THE ABORTIVE POLICE STRIKE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXI, Issue 194, 18 August 1890, Page 3

THE ABORTIVE POLICE STRIKE.

RIOT OUTSIDEv BOW - STREET STATION, COVENT GARDEN. (from our correspondent.) Lonoon, July 13. If there had been any organisation amongst the disaffected police on Monday evening their attempted strike might have proved a serious business for Londoners. As things were, the net result was a purely local bit of rioting in Bow-street, Covent Garden, for an hour or two. You who read in your sensational cablegrams that the police had struck, the mob risen, and the Guards been called out, doubtless pictured the West End in a state of revolution. As a matter of facb, people residing a quarter of a mile from the emeute knew nothing about it. And yet the hurly-burly was no joke while it lasted. A '' Star " man who went through the fun writes: lb must nob be forgotten that there were two sides to the business—the inside and the outside. Whab was going on in Bowstreet and the streets around everyone who was there could see for himself. What went on inside the police-station "Star" men and such like were not permibted to s»8. It can only be told from hearsay. But a "Star" man, from th« position hefirab took up on the steps of'the station, gob stray indications of WHAT s r AS DOING INSIDE whilst looking on at the turbulence, the enthusiasm of the people in the street, and the feeble, helpless kick which Bradford— " the strong man," " the bold horaeman," "the fearless Shikkarry," the man whose tiger-tracking exploits and Indian experiences were to have enabled him to ** make short work of a London mob " —the. feeble helpless kick which this man, by means of half-hearted subordinates, was making against complete and crushing' defeat. The one thing moat unmistakably; demonstrated by what occurred last night; was the utterly pitiable demoralisation of; the Chief Commissioner and his led tains. They took the very measures to] deal with the difficulty which ;'J; MADE THEIR DIFFICULTIES MULTIPLY. Colonel Monsell, standing on the steps of: the station, was sertn every now and then to step out and give* an order to the officer in charge of the mounted police. And every time the Colonel gave an order the, proceedings seemed to\ grow more turbulent in character. At half-past eight, when the " Star " man appeared \on the scene, there] was already a good-sized crowd in front of j the station, bub it *Was a loose crowd, in- : which there was not much difficulty in getting about. By nine o'clock the crowd had become a multitude. Bais it was a multi-; j tude which, speaking generally, was withr ! out any dangerous indication. The noisiest; part of it was the multitudinous small boy.; The most numerous element of ib was the] plain and simple citizen, who ' | HAD COME TO SEE SOMETHING,,, and to add the weight of his quiet sympathy; to the cause of the dragooned policemen/ The only faces in the crowd that wore a| look at all of ugly import were those of dis-« affected and discharged policemen. With-] out any elaborate organisation these men? seemed to have constituted themselves into] a picketing force, and with their passions] aroused it seemed more than probable if circumstances tended that way, they would be ready" for rough -work. For the first hour the chief incidents were the arrival at the station of men coming off duty. Every policeman of the ranks was cheered by the crowd. Every superior officer was hissed and hooted. • Then clattering up the street came a strong. BODY OF MOUNTED CONSTABLES, and from that moment the temper of the crowd became worse, and the tone of the proceedings more dangerous. -Themounted men were set to clear the street in front of the Station. They rode up and down, and' every time they passed seemed to become more regardless of the limbs of the people. Opposite the station the' footpath in front of the outer wall of the opera house, and the niches in that wall, afforded good seeing ground for a thick mass of people. After one of Colonel Monsell's excursions of command, the mounted men. set themselves to clear this pavement and the pavement by the station. Many PEOPLE WERE TRAMPLED UPON. Once a horse slipped on the pavement in the midstof the crbwd, and crushed down amongst and upon the people as if it had been in standing wheat that he had fallen. The police then began to ride up and down at a hand canter. Where people were standing with their back to the walls so that there was no retreat for them, the mounted men rode as near to the wallas they could go,,as if to trample on and crush as many people as possible. Then they would make a sudden excursion round the covered carriage, entrance to the Opera House; appear unexpectedly at the other end, and come trampling through the crowd collected there. Every time they made;a : rush the people madearu»h. Every time, they went back the crowd followed them up. It was after some time of this business that for the first time , SOMETHING WAS THROWN. A crash was heard as a stone went j through one of the upper windows of the station. Then a little time after this from the upper windows of the station something was thrown which broke with a;.'greatl smash in the\midst of the crowd. Then it 'was that we were able to realise the state] of things prevailing inside the station. It was then evident that the whole of the force of the division was in. revolt. Men from other divisions, principally A Reserve and L, kept ari'iving and entering the station. Bub nomV ever came out again. Each time a new contingent entered the building there was' a period of. waiting whilsb things developed* and then was heard a cheer from the regions at the back. Every, time the cheer increased in volume it was evident that the\men inside ' REFUSED TO\ GO OUT, I and that the new' arrivals were joining them. There were very 'few policemen on , duty, outside the building', not enough of them to supplement the- efforts of the I mounted troops. Those who were there took things very quietly. One man who had been ou duty came from feis place in the] street, and saying, ''By G«—-, I've had! enough of this,' went up. the-steps to join I bis' comrades inside. From inside came cries every now and then.' From the win-] dows upstairs policemen were seen waving their helmets and hands to the crowd below. Then came a new sensation. From the corner of Longacre came the sbudd of trampling horses, the gas light shone on nodding white plumes, there was the yellow gleam of burnished helmets; and thei cry went up, .. ■ ''■■j'-> •« THE GUARDS !" They came slowly down] the atreet, a captain's escort 30 strong, solid, immovable, magnificent. The rein was drizzling miserably down, but the soldiers were withf out their cloaks, resplendent in all tKeir shining cuirasses and trappings. Theii it was that Bradfocd's-extremity was appreciated. Calling but the Guards was a terrible sign of weakness. But still ib was

the one good work of the night. The Guards saved many a citizen a broken limb. There was no trampling rush in their movement. They just went up and down the streeb steadily, quietly. „ Probably no single person was hurt by any one of them. And yet they kept the roadway clear. Down Bow-street, by the corner of Russell-street, there is A BAKER'S SHOP. ISome one of a humorous mind conceived tie splendid idea of boiling a big kettle of water, and pouring it from an upper window oh the crowd below. It was a rollicking joke, and the crowd, as the scalding rain came down on them, danced with delight at the exquisite humour of it. As a sign of their joy they first of all toredown the baker's shutters. Then they,used the big shutters as battering rams to knock the baker's shop front in. Then they put the shutters on the ground and danced on them till they broke into convenient-sized pieces, which they hurled at the baker's upper windows. The scalding water joke was a huge success. The point of .it was than there were about 50 of the E; men siding by appreciating it.