QUARANTINE BROKEN.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14847, 26 February 1919, Page 8

QUARANTINE BROKEN.

! ARGYLLSHIRE'S 1 . MEN: 1000 j TROOPS MARCH OUT. SYDNEY, Feb. 12.— Returned soldiers to the ■ number of about 1000, from ' tho transport Argyllshire, went to the keepers of the gate m North Head quarantine area yesterday and •announced their intention af breaking bounds. Tin; State- civil police, about ono 'hundred and fifty, who .were on guard, realised tho hopelessness of competing with this number, and communicated with their chief. A conference followed, m which the men announced their determination of leaving the compound. The Stategave way. It had done all it could do. The men agreed that they would go to Victoria Barracks and abide by any orders they received there. Meantime, the State Government had been i communicated with, and had arranged < that the Sydney Cricket Ground should !be a quarantine area. In due course I the men were brought by ferry steamer to the city and marched m orderly array, and under a heavy police guard, to the Barracks. At Fort Macquarie the men were met by the State Commandant, | -who heard their grievances. Strong | objection was taken by the soldiers to J be kept at North Head Station, where | they claimed there was no proper provision made for their detention. At the barracks the sojdiera accepted the in- ' evitable, and went into quarantine at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Cabinet, after meeting the representatives of the men, decided last night that if there was no case amongst them at- the cricket .ground m four days, they might go free. A SOLEMN MARCH, The men, when disembarked, formed . themselves up m column- -of- fours, and, m command of Sergeant" Ryan, set off. Many of the men took advantage of the general's offer to leave their kit bags to be sent after them; but a large proportion carried their belongings. At the head marched two soldiers bearing flags tied to sticks, a Union Jack and an Australian flag. . The march, which went via Macquarie, ■College, Oxford, and /Flinders streets, ? was quiet and without incident. The lack *' of enthusiasm on the part of onlookers ('made the procession almost melancholy . at times. ' ' ' PoJicemen marched at intervals on each side of the men, to . see that civilians did not approach them, and 1 there were also a good many uniformed police stationed along the line of march. : "Tho people will think we are German •i prisoners," called out a young fellow, j who limped painfully, but there was not j any acrimony m the way he said it. I "Fritz would not have treated us worse ; than this," was another ' remark heard, •| while comment frequent and free con- .' cerning the meals supplied m • quarantine j were kept going- m jocjjlar spirit. "Dry bread, bully beef, and tea last ' night." called out one. j "And you were lucky to got that," ' retorted another, wha added, "all I got , was dry bread and tea." A good deal ; of interest was taken by passers-by as •>' the column swung along Macquarie y street, but no enthusiasm was aroused. Not a single attempt at a cheer of welcome, and only a very occasional ; handkerchief t was waved from an upt stairs window. In Oxford, street a few ■! shopgirls «ame.out on the footpath and ; cheered, and a few cigarettes were passied to the men, thougfe the police as !' far as passible prevented civilians handI ing over presents direatlyV "When a x slight halt was made at JFHnders street j a few young men again handed out j cigarettes and li?ht refreshments; but. \ taking all m, all,, it was . the ; coldest march any returned troops have made m this city — naturally. ..■:■:•■ . ; " BEGINNING OF THE TROUBLE. The Sydney Daily Telegraph, m an ,i account of the incident leading up to the rj street demonstration, says :~ /-.-. fl The Public Health authorities boarded the Argyllshire at about noon yesterday, m order. to- examine the troops, and it r was discovered that there was a. -cmo of I pneumonic influenza on board. QpnseI .gu.en.tly it was noV, possible for them to give the Argyllshire a clean bill of t health, s and it was, depided that the vessel, instead of proceeding up the -harbor and landing troops as arranged, would ; have to remain for the time being ■m ' quarantine. .: . As soon as the Health authorities 1 m.- . timation was announced, a. section of the . troops became restive and unruly. The officers attempted to keep ..the men under control, .. but without avail. At f about 3."30 p.m. matters on board had ; assumed such a serious complexion that t word was sent to • the transportation offi--i ?cevs stating that the /men -were com- , pletely out of control. This message was also forwarded .to.vthe ; -InspectorGeneral of Police (Mr. J^mes Mitchell), i who immediately mafle - preparations to meet the posßibiilty of .itne t soldiers breaking quarantine, Fortunately, m View of the fact' that under ordinary cir^ i pumstances the men would have landed durintr the afternoon, •he had already brought a large force of police into the city to control the traffic -at- -the Wool- • loomoloo Bay wharf.- at the Anzac Buf : ifet, and m the 'Domain,,' where crowds * of friends and sightseers had!, been cxc pected' to congregate. " 'The police thus' available were at.once nressed into service, and all the reserves from the various onetropolitari and suburban police stations were also-; called vOllt. - j One detachment was sent, to Nielsen Park, others were distributed over other 'harbor foreshores', and a police launch under Sergeant Beattie was sent from Dawes Point at full speed down the har;bbi* to patrol m the vicinity of the 'vessel. ... . ; ' ■ : SOLDIERS DECIDE TO ACT. In the nfeantime the soldiers on the Ai'gyllshire had taken charge of the ves•sel. The officers • -were quite • powerless to cope with the men, who had by this 9 jtime made up their minds to - break ■' -quarantine. t . ; " The soldiers first attempted to raise the vessel's anchor, though -for .what reason' is not apparent.' Failing m this; "they turned their attention to the ship's boats. Two of these were quickly swung out of the davits and' were lowered into the water. Some diffieuty was experiencedi m casting off thetaeklft, but once :thia was overcome the men flocked • over' the sides and into the boats. The 'first boat to leave the - vessel . headed for Nielsen Park. A . few minutes afterwards the second had left the " ;ship, and the men on; board her,- apInarently acting on a preconcerted plan, i headed, for Chowder Bay- ' >■■■ ■ The ooettpants .of -the. first boat succeeded m landing at Neilsen P ; ark. They .left the "boat on tho rocks fringing the beach, and, once on land, scattered m all directions. • • The second boat was making good prb•gress (towards land when ..the police .launch, m the charge of Sergeant Beat} .tie, was sighted coming down the- harV bor. A ; 7 - ace between the two boats ensued, but. although the .police launch " was put to her best speed;, she could riot oatch the fugitives, , who succeeded' m beachino: their boat and clambering up the .cliffs before the .Tiolice could •reach them. The boat was taken- m tow •by the launch.- - , ; - In the meantime a third, boat had been swung over the B'de of the Argyll.-" - .shire and launched There was a fair '.h"ji. running, and as the men,' had to Hi mli down ropes to get irffo the boat bobbins' about underneath them it took some time for them to get on board. •Tust as the last man of the 17 who .'.•'.instituted- the party took his place a 3 f>wt motor launch, conveying the In-spector-General of Police, ran close alongside the vessel. TJie soldiers had t. only iust taken to the oars, and on seejintr the motor launch called out: "Be a .sport, old chap, and give us, a tow. We ,want to' pet ashore." Tho Inspector - General, whoso identity was not feflowti io the "men. readily complied' ■With the " request. > He had* the motor /"launch backed "P to tho boot, atid ipaesecT a luie on board. He then ordered the . driver of the launch to proceed -up the harbor. This was done, and (the two '•nats headed towards Fort jDehispn. This move, however, did not meet with the approval of the men m tjte bb&i, who commenced to call out : "Wq don't want to pro tip there. We want to! go to ■ <~*howder Bay." No notice was taken of them, and soon realising that the /launch would not take them over to Chowder Bay. they cast off the tow-Jinei, and. taking to the oare, turned the\r boat

round, and headed for Chowder Bay. Their attempt to reach the land was frustrated, as the delay caused through the Inspector: General was sufficient to allow the police launch to head them off. The boat was pulled alongside tho launch, the soldiers taken aboard, and the boat itself taken m tow. The launch / with the mcii on board, was then kept patrolling the Argyllshire with a view to preventing any more boats leaving. CAPTURING THE ESCAPEES. By this time two squads of police had arrived at Neilsen Park, and the work of recapturing- the escapees was proceeded with. Eight of the men were soon caught, their recovery not being difficult, as they had not gone very f at. The search for the remainder of the men .U'ho^ got ashore m the first boat was continued, and two more were caught making m the direction of Watson's Bay. Soon afterwards three more men were seen on the rocks at tho back of the lighthouse, Their capture was not so easy.'- The rugged nature of the cliffs made the pursuit difficult, and as the men were young, agile, and fearless, they led the police a merry dance. Finally, however, : they were hemmed m, and were compelled to submit to the inevitable. The arew of the boat that landed at Chowder, Bay enjoyed a slightly longer period of liberty, but the police were soon after them, and although th~e men travelled fast, it was only a matter of a few hours before nine were captured on the North Sydney side of the harbor and three m the vicinity of Mosman Bay. ■ All the captured soldiers, with the exception of the mon caught by the police launch, were taken to police headquarters. There they were divided into two batches. The first, lot were placed ! in the police patrol waggon and were driven away from polioe , headquarters cheering arid singing. About a quarter of an hour after their departure a military patrol waggon arrived, and the remainder were loaded' into it. As it rattled off along Phillip street the men inside called out "Cheers for the civilian police." A rousing cheer was the response. Then came the call for a cheer for "The Jacks" (the "Garrison Military Police). A storm of hooting followed, and then the men . inside (shouted out: "Good-bye, girls; we can't see you yet." ; \ The two wagcon loads of soldiers were • taken back to Nielsen Park, where they shipped on board the polioe launch and conveyed to the quarantine station at/North Head.