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brookstonalmanac · 3 years

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Events 5.4

1256 – The Augustinian monastic order is constituted at the Lecceto Monastery when Pope Alexander IV issues a papal bull Licet ecclesiae catholicae. 1415 – Religious reformers John Wycliffe and Jan Hus are condemned as heretics at the Council of Constance. 1436 – Assassination of the Swedish rebel (later national hero) Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson 1471 – Wars of the Roses: The Battle of Tewkesbury: Edward IV defeats a Lancastrian Army and kills Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales. 1493 – Pope Alexander VI divides the New World between Spain and Portugal along the Line of Demarcation. 1626 – Dutch explorer Peter Minuit arrives in New Netherland (present day Manhattan Island) aboard the See Meeuw. 1686 – The Municipality of Ilagan is founded in the Philippines. 1776 – Rhode Island becomes the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III. 1799 – Fourth Anglo-Mysore War: The Battle of Seringapatam: The siege of Seringapatam ends when the city is invaded and Tipu Sultan killed by the besieging British army, under the command of General George Harris. 1814 – Emperor Napoleon arrives at Portoferraio on the island of Elba to begin his exile. 1814 – King Ferdinand VII abolishes the Spanish Constitution of 1812, returning Spain to absolutism. 1836 – Formation of Ancient Order of Hibernians 1859 – The Cornwall Railway opens across the Royal Albert Bridge linking Devon and Cornwall in England. 1869 – The Naval Battle of Hakodate is fought in Japan. 1871 – The National Association, the first professional baseball league, opens its first season in Fort Wayne, Indiana. 1886 – Haymarket affair: A bomb is thrown at policemen trying to break up a labor rally in Chicago, United States, killing eight and wounding 60. The police fire into the crowd. 1904 – The United States begins construction of the Panama Canal. 1910 – The Royal Canadian Navy is created. 1912 – Italy occupies the Greek island of Rhodes. 1919 – May Fourth Movement: Student demonstrations take place in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, protesting the Treaty of Versailles, which transferred Chinese territory to Japan. 1926 – The United Kingdom general strike begins. 1927 – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is incorporated. 1932 – In Atlanta, mobster Al Capone begins serving an eleven-year prison sentence for tax evasion. 1942 – World War II: The Battle of the Coral Sea begins with an attack by aircraft from the United States aircraft carrier USS Yorktown on Japanese naval forces at Tulagi Island in the Solomon Islands. The Japanese forces had invaded Tulagi the day before. 1945 – World War II: Neuengamme concentration camp near Hamburg is liberated by the British Army. 1945 – World War II: The German surrender at Lüneburg Heath is signed, coming into effect the following day. It encompasses all Wehrmacht units in the Netherlands, Denmark and northwest Germany. 1946 – In San Francisco Bay, U.S. Marines from the nearby Treasure Island Naval Base stop a two-day riot at Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary. Five people are killed in the riot. 1949 – The entire Torino football team (except for two players who did not take the trip: Sauro Tomà, due to an injury and Renato Gandolfi, because of coach request) is killed in a plane crash. 1953 – Ernest Hemingway wins the Pulitzer Prize for The Old Man and the Sea. 1959 – The 1st Annual Grammy Awards are held. 1961 – American civil rights movement: The "Freedom Riders" begin a bus trip through the South. 1961 – Malcolm Ross and Victor Prather attain a new altitude record for manned balloon flight ascending in the Strato-Lab V open gondola to 113,740 feet (34.67 km). 1970 – Vietnam War: Kent State shootings: The Ohio National Guard, sent to Kent State University after disturbances in the city of Kent the weekend before, opens fire killing four unarmed students and wounding nine others. The students were protesting the Cambodian Campaign of the United States and South Vietnam. 1972 – The Don't Make A Wave Committee, a fledgling environmental organization founded in Canada in 1971, officially changes its name to "Greenpeace Foundation". 1973 – The 108-story Sears Tower in Chicago is topped out at 1,451 feet as the world's tallest building. 1978 – The South African Defence Force attacks a SWAPO base at Cassinga in southern Angola, killing about 600 people. 1979 – Margaret Thatcher becomes the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. 1982 – Twenty sailors are killed when the British Type 42 destroyer HMS Sheffield is hit by an Argentinian Exocet missile during the Falklands War. 1988 – The PEPCON disaster rocks Henderson, Nevada, as tons of Space Shuttle fuel detonate during a fire. 1989 – Iran–Contra affair: Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted of three crimes and acquitted of nine other charges; the convictions are later overturned on appeal. 1990 – Latvia declares independence from the Soviet Union. 1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO leader Yasser Arafat sign a peace accord, granting self-rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho. 1998 – A federal judge in Sacramento, California, gives "Unabomber" Theodore Kaczynski four life sentences plus 30 years after Kaczynski accepts a plea agreement sparing him from the death penalty. 2000 – Ken Livingstone becomes the first Mayor of London (an office separate from that of the Lord Mayor of London). 2007 – Greensburg, Kansas is almost completely destroyed by a 1.7-mile wide EF5 tornado. It was the first-ever tornado to be rated as such with the new Enhanced Fujita scale. 2014 – Three people are killed and 62 injured in a pair of bombings on buses in Nairobi, Kenya.

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worldcupnews2018 · 6 years

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Six greats take their place in SA Sport Hall of Fame

SIX new athletes have joined the cream of the state’s sporting crop, after being inducted into the South Australian Sport Hall of Fame on the SA Sport Awards on the Adelaide Oval’s Magarey Room on Friday evening.

NAT VON BERTOUCH

THERE are few South Australian netball names held in larger esteem than former Australian Diamonds captain Nat von Bertouch.

She was not essentially the most gifted participant. But all through her profession, von Bertouch was significantly admired for her unimaginable tenacity, never-give-in angle and skill to hold a group to victory on her shoulders.

Reliability and team-first mentality had been emblems, whereas humility was a continuing all through her illustrious profession.

Von Bertouch’s captaincy type was to guide by instance and she or he did that with exceptional consistency. Team-mates had the utmost respect for the champion midcourter.

The identify Natalie von Bertouch is a snug match for the state’s Sport Hall of Fame.

Maybe the aggressive dedication of von Bertouch was born as she bided her time on the Thunderbirds bench ready for a gap in the line-up. There was no simple journey onto netball’s greatest phases.

Once her alternative was introduced, nonetheless, her sport exploded and she or he stamped herself as one of the membership’s greats in her 13 years with the Adelaide membership.

After making her debut for the Diamonds in 2004, von Bertouch had a key function in the conquer arch rival New Zealand in the World Cup closing in Auckland in 2007. The similar 12 months she was honoured because the Diamonds participant of the 12 months.

The following 12 months she was elevated to vice-captain of the nationwide group. In 2011, von Bertouch was promoted to captain in the absence of injured Sharelle McMahon and led the Diamonds to a profitable World Cup title defence in Singapore.

Von Bertouch’s influence on Australian netball was no extra obtrusive than in 2010.

As co-captain of the Thunderbirds, she sparked the aspect to premiership glory in the trans Tasman league, repeated her 2009 win as Australian participant of the 12 months in the competitors and claimed the Liz Ellis Diamond.

She known as a halt to her profession in 2013, simply days after main the Thunderbirds to their second crown. And appropriately she was named the Players’ Player in addition to fan favorite.

– Warren Partland

PHIL ROGERS

WORLD champion and two-time Olympic medallist Phil Rogers has turn out to be simply the second swimmer to be inducted into the KPMG SA Sport Hall of Fame.

The 46-year-old who received world championship gold in 1993 and bronze medals on the 1992 and 1996 Olympics has joined Paralympic star Matthew Cowdrey as swimmers to have been recognised with the honour.

Rogers was a breaststroke specialist who competed in the Barcelona, Atlanta and Sydney Olympics. He claimed his first bronze medal in 1992 in the 100m breaststroke and completed sixth in the 200m breaststroke closing.

Four years later in Atlanta he added one other bronze medal in the boys’s 4x100m medley relay whereas ending fifth in each the 100m and 200m breaststroke finals.

Rogers continued swimming to the Sydney Olympics the place he missed the ultimate in the 100m breaststroke.

Along the way in which he received two Commonwealth Games gold medals each in Victoria, Canada in 1994 and have become an extended course world hampion in 1998 in Perth in the 4x100m medley relay.

The Adelaide swimmer dominated in brief course occasions, successful 4 gold and one silver in world championships from 1993 to 1999.

“This one (hall of fame) is massive, it came completely out of the blue, I had no idea that I was in the running,” Rogers stated.

“To get a phone call one day was a complete shock but a nice one.”

Rogers now works as a station officer with the Metropolitan Fire Service and nonetheless swims as soon as per week with a water polo squad and this 12 months competed in the Police and Fire World Games in Los Angeles the place not surprisingly he received 4 gold medals.

– Reece Homfray

CHRIS DITTMAR

THERE is a single statistic which greatest displays the true worth of former squash champion Chris Dittmar’s profession.

In 1993, the left-hander rose to the head of the game when ranked No. 1 in the sport. It was an unimaginable achievement given Dittmar performed throughout the golden period of the game, and when Pakistani superstars Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan had been in their prime.

If not for these two legends of the sport, Dittmar’s resume would have been extra spectacular. Fives instances he was runner-up in the World Open and twice the overwhelmed finalist on the British Open.

In all seven finals, he misplaced to at least one of the Khans and Dittmar is taken into account the most effective participant by no means to have received both of squash’s two most prestigious crowns.

Dittmar discovered his craft on the courts at Alberton, becoming a member of one other left-handed nice from the membership, Vicki Cardwell, onto the world tour.

It was apparent he was destined for a prolific profession when he claimed the British Open junior title in addition to being runner-up in two world junior championships.

His semi-final conquer Jahangir in the 1989 world open in Kuala Lumpur when he received 15-13 in the fifth set is among the many traditional squash contests of all time. The following day he had a two-set lead over Jansher in the ultimate, solely to tire and lose in 5.

Dittmar’s prolonged record of wins contains three victories in the Australian, Canadian, European and New Zealand Opens and two South African Opens.

He was ranked No. 2 or three in the world for prolonged intervals.

– Warren Partland

KATRINA WEBB

KATRINA Webb was a teenage netball prodigy on the Australian Institute of Sport when she found she had cerebral palsy.

Instead of shedding coronary heart, the SA-born expertise redirected her efforts in the direction of athletics, successful seven Paralympic medals and provoking a technology of sportspeople with disabilities.

Webb collected three golds from three Games throughout her glittering profession on the monitor.

But her emergence as a Paralympic star happened by likelihood in 1995 when AIS workers identified a weak spot on the proper aspect of her physique as a gentle case of cerebral palsy.

Chris Nunn, then Australia’s head coach of athletes with a incapacity, took Webb beneath his wing and set her on the trail to success.

The following 12 months she received the T36-37 100m and T34-37 200m on the Atlanta Paralympics, in addition to claiming silver in the F34-37 lengthy bounce.

The certified physiotherapist backed up the trouble with two silvers (T38 100m and 400m) and a bronze (T38 200m) at Sydney 2000, the place she was a torchbearer in the opening ceremony.

Webb, who additionally received a world title and broke a world document in javelin in 1998, accomplished her Paralympic profession with a T38 400m gold medal in Athens.

But her achievements stretched properly past the sporting enviornment.

The mother-of-two gained a popularity as an interesting and motivating public speaker.

Webb, now 40, was one of 4 athletes to current on the United Nations International Year of Sport and Physical Education closing ceremony in New York in 2006.

She has labored intently with the Australian Paralympic Committee and Novita Children’s Services, and has been an envoy for Minda and the Premier’s Be Active Challenge.

– Rob Greenwood

BRETT AITKEN

BRETT Aitken was on the centre of one of Australia’s best Olympic triumphs in 2000 when he teamed with Scott McGrory to win the inaugural madison gold medal.

Not solely did their victory give Australian biking its first Olympic gold medal since Los Angeles in 1984 but it surely capped a exceptional story of resilience and inspiration.

Earlier in the 12 months Aitken thought-about giving the game away after his daughter was identified with a neurological dysfunction however he was satisfied to journey on to the Games. But his and McGrory’s plans hit one other unimaginable hurdle when 10 weeks earlier than the Olympics, McGrory misplaced his toddler son. Through their adversity they created a bond which finally led to Olympic glory in the two-man madison occasion in Sydney.

“I had a few highlights in my career including the world record and world championship in the team pursuit (in 1993) but it was as if everything was leading to that one moment in Sydney in 2000,” Aitken stated.

The Sydney Games was Aitken’s third Olympics after he debuted in Barcelona in 1992 and was half of Australia’s males’s group pursuit which received silver in the ultimate. He returned to the Olympics in Atlanta in 1996 the place this time the boys’s group pursuit completed third and received a bronze medal. Aitken additionally rode the group pursuit in Sydney the place they completed fifth.

Aitken, who’s now a head biking coach with the South Australian Sports Institute, additionally had important success at world championship and Commonwealth stage all through his profession, successful two gold, one silver and one bronze medal in the 4km group pursuit.

Last evening he was inducted into the SA Sport Hall of Fame.

“It’s a huge honour to be in the hall of fame, these things pop up and surprise you,” he stated.

“But I’m happy it’s been delayed a bit because my girls are now old enough (13) to appreciate it so they’re excited about the night and I’m excited about sharing it with them.”

– Reece Homfray

CLARRIE GRIMMETT

IN 248 firstclass matches Clarrie Grimmett took baggage of 5 wickets or extra in a single innings 127 instances. Don Bradman hit 117 centuries in 234 matches.

If you equate a 5 wicket haul with a century, Grimmett’s bowling document is healthier than Bradman’s batting document.

Born in New Zealand, Grimmett’s burning ambition was to play Test cricket. In 1914 Grimmett set sail for Sydney; then Melbourne, lastly Adelaide, the “haven for unwanted bowlers…”

Vic Richardson wished Grimmett in his group. An speedy success for SA Grimmett made his Test debut in the ultimate Ashes contest of the 1924-25 summer season on the SCG taking 11/82.

Some debut.

From 1924-1941 Grimmett wheeled down 28,467 balls for South Australia and he nonetheless heads the all-time wicket tally in the Sheffield Shield with 513 at 25.29. In 37 Tests he took 216 wickets at 24.21 and in first-class cricket he bagged 1424 wickets at 22.58 with a profession greatest single innings effort of 10/37 in opposition to Yorkshire in 1930.

He at all times wore a scarlet woollen vest beneath his cricket shirt and whereas he was usually known as Grum and the outdated fox, his best-known nickname was Scarlet.

Grimmett dismissed Bradman 10 instances in his profession, together with the Grimmett-Richardson Testimonial match at Adelaide Oval in November 1937.

Late on the Friday Vic Richardson stated: “Scarlet we need a wicket badly, but we also want Bradman to stay for the bumper crowd tomorrow.” Bradman had inferred that Grimmett had “lost” his means to show his leg-break.

Just earlier than stumps, Grimmett spun a leg break prodigiously to defeat the grasp.

– Ashley Mallett

HONOUR ROLL

LEGENDS

Sir Donald Bradman (cricket)

Bart Cummings (horse racing)

Barrie Robran (Aust. Rules Football)

HALL OF FAME

Simon Fairweather (archery)

Lisa Ondieki (athletics)

Ron Sharpe (baseball)

Phil Smyth (basketball)

Clem Hill (cricket)

Mike Turtur (biking)

Gillian Rolton (equestrian)

Malcolm Blight (aust. guidelines soccer)

John Kosmina (soccer)

Juliet Haslam (hockey)

Vern Schuppan (motorsport)

Victor Richardson (multi sport)

Michelle den Dekker (netball)

Kate Allen – nee Slatter (rowing)

Vicki Hoffmann – nee Cardwell (squash)

Mark Woodforde (tennis)

Dean Lukin (weightlifting)

Dianne Burge (athletics)

Ian Chappell (cricket)

Fos Williams (aust. guidelines soccer)

Jane Carter (golf)

Robert Haigh (hockey)

Adrian Quist (tennis)

Kerri Pottharst (volleyball)

Brian Sando (medical)

Rachael Sporn (basketball)

Alexander Tonkin (soccer)

Neil Fuller (paralympics)

Russell Ebert (aust. guidelines soccer)

Charlie Walsh (biking)

Kathryn Harby-Williams (netball)

Sir James Hardy (yachting)

Kenneth McGregor (tennis)

Jack Oatey (aust. guidelines soccer)

Jenny Williams (lacrosse)

Colin Hayes (horse racing)

George Giffen (cricket)

Christine Burton (netball)

Lynette Fullston (netball)

Kerry O’Brien (athletics)

Karen Rolton (cricket)

Sandra Pisani (hockey)

Norm Claxton (baseball)

Lorraine Eiler (basketball)

Robert Newbery (diving)

The post Six greats take their place in SA Sport Hall of Fame appeared first on World Cup News| Qualifiers | Fixtures | Schedule | Venue in 2018.

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 1 year

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“Funérailles Rouges Dans La Rue Arcade,” Le Petit Journal. March 12, 1933. Page 1. ---- Une foule considerable assistait, hier midi, aux funérailles de Nick Zynchuck, tui accidentellement par le policier Zappa lundi dernier. Communistes, chômeurs, curieux et policiers se coudoyaient dans une atmosphère de méfiance. presque meute. Notre photo de gauche montre l'extraordinaire densité de la foule autour du cercaeil de Zynchuck, au moment où on plaçait celui-ci dans le corbillard pour le mener au cimetière de Lake-View. Remarques les placards et les banderoles que portaient les chefs des sympathisants du mort. La photo de droite indique avec quel soin le Police prévenu les bagarres, On voit ici les “constables spéciaux" empêchant une bataille, tandis que trois femmes s'éloignent en tonte hâte.

[AL: The police did not ‘stop’ any fighting - the funeral of Zynchuk, himself killed by a policeman while resisting his eviction, became a police riot, as the special constables beat and abused men, women and children, including unconnected passerby and a Montreal Gazette journalist. Below the cut I’m including a lengthy English language analysis of this incident from Molinaro’s history of anti-Communism and the state of exception in 1930s Canada of this incident. Well worth reading.

The Murder of an Immigrant: Nicholas Zynchuck “The state repression of the 1930s increased in 1933, particularly in Montreal as Premier Taschereau launched his aggressive campaign against communism. If the Buck et al. trial was the start of the repression against Communists and fellow travellers during the Great Depression's exceptional state, the case of Nicholas Zynchuck in Montreal represented the depths of it. His case demonstrates how ethnicity and culture helped influence who was (and was not) a Communist.

On the afternoon of 6 March 1933, Montreal police were called to 3962 Saint Dominique Street in Montreal's downtown core. Saint Dominique contained a number of townhome complexes, many of which were rented to Polish immigrants, mainly Yiddish speakers, working in nearby factories and shops. On this afternoon, police walked in on an eviction, the history of which dated back to the previous Friday. John Wlostizosk was a Polish immigrant who had been renting 3962 with his wife. Wlostizosk had fallen on difficult times and become unemployed, probably because of the broken leg he was nursing at the time of his eviction. He was two months in arrears on his rent and was ordered to pay immediately or be forced to leave. Wlostizosk could not pay, and the next day a court-ordered bailiff and his assistants attempted to evict the family, claiming that they had an order to do so from the Supreme Court. They were unsuccessful, and Mrs Wlostizosk reported that she was thrown to the ground by the men and had her clothing torn.

The majority of the witnesses stated that the bailiff returned at 2:30 p.m. on 7 March; he and his assistants reportedly forced their way into the home and pulled Wlostizosk out of his bed, dragging him outside. Wlostizosk's wife, while screaming, clung to the bed sheets as her husband was dragged out of the home, and she was then pushed down the stairs. Her screams drew neighbours from all around, and soon a crowd of several hundred emerged, urging the couple to stand their ground and not leave." When constables Joseph Zappa, Paul Couchey, and Victor Jette of the Montreal police arrived at the scene (later joined by Constable A. Cloutier), they found an angry mob, the bailiff's truck half-loaded with furniture and clothing from the home, a screaming Mrs Wlostizosk standing on the steps to the house, and a clothed John Wlostizosk leaning against the house to keep him away.

At this point, Nicholas Zynchuck, a Polish immigrant, former Canadian Pacific Railway worker, and a border at 3962, arrived home. He ran up to the house searching for his clothes. When told by bystanders that the items were in the truck, he entered it but found nothing of his inside. He reportedly then grabbed one of the baillifs by the arm, saying, "I want my clothes." The bailiff replied that he could not have them because everything in the house was being sired When Zynchuck made for the house again, he was blocked by three constables. The crowd, which had grown to approximately two thousand, began removing furniture and items from the truck to prevent them from being taken."

From this point on, the eyewitness accounts differ drastically. Three witnesses and the officers claimed that they saw Zynchuck grab a bar of some sort (reportedly an iron bedpost) from the truck and begin swinging it at the officers, slightly grazing one of them. As he turned to attack the bailiff's assistant, Constable Joseph Zappa fired his revolver, hitting Zynchuck in the back mid-swing. Fourteen others claimed that Zynchuck had no bar." Yetta Rotter, of 3972 Saint Dominique, gave her account to the Toronto Star the morning after the shooting, and it was corroborated by the majority of the witnesses. Zynchuck, she said, "just asked them [the police) to let him get his clothes. Then someone said 'shoot him." and the constable pulled out his gun and fired" as Zynchuck turned to leave.

On the morning of 7 March, Constable Zappa, seated at the back of police station no. 12, was interviewed by his superiors, who included Assistant Inspector A. Brodeur, with a Star reporter present. In the interview, which formed the basis for the official police report, Zappa claimed he had shot Zynchuck because he, Zappa, "was mad." "Why didn't you shoot over the man's head?" his superiors asked. The constable grinned and shrugged his shoulders: "He's a communist."

When Zappa was asked if he was excited at the time, he replied, "No." Assistant Inspector Brodeur announced a half-hour later that the shooting was "justified under the circumstances though regrettable." The public had to understand, he explained, that this section of the city was "a hot-bed of communism." Police actions may not have been just, but the police did what was necessary for security. René Clouette, the attending bailiff charged with evicting the family, told reporters an account that differed from that of the other witnesses. He claimed he went to the house on the afternoon of 6 March with about a dozen assistants but found men in the home who were adamant that the furniture not be taken, and so he returned with about fifty assistants and began loading furniture into a truck. He claimed that one of the tenants, John Wlostizosk, entered the scene, walking in on his own accord but with crutches. Clouette denied the witness accounts that he and others had dragged Wlostizosk out of bed by his feet and pushed his wife down the stairs of the home. The shooting occurred, he explained, as the mob began taking things out of the truck that he and his men were loading.

Led by Deputy Coroner Dr Pierre Herbert, a coroner's inquiry with jury was ordered on 8 March to investigate Zynchuck's death. Antoine Senecal and Albert Berthiaume conducted the case for the police, and Michael Garber, retained by the Canadian Labor Defense League (CLDL), cross-examined witnesses The scene in Montreal was tense. Police were dispatched through out the city to quell outbursts of protests following the shooting. One hundred "communists" were reportedly dispersed from Viger Square. The courtroom itself was under heavy police guard, and a number of officers were armed with tear gas should protesters threaten the court.

The first witness examined was Adolph Sasnofvska of 4370 Saint Dominique Street. He testified that Zynchuck was a Ukrainian born in Poland who had come to Canada five years earlier and who worked as a labourer. He was thirty-seven years old at the time of his death. Sasnofvska's description of Zynchuck's ethnicity reveals that he was an immigrant of Polish citizenship but that he identified as being Ukrainian. He was presumably born in the former Eastern Galicia.

René Clouette, the bailiff charged with evicting Wlostizosk, told the inquiry the same version he had earlier provided to the media. His assistants gave a sensational account of Zynchuck grabbing a bedpost, letting out a cry in his native Ukrainian, and then charging the house in a crazed, barbarian-style attack, swinging the bedpost wildly. Zappa was called to the stand but did not want to testify. The coroner told him that he was not obligated to do so, but one of the jurors stood up to say that the jury wanted him to give evidence. A five-minute recess was called.

After conferring with Senecal and Berthiaume, who represented the police, Zappa gave his account of what happened. He claimed that the crowd was getting difficult to control and that some people started taking furniture out of the truck. One of the people removing furniture darted towards him with a six-foot iron bar. The man began swinging the pole as he approached Zappa. After taking one swing at Zappa and missing, Zappa claimed that the man turned gun "kicked up" and the man "was shot in the back." "I was afraid for my own life," he stated, and that all he could do was fire in the man's direction to protect himself.

Under cross-examination, Garber asked Zappa if Zynchuck first asked to enter the house. Zappa replied that he did not, stating that Zynchuck got the bar from the truck, tried to hit him but missed, and took another swing at Bertrand the bailiff before being shot. Garber asked Zappa why he did not fire a warning shot in the air. Zappa replied that he had already threatened to do so, but it had no effect on the crowd. He claimed that no one ordered him to shoot. Garber asked, "Did you tell the reporter of the Star that you were mad when you shot?" Zappa replied, "Mad? Mad? Well I was not very happy." Garber continued, asking, "Were you asked by the Star reporter why you did not shoot over the man's head?" Zappa replied that the reporter had just asked his name and left. He also claimed he had never told Zynchuck to move or he would shoot. Zappa's account was implausible.

Witness testimony contradicted the scene painted by the bailiff and officers, Robert Dubareau, a passer-by who lived on Saint Catherine, claimed he saw Zappa shoot Zynchuck and that there was no iron bar in Zynchuck's hands or any swinging of a bar by Zynchuck. Another witness, Mrs Rotter, said the same thing. The papers did not detail the accounts of other witnesses that contradicted the officers' claims or note whether there had been other any other witnesses.

Inconsistencies in the bailiff and Zappa's testimonies went unad dressed. The press reported that some of Garber's questioning had been stopped; Garber was likely not allowed to question much of the evidence. The evidence that raised the most doubt about Zappa's version of events was the autopsy report. Curiously, the autopsy report was entered into evidence, but it is not clear if anyone discussed it further in court. The report, read into the record by Dr. Rosario Fontaine, stated that the bullet entered Zynchuck from the right side of the back and travelled right to left, tearing through a kidney before finally resting in his spine.

Zynchuck was shot at a maximum distance of four to five feet (with one paper reporting that the autopsy report stated that he had been shot at a distance of eighteen inches). This meant it was impossible for Zynchuck to have cleared a minimum six-foot space around him with an iron bar. The report matched eyewitness accounts the morning after the shooting that stated that Zappa had shot Zynchuck as he turned his back to the officer. He was shot in the back on the right side, and the bullet travelled from right to left, which could have occurred if Zynchuck, facing Zappa, had begun turning to the left to leave, exposing the right side to Zappa's revolver."

Either way the bulk of the evidence raised questions about the officers' version of events, but to no effect. In a closing statement to the jury, Deputy Coroner Herbert reminded the public:

"We have never had any problem with the French-Canadians, and it is always the foreigners who start such trouble. When four constables are faced with 500 angered foreigners their lives are in danger... I hope that this will be a lesson for other foreigners who attempt to resist the police."

Zynchuck's death would teach the foreign communists how they should behave and respond to police. The jury reached a decision in less than a minute and cleared Zappa of any misconduct.

That the coroner's inquiry failed to satisfy the Saint Dominique community was obvious from the way the community rallied behind their fallen member with one of the largest funeral processions the city of Montreal had ever seen. Fifteen to twenty thousand people marched from Verdun to the funeral parlour of William Ray at Arcade Street at 12:30 p.m. on 11 March. Some of those walking in the long columns of marchers hummed "The Internationale," and Canadian Labor Defense League (CLDL) musicians played for the marchers. Labour leaders made speeches reminding those in attendance of how Zynchuck was killed. The real culprit, some speakers claimed, was Bennett and his policies, while others said Zynchuck was killed because of private property. Some speakers insisted that the lives of workers were just as valuable as those of the "bosses." Workers Unity League (WUL) representatives spoke at the funeral.

Zynchuck's death brought the community out in the tens of thousands, but it is doubtful that everyone was there to hear the CLDL or WUL use Zynchuck's funeral as a means for spreading propaganda. Indeed, there was serious doubt as to whether Zynchuck was ever a Communist or that he had belonged to the CLDL, the WUL, or any other labour organization. The Reverend R.G. Katsunoff of the Church of All Nations spoke at Zynchuck's funeral and stated that he knew Zynchuck as a member of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church who had no relatives and belonged to no Communist organizations. Some members of the CLDL and other Communist organizations went beyond condemning his death and used Zynchuck's funeral as a platform to preach political propaganda. They tried to paint Zynchuck as a Communist killed for being a Communist when he was actually killed because he was foreign born and because he was Communist on account of his ethnicity, class, and where he lived.

Shortly after the funeral procession was underway, Montreal police sent an even stronger message to the foreign community as a reprisal presumed a for Zappa's inquiry and to prevent Communists from using his death as a spectacle for recruitment.

As the steady line of marchers quietly carried on down the street, many holding signs condemning the death of Zynchuck, plain-clothes officers entered the crowd, and so did eight hundred mounted officers who were lying in wait for the marchers. Officers charged into the funeral procession dispersing people, punching and clubbing any who quickly enough. Witnesses described the scene as chaos as droves of people fled in terror, fearing for their lives and safety. The crowd split into groups of fifty, and even passers-bys not part of the march were caught in the cross hairs of police. A woman on her way home, who could not move fast enough for the officers, was shoved into a snowdrift. Witnesses watched in shock and horror as marchers were knocked to the ground and, when they did not get up quickly enough, faced even more punches and kicks. One man was tossed from officer to officer, who kicked or punched him for the length of a city block. Others witnessed a man beaten badly by police she walked; he stopped walking to try to recuperate, only to have officers deliver a punishing blow from behind, knocking him unconscious to the ground, where he was left.

Neither young nor old were spared the fury of the police. Nor were the reporters: Henry Prysky of the Gazette, and son of Detective Sergeant Felix Prysky of the homicide department, was beaten by police even after he identified himself as a reporter. Mounted officers mowed over marchers, forcing them into the streets, where other officers forced them back onto the sidewalk. According to witnesses, the mourners never retaliated. They were determined to keep the march from turning into a riot or violent protest. Statements from witnesses. to the dismay of both the CLDL and Montreal police, affirmed that the vast majority of people at the funeral were there for Zynchuck and not in support of any Communist politics. The Verdun Workers Association, who led the procession, denounced some press suggestions of Communist activity, citing that 35 per cent of their members had served in the Great War and strongly denouncing suggestions that their loyalty should be questioned.

The mourners' non-resistance did not deter police. One machinist, as the Herald described him, was walking along the street when police began clearing it. "Suddenly I was tripped," he said, "and thrown into snow bank. While I lay there two other men bent over me and struck me in the face." The man claimed that police never asked him a single question before the beating started. A mile from the march, witnesses reported that a woman walking with a toddler was pushed by police for not walking fast enough and that when she protested, she and her toddler were forced into a snow bank. Police had deemed the funeral a political action by Communists and a security threat. They decided - they judged in the moment - what was and was not legal and what to do to stop it.

Montreal residents felt outrage and condemned the events at the funeral. The Herald, in an editorial, denounced the actions of police and stated that "the actions of the police force on Saturday were a blot on the honour of the force... Had they been agents of Moscow they could not have served the cause of violence better." The Star, as well as the Gazette, was equally critical of the police for attacking the funeral. Besides reporting the attack on its own reporter, the Gazette detailed a bizarre scene in which two plain-clothes officers, each "taking the other for a communist," got into a fight. They were eventually separated by officers who recognized them. One officer lost some teeth in the scuffle, but he was dissuaded by other police from taking out an arrest warrant on the other officer. The two reportedly shook hands, and police refused to release their names."

The violence at Zynchuck's funeral prompted a strong response from community groups. Protests began immediately after the funeral. In one instance, 225 youth protested the death of Zynchuck and the events of the funeral at the Youth Forum on Drummond Street. Some of the most outspoken criticism of police actions, ironically, came from Christian churches and ministers who claimed that it was the police, and not the Communists, who were behaving in an un-British manner. On 13 March, members of the Protestant Ministerial Association voted in the majority to appoint a committee that could represent Protestant churches, as well as a diverse segment of prominent citizens, to press for a judicial investigation into the events of the eviction at Saint Dominique Street and Zynchuck's funeral. The committee was separate from religious institutions but provided them with some representation."

Called the Citizens' Committee, the group consisted of prominent community members such as ministers, lawyers, and academics. including Professor F. R. Scott and law professor Warwick Chipman, a prominent member of the bar in Montreal. The committee heard evidence from ministers such as the Reverend Katsunoff, who spoke at Zynchuck's funeral and now reiterated his claims that Zynchuck was no Communist. He described the funeral and the events leading up to it after Zynchuck was shot. Wanting to give Zynchuck a funeral, he explained, were a dozen representatives of different societies, such as various Ukrainian and Polish groups. Katsunoff explained that a Greek-Catholic priest was approached to conduct the funeral but that he was asked too late and could not do it in time. he claimed the police kept one of Zynchuck's closest friends detained for hours and compelled him to sign Zynchuck's body over to them to stop a funeral from being held.

Montreal police recognized that a funeral for Zynchuck could become a spectacle for the Communists. Katsuwolf recalled how police tried to storm the funeral parlour in an effort get Zynchuck's body, but people jammed the entrance to the parlaour and stood watch until a funeral was arranged. Katsunoff told the committee that the funeral march was orderly until someone blew a whistle. Someone shouted, "Come on boys," and plain-clothes officers jumped into the crowd. A banner held by one of the marchers that read "Shot in the back" was grabbed by police as they entered the crowd from all directions, beating the crowd as they entered. Katsuwolf was sure that the two plain-clothes men that he had spoken to “smelt of some kind of liquor." The committee heard that several witnesses of Zynchuck's death claimed that they could swear under oath that they saw him shot as he turned his back to Zappa in an effort to leave. It was later reported that Zynchuck's grave site was purchased by an unnamed sympathetic citizen of Montreal who had never personally met Zynchuck."

The committee refrained from deciding anything and instead took a wait-and-see approach until further official inquiries were completed. Following the publicity that the committee meeting generated, Montreal deputy chief Charles Barnes, who oversaw the police response to the funeral march, commented on the funeral, stating that he had seen no trouble anywhere" and witnessed no violence, as the crowd was easily dispersed. Despite Barnes's attempt at damage control, a new inquiry into Zynchuck's death was about to be called."

On 14 March, Joe Batula, a former fellow officer of Zynchuck's in the Polish army, filed a complaint against Zappa in the death of Zynchuck so that an arrest warrant could be issued against him for manslaughter. Michael Garber and another lawyer retained by the CLDL. Oscar Gagnon, represented Batula. Justice Victor Cusson agreed to issued for Zappa's arrest. He set the date of the hearing for 21 March issue a prewarrant inquiry to investigate whether a warrant should be Gagnon explained that a hearing was needed because all the evidence at the coroner's inquest "was designed to exculpate the constable" and that they had had "no chance to present [their] evidence." Gag non's statement confirms that the evidence of witnesses that could contradict Zappa and his fellow officers was suppressed during the coroner's inquiry.

Zynchuck's death and funeral spurred progressives into action and solidarity. In addition to the frequent protests throughout the city. Writers in the Canadian Forum claimed that these events symbolized the illiberal state of Quebec. Zynchuck's death and funeral became the source of inspiration for a variety of poems, stories, and plays, including a play entitled Eviction performed by the Workers' Experimental Theatre. Poet Dorothy Livesay wrote a poem entitled "An Immigrant (Nick Zynchuck)" and a story, "Zynchuck's Funeral.” As mentioned earlier, F. R. Scott was instrumental in forming an ad hoc group to protest the events and suggest reform. He had been outraged by witnessing a labourer who had been standing near the street during the funeral suddenly be knocked to the ground by a "ferocious punch to the jaw" from a man later identified as a plain-clothes police officer. The CLDL temporarily united with the Trades and Labour Congress and the Montreal Labour Party to protest Zynchuck's death and the funeral violence. They had support from the Protestant Ministerial Association, the Montreal Women's Club, the Delorimier Liberal Reform Club, the League for Social Reconstruction, and the Montreal United Church's Committee on Social and Economic Research.

The hearing began on 21 March. Oscar Gagnon of the CLDL stressed from the outset that this was not a trial, just an inquiry decide whether an arrest warrant should be issued, and thus a hearing of evidence ex parte as per article 655 of the Criminal Code was sufficient to issue the warrant. In an unexpected move, Justice Cusson allowed both sides to present evidence, including witnesses called by Zappa's counsel, Philippe Monette. Berthiaume was permitted to represent the police. Variations of Zynchuck's death were told to the court in English, Polish, and Yiddish. The courtroom was initially restricted to the public, but by mid-morning the judge had lifted the restrictions, and it became filled to capacity.

The bailiff Clouette retold his version of events. But the majority of the witnesses in this hearing told a different story than the one told by Zappa, his fellow constables, and the bailiff and his assistants during the coroner's inquiry. These witnesses described how Zynchuck was shot in the back by Zappa as he turned to leave. Several witnesses claimed that the bailiff's assistants shouted at the officers to shoot Zynchuck. Papers reported that Zappa's counsel, Mr. Monette, was very aggressive in his cross-examination of witnesses, leading Garber to ask the judge why cross-examination should even be allowed, as this was not a trial. The judge claimed he wanted all the facts before making his decision. The defence gave their interpretation next and followed the same story as told by the witnesses during the coroner's inquest. The autopsy report was read into evidence again by De Rosario Fontaine, who claimed that on the basis of the hole in Zynchuck's jacket, the shot might have been fired from a distance of four or five leet but not less than eighteen inches. Witnesses for Zappa claimed that the crowd was advancing until Zappa fired his gun.

On 24 March, Judge Cusson announced that he had decided not to issue a warrant for Zappa's arrest, citing that riot conditions had prompted Zappa to shoot, as Zynchuck was part of a crowd of thirty or more persons who were advancing on the officers. Whether Zynchuck was armed or not was inconsequential to the judge; "killing one or more," he stated, there being no other way to suppress the riot, constituted a "justifiable homicide." Exceptional measures were necessary. Curiously, Zappa's evidence, given on the day of the judge's decision, contained mention that the crowd was advancing on him, and yet, even after the coroner's report, Zappa claimed that Zynchuck was "six, eight, nine" feet from him when he shot.

The CLDL lawyers did not agree with the judge's finding, stating that it was significant that no iron bar was produced as evidence. When Cusson asked the lawyers what Zappa was to have done beyond shooting, Garber replied, "I believe that he'd have to read the Riot Act before shooting." The judge was taken aback, asking:

"Do you believe that a Montreal jury - or a jury anywhere - (you are a lawyer of reputation, Mr. Garber, and I appreciate you highly) but do you believe that any jury would find Constable Zappa guilty?"

The judge insisted on an answer from Garber, who replied:

"It might happen. There might be a jury that would find him guilty of manslaughter."

Cusson disagreed, stating that he had had no hesitation in refusing the warrant. The CLDL made one last plea to Premier Taschereau, but this fell on deaf ears. The Citizens' Committee did not seek to further fin any flames: the legal process had run its course. The committee recommended that police not send plain-clothes officers to break up crowds in the future, something the police force said it would consider. Joseph Zappa was completely exonerated,

The case of Nicholas Zynchuck shows the depth of the repression against Communists and anyone presumed of being one. For law enforcement, communists were automatically guilty of an offence and violence had become part of the construct of security. Members could never publicly admit that they were CPC members or even publicly state that they believed in the same ideology without exposing them selves to the possibility of a Section 98 charge. But the most significant danger to Canadian society was how individuals were classified as being communists.”

- Dennis C. Molinaro, An Exceptional Law: Section 98 and the Emergency State, 1919-1936. Toronto: Osgoode Hall Press, 2017. p. 171-182

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“TO SEND "JURY" TO TIM BUCK'S TRIAL IN JUNE,” Kingston Whig-Standard. March 27, 1933. Page 11. ---- Toronto Organization Demands Release of Convicted Communist ---- TORONTO, March 27 - Meeting for the declared intention of securing the release of Tim Buck from Kingston Penitentiary, and the seven men sentenced with him under Section 98 of the Criminal Code, a hundred men and women gathered in Don Hall Sunday morning.

Because police had interfered with attempts to rent halls in the city, the organization, which calls itself the "Toronto Mass Labor Conference to Stop the Frame-Up on Tim Buck," met just outside the jurisdiction of the city police, in Don Hall on Broadway Avenue north of Danforth. An active campaign is being planned, to be pushed between now and June when Buck is due to come up for trial in Kingston on charges arising out of the penitentiary riots last October.

The organization plans to send a "workers' jury" of 12 men to Kingston for Tim Buck's trial, "to see what goes on." It is planned to organize "conferences" throughout Ontario in the larger centres. A delegation is to be sent to Ottawa to place the organization's demands before Hon. Hugh Guthrie, Minister of Justice. The organization is planning to circulate petitions and promote a large mass meeting. A campaign for funds includes the printing and selling at five cents each of stamps, each. bearing a picture of Tim Buck.

Beckie Buhay, organization secretary of the Canadian Labor Defence League, spoke at length in connection: with the campaign. The chairman was T. J. Simons, secretary of the Toronto Labor party and also secretary of the organization working to free Tim Buck.

Some 50,000 pamphlets headed "Stop the Frame-Up on Tim Buck." and containing the organization's demands and allegations have been printed and are to be circulated among laborers. Four printed demands are as follows: "1. The rescinding of the indictment against Tim Buck. 2. That there be no secret trials and punishments in the Kingston Penitentiary. 3. That a public. Inquiry of elected workers and progressive elements be held at which Tim Buck and all others will be allowed to testify. 4. That political prisoners in the Canadian falls be given preferential treatment with full rights to keep in touch with the labor. movement. This objective can be attained by united, support, action and mass pressure by all who are against political reaction and the Iron Heel policy of the Bennett Government Free Tim Buck and his second comrades."

#toronto #section 98 #iron heel #canadian labor defence league #communists #communism #communist party of canada #prisoner release #political prisoners #kingston penitentiary #1932 kp riot #1933 prisoner trials #great depression in canada #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada #tim buck

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“OTTAWA WILL SUPPRESS LABOR DEFENCE LEAGUE, POLICE MAKE FIRST RAID,” Owen Sound Sun-Times. February 22, 1933. Page 6 --- Immediate Sequel to Crisp Warning of Mr. Bennett ---- IS CANADA-WIDE ---- Mounted Police Raid Headquarters at Prince Rupert -- (Canadian Press Despatch) OTTAWA, Feb. 22 — Nation-wide investigation of the Canadian Labor Defense League — allegedly the Communist Society in Canada operating under another name — has been ordered by the Dominion Government and is being conducted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Raid on the Prince Rupert headquarters of the league and seizure of its books which occurred yesterday is the first move in the campaign to stamp out the propaganda which this organization has been carrying on.

A Prince Rupert books and papers were taken from local headquarters of the league. No arrests were made. According to Hon. Hugh Guthrie, Minister of Justice, the organization is being financed from outside Canada and rhe Minister can surmise only that the money is coming from Moscow.

Evidence is in the possession the Mounted Police to show that the Defense League seeks to overthrow the Canadian form of government by violent measures and that it is co-operating with Communists in the United States, who have threatened the Minister by telegraph telling him what will happen If the Reds Incarcerated in Portsmouth Penitentiary are not liberated.

"We have been watching the Canadian Labor Defense League very closely," Attorney-General Price said last night. He Indicated, however, that any action would probably emanate from Ottawa.

#prince rupert #canadian labor defence league #communists #communism #police raids #crackdown #iron heel #communist party of canada #united front #1932 kp riot #kingston penitentiary #prison riot #minister of justice #royal canadian mounted police #bennett government #great depression in canada #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada

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"To Investigate Message About Tim Buck Trial," Kingston Whig-Standard. June 15, 1933. Page 2. ---- Judge McLean Asks That Telegram Be Brought to Attention of Attorney-General of Ontario. --- Charging that the indictment against Convict Tim Buck for participating in the Penitentiary riots of October 17, 1932, had been "framed" and demanding that it be rescinded, a telegram from the Finnish Organization of Canada was delivered to Judge Evan McLean yesterday afternoon during the trial of Convict Hugh Burling. Judge McLean read the telegram to the Court and then instructed Crown Attorney T. J. Rigney to report the matter to Attorney General.

The telegram read as follows:

"Judge In Charge Tim Buck Trial "Care W. D. Rigney. K. C. "We, the members of the Finnish Organization of Canada, assembled in our national convention in the elty of Toronto, hereby demand the rescinding of the frame-up indictment against Tim Buck and the establish-ment of the rights of a the political prisoners. Convention Committee." Mr. Rigney delivered the telegram to the Judge, while Guard William H.Godwin was giving evidence for the Crown in the Burling case. Judge McLean halted proceedings while he read the telegram to the Court, He then said that no organization had any right to attempt to influence or intimidate any Judge and advised. Mr. Rigney to report the matter to the Attorney-General Guard Godwin Guard William Godwin was the first witness for the Crown to the case of Convict Hugh Burling when Court was resumed in the afternoon. Burling's case is the first in the large docket of twenty-seven cases that will probably come before the General Senaton of the Peace and County Court. Burling one of twenty-four convicts charged with taking part in the Penitentiary riots, a twenty-two years of age, and was sentenced at Sandwich In 1931 to five years in the Kingston Penitentiary for assault and robbery,

For the benefit of the jury Guard Godwin gave a minute description of the lay-out of the penitentiary with particular reference to the work-shops in the main dome where the not was centred. A plan was exhibited to enable the jury to gain a clear picture of the interior.

Witness said that precautionary procedure was taken by the prison authorities in preparation for the rumored riot which was to take place on the afternoon of October 17. The guards in the towers were doubled and the steel shop doors were locked. He described how the convicts assemble in the shop dome, what was saild and what was done there. Godwin said that any official sttempting to leave the dome was gently but firmly told to remain where he was. The doors were barricaded with stone bankers and condemned machinery. Inspector Smith had made an attempt to leave the building, but had been prevented from doing so.

According to Godwin, Tim Buck asked the men if they were going to give in or "fight it out". When the convicts had elected to fight it out, Buck had told them to barricade the doors and fill every available utensil with water. These orders had been carried out by the men. "Why didn't you stop these men?" asked Crown Prosecutor Col. Keiller MacKay. "It wasn't possible." "Why not?" "The men were out of control and crow-bar. I did not want to get my brains knocked out." Witness stated that he had seen Burling in the dome. He named several convicts he had seen there, among them Convict Burling. Under cross-examination by W. H. Herrington counsel for the defence, Godwin admitted that there were some men who did not leave the shops when the trouble started, and also that there were men in the dome who did not join in the shouting nor in the general milling around. He said that when Inspector Smith and he entered the dome the doors had been barricaded immediately behind them. Witness said that at all times he had felt that his life was in considerable danger.

Mr. Herrington made a strong attempt to upset Godwin's evidence that he had seen Burling in the dome. He quoted the testimony given at the preliminary hearing and pointed out that Convict Burling had not been mentioned then. Godwin stoutly maintained that when he saw Burling in the Court he remembered that the Inter had been one of the men taking an active part in the demonstration. He also maintained that the only person with whom he had talked over the convict trials had been the Crown Prosecutor, Col McKay. He said when he saw Burling yesterday he remembered that the accused had been carrying a load of mall-bags to barricade the doors of the mail-bag department. Guard Robinson Guard Harold Robinson testified that Burling, who had been working in the change-room, had stopped working and joined the other men when the riot started. He also said that he had seen Burling later in the afternoon carrying a crow-bar. Robinson testified that in the dome the men were shouting rushing around and carrying crow-bars, hammers, pieces of street and other weapons.

Judge McLean made an appeal to both counsel to try to reach some agreement whereby unnecessary evidence would be curtailed thus saving time of the Court. Counsel were granted a brief recess to arrive at a decision, but no announcement was made of the result when the trial was resumed.

Witness testified that some of the convicts were armed with clubs and that the mob was making a terrific noise. He said that a large number of the men had joined in breaking down the shop-doors.

Counsel questioned witness regarding a meeting at the Warden's house - at which a number of prison officials were alleged to have talked about the trials. Robinson claimed that nothing had been said about giving evidence except that the truth was to be told. "The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth"? asked Mr. Herrington.

"Yes" "Of course, you realize that you must not suppress any evidence even is helpful to the accused?" "Yes." "You weren't told to at the meeting to suppress any evidence that might be of assistance to Burling?" "No, nothing was said about the matter at all." Only Armed Convict "What makes you remember so perfectly that you saw Burling carrying an iron-bar? Is there a something about his face that impresses you?"

"No. I remember his because he was the only armed convict among numerous convicts at the time that I saw him."

Robinson said that he saw Burling rush into the change-room with a crow-bar. "Why didn't you follow him?" "I thought there might be trouble?" "Were you afraid?" "No, I was not."

"You to the Crown that, you went into the paint-house to see what was going on, but if you saw Burling rush into the change-room with a crow-bar don't you think that was the logical place to go If you wanted to view a spectacle?"

"I didn't think it was wise to do so." "You are certain that you know Burling?" "Sure," Witness looked at Burling and the two exchanged smiles.

"Can you name any convicts who were barricading the door?" "No." "Can you name any of the convicts that were in the dome?" "Yes, There was Buck, Behan, Parkes, and Garceau, among others." "Did you see Burling there?" "No." "You know the rules of the Penitentiary, of course?" "Yes." "You know that the convicts are supposed to obey the guards and do as they are told?" "Yes." "Well, when the riot first started did you hear any guards tell the convicts to go back to work?" "There was no time to do that." "Did you make an effort to re-strain the men?" "I did not have enough time for that, I was in the change-room and the men rushed away from me before I could say a word.

"Convict Curry was the only man to stay behind and he asked what he should do, I told him that he had better stick around."

"Did he?" "I believe he did." Court was then adjourned until this morning.

#kingston ontario #kingston penitentiary #1933 prisoner trials #1932 kp riot #prison riot #riotous assembly #destruction of property #eyewitness testimony #prison guards #convict revolt #great depression in canada #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada #tim buck #section 98 #finnish organization of canada #canadian labor defence league

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"Inspector Stringer Investigating Case," Kingston Whig-Standard. June 16, 1933. Page 2. ----- Provincial Police Detailed to Act on Tim Buck Telegram ---- Chief Inspector William Stringer of the Criminal Investigation branch of the Ontario Provincial Police, has been detailed to conduct the inquiry ordered by Attorney-General Price into the circumstances surrounding the demand made of Judge E. H. McLean by the Finnish Organization of Canada "for a rescinding of the frame-up indictment against Tim Buck and the establishment of the rights of all political prisoners." Inspector Stringer's appointment to the case was ordered after the Attorney-General conferred with Deputy. Attorney-General Edward Bayly and Major-General Victor Williams, Provincial Police Commissioner. The inspector spent part of yesterday afternoon on the matter, but up to a late hour last night had made no report to. Col. Price. The telegraphed demand of the Finnish organization was received on Wednesday by Judge McLean as he was sitting on the trial of Convict Hugh Burling, of Kingston Penitentlary.

#kingston penitentiary #attorney general of ontario #telegram #finnish organization of canada #canadian labor defence league #communists #political prisoners #section 98 #tim buck #1932 kp riot #1933 prisoner trials #great depression in canada #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada #ontario provincial police

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“Canadian Labor Defence League ‘Communistic’,” Kingston Whig-Standard. February 21, 1933. Page 11. ---- Declaration Made by Premier Bennett to Deputation at Ottawa ---- CASE OF TIM BUCL ---- OTTAWA, Feb. 21 — The Canadian Labor Defence League has been carrying on the work of the Communistic League under this new name since the conviction of the eight Toronto Communists a year ago, Prime Minister R. B. Bennett declared today. Tim Buck and his Communist associates in Kingston penitentiary, now further charged with inciting the Kingston prison riots last fall, will not be released but will face their trial in court on the new charges, he said.

The Premier made these statement to a deputation of fourteen members of the Canadian Labor Defence League, headed by A. E. Smith, Toronto, former clergyman, and Mrs. Tim Buck.

Speaking to Mr. Smith directly, the Prime Minister added: "And you have been the leading head of this new League. In my opinion, there is no doubt but that a jury of the citizens of this country would so find you guilty.’

Senator Arthur Meighen and Hon. Hugh Guthrie, Minister of Justice, both joined in the charge that that the Canadian Labor League is Communistic, that a delegate who had spoken in French had admitted that he was a Communist. Mr. Smith said he to any “political party.”

#ottawa #prime minister of canada #canadian labor defence league #communists #communist party of canada #political prisoners #sentenced to the penitentiary #1932 kp riot #kingston penitentiary #iron heel #r. b. bennett #hugh guthrie #great depression in canada #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada #anti-communism #tim buck #1933 prisoner trials

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“Will Petition For Royal Commission On Kingston 'Pens',” Kingston Whig-Standard, May 5, 1933. Page 2. ---- Mrs. Sam Cohen, Mrs. Tim Buck and other members of the Labor Defence League, were in Kingston yesterday to visit Sam Cohen and Tim Buck, who are prisoners at Kingston Penitentiary. They left this city for Ottawa with the avowed purpose of waiting on the Hon. Maurice Dupré, Solicitor-General, and petitioning that the trials of Kingston Penitentiary convicts on charges of rioting be suspended until a royal commission investigates the whole penitentiary situation at Kingston. Mrs. Buck and Mrs. Cohen declared that the evidence brought out in the trials of George Bailey and Murray Kirkland is sufficient to warrant the Government in appointing a royal commission.

#kingston penitentiary #kingston ontario #canadian labor defence league #royal commission #royal commision to investigate the penal system of canada #communists #communist party of canada #1932 kp riot #1933 prisoner trials #political prisoners #prison riot #causes of prison riots #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada #great depression in canada

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“MERELY PRISONERS, SAYS TASCHEREAU,” Montreal Gazette. November 30, 1932. Page 4. --- Membership of Labor Defence League No Reason for Favors ---- NO JAIL INVESTIGATION ---- Prisons as Well Administered as Possible - Premier Trapped in Photograph With Agitators ---- Persons serving sentences in the prisons of the province of Quebec are merely prisoners, no matter whether members of an organization claiming to be political or not, was a fact which Premier Taschereau made quite clear yesterday when he received Miss Bella Gordon, secretary of the Canadian Labor Defence League, who brought with her relatives of five men now serving a term in prison after conviction on a charge of seditious utterance.

The Premier told those before him that the usual procedure must take its course as regards the prisoners in question, and definitely refused to entertain a request that there be an inquiry into conditions in the prisons of the province.

The five men serving sentence, each of one year, are Dave Kashton, Phillip Ritchie, Dave Chalmers, Tom Miller and Fred Rose. The latter two have been removed from the Montreal Jail to the jail at Quebec.

Miss Gordon, speaking for the league, asked that the two men in question be returned to the Montreal jail, for the members of their families were not rich enough to go to Quebec to visit them on the occasions when Jail regulations allow of visiting. On this point, the Premier said he had no personal knowledge as to why "the two men in question had been transferred, but presumably those in charge of such matters must have had their reasons. However, he said he would inquire into the matter and, if he came to the conclusion that their return to Montreal was justified, it would be done.

As to an investigation into the jails, and a further request that a member of the league be allowed to visit the prisoners each week to see the members of the league who are incarcerated, the Premier gave a categorical denial.

JAILS SATISFACTORY.

"An Investigation is useless,” said the Premier. "I am convinced by reports which reach me and my knowledge of conditions that the jails are as well administered as possible. Furthermore, these men have no reason to complain, because they were sentenced after having had a fair trial, and they are treated exactly as other prisoners. More than that is impossible. The matter is ended."

The Premier terminated the interview, and the delegation, after some futile efforts to continue the plea, left the office. However, they will have a souvenir of their visit to Mr. Taschereau. The delegation which had waited on the Premier prior to this one was a large one, and in the confusion of their going the Premier was told that someone wanted to photograph him, and would he walk into an adjoining room. Without bothering to inquire into the matter, Mr. Taschereau walked rapidly into the antechamber in question, told the photographer to make it snappy and was taken in company with Miss Gordon and those with her, the Premier not noticing they were standing about him. It was only after the same people were ushered into his own office as a delegation that he learned the company he had been keeping.

[AL: This interview with the Premier of Quebec by members of the CLDL is an impressive bit of political theatre. The CLDC demands for a public investigation of Quebec provincial prisons and for the political prisoner status of incarcerated communists was part of a broader campaign stirred by the riots in October 1932 at Kingston Penitentiary, where eight members of the outlawed Communist Party were incarcerated - and had played an important role in organizing those events. By November 1932 a nationwide campaign of letter writing, demanding the release of class war prisoners and a public inquiry into the Canadian penal system was underway.]

#montreal #premier of quebec #public inquiry #political prisoners #penal reform #canadian labor defence league #communists #communist party of canada #montreal jail #quebed jail #quebec prisons #1932 kp riot #great depression in canada #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 1 year

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“Ask Amnesty For Eight Communists In the Penitentiary,” Kingston Whig-Standard. February 21, 1933. Page 1. ---- Delegation Sees Government - Premier Bennett Makes Sharp Reply --- OTTAWA, Feb. 21 — The Canadian Defence League delegation, which waited upon the Government today asked for an "amnesty” for the eight Communist prisoners at Kingston Penitentiary including Tim Buck and all others held for “workers’ activities." The number was sixty-four. Remarks about terrorism and capitalism were heard repeatedly from the delegation in regard to the present economic system.

Answering the delegation, Premier Bennett stated that Buck and others must stand further trial over the October riots. He said Mr. Smith had, by expressing appreciation for the hearing.

"Has anyone ever heard of any freer speech being permitted then has been uttered in this room by your delegation?" he asked. “In what other country would such speech be permitted? Those of you who come from foreign lands should appreciate this."

#ottawa #prime minister of canada #canadian labor defence league #delegation #amnesty #communists #communist party of canada #section 98 #iron heel #sentenced to the penitentiary #kingston penitentiary #1932 kp riot #r. b. bennet #free speech #great depression in canada #crime and punishment in canada #history of crime and punishment in canada

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if-you-fan-a-fire · 2 years

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“Delegate Is Held After Complaint Regarding Relief,” Toronto Globe. October 24, 1932. Page 1. ---- City Asking Deportation for Allegedly Troublesome Irishman --- MAYOR WITHOUT ESCORT ---- Draper Withdraws Special Police Assigned to Prevent Annoyance ----- Leaving Mayor Stewart’s office late yesterday afternoon, after reading a carefully prepared document, in which he made a complaint regarding the treatment of the unemployed in city hostels, William McKnight, aged 23, no home, was arrested by city detectives, on instructions of Commissioner of Public Welfare A. W. Laver.

McKnight was taken to the nearest police station, and held on a charge of vagrancy. He will be remanded, and in the meantime Commissioner Laver will ask the Federal Department of Immigration to deport him to Ireland. McKnight said he was born in Dublin, but later claimed to be born in Belfast. Recently McKnight was arrested in connection with a case of stolen property, and after being held in the Don Jail, for some days, was released from custody. After his release, he took part in a meeting in a downtown church on Sunday afternoon, during which demands were framed by the unemployed.

Escort Withdrawn Coincident with McKnight’s arrest, Chief Constable Draper withdrew the police escort which has been accompanying the mayor about the city. The Mayor’s family have been annoyed greatly during the past three weeks by men of some organization, one of whom endeavored to prevent Miss Stewart from driving an automobile into the family garage. Mrs. Stewart has been annoyed also with telephone messages, during which she was subjected to abusive language.

Interrogated by Mayor Stewart yesterday afternoon, McKnight is said to have admitted that he was not alone in the agitation, and that there were two dozen men associated with him. He declared that while in jail on the former charge the Canadian Labor Defense League’s solicitor, Onie Brown, handled his case.

Commissioner of Public Welfare Laver stated that the charge of vagrancy would be preferred against him, because he, McKnight, had refused to do light work when his turn in Wellington House in return for food and lodging. The request for deportation must be made by the city on account of the policy of the Federal Government to deport a British-born citizen unless asked to do so by a municipality.

Rejects Assistance McKnight’s agitation on behalf of the unemployed took the form of a personal criticism on Saturday. He refused to accept what Wellington House had to offer him, tossed back into an official’s face a ticket for the Fred Victor Mission, and would have nothing to do with Seaton House. He charged that officials in charge of the hostels were ‘grafters and thieves,’ and alleged that one was intoxicated. McKnight, it is said, became more infuriated with each attempt on the part of the civic officials to satisfy his demands, and finally he left his office at Church and Adelaide Streets, asserting he intended to pay a visit to Mayor Stewart’s home last night to present his demands in person.

Police, who are in touch continually with the unemployed, learned what McKnight claimed he would do, and despatched an officer to Mayor Stewart’s home. McKnight, however, did not appear, and yesterday they were asked by Commissioner Laver to locate him.

Found at Mission McKnight is said to have been located in the Fred Victor Mission and taken to Detective headquarters in the City Hall by Detectives Waterhouse and Storm. The Mayor requested the police to bring him to his office. McKnight read his carefully prepared in which he claimed that the city had no legal right to send him to the House of Industry and that it was obliged to provide him with lodging and food as he required. The Mayor replied to him emphatically and finally instructed Commissioner Laver to take him away. As McKnight left the Mayor’s office, the Commissioner called the police and ordered his arrest.

McKnight is said to have told Commissioner Laver that he and his wife were on relief distributed from the House of Industry in 1930 and that Mrs. McKnight returned to Ireland nine months ago.

Mayor Stewart and Commissioner Laver last night visited the hostels of the Department of Public Welfare. They found the hostels spotlessly clean, and in the rooms set aside for recreation, men in groups were singing the more familiar hymns. In one hostel, a clergyman sought the right to speak to the men. This was refused him by Commissioner Laver, who pointed out that any man living in city hostels could attend a church, and there were churches of all denominations in the heart of the city.

When Detectives Harold Waterhouse and Fred Storm asked McKnight what the trouble was, he is alleged to have accused Commissioner Laver, Captain Heron and the staff administering welfare work in the city of ‘grafting.’

Complains of Food Detective Waterhouse reported the prisoner was livng in the Wellington House. He said he refused to eat the food given in the House of Industry, claiming it was not fit to eat.

He complained bitterly of the food in the Wellington House, declaring that for the amount of money expended by the city to provide for the unemployed, those adminsitering the relief must be grafting. It was then, police allege, that he mentioned the names of the officials.

It is charged by police, McKnight has spent much time agitating inmates of the Wellington House and the House of Industry. Complaints have reached police of McKnight addressing those on relief, and making bitter remarks about food and living quarters for the needy.

Searching a room of a house in Dundas Street East, last night, police found asuitcase, which, they say, belongs to McKnight. It was correspondence from Irish papers in which McKnight had articles published concerning the Free State.

Police also claim to have established evidence that McKnight had been writing letters to different city appears protesting against the City Welfare Department. The articles were written, they said, under the signature of ‘Irishman.’ A number of obscene pictures are also alleged to have been found in the house.

When asked if it was true, his wife had returned to Ireland, McKnight told the detectives it was so, and it was then he announced his desire to be deported.

[AL; McKnight sounds like an awesome dude, fighting the good fight, making life miserable for the Mayor of Toronto and the god-botherers that ran the cities shelters for unemployed and homeless.]

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