A POLISHED BEGGAR.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3726, 25 June 1883, Page 4

A POLISHED BEGGAR.

Recently one of the most notorious of hogging- imposters was brought up at the Lambeth Police Court and committed for trial. Since 1839 tho prisoner, excoptwhen in gaol, has obtained an excellent living by appeals to officers who have served in India or to their relatives. While he was under remand at the Lambeth Polico Court,- M. Gomra, the chief officer of the Mendicity Society, succeeded in ascertaining hia

private apartments, and on searching the place he found a quantity of silver-plate and a large collection of photographs, ranging from that of the Duke of Cambridge to that of a gentleman recently appointed as a subaltern. Although it is now ascertained as a well-known faot that the prisoner has been preying on tho public for forty years, his tastes were of that refined nature which precluded his drinking except from silver tankards or cups, and his meals were invariably served on silver plate. His bookshelves contained a large number of copies of the " Army List," and that portion of it which referred to the contingents in India was found to be well thumbed, showing that they hacl been frequently referred to. His modus operandi was to call at the houses of those who had served or who had relatives serving in India. If he saw tho head of the family he introduced himself as an old Indian officer, and lie possessed such an excellent address that he was often invited to stay to luncheon. His intimate knowledge, gathered from reading, of the various cities in India where our soldiers are quartered has made many officers or their friends easy dupes, and on a list found upon him when arrested there was a considerable number of signatures attached, those signing their names to this appeal showing that they had handed him donations ranging from five guineas to one.