The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-01-20
NEW YORK CLAIMS HONOR OF INAUGURAL
 ING THE REVOLUTION.

In these Warlike times the battles of the past become of more than lls- ual interest, and it is probabIe that more people are studying history than ever before in the worlds his tory. One interesting conflict which is not generally included in the lists of momentous battles-xEhict, indeed is scarcely known except to the spe- c1alist in American colonial history
 was the sbattles of Golden HiII.
 which was fought in New York City 145 years ago to-day, Jan. 19, TITO.
 It was currently described as a riot,
 and in fact 1t was nothing more but it marked the beginning of a. couflfet between the coIonists and the British authorities which was to result in Of new nation. Moreover. the bat | tie of Golden Hill is historic because in it was shed the first blood of the revolution. It is this battle which gives New York the right to dispute the priority of New England in spill ing blood for the revolutionary cause.
 The battle was fought near the cor ner of Cliff and John streets, In low CT Manhattan, on the afternon of Fri
 day, Jan. 19, TITO. A bronze tab let on 3. building at the corner of VVil- liam and Ann streets procIainls that spot to be the scene of the fFirst
 b1oodshed in the Revolution but in Ivestigation has disclosed that the tab
 let has long ago been removed from it's original site According to the
 tablet, the fight occurred on Jan. 18th l but this has been found to be an CT TOT
 l The Sons of Liberty had erected a liberty pole in the open field near the Ipresent City HalL British soldiers destroyed this pole. but another was l Istroyed, as were two others. On Jan, 18th the soldiers posted bills in which I the Sons of Liberty were warned tu erect no more poles. The language
 of the warning was so vigorous as to excite many citizens to wrath. Later some of the soldiers had printed
 number Of bills ridicuIing the Sons of l Liberty, and two of them were arrest led for disturbing the peace. The sol- i diers assembled for the purpose of T upholding the magistrates The l troops and citizens elashed at Golden Hill. The attitude of the crowd be-
 came very threatening, and one of the
 soldiers. tsuspected to have been an l officer in disguise gave the order to 1.-the troops to draw their bayonets and
 cut their way through.
 ls The citizens resisted with sticks and stones, and several Of the sol- 4 diers we're severely pummelIed- The Il blood that was shed was not that of British troops. however, but citizens 1 who were slashed by bayonets. 4 part of this historic blood Issued rom 1 the out finger of a fisherman A tea | water cartnan'' also shed shed seF-
 eral ounces of blood from a wound in his leg. and another man. deserib- ed simply as "a Quaker" was slash I ed in the face. Several others en- gagged in the riot received small l wounds, but the total of the blood shed in the 'sbattle'' of Golden Fiin would probably not have filled g. tea cup Most of the Sons of Liberty took to their heels when the soldiers I charged, and the battle was soon l over Taken by and large, compared with the battles now being fought in
 Europe, the conflict on Golden HIll was not of a very serious nature; but it gives the New Yorker the right to
 sheer at the Bostonian's pretensions of priority in the matter of fomenting lthe struggle which made the United
 States a nation. Nearly four years
 passed after the wounding of the tea-
 water cartman and his comrades be-
 fore the Bostonians dumped the tea into the bay. The cut finger of the New York fisherman points in scorn
 at the belated patriots of New Eng
 land.
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