CROWD IN UGLY MOOD

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 267, 7 August 1919, Page 5

CROWD IN UGLY MOOD

London, August 4. The rioter who was wounded in Liverpool is dead. The .damage in that city during the week-end is estimated at a quarter of a million. The crowd showed a very ugly spirit,, viciously wrecking the fixtures and gutting the shops, and savagely attacking the special constables. The police • fought gamely until their prisoners, were lodged inside a ring of soldiers. The crowd frequently stampeded 'in an unreasoning panic, and many were. trampled upon and badly hurt When a hundred of the regular police charged the mob fled terror-stricken into the side streets. The smashing of the street lamps enabled the mob to carry on a guerrilla warfare in the darkness, but gradually the combination of polico and soldiers mastered the situation. A strike of tramwaymen and bus drivers has added to the paralysis of the city.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ANOTHER PICTiEjJF LOOTED CITY London, August 4. Insurances against fire loss caused by the social disorders is being effected at ss. per cent, in Liverpool. Most of the city is now well protected, but the scenes of anarchy in the centre of the city beggar description. St. George's Hall and St. George's Square have 'been converted into a great laager, in' which hundreds of steel-helmeted soldiers are stationed.

Debris and loot litter the streets, and people with pushcarts and handcarts go around collecting clothes and boots. Children sit on the footpaths trying on boots, contemptuously throwing away misfits. Baton charges have been the order of the day. The police belaboured the looters but were unable to stem the tide. In the .earlier melee a volley was fired. Soldiers on a lorry caught looters at a wineshop red-handed and arrested them. As they were reutrning with the prisoners crowds attacked ihe lorry, and the troops fired over their heads. A man who was .trying to seize a soldier's rifle was shot in the abdomen. The damage caused by riots in Birkenhead is estimated at .£4o,ooo.—"The Times." " .■■: ■ WARSniPs¥¥E MERSEY (Rec. August C, 7.40 p.m.) : London, August 4. A worship and two destroyers nave.arrived in the Mersey to protect the docks. —Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. ARRIVAL OF REINFORCEMENTS. (Rec; August 6-7, midnight.) London, August 0. Military reinforcements hsvo arrived at Liverpool, including machine-gunners and cavalry.—Ans.-N.Z. Cable Assn. SYMPATHY STRIKE OF RAILWAYMEN. London, August 4. Six hundred members of the Nino Elms branch of the Locomotive Engineers and Firemen's Union' struck in sympathy with the,police, with the result thai; the London and South-Western railway service is restricted.—Aus.-N.Z. Cable Assn. MANCHESTER MEN TO REMAIN LOYAL. , (Rec. August 6, Jl.lO p.m.) London, August 5. At a mass meeting of the Manchester police it was decided not to strike.—"The Times."

GOVERNMENT TO CHALLENGE DIRECT ACTIONISTS STATEMENT BY MINISTER, (Rec. August G, 11.10 p.m.) ' London, August 5. In the Houso of Commons Mr. Bonar Lair said that tho Government had decided to resist the direct actionists to the, utmost.—"Tho Timos." THE GENERALSTRMINSWITZERLAND STRONG'SHOW OF MILITARY STRENGTH. Berne, August i. A largo force of cavalry, infantry, and machine-gunners is maintaining order in Basle. The strike has extended to Zurich. It is believed to he part of a Bolshevik 6chemc to foment a cerics of local disturbances which will ultimately merge into a revolution throughout the country. ' The Federal Government has refused to consider, under tho pressure of tho strikes, a compulsory reduction of food prices.—"The Times."