succeed in attracting public support. The rioting that took place after these events was virtually confined to dedicated communists and hooligans.
29. The Police and Police Auxiliaries acted with great restraint throughout. Contrary to the allegations in the communist press, they used only tear gas and baton shells in dispersing the crowds. No ball am- munition was used and the sole fatality was a man who was killed at Wong Tai Sin Estate, not by Police action but probably by a brick dropped on his head from a verandah above. Between 11th and 14th May 391 persons were arrested, of whom 367 were subsequently charged, and 32 persons were injured, of whom 7 were admitted to hospital. The Police casualties were 22, of whom 2 were admitted to hospital.
30. For the next three days there was comparative calm in Kowloon. The number of posters increased, attacking the Police and the Govern- ment. Rumours continued to multiply: the Peking Government was about to take over the Colony; Chinese gunboats had been seen off Castle Peak; electricity and water supplies were to be turned off: the transport companies were about to go on strike. There was a run on some food shops as people laid up stocks as a precaution. Householders filled all available containers with water, and the resulting pressure caused temporary stoppages in some areas-which strengthened the numours of a shortage.
31. On the 16th May a crowd of about 500 people gathered outside the South Kowloon Magistracy where some of the rioters were being tried. They were kept supplied with refreshments by the communists, who no doubt realized that bottles of mineral water were useful potential weapons and when, at one stage, a group of taxis blocked the road outside the courts it appeared that an incident would develop. There was, however, no violence and the crowd gradually dispersed during the afternoon.
32. The following day crowds again collected at both the North Kowloon and South Kowloon Magistracies, and by 1 p.m. there were between two and three thousand people near the latter, at the junction of Nathan Road and Gascoigne Road. The crowd refused to disperse and started stoning the Police, who replied with tear gas and baton shells. The crowd then split up into groups which moved into the side streets and gradually worked their way North and South on the line of Nathan Road. There were several clashes with the Police, at Argyle Street, Soy
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