Worthing 1894 - A Skeleton Army Rampage.

The Rival Armies.

The Salvation Army began as the East London Christian Mission which was setup in Whitechapel, London in 1865 by William and Catherine Booth, after a reorganisation in 1878 it became The Salvation Army, with William Booth as it's first General. They built the organisation on quasi military lines with uniforms, a rank system and a flag, they also strictly adhered to the teachings of the protestant Bible.

The Salvation Army was to bring succour to the populace with the slogan Soup, Soap, Salvation! They soon gained support for their work and had several wealthy donors. Salvation Halls sprang up all over the country, spreading the word and helping the poor and destitute. They were very conspicuous in their uniforms, marching bands and outdoor gatherings.

The Skeleton Army began around 1881 in either Exeter or Weston Super Mare, in other parts of Britain they were known variously as The Unconverted Salvation Army or The Opposition Salvation Army, but by the end of 1882 the groups were commonly known as The Skeleton Army. 

In a parody of the Salvationist slogan "Soup, Soap, Salvation" the Skeletons put forth "Beef, Beer, 'Bacca." They also changed the Salvationist statement "Blood and Fire" to "Blood and Thunder."

Trouble Brewing.

The root of the trouble began a month prior to the riot, as the West Sussex County Times explains on the 12th July 1884;

"The usual quietude of our streets on Sundays has of late been sadly disturbed by the unwise determination on the part of The Salvation Army at Worthing to indulge in outdoor manifestations. When they first 'commenced business' here they refrained, at the urgent wish of the authorities, from parading, with noise and clamour, in our public thoroughfares; and their determination in this respect gained them considerable support and goodwill. 

Latterly however, we are sorry to say, other counsels have prevailed, and on Sundays and week days alike, a few misguided boys and girls have been the occasion of disgraceful scenes, which not unlikely may lead ere long to a serious breach of the peace. 

The result of a handful of persons marching through the streets carrying a banner, bawling at the top of their voices, has been the formation of a rival organisation, who also carry banners and bawl more lustily still. The police have set upon this latter body, and some who have taken no part whatever on either side have complained of being attacked by them.

For some hours last Sunday our streets were in a disgraceful state of disorder, and there were several encounters with the police. A meeting in regard to the matter was since held. A resolution was called to the Directors of Montague Hall to discontinue letting their hall to The Salvation Army. This was carried unanimously, as was also a further motion proposed by Mr Spinks, draper, that the Salvationists be respectfully requested to discontinue their Sunday processions. If this was done then the Skeleton Army would cease to exist."

A week later more trouble flared up when an outdoor Salvationist meeting was surrounded by Skeletons and a fight broke out, one man, a local tradesman and Salvationist, was roughed up and the Salvation Army flag was torn down and ripped.

Later that afternoon the Skeleton Army marched, in the front were two men carrying sticks, behind them a couple of banners were held up saying "Worthing Excelsior Skeleton Club," and "Long Live The Queen." They sang a song that went, "We'll fight beneath our colours till we die, And drop on old ..... (the name of the tradesman roughed up that morning) by and bye." The police did not interfere.

Just as the procession was breaking up a young Salvationist was seen leaving Montague Hall, he was quickly surrounded by the mob, he fell to his knees in prayer and was saved by an old man who took pity on him.

The roughed up Salvationist tradesman tried to take the Skeletons to task and a summons was applied for. Unfortunately for him the magistrates came to the conclusion that The Salvation Army brought the trouble on themselves, saying, "It is a desecration of the Sabbath, and you provoke this riotous behaviour." The tradesman left empty handed.

Riot!

And so it was for the next few weeks, an uneasy truce, with the Salvationists keeping to their barracks. But it couldn't last, the Salvation Army would not be silenced! A procession was planned for the next Sunday and the Skeletons were ready.

On the Sunday morning the Salvationists marched through the town singing hymns and making for Montague Hall, a large flag bearing the legend "Blood And Fire" led the way. Opposing them came the Skeletons with a banner showing a white skeleton on a black background, following the Skeletons was a huge crowd, their yelling and shouting drowned out the Salvationist hymns.

Turning into Montague Street the Salvationist procession encountered a vast dense crowd, the police were now out in great numbers and were trying to afford safe passage for the marchers. At his point the Skeletons surged forward and rushed the Salvationists, the police were caught off guard and pandemonium broke out.

The police faced a tide of violence, helmets were knocked off and officers punched and kicked, the Skeleton banner was almost taken by the police but it was wrested back with great force. But the Skeletons did not have it all their own way, truncheons found their mark and fists were flying on both sides.

The Salvation Army saw their chance and ran for Montague Hall, and thus escaped serious injury, leaving, as the Midhurst and Steyning Express (19th August) said, "the police to fight the battle they themselves provoked."

All of those arrested were taken to the police station to the great excitement of the crowd, it was generally believed that if the Salvationists carried on marching on a Sunday the trouble would get worse.

Following on from the fight on Sunday the Skeletons were out again on the Tuesday, at midnight. They assembled in front of the premises of George Head, who was an ironmonger of Montague Street and a leading member of the Salvation Army.

At first they threw stones and broke his windows, realising there was no police activity occurring they got bolder, smashing their way into the shop they destroyed everything they could find, almost all of the poor man's stock was damaged.

Eventually Mr Head made an appearance armed with a spade, but he was hopelessly outnumbered and he was driven back. Undeterred Head then reappeared armed with a revolver and proceeded to fire seve shots into the crowd wounding several men, one grazed a Mr Eldridge in the face, and another hit Zulu War veteran Arthur Read, who was shot through the hand. 

Head later said he fired over their heads to frighten them but a cry rang out and he realised he had hit someone, fortunately he didn't kill anyone, but one of those wounded was his own son who was shot in the arm, the bullet was extracted by a local surgeon. After the shots were fired the mob fell back, and a barrage of stones filled the air. Finally, two hours later the mob dispersed.

The handful of police feared for their own safety and did not leave the station, they believed they would be easily overwhelmed and the prisoners taken the previous Sunday would have been liberated by the mob.

The next day those prisoners found themselves in front of the local magistrates charged with assault on both the police and the Salvation Army. Six prisoners were sentenced to one months hard labour each and several were fined various sums. A large crowd assembled outside and threw stones at the two policemen standing guard outside, although the police had been re enforced there still wasn't enough of them to stop the Skeletons making a terrible din the whole time the magistrates were sitting. This was getting out of hand, with the escalation to firearms it was time to contact the army.

Soldiers.

The police could not move the prisoners to the railway station and thence off to Portsmouth Gaol as they were surrounded by Skeletons, the police station was being pelted with stones, one elderly gentleman was hit on the head with a stone and needed medical attention.

A party of Skeletons were parading around Worthing with their "Worthing Excelsior Skeleton Club" banner, and so many had come to see the spectacle that every thoroughfare was clogged up and at a standstill. Things looked desperate, at length a telegram was sent from Lt Col Wisden J.P. to Preston Barracks, Brighton.

Thirty six rank and file of the 4th Royal Irish Dragoons set out for Worthing under the command of Captain Walton and Lieutenants Law and Shakespeare. According to the South Eastern Advertiser;

"When the detachment of the 4th Dragoon Guards had been drawn up before the Town Hall some time, Lt Col Wisden J.P., who was mounted, addressed the mass of people assembled, advising them to go home quietly, and stating that the military has arrived to disperse them unless they did so. 

He concluded with an observation which caused great dissatisfaction, and despite repeated appeals to the mob, the crowd lingered, cheering the soldiers and singing 'Rule Britannia,' 'We Won't Go Home Till Morning,' ect. At about half past eleven the Colonel called for silence, and the Riot Act was read.

The Dragoons soon cleared the street, the crowd would move on to occupy another area, the police moved them again with truncheons drawn, again the crowd appeared at another location, sometimes throwing stones and other missiles. After midnight the situation calmed and eventually fizzled out, the Dragoons and police patrolled for the rest of the night.

Carry On Regardless.

Once again Worthing was quiet, but not for long. Two weeks later an altercation took place by Montague Hall between a police constable and a member of the Skeleton Army.

It would seem that the man had been lingering outside the Salvation Army headquarters, a policeman told him to move on and pushed him forward, the man responded by punching the policeman whereupon a struggle ensued. Soon another policeman appeared and the pair of them subdued their assailant, the assaulted policeman had blood running down his face.

Later other members of the Skeleton Army attempted to rescue their comrade, three of them were arrested for their trouble. Soon a huge crowd had assembled, the banner was raised, and once again shouts and yells echoed around Worthing.

Police were rushed into the town from all over the county. Once again the windows of the police station were smashed, Mr Head's ironmonger shop was again targeted and damaged, as was Montague Hall, the headquarters of the Salvation Army.

The Skeletons paraded through the town with great excitement, the town was crowded with people, eventually they stopped near the beach, sang the National Anthem and dispersed.

The magistrates needed to retake the streets, their response was to swear in 120  special constables for the duration of 14 days. The Dragoons were returned to Preston Barracks with thanks for their aid and assistance. The Salvation Army had other plans.

The Salvation Army vowed to continue their processions, the Skeleton Army let them know they would be waiting. That Sunday all of the special constables were on duty from an early hour, the two magistrates were out mounted on horseback supervising deployment. More auxiliary police were guarding Montague Hall.

At ten o'clock the Salvationists marched from their headquarters, and were immediately followed by the Skeletons. The Salvationists sang hymns, the Skeletons bawled insults and sang baudy songs, when passing a church the Skeletons, at a signal from their leader, stopped making any noise and the Skeleton banner was lowered, the Salvationists were called out to show respect, but they carried on singing regardless.

The Skeletons then paraded down to the beach and broke up in good order, no arrests were made, and no more disorder was experienced.

By early September the riotous assemblies were a thing of the past, the Salvation Army carried on their Sunday parades and the Skeleton Army followed them yelling, hooting and kicking them if they got a chance. However, the violence was not over, even at the pleading with the Salvation Army headquarters in London to stop the Sunday parading, it fell on deaf ears.

In mid September the Salvationists had been turned out of their Montague Hall headquarters and now operated from their barracks, Sunday parades carried on and the dreadful din of counter parades assaulted the ears.

Skeletons in many other towns were now attacking Salvation Army premises and parades, Brighton, Hastings, St Leonards and Eastbourne to name a few were experiencing violent actions.

The first Sunday in October saw a lacklustre Salvationist parade, but this was enough for the Skeletons to launch soot bombs and eggshells filled with blue paint on the resilient soldiers. Loud hooting and singing drowned out the Salvationist hymns, but the violence was kept at a minimum, only one Salvationist lost his hat, it was never to be seen again.

Eight Skeletons put before the magistrates received fines, seven of them 10s and one chap who had a previous conviction had to pay 20s plus costs.

Two weeks later the Salvation Army were at it again, this time the parade started an hour early, so as to get "the drop" on the Skeletons. The procession was accompanied by the police, and around 500 Skeletons turned up to protest. The women of the Skeletons had adopted the colour yellow to show their allegiance, one lady had a captured Salvation Army bonnet with a yellow ribbon around it. 

On the route of the parade yellow ribbons were flying out of many households, which just shows the sympathy of a great many Worthing inhabitants. Some fireworks were set off, there was a lot of noise, but no violence.

An inhabitant of Worthing wrote in the Hastings and St. Leonards News; 

"....I am no opponent of the Salvation Army, if they will leave off annoying me. In fact I will subscribe to them with all my heart, if they will conduct only the worship of God. At the same time if they continue their noisy proceedings I shall uphold the Skeleton Army. No doubt remains in my mind I have a great deal to thank the Skeletons for. The man who was shouting or squalling on Sabbath morning last was in my opinion worse than a maniac."

In court that November for the attack on Mr George Head's establishment Arthur Reed, Edward Eldridge and E. Standen were found guilty of demolishing the premises, which was a felony and could have landed them in prison for seven years, however, the judge took pity and ruled it a misdemeanor, so they were sentenced to four months with hard labour.

George Head was indicted for unlawfully wounding Edmund Oliver with his revolver, without hearing any evidence, and in a very short time, he was acquitted "on the grounds that he had no malicious intent, and was justified in his conduct."

With that the Worthing Skeleton riot slipped into the history books, the Salvation Army, of course, still exists and carries on it's work. In Worthing they have not forgotten, in fact, it would seem that they are very proud of their Skeleton Army ancestors.