Egypt Visits The

South Seas

Riot in Papeete

From a Special Correspondent 11THAT started out as a two-man name ▼ f calling altercation in a Papeete nightclub recently, threatened for a while to become an island-wide riot.

On February 20, the steamer. A 1 Sudan, owned by the Egyptian Navigation Com pany at Alexandria, and chartered for one trip by the French company, Mes sageries Maritime, called in at Papeete, Tahiti. That night the Egyptian officers and the Sudanese crew of the ship came ashore and, attracted by the bright lights, headed for Quinn’s Tahitian Hut, Lionel’s and the Au Col Bleu —all topdrawer night clubs along Papeete’s Rue du Commerce.

Midway through the evening, two French passengers on the ship got into an argument in Quinn’s. Fists flew. One of the Egyptians in the club sided with one of the passengers and the affair be came three-sided. Tahu, burly native Tahitian policeman, happened to be on the dance floor, off duty and in civvies.

He stepped between the fighting men in an effort to separate them. For his efforts he received a blow on the head with a steel folding-chair that was wielded by another Egyptian. The Tahitian natives in the place rapidly came to the aid of their beleaguered fellow and the fight ing spread like a chemical chain reaction.

Eddie Lund and his orchestra continued to play music for dancing in an effort to quieten the uprising, but to no avail.

Chairs, tables, knives and razors came into play with the Egyptians fighting in anything but a gentlemanly fashion.

The brawl spread outside where there were bicycles, stacked three and four deep.

They were picked up by the Egyptians and hurled into the crowd. All up and down the main street of Papeete, separate and distinct skirmishes broke out like a heat rash. Mob rule reigned. Word spread rapidly and the Tahitians, mar shalling their forces, soon outnumbered the Egyptians and drove them back to the dock area. There further fighting broke out. Other scraps took place out side of other nightspots. At one point, two men fighting at close quarters on the ship’s gangplank fell over the side and hit on the concrete dock 15 feet below.

Later the chief officer of the Egyptians returned to Quinn’s to “settle scores.” He said that his men had not been given a fair break and offered, personally, to take on anybody in the place. Whereupon he was set on by a number of Tahitians, who beat him to a pulp. The natives were angered by the fact that a number of them had been cut by knives and razors.

The following night the crew was re stricted to the ship, but on the third night

they again came ashore. However, by this time all of the Colony’s police officers had been alerted and properly armed to pre vent any recurrence of the outbreak.