FIGHT WITH STRIKERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 774, 21 September 1929, Page 32

FIGHT WITH STRIKERS

BAYONETS USED TO SAVE MEN IN MINE TROOPS CHARGE REDS Communist-led strikers who recently seized and attempted to wreck the pithead machinery of the Lupeni mines while hundreds of men were at work were dislodged by a bayonet charge of Rumanian troops. The mine workers recently submitted a dispute on salaries and alleged bad conditions to arbitration. The court decided for the mine-owners and a strike was declared. On Monday 4,000 men were idle, but some hundreds of workers continued iu the mines and in the electricpower sheds at the surface. Under the direction of Red agitators the sheds were rushed and seized. The machinery was stopped The mines were plunged into darkness, and water began to pour into the galleries. Two companies of infantry and a company of gendarmes immediately surrounded the mine. The strikers barricaded themselves in the sheds, and after holding out all night grew aggressive and attacked the gendarmes. The troops opened fire and then charged with fixed bayonets. After a 10-minutes fight the miners fled, leaving 10 dead and wounded behind The pumps were restarted, and the work of rescuing the miners from the inundated pits was begun. The number of casualties exceeded 100.