Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1886-10-25
POLICE AND The MOB.
A DANGEROUS CROWD WHETHER
AT PLAY OR IN EARNEST.

= tFiN1IhSDS ShOWO WITH lFLfE
AT PLAY OR IN EARNEST.
A London sfob ard the Anxiety It Away
oer+ssions-In the Taions of = Police
mana Wild, Ungoverned Suise-An
Exciting Incident.
rFI6pdcn. whose smile IS fortune andmhnse
f,oyn is death do not recollect at H.
moment who was the writer of that terSe an;i
truthful sentence. I won't be sure even that
,i,e quotation is literal. Perhaps it was sail
# Chatterton. Perhaps il was written by
,liatterton himself But of the london mob
II may be said that death turks in either its
srnilcs or its frowns. A London mob is ike q
uiaH eating tiger II is dangerous whether il
play or in earnest.
A London mob, when il IS known that it
viii gather for peaceful snd legitimate pul,
posrs on a certain day, + always a source of
anxiety and preparation with the police Oh
Lord Mayors day, or ON any occasion WHERE
the queen appears in the metropolis, or when
big meeting is called for in Hyde park, a
large number Of special policemen are sworn
In. Sometimes as many as 5000 are added to
the already large force.
IN READINESS FOR ANY CALI.
Remember being Impressed with the com
pleteness Of the arrangements during the last
Lord MAYORS dav was in London Down
Norfolk street and Savoy street and others OF
the small streets that lead from the bustliug
Strand to the comparative quietness OF The
Thames emhankment, stood double rows OF
stalwart silent policemen i'll readiness for ANY
call Mounted policemen were stationed
along Fleet street and the Strand; every few
feet on the crowded pavements were officers
on foot. and the roadway was kept clear by
the line of uniformed men on each side of the
way standing almost shoulder to shoulder A
mob of this kind is always gocd-natured
one. 1t is full of horseplay and likes to worry
and bullyrag the patient policemen, whose lot
at these times, as the peppery Gilbert re-
marks, ''is not happy one.
When portion of the mob becomes too
obstreperou5 the policemen make charge at
It and endeavOr to scatter its component parts
among the more peaccable sections of the
multitude The tactics of the police are al
WAYS to scatter or divide the mob into sec
ti0fs They do not endeavor To make an ar
rest unless all other methods of pacifying the
boisteruus individual idiot who is the nucleus
of that particular rcwdy part of the crowd
fail But once the talons Of the policeman
fasten on an unruly man he is gone. The
officer generally makes a sudden spring at
him, grasps him firmly by the arms or by the
coat collar. gives HIM one tremendous jerk
toward him that lifts him off his feet, then he
turns him around, Shoves him ON TO the next
4
around and around and passed from police
man to policeman with CELEBRITY that utterly
iswili, - him and the fist thing he knows
IL Is down one Of the silent streets with hand
cuffs on him. and is marched off to the sta
ton 10 await the inevitable interview with
the magistrate in the morning
A WILD. UNGovERNED SURGE
All this is done SO quickly that the man Is
gone before his companions have time to col
lect their scattered senses When they do
reilly they generally make a wild, ungoverncd
surge at the police, who open ranks before
them, Close in behind them, charge in turn
upon them, scatter them through the crowd,
catch two or three Of the ringleaderS and pass
them INTO the irresistible eddy that whrls
them OF to the prison cells and then the police
reform IN line again. All This Is done with q
persistent patience that is admirable tole-
hold | never saw a man dubbed in London,
bni then perhaps the policemans bone-crack-
ing tactics are even worse for the victim than
would he n good sound whack with club
When a man is utterably untamablc, two
policemen grab an arm. and bend them sud
denly back till the elbows touch. Every bone
in the wrctch's body seems to crack 1t is
like an interview with the rack of olden
times. The instant this is done he is as limp
and neTNeless as a clam
1t is n curious thing that the London mob
employs the same tactics with the police Is
policemen use with the people. They try in
every way to divide the solid phalanx of the
officers who endeavor to resist by linking
arms with each other and in that condition
stand an enormous strain. However, when
the mob succeeds the individual member of
the force is roughly handled. They whirl
him round and round. crack his bones and if
he once loses his feet and goes down, it means
several months in the hospital OF all eternity
in his coffin In the Strand, | once saw a
mounted policeman swallowed up, horse and
all, by the mob lie didn't lose his feet, hut
be lost his head He got angry, which Is q
thing the mob can never abide He tried TO
charge them back with his horse The mob
literally rose at him and swept his horse and
himself for about twenty yards. the horse
staggering along sideways, plunging and rear
ing in the dense crowd Then striking the
pavement the terrified animal went down
SIDEWAYS, and tine next instant the surEing
mob seemed to have flowed over horse and
man.
Between getting into frenled London
mob or taking a swim in the whirlpool rapids
below Niagara I think there Is very little
choice. The wise man will give preference,
if anything, TO the wflrlpool-Luke sharp in
Detroit Free Prees