The Sun.
London, England, 1862-10-17 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 17, 1862.

You will gladly forward subscriptions to London. I will
do the same if they are sent to me.
" In all sincerity and friendship I advise my countrymen
to let this matter rest, for they have done enough to prove
that they are good Catholics and good Irishmen.—l am,
sir, your faithful servant, " O'DorroGnuE."
The treasurer of the Dublin committee for the
relief of the distress in Lancashire yesterday for-
warded to the Manchester relief committee £2,000,
as the first instalment of the contributions from
this city. The Lord Chancellor has signified his
intention of contributing £3O per month for four
months.

Mr. Charles Chayne, a contractor for the works
of a railway in course of construction between Clare
and Meelick, in the King County, has narrowly
escaped being the victim of a conspiracy among his
workmen. The Birr correspondent of the Daily
Express states that—
" During the past month some signs of dissatisfaction
had been from time to time displayed among these work-
men, and on Monday last a person named Rafter informed
the police that they had entered into a conspiracy to shoot
Mr. C. Chayne. He further stated that he had been offered
a sum of money to commit the murder, and on his informa-
tion two men, named Burke and Cantwell, were arrested.
A pistol, which had been accurately described by Rafter,
was found concealed in Burke's bedroom. Both prisoners
were committed for trial at Tullamore sessions,"
Mr. John Ryan, a magistrate of the county of
Limerick, has been robbed of property to the value
of about £6O by a Frenchman, who either really is,
or has successfully pretended to be, a Roman Ca-
tholic priest, This person, who called himself the
Abbe Rougment, had been for some weeks past
residing as tutor in Mr. Ryan's family. On last
Sunday morning, while the family were at chapel,
he collected a quantity of plate, jewellery, and
wearing apparel, with which he decamped, drove to
the nearest railway station, and has not since been
heard of. It is thought he went to Waterford. It
was reported in the locality that he celebrated mass
that morning in the adjacent chapel of Knocklong.

71IE BIRKENHEAD RIOTS.

LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY.
Another riot of a more desperate character than
he first occurred in Birkenhead last night attended
unfortunately with a frightful amount of bloodshed
and reckless destruction of property. For several
hours the town was in the hands of the mob ; no per-
son in the vicinity of the disturbed districts was
safe ; and several of the Liverpool reporters and
newspaper correspondents were severely handled, the
latter unfortunately receiving several severe cuts
about the head and face. The police force, too, had
many of its members badly beaten, and two or three
of the constables and one inspector were so dreadfully
injured that their lives are considered in imminent
danger. Indeed, up to an early hour this morning the
greatest excitement and consternation prevailed
throughout the township, the mob appearing to
revel in their acts of lawless outrage. This riot,
like its predecessor, originated in the attempt of
the Roman catholics to prevent a local parliamentary
debate society from discussing the question of
"Sympathy with Garibaldi and Italy." The magia-
trates advised the members not to hold their meet-
ing, but they persisted in doing so, and accordingly,
in order to afford protection to the society and to
the township, a large body of special constables
was enrolled, the assistance of the county consta-
bulary (under Captain Smith and Superintendent
Hammond) obtained, and a military force stationed
at Monksferry, about a mile from the scene of the
riot. The schoolroom where the meeting was held
was guarded by a detachment of the Birkenhead
police, and by a volunteer force of Liverpool
Orangemen, and the proceedings were not inter-
rupted except by the noise and commotion which
prevailed outside the building and in the adjacent
streets. The chief display of violence took place in
Price-street, where the Holy Trinity Church (Rev.
Dr. Baylee) stands, and in the small streets branch-
ing from it, which are inhabited chiefly by Irish.
The most active and mischievous of the rioters
appeared from their dress to be Irish "navvies,'
and they were armed with bludgeons and other
dangerous weapons, but they were abetted by
crowds of women and girls, who, whenever small
parties of police officers made a " raid" upon the
rioters, hurled stones and bricks upon them from
the windows of the houses, and from obscure
corners, where unobserved they could collect and
discharge their dangerous missiles. Through-
out the Irish quarter, too, evidently by some
preconcerted arrangement, the chimneys were fired
at frequent intervals, and after the temporary glow
had subsided, the clouds of smoke and soot which
filled the air was so dense, that the efforts of the
police to cope with their assailants were baffled,
while new outrages were perpetrated under the
shelter of the darkness. We were present from the
commencement to the close of the riots, and are able
to state that, though the police and special con-
stables outnumbered the rioters in an immense
proportion, the want of tact and energy on the
part of the leaders of the force—in fact,
the absence of a resolute commander at all—ren-
dered the police all but useless in quelling the riot,
and in apprehending the chief instigators of the
mischief. There were certainly a few instances of
great bravery and determination on the part of the
officers, but unsupported in their attacks by large
bodies of their comrades they could do little in the
way of capture, and in most cases received severe
injury. Amongst the special constables were large
numbers of volunteers, accustomed to military
movements, and anxious to rush upon the mob
and crush the riot before it acquired much force;
but the " specials" and the main body of both
county and borough police were kept in masses in
front of the Holy Trinity Church, and positively,
though well armed and " eager for the fray," were
little better than so many dummies would have been
from a national clothing establishment. Serious and
indignant remonstrances have been made on all
hands in Birkenhead with regard to the conduct of
the local magistrates, in not either calling out the
military or allowing the police and constables to
take more vigorous action at an earlier part of the
affray. If any magistrate had dared to show him-
self on horseback and lead on a large body of men
in quick time through the streets most infested, the
whole disturbance might have been quelled in half
an hour, and at least 100 of the more daring and
prominent of the rioters apprehended. Several gen-
tlemen of Birkenhead who have been called upon
to-day positively declined to act as special consta-
bles, stating that unless the force is more efficiently
handled it is useless to expose themselves unneces

- --
sarily to danger. The volunteers who have been

sworn in have, in a great many instances, declared
that if the magistrates do not act with greater

vigour, they (the volunteers) will take the law into
their own hands, and that (should the riots be re-

newed to-night) at whatever risk and cost, they

will attack the rioters with as large a force as they

can raise. Last night Superintendent Hammond, of
the county police, was felled to the ground with a

bludgeon whilst endeavouring to arrest a Roman
Catholic priest, who was addressing and instigat-
ing the mob in Oak-street (off Price-street). The

women and elder boys attached to the rioters broke

open several shops, and either plundered or de•

stroyed the goods.

During the whole of to•day business was almost
entirely suspended, particularly at the north or
Irish end of the town, where bands of truculent
navvies and women paraded the streets, openly
uttering threats to proceed to further acts of vio-

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windows were smashed in, and the proprietors very
the day. Crowds were also congregated
prudently kept their shutters closed the whole of
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neighbourhood of the Town-hall, where in the
morning eleven prisoners, including two women,
were brought up, charged with being concerned
in the rioting of the previous night. They were
all remanded, after a brief examination, and
conveyed tinder a strong escort of police to
Chester Castle, in order to prevent attempts at
rescue. They will be brought up for further ex-
amination on Wednesday next. Two of the local
police, who were so brutally ill-treated by the
"savage Irishry," are is a most critical condition,
and their recovery is exc 'eediuglY problematical.
Mr. Coulter and Air. liartin,
tradesmen, whose shops at the north end of Price-
together with other
street were broken open and pillaged last night,