The Express.
London, England, 1862-11-12 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGI.

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12.

THE Police reports of yesterday contain no lees

than four cases of daring personal violence, accom-
panied with robbery, or attempts at robbery, in
which about a dozen ruffians appear to have been
concerned. Unfortunately only five of these
savage footpads are in custody, the rest being still
at large, and free to follow their profession in
their chosen walks. It is not very comfort.

able to reflect that one of these walks

is a crowded thoroughfare in the heart
of the metropolis. The case tried at

Bow Street—that, too; in which the hired ((mg
r • -
seems to have been engaged—was for a brutal as-

sault and robbery committed in Holborn on Sun-
day night. This brings the guerilla bands of
garotters far too near the open and central parts
of the town that still have a reputation for compa-
rative safety, to be at all pleasant. These well-
trained and thoroughly organized foes of society
have hitherto for the most part confined their
operations to the suburbs, or the less frequented
streets in the busier quarters of the town. We
used to hear of them chiefly in such comparatively
remote districts as Kentish Town, - Notting-hill,
\Valworth, and Kennington. But now, emboldened
by a career of successful crime, they are advancing
their line of operations, and attempting to invade
the most open, central, and best protected
•thoroughfares. A few days ago a gentleman was
knocked down and robbed in Bloomsbury-street
early in the evening within sight and hearing of
the passers-by. Such audacity of crime was
startling enough, and likely, as the sitting magi-
strate said, " to throw much doubt on the secu-

..!! ;14 ofLnadon Streaa even at en early hour in
" the evening." But it is even more alarming to
find that Holborn is no longer safe from the
attacks of these reckless and determined scoundrels.
Tie circumstances attending the assault in this
great thoroughfare on Sunday evening tend, more-
over, rather to increase than diminish the alarm it
naturally excites. It was actually committed
within fifteen yards of a policeman, but so sudden
and determined was the assault that the assail-
ants had seized their victim by the throat, thrust
him violently against the shutters of a shop,
thrown him on the ground, and robbed him before
the officer reached them. A gang of seven or
eight ruffians were engaged in the attack, but
they all escaped except one known amongst his
companions by the ominous nickname of Ihmty—
a name no doubt well earned by many a previous
act of daring and successful violence. He appears
to have been tho ringleader of the gang, and the
officer was evidently bent on securing him.
The account of the capture and of the
behaviour of the prisoner when caught is cha-
racteristic :—" One of them saw me approaching
" and cried out Lammas,' a slang word for
"'run.' They scattered and ran off. I pursued
" the prisoner, as I had kept my eye on him from
" the first. I passed some of the others in order
"to pursue him. After a while he dropped into
" a walk. Some of the others called out to him,
"'Look out, Boney.' But by that time I was
" close to him, and I caught hold of him. He
" said, It was not me. Why don't you take
" some of the others t' I said, Never mind.
" You can talk to the gentleman.' The prisoner
" said, I know there have been a good many
" garotte robberies about, and now you have got
" hold of me I suppose I must suffer for it.' "
This last remark of the prisoner's is instructive,
as showing that the ruffian class keep a sharp eye
on the movements of public opinion, and are fully
alive to the salutary influence it exerts on the
authorities. The prisoner BONZE justly calcu-
lates that as crimes of violence increase, the
penalties against them will be enforced with
greater rigour. It is satisfactory, therefore,
to find Mr. CORRIE confirming this expecta-
tion from the bench, and we hope his sea-
sonable words of warning will be widely circulated
amongst those to whom they are addressed :
" I wish it to be well known (he says) that most
" effectual steps are being taken, if not in all