COLLLAPSE OF THE SYDNEY TRAM STRIKE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 418, 1 August 1908, Page 3

COLLLAPSE OF THE SYDNEY TRAM STRIKE.

Delegates Chased and Stoned. Sydney, July 30. The tram strike was the greatest fiasco imaginable. Although the mass meeting declared to continue the battle and the men left the building singing “Rule Britannia” they became individualists when they reached the open air and besieged the tram depot to sign on again.

Delegates to the tramway executive tried to get away from the Trades Hall quietly but were observed and the crowd of 1,500 gave a roar of indignation and called upon Lawton to stop. He and his companions broke into a run the crowd pursuing and crying “ Lawton the traitor, he’s the man who sold ns.” Four members ran like hares along the road and metal flew like hail.

The human coursing match ended by the men taking shelter in an hotel alley, where one of the executive turned in the doorway and presented a revolver and threatened to shoot the first man who crossed the threshold. Police reinforcements arrived and quietened the mob, which contented itself with hooting the Parliamentary Labour members and cheering the Labour Council.

The bulk of the strikers have resumed duty, and the normal tram service is restored. All the men at Newcastle have been reinstated, excepting five members ot the local branch of the Tramway Union, whose reinstatement is postponed pending the enquiry.