THE GREAT RIOT IN WALES.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume 13, Issue 1076, 20 August 1869, Page 3

THE GREAT RIOT IN WALES.

(From "Lloyds' Weekly Paper.")

The following details of the terrible riot at Mold, Flintshire, appeared in our later editions of last week. The circumstances which preceded the riot are these : — The underground manager, of the Leeswood Cannel and Gas Coal company, Mr. John Young, gave offence to the Welsh colliers, who charged him with favouring some halfdozen English colliers, by giving them easy stalls to work. It was further said that he had spoken disrespectfully of the Welsh colliers as a body , and that he, being an Englishman, had oppressed them by refusing them proper timbers for the roofs, and that he was instrumental in effecting a re duction in their wages. Notice of a reduction for turning out " dirty cannel " took effect on the 17th May, and on the 19th Mr. Young received a very short notice to quit, according to a custom peculiar to the district. He would not go, and was summarily ejected from the works with considerable violence. He was conducted to the nearest railway station, and his goods were packed up and sent after him. He, however, placed himself under the protection of the police, and took good care to keep out of the way of his enemies till justice could be done. On Wednesday eight colliers were charged on remand with assaulting him, and .the two ringleaders in this proceeding, Ishmael Jones and John Jones, were convicted and sentenced to one month's imprisonment. The other six were liberated on paying fines of £1 and 10s respectively, with costs. Herein lay the cause, if such it could be called, of the disturbance., The friends of ..those who sympathised with the convicted colliers considered that a fine in each case would have been sufficient, and they were indignant when they heard that two of the offenders were to be sent to the county prison. It was five when the case terminated, it having lusted nearly six hours. At 7"15 the train was due which was to convey the prisoners to Flint, and the crowd, knowing this, lingered about the county hall till within about ten minutes of the time. A company of the 2nd battalion of the 4th King!s Own which laad been in barracks all day, having come from Chester in the morning, under the. command of Capt. Blake, and numberiug 50 men, were then, marched out, and as they, passed by the hall, the police, under Captain Brown, fell '.in at the rear In the centre of a posse of 30 of the latter were the prisoners, in charge of Inspector Hughes, Lockwood, and other officers. The escort had scarcely got through the gates from the green when stones were thrown as they commenced their march of about 200 yards down a slight declivity to the railway station. On their right, extending along the line of march to the back of the station, was, a high bank, formed by a new road, where loose pebbles were plentiful. On the left was the railway, the bridge over the cutting of the new Mold and Denbigh branch line, with its rising ascent, affording, "unfortunately, another vantage ground to the rioters, who had here also, within easy reach, a mound of rubbish, supplying missiles. From both sides stones were thrown in volleys by the mob, which, numbered not fewer than 2000 men, women, and boys. The women picked up large pebbles in their aprons, and supplied the colliers, so that they were able to keep up, which they . did, an. incessant shower of stones. An accident favored the assailants. The little wicket gate to the railway platform was closed in anticipation of a rush, and the escort had tv enter from a recess through a. side dooiv. They could not readily do this, and fell into confusion, and for several seconds were exposed to v a most merciless pelting of stones and. pebbles. To the honor of the 4tb (King's Own), they never in the midst of this quailed for an instant. Cheered on and urged to forbear by their officers, they tried to get shelter, heedless of the injuries they received. Equally courageous were the police, . and equally obedient to their chief. Not knowing what had been done with the prisoners, the mob seemed baffled for a few minutes. Inspector Hughes had fallen bleeding to the ground, but Lockwood, the other inspector, never relinquished his grasp of the prisoners, and hurried them into the telegraph office. As "far as a spectator at some distance could see, it was this which caused the building to be riddled with stones, to the : imminent danger of the soldiers and police .inside. The fulf force of the attack at one time' was experienced there. Not a bit of glass was left in any of the window sashes, and the panels of the door and the panes in the £i(Jes. of the desk were broken, but the telegraph dial and works were uninjured. '.J^t/was not. .till .the mob threatened to surround the station that Mr. Clough, J.P., who was in the brake-van of the train, recuracnended that a defence should be made. Even then Captain Blake was reluctant to order the men. to fire. The Riot Act had not been read, and the rioters seemed to be proceeding with impunity, One man after another,, first, a policeman and then a r s6ldier, escaped into the station covered

with -blood, and the soldiers became half frantic. At last— whether with or without authority is not known— one of them fired tbroiigh the front window of the telegraph office, and.a young man fell, whether wounded or dead we. cannot say. This caused the most'active of the rioters to retire, but still stones came thick and fast, breaking the windows of the carriages of the train in waiting, and doing other damage. The soldiers continued to fire for some 10 mm* utes. Meanwhile the train was moved out of the station; the prisoners being in safe custody. Then, having room to mano&uvre, the men discontinued firing, and fell into line. No regular volley had been fired, and only in one instancej where a man was shot down with a stone in bis hand, did it appear that < the soldiers were taking aim. As soon as the military were faced about, the Riot Act was read by Mr. C. B. Tre-vor-Roper. The mob then fled in all directions, and the disturbance was virtually quelled* The list of killed and wounded, so far as at preienfiascertained, is as follows :»»

A youth natntid Hanaby, of Tryddyn, shot dead, the bullet having lodged in the groin, after entering the cheek. The deceased had a stone in his hand when found.

Edward Bellis, .of Tryddyn. Shot through the abdomen. He died shortly after at Pontblyddyn.

Margaret Young, aged. about IQ, shot through the chest. The deceased, left off cleaning a chapel to see the riot. Elizabeth, the wife of Isaac Jones, of Coed Talon, shot through the body; aged 50.

Charles Keene, moulder, Mold, shot through the shoulder blade, and not expected to recover.

Captain Blake, 4th King's Own, cut about the Head and face severely. Lieut. Williams, ditto, bruises and contusions, slightly.

Mr. Peter Brown, chief constable, bruised and cut on the arm, slightly.

■Private Tipper, seriously wounded in the head. He was taken out of the telegraph office insensible. Private Carroll, cut and wounded. His regimentals were destroyed. In addition to these there are 20 other persons less seriously hurt, and of the police 12 are wounded.

About half-past 10 a reserve of 100 men, telegraphed for from Chester-castle, arrived and marched to the Market-hall. They remained there all night.

An inquest on the bodies of the three persons killed in these riots was formally opened on Thursday afternoon, before Mr. Parry, coroner, but was at once adjourned, and was re-opened on Friday morning. The witnesses examined were Inspector Hughes, of Mold, Mr. J. W. Linnett, reporter to the Chester Chronicle, Captain and Adjutant Lake, of the Mint Militia, Dr. Williams and Mr. Platt, the two latter giving the result of the post mortem examination they had made on the bodies. The coroner, citing the opinion of Sir Matthew Hale, said that after the military and police had been stoned so severely, they were justified in defending themselves, and in firing, even though the Riot Act had not been read. The jury have come to the unanimous conclusion that Young, Biillis, and Hannaby met with their deaths through justifiable homicide, caused by the crowd making a reckless and outrageous attack upon her majesty's soldiers with unlawful missiles, and the jury beg to express their sympathy with the military and police under Captain Blake and Mr. P. Browne respectively, who forbore for so long a time from doing what they eventually did.