Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1900-11-01
THE "HOOLIGANS."
Sir Walter Besant on East LOndOn's Typical
Young Roughs.

In East End Types" in the Cen
fury, Sir Walter Walter Besant de-
scribes, among other typical East
Londoners, the young roughs known
collectively as the "Hooligans."
The blood is restless at seventeen;
it wants exercise in reality, not pre-
tense. This restlessness is the cause
of the bands organized originally for
local fights. The boys of one street
unite in a small regiment; they arm
themselves with clubs, small iron bars,
leather belts with buckles, knotted
handkerchiefs with stones tied up in
them, with sings and stones, with
knives, even with revolvers Of the
''toy" kind; and they go forth to fight
the lads Of another street. 1t is a real
fight; the field is strewn with the
wounded; the police have trouble in
putting a stop to the combat With
broken heads, black eyes, and band.
aged arms, the leaders appear next
day before the magistrate. But the
local regiment cannot always be meet.
ing it's enemy on the field Of glory; the
in the street is natural. The boys
gather together and hold the street. II
any one ventures to pass through it,
they rush upon him, knock him down,
and kick him savagely about the head;
they rob him as well.
In the autumn of 1898 an inoffensive
elderly gentleman was knocked down
by such a gang, robbed, kicked about
the head, and taken up insensible. He
was carried home and died the next
day. These gangs are called "HOOli.
gans." South London is more fire.
quently favored with their achieve
ments than East London. They are
difficult to deal with, because they
meet, fight, and dispense with such
rapidity that it is next to impossible
to get hold of them. 1t is bad fash.
ion of the time, and will probably dis
appear before long. Meantime the
boys regard these holdings of the
street with pride; their captain is a
hero, as much as the captain of the
eleven at a public school.
Sometimes they devise other modes
of achieving greatness. A year or two
ago half dozen of them thought that
it would be good thing if they were
to attend Epson races on the Derby
day, the great race of the year. One
can go to Epson by road or rail; the
latter is the cheaper and the easier
way, but the more glorious way is to
go by road, as the swells go. Their
method is to hire a carriage and pair,
to get a luncheon-hamper from a
caterer, to drive down, and to pay for
a stand on the hill which commands a
view of the race. The thing can be
done in style for about twenty-five
pounds. These boys thought to emulate
the swells; they would drive in style
to EPSON. They therefore helped
themselves to bakers horse and light
cart in the gray of the morning, and
drove gloriously all the way to the
the horse and cart to gypsy for three
pounds, and spent the day in watching
the races, in betting on the events, and
in feasting. When the glorious day was
over, and their money all gone, they
found an clubhouse near the common,
and there lay down to sleep, intending
to walk home in the morning. Now,
the baker, on discovering his loss, had
gone to the police; and the police, sus-
pecting the truth, for the lads thirst
for sport was well known, telegraphed
to Epson. The horse and cart were
recovered, and in the middle of the
night the boys were found. They did
return to town in the morning, but not
as they left. 1t was in the roomy We
hicle commonly called BLACK Maria"
that they were taken to the police
court, and from the court to the re-
formatory.