The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, AUGUST 16, 1859.

last, on leaving off, he went with a fellow-work'
man to the King's Arms public-house, to hall
some refreshment. The defendant, who was one
of the men out on strike at the time, asked
him for a pipe of tobacco, which he gave hill',
and he no sooner filled the pipe than he dashed it,
on the ground, and not only smashed but danced
on it. He then asked for a second pipe of tobacco,
but he (witness) perceiving hiL, object was to picka
quarrel with him gave him a second pipe, and He
this he served in the same way as the first. -"-e
then commenced abusing in gross language, and
iaid that such had no right to work in the
factory and keep other men out of employment.
Witness told him he had a wife and family to suP;
port and could not afford to be idle, and handed
him a glass of ale, and afterwards a second glass
with a view of averting'his anger. Defendant, how-
ever, repeated his abuse, and said if others were
of the same mind as himself he should cut the
guts out of all such persons as him, who kept men
out of work, and that as long as they stopped in
the factory they should know no peace. The de
fondant, after this, made a rush at him, and was
about to strike him on the face, but he threw uP
his arms to protect himself, and received two violent
blows on the chest.
Mr. Norton—What are your wages at the file'
tory ?
Witness—Twenty-four shillings a
week, your
worship.
Mr. Norton—And what had been the wages °f
the defendant ?

Witness—He was a stoker, and had 295.
Mr. Norton—And what did he strike for ? ,
Witness—An increase of wages, sir. I thin'
they wanted 355. a-week, he and the others.
Mr. Norton—Was the defendant sober at the
time ?
Witness—No, sir, he was evidently o the worse Ott
drink, and I saw from the first that he wanted.
quarrel with me. I felt it my duty to acquahl_t
the manager with what happened, and he sent hiu
to this court to apply to your worship for pNteue;
tion. I have always been kindly treated by toi
company, and I felt it to be my duty to do what
could for them.

William Sly, a fellow-workman, who accon3o-
- the last witness on Saturday evening,
borated his evidence in every particular.
Mr. Jones, the chief engineer to the comlnillik
said that for the last fortnight the neighbourhood°
the factory had been kept in a state of great at:
quietude by the conduct of the men who had strue.t
and it required the active interference of the polio;
to protect the persons who were employed had
from the threats and violence of those men who Pe
thought proper to abandon their work. The coin:
pany had made what they conceived concession 10
the stokers by allowing each two pints of beer
_5
day, and were willing to do anything in reas,l3l;
but the demand they made was so unreasonable
corro
that the company could not under any ciren°l
stances comply with them, and the consequenm
was a " strike."
In reply to the Magistrate's questions, Mr. Jones
said the hours of work were nominally 12 hours a;
ac
day, but out of these they were not tually pier
than seven and a half hours engaged, and for these
they received 295. a-week.
The defendant, in reply to the charge, said he Wel
under the influence of drink at the time, and
not know what he said or did.
Mr. Norton expressed his surprise at the extreme
folly of a class of men who were more liberally'Pillw
for their work in this than in any country he knell
of, and who for their earnings have beef or mutt,_
for their dinners daily, allowing themselves to re
led away by designing and interested persons.
workmen as a class were, in his opinion, very Wee.
paid, and he contrasted their earnings with the
rable pittance allowed the police constables, wf r
out of the 24 hours were obliged to be on duty
week'
16 for something less he believed than 20s. a wee
The complainant expressed a hope that his w°r.
ship would, as the present was the defendant's first
offence, deal as leniently with him as he could.
Mr. Norton observed he should very much
to do so, provided he saw the defendant sufficient L
conscious of the extreme folly he had been guilty° r
The defendant said he was very sorry indeed Ie
what had taken place, and would willingly resume
his employment if permitted ; but
sou
Mr. Jones, in reply to the magistrate, said he
not of himself undertake to promise any such ceii„,-;
cession, especially as he had every reason to belie
that the defendant was one of the most vi°le/1t
amongst the turn-outs.
ito
Mr. Norton said that, in consideration 0' re
being the first case, he should deal with it 113°0
leniently than the defendant deserved, and tuiir,
was by sentencing him to three weeks' hard labe"or
Mr. Jones begged publicly to express the CO
pany's and his own thanks to the pOlice of the
ea
division for the valuable services they had renne,',4
them since the strike of the men, in preserve
i.e."
peace and order, and protecting those on the P
mises.