MOUNTAIN BOMB FACTORY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 261, 25 March 1911, Page 10

MOUNTAIN BOMB FACTORY.

A SENSATIONAL DISCOVERY. The trial of the Japanese anarchist Dr. Kotuku and his twenty-six accomplices in the Special Court at Tokio ended in their condemnation. The prisoners accepted their fate smilingly. As they were leaving the court Mine. Kotuku bowed to the spectators and said, "We beg pardon of all of you." Kotuku and the one woman of the conspiracy, Sugu Kwanio, are already in the last stages of consumption, and even in the most favorable circumstances, could not live for more than a year; but the remainder of the accused are in the prime of life.

The trial is the cause celebre of modern Japan. The conspirators were, without exception, men of more than ordinary education, while Mme. Wwamo had been for some time recognised as a very able writer on social and other matters.

The inception of the great plot, by which it was planned to assassinate the Emperor, the Empress, the Crown Prince, the heads of the Mitsu and lwasaki families (the men behind the throne in Japan), and nearly all members of the House of Peers of Japan, is, so far as is knpvvn, dated from the time of the release of the woman Kwamo, who was sentenced to three months' imprisonment in the year 1909 for publishing an article adjudged to be disrespectful to the Imperial Household. The discovery of the plot was sensational in the extreme. In August last j farmers living at the base of Mount Kiso, in Kyusnu, informed the police that explosions had frequently been heard apparently coming from the summit of the mountain, and the simple farmers associated these explosions with some volcanic agency. Then one day a member of the force distinctly heard several loud explosions. He at once reported the matter to his superiors, and after a conference it was decided that an investigation should be carried out.

The top of the mountain was only reached after much trouble, for, besides being extremely isolated, the mountain is almost inaccessible. However, the investigating party succeeded in reaching the summit, when to their surprise they discovered that a community had established itself in what is described as a deep gully. Further investigation revealed the fact that a factory, furnished with up-to-date apparatus for the manufacture of dynamite, had been erected. , The arrest, and subsequent examination of the residents, elicited further information, with the result that one of the greatest plots of modern times was unearthed. From the statements extracted from some of those arrested, and also from the information gleaned from the documents discovered, it was ascertained that at least twenty-six persons were directly implicated in the plot, while a large number of sympathisers had contributed financial aid to the movement.

So carefully had the plot been arranged that, had it not been for the unexpected discovery, it would have been impossible to have prevented the assassination of several persons, and amongst these the Emperor would almost certainly have been numbered inasmuch as he was first on the list. It was planned that the Emperor should be assassinated while on his way from Akasaka Palace to Shimbashi station to attend the military review at Okyama; while in the case of the Empress and the Crown Prince and Princess details were given of coming events at which they would be present, and the points at which it would be possible to carry out the fell designs.