The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-11-26 00:00:00

TUEBANCES.

SUNDAY'S DEMONS fRA.TIONS.

The demonstration in Hyde-ps,rk—the sequel to the
disturbances of Sunday week—about which so much
has been talked and written during the past few days,
has been held, and, beyond a few arrests and the denial
to some thousands of police and special constables of
their ordinary Sunday's rest, very little harm has been
done. The weather on Sunday was not such as would
tempt people to leave their homes if they could help
it, but despite a penetrating damp cold, and a fog
which hung about for the better part of the day,a vast
concDurs e of persons thronged the principal streets of the
West-end during the afternoon. There were the usual
meetings and the usual incendiary harangues during the
morning at Clerkenwell-green,and at other places where
the Socialists and others of the same stamp are in the
habit of congregating, At the first-named meeting
there was an attempt at disorder, for just as the pro-
ceedings were closing the special constables of the G
Division, under the command of Mr. Fitzroy Gardner,
passed on. their way to their appointed rendezvous.
The crowd threw stones at them, and a collision ap-
peared imminent, hut the rear guard of the specials
—consisting of 90 students from St. Bartholomew's
Hospital—made so good a defence that the agi-
tators thought better of tho matter, and ceased
from hostilities. In the afternoon processions
started from various points in the East, West,
South, and North of the metropolis for the place
of meeting in Hyde-park. Most of the demon-
strators had the good sense to avoid infringing
the orders which Sir Charles Warren had issued
forbidding processions to approach Trafalgar-square,
and so that there should be no excuse for a collision
the Chief Commissioner had added to his proclama-
tion general information as to the routes which con-
tingents from the various districts should take in
order to keep as far from the square as possible.
Notwithstanding this, however, one body of pro-
cessionists thought fit to defy the orders of the paw,
and had the worst of the encounter. They repre-
sented an Irish Temperance Society in the East-end,
and in High Holborn, near Queen-street, met a
number of police, and, on refusing to proceed by
another route, or to disband, were promptly dis-
persed. Three arrests—of bandsmen—were made,
and the mob became so violent that the police had
to use their batons, but the disturbance was quelled in
a few moments. This was the only fighting incident
of the day.

IN HYDE PARK.
There were during the afternoon assembled in
Hyde-park contingents from various parts of London
to the number, as estimated by the Daily News cor-
respondents, of about 50,000. The processions
avoided Trafalgar-square, as above stated, and were
not interfered with by the police, with the exception
of one, with which, under circumstances not very
clearly ascertained, the police got into collision in
Holborn. There were five platforms, and resolutions
were very heartily passed protesting sgainst the im-
prisonment of Mr. O'Brien and other Irish patriots
and demanding their immediate release, condemning
the conduct of the Government in allowing the Com-
missioner of Police to proclaim away the right of the
people to hold bontt fide meetings in Trafalgar-square,.
and recording indignation and disgust at what was
described as the wanton brutality of the police on the
previous Sunday.
The speakers at the various platforms were mainly
local Radicals, the only persons of anything like
general notoriety who addressed the gathering being
Dr. Parkhurst and Mr. G. W. Foote. Mr. F, A. Orr,
of the PEckham Reform Club, said that Lord Salis-
bury's long-legged nephew, Mr. Balfour—(groans)—
was drenched to his arm-pits in the blood of Irish-
men, and if all the innocent blood that was shed in
Trafalgar-square last week were collected together it
would drown all the members of the Cabinet.
(Cheers.) The question of the right of meeting
would, however, be tried in the law courts. He was
not a man to advise other men to run amuck and get
into the felon's dock, or perhaps get their necks into
a noose under the hideous gallows-tree. They lived
in a constitutional country, and questions should be
threshed out peacefully. (Cheers.) The speeches
delivered were on the whole couched in similar terms.
SCENE IN TRAFALGAR-SQUARE.

In Trafalgar-square the most elaborate precautions
were taken against any attempt to hold a meeting or
to seize upon the square. Sir Charles 'Warren had
issued a notice enjoining all law-abiding citizens not
to loiter in this neighbourhood, but in spite of this a
very large number of persone made their way to this
now historic spot during the afternoon, As early as
ten o'clock in the morning some 400 policemen were
on duty in the square and its neighbourhood, and in
the course of the next four hours this force was
largely increased, until at two o'clock there could not
have been less than 1500 constables present, besides
which large bodies of men, mounted and on foot,
were on duty within a radius of half-a-mile or so of
the square to prevent any processions invading the
pro2laimed precincts. At about one o'clock some
12031 special constables, with badges on their arms
and staffs in their hands, marched into the square,
and later on were reinforced by 300 other " specials,"
the whole forming a very imposing force. They were
exclusively from the Western District, and had mus-
tered shortly after eleven at the Wellington Barracks,
where they were put through an hour's drill. This
they performed in such a satisfactory manner as
showed that most of them must have been or were
still members of the volunteer force. Besides these,
there were 700 other special constables in reserve near
Marlborough House, but their cervices, as the event
proved, were not required. The ordinary police force
in the square was under the command of Colonel
Howard, the chief constable of the district, assisted
by half a dozen superintendents. The "specials"
had as their chief officer General the Hon. Percy
Fending, the A, B, C, and E Divisions being com-
manded respectively by Colonel Comerford, General
Sir J. M'Neill, Colonel Bird, and Colonel Routledge.
Colonel Howard Vincent., M.P., assisted General
Fielding in his duties as commandant. Undoubtedly
this body of voluntary defenders of the peace would
have proved formidable antagonists, but fortunately
they were not called into action. From ten o'clock
onwards a continuous stream of people poured into
the square from all points, nor did the police inter-
fere with them in any way beyond compelling them to
keep moving. Even the inside of the square was not
sacred, but swarmed with people, who were good-
humoured enough, and readily obeyed the injunctions
of the constabulary not to form into stationary groups.
But at a quarter to four—in anticipation of a possible
crowd coming from the Hyde-park meetings—the
order was given to clear the square, and this was
accomplished with surprisingly little difficulty, con-
sidering that by this time the assemblage numbered
amongst its members not a few of the rough element.
Now and again a hooting would be heard, as here and
there a man was taken to the police-station, but on
the whole all was quiet. The few persons arrested
were charged either with pocket-picking or assaulting
the police, but the demeanour of the crowd was
mostly orderly, and only the mounted constabulary,
seemed to come in for any share of public disappro-
bation. The square having been cleared a most
tiresome wait was in store for the "specials," and as
the fog was coming on and the evening air was
getting chilly and raw they amused themselves by a
most energetic course of drilling, most of the move-
ments being performed at the double. They cer-
tainly acquitted themselves remarkably well. Un-
disciplined men they most assuredly could not be
called, and if the previous Sunday's roughs had been
present to watch them they would certainly have
thought twice before provoking a conflict. At half
-
past four a vast crowd came from the direction of
Hyde-park and streamed along the southern end of
the square for the better part of an hour. It was at
this period evidently that the police authorities anti-
cipated that the trouble, if any, was likely to arise;
and it was in view of this eventuality that the square
had been cleared. For about half an hour or so
Cockspur-street and Charing-cross were very crowded,
and it required all the efforts of the mounted and foot
police to keep the people moving. This, however, was
successfully accomplished, the police exercising great
forbearance and discretion,in spite of the hootings and
jeers with which the horse patrols,especially,were every-
where received. At 25 minutes past five the "specials"
—who for some time previously had dispersed them-
selves about the square, were called into ranks, and
then dismissed, being enjoined to remove their
armlets before leaving. This they did, and also con-
cealed their batons, so that they were enabled to
mingle, without observation, with the fast disappear-
ing crowd. An hour later fully three-fourths-of the
ordinary police had been withdrawn, and the square
had resumed an almost normal appearance. Not a
single truncheon had been used in the vicinity of the
riquare during the day, only a few arrests had been
made, rnad the boasts of some of the agitators that
"the right of meeting in the square would be tested,"
were not attempted to be translated into practice,