New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1922-04-18
Free State Chief, Attacked
at Midnight t, Leaps
From Auto and Wounds
One of His Assailants
Bomb ON Prisoners:
Barracks Fired o.,
Office of Rebel General
Also Scene of Assault:
Open Conflict Is Feared
From The T,ibure's Europrnu Bureau

DUBLIN, April IT. Michael Collins
head of the Free State Provisional
government, narrowly escaped assas-
slnation few minutes after midnight
this morning while he was returning
nome with a party Of friends from a
meeting at Mas, in County Kildare
Collins was seated in an automobile
When half dozen armed men rushed
the car from all angles, several of
them firing as thsy approached. Col
Inns was not wounded and, drawing
his own revolver, he fired at the near
est of his assailants wounding one,
Another he dsarmed and later, at the
police station, bomb was found in
his pocket,
The attack came at the close Of the
Easter holiday, which had passed with
out bloodshed, although it was the
sixth anniversary of the 1916 uprising
and fighting Of a serious character
had been expected The attack on Col
Inns, however, Immediately dispelled
the hope that the crisis had been
passed and now it is expected that an
open conflict on large scale may
coihe at any moment
Collins Surprises AssaiIants
The party which made the assault
on Collins and his friends appeare d
suddenly in Parnell Square here and
circled around the car. Collins leaped
out before the firing began and was in
action himself almost as soon as his
adversaries. His friends also jumped
out and began firing. This unexpected
show of resistance disconnected the
attacking party and, although they
fired many shots, not one of the Col
Inns party was wounded. Some Of the
men making the attack were in uni
forms and carried rifles. The fact that
they yielded so quickly and fed leads
to the belief in some quarters that
they did not know the identity of the
famous fighting Irishman in the car
until he whipped out his pistol and
dropped one OF them 1t is believed
that the men were insurgents, bent
upon the capture Of the car, and that
their first volley was intended to scare
the occupants into retreat.
Collins this evening gave slime par
tculars of the attack
"A number Of armed men darted out
of house and began to encircle u.s.
he said. Il pulled out my automatic
and wounded one. Then ] caught an
other by the right hand and hit him
across the wrist with my pistol, max
ing him give up revolver"
"Did he know YOU" Collins was
asked. s
"He did not" replied Collins, laugh
ing, "but when told him my name
he looked serious. l handed him over
to the police and he was taken to
Mountjoy prison. where a big bomb
was found on him"
What will happen to this man ?"
Collins was asked.
The Free State leader did not reply
directly, but intimated that he would
be tried on the charge of attempted
murder.
Rebel Chiefs Office Attacked
General Rory O'Connor, the Irish
commandant of the mutineers. said
that the first shot was fired by one of
Colins's party and that his own office
had been attacked early this morning.
"If these provocative acts continue"
he said, nobody will be able to tell
what may happen next"
The attack occurred about the same
time that an assault was made on the
Beggars' Bush headquarters of the
Free State army, long after the streets
had become deserted and Dublin had
gone TO PED with 1eellng OF felleL
that the day had passed without blood
shed. The insurgents who made the
attack on the headquarters retired al
most Immediately and the affair was
regarded as q demonstration, rather
than a serious attempt to capture the
place.
There was an exciting incident at
Four Courts here this evening when
several lorries filled with Free State
troops drove up and the commandant,
General Ennis. entered for consulta-
ton. 1t is believed that he gave the
hostile garrison notice to evacuate, but
there is no confirmation Of this report.
Word reached here late to-day that
a report was in circulation in London
that Arthur Griffith had been captured
by the rebels. This proved to be un-
founded. News reached here to-day
from Sligo, where the President of the
Dali Eireann spoke yesterday, that he
was acclaimed with great enthusiasm
Griffith's successful defiance Of the
rebels was generally regarded here as
evidence that the Free State leader has
no intention to carry his patience to
a point where it may be mistaken for
timidity, and this view is echoed in the