Yesterday morning the news that a general increase and a more favourable scale of gratuities had been sanctioned by the head office in England, was announced to the employees. Instead of being pleased they, however, started to make demands for further increments, and then struck at 1 o'clock. Before striking they stopped the boilers and machinery generally. They went into -the Chinese mess-room and started discussing their position.
At 1.30 p.m. the management called the police from Yangtszepoo Station and efforts were made to settle the problem peacefully. No solution, however,.was reached. The 300 coolies, backed by some: 200 women workers, refused to leave the messroom and. refused to send delegates to negotiate with the management.
After several warnings the police were called upon to eject the workers, at 3.30 o'clock. Sub-Insp. A. Turner and Det. Sub-Insp. Willgoss entered the room with a detail of uniformed and plain-clothes men and ordered the workers to leave. There followed fifteen minutes of brisk, battling -in. the room, the coolies using crockery and the legs of chairs against the police. They were shifted outside, however, and made to file out into Yangtszepoo Road through a small door, the main gate being closed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.