624 PEOPLE HURT

Waikato Times, Volume 106, Issue 22689, 17 August 1945, Page 3

624 PEOPLE HURT

SAN FRANCISCO RIOTS DESTRUCTIVE CROWDS ALL QUIET IN LONDON (United Press Assn.—Elec Tel. Copyrlg-M) (Received August 17, 1 p.m.) SAN FRANCISCO, August 16 Six persons were killed in accidents and 624 injured during the three nights of peace celebrations in the San Francisco Bay area. The third night of celebrations found the crowds in destructive mood. Every plateglass window in Lower Market Street, the city’s main thoroughfare, was smashed. Display shelves were cleared out- Women were seized and roughly handled in some cases. Sailors, who comprised the majority of the rioters, were ordered back to stations at midnight and civilians were ordered off the streets. All was quiet in London this morning after the big night last night. The West End woke up with a “hangover.” The streets were almost deserted except for squads of road-sweepers and hopeful queues waiting for breakfast after the allnight celebrations. The King was at work as usual at Buckingham Palace this morning. He received a number of official visitors, including members of Mr Churchill’s administration who came for farewell audiences. The King and Queen four times today appeared on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in response to a huge crowd’s insistent call “We want the King.” The Princesses also stepped .out on the balcony and waved to the crowd. The throng struck up: “For They Are Jolly Good Fellows,” followed by the National Anthem. A steady drizzle setting in at 8 p.m. did not damp the crowd’s enthusiasm. The crowd gasped in admiration when the Queen on her fourth appearance stood under the floodlights with a white cape over her shoulders and a glittering diamond tiara in her hair. The Royal party for nearly three minutes stood in the rain waving to the crowd. A tremendous cheer as they were withdrawing brought them back for another short period. 300 Arrests In Sydney In Sydney thousands again swarmed in the city streets last night but there was less spontaneous fun and more rowdyism and drunkenness. Nearly 300 arrests were made—more than on any day since the war began. However, the police said that the behaviour of the crowds during the celebrations had generally been good. No serious accident occurred, but between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. the central district ambulance alone attended 200 cases. Early this morning revellers were still wandering noisily about the streets. In the other capitals the celebrations were more formal and less spontaneous than on Wednesday. About 8000 people attended a national thanksgiving service at the war memorial in Canberra. There were no unruly scenes in the other capitals, but in Melbourne hundreds of accident victims were treated by ambulance offipers. KOREANS SEIZE FOOD PEOPLE STORM WAREHOUSES (Received Aug. 17, 11 a.m.) LONDON, Aug. 16 A front line despatch received in Moscow reports that the population of the Korean port of Rahsin are storming food warehouses and taking rice, millet and other products which the Japanese had prepared to send to Japan. The retreating Japanese had no time to blow up the warehouses. Some Japanese officers tried to masquerade as fishermen and continue hostilities.