WORSE STILL

Northern Advocate, 27 May 1921, Page 5

WORSE STILL

DRAMATIC OUTRAGE. BIG EDIFICE BURNED. (BATTLE WITH iSINN FEINERS. (Received 9 a.m.) LONDON. 'May 25. (Flames were observed in Dublir Customs 'House throughout the building- The cleri. cal and other staffs fled. Bombs were flung at the military, who came in lorries. The soldiers replied with machine guns, rifles and revolvers, and a bat tie ensued. There are several dead and wounded. The building was destroyed. It cost a million, and vas one of the finest in the city. The circumstances indicate that the affair was elaborately organised. Armed rebels guarded all the approache s to the building, and posted armed sentries at street corners to prevent an attempt to save the structure. ■Among rebel casualties were men seen running from the building. Shortly afterwards Liberty Hall, the headquar±er s of the Irish transport workers, was destroyed.—A. x and N.Z.

SENSATIONAL EVENTS. TWENTY-TWO CASUALTIES. OVER A HUNDRED PRISONERS. (Received 9.5 a-m.) LONDON, May 25. The "Times'." Dublin correspon dent says that the burning of the Customs House is the largest and ' most daring operation of .Sinn Feiners that .the city has witnessed. Hun. dreds of rebels participated. They commandeered a 'lorry loaded with petrol and penetrated the main gate, way. The Sinn <Feiner s then distributed the petrol throughout the building. The staff were rounded up and mustered in he cellars and the telephones cut. The fire station had been previously held up at revolver opint* Troops and police rushed to the scene and a pitched battle opened with the rebels in tHe Custom 5 House Square, the iSinn Feiners windows- The troops surrounded the Mazing -building and shot down the rebels who were emerging, while others wounded within the building were burned to death. The staff meanwhile made their way from the cellars. The rebels continued to fire till the auxiliary forces stormed the (building, capturing many rebels. The streets and square resembled, d shambles, strewn with dead and mangled bodies. The official statement puts down the casualties at four auxiliaries wounded, seven civilians killed and eleven wounded, while 111 rebels were captured.—"Times. , RECORDS DESTROYED. UNION JACK RESCUED. (Received 9.20 a.m.) LONDON, May 25. A feature of the Dublin Customs House -outrage was the destruction of the books of the income tax, estates duty .and company registration departments. The first thing the raiders did when they had driven the 300 clerks arid other officials at revolver point into the central hall wae to throw all the books and docu. ments on the floors, saturate them with petrol and set them alight. - A dramatic episode occurred when the fire was at its worst. - The Union Jack was seen flying above the doomed building. A cadet officer elimbed to the roof, hauled down the flag and brought it safely to the ground amidst the cheers of his comrades. •For a time Dublin Castle feared a general rising. Many precautions were taken. Large bodies of troops .were called up and special guards sent to the Bank of Ireland and other danger points.—A. and N.Z. LONDON, (May 25. The military surprised a party of civilians who were destroying the Ballycarthy bridge near Tralee, killing one, wounded two and capturing nine of the party.—Reuter. ELECTION INCIDENTS^ GUARD ASSAILED. INTIMIDATION ALLEGED. (Received-940 a.m.) LONDON, May 25. The.counting of the Ulster votes has begun. A detachment guarding the bal lot boxes en route to headquarters iwas ambushed in Tyrone. After an hour's fight a police motor dashed through the fire zone to Plumbridge and brought military reinforcements, whereupon -the assailants fled. The Nationalists allege brutal intimidation and declare that queues of voters were stoned and that Nationalists were only able to vote freely in certain quarters -when Crown forceg were reinforced.—Reuter. ULSTER PARLIAMENT. % THE FIRST MEMBER. (Receiv3cl 11.10 a.m.) LONDON, May 26. The first elected member to the Ulster Parliament is Mr T. Molea, Imperial M.P. for South Belfast, where he largely exceeded the proportional representation quota. The election of three other Unionists scenic assured. The bulk of the other returns may be expected by the enrl of the -sreck. An examination of the polling returns reveals exceptionally heavy voting everywherc—over 95 per cent, at one station—awhile the general average was 90 per cent.—A. and N.Z.