She blinded me with science! This Victorian “woman beats man!” in which a young man engaging in anti-social behavior receives his comeuppance in scientific fashion is making the rounds again on social media.

An extraordinary scene was witnessed on Saturday morning in Pell Lane, a thoroughfare connecting Little Hulton with Tyldesly, in which the principal participants were a young lady cyclist and a youth of nineteen or twenty. The lady was riding at a good pace, and when in a quiet part of the road the young man, who had apparently been imbibing, stepped into the roadway, and, addressing some insulting remarks to the cyclist, made as if he intended pulling her off the machine. She immediately alighted, caught hold of the astonished youth, and gave him a sound thrashing, using her fists in scientific fashion, to the delight of several colliers who were passing. The young man made off, and the cyclist, who is believed to be a Bolton lady noted for her athletic powers, rode off towards Tyldesley.

The source document is variously reported as the Notthingham Evening Post or just the Evening Post, dating from either June 26, August 12, or April 12 in 1899. Via Gregory in Menlo Park.

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