POLICE IN CONTROL

Evening Star, Issue 21634, 1 February 1934, Page 9

POLICE IN CONTROL

WEST AUSTRALIAN OUTBREAKS HOTELS CLOSED. MINES IDLE Press Association —By Telegraph—Copyright. KALGOORLIE, January 31. The worst was over by noon to-day when order was definitely restored. Police pickets aro everywhere, and all ; the hotels aro closed. Many foreigners are leaving, while others have been told ■to remain out of sight. The miners are still idle. PRIME MINISTER S ASSURANCE COMMUNISTS BEHIND THE SCENES ! MELBOURNE, January 31. The Prime Minister (Mr J. A. Lyons) said that the Government was watching events in the '’Western Australian goldfields, and would co-operate with the State Government if necessity arose in quelling the disturbances. Concerted action would later be. taken to deal with the Communistic elements which were undoubtedly behind them. The Consul for Jugoslavia (M. Marich) has ~ protested against the attacks on his subjects in the goldfields. He declares that the majority are naturalised British subjects. He is appealing for assistance for homeless, starving families who were innocent victims of the miners’ vengeance. POLICE USE BATONS . KALGOORLIE, January 31. The .rioters to-day met their , first fcheck from the police, when, after .wrecking foreigners’ dwellings at Dingbat Elat, they returned to Kalgoorlie and entered a boarding house, which they attacked yesterday. They began to set fire to the place, when the police swooped upon them, using their batons, drove them out, and quelled the fire. The rioters gathered on the opposite side of the street shouting threats, but the police were undaunted and moved the crowds on, and soon had complete control of the situation.

ANOTHER DEATH KNIFE WOUND IN STOMACH .KALGOORLIE, January 31. Tiie second death occurred when Charles Stokes died as the result of a vi Jknife wound in the stomach.lt is Im- - possible! accurately to estimate *‘the casualties as a result of the rioting. Several persons are in hospital with ' gunshot wounds, and it is quite apparent that the miners have not had things all their own way. The funeral to-day of George Jordan, • whose death’ was the immediate cause of the riot, was one of the largest seen ' ’in Kalgoorlie. The coffin was carried on a fire engine, preceded by a long double file of firemen and 100 cars. TUESDAY NIGHT'S EVENTS KALGOORLIE, January 31. , . Tremendous excitement prevails in Kalgoorlie and Boulder City. Crowds are grouped in the streets discussing the overnight happenings and appear to expect fresh outbreaks of violence. The position is intensified by the idleness of the miners, who are in a mood for anything, due to over-indulgence in drink. Tuesday night’s mass meeting in the park at Boulder City was very noisy, and the parliamentary member for the district, Mr C. B. Williams, was unable to make himself heard. Everybody ' wanted to talk at once. The crowd broke away from the meeting when a series of explosions was heard in ‘ tho direction of foreigners’ huts, where a .pitched battle was soon in progress. The foreigners had organised in anticipation of an attack, and had made their dispositions with a certain degree of military skill. Entrenched in a drain • .'they, sought to defend themselves with . shotguns, rifles, and revolvers, but .were finally driven out with jam-tin bombs and road metal and pickets. ■ Then followed complete destruction of .the. foreigners’ huts. The crack of rifle fire,and the. bursting of bombs were , plainly heard by people in the background. The day revealed a scene of terrible desolation, and it was miraculous that many lives were not lost. SURVEYING THE DAMAGE KALGOORLIE, January 31. A survey of the damage at Kalgoorlie disclosed that fifteen shops and cafes in Hannan street had suffered, the majority of the windows and fittings being irreparably smashed and the stocks looted. At Boulder City two hotels, • the foreigners’ clubhouse, three cafes, and a bootmaker’s shop were wholly

or partially wrecked and burned. At least fifty foreigners’ huts were burned or razed.

DISTRACTED FOREIGNERS PERTH, January 31. Twenty Jugoslavs and Greeks reached Perth to-day and told a graphic story of the rioting. They seemed dazed by the swift calamity which had overtaken them. Sobbing mothers were met by friends at the railway station, and by pitiful gestures indicated that their scanty belongings were all that remained of their worldly possessions. They declared that miners and women looted their shops and homes after the men had wrecked them. SITUATION STILL TENSE EXODUS OF FOREIGNERS CONTINUES PERTH, February 1. (Received February 1, at 11.50 a.m.) Although Kalgoorlie and Boulder City are now quiet, the situation is still tense. The authorities have recalled the district commandant, Brigadier Martyn, who had gone on leave. One hundred and forty men have been chosen as special constables to act on the goldfields. The Government is concerned not only on account of the loss of life and damage to property, but because of the possibility of. international complications. The Commissioner of Police (Mr Douglas) has left for Kalgoorlie by aeroplane. At Boulder City, when the men assembled for a meeting, pamphlets were issued by Communists. Far from inciting to riot, they stressed that the foreigners were fellow-workers. The outbreak was due only to long smouldering animosities arising out of economic competition and racial prejudice. Estimates of the damage at Kalgoorlio and Boulder City vary from £50,000 to £70,000. The Premier stated that the Government was determined to control the situation at all costs. The Italian Consul had an interview with the Premier, but nothing was disclosed. The large exodus of foreigners continues from Kalgoorlie and Boulder City. Hundreds are homeless, with all their possessions lost in the fires. They are wandering in the bush between Coolgfirdie and Kalgoorlie, learful of returning.