The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1883-01-27
A NIGHT ADVENTURE IN LONDON.

A NIGHT ADVENTURE IN LONDON.
The night was hideous. The autumn
gales were blowing a terrific hurricane.
Itwas raining in torrents. l had the
misfortune oil dining out, not far from
Hampstead. in one of those numerous
suburbs of London where cabs on q
rainy night or on any ordinary morning
are as scarce as pleasure yachts on the
summit OF the Rocky Mountains. l was.
therefore. toilng ankle deep in water
and drenched to the marrow, when
suddenly piercing yell rose for a sec
.ond or two above the continuous up
roar of the tempest. i rushed forward.
A young and active policeman, emerg-
ing at the same time from some invisi-
BILE spot, passed me with lightning ra-
pidity. quickly caught up with him.
His helmet. however, was already
drifting on the overflowed gutter, and
he was engaged in fierce conflict. The
villain he was fighting was a mechanic
OF ponderous weight evidently an ex-
perienced ruffian, an old hand at muir
derous assaults, whom he had disturbed
in the act of kicking his wife out of ex-
istence. The unfortunate woman was
lying on the ground wailing. Accord
w vi tuO l<Ohuoh
roughs he had anticipated the police
mans Intervention by trying to ram
him down, a trick which is executed by
vigorously plunging ones head in ones
adversary's stomach. Unlike most of
the members of the Metropolitan force
whom have generally seen taken by
that trick, the young policeman warded
of the attack. and for moment
stunned his foe by lifting his head with
Judged blow from the left. But
il was only an ephemeral success. The
villains head had come clear in time
out of other mills. The policeman was
soon overmatched, but he was an OBJ
.stinate young Irishman, and he clung
to the man as wounded bloodhound
TO wild boar. He refused to be shaken
off. The situation was critical. Sud-
denly a band of half dozen men, riot
Gus and drunk, who had Just been
turned out from neighborine tavern,
came toward us bowling a low cantata
to the incoherent strains of tin whistle
"Holloar' exclaimed one OF them,
''here is Jim drumming on a hobby S
attic
''Smash is muzzle. JIM" said an
other.
"What are you jawing about?" in
terfered a third; "blister the M. p,
Jim. and stiff him, anyhow"
I'm swing for the bloody 'og,"
echoed the miscreant, by way of show
ing him, elf worthy of the encourage
ment.
The policeman, however did not Wis
IDLY care for anything but his duty. He
had just succeeded in blowing whistle.
Upto this time l had been occupied in
trying to revive the half-murdered WON
an, but now l thought would leave her
alone for awhile. Fortunately the
whistle had been heard, and just then
two stalwart policemen, long used to all
varieties of ruffiaEs, favored by the
darkness of the night and the noise of
the wind, Unexpectedly appeared on the
ground and rapidly changed the physi-
Ognomy of affairs. Jim was secured
and marched off, and one of his friends,
having made a determined attempt al
rescuing him, was soon, owing to the
arrival of two more constables. though
unwillingly, added to the Importance of
the procession. AS to myself, l was in
vited by the police to come to the sta
ton as witness. The errand had but
little attractions; the walk had none, as
the tempest was still at its highest, un.
.concernedly Juggling with unroofed ano
unrooted stray fragments.
The station was reached. Our gen
eral condition was so lamentable that il
seemed as if the wise Inspector might
have his doubts as to whom he would
charge. Jim, however, was eventually
put behind the iron bars where every
prisoner is charged before being taker
to the cell in which. unless bail is ten
dered and accepted, he spends the hours
which separate him from his appearance
before the magistrate. policeman
stood by him outside the bar. Jim wa:
particularly repulsive man. with a low
forehead, a curl of hair on the temple, 9
rough red beard under the chin, {
broken nose and a retriever's mouth
The scale on the wall fixed him at five
feet ten. He had the back of a brew
er's horse. His clothes were much
torn, and he exhibited other proofs o
the steadiness with which the Irish pc
liceman had played a losing game
Nevertheless, he bore his fate spirited
ly. He listened contemptuously to the
cause gwen for his apprehension by the
constable who had arrested him to the
inspector When searched he grinned
When questioned as to his name, his
age, his profession. his residence, hi