
examined the omnibus, and discovered the words
"Battersea-bridge" upon the centre panel. He got
into the carriage, and upon reaching Church-street,
Chelsea, the conductor opened the door and said,
" Here you are, sir, this is it;" and immediately af-
terwards added, " Battersea- bridge, sir." Com-
plainant told him that he knew the locality too well
to be persuaded that that was Battersea-bridge, when
the conductor observed that he was close to it ; and
upon complainant's asking whether he was not going
to take him any further, the conductor replied, " No,
we stop here." Complainant then intimated that he
would summon him, as he had been tricked in this
manner several times before.
Mr. Taylor, the chief clerk—Then the deceiving
you as to the route was at the time you got in, at St.
Paul's Churchyard ? Complainant—Yes, that was
where I asked him.
Mr. BURRELL, having consulted with the clerk,
said—The deception appears to have been practised
in the City, which is out of my jurisdiction.
A respectable-looking man here stepped for ward
and interrupted the magistrate, who was about to
make some observation, by stating that he was con-
nected with the establishment of the omnibus proprie-
tor, and that defendant could not possibly be the
offender, as he must have been at a considerable dis-
tance from the place at the time.
Mr. BURRELL (to complainant)—ls this the man ?
Complainant—Certainly not; but this man wears the
badge the conductor wore that night. I saw the con-
ductor who deceived me, as I have stated, as to the
route of the omnibus, leave this court just now. A
friend of mine who has been tricked this way has
taken proceedings against the offenders two or three
times, but has never been able to get at them. It is
a common practice to shift their badges from one to
the other, which enables them to defeat the law with
impunity. I can swear most positively that the man
who left the court just now was the wearer of the
badge on the night in question. These persons pre-
sume upon the travellers' excitement and flurry at
the time these deceptions are practised, which render
them unable to identify the offender, and they thus
escape punishment.
Mr. 13uauELL—You must take the summons in
the City against the right man.
Complainant—l stated the case to you, sir, at the
time you granted the summons, as I do now.
Mr. Taylor here spoke to the magistrate in a low
tone, when the latter said to the complainant—You
are too late for a summons now; the week has gone
(the statute requiring that all complaints should be
laid within seven days).
Complainant—Perhaps you will excuse me, sir,
with respect to where the offence was committed.
How can I tell I am going to be deceived in the route
until I get to the end of the journey.
Mr. BURRELL—It is clear you were deceived in
the City. When you got to Chelsea you were un-
deceived.
Complainant—l took this matter up entirely on
public grounds, these deceptions being of common
occurrence. Then I cannot now proceed in any way ?
Mr. BURRELL--YOU are now too late.
Cemplainant's costs (25.),_ which he had paid for
the summons, were returned to him.