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AUSTRALIAN NEWS.

WOOLLEN FABRICS. MELBOURNE, June 18. The Australian Woolgrowers Council passed a resolution requesting that legislation be framed making it an offence for any wholesale or retail dealer to offer for sale as woollen any fabric which contains more than 10 per cent, of adultera tion, and that any such fabric must be clearly branded with the percentage of adulteration. WAR HISTORIAN. SYDNEY, June 18. Dr C. E. W. Bean, the Australian official war historian, has been awarded the Chesney Medal by the Council of the Royal United Service Institution for his official history of the war. RUSSIAN TIMBER. SYDNEY, June 17. The timber trade in Sydney, and also official circles, are curiously inquiring about a shipment of timber from a Russian port which arrived by the motor ship King Lud yesterday. The bill of lading discloses that she has 888,000 super feet of cedar, which, if it is intended for furniture manufacture, will compete with Queensland maple and silky oak, while if it is intended for boxwood it will compete with New Zealand pine. The shipment is regarded by merchants here as a “ feeler ” to test the Australian market. June 18. A storm of protest has arisen in regard to the arrival of the huge shipment of timber from a Russian port, portion of which was sold before ; is arrival. The Timber Merchants’ Association has appealed to the Government to “ arrest the dumping of Soviet slave-produced timber ” on the ground that locally-milled timber is unable to compete with it. The Federal authorities are now making inquiries. CANBERRA, June 20. The Prime Minister, in a statement concerning the Russian timber shipment, said the Government had no power to check Russian imports. There was a heavy Customs tariff on all foreign tim hers. The Government had no means of ascertaining whether the consignment referred to was produced by forced labour, but inquiries were being continued.

UNEMPLOYED MAN’S ACT. ADELAIDE, June 20. Ernest Morris, aged 57, an unemployed journalist, attacked his wife and daughter while they were asleep, inflicting serious head injuries with a poker. The son, aged 24, fought his father, who committed suicide with a razor before the police arrived. SERIOUS EVICTION RIOT. TROUBLE IN SYDNEY SUBURB. SYDNEY, June 17. The fiercest fight between police and Communists in the annals of this State occurred to-day at Bankstown, a suburb, where one man was shot in the thigh and nine of the police and 16 occupants of - a house were injured in an eviction riot. Previous disorders arising out of attempts by the police to evict defaul*ing tenants were bad enough, but they were insignificant compared with to-day’s conflict.

Met by a fusillade of stones and bricks, the police had to fight their way through barbed wire entanglements and smash tho doors of the cottage in order to gain admission. Sixteen men vere inside guarding the tenants’ furniture, and volleys of stones were thrown at the police through the windows. Inspector White received a terrific blow on the head and dropped like a log, with a fractured skull. The remainder of the police were hurt after bursting into the house. Their comrades, who escaped" the missiles, pluckily fought back with their batons and mowed down the men Inside the house like ninepins, many of them presenting a woeful sight at the hospital later. An ambulance worked at high pressure removing those who were injured. The cottage bore grim testimony to the violent nature of hostilities. Blood was in every room and every stick of furniture was damaged, while every window was smashed. A tremendous crowd watched the proceedings and many free fights occurred as a result of arguments over the merits of the case. Sixteen arrests were made. The police found a pile of Communistic literature in the cottage, and piles of stones, heavy waddies, and pieces of pipe. The cottage had been guarded by the antievictionists for a fortnight. POLICE AND COMMUNISTS. MELBOURNE, June 19. Another sensational clash between antievictionists and the police took place at noon at Newtown, a suburb. The police on this occasion made greater use of their revolvers and fired 15 shots before raiding a semi-detached two-storeyed house. Fourteen anti-evictionists and eight of the police were injured, and a spectator, a man about 40 years of age, dropped dead with excitement, while watching the battle.

Leading Communists were again associated with the affair and many of them addrested the crowd prior to the police raid and urged the workers to fall in behind them and fight the police, who regarded it as a challenge and as open defiance of the law. With surprising suddenness the police arrived in a motor bus. Their arrival was heralded by shouts and volleys of stones, an] the men on an upstairs balcony maintained a fusillade, whereupon the inspector of police commanded his men to draw their revolvers and fire. Immediately there was a succession of shots and the balcony defenders disappeared inside. The police battered down the doors and were met by a shower of stones and half-bricks. The wonder is that they escaped with their lives. The battle inside raged for 20 minutes, everything breakable being reduced to ruins. Huge stones came hurtling downstairs and missed policemen by inches. A thin cordon of police kept order outside the house, but they were constantly ducking to avoid flying stones. Hooting by the onlookers was never allowed to subside. The police eventually emerged with a number of bedraggled, blood-stained defenders handcuffed together, who were marched to a police wagon. They received medical treatment at the gaol hospital before being locked up and charged. The injured police were treated at the police hospital.

EIGHTEEN MEN ARRESTED. SYDNEY, June 19. The police must have dealt more severely with the Newtown antievictionists to-day, as four of them are suffering from concussion and extensive cuts, which were probably caused by batons. The police shots were aimed more to frighten than to injure. The bullets shattered the woodwork of the balcony, and one man was shot in the arm. Eighteen arrests were made. One of the police suffered a fractured hand. The Attorney-general (Mr J. Lamaro) announced that the Government was introducing legislation to protect tenants against eviction in certain instances, which, it was hoped, would minimise eviction disturbances. SYDNEY DISTURBANCES. SYDNEY, June 20. Yesterday will be remembered in Sydney as a day of unexampled violence. Following the Newtown riot, there was a demonstration in Railway square, where shop windows were broken. Eveu the Labour Daily Newspaper Office suffered. Altogether 22 arrests were made. Six other persons are in hospital. For the first time since 1927-28 a razor war has broken out. The police in the metropolitan area have been doubled. FOOD DEPOT RAIDED. SYDNEY, June 20. Disgraceful scenes were witnessed at the Orange relief depot, when a crowd of 500 men and women rushed the building and helped themselves to a great quantity of food and clothing, intended for distribution among the poor and needy. At the end of the raid there was not an article left. One woman was knocked down and trampled on, and pandemonium reigned, while the unruly crowd escaped with armfuls of goods.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19310623.2.84

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Otago Witness, Issue 4032, 23 June 1931, Page 24

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,193

AUSTRALIAN NEWS. Otago Witness, Issue 4032, 23 June 1931, Page 24

AUSTRALIAN NEWS. Otago Witness, Issue 4032, 23 June 1931, Page 24

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