SINGAPORE RIOTS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 261, 14 April 1915, Page 6

SINGAPORE RIOTS.

OM» | GRAPHIC NARRATIVE. GERMANS RELEASED. CIVILIANS .MURDERED. RISING PROMPTLY SUPPRESSED, i An account of the riots caused by the sth Light Infantry at Singapore has been received from Mr C. W. Burnett, a member of the. Eastern Extension Telegraph Company's staff, who was enrolled as a special constable. Writing on March 4, Mr Burnett stated that martial law was still in force, but only a small number of the mutineers remained at liberty, and it was expected that normal conditions would soon bo restored. His account is as follows: Events shaped themselves with startling suddenness in Singapore on Fsbruary 15. In the morning and early afternoon the Chinese were dying round the town and its outskirts in motorcars celebrating the Chinese New Year. Within a few hours all those motor-cars had been commandeered to convey bodies of soldiers mobilised to suppress a mutiny, and that evening and the following week was a time of grave anxiety for the residents. A section of I the sth Light Infantry, a Bengali Regiment, was responsible .for the rising, in which the whole regiment was. involved. It was to have left for Hongkong on February 17. but whether the trouble arose through their dislike of this move or through jealousy over promotions is not yet known. Undoubtedly the rising brok? out prematurely. The first demonstration occurred at about 2.30 p.m., when a band of the mutineers seized a motor-lorry loaded with ammunition and killed two drivers. Shortly afterwards, the section on guard over'the, German prisoners fired on the European guard and released about thirty Germans. These men they supplied with rifles and ammunition. The remaining Germans refused to take advantage of the opportunity for their escape, and are reported to have said they refused to have, anything to do with such cold-blooded butchery as was contemplated. During this time parties of the soldiers had gone out in different directions, and it was they who shot down the unfortunate civilians whom they met in the roads. ALLIED WARSHIPS SUMMONED. Measures were already being taken by the authorities to suppress the rising and to protect the civilian population. A party was landed from a British warship in marvellously quick time, and were clever enough to cut off a large number of the mutineers and prevent their advance on the town. All the volunteers were mobilised and f' o police swore in ab'e-bodied men as special constables. All women and children were brought into town and biJtoted at the various hotels, w.liich were strongly guarded by special constables armed with service rifles and bayonets. Next morning the women and children were ordered to embark on refuge ships, and bv noon there were scarcely a dozen European women on the island. By evening all had been taken oil' and safely embarked, a troopship and steamers being used as temporary homes for the ladies. The outbreak was well timed, for only one British warship was in port, though the wireless speedily brought a French and two Japanese cruisers, as well as a Russian armed merchantman to our assistance. Martial law was proclaimed on Tuesday night, and the guard was strengthened by late arrivals. By the end of the week the situation was well in hand, and now all the women and children are back in their homes, except in a few cases where the houses are too isolated to lie safe from the mutineers still at liberty. The men landed from the warships furnished most useful assistance, while it is recognised by everyone that the first landing of British sailors saved the situation. Two Russian sailors were severely wounded, and one British sailor was killed. The volunteer corps and armed civilians also did excellent work. SOME MUTINEERS STILL FREE. . The various scattered parties of men have been marked down, and some are being captured daily. Of the SOO who mutinied, there now remain only 05 aft large. These are being starved into surrendering, and a few days time will see a restitution of civil law, aad "business as usual" once more. The landing parties from the British, French, Russian and Japanese ships have been reviewed and thanked in turn by Sir Arthur Young, the Governor of the Straits Settlements, and all received a most cordial and enthusiastic. demonstration from the populace. Of the 30 Germans who escaped—including Diehn, the notorious spy—managed to reach Dutch territory. Of the remainder, a few were killcfl fighting, and most of the others were re-captured, though there are still a few at large somewhere.