REIGN OF TERROR

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 67, 22 March 1929, Page 8

REIGN OF TERROR

SYDNEY'S UNDERWORLD

RESIDENTS ALARMED

Residents of Sydney's underworld are not easily terrified, and the fact tliat a majority of residents in the famous Surry Hills quarter bolt their doors and aro afraid to go out at night in an indication that tho gangsters arc particularly active. Surry Hills (writes "The "Post's" Sydney correspondent) is within the city proper, and the houses aro small and squalid, tho streets narrow and dirty, and there aro countless lanes and byways, which make it an admirable resort for criminals. It is only with the utmost difficulty, and at great risk to their own lives, that the police operate in this quarter. KccentJy thrco desperate thugs established a reign of terror, ami their crimes were of a most audacious .character. Principally these ruffians have been inflamed by a lust for plunder, but.-happenings generally suggest a vendetta among the criminal class. Police interference in such circumstances is not welcomed. The thugs sot a seal on recent happenings early on a recent Saturday By a series of crimes which they managed to perpetrate in the short space of an hour and a half. Tho record is probably without parallel in the later history of Sydney's lawlessness. At different places two men were assaulted —ono iv a particularly brutal fashion; two men were robbed; and an attempt was made to rob a confectionery shop, and at a residence the proprietor was forced to lire a revolver shot to protect himself and his lodgers from garrotters. Arrests followed this outrage. Tho trio commenced operations late on tho Friday night when they went to a confectionery shop, intending to hold up the proprietor. They were frustrated owing to the unexpected presence of a number of male patrons in a rear room. Money hungry tho men then turned their attention to a lonely pedestrian near the city. The man was wise enough to offer no resistance, and was allowed to continue on his way unharmed—after he had been robbed. A similar experience befell a man who was bailed up a few minutes later. He was merely robbed of a fairly large sum of money. At 12.40 a.m., Saturday, ca'mo the big coup—a particularly ferocious act, the result, possibly, of an underworld vendetta. Going to a boarding-house, tho men dragged one of the boarders out into the street. One of them punched him on the chin and hit him a smashing blow on the head with a beer bottle, which was full. The beer bottle has ,bcon proclaimed as "Australia's national weapon," but those who use it generally empty it first. As the unfortunate victim sagged to the ground he was brutally kicked, and finally robbed. Tho bottle was smashed to pieces by the force of tho blow. A tramway man, who was in uniform,"was mistaken for a policeman, and the thugs made off, leaving their victim very close to death. Next the gangsters entered another boarding-house, robbed one of the lodgers, and demanded money from two others, threatening to "do for them" if they refused. The proprietor, a Greek, mot the situation energetically. Producing a loaded revolver, he chased .the three men out of the place, and as they raced down the street ho fired a shot into tho air. This brought the police patrol to the scene and arrests followed. Owing to tho peculiar code of "loyalty" to one another existing among tho people of tho underworld, the police anticipate great difficulty in securing, tbo necessary evidence against those who aro under arrest. Tho majority of tho men who are assaulted from time to time among tho Surry Hills area do not report the matter to the police, for they fear the consequences of such action. Further than that, they find a great deal of pleasure in dealing personally with their assailants. And so it i that the neighbourhood boasts a state of open warfare almost continually. And so it is that most of tho houses are locked and bolted at night, and people who know tho locality refuse to walk the streets alone. A large force of police pays particular attention to the locality, but tho police are hindered more than helped. There are rival factions, but -all are united against any steps to restrain law and order.