The demonstration comprised mostly girls between the ages of thirteen and twenty, and were described in "The Times" as "beyond doubt of the working classes. They ... were accompanied by men and women of their own class, without any admixture of the usual agitators." The marchers were harassed along the way before their progress was blocked by police at Mile End Road. Much of the march progressed through the police line, but parts were split off and made their way via alternative routes to the Westminster, by which time the march numbered approximately 10,000. Clashes ensued, and "The Time" described that the police had "by their hard usage of the matchmakers and spectators, converted what was before not an ill-behaved gathering into a resisting, howling mob". "The Manchester Guardian" described that "policemen, strong in their sense of officialism, and bullying in their strength, approached the verge of brutality".