GRAVE RIOTING IN AUCKLAND

Dominion, Volume 25, Issue 171, 15 April 1932, Page 12

GRAVE RIOTING IN AUCKLAND

i Wholesale Looting, in Queen Street MANY PERSONS GRAVELY INJURED Police and Naval Patrols Fail to Quell Mob By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, April 14. Appalling rioting and looting in which hundreds of unemployed participated occurred in Queen Street to-night. Fierce fighting broke out between a section of the rioters and the police in the vicinity of the 1 own Hall. Stones and fence palings were freely used and hundreds of people were treated at Auckland hospital for minor injuries. . . _ . a t Three policemen were seriously injured and at least three civilians are in hospital suffering from concussion. At least 20 arrests were made. _ Practically every shop window* in Queen Street was smashed and rifled. Jewellery, clothing, bottles of spirituous liquors, and boxes of cigars and pipes were removed by bands of lawless youths and men. The total damage to Queen Street shopkeepers is estimated at about £lOO,OOO. The city’s main street resembles nothing so much as an earthquake-stricken area. The fight outside the Town Hall was a bitter and sanguinary struggle. The police, who were patrol- • ling the procession and guarding the entrances to the hall, found themselves involved in a furious melee. Batons were used liberally. _ _ ~ c. ™ i " Mounted police, reinforcements of foot police, fire engines and detachments from H.M.S. Philomel were summoned, but even these forces were unable to keep control over many bands of rioters, who marched up and down Queen Street stoning windows and looting, the disorder being in progress from 8 o’clock until nearly 11 o’clock. . . ~ The origin of the trouble is obscure. The Post and Telegraph employees held a procession up Queen Street at 7.30 as a preliminary to a meeting in the Tawn Hall to protest against the wages cut. Uninvited unemployed formed a procession behind, and the crowd poured out of the hall and joined the throng outside. *> ■ .

Practically every shop window in the whole length of Queen Street with anything inviting in it was smashed, particularly jewellery shops, and all big

stores like Milne and Choyce’s, Court’s, iu..l Smith and Caughey’s. The window , fronts of all these big stores were • shattered. All grocery shops met the same fate. < The police -and Navy patrols had no control of the mob for two hours, because as soon as they passed one point breaking and looting resumed. Wher- , ever there-was an hotel window with liquor displayed this was smashed and the contents looted. ‘ The rioting also led to the destruction of many windows from which there was nothing to loot. The lights were also smashed, so that : the Street was soon in darkness, and any traffic was impossible. Shortly before 9 o’clock the crowd started to surge down Queen Street. " the first wave consisting mainly of youths bent on destruction and looting. Shop window after window was smashed, some with feet, others by stones thrown with deliberation from the street ' Within a few minutes the mob was .> intoxicated with the spirit of destruction. At each yard down the street the looting spirit increased and by t ; the time the lower section of Queen >■ Street had been reached the groups were openly seizing goods from the windows. Outside a shoe store some men were bold enough to try on shoes they had taken from the window. Four girls broke a jeweller’s window, seizing what came to hand. ■ The number of stones thrown to break windows suggested premeditation, as there are no loose stones in Queen Street. Outside a small mercery shop one youth said to his mate: “What about this one?” The reply was: "No; only cheap-jack stuff here. We will get a better window.” Many swaggered about proudly showing handkerchiefs tied round cut hands.

HOW RIOT BEGAN Melee at Town Hall WOMEN FOMENT TROUBLE Spread of Violence Although the rioting did not break out until some time after the meeting in the Town Hail had commenced, it was present in its incipient stages when the procession was making its way up Queen Street shortly after 7.30. There were irresponsibles in the crowd who had armed themselves with stones, and at intervals during the march these were hurled at windows. , These incidents were scattered, but they were harbingers of the appalling scenes which followed. When the Civil Servants who headed the procession had entered the hull the main body of unemployed, led by women in the singing of “The Red Flag,” were diverted into Grey’s Avenue for a time they stood there orderly enough listening to the opening remarks from an amplifier. Ugly Mob Spirit. When the Town Hall doors leading on to Grey’s Avenue were thrown open the crowd rushed the hall. An ugly mob spirit showed itself for the first time. z Some of the crowd who had gained by force access to the hall were ejected in a few minutes and a considerable body moved round into Queen Street, just at the junction of Queen Street and Grey’s Avenue. Leader on Balustrade. Here the leader of the demonstration was mounted on a balustrade addressing, through a megaphone, hundreds of his followers who had been crowded out from the meeting. Police were scattered at intervals through the crowd, but they were comparatively few in number, and an ugly undercurrent was already stirring. - The leader shouted through his megaphone that violence was expected. The police were there, he said, and he and his friends were to be arrested. The unemployed were not to use violence ; they were to let the police do that. “If the police drew their batons,” he said, “crowd round them and take their batons off them, but do not use violence.” Mounted Men Arrive. Another member of the Unemployed Workers’ Association had just started

to address the crowd when a detachment of mounted police arrived. There were six of them, and they rode up quietly with.no batons in evidence. The crowd by this time was completely blocking Upper Queen Street outside the Town Hall, and mounted police, reinforced by constables on foot, attempted to clear a passage through them. Their arrival was signalled by an outbreak of violent mob hysteria. Women' Foment Trouble. The most disgraceful thing about it was that.it was led to a large extent by women. A “Herald” reporter was standing just near the balustrade from which the leaders had been addressing the crowd. Behind him were standing women who were screaming obscenities at the police and inciting the men to “haul them off their horses.” Hideous Form of Riot. Just when batons were first drawn and used is difficult to determine. Mounted policemen and several constables on foot had 'approached the balustrade, when suddenly an ugly melee developed. Immediately the air was filled with curses and shouts. A riot in its most hideous form, incomparable in the history of New Zealand, had broken out. Its flames spread like wildfire. The crowd roared with one voice, and for all the appeals of its leaders that voice was the voice of violence.

CROWD PRODUCES . WEAPONS As if by magic batons appeared among the crowd, and then rocks started to hurt through the air, aimed at the mounted policemen, whose figures rose above the heads of the crowd. Batons were plied freely as the police rode round the outskirts of the crowd, which was now clear of the middle of the street outside the Town Hall. False Alarm Raised. One rock crashed through the window of a shop opposite the Town Hall, and like wildfire a shout went round: “The brutes are firing on us!” Hours afterwards in Queen Street a rumour still persisted that firearms had been used. "Herald” reporters were outside the Town Hall throughout the disturbances, and not once was there the spund of a shot. Reinforcements of constables arrived, but the police force was hopelessly outnumbered. Batons were plied in hand-to-hand encounters, and the rearing horses of the mounted police slowly forced the crowd back on to the pavement. Police Struggle With Crowd. One mounted policenriin had urged his horse on to the pavement at tjie corner of Queen Street and Grey’s Avenue, when a woman standing on a small grass plot at the junction of the two streets struck at him with the long pole of a banner. He evaded it. but instantly he was struck on the helmet by a flying rock. The crowd now was milling round in a frenzy in the area enclosed by the intersection of Queen Street, Rutland Street, Lome Street, and Grey’s Avenue. ' Deliberate Window Smashing. Soon a section of the crowd diverted its attention from the struggles with the police and started deliberately to smash windows. The action was contagious, and before long the crash of broken glass could be heard above the din of the crowd. In justice to the genuine unemployed demonstrators it must be stated that they were hardly responsible for this outbreak of sabotage. Young hoodlums could be seen detaching themselves from the main crowd and running down Queen Street, pausing in their headlong rukh for an instant to hurl a rock through a shop window.

Reign of Lawlessness. Destruction was let loose on the city. AU one saw was a flying figure; all one heard was the crash of glass. The police, still engaged with the crowd outside the Town Hall, were powerless to deal with the situation. Within a few minutes the road had been paved for lawlessness, which gripped the heart of the city till late into the night. Scuffles continued outside the Town Hall for some time. Hoots, jeers and curses were mingled with occasional shrieks of women.

At ’ every few minutes . ambulance men would make their way through the crowd, supporting a limp or staggering burden. s

Eventually discipline prevailed over the rabble and the crowd was slowly forced down into Queen Street proper, the hooligan element to carry on their career of looting. Others wandered up and down Queen Street till a late hour gazing at the shop wreckage after one of the blackest nights in New Zealand’s history.

LIST OF CASUALTIES Thirteen Known Names THREE SERIOUSLY HURT During the riots many were injured, including police and civilians, several seriously. The casualties so far known are in hospital and are as follow: — DETECTIVE S. C. WHITEHEAD, of Central Police Station, head injuries and concussion; condition serious. CONSTABLE A. HINTON, Mounted constable, Onehunga, head injuries and concussion; condition serious. CONSTABLE W. COOK, Central Station, head Injuries and concussion, condition serious. Others injured are Sergeant. Bruce Thompson, of the waterfront police, head injury. Constable John King, Central Station, head injury. Constable IL McNeill, Central Station, broken nose. Constable F. Solly, Central Station, injury to left eye. Constable R. Boag, mounted constable, New Lynn, scalp wound. Constable S. Audley, of the water-

front police, scalp wound. Constable L. Morgan, Central Station, Injury to right eye. Constable G. Edwards, Central Station, injury to right hand. Constable J. Shields, Ponsonby Station, injury to arm. Vladimir Antonievic, aged 35, married, of 42 Mount Albert Road, Mount Roskill, severe cut on left hand; not serious.

The names of many injured civilians are not known.

BROADCAST APPEAL Mayor’s Call to Citizens SPECIAL MEN SWORN IN An appeal to all law-abiding, ablebodied men to assist in the restoration of order was broadcast by IYA on behalf of the Mayor, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, at 9.23 p.m. The Mayor’s appeal was as follows: “I feel it my duty to appeal to every decent citizen of Auckland to stand by those in authority in upholding law and thus preventing a recurrence of the disgraceful riot that has taken place in the city this evening. The trouble is still proceeding, and I appeal to all lawabiding, physically fit men to report at once armed with batons to the City Police Station to help file policy to stop the destruction of public and private property and restore order.” At the same time Commander Berthon, of H.M.S. Philomel, had the following message broadcast: — “The whole of the ship’s company of the Philomel except boys are to report on board the Philomel immediately.”, The response was immediate. Many special constables were sworn in at the police station and more will be taken to-morrow. Calmness was maintained in the city theatres by the managers keeping the news of the riot away from the audiences. many of whom did not know of the trouble till they came out into the scenes of ruin in Queen Street, The theatres were not interfered with by the rioters. The managers extinguished the outside lights, thus giving the impression that the theatres were closed MILITARY AID Mounted Territorials Sent Dominion Special Service Auckland, February 14. The Mayor of Auckland, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, transmitted an urgent request to the Minister of Defence. Hon. J. G. Cobbe. late this evening, thrtt the Mounted Territorials in camp at Ngaruawahia should be transferred to Auckland immediately with a view to assisting the authorities in the city in the maintenance of order. It is stated that any of the Territorials sent to Auckland will go voluntarily and that no compulsion will be imposed upon them. The Minister gave his consent and a strong party /of Mounted Territorials left for Auckland during the night. They will arrive at. 7 o’clock in the morning and be available for essential duties at strategic parts of the city.

MANY CASUALTIES | Valuable Aid Given, by Ambulance 150 CASES TREATED By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, April 14. Pressing all available resources into service, the St. John Ambulance Association, directed from its headquarters in Rutland Street, gave distinguished service throughout the riot. The number of casualties treated was estimated officially this evening to be more than 150, but there is little doubt that the actual figure was far in excess of this. There was one fortunate circumstance which assisted the ambulance in its emergency. The Auckland division of the brigade was assembled in the Rutland Street station hall and was hearing an address when the alarm was given that a riot was in progress at the Town Hall. The lecture meeting was instantly disbanded, and everyone present was called to service. Urgent calls for assistance also were sent to the suburban centres, with the result that the association ultimately had a force of probably 100 ambulance men at its disposal at the Town Hall, where the urgency was most acute. During the early stages of the riot a depot was speedily arranged with a strong staff. A minor station also was established in a vacant hall in Airedale Street at a handy distance from the Town Hall. Of the 150 cases estimated to have been treated by the ambulance, 12 were police casualties, necessitating the conveying to Auckland Hospital of the injured officers, three of whom now lie in a serious condition. Other constables received attention for lesser ininjuries. Most of them received attention at the first-aid station at the Town Hall during the ugliest stage of the riot, while several were treated at Rutland Street and also at the Central Police Station. Several firemen from the Central Brigade in Pitt Street also were hurt in the course of the riot. There was no time for discrimination on the part of the ambulance men, who worked under the greatest difficulty, and all cases where wounds were regarded as more than light, were immediately sent to hospital. As it happened, the majority of the ihjured required attention only'in the casualty department. AN EARLIER INCIDENT Man Who Smashed Window TO PAY £36 DAMAGE By Telegraph—Press Association. Auckland, April 14; At the Police Court to-day William Young, aged 54, a fireman, pleaded guilty to a charge of smashing a plate-glass window with a stone yesterday morning. The window was in front of a large drapery firm’s building and was valued at £36. The police said accused’s action had no connection with the unemployed demonstration, but it might easily have led to trouble, and they asked for a penalty that would deter others. The magistrate ordered Young to pay the damage, in default one month's imprisonment. MAN SURRENDERS Warrant Out for Arrest DUNEDIN PROSECUTION By Telegraph—Press Association. Dunedin, April 14. A New Zealander, Leonard Daniel Hiyiter, aged 29, gave himself up to the police this morning and later appeared in court charged with inciting lawless* ness. The police said that Hunter knew a warrant was out for his arrest, and he had been under cover for twenty-four hours. He was the leader of the unemployed disorders, and led the procession to the hospital board’s office. Defendant was remanded in custody till Wednesday with the other six men arrested yesterday. POSITION AT DUNEDIN Two Further Arrests Made By Telegraph—Press Association. Dunedin, April 14. Two further arrests were made this afternoon in connection with the unemployed disturbances. One man will be charged with breaking the window of the relief depot on Friday, and the other with being a rogue and a vagabond and carrying a bludgeon. The weapon comprised two feet of oneinch iron piping. A special meeting of the hospital board to-day refused to consider a return to the system of issuing “chits” to the unemployed as demanded by the demonstrators.