The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-12 00:00:00

The Dungarvan Riots.

DUBLIN, Friday Morning.
The inquiry into the catastrophes resulting from
the above riots was resumed on Wednesday morn-
ing. A man named Curran, a shipmaster, was tfie

first witness examined. His evidence was of the

same character as that of the previous witnesses,
quite exculpating the people and condemnatory of
the soldiers. He stated that when the voters and

their military escort came up, he saw AlajorWomb-
well, who was in command of the Lancers, attack
two men, on whom he used hissword freely, but the
witness could not say whether he used the edge,
back, or flat of it. The men tried to force them-

selves between the rails of an enclosure in order to
escape from him, but did not succeed. Before that
assault there was no attack, either on Major Womb-

well, the voters, or the soldiers.
Mr. Cornelius Redmond, proprietor of the Water-
ford News, was next examined. He described the

entry of the voters, who, he said, passed on quietly
through the crowd on the bridge, who left them

ample space, and only shouted as they passed. The
noise, he said, was rather a buzz than a shout.
There was no attempt to take the voters from the
escort. After they had passed the crowd closed in
again, and then the Lancers turned round and
plunged their horses among the people, sto3ping
forward, and holding their lances in their hands.

The people ran away, and the Lancers rushed after
them "as if they were going into battle." The

crowd was much smaller and quieter than he had
ever seen at any election, and the witness had seen
many contested ones within the last 20 years. In
his opinion, the management of affairs should have
been left to the police, of whom there were quite
enough to preserve order without the military, and.
who " understand the people better" than soldiers
do. " The Lancers," said the witness, " looked
fierce and determined. I never saw men look so
fierce as they did when charging."
Dr. Anthony, who attended :O'Brien
ately after the receipt of his fatal injuries, describcd
the nature of them. There was a circumscri:Ded
swelling on the left side of the back of the 'head,
over the occipital hone. On pressing that portion
of the head he appeared to wince, as if lie felt. I
infer from that that there must have been some ex-
ternal violence used to cause the injury. There was
no abrasion of the skin at all ; it was only puffed,
and it must have been caused by some round, hard.
instrument. The butt end of a lance would do it,.

Were there any other marks upon him ?—A xery
slight abrasion or excoriation over one of the eye-
brows. That might be caused by a fall on the

ground:
Would the injuries that you saw on that man be
sufficient to account for his death ?—I did not see
sufficient external appearances to lead to the con-
elusion. Concussion may be caused without any
external appearance at all.
Do you believe that this man's death was caused
by the blow on the head?—l do. I did not hold a
post-mortem examination. Between fifteen and
eighteen people had wounds dressed in my estab-
lishment during the day of the election. I only
dressed four or five of them myself. The injuries
that I dressed appeared to me to be lance wounds,
piercing the hat and scalp, and stopped at the
skull. In two or three instances the wounds,
which were from a sharp-pointed instrument,
pierced the hat and the scalp, and stopped at the
skull. Those were instances of old people. The
wounds did not go farther than the skull, fortu-
nately for them. They were all old people whose
wounds I dressed, with the exception of one young
man that got a blow inside my own door from the
end of a lance. I did not see him get the wound,
but I came up at the time, and he showed me the
wound. It was on the side of the neck. He told
me that he received the wound when he ran into
my hall for shelter. Two of those people whose
wounds I dressed had their hats pierced, and
another had a scalp wound about 2iin. long. Dr.
Anthony stated that the concussion of the brain
might have been produced either by the man falling
on his head when knocked down by the horse, or

by a thrust with the butt of a lance. Some con-
troversy arose as to whether a lance-butt could
inflict such injuries as the doctor described, and the
jury desiring to examine the weapon for themselves,
it was arranged that a lance should be sent for to
Cork, where the regiment is stationed.
Another witness named Connery stated that he
was struck and knocked down by two lancers, each
of whom cut him about the eyebrow. He sported
a small bit of sticking-plaster on his forehead, but
on examination, even with the aid of a candle, not
the slightest abrasion could be discovered. He saw
" girls and childs" shaking their hands at the
soldiers, and saying, " Down with the Tories !"
The evidence of the next witness contrasted
in many particulars with the unvaried tale
of military brutality and popular passiveness
so often repeated. He was a very intelligent
man, named John Martin, and was highly
complimented by the agents on both sides, and
by the coroner, for the candid and straightforward
manner in which he gave his testimony. On the
day of the election he was working as a carpenter
at the new bank, where he had a view of the scene
from one of the windows. There were about 500
people in the vicinity of the bridge, and when the
voters approached the advanced guard of the lancers
rode forward to drive the people back, and then
stones were thrown at them. The lancers then rode
among the crowd at a gallop, striking the people,
some using the lances crosswise, and others the
butt-ends. They drove the people into a timber-
yard, and then stones were thrown thickly for
about a minute, but before they first essayed to
j drive back the people there was not a stone thrown.
He calculated that at least 100 stones were thrown.
(This statement caused great sensation in the
court.) The stones were chiefly the size of those
broken nn the road, but many of them were three
times the size of a macadam paving-stone. After
the lancers charged the stone-throwing continued
for a short time. The persons within the timber-
yard threw stones at them until the police got in
and drove them out to the strand. As the yard
was being cleared the lancers broke the gate and
got in, but even then the stone-throwing did not
completely cease. About 20—what appeared to
witness the last volley—were hurled afterwards.
Four witnesses were examined yesterday. Dr.
Hunt believed that the concussion which killed
O'Brien was not caused by a lance. Mr. Greene,
resident magistrate, Monaghan, deposed that stones
were showered like hail, and that the troops
acted with forbearance. Similar evidence was
given by Mr. Maguire, magistrate. A labourer
swore that the deceased threw a stone at the
lancers immediately before he was knocked down.
It was reported yesterday in Dungarvan that a
man named Maguire, another of those injured,
had died. The Waterford Mail says that the con-
duct of the stipendiary magistrates and the military
during the late election riots is likely to be investi-
gated by a special commission.

Ironmasters' Quarterly Meeting.

BIRMINGHAM, Thursday Evening.

The great meeting of the ironmasters of this district was
held here to-day; the floor of the Town-hall was crowded,
and the trade in every department, including those who are
connected with it in other iron producing districts, was
well represented. There was not much business doing, for
the reason that nobody knows what course to take, while a
difficulty with the men is threatening, so that the impor-
tant business of quarter-day was almost reduced to no-
thingness on that account. There was, however, suffi-
cient inquiry ou the part of home customers and others to
lead to the conclusion that if the mon accept the terms
offered to them a moderate amount of business may be
done. So fax as relates to this day's meeting, however, it
was characterised by extreme quietude, but with much de-
sultory talk in reference to the future.
The transactions in pig-iron were on a lhnited scale :it
is at all times difficult to quote the price of that article, re-
gard being had to accuracy, because of the exceptional
circumstances under which it is sold, and especially so at
this moment ; but wo place the ordinary all-mine iron of
South Staffordshire at 675. 6d. to 70s. per ton that is,
from 2s. 6d. to ss. per ton below the price of last quarter-
day, and not taking into account cinder pigs, the extreme
class
ton.
assof iron now referred to will be
frraonmge6o7sf.p6rdiee. to 82s. theB2s. per
In reference to the threatened strike, it is thought to be
not improbable that, as a preliminary measure, it will be
attempted at some three or four works. If such should be
the case, it will most likely bo met on the part of the mag.,
tars by a general lock-out,