TOWNSVILIE RIOTS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 257, 25 July 1919, Page 7

TOWNSVILIE RIOTS

■ CITY IN A. STATE OF SIEGE. Letters .received from Townsyillo with regard to the strike at Alligator Creek and Ross River Meat Works indicate, according- to a prominent business man of North Queensland, ",-i state of siege of revolutionists," One correspondent, under dato July 1, gives nn account of the conditions prevailing there. He writes (in the Sydney "Daily Telegraph"):— "A mol> of strikers forced entry and raided the establishment of Messrs. Alfred Shaw, Ltd.; and Kooney's, Ltd., and stole a large quantity of rifles and ammunition, estimated roughly at about 150 rifles and 1500 rounds of ammunition. After having secured these they assembled in groups and indulged in some promiscuous shooting. Fortunately nobody was struck, and owing to the small number of police in the town it was impossible for authority to aspcrt itself, _so beyond six or eight policemen coming out into tho main street fully armed, so as t ! o allow a couple of their comrades, who had taken shelter'in one of the bunk premises, to rejoin them and return to the barracks, the town was left at the mercy of tho mob. "During the afternoon Mr. Leo Brown, 'general manager of the American Meat Works, was in Smith's draper 6hop, when a mob of youths, estimated at about 100. forced their way into those premises, and assaulted him with suoh terrible elfect that his face was most severely inl'ured, and he was lucky to escape witli' hie life. Although he telephoned for police escort to his car, so as lo be able to cither make for home or go out to tho Alligator Creek Works, he was notable to get any, owing to the fact thai tho mob-had determined to storm the police barracks, and on account of the very small number of police available they dared not take the risk of leaving the' barracks, so the town and all the inhabitants were at the mercy of this rabble, which for the lime were drunk with ideas of revolution. • ; ~ "Durin" Ihe afternoon several of the bad element save it out that they in : tended to wipe out the whole of the •hows' in the town, and this morning a proclamation appeared in the paper call in upon citizens to deliver up all arms and ammunition from within a registered 12 miles of the courthouse." After referring to the action taken to ; secure additional nolice protection, tho I writer concludes: "There is no doubt but I and Townsville is a hot-bed of anarchy, nml revolution, and at the present moment there should be hundreds of arrests for what has occurred. The police are absolutely powerless. Once this mob was infuriated anything at all miyht be clone, as they are absolutely out of the control of their leaders." In another letter the writer says that Hie lenders of the union are imbued with thi , idea of establishing -i sort of syndicalist, rcnublif. in North Oupnselnnd. and adds: "The demand made liy the union is that the cmupnnies shall dismiss nil men who remained lnvol to them. or. in other words, conformed with the laws of the State and th" award (rrivernin" the meat industry. The companies have mado a most determined eland against this demand."