The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-15 00:00:00

DESPERATE ENCOUNTERS.

The Birmingham Daily Post gives an account of a des-
perate encounter with burglars early on Saturday morning
last, at the residence of Mr. James Chivers, 45, Hagley-
road, Birmingham. It appears that Mr. and Mrs. Chivers,
and their two daughters, had been sitting up late on Friday
evening, and shortly beim e 12 o'clock they heard footsteps
on the gravel walk in the front garden. Mr. Chivers looked
out and saw two men on the causeway in front of the gate,
and thinking it somewhat suspicious, he sat up while Mrs.
Chivers and the daughters went to bed, and he took the pre-
caution to bring out a life-preserver which was in the house.
A second time he heard footsteps behind the house, but the
noise he made in unlocking the gate alarmed them, and they
went away. As it was unlikely they would return after being
disturbed twice, he returned, threw off his coat, waistcoat,
and trousers, and sat down in an easy chair in the front
sitting-room, toying with the life-preserver, while listening
for further noises. In this position he must have fallen ar leep
but how long he slept he knew not, as he was awakened by
the barking of the dog. He felt very cold, and the life
preserver in his hand reminded him of the previous fears.
His first thought was that while he had been sleeping the
thieves might have broken into the house. There was only
a small nightlight burning in hie room. Mrs. Chivers was
asleep, and all the other members of the household had re-
tired to rest. He believed and fancied he heard stealthy
footsteps upon the landing outside. Without a moment's
hesitation he opened the door, and in the darkness he dis-
cerned a man coming out of an ante-room which communi-
cates with the schoolroom. On the impulse of the moment,
Mr. Chivers went towards him, put his hand upon his
shoulder, and said, " Halloa." The fellow turn ed round,
and striking Mr. Chivers a blow upon the head, made for
the stairs. Fortunately the blow did not take the desired
effect, and Mr. Chivers returned it with interest. Standing
two or three steps above the burglar as he was descending
the stairs, Mr. Chivers struck him such a swinging blow
with the life-preserver upon the head that the fellow
dropped, and would have fallen head foremost down the
stairs, but that Mr. Chivers held him by the collar. It was
almost a pity that Mr. Chivers showed so much considera •
tion. For a few seconds the fellow was stunned, and Mr.
Chivers thought he had killed him ; but he rallied suffi-
ciently to have an idea that the sooner he got out of the
place the better, and, gathering himself up, he said, " 0,
let me go." He staggered down stairs, bleeding profusely
from the wound upon his head, and made for the kitchen,
where the gas had been lighted, followed by Mr. Chivers.
He went towards the scullery door, and there he fell down
the steps, apparently confused by the effects of the blow,
and Mr. Chivers fell with him. As soon as he found that
Mr. Chivers was upon the ground, it seemed to occur
to him that his best chance of getting away would be
to disable that gentleman, and he rolled over him again
and again, struck him in the mouth and upon the head,
kicked him in a vital part, and tried to wrest the life pre-
server from him. He had tried to lay hold of a heavy wooden
bar, which had been forced off in breaking open the scullery
door, but Mr. Chivers kicked that out of his reach. In fact,
they had a most desperate struggle upon the ground. Mr.
Chivers thought he was pretty sure of his man, so he let him
get up, telling him that it he did not keep quiet he would get
another taste of the lite-preserver. The fellow then went into
the yard, apiarently.with the intention of departing over the
wall by the same way that he had got iu, but finding him-
self too weak for this he returned into the scullery, and sunk
exhausted into a chair, Mr. Chivers still keeping close to
him. At that moment a second burglar, who had up to this
time, unknown to Mr. Chivers, been " getting a few things
ready" in the front room, and had most probably only just
heard the interruption, dashed into the kitchen, seized a
heavy pair of tongs, and brandishing them over his head,
said " You --, I will split your -- skull open if you
come near me." Mr. Chivers had, on hearing the entrance
of burglar No. 2, run up the steps from the scullery into
the kitchen. He saw that the crisis had come, and without
pausing to parley or even to consider, he dashed in at the
fellow, and administering with his life-preserver such a
crushing blow upon the fellow's shoulder that he dropped
the tongs, his arm fell powerless, and he also sunk down
writhing with agony. Mr. Chivers thinks he must have
broken the ruffian's collar bone, for the contortions of his
face were horrible. Two burglars were thus placed hors de
combat, and the odds were all in favour of Mr. uhiveis,when
the tables were turned by the entrance of a third burglar,who
must have come from down stairs. At a glance this fellow
seemed to comprehend the position of affairs. He saw one
of his comrades almost senseless and smothered with blood,
and another writhir g with a disabled arm. He picked up the
tongs which the second man had dropped, and swore that
if Mr. Chivers approached him he would make him a corpse
at his feet. In this position they stood for a few seconds,
looking at each other, and hesitating whether the deadly
attack, for deadly it immediately would have been, would
begin. This third burglar was a bigger and a more power-
ful man than either of the other two, and Mr. Chivers
began to feel exhausted by the struggle. His mouth
was so parched that he could not open his lips. He went
back into the scullery, and held his mouth under the water
tap to refresh himself. In that brief time the burglars had
determined that they had better get away as soon as pos-
sible. On returning to the kitchen he saw the two last
comers helping their broken-headed comrade into the hall,
and out they went by the front door, which, by the way,
they had previously unfastened to make good their escape it
disturbed. Mr. Chivers followed his visitors to the door,
watched them across the road, and saw them climb a wall on
the opposite side. Mr. Chivers went back into the house,
intending to dress and follow them, but a reaction after the
' previous excitement set in, and he became violently sick and
ill. He remembers nothing turther until he found himself
in bed next morning, his face and hands scratched, his body
bruised, and his shirt smothered with blood, which had
flowed from the head of the first burglar. The most singular
thing is that neither Mrs. Chivers nor any of the family
heard anything of the struggle. On coming downstairs and
examining the premises, the operations of the thieves could
be traced from beginning to end. They had made themselves
at home in the pantry, paying great attention to the wine.
From almost all the rooms they had Lken various articles,
and had them packed up ready for removal. The probability
is, that after having had their supper the three men made a
thorough overhaul of the rooms down stairs, and having
made their selections, burglar No. 3 was left to pack up
while the other two went to reconnoitre and pick up waifs
and strays in the upstairs department. Burglar No. 2 must
have been on his voyage of discovery when the first man
was caught, and No. 3 was so busy in getting the spoil
together that he did not hear the struggle until the second
man was disabled. As it was they had their labour in vain,
and two of them have got a sound thrashing into the bar-
gain. It is fortunate for Mr. Chivers that he did not come
upon the three men together, or he might have got roughly
handled. The stairs, tne passage, the kitchen, and the scul-
lery wore literally covered with blood which had flown from
the head of the first robber. Mr. Chivers has a few bruises
and scratches, but nothing of serious moment. Its stature
Mr. Chivers is below the average of small men.

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