Mr Fallon's Tuzzle With the Maori Amazons.

Te Aroha News, Volume III, Issue 115, 15 August 1885, Page 4

Mr Fallon's Tuzzle With the Maori Amazons.

Mb Fallon and his staff proceeded to the Waitoa r bridge (which is about* 12 ; miles ffdirf ' Mof f iflpville), on Thursday? morning, to' comm"e*bce the work* bfrplatelaying over the "structure; ' On' arrival; they discovered a f number' of native men- sitting on the bridge,' at" about a "chain from the vMorririsville' end', a pole carrying a -white flag 'standing' tip" in the middle of the' grdup. •Nothing was said on< either, .side, until the jails, werelaid.up to the spot jwhere, the flag was "stationed". 'Mr Gallon then quietly requested the ' natives/ • who numbered about 40, to move out of .ihe.;way.- . They refused, saying that the , land was theirs. 'Mr Fallon then turned to his men and told 1 them to go on laying the 1 sleepers. Thereupon the natives seized the : sleepers as fast as they were put down ahd"flung them over into the Yiveri -This species of 'a'musenienTwas indulged in 'for sometime, but whe'h 'it'began ! to geif monotonous 1 the contractor caused the rail trolly- id 1 tie run up to the end of the failS'already 'laid, 'and bringfn'gforward a number of mcii instructed them to liftoff the rails and lay them'd&wn. The supply of sleepers 'having >be'en''-'ex-hausted, the'Ma'oris turned 'their* attention to the n&s toy so thoughtfully 'provided 1 for them, and endeavoured to send the' 'iron after the timber.' This ''However wag too much even for a man of Mr Fallon's equable temperament, and he told his men 11 that the rails must be preserved. "This -was the signal for a rough and tumble, but'at their employer's urgent' request the"!menuabstaioed from resorting to violence,- though not, it must be admitted, without a' little show of reluctance., They were 'told 'to " carry " the natives off the bridge, a 1 task by ' no means easy of accomplishment. Meantime a new element was introduced iutq the dispute. The' women of ! the tribe, numbering about as many as the men , r who up to this time had remained on the other eidejof the river, now came on the bridge with ropes, which they passed through the fishbolt holes in the rails, and tried to pull them off Mr Fallon, at considerable'risk/ literally walked over the Maori me'nyand cut the ropes which the Amazons had 1 fastened to" the rails, but when he called' ior a'ssiatafcce the natives resisted the workmen to such purpose that Mr Fallon was obliged to retire also, narrowly escaping a fate similar to that which had befallen the 'sleepers. But tho contractor, though checked, was not worsted. On the narrow bridge it wa» nqt possible to bring the ' whole, or even a majority of his naen,into action at one'pbinfc so he changed his tactics, 'and with 1 &'detachment forded the river a quarter of a mile higher up, with the intention "of taking the enemy in the rear. But the women grasped the situation instantly, and crowding qn to the southern end of the bridge, formed a strong barrier between the" belligerents. They were requested to come off, but they refused, and from being excited became almost frantic, gesticulating wildly, and filling the air with the most awful yells, Mr Fallon cogitated for a moment, and then told his men to remove the women quietly, whereupon the latter removed so much of their clothing as to leave little to be torn off their backs in the subsequent struggle. After a great deal of trouble, the women were eventually carried off one at a time, kicking, plunging, scream ing, and indulging in language which was fortunately unintelligible to their captors. Mr FalJori's men then formed a guard on the southern end of the bridge, but the women plunged into the stream, and many of them endeavoured to climb up the piers. By this time the Europeans were reinforced, and the operation of carrying off the obstructionists was applied to the male portion, with the result that the bridge was speedily cleared. The natives then, finding that Mr Fallon was king of the top of the bridge, got underneath; and armed with axes commenced to chip away at the piles, and to remove such of the ironwork as was within reach. The permanent way in the meantime was laid down more than half way across the bridge, when work was ended for the day, the eontracter having carried hia point.' In the afternoon Mr Fallon returned to Morrinsville, where he met the engineer of the company, Mr James Stewart, and in company with that gentleman drove into Hamilton in the evening for the purpose of putting the. /matter in the hands of the police. After consulting with Sergt. -Major McGo\*ern and Mr W. M. Hay, Mr Fallon last night laid an information for wilful and malicious damage to property against halfa T dozen of the ringleaders in the obstruction.