THE KIDNAPPED PIPER.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XIII, Issue 6, 29 May 1885, Page 7

THE KIDNAPPED PIPER.

Sbobetaby Bataed has a chance to show his Americanism, with* out a suspicion of catering to the prejudice of those whom the Anglo-American Press elegantly refers to as " tail-twisters." The case which calls for his interference is that of an American citizen, an Englishman by birth, with nothing more Irish about him than his nam eT which, perhaps, unfortunately, happens to be "Ireland." Robert Ireland, of New York, a famous bagpipe player, and the Secretary of the Highland Pipers' Association of that city, enlisted in the British Army before he was of age. la 1876 he deserted, being tired of harsh treatment and poor pay, and came to this country. Five years ago he became an American 'citizen, and held office as a lettercarrier until last July. On the 18th ult. he accepted an offer by letter from one " John Shields," of Toronto, making an engagement to play in a series of concerts at Buffalo for nine dollars a night. The next heard of him was a hastily pencilled note received by his wife, reading as follows :—: — •' On Board a steamship at Halifax, March 23. "My dear Mary : — By the kindness of a passenger I can get a letter to you once more from this continent. While seemingly at large lam under guard and cannot go on deck. The guard told me there were two more prisoners on board the ship. lam not allowed to eat with or speak to anyone on the ship, so that I cannot make my case known to any of the passengers. I don't know the name of the ship, because I was taken below co quickly, but I think it is a Canadian ship from her red smokestack. She is detained from some cause and I can tell when she starts only by her motion. The guard says that she will leave to day. In Buffalo I was met by a short thick-set man who must have been furnished with my description, because he recognised me at once. He said he was John Shields and that I must be tired after my night's journey, and invited me to breakfast, and that he meant Monday instead of Friday or Saturday as mentioned in the letter. Then we 6trolled out of the hotel, and he said we could have a pleasant time at Niagara Falls, and he bought two tickets (though I. didn't notice it at the time) to Clifton on the Canada side. After reaching Clifton he proposed something to eat , and we went into a small restaurant. After we had ordered what we wanted he excused himself for a while and went out. Then two men came in and one of them said to me, ' We want you, young man ; you're a deserter from the British Army.' I stood up and said, ' I am an American citizen.' The man said, * That does not matter ; you are not in the United btates now.' I was taken by train to Halifax and imprisoned in the military post. I was warned not to make any difficulty or it would go hard with me before the court martial in England. They took away my money and paper, so that I could not bribe anybody to send a telegram to you. lam writing this on the ship. I will write from Liverpool if I can. Good by, dear Mary. Robert Ireland." Here is a practical caee of kidnapping, the victim an American citizen. What will Secretary Bayard do about it? We know what England would do about it if this piper were a British subject and any nation but herself the aggressor, but we are more concerned to see how our Democratic administration will look at the case. — PiloU

We suspected from the first that the reported attempt to destroy a Protestant church in Donegal by dynamite was one of those bogus outrages that occasionally occur to serve the purposes of the country's enemies. Our suspicions are supported by a letter published on Monday in a Derry newspaper — the nearest to the scene of the alleged outrage. A gentleman, stated by the paper in question to be a " sensible and reputable man," declares that the breaches in the walls of the chmch show no trace 9of an explosion j the stones were not driven to any distance, but lay in a heap close to the foot of the wall. He further expresses an opinion that the masonry was removed by means of a crowbar, and that the dynamite was exploded at a distance from the church. In view of this remarkable state* ment, it may be asked what steps are the authorities taking to investigate the matter to the bottom? An expert was sent from London to examine the scene of the explosion in Mr. Hussey's house at Castleisland, and we think that the Crown should spare no efforts to elucidate this Donegal mystery. An attempt to injure the character of a peaceful population is no less criminal than the breaching of a wall, and it is due to the public that the nature of the outrage and the objects of its perpetrators should be discovered— Dublin Freeman.