The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-08-16 00:00:00

STAFFORDSHIRE.

In Staffordshire the turn-out is obstinately prolonged. A
party of 14,000 marched through Dudley, on Wednesday,
to Wednesburv. 43y the way thousands from Bilston and
the surrounding neighbourhood joined their ranks, some
parties having music and flags. On arriving at the ground
there could not have been fewer than - 95
,000 men, women,
and children. The interest was increased by the arrival of
delegates from the Scotch miners, who are now turned out.
The troops and Yeomanry were called out, and every pre-
caution was taken to keep peace. Resolutions were passed
pledging the meeting to resist reduction of wages.
Some turned-out colliers, who were levying " black mail"
in Burslem, on Saturday week, were taken into custody. A
mob of 400 or 500 were collected in the neighbourhood :
they broke open the prison, and liberated those within.
wTheyino then
and h
at attacked
0k ecdl the i e ;
t ow
and
an
n -ha llof which they broke the
dinn and some private houses
The military were called,
were much injured. but they did
not arrive till the rioters had left the town and gone towards
Loughton. None of thorn were taken into custody.
Among the conditions dernauded by the colliers of West-
brorowieli are, that no man or boy shall go down a pit unless
he works a whole day ; that the'truck system shall be aban-
doned ; and " that none of the men be employed at any of
the collieries unless the masters agree to give them four
shillings a-day, two quarts of drink
per day, and the fire
coals every four weeks as before, at nine hours per day, one
hour for meal-time.
The troops recently arrived in Burslem were removed on
Friday morning to Manchester. Soon after their departure
a numerous gang of the discontented surrounded the lock-
up, and demanded the box carried by the liberated prisoners
convicted of begging. This was delivered to them, and they
immediately proceeded on a mendicity excursion, and be-
haved extremely insolent to
manyof
whom they asked alms.
The neighbourhood was greatly excited during the day, but
fortunately the arrival of fresh troops tended to allay the

apprehensions of tumult entertained by the well-disposed in
the Pottery districts—a district which is suffering less than
any other manufacturing district in the midland or northern
counties.

BIRMINGHAM.

The occurrences in the manufacturing districts have caused
considerable excitement in Birmingham, which is, however,
tranquil. The following inflammatory placard was posted on
the walls of the town on Saturday :

"CHARTISTS AND BRITONS

" Now is your time! Unfurl the standard of freedom :
show your oppressors that you will no longer be trampled
upon. Liberty is now within your grasp. If you allow the
the present opportunity to slip, it will require the exertions
of years to produce such another. Be no longer fools, raised
to the highest pitch of enthusiasm one day, and ie next
told to observe laws that oppress you, and that, too, by pre-
tended friends, but who
.are in reality the paid tools of a
corrupt government. You know 'tivhat are your rights, and
that they never will be given you: take them while none can
withstand your present and increasing force. If you are
oppressed after the present struggle, it is your own fault.
The day of small measures is gone by. Let your say be,
" LIBERTY OR DEATH !"

A letter received in Liverpool yesterday (Monday) morn-
ing from Birmingham, and part of which was written on
Sunday, makes no mention of any outbreak, and we there-
fore presume there is no prospect of any disturbance here.

TURN-OUT IN PRESTON. .
(From Saturday's Pilot.)
We sincerely regret to state that the turn-out mania has
broken out in Preston, but as yesterday was the first period
of its appearance, and that in no very formidable form, so
we most devoutly hope that the time for reflection which has
since transpired may have been so profitably spent by the
unfortunate, but still culpably misguided victims, as shall
enable them to return at once to a sound and better state of
mind. It was the weavers of Messrs. Ainsworth who com-
menced the disorder, and as we before said, it was the timidly
yielding to their idle, empty menaces, which emboldened
them to proceed in their reprehensible course of conduct.
They first visited all the factories on the west, south-west, •
and north-west parts of the town, and finding that their inso-
lent demands for the stoppage of work at the mills were coma
plied with, they hardened themselves in their audacity, and
proceeded to other mills in the town, (we believe nearly all,
except that of Messrs. Horrocks and Jackson, whiclithey •
seemed to have either spared or forgotten .till about six
o'clock in the evening) andwcre successful in stopping them :
they also made a visit to Mr. Calvert's mill, at Walton,
which was attended with the like results. Beside the stop-
ping of the mills, we believe the damage that has been sus-
tained by any of the mill-owners to property has been quite
inconsiderable ; and as we have got two detachments of the
72d regiment, one from Blackburn and the other from Wigan,
we trust that all apprehensions for the peace and safety of
the town, may at once be allowed to subside.
SATURDAY.—This morning, about seven o'clock, a meet-
ing of the discontented took place at Chadwick's Orchard, a
vacant space near the middle of the town. In a short time
the crowd there collected proceeded to the factory of Mr.
Francis Seddon, North Road, and called upon the hands to
turn out and leave work. The men were averse to this man-
date, and turned the water-pipes upon the mob, with a view
to drive them back. They were, however, overpowered, and
compelled to turn out, by the superior numbers of the rioters,
who did some damage to the mill, breaking a considerable
quantity of glass and a clock. The mob thence proceeded
to Mr. Dawson's large mill, in Water-lane, where they broke
several windows, and also turned the hands out. Intelli-
gence of these tumults having reached the police, and it
appearing that the rioters were making for the centre of the
town, a body of police, unequal in number to meet the
emergency by themselves, accompanied by thirty-three
soldiers, proceeded along Fishergate and down Lune-street,
with a view to suppress the commotion, if possible, before it
proceeded further. They met the rioters opposite the new
Savings' Bank. Stones and other missiles were copiously
thrown at the military and police, in the first instance.
Captain Woodford proceeded in front, and was about to seize
one of the foremost of the rioters, when he was struck vio-
lently on the side of the head and knocked down. While he
was on the ground a hostile rush was made at him, and he
was severely kicked. The police ran up to his rescue, and at
the same time endeavoured to drive back the general body of
the rioters, who filled the street from side to side in a com-
pact body. The crowd, thus opposed, fled down the street, but
made a stand at the vacant space opposite the Butter' Market,
and began to throw stones, which, indeed, fell in showers,
and hit many of the soldiers and policemen. One of the
former had one of his arms disabled. The protective force
dislodged the 'rioters, for the time, from that locality, and
pursued them down Wharf-street. There the malecontents,
many of whom were striplings and women, collected a large
quantity of stones broken for macadamizing, from the depots
near the Canal, which they supplied to those who headed
the mob. The soldiers and policemen, seeing this, returned
up Lune-street, in hopes, by their forbearance, to conciliate
the rioters. The latter, however, followed them cloSely up,
the boys and women, in particular, supplying them with
"ammunition," which was thrown among the police-officers,
and soldiers. The mayor made a strong attempt to reason
with the parties, but with little or no effect. They were
again and again told, that, if they did not disperse, they
would be fired upon. The Mayor read the Riot Act, during
which a stone knocked the document out of his hand. The
riot then became most serious and alarming, no attention
being paid to the admonitions given. The Mayor, accom-
panied by John Bairstow, Esq., again went down to the
crowd, and endeavoured to reason with them, but was not
allowed to be heard, stones continuing to be thrown amidst
shouts, threats, and imprecations. At length, not only the
lives of the protective force, but the safety of the town being
in imminent danger from the tumult, orders were given to
the soldiers to fire, and a few shots were, accordingly, dis-
charged, at about half past eight o'clock. Some of the
muskets were first fired over the heads of the crowd, which
produced no impression upon them ; others were then fired
at or amongst them, and some of the charges took fatal
effect. Several persons were wounded. The precise number
is not vet ascertained ; but it is stated that eight men were
more or less injured, and, it is supposed, four mortally so.
One man was shot in the knee. He was taken to the House
of Recovery, and it was found necessary immediately to
amputate the limb.
Five of the wounded are under medical treatment at the
Roust of Recovery. They nave all been seriously injured,
and doubts are entertained that one of them will recover.
There is another considered as having no chance of recovery.
that has not been removed from his own dwelling. The fol-
lowing are the particulars :
William Lancaster, aged 23, was wounded by a ball hav-
ing entered the front of the chest and passed under the
fourth rib on the left side. He is not expected to recover.
James Roberts, weaver, aged 21, was shot through the arm
and one of the bones was fractured : he was also grazed on
the chest He is expected to recover.
Bryanodson, aged 36, had a ball lodged in his back,
where it cannot be extracted. Not likely to recover.
John Mercer, aged 27, had a ball shot through the fleshy
part of the right arm, through the fifth rib, and passed
through the chest, and out at the left side of the spine. No
hopes of his recovery.
Lawrence Pilling, aged 21, had a ball shot through the
knee, which smashed the bone in a frightful manner. Am-
putation was immediately performed. He is likely to re-
cover.
Barnard M`Namara, aged 17, was shot through the right
side of the belly, from which the bowels protruded to a great
extent. He is in too dangerous a state to be removed from
his own house. He is not expected to recover.
The streets were perfectly quiet at eleven at night, and on
Sunday nothing unusual took place. Some rifles entered
the town on Saturday, and a detachment of rural police ar-
rived on Sunday. It was expected that the hands would re-
sume work yesterday (Monday) morning, but whether this
expectation will be realised will be seen from the account of
our reporter, who left Preston last night, and which will be
found elsewhere.