SOLDIERS' MUTINI

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2701, 22 February 1916, Page 6

SOLDIERS' MUTINI

AGAINST EXTRA TRAINING , PICKETS FIRE ON THE MOB • -By Telegraph.—Press Assooiation.:'. . Auoklandi February 21. Sydney ' papers: contain a sensational soldiers' mutiny: on'. Mollday. Thousands; of. men;. at Casula struck against the/extra.time, for training 'of fj- liouvß a day required - under | th^viiefesyllabu'sV'., They. galthered • moro ' men from/Liverpool of trainsI,'1,' for, the. city,;;and, there,' broke through the railway gates I and inarched, in ari-.-:lrrogular lino j.? through the ''city,' lodting. private pro- : porty and doing serious damage to shops., along the. line of route. They alsoVrifled;.th'B: friiit supplies of barrow/'•ineiu • ,-- i i Pollofl Charge. IMounted police charged them at the corner of George and Liverpool Streets, and scattered the mob, and about . 7 p.m. an attack was made on the "Evening News" office. A' window on the II Ri'ound floor-was smashed, and the , crowd smashed the hotel windows and ; again attacked' the German Club, i The trouble culminated shortly bei fore_ midnight in the shooting of some soldiers at the railway station. A band ' of thirty roysterers arrived with, mis- ;: siles and assailed the military guard alj the central station. - -They came on r throwing stones and bottles, and charg- ! Ed the platform. Seeing-a number of polico and pickets in a bunch they j seized the fire hose and played water '. on them.They! were ordered to desist, but jeered, and plied the water harder. A shot was fired by a rioter with an [ automatic • pistol. Two constables en- : deavour'ed to' wrest the hose fiom the mob, but failed.

. The pickets firejl twice. The first volley did no _ harm: After an internal of a few minutes, the' pickets fired ; again, and several soldiers, :wero hit by bullets and ; ' The picket : charged with ; bayonets, ; end when an alleyway, at right angles . to the station was cleared ifc.'vas found that one soldier had been ; hilled and .' . nine soldiers and One constable wound- ; ed. .Tho wounded were conveyed to < hospital.. The Casualties. The man ; killed.'was. Pte. R. W. Kcpfc, of tli© ' 6tii Light . Horse, ■ wlio had a bullet 5 wound cheek; and bayonet wounds on tie side of, : the neck . and right shoulder,- He died within a . few minutes;, of "beiiiK- shot.' ' One, man, Pte. ; Body, was /unconscious for 24 hours as, the result of a , - baton stroke. .■ : Tw6;otters were shot in the knee, and. on© was shot ih.' the !head. ; ,; Hie iconstable was badly,' but not seriously, injured. ' ' Rioters Raid Hotels. At Liverpool a mob of the rioters , took possession of the Commercial Hotel, smashed the furniture, and started o fire, which was stamped out. They ; then: rushed the cellar, and hauled hogsheads of. beer to the street, where ■. thfey were' tapped. Kegs of rum and : whisky were also looted. :. IJuiTerty's hotel was also raided. The : licensee barricaded the premises, and escaped any damage except for a few broken Windows. ::- The trouble' deemed: Ito ' have , simmered down next day, and | things ■ were . pretty quiet, A , compulsory . parade was .'ordered for next morning, and about a thousand failed to attend. A large number of men were arrested and punisli»d.