PATHETIC EVICTION SCENES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13485, 11 May 1907, Page 2 (Supplement)

PATHETIC EVICTION SCENES.

' Ibelaxtj has been the scene of many dis- ' tressful eviction incidents, but few more poignant than that which occurred recently .at Glasnevin, a Dublin suburb. ; '■ ' For close upon 40 years a poor woman named Mrs. Maher has rented a small cot- " tage and half-an-acre of land. She was served with notice to quit some time ago, i i the landlord, it: is said, wishing to take possession himself. ; . • I She offered to pay an increased rent, and on refusal declined to go. The Town Tenants League took up the case, and when the sheriff and his bailiffs, supported by a t large force -of police, arrived one morning, , they found the place., barricaded. ' . : A wall of corrugated iron protected the : garden, but this was soon smashed, and an assault was then made on the hail door. i This had been strengthened inside with the stump of a tree, and was found irresistible, I : and the bailiffs were driven back with > douches of cold water thrown through the j . fanlight. "' >;; '-■■■ .' ;-' "\ *; ' .-,.- The window was smashed in, and the . bailiffs found themselves in the room of Mrs. Maher's lodger, a bed-ridden old woman of 92, who was apparently unc'onsci- : ous. Another window was then smashed, and here the bailiffs found J Mrs. Maher's son ill in bed. Doctors were sent for, and certified that this son was' critically ill with heart and lung trouble, and could not be removed. : : .- ; ":-'\"' r :/;, : .''V,. : . In the case of the old woman the situation was still more serious. The doctor who had arrived on the scene declared that he believed her to be dying. Ultimately the police and bailiffs held a consultation and decided to abandon the eviction. The decision was received with cheers by a large crowd which had assembled, and which promptly helped to restore the evicted furniture. * «,