REIGN OF TERROR

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 2 April 1929, Page 7

REIGN OF TERROR

+ . l SYDXFY’K rXDKinVOIJM). skulks of violkxt gi: iaiks. SY.DNKY. l-'cl). J 4. Residents of Sydncv’s underworld are not, e;t>ily terrified. ami tin* fact that a majority of residents in the notorious Surry Hills quarter bolt their doors anti are afraid to mi out at night is an indication that the gangsters are purlieu la rly active. Surry Mills is within the city proper, anti the houses tile small and squalid, the streets naritow and dirty, and there tire countless lanes ami byways, which make it an admirable resort tor criminals. It is only with the utmost difficulty, and at great risk to their own lines, that the police operate in this quarter. Recently thugs have established a reign of terror, and their crimes have boon of a most audacious character. Principally these ruffians have been inflamed by a lust for plunder. Imt liap-f pollings generally suggest a vendetta among the criminal class. Police interference in such circumstances is not welcomed. I In* thugs set a seal on recent happenings early on Saturday morning last by a series of crimes which they managed to perpetrate in the short; space of an hour and a half. The record is probably without parallel In the later history of Sydney's lawlessness. At different places two men were as-j suulted. one in a particularly brutal iashion ; two men were robbed, and an attempt was made to rob a confectionery shop, and at a residential building the proprietor was forced to lire a revolver shot to protect himself and Ids lodgers from garrotters, Aricsts followed this outrage. ASSAULT WITH A JIKKR HOTTLK. The trio commenced operations late on Friday night, when they went to a confectionery shop, intending to hold up the proprietor. They were i rostrated owing to tin* unexpected presence of a number of nude patrons in a rear room. Money hungry, the 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 yvay unharmed after he had been robbed. A similar experience betel a man who was bailed up a few minutes later. He was merely robbed of a large sum of money. At 12.40 a.m. on Saturday came the big coup—a particularly ferocious act. | tiie result, possibly, of an underworld, vendetta. Going to a boarding-house the men dragged one of. the hoarders out into the street. One ot them punched him on the cliin and hit him a smashing blow on the head with a beer bottle, which was lull. The beer bottle luns been proclaimed as •‘Australia s national weapon. but those who use it generally empty it first. As the unfortunate victim sagged lo the ground lie was brutally kicked and finally robbed The bottle was smashed to pieces by the force ot the blow. A tramwayman who was in uniform was mistaken for a policeman, and the thugs made off, leaving their victim very close to death. A GUKICK WITH A 11 EVOLVER. Next the gangsters entered another hoarding-house, robbed one of the lodgers and demanded money from two others, threatening to “do for them il they refused. The proprietor, a Greek, met the sitation energetically. Producing a loaded revolver he chased tiie three men out of the place, and as they raced down the street he fired a shot into the air. This brought the police patrol to the scene and arrests followed. Owing to the peculiar code of ••loyalty” to one another existing among the people of the underworld the police anticipate great difficulty in securing the necessary evidence against those who are under arrest. The majority of the men who are assaulted from'time to time within the §urry Hills area do not report the matter to the police, for they fear the consequences of such action. Further than that, they liml a great deal of pleasure in dealing personally with their assailants. And iso it is that the neighbourhood boasts a state of open warfare almost continually. Most ot the houses are locked and bolted at night, and people who know the locality refuse to walk the streets alone. A large force of police pays particular 'attention to the locality, hut the police are hindered more than helped. There are rival factions, but all are united (against any tsteps to restore law and »order.