V-E DAY MOBS GO MAD

Grey River Argus, 10 May 1945, Page 4

V-E DAY MOBS GO MAD

In a Canadian Port MILLION DOLLARS’ DAMAGE DONE. (Rec. 10.0). OTTAWA, May 9. Comparative calm descended ’ate on Wednesday night on the city l , of Halifax, where citizens began reckoning up damage that has been '-a used bv victory riots. "Halifax has probably' the biggest victory' hangover in Canada. The major part of the city’s down-town section looks as: though a cyclone had passed through, with shattered glass and broken liquor bottles strewing the streets —the aftermath of the rioting that ended only after three liquor stores had been looted. A police patrol waggon and tramcar were burned, and at least twenty other trams were damaged. A few people were injured, mainly by' flying glass. The evening began quietly, but by midnight the mob tried to overtrip a tram, and finally set lire to it. When the police waggon appeared, the mob overturned it with three policemen inside, and later set fire to it. The mob smashed windows of liquor stores and, as a policeman said, “drank whiskey; by the case.” The riots died down at 5 a.m., but fresh rioting broke out this afternoon, when a mob of about ,500. mostly sailors, marched along one street and literally smashed every window on one side. Naval and civilian police broke up the mob and patrolled the down-town district. They' also took over control of traffic at the main intersections, in the attemnt to prevent further outbreaks. In the city there were two buildings set on fire and gutted. The business section was looted.. Dozens of people were slashed with broken glass. A curfew was imposed at 7 p.m. Five hours later, civilian and service police quelled the worst of the disturbances. Thereafter the disturbances are described as having been sporadic. It is unofficially estimated that the damage will run into a million dollars.