MAY DAY SCENES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21790, 3 May 1934, Page 9

MAY DAY SCENES

WESTERN HEMISPHERE

GUN BATTLE IN HAVANA SNIPER FIRES ON REDS SERIOUS CONFLICT FOLLOWS By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received May 2, 5.5 p.m.) NEW YORK, May 1 In practically all the large cities in the Western Hemisphere, radical Labour elements observed May Day. With the exception of a gun battle in Havana, Cuba, no serious disorders are reported. In New York Socialists and Communists held separate parades, the police keeping them apart. The trouble in Havana started when a sniper from the top of a building fired on a parade of 10,000 Communist workmen, some of whom returned the fire. Thereupon troops- dispersed the mob with machine-guns and gas bombs. Many people were injured.

ALL QUIET IN LONDON MOSCOW DEMONSTRATIONS BELLIGERENT GERMAN CROWDS LONDON. May 1 The May Day demonstration in London was one of the most orderly for years. Neither the members of the Labour Party r.or of the Labour Trades Union Congress took part in the procession, which was organised by Communists and members of the Left Wing. They marched on a roundabout route, decreed by the police, to Hyde Park, and caused a few traffic blocks. The demonstrators included 21 Oxford undergraduates. In Paris the Communists' appeal for a May Day strike in the centre of the city was unavailing, but many factories in the suburbs were closed. The strikers included taxi drivers, employees of the Mint, and of Government match and tobacco factories. In Vincennes the Communists' meeting, at which 40,000 attended, was largely a picnic affair. There were a few minor clashes, but the Communists were awed by strong forces of police and troops. In Madrid the police arrested a number of dangerous anarchists who were alleged to be attempting to organise demonstrations for May Day. The police charged the crowds and there were numerous casualties.

While 40,000 troops filed through Red Square, Moscow, in celebration of May Day, 552 aeroplanes, including ' 165 speedy bombers, manoeuvred overhead. Stalin took the salute from the top of Lenin's tomb. Dimitroff, one of the men acquitted in Berlin in connection with the Reichstag fire, ?vas the guest of honour. There were many banners, one being inscribed "Down With Japanese Imperialism." In Berlin thousands of people marched in a monster May Day procession singing special songs, one of which declared: "One day mankind will tremble and shiver when Germans rise again to fight for freedom and justice," and another concluded: "I will die on foreign soil. I will not halt my horses but push forward to the enemy's land. Hurrah! Victory!"

INCIDENTS IN CANADA CENOTAPH DESECRATED PRIEST'S HOME BOMBED OTTAWA, May 1 The restrictions imposed by the police on demonstrations resulted in a quiet May Day throughout Canada. Ahout 5000 people took part in an orderly Communist parade in Winnipeg. In Vancouver vandals during the night painted the Cenotaph with the phrase: "Down with Fascism" and other slogans. The home of a Ukrainian anti-Com-munist priest in Toronto was bombed but no one was injured.

HOLIDAY IN VIENNA

LACK OF ENTHUSIASM PROCESSION BOYCOTTED VIENNA. May 1 The Austrian Government decreed that May Day should be observed as a national holiday to celebrate the "new Austria" created by the altered Constitution. In contrast with former years, when the Socialists held festival celebrations, the day generally passed quietly, although Nazis in Graz, Salzburg and Innsbruck exploded smoke bombs to mark their disapproval. The Viennese apparently boycotted the celebrations. There was only a scanty gathering in the streets to watch the Dollfuss procession. There wasi a similar lack of enthusiasm throughout the country.

A detachment of Italian motor-cyclists (Fascisti) travelling to Vienna to participate in the celebrations was stoned by Communists at Styria. The cyclists replied with revolver shots, killing one man.

The Italians found tlio roads streiwn -n-ith nails and tlie result was scores, of punctures. Many abandoned the journey.

TOKIO CELEBRATION POLICE SECURE ORDER TOKIO. May 1 May Day was quiet in Tokio. Thousands of Labour men separated into Eight and Left groups and demonstrated under strong police precautions. A fow arrests were made.