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The fineness of the weather on Sunday last induced many thousands of persons to snake trips by rail and water, and on the Blackwell Railway at night there was a complete congestion of passengers returning to Lon- don. The carriages and general arrangements were utterly unfitted to cope with the thousands of puwengers clamouring for conveyance : there were crowding, fighting, tearing of clothes, and fainting among the people at Blackwell station ; and at Stepney junction the confusion was terrible, the station there being much too s lt for the Sunday traffic. Mr. James Anderton, the Common Councilman, attended at the Man- sionhouse on Tuesday, to complain of the excessive crowding of river steam-boats : unless something be done to check it, disastrous consequences may be expected. An act was passed recently to meet the evil ; but it would seem that no steps have been taken to carry it out by appointing an officer to watch the boats. Alderman Wilson and the Lord Mayor promised to see to the matter ; and Alderman Wilson will bring it before the Court of Aldermen next week. This week there has been a warm campaign against publishers for not se iding copies of works to the British Museum. Fines of varying amount were inflicted. The booksellers all treated the matter as a grievance, though some made better excuses than others : one recommended the whole trade to refuse to send books, and thus attempt to put an end to what they think little better than robbery.
A long investigation into an assault on Storey, a detective Policeman, by a number of brokers' clerks, was brought to a close at the Mansionhouse on Saturday. Storey had tried to force his way into the Stock Exchange to arrest a delinquent ; the clerks made a great uproar, hustled him, and pre- vented him from effecting his object ; even an application to the Secretary did not obtain him civil treatmeut. The answer on the part of the clerks was, that the hustling was only a " lark" ; and that Storey had entered unceremoniously, and used gross language. Storey's solicitor offered to aban- don the charges if an apology were made ; and the clerks consented. Alder- man Wire intimated that they were wise in taking advantage of the offer; and he expressed a hope that in future such violent practices would be dis- continued at the Stock Exchange.
Attacks Upon the Police by "Irish savages" living in low localities are constantly recurring items of the daily Police-reports. An instance occurred at Clerkenwell Police Office on Monday. Two fellows were sent to prison for violently assaulting two constables who attempted to put an end to a dis- turbance in Middlesex Place, Somers' Town. Sergeant Wilkes stated, that such was the atrocious feeling against the Police in Middlesex Place, that if an officer ventured alone into the locality he was in danger of being murdered. Mr. Corrie, the Magistrate, declared his intention to endeavour to put an end to this reign of terror, by sending all future cases for trial at the Sessions.
It may be recollected, that some fourteen months back a number of Irish labourers employed in the gas-works at Vauxhall Walk killed Policeman Chaplin ; several men were convicted of manslaughter, and sentenced to be transported. Since that time the gas-work labourers have evinced a fierce hatred of the Police, so that it is perilous for a constable to be seen alone in the neighbourhood at night, and they generally go in couples to protect each other. On Saturday night a second brutal outrage took place. In conse- quence of a quarrel or fight among some of the labourers and their wives, Policeman Oakes interposed; he was alone, and immediately the Irish forgot their own squabble to attack one of the hated constables. Oakes was knocked down, beaten, kicked, and jumped upon, so that three ribs were frac- tured, the spine was hurt, and he was much bruised. A second officer who came up laid about him with such vigour that he broke his staff to pieces on the heads of the cowardly ruffians; and eventually more officers arrived, and Oakes was rescued. On the Sunday night there were further disturbances in the same neighbourhood.
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