TOPICS of the DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLII, Issue 137, 10 June 1911, Page 15

TOPICS of the DAY.

(Fiom Our Special Correspondent.) (Continued from Page 13.) LONDON, April 28. HISTORY REPETS ITSELF. He laughs best who laughs last. The Continental Press made very merry at the expense of the English police and military over the "Sidney-street Siege," .the E,ussian Press being particularly caustic and satirical at the employment (as it was put) of "thousands of police and regiments of soldiers" to capture a couple of Anarchists. Now the laugh, if any, is on our side, for the details to hand from St. Petersburg show that the fight with Anarchists, which took place at Lodz on Easter Sunday was practically an exact counterpart of the Sidney-street affray.

It appears that the Lodz police had ascertained that four notorious criminals had their nest in a first floor flat of a building at the corner of Widzeweska aud Pusta streets, and determined to effect their capture. The quarry was known to be particularly dangerous game, so the police invited military assistance, and at an early hour on Easter Sunday morning two companies of infantry and a large detachment of police surrounded the building. Most of the inmates belonged to the working-classes. At 4.30 they were awakened, and ordered by the police to leave the building. Immediately afterwards the chief of the police, accompanied by three officers, entered the building, and knocked at the door of the flat, where the criminals were staying, and called upon the men to surrender. The answer was a hot revolver fire, necessitating a hasty exit and the adoption of more stringent measures.

A regular siege began. The principal room in the fiat looked out on to the street, and possessed a balcony. The other rooms overlooked the courtyard.

A fusillade was exchanged for some hours, the besiegers firing some 6000 shots, and the besieged 2000. Suddenly through one. of the windows it was seen that fire had broken out. Fire engines were summoned, but could not approach the building owing to the incessant shooting. The firemen, therefore, devoted their attention to saving the adjacent buildings.

Soldiers and police were posted at the windows facing the doomed house, and poured volley after volley into the burning room. The answering fire became weaker by degrees, and eventually one of the bandits, witb a revolver in one hand and a cash-box in the other, showed himself on the roof of a neighbouring house. He was shot dead. His accomplices had evidently perished, for there was no further firing from the house. The firemen turned their hoses on the building, and extinguished 'the flames. The police brought up ladders, and climbed to the first floor, where they found the charred bodies of three of the criminals. They had evidently committed suicide at the last extremity; one anil all had shot themselves through the mouth. Apart from this, all three had been wounded by ride bullets.

THE KING'S FETE.

to London school children at the Crystal Palace on June "Oth is decidedly going to prove a red letter day in the lives of those little mortals lucky enough to take part in all the good things provided. In order that there should be absolute fairness in the selection of children, and as all the children over 12 cannot bo invited, tbe following method has been resolved upon: —After having ascertained the number of hoys and girls who could he invited from any given school, so many winning numbers nre to be pieced in "a hat." together with a sufficiency of blanks to make up the number of boys and girls of the qualified age attending such school, so that, the winning numbers, together with the blanks, represent the total number of qualified children. I'nder the direction of the teachers such qualified children will 'then draw from the hat. their teachers carefully recording the names and addresses of those -who are successful. It is estimated that probably three out of every four children will be able to avail themselves of the treat. In order to cope with 'the difficulties attendant on handling such an enormous number of little ones, the children arc to be distinguished as —the Red. Light Blue. Yellow, White, and Green. Each division will be then divided into regiments, which will be known as the A and B and C, etc.. regiment of the Red. Blue. Yellow, etc.. division. Each regiment will be divided into sections, roughly speaking each section representing .If) children. There will be a teacher in charge of each section. Each child will have a badge bearing its number and the colour and letter of its regiment. After five hours of uninterrupted pleasure at the Crystal Palace, during which the small people become possessors of a special souvenir programme giving a description of the pageant and all the various matters of interest on view at the Palace, refreshments will be dispensed. These will include a box of chocolates (Rowntree's), which will be packed in a box specially prepared for the occasion,. -~