TUMULTS IN THE STREETS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1911, 20 November 1913, Page 8

TUMULTS IN THE STREETS.

. TWO M9B OUTBREAKS. TROUBLE IN THE SQUARE. PURSUIT & CAPTURE. SPECIAL CONSTABLE HURT. Recalcitrant ones among the strikers seemed'in quest of trouble yesterday morning, and it was not long in coming. Orders had been issued to'a troop of El Squadron of the mounted special men to keep people rooting in Post Office Square. This troop, which con- ' sisted of only a dozen men under Troop- ' Leader Kingdon, was engaged in quietly walking round the Square with a viewto keeping it reasonably clear for traffic, when _ suddenly a man "who had- l)£©n standing on tho kerb outside the Queen's Chambers, stepped out on to the road, and, coming tip behind Kingdon, snatched his baton, which was hanging looso from his wrist. : Chaso of the Baton-Snatoher. There was at oncb u scuffle, and Kingdon endeavoured to pin the man against the building, as m jc-oked as though he was going to use tno weapon on the .horse's head. Seeing that he ' was being driven against the- 'building, 1 tho assailant made off among tho- fastgathering arowd. Kingdon af* once ordered his men to follow' the offender, and for a few minutes there was a lively scene in the Square. The offender bad. mado off in tne direction of Grey ■ Street, but' then, changing his mind as the mounted men charged over the wood-blocks with Batons ready, he dodged along the wide pavement, in front of tho Tourist Office in Customhouse Quay. He was smartly followed' by two or three horsemen, who effected a capture close to the weighing machine near the main entrance of the old Post Office, and handed the man over to the. police. When he found himself in charge of the regular police;-the man kept crying, ''Save me: save me. Don't let them touci mo." The Man's Ugly Weapon. As it turned out, the- capture was. a lucky one. On being searched, the man. whose name is Charles Johnson, and who is a watersider on was found to have concealed under his coat a very formidable weapon. This was a stout baton, with a thong of leather, arranged like the halt-guard, of a-sword-, at one end. 'Hound the other'end a piece of sheet lead 'had been nailed. Johnson is to be charged with having assaulted a : special constable on duty. Fall of Horse and Rider. . The a'lfair was regrettable in that it caused an accident to onfj of the special constables.' .'Whilst the- troop was engaged in pursuing JohiisciJij and at. the same time clearing, the Square, tho horse of Special Constable E. J. Bai, of. Dan-, nevirko, slipped on the tram-rail and fell suddenly on its left side. The rider's leg was pinned Under the horse,' and when ho .was freed it was found that a fracture had been sustained just ahove • the ankle. After.bohig temporarily at--tended to at E Shed, the'injured .eonstable was removed to the General Hospital. . Whilst the rider and, horse-were on the ground, one of the other troopers ■ in full pursuit of the -fleeing Jojuispn . hurdled, clean over them, and it was -t'life man who effected the arrest. When the affair commenced there were only 200 or 300 people in tho Square", bufin a few minute's-" there ftittst have been as many thousands. At times r >;tl)c strike , .element' in the crowd looked ugly,' but the viiry 'h'6%e' 'display., of tho specials kept them in'-'elieek! _ Eeiriforcemeuts of special men soon arrived from Waterloo Quay, and half an hour after the arrest tho Square had resumed its nonoal aspect. •' . ■ Tho strikers stood tound the sides of (the square all day, but they Were not allowed to stand in. the roadway. of. special men .patrolled this area . all day, and • Ise.pt loiterers • "on /the' move." The temper of the crowd was sullen, and. things looked serious once or. twice, ivhaa strikers attempted,to argue with the special and foot police, who were preventing them from blocking tho thoroughfare. It was not • until the s-trikers moved off to Vivian Street for their afternoon meeting that everything, became really quiet.