STILL TENSE.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20219, 1 February 1934, Page 1

STILL TENSE.

SPECIAL CONSTABLES SWORN IN. Riots Ended at Kalgoorlie. TROUBLE DUE TO ECONOMIC COMPETITION. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received February 1, 12.50 pm.) PERTH, February 1. Although Kalgoorlie and Boulder City are new quiet, the situation is still tense and the authorities have recalled the District Commandant, Brigadier Martyn, who had gone on leave. One hundred and forty men have been chosen as special constables to act on the goldfields. The Government is concerned, not only on account of the loss of life and damage to property, but because of the possibility of international complications. The Commissioner of Police, Mr Douglas, left for Kalgoorlie by aeroplane. At Boulder, when the men assembled for the mass meeting, pamphlets were issued by Communists. Far from inciting to riot, they stressed that the foreigners were fellow-workers. The outbreak was due only to long-smouldering animosities arising out of economic competition and racial prejudice. Estimates of the damage at Kalgoorlie and Boulder City vary from £50.000 to £70,000. The Premier stated that the Government was determined to control the situation at all costs. The Italian Consul had an interview with the Premier, but nothing was disclosed. A large exodus of foreigners continues from Kalgoorlie and Boulder. Hundreds are homeless, with all their possessions lost in the fires. They are wandering in the bush between Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie, fearful of returning to the towns. Yesterday’s Happenings. A second death occurred in connection wfith the riots when Charles Stokes died as a result of a knife wound in the stomach, received this morning. It is impossible accurately to estimate the casualties as a result of the rioting. Several persons are in hospital with gunshot wounds, and it is quite apparent that the miners have not had things all their own way. A mass meeting in the park at Boulder was very noisy. The Parliamentary member for the district, Mr C. B. Williams, was unable to make himself heard. Everybody wanted to talk at once, and the crowd broke away from the meeting when a series of explosions was heard in the direction of the foreigners’ huts, where a pitched battle was soon in progress. Foreigners Entrenched. The foreigners had organised in anticipation of an attack, and had made their dispositions with a certain degree of military skill. Entrenched in a drain, they sought to defend themselves with shotguns, rifles and revolvers, but were finally driven out with jam-tin bombs, road metal and pickets. Then followed the complete destruction of the foreigners’ huts. The crack of rifle fire and the sound of the bursting bombs could be plainly heard by people in the background. Daylight revealed a scene of terrible desolation. It was miraculous that many lives were not lost. Funeral of Victim. The funeral to-day of George Jordan, whose death was the immediate cause of the riot, was one of the largest seen in Kalgoorlie. The coffin was carried on a fire engine, preceded by a long double file of firemen and 100 cars. Survey of Damage. A survey of the damage in Kalgoorlie disclosed that fifteen shops and cales in Hannan Street had suffered, in the majority of them the windows and fittings being irreparably smashed and the stocks looted. At Boulder, two hotels. the foreigners’ club-house, three cafes and a bootmaker’s shop were wholly or partially wrecked and burned. At least fifty foreigners’ huts were burned or razed. Order Restored. The worst was over by noon to-day, when order was definitely restored. Police pickets are everywhere and all the hotels are closed. Many foreigners are leaving, and others have been told to remain out of sight. The mines are still idle. At Kalgoorlie to-day the rioters met their first check from the police, when, after wrecking the foreigners’ huts at Dingbat Flat, they returned to Kalgoorlie and entered the boarding house which they attacked yesterday. They I -.cyan to set fire to the place, when the police swooped upon them, used their •atons, drove them out and quelled the The rioters gathered on the opposite ride of the street, shouting threats, but the police, undaunted, moved the c rowds on and soon had complete control of the situation. The Prime Minister, Mr J. A. Lyons, said -that the Government was watching events in the West Australian goldfields and would co-operate with the State Government, if necessity arose,

in quelling the disturbances. Concerted action would later be taken to deal with the Communistic elements which were undoubtedly behind them. The Consul for Jugoslavia, M. Marich, has protested against the attacks on his nationals in the goldfields. He declares that the majority are naturalised British. He is appealing for assistance for the homeless and starving families, who are the innocent victims of the miners’ vengeance.

REFUGEES IN PERTH. PERTH, January 31. Twenty Jugoslavs and Greeks reached Perth to-day and told a graphic story of the rioting. They seemed to be dazed by the swift calamity which had overtaken them. Sobbing mothers were met by friends at the railway station and by pitiful gestures indicated their scanty belongings, all that remained of their worl'ly possessions. They declared that .he miners’ women had looted their shops and homes after the men had wrecked them.