46. By 10.30 a.m. the situation at Garden Road was quiet but crowds began to build up elsewhere, at Statue Square, outside the Hilton Hotel and in the vicinity of Government House. There were demonstrations outside the Causeway Bay Magistracy and a hostile crowd at the Kowloon Star Ferry concourse had to be dispersed by tear gas shells. In Victoria the situation deteriorated. Soon after 2 p.m. the buses stopped running and some buses and taxis were abandoned in the Central area in an attempt to cause traffic jams. The ferry services had been temporarily stopped because of the disorder and some trams were returning to their depots. It was announced that a curfew would be imposed from 6.30 p.m. and the crowds of office workers, many of them resigned to a long walk home, added to the confusion.
47. However, the crowds dispersed without further incident. By 4.30 p.m. most of the office workers had got away and the position was easier. With the onset of the curfew, the central area was quiet and apart from some incidents at Shau Kei Wan the curfew was effective. Although the Central area had been occupied by large and generally hostile crowds throughout the day there was comparatively little violence. 135 persons were arrested, of whom only one had been injured seriously enough to be admitted to hospital. Four policemen were slightly injured. It was during this day that the Police used ball ammunition for the first time since confrontation began. A detective in Statue Square saw a man pouring what appeared to be acid on the back of a riot policeman and fired three rounds from his revolver. The liquid was found to be petrol and the policeman was not injured. The man responsible escaped.
CHAPTER 5
STOPPAGES OF WORK
48. After the disorders of 21st and 22nd May, it was expected that the communists would continue the attack on the following day. In the event the day passed in comparative calm and it became apparent that the communist tactics had changed. The results that they had gained so far in their attempts to win popular support for confrontation were negligible. In the middle of the month the Federa- tion of Hong Kong Students as well as Kai Fong leaders and other prominent members of the community publicly announced their sup- port of the Government in the maintenance of law and order. This lead was immediately followed by similar expressions of support from
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