The Sun.
London, England, 1868-09-15 00:00:00

" FOUL PLAY."

The action of the Deputy Sheriffs in New York
city has at least the charm of novelty. On the
night of Monday, the 24 th ult., they proceeded to
serve a writ on D. 11. Harkins, manager of the
Broadway Theatre, at the suit of J. I). Lloyd, of
the New York Theatre, Foul Play being acted
in both theatres. They forced an entrance by
knocking down the doorkeeper, and stalked on to the
stage like the " heavy villains" in a tragedy, only
with real bullets in the pistols they did not hesitate
to use in their attempt to capture Mr. Harkins. A
boy was mortally wounded, and a man seriously,
when the police interfered and overpowered the other
slaughtering myrmidons of the law. The Sheriffs of
New York must recruit their deputies from Roe-
buck's " assassinating Italians," as this appears to
be a common method among them of serving a writ.
Not long since, says a reliable authority, one of the
fraternity went to a lawyer's office in New York to
replevin a bill of exchange in a friendly suit, and
not finding the lawyer who held it in the office, re-
fused, even at his partner's request, to wait a few
minutes, and having failed to force the safe, got the
partner on the floor, and proceeded to strangle him,
when his life was only saved by the intervention of
some clients. Then the deputy drew his pistol, but
was overpowered and disarmed, and for this he got
the party arrested for assault and battery. how
it fared with the clients who prevented the
murder is not stated ; but the Sheriff took no
notice of the complaint made against his officer.
Regarding the first case, Sheriff O'Brien has writ-
ten an impertinent letter to the police justice, of-
fering to take the blame of the conduct of his
men, whom he justifies, on himself. Generally, says
our authority, the Press exaggerates, but in these
cases, strange to say, it conceals or diminishes, and
the real horrors are only heard in private conversa-
tion. The bar has to bear, for a lawyer who makes
himself obnoxious to the Sheriff's office would
find it so difficult to get his writs executed that his
business would leave him, and there is no use iu ap-
pealing to the court, for it would be a mere com-
plaint of the Sheriff to himself. On the following
Wednesday Foul Play received further development,
as an injunction was served by the Deputy-sheriffs
on two of the company when acting and in view of the
audience. This time there was a struggle but no pistol
firing. Those present hissed and threatened to lynch
the intruders. The next night the play was changed
to the version by Boucicault, as brought out at
the Holborn, and on Friday it was withdrawn from
the Broadway, leaving the New York victorious.
The deputies arrested remain in custaly, except
one who was liberated on bail of $5,000. George
Hickey, James Moore, Dennis Leary, James Ward,
and Thomas Quinn, are the names of the deputy-
sheriffs who committed the shooting outrage, and
they sound very Irish, as does that of their
chief. They were taken before Justice Shandley, at
the Jefferson Market Police-court, for examination.
Acting Manager Moore, of the Broadway Theatre,
Mr. De Forest, and others appeared against the
men. The latter offered no testimony in defence,
and were committed without bail to await the re-
sult of the men's injuries. The nick-name of these
deputies is " O'Brien's Bruisers." One paper as-
serts that " they are not remarkably courteous and
discreet in their manner of proceeding—they seldom
are ; probably they acted like the boisterous ruffians
they too often are." It goes on to say, although
favouring the Irish interest in New York,
" O'Brien's bruisers are usually selected for their
fighting proclivities and political services, but
they are not generally of a murderous character.
The innocent boy who was shot, and the audience
whose lives were jeopardized by the flying bullets
of the combatants, were the parties principally
outraged." Let Drury-lane or the Adelphi, or

any other London theatre, imagine the interruption
in the full performance of a piece by the appearance
of bailiffs with a writ in one hand and a revolver
in the other. Imagine the sham act styl ienly
changed into a genuine tragedy, and a fight for life
to take place on the stage. Imagine the whizz of
the bullet over the heals of the scared audience,
and the thud as it struck into the wood-work. Let
them picture a boy mortally, and a Mal ser;ously,
wounded before their eyes, and the battle only
stopped by the entrance of the police to secure the
bailiffs. There would be no gallows high en )ugh
in London in such case on which to hang the offen-
ders and to satisfy the outraged public. Let them
further suppose that the next morning the Sheriff
declared his men to be perfectly justified, and that
he desired to take the blame on himself. If there is a
case in which the citizens of London would lynch
a man, it would be that. The Sheriffs, however,
can act with more impunity in New York, for the
attack on the theatre was repeated, and on Friday
the Sheriffs' party finally gained their point.