MOB RULE AT LYTTELTON.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1910, 19 November 1913, Page 9

MOB RULE AT LYTTELTON.

CARGO WORK STOPPED.

' STRIKERS RUSH THE WHARVES PERMANENT HANDS STOPPED. (By Tele?rapn-Press Association.) Chrlstchiirch, November 18. Tho strikers at Lyttelton adopted Jiilitant tactics this afternoon, and . caused a cessation of work. Tho action i of the' watersiders is regarded at the port as a direct-challenge to the employers to bring in special constables and, arbitration labour to work tie ship's. lho Strike.. Committee only two or threo days ago gavo an assurance publicly that their attitude would bo one • of purely passive resistance, and their representatives at' tho repeated this last night. There was no ■ ; warning of- any kind that militant , tactics had been decided on, and those concerned, in the shipping were trustin" entirely to tho men's word. , Mr. P.-' C. Webb's meeting finished gust before noon, and after lunoh hour \ work was resumed on tho steamers, Northern and the Melbourne, and was started on tho CanopuSj where a gang of the'Westport Coal Company's permanent men'were engaged, arid in the schooner Eunice, whose crew made up slings on board, the railway men receiving tho timber on. the wharf. # At the Maori 15 racohorses were shipped ■ without any trouble, .'and it, was then decided to load about 25 tons of general cargo. Four trucks were shunted alongside, and a start was m»de to take it in at'the forward hatch.

Tho Wharf Rushed. In the meantime a largo crowd of strikers, out-of-work firemen, and others -had gathered at the Post Office" corner. Suddenly there : wa-s a rush to the-wharf of about 200 of tho crowd. With much shouting' they rushed four trucks and pushed them up the lino on to the side track, clear; of the wharf; Tho crowd was vory excited, and there was much talk that no cargo must be al- 1 . 'lowed to'g* into the ship.' At this time .. there were no police present: The stationmaster appeared on the scene, and ordered the shunting engine to push the I trucks back: to the Maori.'A ■ large number of strikers vainly attempted to stop the trucks' by jamming on the brakes, but the engine was too strong -, for them., .'- '

. Rallwaymen's Predicament. > In the first truck there were a number of railwaymen. These were ordered ,to come out by'the strikers, but. they refused to leave the trucks. , The crowd uncoupled the truck' in 'which these men were still standing, and pushed it'right up tlhe line towards'the end of,-the wharf, shouting that it niust go oyer the end .into the : harbour. .'lt was -brought Tip, however, by an empty truck, which was standing close to the stop block. The strikers then switched oyer . the points and 'ran the truck, but on to a different line of rails. .They attempted to repeat the performance with the next truck, but the engine moved up -and prevented this being done. By this time, about eight or ten policemen under Sergeant Ryan arrived on the scene and induced the strikors to desist, and warned Uhem that if they attempted to put the-truck over thewharf there would be' trouble. The strikers loudly demanded that the .cargo be taken'off the wharf, and finally this was done, amidst loud cheering from tlhe strikers..

C v The tGanopus .Rushed.,.' ~,.0 The "crowd-%h<Ai sh'diited kh airih'e tfthcr ftips must be stopped .too; and it'was Suggested that a move should bo made loitoe'Cariopus. So'meof.the'men hesitated, but about half the'tfirumber nißhed along the wharf and poured on to tho jetty at which the Canopiis was lying. Many of them rushed on board and ordered the permanent men to come out of it. Each man as he obeyed the command wa'sloudly cheered..' Having stopped the Canopus, the excited" mob rushed on to the next wharf and,shoved 1 tho trucks away from tho steamer Northern, and also from the Melbourne, which'lay at tho other side of:the wharf. The crew of the Northern, Who had been working cargo, were called upon by. the.strikers to knock off work, and seeing that the mob would rush, on board, the master had the gangway hauled up. A large crowd collected alongside the Melbourne, whoso crew had also been working, and excitedly explained tho position. ■ One man, evidently a seaman, went on board the Melbourne, and had a quiet talkwith the crew. By this time the strikers had succeeded in stopping all the cargo' Work. The '•' president, Mr. I». Lurch, who had been an unconcerned spectator up till then, now mounted a truck and addressed tho men. He said, "You have done sufficient for one day, and all that is necessary is to leave the wharf now. "Whatever may take place later on, I advise you to get off the .wharf." 'The men then wept quietly away. •'■•'. ,„ Specials Assembling.

A strong contingent of special constables is expected from North Canterbury to-morrow. They will assemble at Rangiora and march to the city. A force from South Canterbury will probably also arrive by train from Ashburton. Arrangements to receive tho men at the Addington Show Grounds • are- nearly complete, and a largo camp is being organised. Some'of the city specials have received notice to go into camp tomorrow. Probably tho total forcoavailable will bo 1000 men. Colonel Cflattoy is in command of the camp. Other Matters. About thirty men attended a meeting yesterday for the formation of a., now watersiders' union. Tho papers woro sent to Wellington last night. Tho Strike Committee reports liberal offers of supplies from many quarters, including .substantial donations,of produce from the country.