The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-11-19 00:00:00

THE FIRST ARRESTS.

"What's it all about ? " said an astonished 'bus
passenger whose route took him past Trafalgar-
square about 2 p.m., seeing all the roadways snl
approaches blocked by a multitude that numbered
from 15,000 to 20,000. "It's a political demonstra-
tion for William O'Brien and free meeting," said a
chatty neighbour to him. So far the crowd was not
apparently an ill-humoured one.. There was the
customary badinage, for which the police now and
then came in for a share. Sir Charles Warren
walked about and watched theligns of the coming
storm, but the executive work in:the square was really
left to Head constable Howard. The police endea-
voured to keen the people moving, but it was a
most difficult task, owing to the vastness of the
numbers continually making their way towards
the square. Omnibuses and cabs passing to or
from the Strand were every row and again brought
to a complete standstill. The mounted police
attempted to regulate the vehicular traffic, which
somehow seemed to be as dense as on busy afternoons
between four and six o'clock. This duty brought
them at once into antagonism with the people who
filled the paviments and roadways, resulting, as a
matter of courSe, in some rough hustling and much
booing and hooting of the police. At 2.40 p.m. the
mounted patrol charged the mob, which had become
congested around the front and entrance of the Grand
Hotel. The police troopers leant to right and left
and cuffed the' more obstreperous who refused to get
out of the way fast enough, and policemen on foot
helped to clear away the crowd. Whilst getting on
the sidewalk a mounted man of the N Division fell,
and his horse tumbled down after him. The man
was but slightly injured, although getting a kick or
two from some of the crowd. His comrades came to
his rescue, and he was enabled to remount again. At
this point two men were arrested and led away to
Scotland-yard. There had been other unruly per-
sons apprehended, however, as early as two o'clock.
Throughout the afternoon the police instructions ap-
peared to be not to make ney more arr sts than they
could help, for numbers of persons who milht fairly
have been charged were merely beaten, and, in Eea
phrase, turned adrtft. About three p.m., as dense
and boisterous crowds had gathered about the side of
the square, repeated charges were made by the
mounted police and men on foot, and about a score of
men were taken into custody, and led off to the con-
venient environment of Scotland-yard.

CHARGING THE CROWD.
From three p.m. to 3.30 p.m. the mob grew rapidly
larger and more dense, and again and again half-
troops and troops of mounted police endeavoured to
disperse the people. In these charges the police on
several occasions drew their batons, whilst numbers of
persons in the crowd retaliated with sticks and stones.
These scuffles were invariably sharp, short, and de-
cisive, the police temporarily succeeding in their
object, only, however, to find the human tide when
pressed back rolling in and threatening some other
point of the square. The representatives of the press
in the crowd bad a by no means pleaaant experience.
Almost on the stroke of four o'clock a Radical known
as T. O'Brien, mounted in security on the top of a
passing omnibus as it was wending its way slowly
westward, harangued the -mob. " How long are
we to be allowed freedom of speech hero
in England? Why, freedom of speech is
doomed by the police? Are you men? Then
stand up for your rights;" and so on went Mr.
O'Brien, iterating and reiterating the phrase "freedom
of speech," whilst the crowd yelled and roared, and
the police compelled the omnibus-driver to improve
the pace of his team. Anon more omnibuses passed,
all of them packed_ with passengers, on which young
men were perched, who wildly waved their caps and
sticks, and called for cbeers for William O'Brien and
groans for the police. Repeated and more vigorous
charges now took place by the police. A mounted
ecrnstable in backing his horse on the pavement, sent
its quarters through the plate-glass window of the
electrician's shop at the west corner of Northumber-
land-avenue. Two or three of the crowd were cut
with glass, and the policeman's horse was also injured.
Matters now wore a most threatening aspect, several
of the more daring in the crowd seizing
the horses' reins and striking at the police,
as well as prodding their horses with sticks.
Hoarse cries, groans, and shouts resounded whilst
the police were trying to clear away the enormously
and now closely packed crowd, who pressed in upon
them on all sides. Two or three times the mounted
men of the police were driven backward by sheer
weight of numbers from- Charing-cross corner. A
melee occurred in front of the Grand Hotel, in which
two policemen were stabbed and others were struck
with stones and sticks. One of the constables who
was stabbed was knocked down, kicked about the
head, and very dangerously injured. He was taken
to Charing-cross Hospital on a stretcher. Eventually
the mob was overmastered and driven off, leaving
half-a-dozen of their number lying on the ground.
The same thing had occurred at the breaking of the
electrician's window, and, as in that case, the crowd
or friends of those injured picked them up and
carried them to Charing-cross or St. Thomas's
Hospitals. The police had at this stage their hands
too full either to make prisoners or to carry off the
injured.
REPULSING A PROCESSION.—ARREST OF