England -- Fiction; Strikes and lockouts -- Fiction
The officer was peremptory--officers generally are so in these
cases--and Sam was very foolish to resist. But that he was scared out of
his senses, he would probably not have resisted. It only made matters
worse; and the result was that he had the handcuffs clapped on. Fancy
Samuel Shuck, Esquire, in his crimson necktie with the lace ends, and
the peg-tops, being thus escorted through Daffodil's Delight, himself
and his hands prisoners, and a tail the length of the street streaming
after him! You could not have got into the police-court. Every avenue,
every inch of ground was occupied; for the men, both Unionists and
non-Unionists, were greatly excited, and came flocking in crowds to hear
the proceedings. The five men were placed at the bar--Shuck, Bennet,
Cheek, Ryan, and Strood: and Abel White and his bandaged head appeared
against them. The man gave his evidence. How he and others--but himself,
he thought, more particularly--had been met by a mob the previous night,
upon leaving work, a knot of the Society's men, who had first threatened
and then beaten him.
'Can you tell what their motive was for doing this?' asked the
magistrate.
'Yes, sir,' was the answer of White. 'It was because I went back to
work. I held out as long as I could, in obedience to the Trades' Union;
but I began to think I was in error, and that I ought to return to work;
which I did, a week or two ago. Since then, they have never let me
alone. They have talked to me, and threatened me, and persuaded me; but
I would not listen: and last night they attacked me.'
'What were the threats they used last night?'
'It was one man did most of the talking: a tall man in a cap and
comforter, sir. The rest of the crowd abused me and called me names; but
they did not utter any particular threat. This man said, Would I
promise and swear not to do any more work in defiance of the Union; or
else I should get every bone in my body smashed. He told me to remember
how Baxendale had been served, and was lying with his ribs stove in. I
refused; I would not swear; I said I would never belong to the Union
again. And then he struck me.'
'Where did he strike you?'
'Here,' putting his hand up to his forehead. 'The first blow staggered
me, and took away my sight, and the second blow knocked me down. Half a
dozen set upon me then, hitting and kicking me: the first man kicked me
also.'
'Can you swear to that first man?'
'No, I can't, sir. I think he was disguised.'
'Was it the prisoner, Shuck?'
White shook his head. 'It was just his height and figure, sir, but I
can't be sure that it was him. His face was partially covered, and it
was nearly dark, besides; there are no lights about, just there. The
voice, too, seemed disguised: I said so at the time.'
'Can you swear to the others?'
'Yes, to all four of them,' said White, stoutly. 'They were not
disguised at all, and I saw them after the light came, and knew their
voices. They helped to beat me after I was on the ground.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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