New-York tribune., 1921-01-16
Fierce Fight Follows Dis
covery of Men Putting
Torch to Oil Plant; One
Seized as Arson Leader
Military Ambushed;
Four Shot in Cork
Simultaneous Attacks on
Barracks in 3 Counties:
Dublin Fears, Army Rule
From The rribune,a Europenn Bureau

LONDON, Jan. 15.--What the police
believe may have been Sim Fein
plot and part of a general campaign of
Irish terrorism was frustrated at
o'clock this morning, after revolver
battle between police and gunmen in
the suburb of Wandsworth, London.
Twenty men are said to have COM
prised the gang, which was surprised
by the police when some of the men
were getting ready to set fire to nine
acre depot of the Vacuum OIL Company.
Sixty thousand barrels, containing g.
100000 gallons of oil, are stored on the
premises, and the police say that
if these had been ignitcd the fire might
have swept through large area in the
suburbs before it could have been
checked.
The police saw an autom obile drive
up to the depot shortly after midnight.
Three men got out of the machine and
climbed the wall that surrounds the
works. When challenged, the men or
dered Hands up!" and proceeded to
OpcI IKE. L uc pCllCc returned the SnCCS
and the men fled, without any one being
injured
Incendiary Materials Found
Entering the plant the police found
great quantities of incendiary ma
terials inside the walls, including six
quart bottles of paraffir, rope ladder,
wax tapers, cotton wool, five braces
and bits, coil of half-inch rope, a
revolver holster and belt, as well as a
walking stick and woolen glove. Holes
had been bored in a dozen oil barrels
preparatory to firing them.
Wllfred Kenny, twenty years old, Il
clerk, was arrested nearby few hours
after the discovery of the plot When
arralgned to-day and charged with an
attempt to fire the depot and an at
tempt to murder policeman Kenny
refused to make any statement and was
remanded for trial
A big fire to-day destroyed an ex-
tensive range of huts at Camberwell
Green, suburban labor exchange. The
cause of the fire was reported as
doubtful"
Many Police Barracks Attacked
DUBLIN, Jan Is (By The Associated
Press). - Simultaneous attacks were
made on number Of police barracks
in the counties of Tipperary and LIN
erick in the early hours this morning,
but without success. In consequenc.
the police and military were reported d
to be extremely active in those counties
to-day.
An attempt also was made to blow up
the Kilbritain barracks near Bandon,
County Cork, but the police appeared
on the scene and drove away the at
q n n o,,txy t>ofN G..
bomb was lighted.
Other parts of the country repor,
similar incidents, including the am
bushing OF police and military, but
thus far there have been no known
casualties.
Soldiers and police made an extenz
sive search to-day ~sf the Camlough
and Belleek districts, County of Ar
magh, making many arrests.
Dublin Fearful Of Outbreak
The period of comparative quiet
which began in Dublin at the Christ
mastide proved short-lived During
the past week there was a con-
tinuous succession of tragedies, in
which crown forces and persons iden
titled with the Sim Fein movement ap-
peared to have suffered more or less
equally.
Inc atmosphere In Dublin is now
similar to that in Cork before martial
law was declared. The people are be-
coming afraid to venture into the
streets, owing to the fatalities recent
ly inflicted on innocent civilians. The
city is alive with rumors of impending
trouble.
According to one report, ambuscades
against the crown forces, which pre-
viously have been staged chiefly after
the curfewr hour, will take place at
daylight in the heart of the city, re-
gardless of the risk of such attacks
to pedestrians, for the purpose of fore
ing an extension of the martial law to
the metropolis.
That martial law will be instituted
generally is credited. The belief pre-
vaillng in some quarters is that it will
be put into effect in the next few days
and be accompanied by the changing of
the, curfew hour from 10 o'clock at
night to 8 o'clock.