REVESLS' CAPTIVE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11731, 22 June 1916, Page 4

REVESLS' CAPTIVE.

OFFICER'S WEEK IN A BAKERY. " JOLLY " MEALS. A young British officer belonging to Kingstown has* given a London journal the following account of liis experiences as a prisoner of the rebels in Dublin:- ' " x was going into Dublin on Easter Monday, to have luncheon with my brother, who was about to to France. My train stopped about 500 yards from the station platfoini. number of young civilians wiui lines and bandoliers ordered the passengeis out and told them to go about their business. 1 w&s tlio only-soldiei- J.116J blindfolded me and marched me to what proved to be iolaud s Mill. Ihere I was kept blindfolded for fort} -eight hours, but Jierwise was well treated.The commandant, De Valeras (Devaleur), was, I believe, a professor m Maynootli (Ivildare). He is a dark, refined-looking, self-contained man. He was very kind to me, and he had his men under exact discipline. The position occupied by De "Valeras was consideded one of great importance to the insurgents. It controlled the mam bread supply, and it commanded —except for an adjoining distillery—the Ringsend, or South River, district, and by what seemed to mc a clever ruse De Valeras succeeded in getting the .military to shell the distillery. REBEL RUSE. "The distillery, if occupied by the soldiers, would have rendered Boland's untenable. The commandant had not men enough to garrison it, so he ran up a green flag on top of the building and started signalling seawards, posting half a dozen men with rifles at different points of the building. The result was that it was rnzed to tlieground by artillery and Boland's was safe. "The Dublin cas supply was cut off from this position, and by breaking through com)ret'"ll cr walls coram 11 nication was established with the Kingstown railway, a line of retreat thus being; held open should the mills be shewed. On three niehts during the week I was their prisoner I ivnf awakened and bron<riit out. on to the railway on the alarm of attack- I was the onlv prisoner. " Great precautions were taken acrainst my escnning. I experienced all the exrvtements of the si°£re—tho rattle of the aims, the srreat burnings bv nicht. tho snlinterinf? of masonvv \r'tlvT> a foot or two of vtp wore stand'ticr at times; whizzi"<r around in our retreats. But through if, all mv cari+nrs went un"piormrd. iust ?<> T ( too did in some marvellous wit. ircri> a verrr. vn-conc--m>'d lot. bnvs mo«flv who had 110 rr>a l i <? "tinn of tho tragedy they were er) or»+ing. " TWv fop™ to no for. ®omet'mes rifles ;vul h<ird r, l'' , ''s purl co into the eitv. vi+li ricws and rennrfs of + rf 'the Parof Tn'eli "R crmb^'e.' COMMANDEERED CHOCOLATES. | I slept on empty ilour sacks in the basement and surrounded myself with a barricade of sacks of flour. I thought we should be shelled at any moment, and tried to preserve myself for a nobler death than to be wounded in a bakery and then buried alive in flour, j "We had plenty to eat, principally bread ] and tea, varied by a piping hot stew j of potaioes, bread and cheese; right I good stuff mid jolly too. 11 had lots of commandeered cigarettes and chocolates. "On Sunday the order to disarm came from the insurgent headquarters. A council of war was held by the commandant and captains, and it was decidel to treat, but ultimately they unconditionally* surrendered. I was pushed forward with a pettv officer under a flna - of truce, arms were thrown down, the fortress capitulated, tho garrison were taken and I was jolly glad to get free."