GRIM OUTLOOK.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 654, 25 March 1914, Page 7

GRIM OUTLOOK.

TROOPS SENT TO ULSTER. OFFICERS REFUSE TO GO. COVENANTERS REaDY. AMMUNITION DISAPPEARS. London, Monday. Mr Asquith, Pr< uror, Mr Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, Lieut.Col. Seely, Secretary for War, and Mr Augustine Birrell, Chief Secretary for Ireland, had a long consultation at Downing Stree* yestready. The Observer states that Lieut.General Sir A. H. Paget on Friday asked Brigadier General Gough, commanding the Third Cavalry Brigade at Curragh, whether he was prepared to march on against Ulster, and gave him two hours to decide. General Gough resigned on the spot. The resignations of the officers of the Third Cavalry Brigade and the Horse Artillery, with five exceptions, followed. ULTIMATUM DENIED. The War Office denies that it has issued an ultimatum to officers in Ireland to serve or resign. No information of wholesale resignat'on has been received. Special magistrates for Ulster are being sworn in at Dublin Castle. One hundred and fifty Ruyal Engineers from Dublin, with trerching and pontoon apparatus, have entrained for Belfast. An examination ot the Curragh magazine revealed a deficiency of a large amount of ammunition, including hundreds of thousands of rounds of small arm cartridges. An order has been issued to search oidnance ntorsmen in Ulster as they leave worK. The removal of the mounted troops from Curragh has been cancelled owing to the resignation of several officers. Earl Galloway proposes a national subscription to compensate officers sacrificing commissions "because they refuse to do the Government's dirty work." VOLUNTEER MOBILISATION. Sir Edward Carstn conferred with the leaders of the volunteers on Saturday, and arrangements were completed for mobilising the force, A sentry shot a soldier who was late for roll-call and was scaling the barracks wall at Newbridge. His condition is critical. CRITICAL SITUATION. SUSPENSE OVER NEXT MOVE. London, Monday. The Ulster leaders are conferring at Craigavon. A manifesto appeals to their followers to maintain calm and peace, with night-long activity. The Belfast headquarters stores and documents have been removed to an unknown destination. Troops have arrived at Omagh and Armagh. Nawspaper correspondents in Belfast agree that a splendid selfrestraint exists among the people. Sir Edward Carson's efforts are directed to preventing possible outbreaks among ill-disciplined youths. The situation is critical owing to suspense exhting over the next move. Twenty-five thousand troops are available for Ireland, with Lieut. General Sir A- H. Paget in command. Mr J. E. Redr. ond, in the interests of the Nationalist cause, insists upon the abandonment of the Londonderry parade. AMMUNITION SERVED OUT. Ten rounds of ammunition have been served to every officer at Curragh, where the Sixteenth Lancers andthe Fourth Hussars are armed with carbines instead of the usual lance and sword. Five officers and 150 men of the Yorkshire Light Infantry have embarked at Kingstown for the North. The guards at Londonderry have been trebJed and ball cartridges has been served out. The movement of the troops is regarded in some Unionists circles as foreshadowing an attempt to disarm the volunteers. It is stated that the police have planned a simultaneous raid to secure the arms in tae various districts, and that the military forces have Deen stationed in centres which are convenient for dealing with any resistance to the raids. On the other hand, the denuding of Belfast of troops anc their concentration with war material at Holywood is interpreted aa meaning it is easier to defend the stores there against possible volunteer raids than in crowded Belfast, where 27,000 volunteers have been enrolled. The sentries at Ebrington Barracks have been trebled for the first time since the abortive Fenian rising in the sixties. The Stock Exchange is depressed owing to the crisis. A CONFLICT NEARER. London, Monday. The Timts, in a leader headed "Gambling in Human Lives," states that the debate on Ulster brought an armed conflict a few steps nearer. Mr Asquith's reply was inadequate to the point of childishness. ;