KIDNAPPING EPISODE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18026, 27 February 1922, Page 9

KIDNAPPING EPISODE.

CORRESPONDENT CAPTURED. FORCED RIDE TO CORK. "TRIAL" HELD BY THE I.R.A. [feom our own correspondent.] LONDON, Jmi.,lo. ( " I have to inform you that my colleague, Mr. A. B. Kay, who has been j assisting me as special correspondent of | the Times in Ireland, was kidnapped yes- j terday in Dublin by armed men and taken ' in a motor-car to a destination then un- ] known." This the representative of the Times had the thrill of writing one day ". last week. At 2.30 p.m. on the afternoon of January 4 six British press correspondents went to a grocer's shop, to which they had been in the habit of resorting during the luncheon interval of the Dail, for light refreshment. Contrary to the usual custom of. taking it in the shop, as other people were on the premises, they were invited to go into another room. Mr. Kay's colleague continues the story: ' " A few minutes later we heard some person outside try one of the doors and apparently turn the key in the lock. Three men then entered through the main door. They mixed with us, and one of the party suddenly produced' a repeating pistol of large calibre, an|, after asking if we kn«w what this was for, said :—' Is Mr. Kay here?' The other two men drew weapons of the same pattern, and, noticing that one of the correspondents bad a hand in his pocket, sharply ordered him to remove it. " Mr. Kay said: ' I am Kay,' and the man who appeared to be leader of the raiders covered him with his gun, while the other men covered the remainder of the party. Little time was wasted. The leader, speaking swiftly and intensely to Mr. Kay, said. ' There is a car outside and you understand you have to come into it. If you don't we will riddle you.' As he spoke he shook his pistol in Mr. Kay's face. The rest of us were warned at the same time that if one tried to give the alurm we should be dealt with. Mr. Kay said that he was prepared to obey the orders given him, and was then told that if he had any ' copy' for his newspaper he could give it to'the other correspondent. He handed over some manuscript, and was then taken from the room. Before goine out the leader said that no harm would come to him." Fifty-Eight Miles an Hour. And so he was whirled of! to the fastnesses of County Cork to undergo a trial by the Irish republican army leaders. In due course he was released, and was able to teC his own story. Of his drive he writes: " I have heard stories of derringdo in tie matter of motor driving, but I never met the equal of our chauffeur. He had driven on many a dangerous quest during hostilities, and he gave us a sample of his quality on the present occasion. With a terribly cold wind in face of us. in spite of the distressing conditions of the Irish roads, he held right on. Once .ha'turned round during the passage of a nasty precipice of ground, and said with an amiable _ grin on his face, 'We are doing 58 miles an hour now.' I knew it; I was literally chilled to the bone, and my plight gave me the magnanimous attention of the chief of my escort. We made a call at a wayside hostelry and got fortified to meet the rigonrs of the night. Then the escort appeared to warm toward me. They threw their dims into the bottom of the tonnean of the car and I gave them my word that I would not attempt to escape. Then during that mad .drive I heard many things of deeds done during the hostilities, in which the doers of them took pride—as well they might, for they were slashing exploits. Mile after mile we dashed through the night, and yet when I inquired where we were going they answered nothing. " At last they drew up at a farmhouse. Everything appeared in darkness, but the : people were knocked up, and to the captive they were kindness itself. Supper was served round the peat fire, and stories of deeds in the Irish struggle and the prospects of the Dail meeting were the sub jects of conversation. The 'prisoner' afterwards shared a bedroom with two of his escort. "Trial" in « Farmhouse " Next morning,," the "prisoner" goe9 on to relate, " I was informed that I should have to meet the chief, who would decide my fate, and my companions of the night before set forth to collect my witnesses. I was left in charge of the local officer, who, to my pleasant surprise, said that we shoidd take a walk in order that I might see the surrounding coun try. I found I was located in one of the remote parts of County Cork. Gently rolling fields led to mountain peaks. One ranged 60 miles away and others 30 and 40. Civilisation and the restraints of civilisation appeared terribly distant; and yet my companion was one of the most charming men in the world. We walked in the morning and again in the after noon. It was approaching evening lx> fore two motors drew up containing the two witnesses and the officials who were to conduct the inquiry. After tea the Court assembled in the little sitting room, and the charge was formulated against me that I had published news concerning the army which had not been authorised and that the views put forth did not represent the views of the army in Cork. " The commandant of the First Cork Brigade declared that he was responsible for my arrest, and in a fashion he acted as counsel for the prosecution. The evidence against me wa s the article which I had written from Cork, the copy being marked with ink where the passages were complained of. I was asked if I had talked with any officers or men of the army, and my reply was that I had sensed the atmosphere of the South. I said that I had held a conversation with an officer in Cork, whom as a stranger I looked upon as a competent military authority to 'put me wise' to the feeling in military circles. " I told my story, and the liaison officer was called. He admitted that I had had conversation with him lasting be tween half an hour and an hour, but denied that he gave permission for an interview. It wag his word against mine, and the Court might reasonably be described as ex parte. Curiously enough, I found that my other witness had also experienced a singular lack of interest in the conversation between the official and myself, and he confessed himself quite unable to recall any of the statements made. That was unfortunate but there it was. Kindness of Captors. "I was asked to retire from the room while the Court considered its verdict. After a very considerable interval I was asked to return, and was then informed that if I chose to give a statement that I did not interview officers and men of the republican army (the liaison officer not being regarded as an active officer) I should be allowed to go; otherwise I should be deported. I made a statement, and I was allowed to depart, and tho whole party motored some dozen miles to Cork Here I was met by the deputation from Dublin, who strongly resented the action of Cork men in carrying their plot in tho metropolitan area. I wish to place on record mv testimony to the courtesy shown both by my captors and my escort back. I learned on arrival in Dublin that the chief liaison officer, h-mett 1 Dalton proposed to offer himself as host- ■ age to the British Government in my stead, for which I thank him."