IRELAND

Southland Times, Issue 19255, 20 June 1921, Page 5

IRELAND

ATTACKS ON RAILWAYS EFFORTS TO BURN SIGNAL BOXES NEAR LONDON (By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright.) | (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) LONDON, June 18. (Received June 19, 5.5 p.m.) Sinn Feiners last night attempted to set fire to a number of railway signal boxes around London. The most serious outrage occurred at Clapton, where the assailants fired revolvers, wounding a signalman who managed to telephone for assistance. He reached the next box where he was medically attended. The assailants at Southall poured oil on the instruments and woodwork after binding and partially gagging a signalman who was just able to shout for help. Workmen from a locomotive works nearby arrived just in time to prevent the fire. A similar attack was made at Barnes, where the fire was extinguished before much damage was done. Gunmen hired a taxi at Newcross at midnight and told the driver to proceed to Lee. Approaching Lee, the men jumped off the taxi, surrounded the driver and at revolver point bound him and threw him on the roadside. The taxi disappeared. Nine arrests have been made. Scotland Yard reports that the signal-box outrages are the work of Sinn Feiners. The men arrested are all Irishmen, aged from 17 to 24 years. They were armed with revolvers, wire cutters and parafin. At Bromley (Kent) the police stopped a taxi when six armed men fired. The po lice returned the fire, wounding Robinson, who was recently acquitted on a charge of incendiarism. He, with three others, has been charged with firing at the police with intent to murder. SERIES OF ARMED HOLD-UPS. SINN FEINERS GET FUNDS. LONDON, June 18. (Received June 19, 5.5 p.m.) Two hundred rebels ambushed twenty-five auxiliaries in four motor lorries at Newmarket (Cork). Three road-mines exploded, disabling three of the motor lorries. Two cadets were killed and four wounded during the fight. Reinforcements found the dead body of one attacker. It is believed that others were killed. Armed men held up a postal paymaster riding in a car in Dublin and stole £lOOO. Others held up the Ranelagh branch of the Ulster Bank and stole £2OO. Two men stole £2OO from the College of Sciences in Dublin. FURTHER SINN FEIN ATTACKS. LONDON, June 18. (Received June 20, 12.30 a.m.) Armed rebels attacked and burned three coastguard stations on Dublin coast. Armed men removed a widow’s two sons from bed in Dundalk and shot them dead outside the house. Further attempt o were made to damage the London railways last night. Sleepers on the Brighton line at Battersea were set on fire, but the flames were extinguished before serious damage was done. QUEEN TO ACCOMPANY KING TO BELFAST. LONDON, June 18. (Received June 20, 12.30 a.m.) It is officially announced that the Queen will accompany King George to Belfast. The battleships Revenge and Ramifies and the cruisers Cleopatra and Carysfort, with a destroyer flotilla will escort the Royal yacht. INTERVENTION OF DOMINION PREMIERS SUGGESTED. LONDON, June 18. vxtweived June 19, 5.5 p.m.) It is rumoured that the Government is anxious to utilise the presence of the dominion premiers to settle the Irish question. One proposal is that General Smuts, Viscount Grey, Earl Derby, and Mr George N. Barnes as Government delegates should meet an equal number of members of the Northern and Southern Parliaments with full power to conclude a settlement, requiring only the formal endorsement of the British Government. THE SOUTHERN PARLIAMENT. REQUEST FOR FISCAL AUTONOMY. LONDON, June 16. Lord Donoughmore, speaking in the House of Lords on behalf of Southern Unionists, surprised the House by asking for fiscal autonomy for the South, which is one of the chief of De Valera’s demands. The Daily Express says it is understood the Government is inclined to grant fiscal autonomy to Ireland, if the North and South request it jointly. Many members of the Cabinet have long favoured such a course, but the offer has hitherto not been made unconditionally. The Government is now ready to concede substantial amendments to the Home Rule Act in order to secure Southern acceptance. Sinn Feiners burnt down the Carnegie Library on Castle Island, Kerry. The machine-gun incident at New York is not regarded as an international affair, but only a matter of domestic law. THE EASTSIDE’S ARMS. FORFEIT TO UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT. NEW YORK, June 16. (Received June 19, 5.5 p.m.) Federal Judge Lynch signed an order forfeiting to the American Government the machine-guns and munitions seized on the steamer Eastside. Officials are endeavouring to determine how the arms came on board the ship. The steamship company and the Colt Arms Company deny any knowledge of the transaction. PROSECUTIONS ORDERED. NEW YORK, June 17. (Received June 19, 5.5 p.m.) The Federal Attorney, Mr Gross, announced at Newark that he would ask the Federal Grand Jury to indict all those criminally concerned in the effort to ship arms to Ireland, which violated the Espionage Act and the Penal Code relating to the violations of neutrality and conspiring against friendly states. The authorities knew where the arms were brought and from and to whom they were consigned, j They were now seeking the members of the crew who signed on to take the place of the strikers and who are believed to be Sinn Feiners. Mr Gross declared: “Wehave no doubt that this is a Sinn Fein plot. This type of conspiracy must be stopped.” Mr Gross has received instructions from the Attorney-General (Mr Dougherty) ordering a complete investigation of the matter. TWO GUNS READY FOR USE. NEW YORK, June 18. (Received June 20, 12.10 a.m.) Federal investrt,- - * 4 ‘up disclosed that two of the machine-g ms seized on the steamer Eastside were mo anted ready for immediate use. It is pointed out that the engineroom staff could have easily dominated the entire crew and so forced a landing of arms a any place they desired. Captain Johnston, closely questioned by the authorities, denied that he knew the names of the men who joined the ship and left as soon as the guns were seized.