Brilliant Work by St. John Ambulance

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 6834, 15 April 1932, Page 7

Brilliant Work by St. John Ambulance

150 CASUALTIES HANDLED Per Press Association. AUCKLAND. Last Night. Pressing all available resources into its service, tho St. John Ambulance Association, directed from its headquarters in Rutland street, gave distinguished service throughout the riot- The number of casualties treated was estimated officially last evening to be more than 350, but there is little doubt that the actual figure was far in excess of this. There was one fortunate circumstance which assisted the ambulance in its emergency. The Auckland division of the brigade was assembled in the Rutland street station hall and was hearing an address when tho alarm, was given that a riot was in progress at the Town Hall. The lecture meeting was Instantly disbanded and everyone present was called to service.

Urgent calls for assistance also were sent to suburban centres, with the result that the association ultimately had a force of probably 100 ambulance men at its disposal at t-hc Town Hall, where tho urgency was most acute during the early stages of the riot. A depot was speedily arranged, with a strong staff. A minor station also was established in a vacant hall in Airedale street, at a handy distance from the Town Hall. Of the 150 cases estimated to have been treated by the ambulance, 12 were police casualties necessitating the conveying to the Auckland Hospital of the injured officers, three of whom now lie in a serious condition. Other constables received attention for lesser injuries. Most of them received attention at the first aid station at tho Town Hall during the ugliest state of the riot, while several were treated at Rutland street, and also at the central police station.^ Several firemen from tho central brigade in Pitt street also were hurt in the course of the riot. There was no time for discrimination on the part of the ambulance men, who worked under the greatest difficulty, and all cases wherein the wounds were regarded as more than light were immediate! v sent to the hospital. _ As it happened, the majority of the injured required attention only m the casualty department.

still persisted that firearms had been used. The Herald reporters were outside the Town Hall throughout the disturbances and not onco was there the sound of a shot. Reinforcements of constables arrived, but the police force was hopoIcssly outnumbered. Batons were plied in hand-to-hand encounters and tho rearing horses of tho mounted police slowly forced the crowd’back on to the pavement. One mounted policeman had urged his horse on to the pavement at tho corner of Queen street and Grey’s avenue, when a woman standing in a small grass plot at the junction of two streets struck at him with the long pole of a banner. Ho evaded it, but instantly he was struck on the helmet by a flying rock. The crowd now was milling round in a frenzy in the area enclosed by the intersection of Queen street, Rutland street, Lome street and Grey’s avenue.

Window Smashing Starts Soon a section of the crowd diverted its attention from the struggles with the police and started deliberately to smash windows. Tho action was contagious and before long tho crash of broken glass could be heard above tho din of the crowd.

In justice to .the genuine unemployed demonstrators it must be stated that they were hardly responsible for this outbreak of sabotage. Young hoodlums could be seen detaching themselves from the main crowd and running down Queen street pausing in their headlong rush for an instant to hurl a rock through a shop window". Destruction was let loose on the city. All one saw was flying figures. All one heard was the crash of glass. The police were still, engaged with the crowd outside the Town Hall, and were powerless to deal with the situation. Within a few minutes a road had been paved for lawlessness which gripped the heart of the city till late into the night.

Scuffles continued outside the Town Hall for some time. Hoots, jeers and curses were mingled with occasional shrieks of women. At every few minutes ambulance men would make their way through the crowd supporting their limp or staggering burden. Eventually discipline prevailed over the rabble and the crowd was slowly forccd down into Queen street proper, the hooligan element to carry on their career of looting. Others wandered up and down Queen street till a late hour gazing at the shop wreckage after one of the blackest nights in New Zealand's historv.