POLICE SUBDDE BEDS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 226, 20 June 1931, Page 7

POLICE SUBDDE BEDS

Another Eviction Fight

SHOWERS OF STONES Constables Use Revolvers ; '■ I ' SYDNEY SUBURBAN CLASH By Telegraph—Asia.—■Copyright. (Ree. June 19, &0 pjn.)' 1 Sydney, June ID. Another twmsatiotud dash between anti-evietionlstsand to police took place at noon at Newtown, a suburb. . The police on tide occasion made greater uM/of their revolves*, and fired fifteen shota More raMng a semi-detached two-storied house. Fourteen anti-evietionlste and eight police were injured, and a spectator—a man of about 40 years of age—dropped dead with excitement wMto watching the battle. Leading Communists were again- a®sedated with the affair. Manyoftisrir members addressed the crowd before the police raid and urged tin workers to fall in behind them and fig&t to police. Surprising SnddettMM, - The police regarded the chaCengo ae an open defiance of the law, and with surprising suddenness they arrived in a motor-bus. Their arrival was heralded by shouts and voHeye of stones. Men on an upstairs balcony mtotalned a fusillade of stone#, whereupon an Inspector of police commanded his men to draw their revolvers and fire. Immediately there was a succession of shouts, and the balcony def enter# disappeared Inside, ,<L The police battered down the doors and were met by a shower of stones and 1 half-bricks. The wonder is that they escaped with- their lives. The battle inside raged for twenty minutes, everything breakable being reduced to ruins. Huge stones cam® hurtling downstairs and mtaed policemen by inches. Bedraggled Defenders. A thin cordon of police kept order outside the house, but were constantly ducking to avoid flying stones. The hoots of onlookers were never allowed to subside. Eventually the police, emerged with a number of bedraggled and bloodstained defenders, handcuffed together, who were marched to a waiting police wagon. They received medical treatment at the gaol hospital before being locked up and charged. The injured police were treated at the police hospital Several Broken Heads. ■ The police must have dealt severely with the antl-evictionists; as four are suffering . from concussion and extensive cuts, probably' caused by batons. However, the police shots were aimed more to-frighten than to injure. Bullets shattered the woodwork of the balcony, and one man was shot in the arm. Eighteen arrests were made. The police wounds were mostly superficial. One constable has a fractured hand. Mr. J. Lamaro, Attorney-General, has announced that the Government is introducing legislation to protect tenants against eviction, in certain instances. It Is hoped that this will minimise the eviction disturbances..