THE ARM OF THE LAW.
That was a sad night at Stokebridge. Seven of the lads were terribly
injured, and in two cases the doctors gave no hope of recovery. Thirteen
of the other party were also grievously hurt by the blows of the
pitmen's helves, some had limbs broken, and three lay unconscious all
night. Most of the boys had scalp wounds, inflicted by stones or sticks,
which required dressing. Worst of all was the news that among the
twenty-five uninjured prisoners were eight who belonged to Stokebridge,
besides five among the wounded.
Very few in the village closed an eye that night. Mothers went down and
implored the pitmen on guard to release their sons, but the pitmen were
firm; moreover Mr. Brook as a magistrate had placed the two constables
of the place at the door, with the strictest order to allow none of the
prisoners to escape. The six o'clock train brought twenty policemen from
Birmingham, and these at once took charge of the schoolhouse, and
relieved the pitmen of their charge. The working of the mine was
suspended for the day, and large numbers of visitors poured into the
place. So desperate a riot had never occurred in that neighbourhood
before, for even the attack upon the machinery of the mine was
considered a less serious affair than this.
Not only did curiosity to learn the facts of the case attract a crowd of
visitors, but there were many people who came from the pit villages near
to inquire after missing husbands and sons, and loud were the wailings
of women when it was found that these were either prisoners or were
lying injured in the temporary hospital.
Strangers entering the village would have supposed that a great
explosion had taken place in some neighbouring pit. Blinds were down,
women stood at the doors with their aprons to their eyes, children went
about in an awed and silent way, as if afraid of the sound of their own
voice, many of the young men and lads had their heads enveloped in
surgical bandages, and a strange and unnatural calm pervaded the
village. The "Chequers" and other public-houses, however, did a roaring
trade, for the sight-seer in the black country is the thirstiest of men.
It was soon known that the magistrates would sit at Mr. Brook's at one
o'clock, and a policeman went round the village with a list of names
given him by Mr. Dodgson, to summon witnesses to attend. Jack Simpson
had strongly urged that his name might not be included, in the first
place because above all things he hated being put forward, and in the
second, as he pointed out to the schoolmaster, it might excite a feeling
against him, and hinder his power for good, if he, the leader of the
young men, was to appear as a witness against the elders, especially as
among the prisoners was Tom Walker, with whom he had fought. As Jack
could give no more testimony than his companions, and as generally it
was considered an important and responsible privilege to appear as
witness, Mr. Dodgson omitted Jack's name from the list.
There was some groaning in the crowd when the uninjured prisoners were
marched out under escort of the police, for the attack upon young women
was so contrary to all the traditions of the country that the liveliest
indignation prevailed against all concerned in it. The marquee used the
night before for the theatricals had been hastily converted into a
justice room. At a table sat Mr. Brook with four other magistrates, with
a clerk to take notes; the prisoners were ranged in a space railed off
for the purpose, and the general public filled the rest of the space.
Jane Haden was the first witness called. She gave her evidence clearly,
but with an evident wish to screen some of the accused, and was once or
twice sharply reproved by the bench. She could not say who were among
the men she saw gathered, nor recognize any of those who had used the
threatening expressions which had so alarmed her that she went round to
arouse the elder men, and then ran off to warn the returning party.
"Mrs. Haden," Sir John Butler, who was the chairman of the magistrates,
said, "very great praise is due to you for your quickness and decision;
had it not been for this there can be no doubt that the riot would have
led to results even more disastrous than those which have taken place.
At the same time it is the feeling of the court that you are now trying
to screen the accused, for it can hardly be, that passing so close you
could fail to recognize some of those whom you heard speak."
Mr. Dodgson then gave his evidence, as did several of the lads, who
proved the share that the accused had taken in the fray, and that they
were captured on the spot; while two of the pitmen proved that when they
arrived upon the spot a desperate riot was going on, and that they
joined in the fray to assist the party attacked.
The examination lasted for four hours, at the end of which the whole of
the prisoners were remanded to prison, the case being adjourned for two
days.
Before these were passed, both the lads whose cases had been thought
hopeless from the first, died, and the matter assumed even a more
serious appearance. Before the next hearing several of the prisoners
offered to turn king's evidence, and stated that they had been incited
by the young women at the feast.
Great excitement was caused in the village when ten or twelve young
women were served with warrants to appear on the following day. They
were placed in the dock with the other prisoners, but no direct evidence
was taken against them. The number of the accused were further swelled
by two men belonging to other villages, who had been arrested on the
sworn evidence of some of the lads that they had been active in the
fray.
At the conclusion of the case the whole of the male prisoners were
committed for trial on the charges of manslaughter and riot. After these
had been removed in custody, Sir John Butler addressed a severe
admonition to the women.
It had, he said, been decided not to press the charge against them of
inciting to riot, but that they had used expressions calculated to stir
the men up to their foul and dastardly attack upon a number of young
women and girls there could be no doubt. The magistrates, however, had
decided to discharge them, and hoped that the inward reproach which they
could not but feel at having a hand in this disgraceful and fatal
outrage would be a lesson to them through life.
Trembling and abashed, the women made their way home, many of the crowd
hissing them as they passed along.
When, six weeks later, the assizes were held, four of the prisoners,
including Tom Walker, who was proved to be the leader, were sentenced to
seven years penal servitude. Ten men had terms of imprisonment varying
from two to five years, and the rest were let off with sentences of from
six to eighteen months.
Very long did the remembrance of "The Black Feast," as it came to be
called, linger in the memories of the people of Stokebridge and the
surrounding district. Great as was the grief and suffering caused alike
to the friends of those injured and of those upon whom fell punishment
and disgrace, the ultimate effect of the riot was, however, most
beneficial to Stokebridge. Many of the young men who had most strongly
opposed and derided the efforts of their juniors to improve themselves,
were now removed, for in addition to those captured and sentenced,
several of those who had taken part in the riot hastily left the place
upon the following day, fearing arrest and punishment for their share in
the night's proceedings. Few of them returned after the conclusion of
the trial, nor did the prisoners after the termination of their
sentences, for the feeling against them in the district was so strong
that they preferred obtaining work in distant parts of the country.
A similar effect was produced upon the young women. The narrow escape
which they had had of being sent to prison, the disgrace of being
arrested and publicly censured, the averted looks of their neighbours,
and the removal from the place of the young men with whom they had been
used to associate, combined to produce a great effect upon them.
Some profited by the lesson and adapted themselves to the altered ways
of the place; others, after trying to brave it out, left Stokebridge and
obtained employment in the factories of Birmingham; while others again,
previously engaged to some of the young men who had left the village,
were sooner or later married to them, and were heard of no more in
Stokebridge.
This removal by one means or another of some forty or fifty of the young
men and women of the place most opposed to the spirit of improvement,
produced an excellent effect. Other miners came of course to the village
to take the places of those who had left, but as Mr. Brook instructed
his manager to fill up the vacant stalls as far as possible with
middle-aged men with families, and not with young men, the new-comers
were not an element of disturbance.
The price of coal was at this time high, and Mr. Brook informed the
clergyman that, as he was drawing a larger income than usual from the
mines, he was willing to give a sum for any purpose which he might
recommend as generally useful to the families of his work-people. The
vicar as usual consulted his valued assistants the Dodgsons, and after
much deliberation it was agreed that if a building were to be erected
the lower story of which should be fitted up as a laundry and wash-house
upon the plan which was then being introduced in some large towns, it
would be an immense boon to the place. The upper story was to be
furnished as a reading-room with a few papers and a small library of
useful and entertaining books for reading upon the spot or lending.
Plans were obtained and estimates given, and Mr. Brook expressed his
willingness to contribute the sum of eighteen hundred pounds for which a
contractor offered to complete the work.