AUSTRALIAN "PUSHES."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9702, 27 January 1910, Page 6

AUSTRALIAN "PUSHES."

It is a curious and lamentable fact that a number of youths arid men of the lower classes who have suffering the loss of a lower limb frequently figure in the Police Court. The reason probably is that, badly handicapped as they are, they fall into the bad habit of lounging about the j streets, and scraping the acquaint- j ance of undesirable companions. In North Melbourne there is what is known as the "Crutchy Push," one of the most dangerous of all the gangs that infest the southern metropolis, and find their chief en- ! joyment in attacking respectable citizens. The leader is a handsome, well-built, exceedingly powerful young fellow, who is minus one leg, but who sets over the ground at an astonishing pace with the aid of one crutch, and fights like a demibn, as do most of his followers. When the police arrives he throws himself on his back, and uses his crutch like a flail. Woe betide the unlucky policeman who comes within the sweep of this terrible weapon. Memories of this "push" were revived when a decent-looking onelegged young man appeared in the Central Police Court, Sydney, last week, charged with being an idle and disorderly person. It appeared that he had been warned a''d reproved and even imprisoned for persisting in keeping bad company, hanging about the streets. His mother, a respectable woman, tried to persuade the magistrate that the youth was under her control, but a few well-directed questions soon shattered that illusion. The most dangerous "push" in Melbourne is the "Booveroo's," a gang that infest Carlton. They are perhaps only excelled in Australia by the Miller's Point Push and the Rock Push.