RAID ON CHINESE

Grey River Argus, 7 October 1914, Page 3

RAID ON CHINESE

ALLEGED GAMBLING DEN. BARBED WIRE ENTANGLEMENTS. EXCITEMENT AT ALEXANDRIA. SYDNEY, Oct i. Sub-Inspector Carson, who was recently transferred from No. 4 -Station to Redfern, carried out. a clever ra.d in Retreat-street Alexandria, about a quarter-past 9 last mgnt. He had with him six plaJnclothes officers and a dozen uniformed men. and after a desperate fight they landed m the cells t 7 Chinese, who are alleged to have been playing fan tan. Wrth Senior-Sergeant Harrison, Serjeants Whifehair .and Archinall. and Constables Gomans, Dean, and Webber, in plahiclothes. and having plac ed uniformed constables in position at the rear of the house. CaTSora left Redfern Station about 9 o'clock and order ed his men to board the same tram. Two sledge-hammers and a crowbar comprised their equipment, and as the tram shot past Retreat street the poiice jumped and rushed the den. Near , ing the door Carson gave the signal for the men at the back to make then charge. The only reply to vhe demand for the front ■door to be opened' was fhe clatter and shrieking of scared Chinese. The sledge-hammers and the crowbar were brought into play ,and. as the heavy door was shattered from its hinges. Carson headed Irs ' officers in a rush that sent them hurling into a wildly-gestulatmg mob of Chinamen, who scrambled over each other in their efforts to escape. . _. , Meanwhile the police officers at the back were having a bad time. In the darkness they ra n "«nto a series of Farbed-wire entanglements in close formation!. Great rents were torn m uniforms, and hands and legs were scratched badly. .But they stuck to their task, and reached the back door in tke to capture one Chinaman, who leapt from a second-story wimdow. He put up a hard fight, but was no match for two burly constables. Once inside, the front and rear guard's joined forces, and the fight began in earnest. Carson was m the thick ol of the melee, but there was no mistaking his orders. Shrieking Chinese were dragged from the top of a sta'rway. and were pulled back from window-sills. One tried to smash ? kerosene lamp but his attempt was frustrated. One Ch/mamam hurled fan-tan sticks through the air, but they did not do much damage. At last the police got the upper hand, and drove their captive? to th* station 1 in cabs. One was charged with being the keeper of the places and the others with being found in a common gaming house.