IRISH AFFAIRS

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3652, 14 December 1920, Page 5

IRISH AFFAIRS

THE FIRES IN CORK.

SYSTEMATIC INCENDIARISM.

Eeceived 9.10 a.m. LONDON, Dec. "13

A Cork correspoonSent states that the fires in Cork were systematically carried out. Th,e occupants were warned, and the furniture soaked with petrol. A building occupied by Sinn Feiners was 'set fire to, and others |eft untouched. The incendiaries took command of the city, and then ensued an awful night of terror. Veiling gangk chased civilians through the'streets and the night resounded with revolver cracks and bomb explosions. It is feared that several people w|ere burned alive in the destroyed buildings.

POLICE SARRACESf ATTACKED. Received 9.30 a.m. LONDON, Dec. 13. Sinn Feinerfe. ' attacked Camlougfc police barracks on Sunday night. Fierce fighting ensued. It is reported that a numoer~were killed, but the wires were cut and details are not available. Sinn FeineTs sniped the military proceeding to the scene in a motor lorry from the railway viaduct. . CONFLAGRATIONS 'IN CORK. BELIEVED TO BE THE WORK OF ANARCHIST ELEMENT. LONDON, Dec. 13. The Morning Post says it is impossible that such vast fires could have been started on the spur of the moment as a reprisal. It is evident the fires were due; to the anarchist element, who are only concerned in the break-up of the Empire.

The Daily News says a fire was started in a small shop near an ambush. The shopowner, an old lady, appealed to men who set -the place on fire and they helped to extinguish it before much damage was done. Another fire burned itself out. The houses of two prominent Sinn Fein,ers were then burned though the men who caused the fires worked hard to prevent them spreading to the adjoining premises. Meanwhile fires commenced in the centre of Cork.

THE CITY IN FLAMES. A DEEADFUL SPECTACLE. LONDON, Dec. 12. . Four hundred and fifty houses were destroyed in Cork. The damage is estimated at three millious. The city presents a spectacle worse than Dublin after the rebellion. Following the afobushing of cadets there was an outbreak of revolver and rifle fire all over the city. People were dragged from frama and searched* and beaten. The streets wee deserted at nine o'clock, but the firing was unabated. An hour later the centre of the city was illuminated by 'burning buildings. Several persons connected with the destroyed buildings are reported to be missing.

EXCOMMUNICATION FOR THE LAWLESS. LONDON, Dec. 13. The Roman Catholic Bishop, preaching in the Cathedral, stated he would issue a decree excommunicating everybody identical with the ambuteh of the Crown forces. TERRIBLE DESTRUCTION. BUSINESS AREA RAZED. LONDON Dec. 13. It is still impossible to assess the damage at Cork, but the destruction includes some of the most imposing blocks in the city. The entire area of Patrick Street quarter of a mile and a depth a hundred yards is razed to the ground. The military now control the streets. Pickets with machineguns are stationed at the principal points. This was done at the request of the townsfolk. The most hopeful factor is the pronouncement by Bishop Cohalan at the Cathedral intimating he will ex-communicate any person \)articipatiiig in ambushes. An authoritative act like this might restore peace, which the people generally ardently desire. Two other ambushes of troops took place yesterday, including one at Garryspellan, County Limerick, where several Sinn Feiners arc eported to be wounded.

HOW THE CADETS WERE AMBUSHED. A DASTARDLY ACT. LONDON, Dec. 13. The cadets were ambushed in the evening at a sharp corner where the lorry was obliged to go slowly, and the Sinn Peiners were able to throw bombs over a wall into the lorry. The first intimation of the attack was a

series of explosions. People nearby hurried to the spot and found the cadets writhing i agony, horribly injured, and operations were necessary in several cases. A number of arrests were made from neighbouring houses. Half an hour of auxiliaries with special constables, began to clear the streets, which were crowded with shoppers anxious to get home before the curfew. At ten o'clock the auxiliaries held them up against the walls and searched but allowed women and girls to go unchallenged. When the news of the ambush spread, the people of Cork were stricken with fear. People in the district where the outrage took place fled from their homes and spent the night in a field, some in the scantiest clothing. About this time lorries began to dash through the »city. Explosions were heard, and fires commenced, The authors of the fires are still doubtfulThe Daily Telegraph's correspondent, who was an eye-witness, says he saw fifty men in all kinds of raiment, armed with rifles burning the buildings. They succeeded in evading the curfew troops. When these passed by men with rifles fired shots into the windows of houses, and continued their work of destruction. The Daily Chronicle and Morning Post assert there is no evidence that the fires were due to soldiers or police.

Brothers shot in their beds. LONDON, Dec. 13. Brothers named Delaney were shot in their beds at Cork. One was killed and the other is not expected to recover.