The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-08-19 00:00:00

WARRINGTON.

At Warrington, on Monday and Tuesday last, a report
was very current that the Chartists proposed visiting that
town ; about noon on the latter day, a great concourse of
persons were seen in the Wigan road, " wending their way"
toward the heretofore peaceable town of Warrington ; the
alarm immediately spread among the inhabitants, and most
of the shops were closed, and, in some instances the words
" To let," were written in large characters on the shutters ;
several hundreds of Chartists, thieves, and pickpockets, (we
suppose, our readers will think, the three synonymous,) went
in procession to meet and welcome the supposed Chartists;
their cheers were loud, long, and enthusiastic ; but the cdn-
sternation and disappointment of the mob may be imagined,
when, upon a near approach to the supposed Chaitists,
they found the company was composed of two companies of
the Rifle Brigade,.who were coming to be stationed at War-
rington, to keep the now chop-fallen rioters in check ; the
dress of the brigade being dark green, and being surrounded
.with women and children, and much dust flying about, the
mob did not, until a near approach, recognise them as sol-
diers.

BLACKBURN AND ADJACENT TOWNS.
Church, near Blackburn, Monday Night.
We are now in this part reaping the fruits of the late Whig
government, and also of Tory incaution. On Saturday,
Acrington, Church, and all the adjacent places were besieged
by Chartist mobs ; and, having no protection, we were all
obliged to comply with their demands—stopping our ma-
chinery and turning out all our hands. The print works of
Messrs. R. and T. Peel, at Church, were crowded, and I
feared we should sustain some serious e injury • but, happily,
they passed away without doing mischief. Our pockets and
pantries had to suffer. Yesterday, it was reported a meeting
would be held on Bull. Hill, the other side of Darwen from
here, and this morning a desperate attack on Blackburn is
expected to take place. The authorities have been very
active in preparations to resist the mob, and I do hope they
may be successful.
We have had visitors this night to observe if we are pre-
paring for starting our engine. The premises of Foxhill
Bank have attracted the mobs attention, and this morning
there is not one factory at work, and it would be folly for us
to attempt any resistance at the present moment. Meetings
have been held in this neighbourhood on Sundays for many
weeks which ought to have been put down. A gentleman,
with a requisition from the magistrates, went to Manchester
yesterday, but they cannot spare any assistance from that
quarter. A mob of from 10 to 15,000 passed along the
Acrington road to Blackburn this morning, and they were
pouring in from all directions, and Blackburn cannot resist
this multitude. Several parties have been seriously injured.
THE MILITARY ORDERED TO FIRE—TWO MEN SHOT.
(From a Second Edition of the Manchester Times,
published on Tuesday.)
We have just been favoured with the sight of two letters
freotn Blackburn, from which we glean the following particu-
lars :
The first letter is dated last evening, and states there had
been a general turning-out of hands there during the day.
On coming before Messrs. Livesey and Hodgetts' mill a stout
defence was made, and the crowd was beaten back by the
military, consisting of two companies of the 72d Highlanders.
In the affray Mr. Livesey, jun. was struck in the eye with a
stone, and received a severe laceration.
Soon afterwards the turn-outs returned in great numbers,
and Mr. Livesey thought it prudent to lock up the mill. The
constabulary present, aided by the military, proceeded to
arrest some of the leaders in the attack, and a number of the
prisoners were sent off to gaol under a strong escort of the
soldiers. Some stones were thrown at the military,
when the officer in command remonstrated, and cautioned
the multitude to abstain from acts of violence or the autho-
rities would be compelled to retort violence in self-defence.
The caution was unhappily unheeded : a great many in
the crowd hurled stones at the soldiers, and ultimately the
position of the military was one of such peril that the officer
deemed it necessary to give the command to fire. The dis-
charge took effect, and the letter states that two persons fell
dead on the spot, one being shot through the body. Several
persons were also taken away wounded, but the entire num-
ber shot was not then known. The people instantly dis-
persed, and the soldiers succeeded in carrying off their
prisoners.
The second letter, which is dated this morning (Tuesday),
states that, notwithstanding the melancholy affair of last
night, the turn-outs had again assembled in great force, and
had attempted to turn Mr. Forrest's hands out. They were
met, however, by the military, and prevented, without any
resort to violent measures.
The following additional particulars are from the Blackburn
Standard of Wednesday :
In the course of Monday evening, about ten o'clock the
garrison was reinforced by the arrival of a half-troop of the
Lancashire Yeomanry Cavalry, under the command of Alex-
ander Halliburton, Esq., lieutenant. This detachment of
the Lancashire Yeomanry is a-portion of the Wigan troop.
Shortly after the arrival of the cavalry, the prisoners were
removed from the barrack-yard to the Assembly Room of
Watson's Hotel, under a strong guard of military, with fixed
bayonets, and police armed with cutlasses. The prisoners
were handcuffed in pairs, and seemed grestly crest-fallen.
The prisoners were forty in number, accompanied by six
prisoners arrested on other charges.
Yesterday morning several of the mills—the hands of which
had turned out the previous day—resumed work, at least
with as many bands as could be induced to go in. The shops
throughout the town were again opened, and the shutters
taken off. This state of things, however, did not long con-
tinue, the mob having again approached the town. We should
have said, that early yesterday morning, a riotous mob visited
the mill of Messrs. Lund, at Wensley Fold, about half a
mile from the town. The hands were here compelled to
leave off work.
The same mob then proceeded in the direction of the Dar-
wens ; and, having turned out all the hands in that place,
again returned to Blackburn. On their return, they pro-
ceeded to attack again the mill of Messrs. Hopwood and
Son, in Nova Scotia, from which they were repulsed, after a
vigorous resistance, by some of the hands, under the direc-
tion of one of the proprietors. Several shots were fired out
of the windows, and we understand that one woman was
slightly wounded ; and we feel certain that others of the
crowd must have also sustained injury. The mob were suc-
cessfully kept back by the courage of the inmates of the mill,
until a strong detatchment of military arrived, when they
were dispersed, and a number of prisoners taken, who were
soon after removed, under a formidable escort of military, to
the barrack-yard.
A .report now (about one o'clock) reached town, that a
large body of rioters was advancing upon the town by the
Burnley road. A party of military was despatched to meet
them, and keep them from entering Blackburn. This, how-
ever, proved to be a false alarm, and probably was given out
by design ; for the detachment sent out to meet the Burnley
men were met by a troop of the 11th Hussars, who had been
ordered to march to Blackburn with all expedition to rein-
force the garrison. They reported, that the road between
Burnley and Blackburn was entirely clear.
The troops, however, had scarcely reached the town, when
intelligence arrived that a formidable force of the rioters,
armed with bludgeons, was marching in by the road from
Accrington and Enfield. The cavalry, infantry, and police,
immediately proceeded to prevent this body from coming
into the town ; and, having met them at Further Gate, corn-
pletely routed them, making a great many prisoners. On
the soldiers making their appearance, the mob fled in all
directions, taking to the fields. They were hotly pursued by
the cavalry, and many of them ridden down, and knocked
over with the backs of the sabres. We are informed that a
few were slightly cut. A number of prisoners were here
taken by the cavalry, and the infantry having formed a
hollow square, they were safely lodged inside, and afterwards
escorted into the town, where they are now in safe keeping.
The prisoners apprehended on Monday were brought up
before the magistrates yesterday, and remanded for further
examination till the conclusion of the riots. They were sent
for greater security to Preston yesterday, under a strong
escort of cavalry and infantry, and conveyed in carriages.
The escort had a most imposing appearance on leaving the
town.
We have just received information, that the number of
prisoners taken yesterday was 80.
The persons composing the turn-out mob were principally
from the neighbouring towns of Bury, Padiham, Accrington,
Burnley, llaslingden, and that district.
While we write, Tuesday evening, the town is tranquil ;
but still an ominous gloom broods over the place. With the
exception of a few mills, work has been completely arrested,
the hands being unwilling or afraid to return to their em-
ployment.
The following particulars of the affair at the mill of Messrs.
Robert Hopwood and Son will be found interesting. Before
the arrival of the mob, the men inside had armed themselves
with nine guns and six pistols, and stationed themselves be-
hind the factory gate; together with a body of special con-
stables, armed with " picking-sticks" (a wooden lever in
the power-loom, to pass the shuttle from one side to the
other,—about half a yard or three-quarters in length, and
not unlike a constable's truncheon). This force in all did
not number 40 men. When the mob came up, most of the
hands had been turned out ; but the rioters, seeing some four
or five women in the upper windows, who were too frightened
to go away, and yet not discreet enough to keep out of sight,
insisted that they should all be turned out. This was done ;
but the demand of the rioters to have the gates opened, that
they might come and see if any more remained inside, and
also to pull the plugs out of the boilers, was of course refused.
The mob then began throwing stones at the windows, and
three of them brought a cart and dashed it against the gates,
as a battering ram, but did not succeed in forcing them
open. The force within the gates then made a sortie, and
fired ; the shot wounding numbers of the rioters in the legs
and thighs. This caused the mob to disperse for the mo-
ment, and gave time to the hands to reload their pieces.
The mob then resumed the attack ; taking care to throw
stones from behind shelter. Again the hands rushed out,
and succeeded, with the aid of the special constables, in
driving the rioters from their hiding places, and forcing
them to retreat from the neighbourhood. So quiet was the
place immediately afterwards, that, when the military (who
had been sent for) arrived, they were about to turn back,
supposing there had been po disturbance there: As the
pieces were loaded with small shot only, the great bulk of
the rioters, after the first discharge, appeared to rally a little,
believing it to be only powder; but, shortly afterwards, peo-
ple were seen running, or rather limping,
away in various
directions, and then the mob soon dispersed. The hands,
in one of their sorties, took One man prisoner. None of the
hands or special constables were so seriously hurt as to be
disabled.

CHURCH NEAR BLACKBURN.
WEDNESDAY NIGHT.--We have sworn in 1,000 special
constables, and the inhabitants are now relieved from the
terror into which they were plunged by the appearance of
such a lawless mob. We are upon the whole quiet to-day.
Messrs. H. and T. Peel have begun work again, and to-mor-
row I expect they will commence in right earnest. The
Broad Oak Print 'Works (Messrs. Hargreaves) are at work,
and they expect to start their factory on Friday. The town
of Blackburn is still quiet, and we now don't expect to be
visited by these wanderers for some time to come. About
three o'clock on Tuesday the mob arrived from Burnley at
Further Gate, (about a mile and a quarter from Black-
burn,) to the number of several thousands, and the military
were stationed there to prevent their entering the town. The
mob would not disperse, on being required to do so ; and at
length the troops (dragoons and hussars) were or:lhfeoerrestdaymtooef
charge, and in five minutes the mob was scattered in all
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PRESTON.

Our account from this town was brought down to a late
period on Monday night, anti we now resume our narrative
of the occurrences, as communicated in toe various letters
of our correspondents:—