HOSE ON CROWD

Gisborne Times, Volume LXV, Issue 10309, 19 January 1927, Page 5

HOSE ON CROWD

CAPETOWN SIGHTSEERS RUSH GERMAN CRUISER CROWD ESTIMATED AT 10,000 ABOARD. POLICE POWERLESS AND DISASTER FEARED. SHIP’S CAPTAIN TAKES PROMPT ACTION. (United Press Assn.—Copyright.) CAPETOWN, o an. H. An extraordinary incident in connection with the visit of the German cruiser Emcien occurred when the •ship was thrown open to visitors. An enormous crowd assembled .on the wharf and the gangways were withdrawn. Still the crowd on the wharf continued to increase. Suddenly a German sailor on board, instructed by an officer, turned a hose on the crowd this being none several times. 3lany ladies in. summer hats . and frocks were drenched, and in the stampede which followed some fainted.

Much indignation is expressed, but on the other hand some of the spectators maintain that the ship’s action averted a tragedy by preventing an attempt to rash the ship. The Emden was lying at the collier jetty, which is open to the sea on both sides and at the end, with a narrow entrance.

A crowd, estimated at 10,000, visited the cruiser, the decks of which were soon packed. As a resale an officer of the Emden intimated that no further visitors would lie allowed on board until)those on hoard left. The crowd continued to increase and the police were powerless. The greatest danger spot was between the cruiser and the quayside, as the police and the front row or the crowd would have fallen on the huge planks used as fenders and then the others on top of them, the whole mass being crushed to death. The Captain of the Emden, realising the position, ordered that a hose he^placed on the crowds. This had the desired effect, keeping the people Foerster, oi the Emden, states that the use of the hose on the crowd averted one of the biggest disasters known in this country. lhe water was only turned on after repeated applications by the police, who were unable to prevent the crowd massing on the wharf in imminent dan<u?r of being pushed over. The mayor issued a statement warmlv commending the prompt action of the Emden’s officers, winch meant the saving oi many lives.—A. ami X.Z.C.A.

GERMAN PRESS CO3I3IEKT

DIVERSE VIEWPOINTS (Received Jan. 18, 7.50 p.m.) BERLIN, Jan. 1/. The attitude of the German paners on the Emden’s hosepipe exploit at- Capetown is most characteristic. Dr. Stresemann’s organ correctiv promises an inquiry by the naval authority, and demands the severest punishment of t-lie guilty lr tne -British report is correct. The Chauvinistic Lokal Anzeiger on the contrary, says the people ot Capetown should be gratertn to the Emden"s crew. whose presence ot mind saved many lives. The Berliner Tageblatt pronounces it- a regrettable blunder and urges that everything he done to counter tlie unedifying _ water pantomme as quickly as possible —A. ana N.Z.C.A.