THE NOVEMBER STRIKE RIOTS.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1986, 17 February 1914, Page 8

THE NOVEMBER STRIKE RIOTS.

SENSATIONAL. ACCOUNT Tlie. readers of. tho "New York Call," a Socialist orgau issued by The 'Working Men's Uo>operaUv6 Publishing As* sedation, have seen more sta-rtlmg, ultra-sensational "news" of. tho recent strike- in Wellington.than.the local eyewitnesses. This following is the account given; .of the . disturbance's by the ■■Call's" correspondent .:—- "Wellington, .New Zealand., Novem-ber-.25.—-\\ hatover hopes there hod been of peacefully settling the strike of the waterside workers hero, were utterly de« stroyed by a concerted charge .of drunken, mounted troopers and 'scab' specials, en a crowd of about 2(309 men, women, and. children last night. The gathering took place on the corner of Taranaki and Webb Streets at 6.30 o'clock. By .3 o'clock the- street wis covered with wounded., two boys breathed their last, and all New Zealand vowed vengeance upon tho hated cavalrymen., the, 'specials,'' and the bloodthirsty employers. . ■ "The charge, for -sheer brutality, was one of the most wanton attempts to intimidate the strikers that have ever been witnessed here. ■. Without a. word of warning the -'soldiers' and armed specials swooped . down - upon the assembled- struck right and left with their bludgeons, shooting down anyone who dared withstand their charge. ' : • '-'The specials had been.filling up with strong drink all the afternoon -at tho - 1 — Hotel,, according-..t0 subsequent statements by some of the barmaids of the hotel. Drunken and carousing men were marshalled together, by. Commissioner Culler! as soon as it grew dark, and hold in readiness for the attack. .. "The' pr&hide to the shooting enargo was a- hose- display. . Currents of water, strong, enough to sweep a strong, man off..his feet, and carry him along- tho street, were turned upon the women and children, who predominated at the meeting. , "While the latter were still dazed and bewildered by the, powerful, streams of-water, the drunken , specials caino galloping down the street, strffimg. out right and left. "The two boys killed were shot in th© head, and in the legs. One was about 14 and the other 18= "J. T. O'Brien tells of seeing a boy of 10 pursued by ttfo drurtken soldiers, beating him-.with a club.. ■ \- i "One of the first victims of thoehafga was an old man of 70, who was badly hurt by the horses' hoofs. He' was picked up by two young men, who in turn, were run. down. ■ Two girls who had grabbed the bridles : were dragged' into a corridor by ■ , a,' local resident, ■ Later, while he still held the girls in-: side tie.closed gate a 'drunken policeman rushed, at them with a-s-mblctng revolver and tried to shdot them."' -