Sheffield Independent – Thursday 21 February 1889
Desperate Encounters at Denaby Main.
At the Denaby Main Colliery a number of Staffordshire and Irishmen are employed, and amongst many of these workmen there is a strong feeling of antipathy which results in frequent brawls.
It appears that it was in consequence of this bitterness that the brutal fight, reported in Tuesday’s Independent, took place, and, subsequent to that, it now turns out there were no fewer than half a dozen different pugilistic encounters.
The local police were away at the Rotherham Police Court when the melee took place.
The encounters were all of a most desperate character, and so severely have several of the combatants been wounded by the blows and falls that they have not since been able to resume work at the pit.
It is not unlikely when they are sufficiently recovered, that they will have to figure at the petty sessional court at Rotherham.