MELBOURNE POLICE STRIKE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19012, 7 November 1923, Page 7

MELBOURNE POLICE STRIKE.

IMPROVED CONDITIONS. RECURRENCE NOT EXPECTED. ISOLATED OUTBREAKS CONTINUE. Proa« Association —Bv Telegraph—Copyrljiit MELBOURNE, November 6. Though order has been practically restored, there are still isolated outbreaks in various parts of the city. The Government has ordered the hotels to close at 2' p.m. to-day till Wednesday, with the object of obviating any disorder after the Cup meeting. A ban has also been placed on the sale of bottled been F ive warships are now in Hobson s Bay, and two more are expected on Friday. In the event of emergencies all naval leave will be cancelled. The Ministry has taken steps to enrol 5000 special constables. The financial institutions and trading organisations are making arrangements with their employees (o co-operate. Among the Government’s precautionary measures is the transfer from Williamstown to the powder magazine at Maribyruong of ammunition and bombs. Sixty million cartridges and 50,000 bombs are now being stored there under an armed guard. A recurrence of rioting is not expected. A fire on premises in Spencer street last night was attended by special constables, who were attacked by the mob. A man was attacked in North Melbourne. His wife, who went to his assistance, was also assaulted. Both were badly injured. The response to a request for a private car for swift transport for effective patrol work resulted in 1000 cars being offered. Owing to the increasing traffic yesterday afternoon the trams discontinued running in the city after 4 o’clock. Ihe streets were then more congested than ever till 6 o’clock, as the people were homeward bound. Vehicular traffic especially experienced difficulty in forcing a passage through the crowds. • . MORE POLICE GO ON STRIKE. MELBOURNE, November 0. Additional plainclothes police to-day joined .the strikers, who now number nearly two-thirds of the total police force. RIOTERS SENTENCED. MELBOURNE, November 6. A number of persons who were concerned in the rioting during the week-end were sentenced to imprisonment in terms ranging from three to four months. THE LOOTED AREA, QUESTION OF COMPENSATION. MELBOURNE, November 6. Numbers of .city and suburban shopkeepers are taking the precaution to barricade their premises in view of the anticipated Cup night crowds and possible attempts to renew the rioting. A considerable quantity of loot which was stolen on Saturday has been recovered in the streets and other places whore it was deposited. The business premises which suffered bv the looting have resumed business. * Representatives of the insurance companies conferred on the question of liabilitv respecting losses by accident and burglary. The conference adjourned till Wednesday. In some quarters the opinion has been expressed that the Government will probablv relieve the insurance companies and business houses of any financial burdens which may result from the outbreak. SHOPKEEPERS SUFEER SEVERELY. . SALES AT “ RIOT PRICES.” MELBOURNE, November 6. (Received Nov. 6, at 10.10 p.m.) The city shopkeepers, who annually lay themselves out for a rich harvest from the host of visitors during the Cup Carnival, are heavy sufferers as a result of the rioting. The usual shoppers are chary of visiting the city in its present unsettled and panicky state, except as hurried sightseers. They are kept on the move by the largely augmented force of special constables." Bluejackets are assisting the local constables to patrol the streets and guard the buildings. The replacing of the smashed windows is proceeding, but in the meantime the people are robbed of window displays by the barricaded fronts. The proprietors are doing their best to attract customers by displaying such signs as “Come inside and buy at riot prices,’’ the aftermath of the damage and looting being numerous sacrificial sales. A STUPID THREAT. MELBOURNE, November 6. (Received Nov. 6, at 10.10 p.m.) The latest developments in connection with the strike is that the Mental Hospital employees threaten to let the mentally afflicted join in the general mix up. Otherwise there are no further developments, and the position is being well handled by the authorities. SATURDAY NIGHT’S MURDER. THE VICTIM IDENTIFIED. MELBOURNE, November 6. The man who was murdered in Wirth’s Park on Saturday night has been identified as William Spain, an employee at the North Melbourne locomotive sheds. He was a member of the Sixth Brigade on Gallipoli, and later he was with the First Light Railway Company. He was on the Ballarat when she was torpedoed.