Evening star., 1922-03-11
REVOLT THREATENS
At JOHANNESBURG;
32D|E IN FIGHTING
General Strike Declared in
Reality a Revolutionary
Movement.
PUBLIC WARNED TO KEEP
OFF STREETS AT NIGHT
Strikers Armed With Bombs Men.
ace Poice-56 Wounded as
Fray Continues.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
LONDON, March 1.-THE trades
union hall Mt Benoni. near johann
nesburg. crowded with South
African gold mine strikers, was
bombed by an aviator today, says
q Central News dispatch from
Johannesburg. The majority Of
those assembled were killed and
the building was destroyed.
LONDON. March 1.-THE general
strike called by the miners leaders
at Johannesburg is in reality a revo-
lutlonary movement, according to the
Capetown correspondent of the Daily
Telegraph. The strike issue has been
eclipsed by the threat against the
state. he says.
There was some speculation over
Premier Shuts delay in proclaiming
martial law. which was regarded as
gravely overdue, but it is under
stood he was actuated by fear that
such a step would precipitate con-
flict in which the strikers. who are
mainly Dutch. might be reinforced
from the veldt.
Dutch Farmers Join.
The Johannesburg correspondent of
the same newspaper reports that
numbers of Dutch farmers in the
Boksburg and Benoni districts have
Joined the strikers and formed
mounted commands, which attacked
Benoni.
The Times johannesburg cores
pondent. on the other hand. ascribes
visit plot. and says the Fordsburg
commando regards itself as a red
guard. He adds that fighting is in
progress throughout the Rand. the
most severe trouble being in the
eastern section. He believes that
hand in johannesburg and Benoni.
but admits that. owing to the pre-
vailing chaos. 1t Is very difficult to
verify the various reports.
Thirty-Two Killed in Fighting.
JOHANNESBURG. Union OF South
Africa. March 10.-casualties in the
fighting between the striking miners
and police had reached thirty-two
killed and fifty-seyen wounded by
8 o'clock tonight tFriday), when the
firing was still continuing. OF the
thirty-two killed, nineteen were po-
licemen.
By ii o'clock, however. the streets
had become absolutely deserted and
the townswas uncannily quiet. The
public was forbidden use Of the
streets.
The workers hall at Benoni is re-
ported to have been hit by bomb
dropped from an afroplane. The
heaviest casualties in the district
are believed to have been suffered in
the extreme eastern section Of the
Rand.
Public Ordered Indoors.
Cen Beeves commanding the Wit
watersrand, has ordered the public to
remain indoors from pm. until am.
Jeppe, suburb adjoining Johannes
burg. was seething with strikers this
afternoon. Most Of the men were
armed and some carried bombs. They
are credited with planning to hold up
the police in that area so as to pre-
vent them from reinforcing other
points, particularly Fordsburg. where
intermittent firing was continuing to-
day. At Brakpan and Benoni the
upper hand. at least temporarily. and
numbers Of dead and wounded were
lying in the streets.
Plans Well Laid.
The strikers plans evidently had
been well laid. The leaders apparent
ly aimed at cutting off communica-
tions in order to facilitate the i'm
portant strategic position. The pos
session of Fordsburg was part of the
movement. The push extended north
west. flanked by Auckland Park near
big police camp. If this line Is
driven in an important section of the
johannesburg will be imperiled. The
attempt to drive the police from the
Auckland Park district had not sue
ceeded today.