HUGE BATTLEFIELD.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 37, 13 February 1934, Page 7

HUGE BATTLEFIELD.

Artillery Trained on Hotel Held By Socialists. STOUT RESISTANCE. (Received 1 p.m.) .VIENNA, February 12. Further details from Linz show that when the Socialists replied with an onslaught of grenades to the Heimwehr demand to hand over their guns, troops sprayed the hotel with machine-guns, then, under a heavy "barrage, rushed the building. A fierce room-to-room battle followed and the Socialists retired to a big school building. The pursuing troops brought up the artillery and shelled, but the barricaded Socialists held out until late in the afternoon when they took refuge on the left bank of the Danube. A very fierce battle, in which the artillery was conspicuous, continued. Meantime, Socialists from the surrounding countryside poured into Linz and counter-attacked the troops from the rear. The authorities claim that order was restored at 7 p.m., but intermittent clashes continue. Linz throughout the day was a huge battlefield, which echoed to the crack of rifles, the rattle of machine-guns and the crash of bombs. To-night the streets are deserted. It is not known how strong are the Socialists' forces in hiding in readiness to renew the battle tomorrow.

Lenz is a river port in Upper Austria on the River Danube. It ia a railway junction, and has important shipbuilding yards, and iron and textile industries. The population is over 120,000.