IRISH CRISIS.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3373, 30 December 1919, Page 5

IRISH CRISIS.

BLOODSHED IN "PHOENIX PARK.

ANOTHER SHOOTING AFFRAY. TWO LIVES LOST.

LONDON, Dec. 28.

Shortly after midnight on_ Saturday the occupants of «the Vice’-Regal Lodge were awakened by shotsfrohi the main road through Phoenix Park, about half a mile away from the Lodge. The guard turned ou*l', including Captain Beast and two men._ It was ‘impossible to see far owing to the pitch darkness. Captain Boast’s p'al'ty crossed the polo ground and suddenly came face to face with a gangof men whose numbers were not aiscertainable. An encounter ~occurl'ed close to the monument marking the spot where Lord Cavendish and Mr Burke were mul'dere’d.. Both parties fired with only the width of the road separating them. A bullet entered Captain Boast’s heart. The two soldiers continued firing until the attackers’ dispersed, leaving the body of a. comrade, in which were six bullets. The dead body has not been identified. The de ceased was about 40 years of age, and was wearing civilian clothes, military puttees and bandages round his head instead of a. hat. Subsequently three men loitering inside the park gates were arrested. It is not known whether they participated. in the outrage. The auth'6rities intend closing the park nightly at six o’clock. The iueficexice of the Dublin aut-hor~ ities regiai-(ling the attack has resulted in many eonflicting aécounts. It is rumoured that only one man attacked. He was armed with an_ automatic pistol. No weapons were found where the man was killed, and no shots struck the Lodge. The police withhold the names of three unarmed men who were arrested two hours after the shooting. They ‘declare they were not aware of the outrage, and were merely walking in the park -after a dance. Captain Boast was aged nineteen.

MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR-.

LONDON, Dec; 29.

Considerable mystery surrounds the Phoenix Park afl’air, and probably only the inquest will throw light on the matter. It is now doubtful if the shots were meant seriouslyvas an attack on the Vice Reg+al'-Lodge, as they proceeded from ‘ah spot on the outer edgu -of the park on the Dublin ‘side; over a. mile from the Effdge.

It is now stated that Captain Boast challenged a man, who Ijefuséed to halt. Tlle_ man seized Capt'ain"'Boast by ‘the throat, firing at the same time, yet there is no 'fl'aée -of a weapon.’

Another version is that the dead man is‘ Laurence? Carey, a demobilised soldier, who was emp'los7ed within the p'al-k, and probably was returning from festivities. .

This report is unconfirmed; and there is noAofi"lci~al report.

THE PHOENIX PAIRK OUTRAGE. ‘ IDENTITY OF KILLED MAN. } Received 8.50 |a..m. j LONDON, Dec. 29. The civilian killed in Phoenix Park Tis identified as Lawrence" Kennedy, ,labourer. He complained on the prej vious Saturday that he had been mal,treated at the milifary barnacks, and ,wag treated in hospital for scalp w-oun'ds. His movements. after leaving hospital are unknown, INDIA coneanss.’ AN UPSETTING ’SPEECH_ ' DELHI, Dec. 26. Tilak Nehru presided at "the twentyseventh India Congress, which opened at Anristar. He said they assembled in deep mourning for the cruel murder of hundreds of their ‘brothers. Since last congress the war had ended, and peace come partilally, but the pledges given proved empty Words. President Wilson’s Fourteen Points were dead, -and vac victis the order of the day. Prussianism had been crushed, but militarism was e-nthlronefd. Prussia, though desirous of peace, was not giver: respite, and the fate of Turkey hung in ‘the balance. Ireland and Egypt were made to feel" the might of the British lggipire, and Indi-a.’s first frmts were the Rowlatt Bills, and martial law. The speaker dealt with unrest in the Punjab, dating from Lord Cur-zon’s Vice-Royalty, anld followed by continuous repression and -‘terrorism, down to. the declaration of martial law, and the appointment of ‘the ‘Hunter <.‘~ommi‘t-tee. Whatever were the;

_findings of the Hunter ‘Committee regarrling the initial necessity of martiarl law, Where was not the slightest doubt, on the admission made by vofficial Witnesses before the Committee that there was no justification for keeping it through the length of time during which horrors were continuing. He declared that the Indians sought justice at the hands of British democracy. On the answer .that‘dexnocx*3.cy depended thg goodwill of the people of India, 'Vl"ila..k, referring/‘co. the Refoxjin. Bill said that I+. ‘was; fiat ‘baisved-one t’he'wishes‘ or

some powers, and opened avenues in services which hitherto had been closed to Indians. Their clear duty was to make the most of what. was given, and to press for what was ‘due. He demanded commissions for Indians iD..tll‘e navy and 'a~r_l_ny,' and the s|a.tis~ factory solution of the Khalvat quest‘i!oll and the readjustment of the status of Indians overseas.