LATER DETAILS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 6 November 1913, Page 5

LATER DETAILS.

A SERIES \o¥ RUSHES. : .. A HOWLING AND DESPERATE: ■ -mob. ••■.* SPECIALS SERIOUSLY INJURteD: WELLINGTON, Last Night. Siones continued to fly along Featherston Street, but at the corner where the Railway Department offices stand, the -nob grew more daring. At 3/25 p.m. tho specials had lined tip from the Government Printing Offices for a distance of some 150 yards. Those in the rear were frequently pelted with stonos, and blood appeared on many-of their heads. ; More daring than tho rest, thirty or lofty of the mob chased the rearguard- of the mounted; me» as soon as a rnolre was made in the direction of Lambton Station. CHARGE.

Suddenly tho order "Charger'rang out. Forty specials, headed by half a dozen regular police, wheeled their suddenly, and galloped, with ; batons poised for the mob. • ' •;, ' Blows fell' frequently. • One man", • who'; had -beeii in "the forefront of the' stone-throwing section, went down ■under; a baton blcAv',but joso a min*; lite later and reeled to the pavementsStill tho tstones flew. ' RUSHING FOR SAFETY.

'After t&e charge, some of the

mob scattered for shelter, and the idea apparently struck them that they would be able to conceal the-nselves in the grounds of the <3«>vernment Buildings, su they rushed the gate in Bunny Street. It was open, and they charged in. Inside the grounds, the Government servants who.had been sworn in as special constables had formed up. They stopped 'the rush to a certain extent, but some of the mob man-aged-to reach the inside df the fence, and they pelted a % r olley of bricks and stones at the rearguard of the specials. SPECIAL INJURED. One of the latter received a veiy severe blow on the back of the. head. He fell from hisi horse, and was carried by Government servants into the grounds, bleeding piofusely. He was attended to by a medical man and •taken away in the Harbour Board's ambulance. The special constables in the Government Buildings grounds, led by the head of a Department, then took complete charge of the grounds. The mob was hustled outside, scrambling over the fences, while others rushed for the gate.

FOUR MEN ARRESTED. Four men were arrested in the grounds for stone-throwing, and amidst howls from the mob at the corner, were taken across to the police station. j. • ."■; ;-. ANOTHER ATTACK. '■' .■'"■ Tlie excitement was not yet oyer, •■however."'/- •''■" '■"*'. ' ■'.."-.". The niob closed up towards the horsemen again, and the stones began to fly. At 3.30 p.m. the second charge by the mounted men took place. It was caused by the stone-throw-ing and riotous conduct of the crowd. Blow after blow was received by the specials from .pieces of wood, bricks and rmirderous-looking road metal. Almost simultaneously, one mounted man was hit cri the chin, and an- , other dn ■ the, back of the neck. From the former man's face tlu> blood spurted in a stream. | It was a horrible sight, and all wonI dered what would .happen next. , The chanco for the specials came a minuto later. ' A man, -hatlc&s-, rushed at a hoivse with a piece of heavy timber. "Charge!" was the only way left, find the specials charged with a- ven- [ geance. i •In th<v second ' onslaught on the niob, baton blows fell with sickening ! thuds.

The stone-throwers, were, beaten back, and there was a general scamper for safety. A DESPERATE FELLOW.

In the movement back on the part of the horsemen;;* one- fellow rushed fro"n s the paveittentf with a piece, of timber nearly the size of" a railway sleeper.,' and hurled it between a horse's legs.

The' method of assault was in this instance successful.

Down went the hor«e ; with the special underneath, but apparently neither was hurt.

.The excitement at this stage was intense, One Could see men being carried and helped away by their friends, with wounds thai wero sickly to see. A special constable who had been hit on the head-.with, a stone, was carried unconscious into the Government Buildings grounds. He was literally covered with blood, and appeared.to be very badly injured. A shuffling old man, finding insufficient shelter from the stones from behind a, telegraph pole, tried to get along to a safer spat. Ho was knocked over by the surging crowd and fell heavily on the path. A ,man who had been felled by a baton was carried, .screaming with j pain, .towards tho back of the crowd, i wheref he wag attended to by ambu- I lanoa officers. After this secomd charge there was a lull'for a few minutes, during which .some of,, the mob igatliered more stones, and the specialsi took breath. Smash! smash! went the stones, again hurled with all the throwers' force, aimed high, as, if for tho specials' heads. "PICK YOUR.MAN!" An officer went in and out the mounted men. • .".■•.■-.< - ; "■..■ "Next time, boys, charge" steadily,' 1 and pick 'your- many".'he heard .to say. ~ This was/ in the circumstances, an order that was justified, for the 'etones fairly showered upon the mounted rearguard. The daring spirit* in the mob closed up again, and hurled 1 missiles of all descriptions at the specials. A THIRD CHARGE. Then came the thirti charge,' led as in tho case of the firs t by the mounted regulars. Smash! went the batons. Thudl went the stones. - It was the hottest scene of the afternoon. From the roof of the telephone exchange, to which a bunch of stonethrowere had climbed, came a shower of ugly road metal; I From here too came to vilest eplj thets, shouted by many hoarse

throats, hurled at the mounted men. ...After this charge there were more broken heads and more bruises. But fortunately nothing so severe as in the previous ten minutes. The mounted men, however, went right round Che corner, chasing the mob past the back of the Supremo Court into the quay. Battening hero and bottoning there with all their might. After this charge the specials returned to the rear of the main body, but as they were doing so another shower of stones was thrown from the telephone exchange corner, where wild hoots and curses were coming from a bunch of about sixty men. ' Seme of the specials received nasty blows. One was hit in the back, and after sticking to his horse for a few minutes became physically sick, and had to be carried away. of the mounted hatless, and with head down, was hastening to regain the main body, when a stone struck his wrist. He marked the man who threw it, and after him he went. The miscreant, amidst loud yells, was lost in the crowd, but no more stones were hurled at that mounted man. He had shown that he was game. There was quiet after this. The mob thinned, and gradually took themselves off to Waterloo quay, where Mr Semple, of the Labour Federation Executive, was advising the crowd to go home. A DASTARDLY ACT.

; One of the most dastardly acts of violence occurred during the first charge, opposite the Railway Department's offices. When there was danger of the mob rushing the Government Buildings grounds, a civil servant named Dowsing, a middleaged man, ran from inside the ground to- shut the wooden gates in Bunny street. He was just in the act of shooting the bolts, when a hooligan leaned over the gate and bashed' a stone the size of a man's fist on to the top of Dowsing's head. The latter was felled, but although the- wound was a nasty one, he recovered consciousness a few minutes later, and. >'as\ able to go homo. THE WOUNDED. Altogether sixteen specials received injuries requiring immediate treatment by the, ambulance, while it is believed many more received minor hurts, and a good many of the crowd probably suffered more or lees.