The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-08-25

PICNICS AND RowDms-DEAD RABBrryx IN
THE AsCENDANT.-It would appear, from our
daily poAce Items, that New York Is again 10
the hands Of the rowdies, and that the Dead
Rabbits and other gang Of rufians and vaga
bonds VINO infest the city have things all their
OWE way. We are told In yesterdays issue Of
outTages committed BY parties Of rowdies upon
quiet and inoffensive people-for the most part
women and chlldren-whe ventured to leave
the city last Monday on picnic excursion to
one Of the islands Immediately after the boat
bad started on her trip, the ruflans who had
got on board Of her commenced their work, and
the whole trip Is represented to have been a
continuous scene Of the most dsgraoeful brawi-
ing and fighting In which several persons were
stabbed or manned or otherwise brutally
treated.
On the island affairs were no better, groups
Of pleasure seekers being everywhere attacked
and outraged by gangs of drunken, lswless
vasabonds, who went about from place to place
seeking for objects ON whom to crafty their
devilish propensities. The worst Of It was that
the pleasure seekers were all unarned and un-
able to defend themselves from these numerous
and organized gangs, and the three policemen
who formed the picnic escort were powerless
against them. One quiet, inoffensive man, who
had gone with his wife and party to enjoy what
he expected would be day of recreation in the
country, was set upon in the midst of his inno-
cent amusements by one Of these gangs and
~ II CO kho
ism exercised by them that on the return trip
t, ,he city the quiet, well conducted portion Of
the passer gers declined to come back by the
same boat. but sought the protection of mill
tary company which had been out on target
excursion to the island, and on whose boat they
returned to the city.
| While this should be lesson to our citizens
not to go On large picnic excursions, whether
| for the benefit of churches or Sunday schools,
or whatever other benevolent object, it should
also arouse our police and judicial authorities
to q sense of the danger Of allowing these law
| less organizations to obtain such Roadway as
| they seem to have now got. In the case shds
we have reoited 1t was the duty of the captain
| of the boat to have run into the nearest point
of land, and, with the aid Of his crew, the po.
lice, and the well disposed portion of the men
on board, to have expelled by force the mis-.
creants who were making disturbance. II the
latter were too numerous to admit Of that being
| done, he should have turned the boats head,
steered back to New York, signalled for q force
of police, and given every one of the marau-
ders into custody. Primarily, the fault lies at
the doors Of those who get up such excursions,
and who exercise no sort of care TO see that
tickets do not get into the hands of rowdies,
thieves and vagabonds The only way to RENE
dy that is for all decent, quiet people to avoid
going on any of these crowded excursions until
| the time arrives If it ever does, that they can
do so without fear of rufian violence.
Bat it Is not only outside Of our police juris-
diction that the rowdies are allowed to carry on
their outrages. They do 90, unmolested by the
police, in the heart of the city.
The news column in which we read the fore
going facts also contained an account Of an
attack on one of our engine companies by q
party of Dead Rabbits of the Sixth ward, In
which stones were hurled and pistols fred at
! the company; and yet not an arrest was made by
the police, nor did they seem TO know anything
about the riot until information was received
at the station house. A night or two ago q
respectable woman was attacked by rufians as
che was walking through the Battery; but for
tunately, her cries for help were heard and she
was saved from further violence, though her
assailants made their escape. The mysterious
disappearance Of Mrs. Brannan, most respec-
table lady, the wife Of an army officer, has not
yet been accounted for, although the ciroum-
stance is now over q month old, and although
she must have been kidnapped, IL at all, in
broad daylight and at the lower end Of Broad
way.
Crimes and outrages, and mysterious disap-
pearances Of this sort are fearfully on the
incrcase In our midst; and II they cannot be
checked by our police and judicial organiza-
lions, the people may have to take the matter
in their own hands and apply their own remedy.
They should not be driven to that desperate
expedient, but events seem 10 indicate that there
IL no other resource left.
INTERCHANGE or CONGRATULATIONS BHrwKHy
TIN MAYORS or New YORK AND LONDON
Our readers must have been considerably an
noyed and disappointed on perusing a para
graph in yesterdays HERALD, stating that
Mayor Tiemann's message to the Lord Mayor of
London was intercepted at station In New.