ANARCHY IN LIVERPOOL

Taihape Daily Times, 3 September 1919, Page 5

ANARCHY IN LIVERPOOL

VVARFARE IN THE STREETS. RECENT more DESCRIBED. _ ‘V LONDON ,Aug. 4. The damage done. at ‘Liverpool during the week-end rioting is estimated at £250,000. Rioting and looting continued during the early hours of to-day, chiefly in the London“ Road area. The crowd showed the ugliest spirit, viciously wrecking the fixtures of the shops. They savagely assaulted the special constables, who were attempting to arrest tlfe ringleaders. The police fought gamely until the prisoners were lodged inside a ring -of soldiers. An Australian officer, accompanied by a corporal, was stricken down while helping a. special constable to escape. Meanwhile the crowd of hooligans had incrdased irr ‘n.unrbc'-rs ’and violence, ~ompelling the soldiers -to assist in blocking the ends of the road. ‘The elrowd. fnequeiitlly s‘d:arnl-pelled; fin Aunreasoning panic. Many who Were trampled on and badly hurt. limped away.

A climax was reached when a hundred regular police made a, sudden’ roar. ing charge at the crowd, which fled, terror—stricken. The majority remained in the side" streets, carrying on a sort of guerilla warfare They smashed The street. lamps in order to secure darkness, but gradually the combination of police and soldiers mastered the situation.

PETRO GRAD RAVAGES 'RECA_-LLED.

The Evening News correspo-ndent says says that the disgusting and amazing anarchy recalled the ravages in the streets of Pet-rograd, sand the wreckage in one road resembled the streets of A.'mlent.ieree in 1917.

' The correspondent of the Daily Mail “at Liverpool describes the recent unexampled scenes. Women looted the drapers’ Warehouses, carrying .off [bundles of blouses and skirts and underclothing. Children secured large I quantities of sweets, pianos were dragged away, and youths blew various musical instruments, so that pandcmonium reigned_ I The soldiers’ orders apparently kept |them inert, but after the "magistrates ;had read the Riot Act the troops fired volleys in the air, and doubled along ‘ the s_treets,with bayonets fixed. In an. ‘other sector the police made a baton ;charge, and many fell with bruised ‘ heads. Th‘e ‘crowd’ retalliwted ‘oyf hurling stones. The worst scene occurred when a thousand- men broke into a jbecr bottling establishment, where 1 many were soon drunk. . SOLDIERS CHARGE THROUGH STREETS. Five hundred special constables have been enrolled; four battle-scarred tanks have arrived, and the soldiers have been served with 100 rounds of ammunition each. Another Liverpool message states that the extension of the strike has led to the gravest situation. Throughout Saturday the crowds took possession of the police cells and thronged the streets. They began looting late at night, when gangs of youths smashed windows To pieces with iron bars and other missiles. Jumping into the holes 3 regardless ofthe suspended pieces and , jagged edges, they swept’ the shopsl clean. 3 The soldiers, forming cordons, chal'g- ! ed through difl'erent streets with fixed I bayonets, but the ‘crowds, scurrying up 1 side streets, returned with the utmost. (luring to complete the looting after tho, 1 soldiers had passed. The magistrates, tried vainly to cow the mobs. ! Some. of the streets look as though‘ tlzey had been subjected to shell—fire_.| being strewn with broken glass andl \\'reckagc from shops. Hooligans stolel nl,:lny thousand" poumls worth of jewellery, clothing, and food Stuits, and even heavy articles of t'urniture. Men and‘ women joined in the scramble after the I bolder spirits had. smashed the plate glass. Soldiers in service kit, with} machine guns are now posted in the. cities. 1