South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1920-05-07
SINN FEIN ARMY
HAS MEMBERSHIP
OF 10000 MEN
Officer Says Irish Republic
Drills Defenders in
Broad Daylight.
BY WEBB MILLER

Ok AEbb E1AA<LEsIN
DUBLIN. May 6.-The secret Sim
Fem Army Of the Irish Reprbhc"
now aggregates more than $50, 00e
men, according 10 claims made by
Sim Fein officials.
Some hitherto unpublished de-
tails Of the organization s,nd equip
ment Of this underground army
were given the United Press by a
member Of the sim Fem cabinet
who has been active in the work OF
organization and holds high rank
IA the army"
Army Complete.
He declared that the organiza-
tiOn Is completely equipped with
small arms. such as rifles and re-
volvers and "a certain amount OF
ammunition" Most OF the troops
have their own uniforms Owing 10
the necessity OF keeping their
equipment hidden, each man is made
responsible Eor the custody and con-
cealment OF his own rife and uni
form. Neither the officers nor men
receive any pay.
Our army Is well organized in
companies. battalions and regiments
on exactly the same lines as any
other army" the sim Feiner said
Each town. village and district has
It's company or battalion, which IS
known by the name Of the district
For instance, here IN Dublin there
are four battalions- organized
and drilled the South Dublin bat
talon
In spite OF the strict surveillance
0s the police and English troops
drilling Is going on constantly. Al
most every night within a few miles
Of the center Of Dublin I could show
you units OF our army at drill. At
present most of our attention is cen
tered upon drilling Cor guerilla war
fare and scouting.
Men Drill.
The men OF the Dublin battalions
are summoned TO drill! b. couriers
and advised Of the time and exact
spOt-usually an isolated field in the
hills back OF Dublin. They struggle
in By foot or bicycle IN their ordi-
nary clothes without arms Of any
sort. It's too risky TO attempt 10
drill I'm uniform or with arms.
AS q matter Of fact, the drilling
now is mainly designed to keep UP
the interest and spirit of the men
and maintain the organization in
tact
The drilling as usually held be-
fore midnight @ allow the men to
get home in plenty Of time without
arousing suspicion Sometimes we
hold drills IN broad daylight on
Sundays and holidays IN out-of-the-
way places I'm the country nearby
F1ckets are posted on all roads
nearby and signals arranged to warn
OF the approach OF police or troops
Naturally the names OF our Of
ficers are kept secret, but some
times they become known. For in
stance. the lord mayor Of Cork was
commandant OF the Cork organiza-
ton. which was well known In
fact, we turned out hundreds Of
troops In full uniform at his fu-
neral and the English troops were
afraid TO interfere.
Arms Limited.
"Of course, our equipm ent OF arms
is limited 10 rifles and revolvers.
bombs. and few machine guns OF
various kinds owing to their origin
Many Of the rifles have been cap
tured from the English and others
are sporting rtfieS-in fact any kind
OF firearm that will shoot Unlike
any other regularly organized army
IN the world. we have TO keep every
thing hidden We are constantly
adding TO our caches of arms by
raids upon police barracks and cap
lures from small bodies OF English
troops"
The Sim Fem cabinet member
explained the present policy regard
Ing the use OF the army. He de-
ciared that there was no idea among
moderate Sim Feiners OF an organ
izsd rebellion or attack upon the
British forces.
"Our only hope now is to CON
tinue the species OF guerilla warfare
in an EFFORT 20 make Il as uncOm-
Portable for the English army OF oc-
oupation as possible We realize
that II would be folly TO attempt AN
attack in force. The English are
heavily armed with tanks and arm
oned cars and heavy artillery. We
would have little chance against
such a formidable armament.
But they have little defense
against sporadic attacks upon iso-
lated outposts and guerilla warfare
Army Is Weapon.
The very existence Of our army
Is a weapon in reserve even II we
never use t. It's like this. You
may be a very big strong man and
able TO whip a certain little man,
but the very fact that he will
scratch you up considerably in the
scrimmage makes you respect him
60 a certain extent. We'd never be
able to win now in a regular fight
but we'd scratch up the other side
considerably.
LOUISVILLE, KY, May 6.-From
TIE stable OF Harry Payne Whitney.
New York millionaire, IS expected to