Ugly Scenes in Karangahape Road

Manawatu Times, Volume LV, Issue 6835, 16 April 1932, Page 7

Ugly Scenes in Karangahape Road

Mayor Threatens to Read Riot Act Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Last Night. An ugly fight between special constables and a section of rioters occurred opposite the premises of Bon Marche in Karangahape road to-night. Two men were seriously injured by baton wounds and a dozen more received blows of less serious character. A stone thrown through the shop window was the start of the fight. A section of special constables in packed formation and brandishing batons above their heads, rushed forward to aircst the man, shouting, “Stand back! Stand back!” to tne dense crowd of people—men, women and children who got m their way. As they jostled the crowd curses were hurled at them by the men in front. The women shouted, “Leave him alone, dirty scabs!” and the next instant the street was thrown into hopeless confusion. Men used their fists and specials laid about with their batons, hor three or four minutes the street resounded with blows, scuffling of feet and frenzied yelling.

A Avoman was knocked down in the melee and was caxiaed into a shop and half a dozen rioters with bleeding -heads and arms reeled out of the struggling mass, leaving one of their numbers in the hands of the specials. Men Avho were in the forefront of the attack gradually thinned out as some Avere put out of action by wounds and others got out of the reach of the specials. At least one man was arrested. He was bleeding profusely from a deep gash on the head and Avas led away by two specials through a jeering and hooting mob. . Groups of specials became involved in further actions as the. •evening greiv on. Their tactics were'to band closely together tivo or three deep and move forward through the surging thron" Avhenever a crash and scatter’ of a breaking windoAv offered them a point in the confused mass of humanity on Avkieh to centre their attentions. Their progress in this fashion was the signal for an outbreak of a storm of shouting and screaming men and youths, hurling oaths upon them and urging each other to “go for them and stand your ground. for 20 minutes or more one section of specials Avas kept moving from place to place in a dense throng by intermittent spasms of window breaking. No sooner had they turned in one direction than a resounding crash on the opposite side of the street caused them to dash forward, alter their course and make for the place ivhere the offender ivas thought to be. The croAvd impeding them Avas so closely packed, hoAvever, that by the time they reached the spot everyone round the Avindow had scattered and all they could do was to keep part of the crowd moving until another Avindow Avas broken on the opposite side of the street. A dozen windoAvs or more Avere broken in this manner.

An announcement that if disturbances similar to that. of the past tivo nights occurred again, he Avould have no hesitation in reading the Riot Act, Avas made by the Mayor, Mr. G. W. Hutchison, to-night. “The effect of reading the Riot Act will be that one hour after it has been read, if the. crowd. does not disperse, every person Avho remains in the vicinity will be liable to arrest anc imprisonment for life,” the Mayor said. “That would mean that the Avliole streets would be cleared. As .to-day was Lite shopping night and the disturbance was purely local, ! did not consider it Avas’a fair thing to make everyone leave the sticet and thus disturb business. Further, I Avas relying upon the request I had made through the press that everyone who proposed to Avalk- the streets out of curiosity should stay at home. As however, they did not go home after the ships closed, it will undoubtedly be necessary in future to take sterner measures and bring the public to a realisation of its duties Under ouch circumstances, if there is a further recurrence of disturbance Avith an attendant crowd of onlookers, I will not hesitate read the Riot Act,” added the Mayor. Those Avho then elect to remain in the streets must take the consequences. At a late hour it Avas ascertained that thirty arrests had been made to-night principally on charges of rioting and mischief. No actual looting is reported. The ambulance treated thirty men for minor injuries and three cases are in hospital.