"GRAVE DISCREDIT ON THE EXECUTIVE"

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2761, 3 May 1916, Page 5

"GRAVE DISCREDIT ON THE EXECUTIVE"

DRASTIC CHANGES PENDING. ; •■" i. _ London, May 1. The "JSdily Chronicle" states that drastic changes in the Irish military and civil executive 'nro certain in the immediate future. The melancholy it?«;i,iz of last week reflect grave discredit. •?-.• the Executive.

GALWAY AND WEXFORD SML FIGHTING TROOPS CONTROL THE SITUATION , ;London, May 1. ■ Gahva-y and Wexford remain the most serious centres of unrest. Galway Town was the scene'of ■fighting, but the troops have the upper hand. ■ .'' ■The police at Athenry ; (ten miles north-west of Longhrea) occupy the town, but-the rebels hold' the ruined castle. ;■■'•' Very few church services were held in Dublin yesterday. The Larnc-Stranraer mail • route has been reopened, and Dublin has'received ■its first newspapers'since Easter Monday.'^ At the request of correspondents, General Maxwell has ' opened a' Press Bureau. Jacob's Factory was completely gutted. The occupants surrendered. The Fighting in Dublin Castle. '.'■!'

The most spectacular fighting occurred outside Dublin Castle. After killing a policeman, the rebels seized tho offices of the "Dublin Express" adjoining, and mounted machine-guns dominating tho Castle yard.. The sentries were shot down, and tho lower yard occupied. Tho executive of the Castle were made prisoners; until tho evening, when the first troops from tho Curragh arrived, and fighting for the "Dublin Express" building commenced. There'', wns an exchange of sniping and machine-gun fire. Finally the military organised a bayonet charge for the front door. It was met with a volley from rifles from tho lobby floor above. Eight of the leading soldiers-fell. A similar charge for the back door failed. Finally access was gained by a ruse, and a furious struggle ensued. The soldiers fought their Way from floor to floor with their bayonets. Twenty minutes later the Union Jack displaced the green flag. Many women wero among the rebels, some wearing a green uniform and a smart green slouch hat. One. was seen to kill an officer, striking him on the head, with the butt end of a rifle..

An. armed male Sinn Feiner in Uniterm confronted a wounded officer and said. "You are not worth a cartridge; I will settle you with tho butt." Theroupon he clubbed the officer on the head. FIRST OFFER -OF SURRENDER ON SATURDAY ■ RUIN AND DESTRUCTION IN THE CITY , (Ecc. May 2, 10.40 p.m.) London, May 1. The rebels' first offer of surrender came dramatically at four o'clock on Saturday aft'ernon. As the cordon' slowly closed :in on the rebels' main strongholds in the Sackville Street area; a white flag suddenly, appeared above the smoke at tho post oflicc A and Pearse and Connolly,' who had 'been badly wounded, emerged and signed an unconditional surrender.

Half Sackvillo' 'Street' is in ashes; handsome shops and business houses are in ruins. Almost the only things which are untouched are the monuments. The deaths number hundreds. The roofs of the Four Courts are littered with bodies. _ Among the insurgents' first step was the circulation of reports that Verdun had fallen; Holland had declared war on Britain, and that the British Fleet had been defeated in the North Sea, losing eighteen ships to Germany's eight. They issued a broad-sheet, assorting that the troops in Ireland everywhere had been repulsed, and that the populace, was siding with the "Republicans." . • ' The military declares that the Sinn Fein sharpshooters' were remarkably accurate in tho early stages of the conflict. The rebels ate the best meals obtainable at the hotels. The last rebel fortress, Jacob's factory, was cultured on Sunday. It was finally subdued by artillery.