CONFLICTS IN THE STREETS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1894, 31 October 1913, Page 8

CONFLICTS IN THE STREETS.

. FIRST RIOT OP DAY; ONSET ON THE SPECIAL MEN. AT WATERLOO QUAY. There was a great deal of excitement on the waterfront in tho forenoon, tho strikers coming into serious conflict with , a strong force of police on Waterloo Quay. Tho Square was crowded, as usual, at 10.45 a.m.', when the chairman of the open-air meeting, Mr. Bailey, motlnted the cart. Calling tlie strikers together, he said that an urgent message had been received from the picket office, requesting the instant r attendance of all water'siders who were •willing to take part in an important piece of.work on a certain spot.' Beforo the strikers had time to follow his in- . structions an express dashed up, on which were several strikers, violently gesticulating, who invited everyono to proceed at once to tho reclaimed land at I'ipitea I'oint. The great majority of the crowd had no idea what they wero wanted for, but they dashed off along Jcrvois Quay as fast as they could run. Several expresses, fully loaded with strikers, went on ahead, and thousands * of watersiders and onlookers followed on foot. Trie Causa. The' "cause of tho trouble was that a strike picket had discovered a small detachment of special constables' attending to their horses in the yard adjoining the Post and Telegraph Stores. Tho picket entered tho ground, and when the police attempted to remove him, ■several strikers rushed in. They tore down.about 20 yards of the fenco alonurir! ■ tlii' railway lino, and scrambling ovrr piles of wood, swept across tho vnrd. The special constables, who had not yet l/ecn sworn in, and wero therefore j:ci"liable for duty, exorcised that disr:vti~ii which is the bettor part of valfiir. and departed on their horses. There were about '20 of them, and they were outnumbered.many times by tho <ro'.vd of invaders. . Sticks and stones worn freely used as missiles by the strikers.' "Ono or two policemen and otheirs wore struck, but no ono reeeivctl serious injury. Pocksts Full of Road-Metal. Just as'the specials left, tho surging mob from the Scjuaro began to pour alon" AVaterloo Quay. They . loudly erected their vanguard on hearing of their ''victory," which was tho subject of much extravagant boasting, things began -to look very ugly, indeed, and

hundreds of strikers, many of them with their pockets filled with jagged road metal, surged up and down the Quay, hodting the police. The arrival of a large contingent of men in blue, bowover, put another aspcct on affairs. There was a fine detachment of about 25 mounted men, who rode up and down, and kept the road clear, whilst Bome thirty-odd constables on foot stood in readiness for movement to any whore they migbt bo required. The police were in command of Sub-Inspec-tor Sheehau. One or two displays by the mounted men seemed to upon the strikers their comparative helplessness. Many of thera "broko evens" in their attempts to get out of the way of the horses—and especially of one of them, a big bay, well ridden, which had a playful habit of elevating its heels with great suddenness at unexpected moments. Pickets ran quickly through the crowd, and urged strikers not to tjirow Btones, as their own men were ,as liable to injury as the police. As the constables rodo along, or stood quietly in their places, strikers and their women-folk handed them copies of "Our Appeal," and other strike literature, most of which were good-hum-ouredly accepted, and in some cases wero read. Having como to the conclusion that further demonstration would bo useless, the leaders called the strikers off, and in a solid mass they charged back to the Square, whore the speechifying was resumed. ■ "When tho greater part of the crowd ha.d left, the police were removed from the scene, and the Quay became once more ciuiet. Up to that time, the demonstration was tho most violent which bad so far taken place.