The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-05-23 00:00:00

THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF
THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.
A dispateh has been received at the Colonial Office
from the Earl of Eeinn we, giving the details of the at-
tempted assassination of Prince Alfred. The following
particulars of the event are condensed from the Ma-
buurtee Argos : -

Tlik. ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION.
On 'Thursday afternoon, the 12th March, a large picnic was
held at Clontarf, a pretty spot overhanging the harbour and
bay of Sydney, New South Wales. Large gatherings of this
kind are somewhat unfamiliar to Englishmen at home, but
during the long and brilliant summer of Australia, they con-
stitute a favourite fonn of pleasure-seeking with all classes of
colonists. The object of the picnic was to raise funds in efts
of the Sailors' Home at Sydney, and it took place under the
special patronage of the Duke of Edinburgh. The tickets of
admission were one guinea each, and the assembly included
most of the leading inhabitants of the city The Duke of
Edinburgh, with his E,cellency the Earl ttf Belmore, attended
the picnic. After the luncheon, his Royal Highness escorted
the Countess of B,lnnere to the Royal tent, and then turned
to converse with his century the Govern r, the Chief
Justice ,Sir Alfred Strikes , and Sir William Maniling. After
talking for a few seconds. his R. wal Highness and sir William
Manmeig sauntered n ness the green towards the clump of
trees iwir,le,in,g the beach, and under which the Gii/o/co band
Waco static tiled The subject of cooversation was the Sailors'
Ilenne, and his Royal Iliglencis, teen, ark leis appreciation of
the institution, handed Sir W Whim a cheque as a &math at tie
the institution. Sir William made his aeknowledgmentA
for the donation, and then asked the Ihince whether he
would go round tee Cabbage-tree Reach, to see the aim originals,
ati they were then read) for sinew sports. Rebate his Royal
Highness could reply, a treacherous assailant, who hall just
left the crowd of persons congregated under the shade of the
trees, stole up behind Mtn, and when he had appromlied to
within five or six feet, pulled out a revolver, took deliberate
aim, inlet tired. The shot tick effect ailment the middle of the
lead, of his Royal Highness, an hich ear two tee the right of
the sp ne. Ile fell forward lel 1115 hands and knees, exclaim-
ing, "Giant Geed ! my back IA I erotica." Sir William Nl:timing,
bearing the discharge, and seeing his Royal !Helmet/es fall.
turned and sprang at the would-be assassin, who then jumped
teach and nulled tile' inunlerous weapon at Sit NVilliam. See-
ing the pistol directed towards Mill, Sir it lilianc stooped tee
evade the shot, and teeing his balance, fell. Fe ertunately the
charge did not explode ; but as Sir William Manning was in
the act of rising, the ruffian took aim a third time. Just at
the moment, Mr. Vial (of Castlereagh-street, Sydney, when
happened to be behind, sprang upon the dastardly assailant,
pinioned his arms to his vile, alai thus the Ain II the 1,131.01 Was
Inverted front the body id Sir William Manning to the ground.
The weapon Was discharged, however, Mid the shad entered
the feel of Mr. George Thorne, sen. (Mayor of Sydney , who
fainted, awl was taken away icy Mr. 'lessen and other friends.
The straggle between Mr. ral and the tosailant was a some.
what severe one. Whilst Vial was holding hint he twiited
his right :krill round caret printed the pistol at kiln, uttering
an oath at the time. NV hen he found that he could not tire
al Vial, he !evened the pistol again in the direction Ite had it
before. and then Vial passed his right hand quickly it. wn the
itlalt'S right arm. knocking it down and diverting the direction
of the bail to the ground Whilst in this position Vied put
his right heel ill feint of his leg, to throw line over, Ind just
then was canglet lw the hair of the head and treated siane-
what unmercifully. being thr ay. dowel. khkeed anal beatea,
in the harry of the people to get hold of the :Issassiet, they
being under the belief, appimently, that Inc ivas aliening
The el ischarge of the firearms soon drew a huge number of
People to) the spot, three or four of them, among it limn
were Mr. e . Dales and a young gentleman named NUN] ahem,
lifted his Royal nightie.,, to carry him 11110 Ills tent It was
evident from the demeanour of his Royal Highness that he
was suffering ereat pain, aunt he asked Ids bearers to carry
hint gently. this w islk was complied with as far as 13,3Sible,
and thus lie was borne into his tont. lime lie iv, taken ilk
Charge Ity lee. IVatson, of her Majesty's ship en/eVengre, wine,
ter Alter with Or. Wilda, of Spline, Pr. Po, ell. of the
Gal oleo, and A.sistant.stirgeon Waugh, of the Challe twer,
were hionoiliately in attendance. ilitres, of his Royal
Highness seas reitiored, and hie Witlind examined. From
this and sub Sequent examinations it was foiled that the
bullet had ileenetrateel the back, near the middle, and about
two inches from the right side 4,1 the lower part eet the spine,
traversal., the ei eurse 11i the ribs, and lodged abed 1, inches
from the breast-11one.
While the examination id the Prince's wound w icpro-
ceeding mealier scene, which almost defies descriptions was
geeing on ill another part of the mund. No St 11,1 Mr.
Vial grasped the arms of the man who had tin, I the sheets
than Sir. Benjamin Mortimer an And •rican Athenian ,
Mr. Whiting of the firm oi omen, and Whiting . Sir. A. L.
Jackson, and other gentlemen arisen 1)1 and lead it not
hem, for the closing in around them id the police alit( other
persons it, y would speedily have placed him beyond tide
reach of the law emrts. Tile people steal:od Lynch hiln,"
" Rang him," " String him up," and Si, OIL and there was a
general rush to get at him. The police, headed by Super-
intendent I bridge, got hold of the assassin, and they had the
greatest difficulty in tieeveddting the iniuriated people tearing
him limb from limb In this the pollee were ably assisteel
by the Chief Jastice lord Newry, and the umie of the 0.:///o/eo
baud. Both Lord Newry and Sir Alfred Stephen exerte I
themselves tee get the prisoner nit boned Do steamer lying at
the wharf, while Mr. I irridge, with berealean strength, kept
bark the crowd as much :IS 13188iltle. The task of putting th.,
pris,aner nn board the ship WIG 110 t all easy vile, HMI it was
fully ten minutes bele ere they could got him on to the wharf.
By that thne all the clothing front the upper part of his
body was torn off, his eyes, hire. ituel Imely were lunch
bruised, and blood was flowing from various wounds ; and
when he was dragged to the deck of the Parerxort lie
appeared to be utterly unconscious. No soonei was he
tot board than a number of 311,101.8 had a rope ready to
string hint up, and it was only by the interference of I.eir.l
Newry that Ins life WAS upend el. Some eof the police were
very roughly used. detative Pow,ll gettin,g about the worst
of it. lit the scuttle Ike fell over sonie stones, and Mel a
chance of being tnunpleal to death. The people, out of whose
hands the prisoner lind been reSelleil, humeiliately gave vent
to their disappointment, anal at Sdn indiguation meeting.
summarily convened, determined to Immg him back from the
steamer, and despatch duct at the scene of his crime. A rush
was then made for the st raiser, which had just hauled off a
few feet from the wharf, mid they shouted for the captain In
haul Inc. For a moment this Udirer appeared to waver. but
the lion John Bay, who seas 011 the bridge, &addle,
divining the intentions id the crowd, peremptorily ordered
the captain to steam off This he dial, acid the vessel accord-
ingly proceedeel on her way to Sydie y.
tome the arrival of the pliant, :et the wharf the prisoner
was Imoled and conveyed, in charge of Mr. I irridite, to the
gaol. During the struggle which took place at his apprehen-
sion, he exclaimed, I'm aF. Man ! God sane Ireland .." and
whilst in the cab driving tip he said, e` Ire made a mains of it.
and an for nee g, AA." Two revolvers see!', I, macl ttid hinai. olle
of which heel bot been eUschargel, a,ici uvery cUa aiihir of
which was loaded. The other, the Weapon Willi which the
attempt at assasaination was committal, was picked lip fig
One tAf the (irtfateu's bandsmen after the prisoner's capture.
It ',eats the name of Smith and Wesson, Springfield, Massa-
chusetts. It has a six-laurelled revolving cylinder, anel the
barrel, which is about seven tubes bag:, turns upon a hinge,
admitting nf the removal of the cylinder for the purpose 01
loading The ammunitiem used was a detonating capsule
cartridge.
The effect of this dastanlly attempt at assassinating the
Prince amongst the immense number id persons claim coatedt
at ('blest art dni,y I.e eneire eisily imwdlied than described. A
large number of kceliias fainted, otlierS Were !Wired with
hysterics, and the whole multitude was enticed-eel sue Molly
a joyous throng had converted Veto a Meta of excited
people., in m liteSe breasts sympathy far the Royal sufferer.
anal Mehl:nation :menet his murderous assailant, alternately
prevallet a while itallid faces and tearful eyes total id the
deep ansie!y tlint was felt in reference to the extent of the
injuries which his Royal flightless had sastained. People
crowded ily lilt:lel e is around the tent in which the suffee ea
Lty, mint they Were informed that they hoist keep back,
order t • allow fro: veittilatim. They at once fell leach
thirty or feerty itrels, and formed a compdde cordon aniline.
the tent. mid anxiously awaited the le.Afit of the examina-
tion. Finding the pecple so anxious alma him, his Rnyik
lliohlieeso said, " Teti the pert& tare. not much Insist I shah
Ise better neeseldly." Ills Royal Highness, who never ins
cnocietu-ness, although feelin, Loot and weak from the
shock to his nervous system and from loss of blood,
described tel his attendants the sensation he experienced
II hen struck by the Millet. lb e bald. Le felt as though he was
being lifted off the ground.
Big Royal Highness, id course, received every attention
that route' be given. MisS Osltortie and another of the
trained nurses. who some time ago arrived from England,
were put in attendance on his Royal Highness. Ile wale
necessarily somewhat weak :Ind exhausted iron the very
severe shock to his system, and the medical gentlemen
decided ned to attempt to extract the bullet until he hail
somewhat rallied.

THE SCENE AT SYDNEY.
It is almost impossible to describe the sensation which the
news of the outrage produced in the city. When first
heard it was treated as a mere rumour; many persons saw
the police take the prisoner from the steamer, but con-
sidered him merely some fellow who had got his clothes
torn in a drunkmi brawl. It was not until the aninnince
meld was ni ale in the Asgenibly. and that the members on
retiring mentioned the fact, that the news received any
CreaClice. Tile excitement was intensified by the :ippearance
of a p rty of mounted police dashing at full speed towards
Citxmlar Quay. A party of foil police, fully armed, fol-
lowed, and to is up up tleir positions opposite the landinx
stage where it was reported that the Prince woubl be
landed. Several thousand citizens were assembled shoot.
the wharf and on board the vessels lying alongside, where
they r,mal,ed until information logA received that the
Prince had ;ten taken to Government House. "The police
then with,lrinv. and the people dispersed. The streets well.
Vim iced with people, whose sole topic of converxatlon was
the sad event. -
lataring Ore whole of Saturday the utmost interest Rloo
manifeited in the progruss of the Prince, anal thousands of
people called at Gmernment House. The indignation ex-
proxsed at this outrage on ths hospitality of the people wus
intense awl universal On the MondaY afternoon a great
open air mutating was held In the Domain. the Attendance sr
which has been variously estintatel at from 10,ono to 15,1,01
people. All business was suspenMal to enable the inhabitants
to attend the meeting, and resolutions denouncing the crime
and expressing sympathy- with the Prince were carried with
the utmost enthusiasm

The people of New South Wales have resolved to mark
their gratitude for the escape of the Prince by the erection
of an hospital. Upwards ot £4,uee has been subscribed. and
Mr. Thomas Walker, and Nle,sra Dangar, hangar and Co.
have each given the magnificent donation of Al,OOO. The
hospital will bear the name of Prince Alfred, and will form
a noble monument of the detestation with which the people
of Sydney regarded the crime committed in their undid, and
their sympathy with the Prince. A medal has also been
presented to Mr. Vial, who, there eau be no doubt, was
mainly bctrumental it, saving. the Prince fruM the second
shot which the ruffian aimed at him.