The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-12-07 00:00:00

lkii„,,,

SERGEANT BATES AND HIS MISSION.

A corresposdent, marching with Sergeant Bates, thus
describes his journey from Uxbridge to Londe° :
"He left Uxbridge on Friday morning at half.
past nine and proceeded towards Shepherd's-bush,
which be reached shortly after three o'clock in the
afternoon. Passing Hayes several young ladies, mem-
bers of a boarding school there, were introduced to
him, one or two of them, with much spirit, relieving
him by carrying the standard a short way amid the
cheers of the bystanders. At Hanwell he and his
party were entertained at luncheon by Mr. Bates, of
the • Duke of York' tavern. The nhildren of the South
London District School, with their band, were mar.
I shelled in front of the tavern and played See the
I conquering hero comes Shortly after leaving he
was carried perforce by some workmen into a public.
house and treated to champagne—the Sergeant
laughingly remarking that he and his flag had been
captured at last. As they neared Shepherd's Bush,
great crowds gathered and cheered him lustily, a num-
ber of people falling into line behind him, singing
• John Brown.' An individual of Republican tenden-
cies sang ' We'll hang John Bull on a sour apple tree!'
and when be had amoluded Mr. Bates said the vocalist
would oblige him if he would now sing the same song,
substituting 'Jonathan' for John Boll,' which was
done. He pot up at the ` Telegraph lictel,' where he
held a levar in the course of the evening, all classes
coming and welcoming him to England."

Serjeant Bates, after carrying the Stars and Stripes
from the border of England and Scotland through the
country, arrived at the Telegraph Hotel, Shepherd's
Bush, London, on Friday afternoon, hale and fresh as
on the day when he started.
The secret of Mr. Bates' novel project is nthnsiasrn.
His own explanation of it is very simple. Tie belonged
to a company of friends at Saybrook. U. e., the ma-
jority of whom held a very poor opinion of England's
friendship, and in the coarse of their discuss: in, during
which he always maintained that Englishme I had none
of the hatred of Americans which the,other swore by,
he incidentiv, as an illustration of the fc (pent in-
justice of public opinion, narrated how, it•imediately
after the defeat of the Southern States, lie walked
from Vlcksv mg to Washington, a distance of 1,500
miles, bearing aloft the Union colours, to ;naive that
the 'Bobs" were, after all; not so bad as they were
painted. His opponents in argument thereupon
stoutly maintained that such a thing, thongh possible
in America, would not be tolerated for an instant in
England. The debate grew warm, and ended in a
challenge, and a bet of 1,000 dollars to 100 dollars
that he would not be permitted to carry the Stars and
Stripes through England without insult aid maltreat.
meat. When it came to the test he felt inclined to with-
draw from ths agreement, never imagining it was
seriously meant • but WitY at length pressed into under-
taking a tour which some of his friends warned him
might poseibly have a serious termination for him. He
was woured that the Giwernment of Great Bi itainwould
imprison him, and that in certain districts of England
his very life would not be safe. He ii •vc rheless
sailed from New York on the 19th of Octolier,
landed at Glasgow on the let November, ink
train to Gretna Green, and, unfurling the Stars nd
Stripes on the Border line, beg in his march on the •oh
November. Previously he had written to the gen-
tleman--Mr Warren, of Saybrook—who ha I been most
prominent in holding him to the terms of tbe challenge,
declaring that he waived the 1,000 dollars part of the
business, and was content to carry out the task on
purely patriotic motives.
The distance he has walked he reckons to be 332
miles. Halting first at Carlisle, his vurions stages
were Penrith, aoross the Fells to Shap, Kendal, Lan-
caster, Preston, Bolton, Manchester, Macclesfield,
ltnntlem, Stafford, Wolverhampton, Birmingham,
Warwick, Banbury, Oxford, Stokenchureh, Uxbridge,
and Shepherd's-bush. 'There was no stipulation as to
time, but, with the exception of Sundays, and an
extra day at Manchester and Birroinghw ri, Mr. Bates
has pursued his march day by day, p -rformieg an
average of eighteen miles per day. The flag, which is
mounted on a tall pole, weighs about a dozen pounds,
and his knapsack is of the same burden. What Mr.
Bates has done is therefore a capital f oat of pedes-
trianism.
His reception along the route has been of the
warmest and moat fraternal character. His re-
collections of Oxford especially, where the University
men gave him the most cordial welcome of all, and
where he had been told in America his eureer would be
summarily finished, are particularly pleasant.
Mr. Bates was colour-sergeant of the United States
Artillery, and it is the uniform of that branch of the
service he wears. He is remarkably intelligeat.
modest, and gentlemanly in his demeanour—a good
type, in short, of the well-educated young American.

The march through London is thus described in the Daily
N ews
For the first two or three miles the enthusiasm was
remarkably genuine, and it was noticeable that wherever
an unfinished building or workshop stood alongside the
road, working men fresh from their occupations added
to the excitement, and pressed to the side of the car-
riage to sbake hands with and say a "God bless you"
to the chief occupant. Until the West-end thorough.
fares were entered, it was plain the artisan class, who
know something of American politics, and have feelings
of warm liking for America, made it. a point of honour
to greet Sergeant Bates as a representative of their
brethren across the Atlantic. Still, they had not the
pleasure all to themselves. The windows of the large
houses were often tilled with ladies who waved their
white handkerchiefs as the carriage passed slowly on.
Over a confectioner's shop at Notting-hill a small
Union Jack floated the owner rushed out with a cup
of sparkling wine, in which healths were mutually
pledges', and when the "march forward" was ordered,
a young lady presented the sergeant with a splendid
bouquet. From this point Mr. Bates had anything
but an enviable task Ou either side a small flag wan
fixed, but his 01771 stars and stripes he held shift
throughout, while with his disengaged hind he
was compelled to exchange grips with the running
crowd. The crowd was the reverse of the rolling
stone which gathers no moss. Like the snowball, it in-
crease,' mightily as it proceeded by the Marble Arch,
along Oxford-street, and down Bond-street. Opys who
Mr. Benson's the hones were taken from the carriage,
and for the rest of the journey a string of willing men
dragged it, the steeds ' their beet under the cit.-
"-s. of ad-

dng
te._ _
the difieult

cumstances to

to perform duty
Vance guard. Sergeant Bates saluted St. James's
Palace, Marlborough House, the Military and Naval
Chiba, the War-office, the Duke of Cambridge's
office, and the Crimean and Nelson's Monuments.
The enthueissm in thole select regions was not en un
reservedly erpreseeel as elsewhere, but even St.
James's-street and Pall-mill, in then own fashion,

evinced with their curiosity a good deal of approba-
tion. The more open spaces like Trafalgarequare
and Ludgate-circus were covered with applauding
epectate's. Along the Strand and Fleet street the
American flag was occasionally to be seen. The pas-
sage through Temple-bar was fortunately accomplished
without mishap. On aceount of the masses of people,
the ascent of Ludgate-hill Wfti necessarily slow. The
remainder of the route was Victoria-street, Queen
street, agrees Cheapside into King-street, and the illeer-
log wail perpetual.
It had been widely announced previously that Ser-
geant Bates would arrive in front of Guildhall "about
two o'clock "—an expression which invited at least
half an hour's trace. The arrival, on the contrary,
was just half an hour earlier than it was expected to
be, and innumerable disappointments were suffered by
late corners who had reckoned upon the customary
unpunctuality. Nevertheless, at ft quarter past one,
the crowd, which we, growing every moment,
numbered something like 500 persona The preva-
lent imprereion was that a ceremony of Home soft
would be observed in Guildhall. The idea received
colour from the preseuce inside of a tall commissionaire
mounting solitary guard beside a Union Jack. Before
half past one, away ovi r the people's heads, along
King-street, the Ametican flag was descried, beating
un as best it 'read against the human curriint which
headed it. When, after a slow voyage, and a good
deal of tacking, it reached the yard, the men who had
been tugging at the pole, probably thinking it wan the
:erred thing to do, essayed to drag the carriage and its
occupants into Guililhall itself. Colonel Fraser'a guard-
ians of the abode of Gig and Magog, aghast at the immi-
nent aacrilege, faced the &nee crowd in the porch, and
appeared quite ready to offer themselves up on the altar
of civic glory. The sacrifice of their valuable lives was
not permitted, for the carriage was at once backed
into the centre of the yar.l, and the public closed round.
The formal salutation of the English flag that had
been intended, was, as a spectacle, uonsiderably
spoiled by the inability of the cornmiasi 'mire to pene-
trate the crowd with his standard. Uncertain to the
I last moment what was to be done, he wisely kept ,
out of the way of the crush, and watched the ,
I crowd buffeting each other from the itsfe harbour-
age of an extreme corner. For Alt practical pur-
poses, therefore, he may at once be dismissed from
the scene. Accerdiug to his long-formed intention,
St-1j ant Bates, amidst great applause, fm led up his
noinsulted flag. Next be responded to the calls of
" Speech, speech," narrating in a modes': eud manly
way the erten and history of his march. Mr. Apple-
earth, who happened to be standing near demanded
'Thee cheers for Preeident Grant," and they were
most lustily given. There were then more rounds of
I cheering for Sergeant Bates. After shaking hands with
I as many as he could attend to without annihilation,
he lowered his flag, bowed his final acknowledgment.,
and did not appear to be overwhelmed with grief that
his novel mission was ended so triumphantly.

...
The sun had been shining fitfully during the last
hour and half of the journey, but the farniiisr rain set
in again as the carriage got round ititirMoorgate•street.
The octillion struggled manfully to outstrip the crowd,
and did it half-way up the Barbican. Thenceforth the
greys bowled along at a rapid rate, through Smithfield,
along the Viaduct, and through Oxford-street, the rain
pelting down in a perfect tempest, when the carriage
ew up at the "Longhorn " Hotel. Sergeant Bates,
with his flag, entered, drenched to the skin, and was
speedily whisked into the upper regions by one of the
" hoists " peculiar to the gigantic establishment.
In the evening Sergeant Bates dined at the Savage
Club, as the private guest of Mr. W. Branton, the
chairman for the night being Mr. C. Vincent Boys.
Later he was recognised in one of the private boxes at
the Adelphi Theatre. The cheering became so loud
and no prolonged that the Sergeant had to come for-
ward, and from the front of the box publicly thank
the audience for the unexpected enthusiasm of
which they bad made him the subject. The
applause was immediately recommenced, and the
orchestra, by a sudden inspiration, dovetailed
"The Star-Spangled Banner!" and " God save
the Queen !" into one spirited perfernianiie. When,
at the end of the play, another young American,
Mr. Emmet, the actor, appeared before the gemn
curtain, Sergeant Baies was again remembered
in the applause. One mishap only during the day
dimmed the Sergeant's pleacure. Somewhere between
the Barbican and Holborn he lost the spear-head foci)
his flag, and cnuld not he contioled until be had again
and again been assured that it would certainly be
found, and as certainly be brought to him at the Lang-
barn Hotel.