OUTRAGE IN MEXICO

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 586, 12 February 1929, Page 9

OUTRAGE IN MEXICO

ATTEMPT TO KILL NEW PRESIDENT

TRAIN BLOWN UP (Australian and N.Z. Press Association) (United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) MEXICO CITY, Monday. An attempt was made upon the life of the President of Mexico, Senor Emilio Portes Gil, this morning. A train on which he was travelling was partially wrecked by an explosion of dynamite. The President was not injured, but a fireman, Augustin Martinez, was killed. The attack on the train occurred while it was crossing a bridge. The fireman was caught between two cars and killed instantly. Senor Gil’s private car remained on the track. A worse wreck was prevented by the engineer, Ramos Espinosa, who applied the brakes immediately after the explosion. Among the prominent passengers on the train was the Secretary of War, General Joaquin Mamaro.

The time of the outrage was shortly before the funeral of Jose Toral, who had been executed at noon on Saturday for the murder of General Obregon. Senor Gil had refused him a pardon. The scene of the dynamiting was near San Miguel de Allende, in the State of Guanaguato. The engine and two coaches were wrecked. TORAL’S FUNERAL

The President’s military escort Immediately pursued the attackers. They had orders to execute any of the guilty persons they might capture. At Toral’s funeral 100,000 people lined the streets. There were several clashes with a heavy police guard in which 30 persons were injured and one was killed. Twenty were arrested.

The police and soldiers quelled the riots with fixed bayonets, but the crowds shouted “Viva Toral” for the young artist who had been executed, calling himself a martyr. At one point where the disorders had reached a high pitch firemen, turned their hoses on the crowd which was blocking a street. A veritable mountain of flowers was left at Toral’s home. The crowds sang hymns and shouted and wept at the graveside.