RIOTOUS COAL MINERS.

Gisborne Times, Volume VIII, Issue 482, 23 July 1902, Page 1

RIOTOUS COAL MINERS.

'A .VICTORIAN STRIKE, VIOLENT ATTACK ON TWO MEN WOMEN TAkE A HAND. The ivietoourne Ago gives an account oi liic recent riotous strike proceedings at Uuttrim (tic;, Tlie. Age says ine coal miners’ strike at Outtriiu lias entered upon a new piiase—a pease m which personal violence has already played a prominent pari, Lale on Thursday, night the residence occupied hy Kienard Carton and J, 8. Martell (the latter of whom is the •* unucsira/blcwho'refused to leave 'the scene oi the trouble), was attacked by a, large crowd of men and women, flic building, if. appears, was cannonaded with stones, and hy means of pickets wrenched from the fence the windows and doors were smashed. As a result oi the disturbance live men were subsequently arrested. The Melbourne ollieials of the company .were apprised of the violent behaviour of the strikers

yesterday morning by the following telegram frojn- then maH'Sin • charge of the property during the absence in Melbourne of the mine manager . “ Coulton, two Kelleys, Lawrence and Phillips (of Jumbumia) arrested last night, charged with riotous behaviour and disturbing the public peace. Have smashed up the house where Barton and Martell were living. Prisoners taken to Korumburra this morning. Other arrests, including women, to follow shortly. Barton and Marlell slept at the police station all night.” Barton is himself one of the strlKers, but his sympathy with Martell induced him to harbour the latter, who nad been driven from his dwelling house,, The house which was the scene of the disturbance does not belong to the company. It is either owned or rented by Barton. A remarkable feature of the unfortunate occurrence is that women should have participated in the attack.

An eye witness- of the bombardment of Barton’s house on Thursday night describes the incident. ft was a scene of the wildest excitement, he says', and for a time appeared certain to end in bodily disaster. A mob, consisting of a score of women and about 80 men, marched to tho house, armed with sticks and stones, . and headed by a number or persons playing accordeons ami clashing kerosene tins. A halt was called in front of the place, and Martell was called upon to “ come out to lie dealt with.” Martell, Barton, and another miner were inside, and the former an-, nounced his intention to stay where he was. A demand was then made upon Barton to give Martell up, and this was promptly refused. A yell then went up, ‘‘Burn the place down,” and a confusion of excited voices shouted terrible threats of vengeance against all within if Martell did not come out at once.

The occupants of the house responded by making ready tiieir defence. Urged on hy the shrill taunts of tho women, some of the strikers rushed to the door, and endeavored to force admittance. The failing of this effort drove the mob to desperate rage, aud a general rush was made for the garden fence, which was torn down and uprooted till not. a vestige of it remained standing.

Using the posts as- battering rams, tile front door was burst in, but the cheer oE the attacking;party died out and the rush of the foremost invaders was checked as the spectacle of three determined men with an uplifted axe apiece met their astonished gaze. >< The first m in that comes in here goes down,” was the chilly greeting, and a glance at the three bright blades hovering in the air upheld by nervous, sinewy arms convinced the attackers that the threat was not an idle one, and they retreated to consider the position. Nobody seemed in a frame of mind to consider anything, however, for the mob suddenly became frantic and proceeded to batter the whole place down. The house was surrounded, stones were rained in through the windows by hundredweights, and the pickets and posts of the fence were hurled in end on. Door and window sashes were smashed to splinters, and every piece of crockery in the house was broken by the furious fusilade against the walls. At length the house itself began to come down, and seeing that the place was doomed to utter destruction Martell stepped out acid signified his intention of surrendering, and laid down his axe. He was seized by two men and surrounded by the mob, and for a moment his plight was a desperate one, as many voices (and the most piercing were those of women) resounded in demands for vengeance upon him. Barton at this stage emerged, and facing the mob called on them for a show of manliness and fair play, and he succeeded in gaining a hearing. He asked them to bo satisfied with escorting their prisoner right out of the town, and pleaded that ho should not bo injured. _ He had made a plucky resistance, ho said, and surely any of them would have done the same in the circumstances. Many of the men fell in with Barton's views and agreed to take Marteill out of the town and let him go, but others demurred. While the mob wrangled over the prisoner’s fate the police appeared, and torcing their way through the excited throng took chage of Martell and cleared a space around him. Constable Radford ordered the mob to disperse, but he was unheeded, and a rush to recover the prisoner was made, and the police threatened with violence if they did not let him go. The police then drew their revolvers, and escorted Martell to the station, where ho stayed for the night, along with the other two defenders oE the house, who were also afforded protection. A man named Kelly was arrested and locked up, and yesterday morning four others were apprehended. They were taken to Korumhurra, and charged with riotously and tumultuously assembling and committing wilful damage, and remanded for a week. Bail was allowed in two sureties of £SO, and themselves in £IOO.