SAVAGE HOOLIGANISM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20870, 12 May 1931, Page 13

SAVAGE HOOLIGANISM.

UNEMPLOYED WRECK HOUSE. SEQUEL TO AN EVICTION. DAMAGE EXCEEDS £IOO. Damage estimated at considerably more than £IOO was done to a house at West Brunswick, Melbourne, on a recent evening, by a crowd of unemployed men, following the eviction of the tenant by a Court order. All windows, doors and fittings in the house were broken. The tenant's furniture was carried by the unemployed from the houso to tho portico of the Brunswick Town Hall, but later it was removed by polico orders to another house. Tho tenant is a returned soldier with a wifo and four children, and he has occupied the houso sinco September. It was stated that he had paid rent for only two weeks. Several weeks ago a bailiff was sent to the house, but ho was chased away by a number of unemployed men. The evictment order, by virtue of which action was taken, was made on tho application of the present owner of the house. It is understood that until recently tho house was owned by a man who was himself unemployed. The evictment order was enforced by a bailiff, who was accompanied to the house by two constables.

Shortly after 5 o'clock, when the man and his family were leaving the houso, a crowd of about 100 unemployed men arrived. The men carried the evicted tenant's furniture from the house, and in the centre of a procession it was taken to tho Town Hall, where it was deposited in the portico. Crowd Returns to the House, "While the procession was moving along the road a person in the crowd threw a missile, which broke a plate-glass window in an estate agent's office. When tho unemployed reached the Town Hall statements criticising the actions of tho Brunswick Jbranch of tho Returned Soldiers' League wero written in chalk on tho columns of the building. About two hours later . the furniture was removed by order of the police. It was taken to a house which had been obtained for the man and his family by members of an unemployed organisation. After depositing tho furniture afc the Town Hall many.of tho unemployed returned to the houso from which the man had been evicted. Tho crowd pulled down the front fence and wrecked the small verandah. Armed with gate posts and verandah posts, the men then began to wreck tho empty house, which is a single-fronted weatherboard building.

An examination of the house later in the night showed how thoroughly the work of destruction had been done. All the windows were broken and large quantities of splintered glass lay on the floors in each room. It was apparent that the windows in the front of the houso had been broken by a heavy verandah post, which had been used as a battering ram. A large stone was found on the floor of the front bedroom. Doors Wrenched From Hinges. Nearly all the doors had been wrenched from their hinges and all the panels in every door were broken. Grates in the fireplaces had been broken, and mantelpieces, wrenched from the walls, were found lying broken in the centre of the rooms. Gas fittings had also been wrenched from their places in the walls. There were large holes in walls and ceilings, and practically all that remained of the house undamaged were the outside walls and iron roof. Even the water pipe at the back of the house was broken and the land was partly flooded before the water supply was turned off. Police and officials of the local branch of the Returned Soldiers' League expressed disgust at the extent oi the hooliganism. Officials of the unemployment sub-committee of the branch stated that the branch had done everything possible to assist the man who had been evicted. Articles for sale had been supplied to him and food and clothing for his family had been given.