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SOLDIERS AND POLICE
ANOTHER SERIOUS RIOT.
DISGRACEFUL SCENES IN
THE CITY.
TWO ARRESTS MADE.
Anzac Day in Adelaide will live long in
the memory of many people, not only on
account of the big effort made to secure
money for the Wounded Soldiers' Fund,
but because of the serious riot that oc-
curred in King William-street during the
afternoon. As was the case when a similar
disturbance was witnessed in Hindley-
street a few weeks ago, the ringleaders
were soldiers who, egged on by a disorderly
mob, many of the members of which were
women, gave the police no end of trouble,
engaging in a combat that reflects the
greatest discredit upon them as soldiers
of the King. This was undoubtedly the
most serious riot that has occurred in Ade-
laide since the war began, and in view of
what the Military Commandant (Colonel
Sandford) said after the previous fracas, it
is probable that some drastic action will
be taken to prevent a recurrence of the
trouble. It would be a shocking state of
affairs if men wearing the King's uniform
were allowed to ride roughshod over the
civil authorities, but the difficulty is how
to deal with the matter, for it would be
grossly unfair to penalise the whole of the
men in camp because some of their number
overstepped the bounds of prudence.
The Beginning of the Trouble.
The disturbance had quite a mild begin-
ning. Shortly after 3.30 p.m. two soldiers,
more or less under the influence of liquor,
came to blows near the John Bull stables,
in Currie-street. Constable Stephens ap-
peared on the scene, and the men, followed
by onlookers, retired to the stables, where
they resumed hostilities. The constable
went in to hunt them out, and he saw one
of the combatants get knocked down. On
rising to his feet that man made an assault
on a bystander, and it was then that the
constable intervened. He ordered the men
away, but one soldier refused to go, and he
arrested him on a charge of drunkenness.
The man did not resist arrest, and walked
quietly along Currie-street, but near
King William-street a number of other
soldiers came to his assistance. He
stopped, and refused to walk another inch,
and the constable said, "Well, I'll have to
carry you," and lifted him off the ground.
Stephens had sent a lad to the other side
of the street for Constable Keane, and
upon his arrival an attempt was made to
remove the soldier to a cab near by. There
were three cabs on the stand, and tbe
police carried bim to the back of one, and
were about to lift him in, when the driver
of the vehicle whipped up his horses and
left them standing there. They then en-
deavored to get the prisoner into another
cab, but the man in charge served them
the same trick as the other driver. No-
thing daunted, they pushed their way
through the crowd, which was now becom-
ing very hostile, and reached a cab near
the United Service Hotel.
The Crowd Interfere.
There were at this stage a couple of
thousand people on the spot, and when it
was seen that the soldier's mouth was
bleeding they accused the police of having
struck him with a baton. The vehicle was
thickly surrounded by soldiers, who, en-
couraged by a bevy of women, tried to pre-
vent the police from getting the man, who
was wearing spurs and kicking out wildly,
into the cab. They pushed and jostled the
officers of the law, who also had to contend
with interference from a number of
civilians. At last Constables Stephens,
Simpson, and Keane succeeded in pulling
the soldier into the vehicle. By this time
Constables Hannon, Lillywhite, Griffin,
Feudeloff, and Reilly gave assistance in
keeping back the surging mob. They drew
their batons, and one man declared that
he received a blow on the face from one
of them. Further trouble was experienced
by the officers, for no sooner had they
made their man secure in the cab than
some bystanders tampered with the
harness, the traces being pulled
off and the reins being untied
at the bridles. Constable Griffin
put the harness in order again, but
now the driver of the cab shook his
head, and would not move his horse
off. This greatly pleased the disorderly
mob, who cheered the driver. A mem-
ber of the military police endeavored to
render assistance, and it was generally
believed when he got into the front
of the cab that the arrested man would
be taken away to camp. The crowd then
allowed the vehicle to move off, and
it was driven along King William-street
and down Currie-street, and by a round-
about route to the City Watchhouse,
Constables Stephens and Simpson remain-
ing in charge. At the police-station the
prisoner gave the name of Dennis Mc-
Court, and he will come before the
Adelaide Police Court this morning.
Another Riot.
Shortly after the cab had disappeared
from sight another riotous scene oc-
curred near the United Service Hotel.
A young, strongly-built man, who
appeared to be suffering from the effects
of alcohol, was holding forth to those
near by upon the police force generally,
making abusive remarks regarding the
men in blue. Constable Feudeloff ordered
the man to move on or he would arrest
him for drunkenness. On receiving a re-
fusal the constable took hold of him,
and then began one of the hottest
struggles in which a policeman has ever
taken part. Fists were flying in all
directions, but the constable clung to
his man and tried to get him under con-
trol. The pair fought across the foot-
path to the main entrance to the United
Service Hotel, where on account of in-
terference from soldiers and others the
constable drew his baton. In a twinkling
a man whipped up from inside the hotel,
snatched the baton from his hand, and
darted through the premises to a back
lane. Feudeloff let go his prisoner and
raced off after the man who had stolen
his baton, but before he had gone far
along the passage way a stout woman
got in front of him and endeavored to
bar his way. Quickly ducking under her
arm he continued the chase, and over-
took his quarry near Waymouth-street.
He walked him without molestation into
King William-street, where a cab was
requisitioned, and at the police-station
this man gave his name as Allen Dalziell.
He will also come before the court this
morning.
Police in a Tight Corner.
When Constable Feudeloff ran through
the hotel Constable Simmons, who was
in plain clothes, chased the man who had
been released, and soon recaptured him.
Several uniformed police look charge of
him, and he was taken to a cab near
the Bank of Adelaide. He resisted vio-
lently all the way, and fought and
jumped about when the cab was reached.
There the soldiers in the crowd took his
part, because they considered he had
helped them when the first man was
being arrested. They pushed the police
this way and that, but the officers hung
tenaciously to the prisoner and got him
into the vehicle with great difficulty.
The man in charge of the cab stated that
he could not drive the horses, as the
driver had gone away for awhile. Constable
Wells, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles,
thereupon jumped into the driver's seat,
but he failed to get the animals away,
as somebody had cut the traces. That
left the police powerless to move, and
while Constables Crowley and Keane
were holding the prisoner down the
crowd attempted to push the vehicle over
on its side. Twice they lifted the right
side wheels some distance off the ground,
and on one occasion it appeared as if
the cab would capsize. The prisoner kept
calling out for the crowd to help,
and he made a strenuous effort to get
out of the side of the cab. Then a
man appeared near him with a coil of
rope, and Senior-Constable Reilly promptly
grabbed him by the throat and pushed
him out of harm's way. The police were
in a quandary what to do for some time,
for they could not allow their quarry
to go, and they could not move from
the position they were in. A woman,
who said the captive was her son, then
stepped to the back of the cab, and
she saved the situation by giving the
name of her boy, which she said was
Davoren. Senior-Constable Reilly there
upon decided to allow the fellow to go,
and the crowd soon rushed him off to
the United Service Hotel, hooting the
police on the way. An elderly man stood
up in the cab and appealed for money
to enable the driver to get his traces
mended, and the required sum was forth-
coming.
No Mounted Constables About.
During the disturbance there was not
a mounted constable in sight, and it was
not till long afterwards that three
troopers put in an appearance. Had they
come earlier no doubt the foot constables
would not have experienced great diffi-
culty in removing the three men to the
watchhouse.
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