HOOLIGAN GANGS IN GLAS GOW

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8288, 17 September 1903, Page 4

HOOLIGAN GANGS IN GLAS GOW

It is only very rarely that a case of Hooliganism finds its way into the newspapers,. for th« simple reason that few cases appear in the Police Courts (says the Glasgow People's Journal). But it must not be inferred from this that Hooliganism is a rare form of crime in Glasgow. On the contrary, it is far more common than is generally believed to be the case, not, only in the Southern, but in other districts of the city, not so much through lack of police vigilance as through want of additional officers. That, in sliort, is the crux of the whole question. In conversation with a number of leading police officials in Glasgow, a Journal correspondent learns that not a day passes but complaints of Hooliganism are lodged at the police stations. The victims are not only men, but women, and the rough treatment to which some of them are subjected shows what desperate characters some of the Hooligans are, and how imperative it is that they should be laid by the heels and severely dealt with by the magistrates or the sheriffs. .

"Within the past few weeks numerous complaints have been mado at the Southern Police Office by respectable citizens, many of whom are becoming positively afraid to venture along thoroughfares near the riverside after dark lest they may be pounced upon by those pestes of society, thrown violently to the ground, and perhaps divested of any valuables they may possess. In broad daylight a few days ago a sailor was attacked in the district by three young ruffians, who, after severely injuring him—necessitating his removal to the Victorian infirmary—made off with liis watch and chain, and have not been captured yetAbout the same date a respectable woman was brutally assaulted while passing along one of the river thoroughfares. When she resented the interference of the Hooligans, one of them raised his foot and gave her a forcibly-administered kick on the leg. Similar assaults are taking place almost nightly in other parts of the city, and in many cases the victims never report them to the police authorities at all for fear they might be "spotted"' and waylaid and maltreated at some future time. In the course of his inquiries our correspondent had several cases brought under his notice in which respectable citizens were set upon in leading thoroughfares by gangs of ruffianly youths and handled in the most brutal fashion. Tn one instance a gentleman of good position had liis eye blackened and a tooth knocked out, and in another a medical student had his nose almost, broken. Neither of these reported the matter to the police-, as they did not wish their names to get into the newspapers in case some of their "•uncharitable acquaintances" might see them and insinuate that they (the victims) must have been under the influence- of liquor when they were attacked—a view which is too often entertained wiien it has not the slightest foundation in fact. But although there is a Hooligan revival in the city at present, it should be pointed out that tiiere were times when it was even a greater terror. The slum properties which formerly stood in the heart of Glasgow were the happy hunting-ground of gangs of Hooligans. Probably one of tile notorious was the "Kelly Gang,'" named after the Australian bushranger of that ilk. They prowled about the streets after dark, and woe betide tile lsapless individual who was unfortunate enough to fall inco their clutc-his, for they not only robb-:d him —a process usually accompanied by garrotting—but in many instances they almost murdered him. In the carrying out of their nefarious work the male members of such gangs were assisted by female accomplices who acted as decoys. There were two gangs in particular who, during their brief existence, created quite a reign of terror in the central and northeastern portions of the city. These were "ihe Muldoons" and "The Penny Mob." The former gang was started about a quarter of a century ago, and ihe latter soine years earlier. Their respective aims were to uphold the causes ot Catholicism and Protestantism. The humor cf the thing was that the members of both gangs were, generally speaking, youthful ruffians, who were hopelessly destitute of religion of any description. "The headquarters of "The Muldoons" was in the recently-demolished notorious "Pigge Close," which ran from the 'High street, to the Rottenrow ; • and those of "The Penny Mob" near the head of the High street. In the_ numerous Chinese puzzle-like courtyards that abounded in the district- the leaders of the gangs held solemn conclave and formed their plans ot" campaign. Each of the members wore great leather belts with brass and copper buckles, and manv of the more desp.-race were armed with" knuckle-dusters —iron instruments

which Were- fitted on the fingers. Xo sooner had the dusk of the evening- se; in than the gangs would sally forth from their respective" headquarters and await each other at the Bc!i-o'-the-Bras—the scene of s:> many historic scrimmages in days gone by. When "the enemy" did no: put in an appearance. law-abiding citizens passing the streets were molested. The members of "Tke Muklooris," for instance, would stop a man and asked him in the most peremptorily manner, "Are you a Billy or a Dan'.'" Before the luckless individual had time to r-.aii-> tiic- meaning of the question he would probably be knocked down and kicked, '■'t'he Penny Mtb*' acted similarly, and for .-everr.l years tiie reign of tenor was so great that Tespectable.people were positively afraid to walk up and down the High street and adjacent thoroughfares after dark. Now it is tilts very class who, having, as a re-salt of the City Improvement Trusts operations, been compelk-d to migrate to other jxirto of tiie town, arc responsible f::r much of the Hooliganism that sull abounds. The slum clearances in tiie heart of the city drcvu those who resided in tiiem to other districts, which are rapidly developing into slums worse than some of those that were abolished. This is particularly the case in the Southern Division, wiiere at the present time Hooliganism is most rampant. _ That the authorities .will liave to dea firmly with Hooligans goes without saying, if the citizens art-" to enjoy immunity from tuffianly interference. It has been suggested by a leading police official that the best way to stamp out Hooliganism would be bv giving those found guilty of that- form of crime a touch of the birch. "In this way." he added, "they would be paid back in their own coin."