The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-02-24
nosDoNs rooIIau rAN1o.
Soma Account of tho so-oaIiad Riot ana
the Cnuae OF the Frenzy.

Soma .SccounS OF tho So-Gnu1d utpt an6
the CnuAe OF the Frenzy.
(LondOhi Special to the N0o York 1Ymsa)
London finds 1t difficult to lay hold
Ot words torcible enough 10 characters
izr properly it's W idIOcy. Research
has shuwu that there has been no pres
vious outbreak OF pillaging in London
since the Gordon riots II hundred and
six years ago. Ii needs no examiua.
ton of the records To form u belief
that M" cit. In Europe has gone into
>uch n foolish tlutter OF panic ~ we
have recently had on such slender
grounds tor AZ least twice that period.
Mondays riot was merely some Guy
Fawkns ruffianism on a big scale, with
the efforts OF IL few thieves added.
Four or five hundred roughs found
themselves together, aud the efforts OF
the Socialists and tho breaking up Of
the workingmen's meeting inspired
them with the idea of tn, buleucc. They
started of aimle>sly to shout, throw
stones, and create u racket, until they
were stopped. The intelligent police
simply remained behind in order to
guard the square where the meetings
had been held, Instead Of following
The gang. The roughs and thieves
'ifNo XIV " INV iSiit ohA XIV"
as they made progress, until they
reached u point where they were in
sensatc with Il desire for destruction
and wholesale p%illaging. Finally,
thrifty policemen met and dispersed
them, as they might have done ut any
sluge of tho so-Callcd riot. This is
absolutely all there was OF it; bur all
London, in II ridiculous trcmor of agi-
~tatiou, lcapea to the conclusion that
there was n direct connection between
the windy harangucS of tho Socialist
a~2itators and the subsequent action of
the mob, and surrendered itself to II
panic. On Tuesday the dcnscst fog of
the winter prevailed. and everybody
saw rioters in every fitting form that
was cnvelOpcd in the darkness, and
suspected c~OmtlagratiOn in every
SKY light reflection upon asmoky wall.
On Wednesday there was the same toy,
and the excitement grew until people
were wild with trcnZy. Sensible men
became lunuIics, and honest citizens
turned into purvcyors OF false news.
AT noon the town was ag"g Wit,
stories OF battles wagin9 on the II 'uInes
bridges, of The city being bar,icad d.,
and of bodies of rioters ~convergiuu
from all the outlying of sluins. The
papers came ont with iiaring repurts
that an army of rioters was marching
OH London from Greenwich. The
police utterly lost their heads and Went
about warming the shOpmen to put up
their shutters. At the dinner hour
citizens waited for the worst us il in II
GOWN in the last extrcniitics of Il siege.
Conceive of the police of New York
ordering tho stores on Broadway aud
IN Union Square to be closed on TIN.
strength OF a IN that u gang of
rOughs were smashing windows in
Williamsburg and YOU will have q
faint idea of the situation, only here
there were sixty miles of shops closed.
Business amounting in tho aggregate,
TO millions was suspended. On Thu =.
day the cog lifted and people Jrgan to
compare notes. They found that there
had been no riot and no attempt AT II
riot. Four millions of people had
gone into Mysteries Owe the shecres!
%cuncociious OF fancy that ever scared
ii boy passing a graveyard in the dark.
Ofcoursc Continental opinion rushed
TO the conviction that the outbreak was
the organized work of the Socialists,
and the organs OF dcspotism waggcd
their heads in satisfaction AT The thought
that England, which is an asylum for
nli the refugees from their TYRANNY,
was rcapinS the reward Of its iol-
crancc. These ungenerous and unin-
telligcnt criticisms were telcgraphrd
over to London by columns, aud by
their ludicrou. eXaggrralions they
helped tn bring Lomdnncrs to their
senses. The Paris Anarchists. OF
o,urse, went into u dcliIium of re
jpicing, and it is feared that they may
find here an incentive TO more danger
Gus riOling on their own hook. The
French authorities are taking great
precautions against oil outbreak . II
Sunday, when many meetings are
advertised to be held in Bcllcvillc and
Moitmar,rc. However much mis-
chief Mondays outbreak may thus in
directly do, the outbreak is not to br
taken seriously i'm itself save az Il
warning To London to reform her
etlrtc and clumsy system at Scotland
Yard.
The rioting At Leicester, however, is
n really grave sign of tie existing dis
trcss. Ii is TO be noted that there only
factories and their owners were as
sailed. There was no laundering
whatever, which shows that The work
was 1ue to grudges on the part Of the
unemployed. There is n fear that this
may spread to Nottingham, Birming.
ham aud Lancashire. There are
enough of these unemployed here Ia
sack the town il they chose to do SO,
but their possible movements are no
to be confoundcd with the operations
of lawless criminals, much less with
the professional agitation of a handful
of Socialists.