Star.
London, England, 1827-07-02 00:00:00

UNION•HALL

Saturday much merriment ;as eieked at this alike during the
examination of a boy named Ashen, who was charged, under the
Vagrant Act, with sleeping in the open air.
One of the constables of Lambeth stated, that en the preceding
night, es be was passing along the Bishop's-walk, he heard a poke
proceed from a place where timber was deposited, resembling the
cries of a cat in great agony. He hastened to the spot in order
to extricate the animal, conceiving that k had ot jammed
between the logs of wood, from its doleful lamentations. Os
his wqy thither, however, the cries of distress were changed
into the most ad and boisterous %palling he bad ever heard
in his life, as if at least a donee cats of both sexes were en-
gaged in their noisy amours. He therefore stopped short, not
mush relishing the idea of approaching too closely, seized up
a brick-bat, end flung it at random (the night being too dark
to discover objects) towards the place from whence the " row"
proceeded i but he might as well have spared himself the
trouble ; for the caterwauling, instead of diminishing, increased
to a degree that was quite stunning. He, therefore' plucked
up all his courage, and having cautiously, on tip-toe, advanced,
with a stone in his hand, weighty enough to knock the " nine
lives" out of any poor mouser, be wall astonished, on looking
about, to see no cat or any thing in the shape of a cat, but discovered
the boy Jackson, lying very comfortably coiled up between two
immense beams of timber. He pretended to be asleep at Ant;
but when the constable said he was convinced he was only sham-
ming," and added, that the uproar the cats had been snaking would
have prevented any human being from dogleg their eyes,* the boy
then admitted," said the constable, "to my wonderment, that it was
be who kicked up the disturbance, and imitated the cats to the very
life." " And so," added the constable," I took Max to the watch-
house, and locked him up, for lying out in the open air."
The boy, who stood smiling during the constable* statenseet at
his adventures the night before, on being asked bow he got, hie live-
lihood ? replied," By chanting the cat's last dying speech."
Mr. Csnanass—What is the cat's last dying speech, my boy?
Is it such a noise as the constable has represented you made last
night, suMelent to disturb a whole neighbourhood-
Boy—Please your Worship, it is rather noisy.
Mr. Cemeseas—Skew me how yogi do it?
The boy, having exhibited a little embarrassment at first, on as
count of all eyes in the office being directed towards him, at length,
to the great amusement of the auditory, commenced with his right
band to strike his chin with great rapidity, which, aided by his
voice, produced the loud, shrill, and discordant yells of a cat wbons
body, one would suppose, was jammed under the leg of a chair.
Mr. Constants—That will do, my lad. You have given us a
pretty good specimen of your powers in imitating the feline species.
You arc discharged now, but take care that you are not found again
sleeping in the open air.
Tile boy on leaving the office, the moment he got into the pas.
sage, gave another proof of his powers.