INCIDENTS OF THE VISIT. RIVAL TARS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13728, 18 August 1908, Page 5

INCIDENTS OF THE VISIT. RIVAL TARS.

SERIOUS RIOT NARROWLY ,

AVERTED.

(From Auckland Star,) Fleet Week is over, and one of the matters most generally commented upon was the absolute Vreedom from anything approaching disorder. On one or two occasions, however, there were incidents '-which went perilously near the borderland of a riot. One such instance, illustrative of the easy manner in which* a crowd may change from a happy to a truculent mood, is Worthy of%not# -\ "The crowd was at its thickest at the tramcar terminus at the foot of Queen Street. The bars had emptied out their hundreds, and the brilliantlylighted streets were packed with a swaying, seething crowd. Here and j there were to "-be seen groups of blue- 1 jackets who had been imbibing perhaps a little* too freely, and it was evident that one such group was on the look-out for any amusement whichmight present itself. They sang,, they laughed, and while rawer more boisterous than others, were nevertheless not guilty of anything which could cause offence to passers-by. As they neared the bottom of the street, how-ever,-one of the party was inspired to a little more exciting devilment, and without hesitation he shinned up ■ a post to wheh two flags-ya Union Jack and a Stars and Stripes — were attached. , Seizing -the Yankee emblem, he pulled- it from its position and af-> fixed it a -couple of. feet higher up than Che British Ensign. " .' At this rather critical moment a sm^U ' party of British tars chanced along. Noticing the American Sag flying above the British, a sailorman climbed up the pole with all the agility Y of a true British tar, and from his position above the heads of the seething crowd he tore the Stars and Stripes to fragments. An angry roar went up from several hundred American throats, and as the Britisher dropper to the ground the American who had been originally responsible for the trouble rushed at him. The Jack tar. knew how to use his fists, however, and the American went down like a log. Several members of the fleet patrol picked their man up and hustled him away, while a crowd of citizens surrounded the Britisher ►

For a while it looked as though a riot was imminent, and there was, an uneasy feeling i» the air, about 700 Americans and a large crowd of British tars surging about the scene of the fracas.

A true chord of the good feeling which prevailed, however, turned the ■situation from one of gravity to. that of enthusiasm. A bluejackets pushing his way along the street, and waving a Stars and Stripes to the accompaniment of\ his own music, took in the situation at a glance. Clambering up tho pole with monkey-like agility, he thrust his flag into the socket from which the other bannerette had' been torn, alongside the Union Jack, and the two colours mingled together again. From his vantage ground at the top of the pole he drawled out, with a happy Yankee twang: "Boys, T guess this is just how it ought to be — not one above the other, but side by side."

instantly the scene was changed. The tension gave way to light-hearted-ness, and cheer upon cheer rang through the air.