New York Herald - Wednesday, May 22, 1895

The HERALD'S European edition publishes to-day the following from its correspondent:

LONDON. May 21, 1895. The Marquis of Queensberry will to-morrow morning, for the second time in the last three months, appear in the police court. This time, however, he will be attended by his eldest son. Lord Douglas of Lowick. Both father and son are charged with disorderly conduct.

As to the events which led to this unpleasant conclusion rumors of the most erratic character have been floating around the London clubs tonight, no two stories agreeing in detail.

I am able, however, from the testimony of a disinterested eye witness to give the exact facts as they will be revealed before the magistrate tomorrow.

A WORD AND A BLOW.

About a quarter past five this evening Lord Queensberry crossed over Piccadilly in the direction of Albemarle street, where his hotel is situated. As he reached the corner of the latter street and the Piccadilly he was met by his son, who appeared to be in an excited condition, and apparently without any preliminary beyond asking his father how he dared send insulting letters to Lady Douglas, pushed rather than struck the elder man. The latter was staggered somewhat, and his hat fell off, but recovering himself, he struck out at his son.

At this juncture a policeman appeared on the scene, and putting his arm between the two, requested them both to refrain from making a scene.

Lord Douglas, however, in returning his father's blow, struck the policeman violently in the mouth, though, of course, only accidentally.

After a short discussion the gentleman in blue somewhat wisely retired from the scene, but the combatants, a few yards further along Piccadilly, resumed their verbal altercation and eventually came again to actual blows.

WHERE SCIENCE TOLD.

In short, in the sharp encounter which followed the author of the Queensberry rules put his pugilistic theories into practice, and, when the police, who had by this time re-appeared, separated them, Lord Douglas of Hawick was the possessor of a scientifically discolored eye. Both representatives of the noble house of Douglas were then incontinently marched off to t h e Vine street police station, where a charge of disorderly conduct was preferred against them. As they were perfectly well known they were allowed to depart when they had entered into their own recognizances to the sum of £2 to appear in court to-morrow morning.

LORD QUEENSBERRY'S STATEMENT.

These are the facts of the actual encounter. As to the preliminary matters which led thereto I cannot do better than quote Lord Queensberry himself, whom I saw this evening and whose account of the occurrence, by the way, tallies perfectly with the above:

"I should like, first of all," said he, "to impress upon you that, as I shall have an opportunity of putting upon record to-morrow morning, l was not the aggressor. I had Just returned from the Old Bailey, where I had heard the jury find Taylor guilty, and had sent away my cab opposite St. James' palace. I then walked up St. James' street and was crossing over to Albemarle street, when, by a coincidence which seems almost fateful, I saw my son some hundred yards away.

"He caught sight of me at the same time, and at once charged down upon me; and after a few angry words, attempted to assault me. Even after we were first separated by the police my son was for a second time the aggressor.

"However, this is a matter which I suppose I shall have to explain to the satisfaction of the magistrate to-morrow morning.

"As to the reason of this attack by my son, I can only imagine that he was annoyed by the events of the day and felt foolishly exasperated against me.

MEANT AS A JOKE.

"As to the letter which he accused me of sending to his wife, that was on my part in the nature of a joke. I was struck with a certain resemblance lurking in this picture," and the Marquis held up to my view a drawing from one of the weekly illustrated papers depicting a huge iguanodon as it is supposed to have appeared to its prehistoric contemporaries. There was a touch of the humorous about the plelocene beast's attitude, and the Marquis could not refrain from chuckling as he drew my attention to it.

"I sent a copy of the picture." He continued, "to my son's wife, indorsing it, as well as I remember, as a possible, ancestor of Oscar Wilde, and intending it more as a good natured joke than anything else.

"Of course I regard this evening's affair as very painful, from one point of view, but from another I am rather glad of it. There has been bad blood between my son and myself for some time, and I think this encounter may have probably let some of it out. At all events I feel more kindly disposed toward him than I have been for some years past, and I think very possibly he may think all the better of me."

And I left the Marquis chuckling anew over his comic picture of the iguanodon.

The New York Herald (European Edition) - Wednesday, May 22, 1895

London, May 22. — This morning the Marquis of Queensberry will for the second time in the last three months appear in a police-court. This time, however, he will be attended by his eldest son, Lord Douglas of Hawick, both father and son being charged with disorderly conduct.

As to the events which led to this unpleasant conclusion rumors of the most erratic character were floating around the London clubs last night, no two of the stories agreeing in detail. I am able, however, from the testimony of a disinterested eye-witness to give the exact facts as they will be revealed before the magistrate this morning.

INSULTING LETTERS AGAIN.

At about a quarter-past five last evening Lord Queensberry crossed over Piccadilly in the direction of Albemarle-street, where his hotel is situated. As he reached the corner of the latter street and Piccadilly he was met by his son, Lord Douglas of Hawick, who appeared to be in an excited condition and who apparently, without any preliminary beyond asking his father how be dared to send insulting letters to Lady Douglas, pushed rather than struck the elder man.

The latter staggered somewhat and his hat fell off, but recovering himself almost instantly he struck out at his son. At this juncture a policeman appeared upon the scene and putting his arm between the two requested them both to refrain from making a scene.

LORD DOUGLAS STRIKES THE POLICEMAN.

Lord Douglas, however, in returning his father's blow struck the policeman violently on the mouth, though of course only accidentally. After a short discussion the gentleman in blue somewhat wisely retired from the scene, but the combatants, a few yards further along Piccadilly, resumed their verbal altercation and eventually came again to actual blows.

In the short but sharp encounter which followed the author of the Queensberry rules put his pugilistic theories into practice, and when the police, who by this time had reappeared, separated them, Lord Douglas of Hawick was the possessor of a scientifically discolored eye.

TAKEN TO THE POLICE STATION.

Both representatives of the house of Douglas were then incontinentally marched off to the Vine Street Police Station, where a charge of disorderly conduct was preferred against them by the constable and entered on the charge sheet by the sergeant in charge of the station.

As they were perfectly well known they were allowed to depart when they had entered into their own recognizances in the sum of £2 to appear in court this morning.

These are the facts of the actual encounter. As to the preliminary matters which led thereto, I cannot do better than quote Lord Queensberry himself, whom I saw in the evening, and whose account of the occurrence, by the way, tallies perfectly well with the above.

LORD QUEENSBERRY'S SPEAKS OUT.

"I should like, first of all," said he, "to impress upon you that, as I shall have an opportunity of putting upon record tomorrow morning, I was not the aggressor. I had just returned from the Old Bailey, where I heard the jury find Taylor guilty, and had sent away my cab opposite St. James's Palace.

"I then walked up St. James's-street and was crossing over to Albemarle-Street, when, by a coincidence which seems almost fateful, I saw my son some hundred yards away. He caught sight of me at the same time and at once charged down upon me and after a few angry words attempted to assault me.

"Even after we were first separated by the police my son was for the second time the aggressor. However, this is a matter which I suppose I shall have to explain to the satisfaction of the magistrate to-morrow morning.

WHAT LED TO THE CONFLICT.

"As to the reason for this attack by my son, I can only imagine that he was annoyed by the events of the day and felt foolishly exasperated against me. As to the letter which he accused me of sending to his wife, that was on my part in the nature of a joke.

"I was struck with a certain resemblance lurking in this picture," and the marquis held up my view a drawing from one of the weekly illustrated papers depicting a huge iguanodon as it is supposed to have appeared to its prehistoric contemporaries. There was a distinct touch of the humorous about the dinosaurian's attitude, and the marquis could not refrain from chuckling as he drew my attention to it. "I sent a copy of the picture," he continued, "to my son's wife, endorsing it as well as I remember 'a possible ancestor of Oscar Wilde' and intending it more as a good-natured joke than anything else.

BAD BLOOD FOR SOME TIME.

"Of course I regard this evening's affair as very painful from one point of view, but from another I am rather glad of it. There has been bad blood between my son and myself for some time, and I think this encounter has probably let some of it out. At all events I feel more kindly disposed towards him than I have been for some years past, and I think very possibly he may think all the better of me."

And I left the marquis chuckling anew over this comic picture of the iguanodon.

Highlighted DifferencesMatch: 87.5%