The Express.
London, England, 1867-12-17 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 17. 1867.

THE FENIAN OUTRAGE AT
CLERKENWELL.

The prisoners Allen, Desmond, and Ann Justice
were brought before Sir Thomas Henry again yes-
terday afternoon, and again remanded. The place
of their confinement Mace Saturday is kept secret ;
not even their friends are allowed to know where
they are lodged. Milbank and the Tower are the
chief names mentioned by the " knowing" portion
of the public, but the police consider the ends of
justice will best be answered by keeping their
knowledge to themselves. Bow-street was the
scene of another excitement yesterday amongst the
crowds who had collected to see the prisoners enter
the court, partly because of the rumour which had
obtained some currency to the effect that Manchester
was in flames,and partly because of the unusualdis-
tance they were kept from the court, and the persis-
tence with which all who had to pass were prevented
from loitering a moment on the way. All the police,
who seemed to be more numerous than ever, were
armed with cutlasses. There was a reason for the
extra precautions that were taken both without
and within. A letter was received by the chief
magistrate, stating that it was designed to throw
shells or hand grenades into the court, or to de-
stroy it in some other diabolical way. The super-
intendent in charge thought the information
worthy of some attention, for a large body of
police were at once stationed upon the roof of the
court to protect the skylights, through which it
had been intimated the weapons of destruction
would be thrown. Happily the threat was not
carried into execution. The prisoners were brought
over from the opposite station strongly guarded.
They were placed in the dock about 20 minutes
past three. The woman, who looked very miser
able and ill, was accompanied by a female warder,
and was at once permitted to seat herself in a chair.
On Saturday twilight was too near to allow of a
complete view of the trio, but they could be plainly
seen yesterday, and the daylight revealed the
shabby clothing and unkempt appearance of the
whole of them. Allen, as before, wore a white
apron, such as carpenters wear at the bench, and
both he and Desmond, immediately upon entering
the dock, looked anxiously behind it as if in search
of friends.

Before the proceedings were commenced Mr.
Superintendent Durkin handed Sir Thomas Henry
a medical certificate as to Justice's health, and his
worship handed it to Mr. Poland, the barrister,
who appeared to prosecute on behalf of the Trea-
sury. The learned gentleman read the certificate,
and, addressing the bench, said that as he had only
been recently instructed, and as important inquiries
were being made, he feltiit to be his duty at once to
ask for a further remand. The two chief reasons
were that several necessary witnesses were confined
to the hospital in consequence of the injuries they
had received, and that the woman Justice, accord-
ing to the medical certificate that had been pro-
duced, was so unwell that it was undesirable she
should be any longer detained. The learned gen-
tleman intimated that on another occasion some
very material evidence would be produced. The
magistrate agreed with the reasonableness of the
application, and after a consultation of brief dura-
tion a remand for a week was granted. As the
prisoners were being motioned to leave the dock,
Allen said, in a very confused kind of way, " I
should like to ask a question or two of these
people." It was impossible from his gestures to
understand who "these people" were, but Sir T.
Henry, interpreting the expression to refer to the
other prisoners, said he could not allow one prisoner
to examine another. Allen said he had only one
question to ask. " Ah, but you cannot do that,"
the magistrate replied, " and I should advise you
to reserve, at least for the present, anything you
may have to say in your defence." The prisoners
were then removed to their secret abode.

The police authorities at Great Scotland-yard
and the military have entered into the best arrange-
ments possible for acting in immediate concert
should any of the alarming reports that are dis-
turbing London just now turn out to be true. In-
structions were yesterday sent from the Home-
office to the vestries of the various metropolitan
parishes, inviting them to swear in special con-
stables, to assist the police in the protection of
public and private property against fires or any
other dangers with which they may be threatened.
Detectives are on duty everywhere, as far as the
City and public buildings are concerned, and
extensive means of communication have been
formed for any sudden emergency. The Home-
office authorities have been examining officially
the fragments of the barrel, with a view to deter-
mine its contents at the time of the explosion.
From the thickness and width of the staves the
barrel probably contained between two and three
hundred pounds of gunpowder. There can be no
question that the pieces of wood smell strongly of
something resembling petroleum, but that of itself
suggests that the cask had been used for other pur-
poses before the fatal one of Friday, as much as
that it was petroleum, and not gunpowder, that
was employed.
Princess Teck and Prince Arthur visited the
ruins yesterday afternoon. The traffic in the
neighbourhood is now proceeding as before, but
Corporation-lane, in which that part of the prison
walls situated against which the attack was made,
has been boarded up at the ends, and very little of
the damage can now be seen by the general public.
These barriers have been erected previous to work-
men being employed to pull down the ruined pro-
perty. In the meantime the tottering walls of the
houses have been shored up, and supports have
also been placed against the prison wall. The lane
at the back of Corporation-lane is still closed, as a
good deal of the house property in it has been
greatly damaged. The swarms of sight-seers who
still arrive can only observe the shattered upper
stories and roofs of those houses in Corporation-
lane which are not utterly destroyed, and that a
large portion of the wall of the House of Detention
is wanting. Only a small body of police are on duty
outside the prison,but the precautions taken inside
are very elaborate. The friends of all the prisoners
are prohibited from coming to the prison, " until
further notice." Inspector Potter has received
OW. to distribute amongst the sufferers by the ex-
plosion on the part of the government, and the
funds set apart by the Chancellor of the Exchequer
for the relief of the sufferers by the calamity are
being given away in sums of from 21. to 3/. The
windows which have been smashed by the concus-
sion in the neighbouring streets are being repaired
by quite an army of glaziers.
The Common Serjeant yesterday afternoon, at
the conclusion of a case in the Central Criminal
Court, said he had some information in reference
to the alarming outrages that had recently taken
place in the metropolis which he thought right to
' communicate to the jury. He had received certain
information upon the subject which he felt it his
duty to communicate to the Secretary of State,
and he had received a reply, marked private and
confidential, from Mr. Hardy in reference to the
subject. He could not, for obvious reasons, go
into any detail of the contents of this letter, but
he might state that Mr. Hardy informed him that
since Saturday last there had been three attempts
to set fire to different places in London by means
of Greek or liquid fire, and that, having regard to
the diabolical character of these outrages, it was
impossible to rely entirely upon the police to pre-
vent them, and that it was therefore the duty of
all well-disposed persons to do all in their power to
co-operate with the police and assist, so far as it
was possible, by their own exertions to protect
their property.
Great local efforts are being made in Clerkenwell
for the relief of the destitute. Last night a large
meeting took place in the Arawell-street schools,
under the presidency of Mr. Churchwarden