A DESPERATE FIGHT.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3642, 1 December 1920, Page 5

A DESPERATE FIGHT.

ONLY ONE SURVIVOR. THE KILMICHAEL AMBUSH. LONDON, Nov. 29. The Sinn Feiners ’ambushed the Black and Tans at Kilmichael, County Cork, and killed 15. Others are dying and one is missing.

Received 9.40 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 30. Seventy to one hundred Sinn Feiners were engaged in the Kilmichael ambush. They caught the black and tans in a' hilly district and also broke up a portion of the road, making it impossible for the lorries to escape, with the result that the Vehicles wore brought to a standstill while an intense fire was opened upon the occupants from all sides. The patrol was completely outnumbered, and in the darkness it was impossible to locate the attackers. The patrol fought to the end, but it was a murderous affair. Finally, all were killed an d the lorries burnt. Macroom is now isolated and business is at a standstill. All the shops are closed, and people are leaving the locality, fearing reprisals. A number .of smaller shops in the district have already been burnt down, dnd large parties of auxiliary troops are parading the town as a precaution against further reprisals. The black and tans left Macroom in ,two lorries. Immediately the first lorry came within range, it was subjected to a rain of bullets. The second lorry opened fire, but baa little effect upon the volleys of the attackers. The occupants tried to take cover. All the black and tans in the first lorry were soon dead, and tne others bravely defended themselves, but the Sinn Fein markmanship was too true. When the Sinn Feiners found the black and tans were not replying, they crept up to the lorries and found only one uninjured man, also one desperately wounded man, who died soon after. The rest were all dead. A search party sent out from Macroom found sixteen dead on the road.

FIRES IN DUBLIN. i Received U. 40 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 30. An outbreak of incendiary fires occurred in newspaper offices in Dublin. Masked and armed men entered the Freeman’s Journal offices, holding .up the staff with revolvers while fires were started. Considerable damage was done. A similar outbreak occurred in' the premises of the Irish Times and the Sinn Fein Bank, which were burned. SINN,FEIN BANK RAIDED. Received 9.50 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 30. The authorities raided the Sinn Fein Bank at Dublin, tore up the floors, and discovered a secret underground safe, which contained five hundred pounds sterling and important documents associated the name of Michael Collins, Chief of Staff of the Irish Republican Army.

GLOOMY PICTURE OF IRELAND. / Received 11' a.m. LONDON, Nov. 30. The Times’ special correspondent travelling in Ireland telegraphs a gloomy picture of existing conditions. Everybody ig leading a life of panic, and it has become a nation of whispers. No man trusts his neighbour and dares not discuss , the daily horrors publicly for fear of being overheard. Men go to bed at nights fearing that a dreadful summons may thunder at the door during the hours of darkness. Hardly an evening passes without a sound of shooting. Grim warning letters anil other alarming threats arc merely common-places. Everywhere one may find po<&ple cruelly knockoc about, thrown in rivers, or having their houses burned about their ears. Every night thousands sleep in the fields, hedges, and haystacks, fearing to return home, or else lie cowering abed, expecting death in a Christian country in the twentieth century. All sections are sick of the unbearable suffering and the nightmare of terror. The mass of the people, no longer trusting the Government, look wistfully to the Sister Isle and the cry "If only the people in England knew?’ is

heard everywhere. The correspondent believes that if the House of Commons passes a Home Rule Bill with a special Ulster provision and submits it to a secret Irish ballot, ensuring freedom from Sinn Fein terrorism, it would command a seventy-five per cent, majority in Dublin.j The correspondent states that intense national despondency has been caused by the Liverpoor Incendiarism, and all parties, including the hierarchy, desire a Truce of goodwill. Such is unlikely to be forthcoming unless the Bishops make a move, which is unlikely. The railway situation is unchanged, only's one main line train leaving Dublin daily. The authorities are enrolling three thousand special constables in Belfast ,and are quadrupling the police strength.