HOME RULE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 16568, 4 June 1914, Page 7

HOME RULE.

—*- BITTER FEELING IN BELFAST. SENDING VALUABLES TO LONDON. " Times " and Sydney " Sun " Services. LONDON, June 2. Sectarian feeling is growing bitter 'n Belfast, and the walls of shipyards have been chalked with the words: "No Homo Rule—peaceful settlement impossible." Scrip, bonds and securities in Londonderry arc being sent to London, and arrangements are being made to transfer women and children from Donegal to England. HORRIBLE, DETESTABLE AND UNCLEAN. SIR EDWARD CARSON ON THE BILL. ULSTER'S DEFIANCE, iy Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. ' (Received June 3, 10.30 r>.m.) LONDON, June 3. Sir Edward Carson, in an address to the women of East Belfast, said that a horrible, a detestable and an unclean Bill had passed the House of Commons and Ulstev was in great peril. There was slight hope left of an amending Bill, but Ulster probably would find it only the putrid skeleton of rejected offers. Despite tho Government's fleet, all preparations were being made in Ulster. - They were going to have more Mausers and never would give up those they had. ULSTER'S EXCLUSION. 'v OPPOSED BY TRADE UNION CONGRESS. (Received June 3, 10.50 p.m.) LONDON, June 3. The Trade Union Congress at Dublin by 82 to 2 rejected a proposal to exclude Ulster from' the Home Rule Bill. THE NATIONALIST VOLUNTEERS. WHAT THEY STAND FOR. j " Times" ind Sydney '' Sun " Services. (Received June 3. 7.5 p.m.) LONDON, June 3. Colonel Moore, who is organising tho Nationalist volunteers, says that they stand to resist the claims of the Unionists to exclude counties where Unionists aro in a minority. Any Government attempting to gerrymander Nationalist counties out of Ireland' -will have to render an account to the volunteers. Mr Lundon, a Nationalist M.P., said that they had heard about the Army not doing its duty. To hell with the army. Let it stand aside. Tho volunteers would teach tho gentlemen of Ulster a lesson. . ~ | " CARSON'S COUP." THE ULSTER GUN-RUNNING. [Feou Our Correspondent.] LONDON, April 29. Whatever else, one may think or say about the remarkable exploit by which the Ulster volunteers landed and distributed 30,000 up-to-date Mauser rifles and 3,500,000 rounds of ammunition, one must freely admit that their audacious coup was planned and carried out in a manner that compels admiration. Manv people have professed to see in the Ulster Unionists' threats of armed resistance,to Home Rule " mere bluff," and to view the Ulster volunteers and their leaders as a parcel of theatrically inclined hot-heads whose drillings meant no more than the mouthings of their leaders in and out of Parliament. This latest exploit of tho "Carson gang" and their adherents shows at least that the anti-Home Rule organisation. ..in.JUlster....is.- a,xaal live affair, exceedingly well managed and undoubtedly capable of something more than mere theatrical display. Consider what was done. A whole ship's cargo of rifles and ammunition was landed during Friday night and the " wee • sma' hours " of Saturday morning at three Ulster ports and distributed throughout the province before daybreak without, so far as is known, a hitch of any kind. Tn its way it was a really wonderful bit of business. It was not as if the Government had not had warning. For a fortnight l>eforo the coup certain papers had been full of a mystery ship" which was cruising apparently aimlessly about in Irish waters. This vessel, it was hinted, was full to her hatches with rifles and ammunition bought in Germany and intended for Ulster, and the Government was bidden to keep an eye upon her.

And there is little doubt that tho Government took the hint, and did despatch two or three vessels to keep watch for the strange ship. But the Fanny (that was the name the " mystery ship" was known bv) proved a very elusive craft, which dodged about in bewildering fashion and filially disappeared, only, however, to return to Irish waters, deliver up her cargo on the high seas co another vessel which, as the Mountjoy (you will not find that name in Lloyd's Register) sailed into Lame, transhipped part of her cargo into, smaller steamers hound for Bangor and Donaghadee, and landed the rest without let or hindrance.

By the time the Mountjoy camo alongside the quaj' Lame itself was in the hands of the volunteers. They seized the railway; they "earthed" the telephone and'telegraph wires; and they drew such a cordon round the town that no one entered or left without their permission. Tho helpless police were confined to barracks, while Six hundred motor-cars were busy loading up with arms, and moved off without a hitch to all parts of Ulster. What happened at Larne was repeated on a smaller scalo at Bangor and Donaghadee Here, too, there were strings of motor-cars in readiness, and tho whole operations were carried through like clockwork. The Unionist leaders at Belfast were kept in touch with all that was going on by an efficient system of signalling, but tho polico and the military apparently knew nothing. They had been hoaxed into believing that a mysterious collier lying in tho channel off _ Belfast was the floating arsenal for which they had been keeping a look-out. This gun-running coup was carried out under cover of what the Ulster leaders allowed it to be understood was a "test mobilisation" of the volunteers of the whole province. The authorities were given notico of this mobilisation, but apparently saw no reason to believe that it meant anything in particular and took no steps whatever to guard against possibilities. Tho result was that for a space of five or six hours the volunteers held undisputed control over the harbours .and towns where the arms wero to be : landed and. of the inland areas immediately in the neighbourhood of the sea ports in question. There can be no question as to the thoroughness with which the volunteers "held up" the districts in which the gun-running was' carried out. A control was imposed as complete as under martial law, and tho small forces of police,' Customs officers and coastguards were powerless to deal with the situation. The harbours and towns whore the arms were landed wero completely surrounded by volunteers, and ' after eleven o'clock at night ingress and egress were prohibited, except to those with permits, and for

miles round each affected port the' roads leading to them were guarded? by strong patrols of volunteers iny order to guard against surprises by; military or police in force, and to in- I tercept any messengers that might get out of the towns with tidings of what: was afoot. In addition the telegraph and telephone services were temporarily 1 put out of action 60 that all communication with the police and military headquarters at Belfast and Holywood was cut off. As an additional precaution some 600 volunteers took possession of the railway terminus at Belfast to prevent police being rushed to the gun-running centres by train from the Ulster capital. '.'*/$ ";| A BOGUS GUNRUNNER. THE AUTHORITIES DUPED. • A touch of comedy in what was undoubtedly a very serious affair was provided by incidents in connection, with the suspect steamer Balmarifia,,' which took place in the Musgrave.; Channel, which forms part of Belfast? Harbour. . : j The dramatis personra included the; City Commissioner of Police and a district inspector, a principal officer of Customs, the commandant of the Bel-; fast Division of the Ulster Volunteer". Force (Colonel Couchman), the captain; of the Balmarina, with volunteers,*, policemen, Customs officers, etc. The; Balmarino was a "mystery" ship>or; decoy, and her appearance at Bel-1 fast was an essential part of .the gun-; running programme. She was supposed to bo ladeii with thousands of rifles,, and. her skipper was supposed to be* about to _ run the guns; into the heart of the city, under the very noses "off the authorities. The presence of ho fewer than 3000 officers and meii of: the Ulster Volunteer Force roundf about the Channel and concentrated as' ; reserves in Victoria Park, hard,by, tho apparent anxiety of Colonel Couch-, man and the agent of tho. owners- of; the ship, and the drawing up of a "long; line of motor transport vehicles, afford-! ed additional evidence that some des-f perate enterprise was on foot, and th» Customs officials were very much on the alert. * ♦-

When, just before eleven o'clock at night, the Balmarino came to anchor, and made fast, the Customs caino hustling up.. Addressing the' cap-"' tain, the chief officer inquired, "Do you acknowledge that there are rifles on board that steamer?" "I cannot acknowledge anything," was the, answer. " I assume there aro rifles on board," persisted the officer, and. he received the reply. "You can see ! for yourself that this is a coal ship.'' Tho representative of the owners was next appealed to. His answer, given after apparent hesitation and confusion, was, "I am directed,to inform you that the ship has a cargo of coal." "Wo demand'to see the cargo." said the Customs officer. " Certainly," was the 1 reply. "You shall see tho cargo whenever, the.lmtehes moved." " All right,",said the officer. "we have special instructions about: removal of the cargo." ,'C Meanwhile, presumably to keep the suspicions of the Customs officials alive. f.eme of the Volunteers went on board t and gossiped with the crew, now and ■ again making remarks well calculated to strengthen-the" Customs men's rio-y tion><that«there' (was* - something coal beneath' the Balmarino's battened hatches. Of course," Customs officers, in the execution of their duty have tho fullest right- of search; as soon as - a vessel comes into.harbour they consult the convenience of owners arid captain. The officer in charge after a time decided to see the ship's papers!'"' .Then, a fresh difficidty ..arose, -jf|& skipper had retired to his Tmnk and, fallen asleep. On beina roused he pro- * duced tho papers and directed that the hatches should be removed. This also took some time, but finally, at two o'clock in tho morning, the hatches were taken off, the Customs men des- j eended into the hold, and found no-, thing but coal. Not. a gun, not ;a ; cartridge was there. What the authorities had hoped to find had been ■ landed elsewhere, and was at that moment bfing whirled away in motors all over Ulster. , '.ll THE FANNY'S ADVENTURES. •; TRANSFEBRING THE GUNS TO ' ; THE MOUNT JO Y. The true 6tory of how the elusive Fa Any brought the Ulstermen 30,000 rifles frqiu the Baltic —the place where they were actually shipped is still . a, mystery and likely to remain one, though probably it was at Copenhagen-' —completely knocks on the head all the tales told concerning her alleged wanderings round the Irish; coasts. As, a matter,of;fact the Fanny was never nearer'lreland than Cardigan Bay s and*' never made any attempt to enter any British port. %

The Fanny, a schooner-rigged steamship of some 300 tons, left Copenhagen - during a fog at the end of March, bur,;;; was followed by a Customs pinnace and stopped, as the authorities appear -to" have-got wind of ,tho nature of her' cargo. The officers demanded tho ship's papers, and growling deeply at the delay the Norwegian skipper handed over the documents and anchored as ordered. The Customs officials then proceeded shorewards, and no sooner had tho mists swallowed them up than the Fanny weighed anchor and mada for the open sea at her best gait Whether she was pursued or not is nod known, but she got clear away, and whilst on the run her name, was changed and the colour of her funnel altered. Thus disguised she ventured to call in at a little Norwegian port, and. there discovered through the newspapers that she was being sought for as a suspect, carrying no papers as required by In ■ ternational Law. Naturally her captain did not make 3 prolonged stay at the port, and the Fanny was soon" heading westward across the North Sea, : the pamt pots being again requisition- " ed for further alterations in her appearance. En rout© heavy gales assisted to a certain extent in the process ■. </£ : disguise, and she arrived off Yarmouth'lf Roads a rather badly battered vessel called the Bertha. At Yarmouth a, man went ashore and travelled by a train to London whei« he got into communication with people in Ulster interested ' in the safe aelivery of the cargo. It. was decided" then that a vessel like the Fanny could not be brought into any port in the North of Ireland without exciting suspicion, and" transhipment was decided on. It was arranged that at a certain' date the Fanny should be at Lmdy Island, and that- she should be joinedby a ship specially chartered for thov occasion and temporarily rechrisfceried Mountjoy, after the vessel which was l first through the boom when the swgo of Londonderry was raised. For some days the Fanny, aivs Bertha, remained in Yarmouth Roads ostensibly making good the danwgo. done by storms, but at the same time effecting certain further little alterations above deck which would render her disguise still more effectual. Then she sailed away down the East Coast, down Channel, and round the Lizard... to Lundy Island, a rocky islet situate ' some twelve or fifteen miles north-west of the north Devon coast. Wlu'st cruising off the island the Bertha was rechristened Dorothy, and treated to the contents of a few more paint pots . about her upper works, and then ehs was headed for a point in the Atlantic about "a hundred miles from anywhere" to find the Mountjoy, which had meanwhile sailed from Cardiff with a special crew of sailors and stevedores selected from tried and trusted members of the Ulster Volunteer Force. V The transfer of the rifles and am- \ munition was carried out at two dif- "■ ferent points on two successive nights. ' In each case the work did not begi>~ < ';■ till after darkness had set in, the twW'H' ships being lashed together and all" "^

lights extinguished, perfect weather for the i enterprise prevailing on hoth nigKts. On the first night the work Was| interrupted on the approach of dawn, and tho vessels parted companv to meet again next" night. By four o'clock in the morning ovory rifle and Cartridge had been transferred to the holds of the Mount joy, and the vessels wont their' different ways, the Mountjoy 'northward towards Larne and tho disguised Fanny southwards .to an unknown destination.

• As the Mountjoy was navigating the Irish Sea on her way to Larue a British cruiser passed close to her by night. Tho warship turned on nor searchlights and swept the Mountjoy fore and aft, but the naval officers saw only a dingy British collier and ' tho cruiser passed on. By this time the Mountjoy had begun to run short of fresh water and coal, and to keep up S'eam for the final fifty miles to Larne w arbour some of the vessel's wooden Sittings had to be sacrificed to the furnace flames.