The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1883-04-25
A NIGHT ADVENTURE IN LONDON,


..
A NIGHT ADVENTURE IN LoND0N.,
The night was hideous- The autumn
gales were blowing terrific hurricane.
1t was raining in torrents. had the
misfortune of 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. toiling ankle deep in water
and drenched to the marrow, when
suddenly piercing yell rose for sec
ond or two above the continuous up
roar of the tempest 1 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 mechanic
of ponderous weight evidently an ex-
perienced rufiian, an old hand at muir
derous assaults, whom he had disturbed
in the act of kicking his wife outoof ex-
istence- The unfortunate woman was
luR OA TIC kLOdu4 ACCOEo-
ing to the training of the London
roughs he had anticipated the police
mans Intervention by trying to ram
him down, 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
off the attack. and for a moment
stunned his foe by lifting his head with
q well-judged blow from the left But
it was only an ephemeral success. The
Villains head had coIte 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 a wounded bloodhound
to a wild boar. He refused to be shaken
of. The situation was critical Sud-
denly band of half dozen men, riot
Gus and drunk, who had Just been
turned out from q neighboring tavern,
came toward us howling low cantata
to the incoherent strains Of tin whistle.
"Holloap' exclaimed one of them,
"here is Jim a drumming on q hobby s
attic -.
"Smash is muxxle, Jim,'' said an
other. --s .----s----4--,-.-,- ~,
What are you jawing aboutp" in.
terfered third; "bli>ter the M. P,
Jim. and stiff him. Snyhowm
I'm swing for the bloody 'og,"
echoed the miscreaut, by way of show
ing HIM elf worthy of the encourage
ment. aii -
The policeman, however. did not Wis
IDLY care for anything but his duty. Hs
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 tn Dught W .uld leave her
alone for awhile. Fortunately the
whistle Lad been heard, and just ther
two stalwart p llicemen, long used to al
varieties of ruffials, favored by tn,
darkness of the night and the noise OF
the wind, Unexpectedly appeared on ths
ground and rapidly changed the physi
ognomy of affairs Jim was secured
and marched off, and one of his friends
having made determined attempt a
res cuing him, was soon, owing to thu
arrival of two more constables. though
unwillingly. added to the importance ol
the PROCESSION. AS to myself, was in
vited by the police to come to the sta
ton as witness. The errand bad bu
little attraction; the walk had none, a
the tempest was still at its highest, un
concernedly juggling with unroofed anS
unrooted stray fragments.
The station was reached. Our gen
eral condition was so lamentable that j
seemed as if the wise inspector nigh
have his doubts as to whom he woull
charge. Jim, however. was eventual,
put behind the iron bars where ever,
prisoner is charged before being takei
to the cell in which, unless bail is ten
dered and accepted, he spends the hour
which separate him from his appearance
before the magistrate A policeman
stood by him outside the bar. Jim wa
particularly repulsive man, with Low
forehead, a curl of hair on the temple,
rough red beard under the chin,
broken nose and q retriever's mouth
The scale on the wall fixed him at fiv'
feet ten.n He had the back of . brew
er's horse. His clothes were mucl
torn, and he exhibited other proofs o
the steadiness with which the Irish DO
liceman had played a losing game
Nevertheless, he bore his fate spirited
". He listened contemptuously to tn
cause given for his apprehension by the
constable who had arrested him 70 tn
| Inspector. When searched he grinned
When questioned as to his name, hi
age. his profession, his residence, b
sneered deiantly, and as he locke,
| quite refreshed and ready for anothe
bout, more policemen silently gronpei
themselves around him in order &
| quickly overcome all troublesome re
pugnance that he might manifest at be
| ing shown to q cell. This display o
| force probably convinced the prisone
of the futility OF a sally, for when OF
dered to ret re he simply indulged in