AFFAIR AT WAIHI.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume LXIV, Issue 11509, 6 November 1912, Page 7

AFFAIR AT WAIHI.

A LIVELY SATURDAY NIGHT.

» • » Tho extreme aggressivenes of th » women on Saturday night last at Wa? » hi was responsible for what must b » termed the most dramatic and excitin • incident which has yet occurred div J ing the progress of the strike, culmir I ating in a combined charge of mountc » and foot police, who dispersed a mol » of considerably over 500 men and wo • men, and successfully corralled then ► within the confines of the Miners' Un • ion Hall. I Early iv the evening it could be seei I that something unusual was about t » happen. Women and men Hocked int I the town in great numbers, a large per 5 ■c.entagc carrying "waddies," or rud< ► walking-sticks. One woman was bean { to exclaim that they would take charg J of the town after the picture show { were out, and that the trump can I would then be played. What eventu I ally transpired had the uudoubte* ► stamp of an organised move upon it ► and the trump card was highly-flavour ► od, well-seasoned eggs. \ About 7.30 p.m. a large number oi [ women, the majority wheeling poram | bulators, paraded up and down oppositi ! tho Academy-Theatre, and every per ! sou (and there were many) who cairn ' under the ban of their comlemnatioi '< had to run the gauntlet of iusult anci ; abuse before gaining an entrance • Screams of "Scab" and "Dirty mongrel" and other invective merged intc a perfect pandemonium. The police attempted to clear the way, but the militant band did not disperse. Ordinary courtesy aud gentleness were useless. The women already had charge of the town, and every man, woman and child in the streets knew it. Things, however, came to a head at 9.30. It appears that Delaney (already well known as one of the principal strike breakers) was conversing with a friend (a woman), when the latter remarked that the mob was not paying him much attention then. It seems that the remark was overheard, and a picket was seen rushing over to the Miners' Union Hall, Avhere a dance was in progress. An exodus from the building immediately took place, with the result that within a few minutes a large hostile crowd advanced towards Delaney, the women screaming and hurling the usual epithets and creating a great noise. Delaney proceeded up the street with the mob in attendance. Senior Sergeant McKiunon and Sergeant Murphy headed the crowd and stopped the advance at the corner of Rosemont-road. By this time the main street from one side to the other was black with people, consisting of serried ranks of strikers and women folk. The appeals of the police to desist were useless. Previous to this a shrill whistle was blown, evidently as some sort of signal; it was not a police whistle. The interlude Avas caused by a man addressing the crowd of strikers. He said they were continuing hooting and "scabbing," though beaten, and that all they were good for was to annoy sick women and innocent children. In the meantime Delaney kept up on the street, and Sergeant McKiunon and Constable Murphy again interposed, holding the mob for the time by drawing a cordon of police across the street. It was at this .juncture that the mounted constables formed up, together with the force of foot police, and as many as possible formed a line and charged back through the ranks of the strikers, some of tho mounted men meanwhile sweeping the main footpath. The mobilisation of the police took place with wonderful rapidity. The effect was wonderful. Instantly I a wide stampede, like a drove of frighti'ened cattle, took place. Men and women rushed headlong forward. No resistance whatever was shown. Sticks j were dropped, and perambulators crashed into each other. The horse police charged right through the crowd aud headed back those in front, turning the entire mob towards the Union Hall, it was a human drive or "round-up." No batons were used. Numbers of men and women completely lost their heads, run-, ning frantically* hither and thither, some crying out that the police wore going to murder them. Gradually th" cordon closed in, and the excited demonstrators were forced into the hall. During the rush Mr li. Semple, the federation organiser, was seen to vault over a i'em'e into a yard joining the hall, and Mr Webb, the president, was noticed making hurriedly for the same building. Numbers crashed through the fence, falling over each other. An eyewitness says that he distinctly saw men pushing women aside in their efforts to get into the hall. No doubt this was done unthinkingly and under the pressure of excitement. So thick was the crowd that a block occurred at the door. Before tho police charged volleys of rottou eggs were in evidence, and the police state that stones were also thrown. One of the militant women was the recipient of a bad egg full in the face, the unsavory missile being obviously intended for Delaney. After the mob' had been forced into the hall the town relapsed into comparative quiet, excepting a little boohing within the hall, and tries of "Are we afraid of the police?" and the response "No, we 're uot afraid." The effect of the police action was that those leaving the picture shows were able to proceed home for the first time for a lengthy period without molestation. It speakes volumes for the splendid discipline of the police, and the manner in which they handled the panic-stricken crowd, than not a single person was injured. Sergeant McKiunon, under whose direction the police movement was carried out, has received many congratulations from business people and others. His action was entirely justifiable, and the success is '■n-nple'te. The police- and law-abiding citizens have been openly defied, and the leniency extended towards the wo men has only urged them on to more aggressive acts which were becoming well night intolerable.