The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-30 00:00:00

SERIOUS MILITARY RIOTS AT HAMILTON.

The burgh Of Hamilton has for the last few days
been thrown into a state of considerable excite-
ment by an extraordinary display of insubordina-
tion on the part of the West York Militia, at
present stationed in the town, by their refusal to
permit a number of their comrades to be appre-
hended by the police. The particulars are as follow :
About five o'clock on Thursday afternoon last a
rape was perpetrated by five privates of the West
York Militia upon the wife of a workman residing
at the Camp, a village near Motherwell, in the
parish of-Dalzell. The outrage occurred on the
banks of the Clyde, in the 4ante parish, and it is
said the woman was under the influence of liquor
at the time. Peter Stewart, a constable at Mother-
well, having on Friday got intimation of the deed,
immediately communicated the intelligence to the
county police at Hamilton, and instructed by Mr.
Mackay, the chief constable of Lanark-
shire, he proceeded to the camp to see the
woman who had been abused, and endeavour
to obtain a clue to the perpetrators, but she
was not to be found. He, however, found
a man, named Johnstone, who had witnessed the
occurrence, and accompanied by this person and
another policeman, who, as well as Stewart, was in
plain clothes, they proceeded to Hamilton to try to
identify and apprehend the guilty party. They
found three militiamen in the street, one of whom,
named Joseph Wilstonholm, Johnstone identified
as having been concerned in the rape, and without
acquainting them that they were policemen, the
latter asked them to enter a public-house to have
refreshment. Without suspecting the motives of
their entertainers, the three soldiers entered the
public-house, and while seated there, one of the
burgh constables was secretly sent for, and Wil-
stonholm apprehended and lodged in prison. In
the meantime Johnstone had discovered near the
barracks another of the soldiers the party were in
search of, and informed the constables. They went
and apprehended him in a house opposite the bar-
rack-gate, and lodged him in custody. By this
time the two soldiers, who had been drinking with
the constable when Wilstonholm was apprehended,
had informed their comrades in the barracks of
what had taken place. A short time afterwards, a
sentry, accompanied by a number of the militia,
came from the barracks and broke open the door
where the second prisoner was confined, and con-
veyed him inside the barracks, the gate of which
they locked, shutting out the police. Constable
Stewart informed Inspector Gibb of what had been
done, whoimmediately proceeded to the captain of the
militia; in the neighbourhood of Hamilton, and in-
formed him of the occurrence. He and the sergean t-
major of the regiment at once wentto thebarracks,and
called out the men for inspection--the police, who
were four in number, having at the same time got
inside the barracks, as well as the man Johnstone.
The latter, when the soldiers were drawn out,
singled out one of them whom he identified as hav-
ing been implicated in the offence, and the captain
was about to give him up to the police, when the
soldiers, as if animated by a general impulse, broke
into disorder, uttered wild shouts, and rushed
furiously upon the police and military officers,
knocking them down indiscriminately. The first
who approached shouted that Johnstone had struck
his wife, and called to the sentry to seize him and
lock him up in the guard-room. Johnstone was
then caught by a nutnberof the soldiers and dragged
away. There would be about 200 of the militia
engaged in the melee, surrounding their com-
manders and the police, and actively throwing
stones and otherwise assailing them. The burgh
officer was severely cut on the back of the neck,
Inspector Gibb about the face and legs, and severely
bruised about the back and sides. The captain was
also pretty much maltreated. Stewart, the constable,
though he received a good many blows from stones,
escaped without serious injury. He and Wylie, the
burgh constable, ran for shelter to the portion of the
barracks where some Light Dragoons are stationed,
and succeded in escaping the fury of their assailants,
About 20 or 25 minutes elapsed before the infuriated
soldiery allowed their victims to leave the barracks.
In the midst of the uproar the sergeant-major, who
fortunately escaped without any injury, hastened
to the quarters- of the Light Dragoons, and be-
seeched them to come out and assist in quelling the
riot. They, however, answered that they were too
few to render their services of use. When order
was restored it was about six o'clock, and a picket
was sent to collect the men outside, and: all the sol-
diers were then confined to barracks. About nine
accused
fks the to
crime. dem
o'clock next morning (Sunday) Chief constable
Mackay, accompanied by seven of his men, went to
theee nbseadrr
an
thedThfernm
soldiers officerswere
drawn the
u men p
in parade, and the sergeant-major caused the man
who had beea rescued the evening before, and who
was in the front rank, to be given up to the police.
Four constables took hold of him, as he resisted
with all his might to be taken in
custody, and he
was conveyed to the dragoons' guard-room. There-
upon the soldiers again rushed from their ranks,
knocked down their officers who were standing in
front, and broke into the guard-room where their
comrade was placed, with a view to rescue him.
Their behaviour on this o • ccasion was even more
ferocious than on the former, and they abused the
police-officers in a brutal manner. Sergeant Car-
michael was severely cut on the head, supposed to
have been by blows from the butt-end of a rifle.
Sergeant M'Leod was fearfully maltreated ; he was
bleeding profusely, and presented one mass of
wounds, two of his teeth were knocked out, and
the whole of them were made loose. The soldiers
appear to have possessed themselves of the rifles
of the dragoons when they entered the guard-
room. On this occasion about 300 men seemed
to be taking part, more or less, in the riot, throwing
stones being the means they adopted to effect their
purpose. Sergeants M`Leod and Carmichael were
removed,and had their wounds dressed ; and Stewart
and several of the other constables had to be as-
sisted from the barracks.
The chief constable lost no time in telegraphing
the intelligence to the Commander-in-Chief in Edin-
burgh, and to Sheriff Sir Archibald Alison. The
Sheriff arrived in the course of the same day, and
the Hamilton Volunteer Rifles, numbering between
two and three hundred, were called out, fully
equipped and ,
armed in the afternoon, and remained
on duty all night, the one company relieving the
other at intervals. Sheriff Alison, the chief con-
stable, and the Procurator-Fiscal Dykes were busy
during the day making inquiry into the affair.
About seven o'clock yesterday morning a picket
arrived at the police buildings from the barracks,
with two of the men who had been identified as
concerned in the crime. Their names are William
Reid and John Holdsworth ; a fourth, named John
Howley, having been brought to the prison' on
Sunday morning. The Commander-in-Chief ar-
rived at Hamilton in the course of yesterday fore-
noon, and commenced an investigation into the
affair, the result of which will likely not be known
for some time. The four prisoners were, in the
day, conveyed by the train to Glasgow, in charge of
the police. The volunteers marched to the railway
station, and were there dismissed by Sir Archibald
Alison. No arrests have yet been made in connec-
tion with the outbreak, though, no doubt, the
strictest military discipline will be enforced in con-
ducting-the investigation, and in the results that
follow.—North British Daily Nail.

[ADvErrisEmENT.l—Holloway's Pills and Ointment.—
Cherish Hope.—Let no sufferers despair of cure till a fair
trial has been given to these incomparable medicaments.
Marvellous cures are constantly reported of invalids being
restored to health when all hope had long since vanished.
All complaints of the chest, all irregularities of the heart,
all impurities of the blood, all derangements of the stomach
and liver, are banished by Holloway's preparations. The
ointment' must be well rubbed over the parts effected twice
a- day at least, and oftner in urgent cases. The use of this
ointment, aided by Holloway's pills, will cure all sores,
ulcers, piles, fistulas, and skin diseases. However old, or
Obstinate to their power, all eventually yield,