RIOTS AT WELLINGTON.

King Country Chronicle, 8 November 1913, Page 5

RIOTS AT WELLINGTON.

SPECIALS CHARGE CROWD. Wellington, Wednesday. Riotous scenes accompanied the attempt to load racehorses on the Manganui for Lyttelton to-night. At least a score of mounted constabls were inured by missile?, and seven arre: * were msde for atone throivinr, whih a woman vva n nuoencioi i I wild and in ult i _ 1 c < troopus 1* b n n i "no <* ti n ~ ! i i he cla\ that th i 1 i i 'n i ped p i i oi n i \ i "i hm i B Ol lii ii n°n r c i ' I « 1 il 1 1 \ 1 1 1 ' t 1 f 1 1 11 "H II I 1 p ' 1 it 101 1 1 ' i 1 i e 1 1 I . in ti ' r- d *■( " 11 rn i n 11 1 11 It oil j] c i ! mi li i i i l l \ ule i* 1 » ' i le j ioi lit i i (i l on l ' l! 1 i L i iii i» h o 11 111 ni d oi l U"C 1 \ l il o i io ii i n k in ii ill 01 1 1 1111 1 in i n il i if ci ' " 11 i in t r 1 ii i n l ii o -i m i j "> ii i ei n i " " ci n i n r torn )' n hi ill i "i 11 i i o on r in o 1 in h i M | i ni oim ito il ! o K p | ii" i oi n f a C3th bj I vm e hin v i" i iii^n l jiulling out a revolver. The lons line

of horsemen was broken frequently by tram cars, and the of the country-brod horecs also iu.erforred with the close formation essentia! io safety if a, crowd -was io be handled. THREATS AXD TERK'-M-L | When the cavalcade reached the Pest Office strikers and sympathiser? surged through the side streets from the Square and formed up behind the horsemen in threatening array, with frequent revulsions of terror. Orderhad been given (hat the specials must not retaliate if subjected to violence They stood a good deal of rione throwing, and toe casualties wore fai.-ly numerous before they broke j loose and charge 1 I'eli rneil wont ; the crowd in; > side etreels, but. it came b:rk th" instant the mounted ! men umimci io rejoin (heir comnan- ' ions. A few hundred yard,-* along FeathersLon street a timber yard was passed. This gave such admirable ■ shelter for 'he "throw and ran ' ; brigade that, the rain of stone- became : intolerable. Scalp wounds wore sustained by a dozen specials, ana the ; Inst 90 or so of the cavairade ; turned on the crowd half a ceacn j times. ; THE FINAL CHARGE. [ Massed compactly across the broad . street opposite the railway head office were the mounted specials, their '■■ horses restlessly turning and the riders equally excited. Roars of hoots . aa-e from the following crowd, which ken: at a distance of 50>ris while there was any sign of the mounteds coming back at them. Cheers were heard torn Civil servants in the big wooden building, and the crowd came closer, hoarse cries mingling with the plane- ; its Bnd the clatter.of hoofs. A hideoub medley of sounds, swift, rush of I men along the pavement, and a wild j Bcatter among the horßes betokened a stone throwing charge. The wild sights and sounds eeeme to send many people mad with excitement. Scores of well dressed people, apparently clerks or shopmen, threw stones. A group of these well dressed hoodlums scaled a fence at the central telephone offiec and stood on the low roof of an outbuilding, yelling and stone throwing. PANIC STRICKEN CROWD. Suddenly they came to the ground, a if a Maxim gun had swept the spot. The mounteds were charging. Those ho had been in the front ranks of the crowd fled wildly, and panic seized the groups of curiously people ho had been folloing some distance from the danger point. The street was> full of citizens on the run. A hatless man holding a hatten six or eight feet long stood alone in a cloai* space on the j tramlines. He was awaiting the charge. But the sight of horses on the gallop, with riders waving bludgeons, overcame his stubborn rage, and he tried to get out of harm's way. Too late, however, for he was knocked down by a horse. Some of the stone throwers sought Bhelter in the space behind Government buildings. They ran right into the arms of special constables, who, hurriedly summoned by telephone, were marshalled, awaiting commands. When one man was seized he shrieked with terror, "I did not throw, 1 did not throw!" Four arrests were made at this time. SEVENTY MEN INJURED. Two ambulances stations were active to day as a result of the disturbnaces. One, controlled by the St. John Ambulance Association, had its nurses in the thick of the fight, attending to the caualtiesa, mainly among thoße in the crowd. They treated 14 cases, all contusions and scalp wounds, none absolutely serious. At the Buckle street tdeCence ambulance station fifty special constables had to be treated. Here, again, the injuries were wounjs and severe bruises, an! fortunately not a single case gives rise to anxiety. Five or six of the men had had head wounds, but they seem to have avoided concussion of the brain. The uniformed police fared best. They j were fewest in number, ends d'd not I excite the crowd's hostility. Six or seven, however, have- had to report for duty with bandaged heads, as a result of the lively scene- near <-overnmont Buildings