BOMB OUTRAGE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 14, 17 January 1925, Page 7

BOMB OUTRAGE

IN NORTH QUEENSLAND TOWN

MIDNIGHT ATTACK ON HOUSE.

(FROM OUE OWN CORItESPONDENT.) '". * SYDNEY, 9th January. A large portion of the North Queensland town of Innisfail was thrown into a state of commotion in the dead of night in the latter part of last week by an unaccountable bomb outrage. It was found, after daylight, that a powerful bomb, enclosed in a tin, had been hurled ,a,gainst the side of a house in that part of the town known as "Chinatown," 'and it was only by an extraordinary chance that there was no loss of life. About 1.30 o'clock in the' moraine ■ the residents of the whole locality were startled^by a deafening roar," and the people within a wide radius leapt from their beds to see what was the matter Practically all the buildings in "Chinatown" were shaken, whilst an hotel situated some distance away in the same street, was badly rattled. Another, hotel situated 100 yards further on towards the town, also was shaken. The wooden buildings in the immediate vicinity of the outrage rocked violently,, so great was the concussion from the explosion. lhe commotion in "Chinatown" was unprecedented, and for the remainder of the night the foreigners, not knowing what might occur next, mounted "uard over their property. A veritable babel of tongues could be heard from one end of the street to" the other. , People from distant parts :of the town flocked in crowds to the scene. ' Detective Ingram and a large posse of police quickly proceeded to • "Chinatown, but owing to the darkness the investigations were rendered very difficult, out when morning dawned the inquiries were pursued vigorously. It was then seen that a bomb had been placed in a *? n- t% fuse had been attached and lighted and the bomb was then hurled at a building situated some distance from the street, and accessible by a narrow lane. A portion of the side of the building was blown out by the force of tile explosion, whilst the interior of the structure resembled a shambles, furniture, glassware, cooking utensils, and hea a S Piled in a diEorderlv A LUCKY ESCAPE.' _ The place was owned by Vasilies Leonides, a Greek, who was sleeping' /lot far away, when the explosion ochT'ft' M 4 ™a u ]™ty to escape withY ♦£ % Had the bomb been hurled through the window, instead of being exploded outside the building, Leonidas piobably would have been blown to pieces. As soon as the homb exploded he lumped up, and through the broken window saw a man, Leonidas secured his revolver, and fired shots in the direction taken by the man, who by "this time had disappeared. A crowd of people then ran to the spot, and a scene of confusion followed. In addition to a portion of the wall being blown away the roof was lifted a, few inches, while a tank on a high stand in the vicinity was riddled, and water spurted in all ?IfW* * A DUmlf r ol f°™gn B r S scaled the stumps, and eventually plugged the holes. A windmill near by was also damaged. All the windows in the building were broken, whole the crockeryware inside was broken into small pieces Damage was also done to other buildings within a wide radius. The bomb m addition, also made a great hole iA the ground. v

When the explosion occurred a number of Chinese, who were terrified ran about helter skelter, while other' foreigners grabbed what little they could of .then- property, and made off up the street, not returning until some' hours later.

This portion of Chinatown has been the scene of several attempted outrages lately, but, up to the present, setting fiie to the buildings has been the only method resorted to.\ Fortunately? however, in every case the outbreaks were discovered in time, and were estint'uished before any damage had been done lhis new development with bombs has occasioned the greatest uneasiness amonsr the foreign population. ' ,'■ ■