THE ULSTER RIOTS.

Press, Volume XLIII, Issue 6502, 26 July 1886, Page 3

THE ULSTER RIOTS.

. The papers are full of acoo—iteof the destructive riots in* Bel—st, lasting, with mote #r less viotettßt, from June,26th till July lltb. On the Bth a mob of Orangemen wrecked a number of homws of Catholic*, severely injuring some of the oecup-—b. There waa also *ronb_ i_ the Orange district of Mbnaghan. On the same day, at Largan, several mflitaamen were? wounded, and houses were wrecked, one hundred house* being in the city, two of whicfi they burned; They broke into whieky stores and drank themselves into; a state of desperation. Some ran about the streets crying out " To hell with tbe Popo." Jhe polioe used buckshot freely, andTmasy of the rioters were severely wounded. At night the mob made an attack -on a tavern kept by a Catholic named Duffy, which they wrecked after' overppwericg the police. In this affair a Chief of the Police, named Carr, was wounded, and a remarkable feature during all the days of rioting was the manner in which the women sad girls goaded men on to fight, offering them aprons full of fresh stones, and, when, entreaty failed, using savage threats. Females were actively engaged yin looting, too, and when Duffy's place, at wall as Mackenua's and MdClo—ey*sf Borne stores on York Btreet were wrecked, scores of women and children were employed all the time? the riot was going on carrying off wines aad liquors in jugs and buckets. Men, youths, and girls drank until they fell belple— in the gutters, the girls noting with greater fury during the orgie than men., After sacking various tavernp, the rioters fired them. A reporter on one of the daily papers gives it as his opinion that the mob was composedof the very scum of Belfast. j"I saw the fiends," he writes, "hurling rocks at toe gallant firemen, who were imperilling their lives in an attempt to pave dwellings from destruction. I saw a dozen ruffians, during the n ! gbt of the 10th, sneaking away from the wrecked and burning build—gs laden with loot. During the rows on the* 9th Messrs Gladstone and Parnell were both burned in effigy, and a dummy, labeUed "Home Bule," was also burned. At one time the situation became bo desperate that Mr Mathers, the local Orange leader, publicly deolared that unless the authorities did their duty he and thousands of Oratogemen would take "charge of the town. Mathers was on the point of carrying out his threat when the military appeared. Before this the mob drove a force of 160 police—en into the , barracks, and then attacked the building." The police fired, killing five persons. One barmaid who was looking out of a tavern window at the fighting and a widow with three cbildren r were shot. Several Protestant clergymen tried to disperse the', mob, but their efforts Were 4 unavailing. The mob continued firing stones while they were ape—ing, and one divine was bit by a missile in the face. At midnight on the 10th, a mob of Orangemen rushed a public-house kept by a Catholic named O'Haxa, and after sacking it, reduced it to ashes. The police were beaten back in this fight, and forced to take refuge in the barracks. Scores of rioters were wounded. It is known positively that six men and women were killed. Twenty rioters who receivedbullet' wounds were lying in one infirmary. Old officers say tbejr* never knew a mob to show gt«*ter. vicio—ness violence, pluck, and determination. Despite their desperation, the rioters hurled missiles with regularity and precision, aa if they had bee_"dfllled in stone-throwing. When the men in front had- exhausted their ammunition they would retire to receicw fxeah euppliee fro— the women, and | thus make way for their comrades with I new supplies. Some of the stoke thro wing was quite extraordinary. The better armed of the riotera carried what are called " Belfast kidneys," stones about Mm. long, a|in broad, and weighing on an average l*lb. There were many boys among the rioters, and they were as desperate and plucky as the men. Fighting with the police continued tin 10 »._.- ont&e 10th met., when two troops of dragoons galloped up to the vicinity of the Bower Hill poUce-station, followed by about 300 infantry. They had been under arms eleven hours. The mob then dispersed, and when they rallied again found the troops had cordoned all the streets around the barracks, finalising the impregnability of the police position, the rioters departed in see-, fciona, cursing the Pope, denouncing Home Bule and singing the "Orange Lily" and " Bule Britannia." The city was comparatively quiet on the afternoon of the 10th, and on the 12th Government put the districts terrorised by the mobs in the province of Ulster under martial law. People living in the neighborhood where the riotec ing began say that it was caused by the police, nnder % mistaken r impression, molesting and cudgelling some orderly workmen while they were leaving the foundry. According to this story tho populace got angry at the police for their cruel and unjustifiable conduct, and attempted to make them desist. When a conflict was imminent—so the story goes—the mob offered to behave if the police were with-" drawn, bnt not otherwise.

Mr Childcrs was asked by Dr. Cobain, MJ_ for Belfast,— the House on the 11th, if Government would take steps toplrosecuto the police who shot down the people of Belfast, and the reply, was that Government had the fullest confidence ia the Royal Irish Comrtebulary,* and was not informed that there had beenauy misconduct on their part.

Gallagher, who was shot at Lurgan, was a well-known local simpleton. Two men, named Haft and-Masoh, were arrested in Belfast for his murder. ' His fnneral tsbk place on the 10th, protected by 200 soldiers. Theproce—ion was jeered at by a mob of Catholico, and Andrew and Arthur Donnelly, leadrog Catholics, merchants, we*e, ; arrested, on June 9th, on a charge of firing from the— windows. Tbe mob wanted to lynch them. , Several riate wcurred in SUgo on tie] evening of June 18th, and quite a number of Protestants*"houses were wrecked, i The -trouble was originated by the residents, who were angry because somebody ■ had destroyed the rails surrounding the 1 Archbishop's palace. They gathered in thousands, and attacked the heat— s of the Protestants, and hooted and molested many persons. The windows of every house in which it was known that Protestants dwelt were smashed. The Country Club House, the Constitution Club, the Methodist Manse, the residence of the Congregational minister, and several chapels were attacked and wrecked. The Mayor, who is a Nation—lst, and a veral of the Magistrates penetrated to the front of the throng and tried to appease them, but | without avail. The Biot Act was then I read, and soldiers were ordered to clear the streets, which, they did at the point of the bayonet, and sixteen rioters were arrested. The Bey. Hugh Home, D D., Presbyterian minister of 8t Enoch'a Chnrcbi, ■Belfast, preached a aar_on c_ the evening of the 13th referring to the recentriofs. Ua B_id—" Government think Ulster will be ea_ly aubjected by a scditioua Parliament. It has signally failed in its estimate. The people of the north have effefc- i Uve me-oa of reaaateacej but the tir*« has not yet tome to employ them. T*V 8M »«w o« the seven Ticti—s who smxi cumbed but We__sday under tha nrak-' derous fire of Morley»s _ffli_a prp: sented a higher aad nobler type of character than does Mr Motley.'* The CathoSo clergy of Belfast, cm the 13t_, con* eritnlated their people on their pit—nee __ —rbca—ace under rjrovnku& 4_r*mstances, and urged them to continuel to keep the peace.