MOB VIOLENCE

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 108, 31 January 1934, Page 9

MOB VIOLENCE

Wild Scenes in West Australia BUILDINGS WRECKED Man’s Death Incites Crowd Against Foreigners TREMENDOUS DAMAGE DONE J I SJiops Burnt to the Ground By Telegraph.—Press Assn. —Copyright. (Received January 30. 7.55 p.m.) Perth/ January 30. A sensational display of mob vengeance against the foreign community at Kalgoorlie and Boulder ' City last night resulted in the wrecking, looting, or burning of three hotels, a wine saloon, a twostory boardinghouse, a brick club- . house, and 13 shops occupied or / owned by foreigners. It Is estimates that the damage will amount to £50,000 pounds. Twenty arrests have been made. v The cause of the outbreak was -he death after an hotel disturbance' of George Edward Jordan, aged 29. married. of Kalgoorlie. Jordan, who was chief of the South Kalgoorlie Volunteer Fire Brigade, received a severe blow outside the Home from Home Hotel, iu Hannan Street. Kalgoorlie. which cost his life. Immediately afterwards police arrested Claudio Mattaboni, aged 34. barman, on a charge of manslaughter. No work was done at the mines today, the Miners’ Union demanding the dismissal of all foreigners, numbering with dependents and colleagues 1500. Crowd Sweeps Through Town. The trouble commenced after eight last night, when about 100 gathered in front of the Home from Home Hotel. A boy threw a stone througth the bar window, the crashing glass being the signal for a violent outbreak of lawless- / ness. The front doors were rushed and broken down, the bar raided, and furniture and fittings ruthlessly wrecked. The crowd increased to 1000. The police lost control, and the mob swept from street to street, wrecking, raiding, apd burning foreign premises, also cutting fire hoses. A wood and iron wine saloon 100 - yards away was next, raided. Every window was broken and the furniture stacked in the centre floor and set afire with torches. The place was soou a mass of flame and was reduced to ruins. When the police attempted to disperse the infuriated crowd they were compelled to retreat owing to flying bottles and other missiles. One man led the rioters with a cornet, which was stolen cjuring the looting. One foreigner’s shop after another was wrecked and looted with the utmost impunity, fires occurring simultaneously in half a dozen places. Hannan Street soon became covered with splintered glass. . Tooted goods were everywhere littering the streets. In the early morning the mob attacked the newly-erected International Club, used by the foreign population. This was soon in ruins. Reflections from the fires illuminated the sky the whole night. Having finished with Kalgoorlie, the mob commandeered trams > and motor-cars and visited Boulder City, damaging several shops before returning to their homes with the proceeds of the looting. Foreigners Flee to Bush. Fortunately all foreigners had quitted their premises upon hearing what was about to happen. The majority ■spent the night in the bush. Some are in town to-day surveying the debris that remains of their shops. The rioting was watched by hundreds of people. The actual wreckers were mostly youths whose sympathisers cheered them on and, while keeping at a safe distance themselves, displayed willingness to share the loot. A large section of the rioters became drink-crazed and, with bot.tles of liquor filling their pockets, went about shouting their intention of “cleaning up (be Dagoes.” The police were warned not to attempt to interfere as they would be dealt with. Oue constable defied the warning and was struck on the head’ by a flying bottle and taken to hospital. The total number of available police in Kalgoorlie and Boulder City ’ was only 20, consequently they were hopelessly outnumbered. The West Australian Government , has now sent 200 extra police to the scene, but these are regarded as insufficient owing to the fong-smoulder-ing racial jealousies resulting from the economic penetration of foreigners on the goldfields, which reached its climax in Jordan’s death. A similar riot occurred in 1910, when all foreigners were evicted from Kalgoorlie and Boulder City after the death 'of a man named Norwood. Business in Kalgoorlie and Boulder City is at a standstill, and 2500 mine employees are idle. The situation is still menacing, to the foreign population. According to the last census in June. Kalgoorlie has 17.332 inhabitants, of whom 9409 are males. Foreigners' totalled 729, chiefly Italians, Greeks, Yugoslavs, Germans, Russians, and Swedes. Boulder City’s population is ' 5809.