MOB VIOLENCE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16914, 1 April 1929, Page 2

MOB VIOLENCE

' STRIKERS RUSH YARD WIVES ORGANISE SYDNEY, March 1. Events in the timber trade dispute over the recent Arbitration Court award giving the owners a 48-houi •week in place of tho 44-hour week ' are taking a serious turn. The latest development is the carrying of avmt by volunteer workers and the growtfc of mob attacks on timber yards- whert i thev are working. Two men wen bad'lv mauled and another slightly in |nred when a mob of about 200 timbei ■ strikers raided the mills of J. W Vine, Ltd., in Surrey Hills, Melbourne on Saturday last. The attackers were armed witl chains, pieces of iron and lumps oi wood bound with lead. No warning was given and the strikers rushed tin V frout° entranee of the mills ami sur prised the volunteer workers at th< i saws a*d planing machines. Home ot the volunteers were chased into r blind allev and beaten unmercifully with the. bludgeon weapons of the I strikers. One man was felled wit a blow from a baton loaded withi lead and bound with heavy wire. W nili he lav stunned on the ground, he was kicked into unconsciousness by three of tho strikers. The strikers arrived at the gate ol the vard ill a fleet of cars, and rushed tho gate-keepers, woo were bound ana gauged and struck with weapons of the attackers. One of the gatekeepers had to receive hospital treatment for severe ' cuts on his head, inflicted by a heavy chain wielded by one of the strikers. Felice wore rushed from all parts of) the c-tv to tiie spot, but were too late to make aiiv arrests. Names of several oi ■ the attacking party are known, however, and warrants have been issued for then arrest. There is great bitterness in the !i<r'it between the employers and strikersin Melbourne, and there have been num- '} erous smaller brushes between strikers and volunteers. Conditions in Sydney, the head quarters of the strike, have been considerably quieter. There has been no ' organised mob attacks on any of tht yards, but there have been numerous isolated cases of volunteers having bcei. attacked on their, way to or from the various yards. Many of those employee at one bin timber yard in Sydney have 'taken out revolver licenses and pur chased weapons in order to protect them i selves from the guerilla warfare that y being waged. All the yards are strongly . picketed by an organised army with patrol captains, picket lieutenants, anc mounted messengers on motor cycles. There is not the bitterness m the light that is evident in Melbourne, however. <!*ie instance was reported on Wednes day last when one of the strike pickets noticed an electric who hanging from a pole in tho timber yard where he . Worked formerly, which wire he considered a danger. He informed the ; police and an electrician was called, tie stated that had any ***** come mU contact with the wire there would have been a serious fee. "We want to fight i fairly." said the strike picket who re ported the faulty wire, "and if there had been a five we strikers might have been blamed lor it, too." All carters rr, the "black" yards have been called out, and there are now about 3500 men out m Sew Smith Wales. _ The strikers have been organised or i an ambitious scale by the Trades and jUbor Council under the direction ot .Mr. Jock Harden. Pickets work n> slults and receive strike pav according to the time on duty. Owing to the orovisiom of the Federal Crimes Act, payment o. I> strike pay has to be made at a secret I rendezvous, and so far this has been carried out without a hitch. Many ■unions are supporting the Timberworkers' Union with funds and weekly levies. A "flying gang" of pickets l watches developments in the various i districts throughout the day and report? '■-Tovements to the strike committee a 1 lie Trades Hall. Stones have beer irown at lorry drivers carting timber, ud special police patrols on motor reies now escort fleets of timber lorries a their various routes. About 3CO wives have volunteered foi icket duty .while their menfolk are ivay at meetings and recording then o*es in the court's secret ballot. Anther activity of the women is the canassing of "shopkeepers and business eople in all suburbs ?or subscriptions > the strike fund. Those who give are sued with a receipt for placing in their windows. These who do not support "the appeal are boycotted by the strikers wives and their friends.