RIOTOUS BEHAVIOUR.

Taranaki Daily News, 1 July 1918, Page 5

RIOTOUS BEHAVIOUR.

SCENES IN WELLINGTON'. WOUNDED SOLDIERS GET DRUNK AND CAUSE TROUBLE, Riotous behaviour on the part of a large batch of wounded soldiers who arrived in Wellington on Friday (says the New Zealand Times) kept the city more than lively during the afternoon and evening. Many free lights took place in the streets, and rowdyism was general. A large number of the men were hopelessly drunk. Fortunately there was only one casualty. One of the soldiers, a man named Charles Kenny, fell down in Manners Street and received a concussion. He had to be taken to the hospital. His condition is not serious. The soldiers waxed more and more noisy as the afternoon advanced. Many wounded and side men were seen staggering along in a drunken condition. In Manners Street there was a set-to amongst some of the men. They were not satisfied with the touch they had had of the war, and wanted more. A crowd of a hundred or more people gathered, and the fight waxed fiercer. Tactful interference prevented serious trouble. In the meantime similar fights were going on in other parts of the town. Rings were formed around the contestants as they engaged in their warlike behaviour. Tho Mount Cook police were compelled to arrest four men for unruly behvaiour. PICKETS TO THE RESCUE. Then the visitors endeavored to pick up trouble with the local soldiers, and there was more trouble. News of the disturbances reached the ears of the officers in charge of the men, and a picket set forth to restore order. Unfortunately the members of the picket were too anxious to do justice to themselves, and visited a number of hotels to prepare themselves for the fray. Eventually they became worse than the men they were Bent out to arrest. The wild behaviour in the various parts of the city continued. Another picket had to be sent out. Whether it fell in tho way of the same temptation as its predecessors is not quite clear. In any case, nothing seems to have been heard of it. The civil police took a tactful hand in affairs, and succeeded in rounding up some of the troublesome ones. Cab-loads of inebriated soldiers were hustled oil to their quarters. Up till 8 or 9 p.m. soldiers were straggling back in various stages of intoxication. The men had leave until 0 p.m., but, judging from appearances, only a few kept their appointments with their superior officers. The fact that such a large body of men —some of them badly wounded—were let loose in the city at their own sweet will appears to be inexplicable. Many severe comments on these disgraceful scenes were heard. As a re--1 suit, it i 3 understood, all the city hotels are to be placed out of bounds for those soldiers concerned. The city police had an anxious time. By a tactful handling of the troublesome soldiere they managed to avert serious trouble.