MEXICAN PRESIDENT

Greymouth Evening Star, 12 February 1929, Page 5

MEXICAN PRESIDENT

ATTEMPT TO KILL TRAIN DYNAMITED I (United Service.) (By Cable—Press Assn.—Copyright.) MEXICO CITY, February 10.. President Gil escaped uninjured in an attempt on his life, when a train on which he was travelling was dynamited this morning. One fireman was killed. The dynamiting occurred shortly before the funeral of Jose Deleon Toral, at noon, on Saturday, after Toral’s execution for the murder of Obregon on July 17 last. It was near San Miguel de Allende, in Quanajuata State. The engine and two coaches were wrecked.

The military escort of the train immediately pursued the attackers, with orders to execute any guilty persons they might capture.

The attack occurred while the train was crossing a bridge. The fireman, Augustin Martinez, was caught between two cars and killed instantly. GiJ’s private car remained on the track. A worse wreck was prevented by Engineer Ramos Espinosa, who applied the brakes immediately. Among prominent passengers was the Mexican Secretary for War, General Joakuin Mamaro.

CLASH AT FUNERAL. MEXICO CITY, February 10. One hundred thousand people lined the route at the funeral of Toral. There were several clashes with a heavy police guard, in which thirty people were injured, and one person was killed. Twenty arrests were made. The police and soldiers halted riots with fixed bayonets, but the crowds shouted “Viva Toral!” for the artist, who was executed, calling him a martyr.

At one point disorders reached a peak, but firemen then turned a hose on the crowd, blocking the street. There was a mountain of flowers left at Toral’s home. The crowd sang hymns, and shouted and wept at Toral’s grave. AUSTRALIAN YOUTHS’ TOUR. NEW YORK, February 10. A message from Tuscan, Arizona, says: Last night, before departing for El Paso, in Texas, the young Australians attended a dinner at which the Mexican Consul, Senor Anchondo, read a message of greeting from the President of Mexico, Hon. Emilio Portes Gil. Senor Anchondo tendered an official invitation to the Australians to visit Mexico. He said: “I assure you that you would be received there with open arms and with all kinds of considerations and courtesies.”