The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1895-01-10


sion Of o civil engineer. At the ago OF
"a he Joined the Young Ireland" party
and aided In establishing ''clubs" and To-
menttng the rebellion movement His
work was done with the utmost secrecy
and caution, but the whole enterprise col
lapsed after Q single attempt at insurrec-
ton &C BallingarTy June 90. 1549. The
bloY was a miserable failure, and -four
leaders, O'Brien, Meagher, moMAnus and
O'Donahue, were condemned to death.
Stephens, with two others, after long wan
behring's, with the police like bloodhounds
on their track, reached France. There
they remained, quietly plotting by means
of correspondence for five years, when
Stephens drew the lot to proceed once more
to Ireland and organize new conspir-
acy." AS preparation for the work he
made house to house canvass Of the Elmer
aid Isle, walking over 8, 500 miles and ap-
pearing in cabins and farmhouses various
~ disguised, sometimes as a priest, some
times as a farm servant, and again as a
mendicant on. crutches. He likewise man
aged to reconnoiter carefully all the lead
ing strongholds Of Ireland used for the in
carceration Of political prisoners.
While Stephens was secretly laboring in
Ireland other agents were plotting in
America, and the result was the extensive
organization known as 1.-THE Irish Repub-
than a million Irishmen in America en-
rolled themselves and half that number in
Ireland. OF this vast conspiracy Stephens
was chief organizer, or head CENTER" and
his aim was the formation Of an army fit
ted to cope With the armies of England.
The followers enrolled were to undergo Sc
we're military discipline and arm and equip
themselves with the best modern weapons
and munitions Of war. So formidable did
~ NIoN = rIr -
the American civil war, when thousands
OF sworn Fenians, many Of them officers
OF rank, were discharged from the Union
and Confederate armies, the British gov
eminent determined to stamp out the
brotherhood in Ireland. The chief news
paper organ Of the society, The Irish Peo-
pie, was seized in the summer OF 1865 and
detectives put on the track of the leaders.
For years 1t had been a mystery on both
Sides Of the Atlantic as to who was the 50
Called "head center" the master behind
that vast machine, the cor at whose word
1900, 900 armed men would spring Into
tho field and assail the British power in Ire
land. Through treachery the government
spies had long known of Stephens, but SO
rapid were his moyspGhts and SO clever
hiS digguises that he was able for months
t31af1e theIp! Finally toward the close of
the sumher Of 1866 1t was generally be-
land anG. Sought asylum in Paris or New
York. About that time a gentleman
known as Herbert established his house
hold in. a mansion called Fairfield House,
on prominent suburban avenue in Dub
liz. Besides. Mr.. Herbert there were wife
and daughter, Fand the mansion was fef1t-
ted and. opened on q lavish scale. Mr.. Her
bert seldom ventured, beyond the grounds
of the estate, being apparently occupied In
experimenting the improvements In and
about the manston, and much OF the time
actually disguised as q gardener, but his
wife and daughter frequently visited the
markets and bazaars Of the city, where
their well filed purses made them welcome.
On their return from one Of these shopping
excursions early In November the Ifnsus-
pecting pair weret attended afar OF by q
female detective from Scotland Yard, who
had identified Mrs. Herbert as the wife of
James Stephens, Fenian "head center"
and the man wanted above all others by
the British crown. During his journeys
as an organizer Stephens had years before
met and won handsome Tipperary girl,
who had subsequently followed his fortune
and become known to the police agents as
the constant companion Of the renowned
Fenian leader.
.Unsuspicious of danger, the Herberts
lived on under the eyes Of detectives watch
ing the house. A couple of days later
three prominent Fenian conspirators were
entertained overnight, and before daylight
on the morning Of Nov IL, 80 armed po-
licemen surrounded the premises, = and
three inspectors, with cooked pistols in
their hands, made their way unchallenged