A SENSATIONAL AFFAIR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 175, 2 January 1915, Page 4

A SENSATIONAL AFFAIR.

PICNIC TRAIN FIRED UPON. THE MISCREANTS SHOT. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright. Received 1, 9.10 p.m. Sydney, January 1. A sensational all'air has occurred at Broken Kill. The Inspector-General of Police, in the afternoon, received the following report from Inspector Miller: "Two colored men, either Tins or Afghans, armed with rifles, fired at a picnic train laden with men, women and children en route for Silvojton, just outside Broken Hill this forenoon, killing and wound several." The police went in search of the offenders, Mho took refuge in rocks on the hill. They fired on the police, wounding Constable Mills. The offenders were finally shot down, one being dead and the other wounded. Constable Mills and the wounded offender were taken to the hospital. THREE PEOPLE KILLED AND EKIHT WOUNDED. TURKS ON THE WARPATH. Received 1, 10 p.m. Sydney, January 1. Unofficial reports' state that a" train crowded with members of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows was en route to the annual picnic, and when three miles from Broken Hill the passengers were startled by tho sound of shots from a cart flying a red flag with a star and crescent standing near the lino, wherein were two turbaned men rapidly firing their rifles. As soon as tho position was realised the train was pulled back into the safety zone. Passengers raced back to the scene of the firing, but the attackers had fled to the refuge of a rocky hill in the vicinity. The flag and cart were seized. When the news of the outrage reached the town a number of local infantry riflemen and the police, fully armed, scoured the country, and discovering the fugitives, opened fire. After several volleys one of the Turks dropped dead, and the other was wounded and captured while seeking fresh cover. The third Turk put in an appearance, and was taken prisoner. On arrival in the town an enraged crowd tried to lynch the prisoners. A eye-witness who was aboard the train says that when he observed the puffs of smoke and the sounds of firing at first he thought that someone was practising firing, but wlien the bullets hit the train in all directions, and he saw the Turkish flag flying, lie knew it' was something more serious. One man .jumped from the train with a view of informing the police, and the Turks fired at him, but he escaped. The attackers renewed firing on the train as it moved out of danger. So far as is known throe persons were killed: William Shaw, sanitary foreman at Broken Hill; Miss MeCowie, of South Australia; and Millard, an employee of the Umberumberka Company, ail shot through the head. Eight were wounded. ANOTHER FATALITY. Received 2, 1.15 a.m. Details are meagre, owing to rain interrupting telegrams. Later messages state that four were killed, the fourth being an elderly man named James Greig. Eight were wounded, including two girls and a boy of four, seriously, Millard ",iy shot when riding alongside the train tracks. The second Turk succumbed to wounds. Twelve hundred were aboard ilie train. In making their way from the scene of the attacK to the rocks, the Turks knocked at a house door, and on the inmate appearing a few words passed and then they shot the man through the stomach. There are no details of tiio identity of the attackers or their reasons, but the officers believed it to-be the outcome of the war with Turkey. There is great excitement in town.