The Sun.
London, England, 1858-08-24 00:00:00

TILE COLLIERS' S7'ItIKE.

At the last meeting which the colliers on strike in South
Staffordshire held last week they announced that they
should meet yesterday (Monday), at 4 o'clock, at Horsley-
heath, whence, after some speeches had been delivered, they
should walk in procession to the Netherton-tunnel, just
opened by the directors of the Birmingham Canal Company.
The announcement of the early hour and place of meeting
was made public by the bellman of Dudley Port on Sa-
turday. Col. Hogg, the Chief Constable of the county, after
travelling all night, was upon the spot by 3 o'clock, where
he was soon afterwards joined by Major M'Knight, the de-
puty Chief Constable, Superintendent M'Crea, and about
80 men. Only about 50 colliers, however, assembled. These,
at about half-past 6 o'clock, started on the road for Darby-
cod, in Worcestershire, where by 7 o'clock about 5,000
colliers had assembled. A meeting then took place, the
speeches being delivered from a spot named the Cinder-
mound, of local notoriety, as being the place where, some
few years ago, on a similar occasion to the present, a collision
took place between the colliers and the police. Yester-
day morning there were about 100 men of the Worcester-
shire police on the spot. A collier named William George
presided, and after speeches had been delivered, the men at
work in that neighbourhood who were at the meeting re-
solved to drop their tools till they obtained ss. a-day
—an increase of ls. a-day upon their present wages.
They also consented to call their several pit companions to-
gether and endeavour to arrive at an understanding which
should make the strike extend to all East Worcestershire;
the men who bad come from Oldbury to hold a meeting at
Wednesbury in the afternoon and return to the Cinder-
mound the next (this) morning at the same hour, when fur-
ther plans would be resolved upon. When the " outs " got
to the Cinder-mound, some of the men of that district were
about to go down their respective pits, but when they saw
the men from South Staffordshire they desisted and joined
the meeting. At about 8 in the afternoon a meeting was held
at Wednesbury, opposite the Dartmouth Hotel; Joseph
Linney presided. The proceedings commenced with the
singing of a " hymn," comtnencing—
" Britannia's sons, for slaves ye be,
God, your Creator, made you free;
He life to all and being gave,
But never, never made a slave."
One of the speakers, named Caffery, complained that out of
the 300 or 400 persons present there were only few colliers,
and urged the necessity of their being united. If they had
been united, instead of their employers giving them notice
to reduce their wages, they (the men) would have been
"sitting at the same table with their masters, consulting on
the best means of letting the produce of their labour go
through the commerce of the world for their benefit and
their master's also." (Applause.) It became the colliers to
have their brains at work for a little, and allow their hands
to be idle. If they had been at work instead of on strike
during the last six weeks, there would have Veen
some hundreds of fatherless children and some scores oft
widows. They had therefore cause to be thankful that
during that time none of them had been murderte'inh
Et;e aanof
coal-
pit. (Applause.) They were suffering from
oppression ; but if it was not for their labour the capital of
the men of wealth would lie idle and be useless. A proposi-
tion was then put that the colliers of Wednesbury should put
down their tools till all obtained ss. a day. The proposi-
tion was carried amid exclamations that no Wed-
nesbury men were there, and that the voters were all
from Bilston. A speaker named Jackson then upbraided
the Wednesbury collers that they would rather
Io to a wake than look after the interests of their families.
t was announced that the men had already obtained some-
thing by their strike. A notice was read that had just been
issued by Messrs. Blackwell and Co., of Russell's-hall Col-
liery, Dudley, in which that firm gave notice to their butties
,
that they must no longer keep üblic-houes and that if
the men had money stopped fprom them tor drink the
masters would restore it. At the commencement of the
meeting about 10 or 12 of the men had ugly sticks with
them, and one had a stone. About 60 policemen were on
the spot, under the Deputy Chief-Constable of the county
(Major M'Knight). One of the speakers said, for himself
he did not want the police, but perhaps some of his brethren
were not as he was. The men separated quietly, to meet at
7 o'clock the next morning at the Cinder-mound.

BOAT WRECKS AT WICK.--WICK, Friday.—This
morning has witness!d another sad scene of destruction at
Pulteneytown-harbour, resulting in the entire loss of three
herring fishing-boats and the partial loss of a fourth, arising
from the extraordinary crush at present in the harbour,
which is crowded to its entrance with boats and vessels, so
much so that the pilots have received from Capt. Tudorim-
perative instructions•to take no more vessels in (there being
'upwards of a dozen in the bay, bound for this port) till some
of those now loading shall have sailed; but yesterday seve-
ral captains insisted on obtaining admission, and towed their
vessels in at their own risks. 'Die boats, as may be well
imagined, under the circarnstauces, are huddled together in
both harbours, the inner being such a mass of boats and
vessels that not an inch of water is to be seen in its
entire area, while the outer, which is much exposed, is
in pretty neatly the same condition. This morning four
boats lying near the entrance broke loose from their
moorings, and drifted among the boulders at the back of
thelarbour, a heavy surf, not 44;hstsnding the mildness of
the weather, running at the time. In a brief period three
of the boats were total wrecks, and mast, oars, buoys, and
portions of the boats were either floating in the bay or strtw-
lug the beach. The fourth, a fine new boat, was after much
exertion and with great' difficulty got off, with h,:x bottom
So much broken and the hull so shaken that it it question-
able if she can be repaired. The loss will tell very severely on
several of the dwners of those boats, one of whom has lost
both boat and nets, the latter being oia board at the time.
The estimated loss is as follows :—lloat belonging to Ali-x•
Swanson, Wick, partially inkqed ; loss supposed, £6O.
Boat and nets, totally losti belonging to Donald Miller,
East Clyth ; loss supposed, £lOO. Boat, totally lost, be-
longing to Thomas Mackay, Thurso ; loss suppwet4 &40.
Boat, totally lost, belonging to Hector Sutherland, Pcl-d
r teneytown,; lots supposed, gat. Total loss of Ica s
watt r:all4