The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-07 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER—Mr Arnold gave his decision
upon an adjourned case under the Hackney Car.
riage Act. He said the question he was called
upon to determine was whether when two adults
and a child under ten years of age were con-
veyed in a cab the driver was entitled to charge
for luggage. He (Mr, Arnold) had given the
matter his fullest consideration, and had had much
difficult in coming to his present conclusion, with
which he was by no means satisfied. The present
summons was taken out by a cab-driver against a gen-
tleman for 10d. for the carriage of five parcels, and
it had been urged by the driver that Mr, Dayman,
magistrate at Wandsworth, had recently decided
that where the third person carried was an infant
in arms the cabman was entitled to charge for the
luggage. He (Mr. Arnold) had since communicated
with Mr. Dayman on the subject, and found that
that gentleman had now changed his opinion, and
upon giving the case mature consideration thought
he was wrong in the decision quoted, which had
been given without sufficient consideration. He
(Mr. Arnold) had, also consulted his colleage, Mr.
Paynter, who was strongly of opinion that the
driver was entitled to charge. There was no dis-
tinction in the Act of Parliament between an infant
in arms and a child who occupied a seat. By the
16th and 17th Vict., cap. 12, sec. 14, it was enacted,
" That two children under ten years of age shall be
considered as one adult person for the purposes of
this clause," and he therefore thought that that de-
finition of a person for the purposes of fare was
limited to that clause. Turning to the schedule of
the previous act, it stated, " That where more than
two persons shall be carried inside any hackney
carriage with more luggage than can be carried
inside the carriage, a further sum of twopence for
every package carried outside is to be paid by tl e
hirer."l' he whole question, therefore, he repeated,
turned upon whether a child was a person, and the
clause regulating the fare for the conveyance of
passengers used the word " adult," while the sche-
dule relating to the charge for luggage omitted it,
having the word " person ' to be treated with its
general significancy, and therefore he thought it
rni;at mean a person, no matter of what age. By
another b: ction of the act cab-drivers were liable to
sing to take a fare, and if a person
a penalty for rel._ boy of nine—wanted to
under ten years of age-
and ca..t:al a cab, the driver
be driven anywhere, it must be
would incur a penalty, and there._ 1 would be
fairly argued he would be a " person," an..
liable to the usual fare for his conveyance. The _aw-
did not draw any distinction between the child of
nine months and nine years, and he (Mr. Arnold)
therefore thought that an infant came within the
definition of a person.
An order was then made upon the defendant for
Os. and costs, which his footman paid.

LAMBETH.--AWKWARD CASE OF MISTAKEN
IDENTITY.--A young man of respectable appear-
ance, and who described himself as a medical as-
, was placed at the bar, on
watch and chain, of the
sai scthaanrtgoe not
of
ofst
ea
asj tnuga tai son, d
value of 10 guineas, belonging to Jane Doddington,
who described herself as a married woman, and the
wife of a hairdresser.
The prosecutrix, a showily-dressed, but dingy-
looking little dame, said that, on the night of Sun-
day fortnight, she met the prisoner in the Water-
loo-road at about eleven o'clock, and, at his request,
accompanied him to the York Hotel, at the corner
he gave her something to
avery stupifying effect on
,her.
drink,of Yo r
whichk-road , h
ad where
On leaving there the prisoner, who up to that time
was a perfect stranger to her, accompanied her
home to her house.
Mr. Elliott—l thought you just now said you
were a married woman.
Witness—So I am, but my husband does not
always live with me.
Mr. Elliott—Go on with your statement.
Witness—Well, sir, before I went to bed I locked
up my watch and chain in a drawer, and put the
key into the pocket of my dress, and on my awaking
at four o'clock on the following morning, in a des-
perate state of perspiration, I found myself alone,
and the prisoner gone. lat once thought of my
watch and chain, and looked for the key of the
drawer to see if they were safe, but I could not find
it anywhere, and on forcing open the drawer I dis-
coveredmy watch and chain were gone. I
looked out for the prisoner, but did not
havesinteheat
see him again until last night, when I met him at
the Oxford, and gave him into custody on a charge
of stealing. my watch and chain, and I am quite
certain he is the man.
Police-sergeant James King, 292 A, said he took
the prisoner into custody on the charge of the last
witness.
The accused declared that the statement of the
complainant respecting him was a tissue of
falsehoods from beginning to end, and that
until the night before he had never seen her.
On the day in question, he said, he dined with
a friend at Peckham, and was at home at his lodg-
ing in the Euston-road shortly after 11, and when
the complainant accused him on the night before,
at the Oxford Music Hall, of robbing her, he called
a policeman himself and threatened to give her into
custody for making such a vile accusation.
He then called the person he dined with on the
day in question to prove the fact, and his landlord,
Who swore positively that on the night of Sunday
I fortnight he was at his house by 11 or shortly after,
and slept there the whole of the night.
Sergeantßell, 89 P, said he knew the accused
for some years from seeing him in the company of
medical students, and always believed him to be a
respectable gentleman.
In discharging the accused, Mr. Elliott animad-
verted on the conduct of the police in locking up a
respectable man on the charge of a prostitute with-
out first making some inquiries on the subject.

GREENWICH.—EXTRAORDINARY FRAUD AND
CREDULITY.—John Fuller, aged 40, a seafaring
man, was charged on remand with obtaining various
sums of money under false vretences.
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