A BOGUS DOCTOR.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1696, 12 March 1913, Page 8

A BOGUS DOCTOR.

HOW HE WAS FOUND OUT. FINED £5. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) Auckland, March 11. l)r. Alfred Clark, of Hudson's limklings,' was, considerably mystified, and not a mtle bit annoyed ourintj the e:\riv days of last month by receiving calls" .from patients wlw were complete strangers to nim, but who alleged that they had been previously treated by hini. He responded to several such calls on the telephone, only to find that the patients on sight repudiated him as the wrong Dr. Clark. Tliey insisted that they were being treated by a Dr. Clark, and seeing that he was the only Dr. Clark 011 the telephono list they had rung him up after they had consulted the medical register and satislied themselves that he was the only Dr. Clark practising. It occurred to him'that his mysterious namesake must be a bogus physician who was treating patients under lalse pretences, and he communicated his suspicion to the police.

Detective-Sergeant Cox was given charge of the inquiry, and he very toon, located the bogus "Dr. Clark." He turned out to be a young man named William Frederick Ciark, who was canvassing for patent medicines from house to house and treating complaints, alleging that he made the medicine himself, that lie was 11 medi. cai man named Dr. Clark, and would shortly open practice in Auckland. The patent medicines lie bought from a chemist in Auckland, for which pur peso he assumed the name of Capp. The detective-sergeant laid an information against Clark of wilfully and falsely pretending to be a practitioner in medicine, and accused appeared before Mr. 11. C. Cutten, S.M., this morning and pleaded guilt}-.

Chief-Detective M'Mahon mentioned that Clark, who is «. spectacled youth of 22 years, wmrin July last put 011 probation after being convicted of vtigraney, consequent 011 his living on boardinghousekoepors by patronising a number of them and always moving 011 without squaring up.

Clark stated that ho did not think lie was doing any harm to anybody. He was very nearly blind, he said, and he had hit, upoii. this way of getting the necessary cash to enable him to have his eyes properly attended to. Since the police had seen him ho had obtained; legitimate employment at.2os. a week, 'ilie bo; ,mis doctor, was fined ,C 5, and ordered to pay it at the rate of ss. a week, in default a month's hard labour.