Wichita eagle., 1890-01-10
THE EVICTIONS STOPPED.
ONE OF THE PARTY THAT INTER-
FERED TELLS THE STORY.

S->w the Sherifrs Room Was Entered, the
Warrants Destroyed and His Brooches
Riddled-The United Kingdom Upset by
Some Newspaper Mems Deviltry.
1t occurred four years ago, and I am of
the opinion that the participes criminis have
not since been DESTROYS that tho world should
know all about it. I was at the time re-
porter on an Irish daily newspaper, and,
though / was not the ringleader, was
strongly suspected o being accessory before,
in, and after the fact. My accomphces it
would not do to designate, but they included
an English member of parliament, a London
newspaper man, whose writings have accom-
plished much good for the cause OF the Irish
peasantry, and an rishman.
The occasion was during one Of the most
unholy eviction campaigns ever prosecuted
in Ireland. The landlord, an absentee, had
mortgaged the estate as deeply as he could
mortgage it. The money lenders of London
might have owned it whenever they wanted
it, but at that time they did not banker after
proprietorship of land In Kerry.
AL the tenants however, being in arrears
thought they had better have the rent at all
events and their agent, getting an appoint
ment under the bankrupt landlord, began
eviction proceedings. He lost no time in pre-
inlinary warnings of his intention to resort
to extreme measures. He rushed things SO
quickly that one clear, frosty morning in
January, when he was yet unexpected for
couple of months at least, he appeared on the
tote b,,pi nd
dozen bailiffs, the latter all the way from
London, types of humanity such as may be
found only in the worst slums of Whitechapel.
Before the sun set that evening the lonely
glen in which Mr.. Winnie had opened his de-
structive work was filed with the smoke of
eight burning cabins.
SOMETHING HAD TO BE DONE.
I well remember the brief instructions
which I received on posting down to the
scene The parish priest had sent wild,
historical sort of dispatch to the Office of the
paper on which I worked, and this document
was forwarded to my lodgings while l was
vet in bed After an entire days journeying
l came upon the eviction forces returning to
the derelict castle of the lord Of the soil, in
which it was proposed that the policemen
should pass the night, there being no village
in the neighborhood.
Next day reporters, special correspondents,
members Of parliament, and many others
were on their way to Coomleigh. The howl
that went up from hundreds of journals in
the United Kingdom for days after had the
effect of bringing on the interference Of the
imperial government, but not before the
torch had been applied to the thatch of many
more cabins. But though the frebrand was
tba k.a moi al
day we witnessed sickening repetition of
its work.
One night my London confrere asked, in
his serious way, if some scheme could not be
devised to put sudden end to the revolving
scenes which we had then been witnessing
for whole fortnight We were sitting in
our room atsthe hotel, where sportsmen, dur
ing the season of grouse, wild duck and other
game, put up, and which was situated
couple of miles from the scene Of the evic-
tons.
After talking it over for some time we re-
membered that the sheriff was that night
dining at the other end of the hotel with the
agent and the police officers. There being
but the one hotel in the district, we were all
quartered under the same roof. The sheriff
kept his warrants in his bedroom, and we
wells knew the black bag which contained
them. Then the idea suggested itself of en-
tering the bedroom and executing our pur
pose there We took two others into our
confidence, and our scheme found favor with
them. No feeling of consideration for the
sheriff arose. He was a contemplate little
being at best. The son of one of the local
landlords, be scenes % take delight and
pride in his unsavory work. He was wont to
attend each morning adorned in shooting
graith knes breeches and stockings, with a
belted Jacket of fine corduroy aud neat
gloves. His breeches particularly had be-
come an eyesore to the newspaper men and
parhamentarians
The contented, dudish airs of the man were
CALLING under the circumstances.
IT WAS DONE.
When we entered his room there were those
COMPOUNDED breeks airing before bright coal
fire. The opportunity could not be lost. And
there also was the black bag. Everything
was favorable. and soon the entire contents
of the bag were blazing In the CRATE, willis
the handsome brooches, cut into ribbons,
were Haunting out Of the window in the wet
night.
Next morning at the police headquarters at
the castle everything was in readiness, as
OSudl, lOE lllc SS<A Al0 pOANc "ciS
shaded, and their bayonets glittered in the
cold, watery sunshine. We played our part
and waited innocently on our jaunting car
for the arrival of the sheriff. The array be-
camo disordsred. The police laid aside their
arms and slapped their hands TO make them
warm. After an hour of inaction q messeu-
ger arrived from tho hotel with the news
that there would be no evictlons that day.
Driving back, we waited on the sheriff and
agent to inquire what was the matter.
shall not venture TO describe the condition
of rage and grief in which we found them
Next day dispatches appeared in the press
stating that for some unknown reason the
Coomleigh evictions had been suspended,
and, though we waited on from day to day,
they were not resumed. Detectives from
Dublin arrived and began some mysterious
prying round the hotel. The London Times
came out with sensational report Of an at
tempt to blow up the sheriff, the agent and
the rest Of the crew. Evidence of the dia-
bolical plot, which happily had miscarried,
was furnished in the shattered breeches of
sheriff How his life was preserved appeared
quite miraculous. Numerous arrests in I'll.
near future were foretold. The fields near
the hotel were plowed up, the river and the
lake in the vicinity were dragged-for dyna-
mite.
The military was held under arms in Ira