THE WAIHI STRIKE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 155, 18 November 1912, Page 5

THE WAIHI STRIKE.

THE POSITION AT lIUNTLY. EVANS'S FUNERAL. By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. The Star's Huntly correspondent telegraphs that a statement is made, apparently from- a good source, that the miners will strike 011 Monday. If the members of the new union go to work they will be given notice to get out of the town. The funeral of Evans, who died as a result of the Waihi trouble, took place this afternoon, and was one of the largest seen in Auckland, many hundred workers paying a silent tribute to the deceased. WILD STATEMENTS. A FAKED TELEGRAM. Waihi, November 16. A sensation has been caused by the circulation of a telegram said to have come from the Federation of Labor, which strongly advises the wives and J children of Federationists who have not j left the town to leave the place at' once, as the Arbitrationists had decided to turn them out of their homes. The telegram has been taken to the houses of members of the Federation by numbers of Federation women on bicycles, and shown ,to the wives of the men who have left. As the result, scores of panic-stricken women left yesterday and this morning. The statement made by the Federation is denied. The Arbitrationists have not in any way interfered with the wives or children of the strikers., They emphatically state tlmt they have no intention of doing so. (in the contrary, they have offered to assist them in every way in their power. It is the general opinion in Waihi that the wire has been sent to create a panic amongst the wives of Federationists, causing them to flee from the town, thus giving speakers at demonstrations throughout the Dominion on Sunday a text for inflammatory utterances. Among the wild rumors circulated by the Federationists are ones to the effect that the strikers' grocery store was entered by Arbitrationists and £2OO worth of groceries stolen. Another is that the man Evans, who was batoned l?y Constable Wade after shooting the latter, had been' mangled by the crowd and bruised all over. As a matter of fact there were no bruises at all beyond discoloration of the left eye and a slight swelling on the right side of the nose. There were no other visible marks. EXODUS OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN. MISLEADING STATEMENTS.

Waihi, Saturday. About 250 men, women and children have left Waihi since yesterday. The new union states emhatically that the strikers or their wives are not being interfered with in any way. Members of the new union at the railway station this morning endeavored to induce the women to return, but the Federation wire seemed to have got on their nerves, and they left. It appears that the woman who received the wire was ins'tructd to get all the women supporters to leave at once, and to frighten any waverers into leaving, which is slightly different from the account sent this morning.

The Mayor of Waihi has issued a manifesto as follows:—"The reports as to the intended action of the Arbitration Union in dealing with the strikers and their families are entirely without foundation. Every precaution is being taken by the union executive to preserve law and order, and anything of a contrary nature is to be sternly repressed." The men and women are not being hunted out of town. The. strikers are perfectly safe. Most false and alarming statements are being made by Federationists who have already left for the purpose of enlisting sympathy. The public throughout the Dominion are advised to give 110 credence thereto. Strangers coming into the town are being scrutinised. Certain men arrived here who coinl give no satisfactory account of themselves, and were urged to go back, as they were Federation spies. This course, it is said, will be % continued by the union, as their presence here would only lead to trouble. POLICE FOR IirXTLY. Wanganui, Last Night. Four police, making thirteen from the district, loft for Huntly on Saturi lay by special tram from Wellington. Wellington, Last Night. Thirteen police constables, with Sergeant Kelly in charge, left Wellington by special train at !) o'clock this morning for Iluntly, wiiere it is reported that the Federationists are endeavoring to' drive the Arbitrationists from the town.