LARRIKINS BREAK OFF

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 110, 11 May 1932, Page 8

LARRIKINS BREAK OFF

BUSH THEOIiGH MAIN

STBEETS

MERE HANDFUL RESPONSIBLE

" The big meeting of strikers at the jgates of Parliament Building grounds did .not improve in: disposition, as, the afternoon dragged on from half past 3 till a to 6, but if there was any idea of concerted action, it was for an attack on the .police "in the grounds and not for the senseless destructive rush through Lamb ton quay, jWillis and Manners-streets by ;tho few which followed.

The ■ trouble broke when the delegates who had interviewed' Mr.: Coates returned to address the*crowd. They had little,' to; impart beyond the;, statement Ithat Mr. Coates had. promised to issue Betails of some amendments-in. the conIditions for married men-inT the' morning. '(Boos and jeers.) Each of the delegates spoke, but not nearly all they said could be-heard.' Mr/KellyJ who had largely acted as chairman of the gathering, mounted the: pillarvagain. and advised all'to''disperse and to atterid'a meeting at the Basin Beserve' this morning. The proposal was coldly, received by some and-openly antagonistically by others, with cries of' "What are we here for V' Mr. Kelly still "-urged /quiet dispersal, and. the great''majority of the crowd was in accord, with him. ;•: ■, ,r; ;"; : ; j'',iMQDi^s,!Ai?9^.//:^r --■;-■■ "While he was still urging. reasonable action 'there was a shout from" someone; on the outskirts towards Lambton quay, "Up the town!" A few; possibly\a dozen lor twenty, commenced to; move, but Jthere was not ai big enough following*- and .the movement died, but'a, minute later a leader, or leaders^ started -..off and some "thirty irresponsibles; formed the van, among them being- a.-boy of not more than sixteen;years' of age, .They quickly broke.clear<rof,"the'main, .body, andj dashing-from : the'middle,' of the xoadj made a Hindu-hawker's cart their first target. The. fruit; "stall":; was: upended "and thrown on to the footpath, its contents being-strewn, over /footpath and road./: Cases".were ■r.broken> and pieces .of wood as well., as'fruit were gathered up quickly, in many cases to be used as ammunition. In the course of this briefs melee, the: first windows were broken, missiles connecting with two panes of the: liambton Tearooms: Some motor-cars -were interfered; with, and another crash followed quickly the f ailing of glass from.the window.iof a chemist's ■ shop' nearby.V At! that the "flying: squad," ljghtly shod, set off np the Quay at a fast clip, with window 'smashing as its main-mission. :pokoe;outdistanced. It was almost quite dark,' the police were still stationed inside the gates and fenced', of the; {grounds,: and ■. the crowd stood where it was, but "the Xambtoh quay fringe started away, thirty or :forty youths .and flashy young ,mea, starting to run. They were plainly of the : larrikin type; they, did not look-like relief workers, though upon that it is not .possible to be definite. •Plainly also^ they carried some stones or other missiles, for-the road offered nothing until -Ballanee street was reached, yet-several .windows - were smashed, obviously.by- stones, or metal. .Opposite Ballance street-stood a.Hindu's fruit barrow; it ;w'ent : oyer-with a crash, andr the van *of the .crowd,.-for the remainder;was :npw following on— men, women, 'and;,' children—grabbed apples, pears, and oranges.- There was still, no sign of. police yet;! they, had forced their, way through the spreading crowd at the gates, but had not overtaken the larrikin window-smashers. KAPm DESTRUCTION. In rapid succession came a series of heavy crashes, as cars, were throjvn on to their sides, and in one case :upside' down, in the length of the quay up to the State Fire Building. Fruit stands in front of shops' were; robbed, and another barrow .went over. There was a continual succession of - crashes as .windows were kicked in,, smashed with bars—the leader carrying what appeared to' be an ironbar or pipe about two feet long—and starred and splintered with fruit, not heavy enough to 'destroy the pane completely. Anything loose was picked up and hurled at the' nearest window, even a bicycle. .. Those "who followed, in the wake of the destrtiction "passed "quite 'a' number of overturned cars, while the footpaths, were littered iere and therewith broken

glass'and smashed apples. Even when a window was broken near at ;hand,' it was impossible -ml the .half light .and the rapidly amoving throng ..to'- pick out the thrower, but gapingj-jagged black holes appeared; in :many of .the plateglass windows, as, the ,head of, the mob ran by,'soon /outdistancing the res V.of the crowd. . 'fi:

An occasional onlooker was threatened, and "at-the corner of Woodward street one "of the rioters held a full-sized 'trick aloft and approached a bystander with, a threat that he would bring the brick down forcibly on the innocent's head. Smart head and foot work was" shown by tho bystander, and the brick shattered somo > more glass of a pane already broken. \ DANGEROUS SPIRIT; The spirit, of the wreckers was sardonically mischievous, shouts of glee signalling eaeh'crashj while the following crowd.was .more.excited than angiy at the, damage. It all happened" bo quickly that tho* sense of values' was temporarily stunned, apparently. Anxious to see what was happening ahead, the more sober, portion of the ' people pressed, forward to keep up with,the wreckers, their interest quickened by the sight of many smashed windows in Messrs. Kirkcaiato^and Stains, ,fout a sudden cheek was received. ' * Though rthe action .of Ahis section of the crowd was pot foreseen by the policy the force quickly -realised the position. Constables in pairs' pressed through tho straggling crov/d at the double, until |&esßrs. Whitcombe and Tombs they were in sufficient'force to form up) and, drawing their batons, charged the mob without favour. Suddenly the crowd turned tail1 and "ran, turning down side streets into Featherston street. Only tho leaders c6uld see what was happening, but the following crowd realised that what was ahead was not pleasant; they turned tail and in no time all forward movement was arrested:' BATONS END THE RUSH. The police doubling up the .Quay through tho crowd had got ahead of the main body in sufficient force to draw their batons and mako a stand. The effect was immediate. There were cries of "Here they come!" "Look outl" as, flourishing their batons, the police drove the crowd back. Three men were beaten to.tho ground, and many others were hit. One man grappled with a constable on tho ground, but two other constables were quickly on the spot and beat him into submission. A baton charge is not the most pleasant thing to be concerned in, and there must have been many of those i who were follo'wirig in 'the crowd/just to see the fun" who now began'to regret their curiosity. However, it w^s all over in a few minutes.. Tho: determined front shown by the police quickly took tho light "out of any w_ho may have had ideas of resisting, and the police then turned round to chase up Willis street the window^mashers whom they had failed ;to cut off. SPECIALS ARRIVE. ' While the crowd was being halted at Grey street a big tody 'of Bpecial constables, whp had been waiting at the Central-Polico Station, since half-past,3, was on its way up Customhouse, quay, a solid mass of men whose discipline was obvious. They halted at the foot, of Willis street, where by this time a solid body, of police was holding 'any further movement. Some lone adventurer rushed froni tha front of the crowd into tho open befoie the police and specials, ana shouted: "All who aro game, follow me!" No one was game, and his bravado lasted about two seconds. He was immediately taken in charge by a uniformed man. ON THROUGH WILLIS STREET. The fringe of the crowd had broken so quickly,away from tho "Parliamentary Building locality that possibly fifteen or twenty of the flying windowsmashing squad reaehod Willis and Manners streets. Their appearance was an absolute surprise to shopkoepeis, but a good many haa.the presence Of mind to switch off all lights and to slam front doors. A small body of polico from the Taranaki street station had dashed down to James Smith's corner ana made mighty short woik of the rush when it reached that point, and the arrival of a considerable body of "specials'' put an end,to alf dangor beyond that point. A cordon of men was at once thrown across Manners street, and quickly tho other streets wore stopped in tho same way. Tho rush had dwindled to practically nothing^ and could not have got through even if it had been inclined that ivay, which it was not. Everyone immediately had some particularly private and peaceful business to: attend to. Thedis- ;- turbance,' the most idiotic thing that j Wellington has ever Beon, was defi-] nitely ended.