The Washington times., 1922-05-23

parents have refused 10 communl-
cate with their son.
officer of the British Intelligence
Service in ireland.
ing the British are hersDith set
forth, in the second Of a series Of
By INTELLIGENCER.
EI Staff Officer OF the British InteIn-
gence Service in Ireland.
AS mentioned in the last article,
the attempts of the British ,authori-
ties to secure the persons OF Collins
and Mulcahy ended in failure, but
not without coming more than once
within an ace of success.
The difficulty was that neither
of these men worked at any perma-
nent and settled headquarters, but
changed their base of operations
daily and nightly. 1t was neces-
sary to discover, not where they
were at any given moment, but
where they would be at some future
time, far more difficult problem.
Collins Elusive.
In city such as Dublin, which
was the scene of by far the greater
part of the hunt, il was If no avail
to act upon information that Collins.
for instance, had been seen thar
morning entering a housn in the
South Circular road. 1t almost nee.
essarlly followed that nv the time
that house could be searched ne
would certainly be elsewhere.
The only possible procedure was
to wait until informa ton was OBJ.
tanned that Collins or Mulcahy would
be at a certain place at 4 certain
time. This gave a slender hasis upon
which to work - slender Lecause
both men were in the habit OF chang.
ing their plans from nour 10 hour in
order to throw their pursuers off the
scent But now and then - hap.
pened that one or other OF them
gave rendezvous at Il Certain place
and time to someone TO whom they
could not convey change OF plan,
and then it might reusonaDl" be as.
sumed that the rendezvous would be
kept. unless their suspiCiors were
aroused. More often tran not these
rendezvous were made with the in.
tention that the knowledge OF them
should fall into the hands OF the au.
thorities.
Secrets DivuIged.
II a raid were made under these
circumstances II divulged to the
Irish Republican army leaders the
channel by which news reached the
British Intelligence Service and also
insured TO them a safe meeting
elsewhere. 1t was essential there
fore to discover that the rendezvous
| was genuine in the first place and
that it's scene was capable Of being
drawn" For Dublin contained
many specially prepared hiding
| places which could not be so drawn.
Again it must be emphasized that
conditions were all against the
hunters. In a civilized community
the task Of the police, once they have
| traced an ordinary non-political Of;
| fender to his lair. is comparatively
easy. The community at large is
| on their side, and the majority will
! refuse shelter to the criminal. In
| the quarters Of Dublin frequented
| by Collins and Mulcahy they were
surrounded by enthusiastic friends
who would and did hamper the
| hunters TO the best of their ability
and were only too anxious to give
shelter to the quarry. All that was
necessary was to choose some close
|
| tions and runways between adjoin-
| ing houses. allowing of communica-
tion through partition wall, roof or
cellar.
A house so prepared was almost
absolutely safe. The appearance Of
sufficient men to surround the
whole block gave ample warning for
escape. The entry Of raiders into a
single house was the signal for re-
moval to the next, and by the time
the search was complete the fugitive
might be many miles away. II re-
ouired swift and accurate work on
the part of the hunters even to find
any tracks of their quarry.
Capture Of Leaders Sought.
1t would be impossible to chronicle
all the many attemepts at the cap
ture OF Collins and Mulcahy which
! were actually made, besides provid
ing story of weary reiteration.
One will serve as a type Of them all.
On a certain day in the winter of
1920 information reached the au
thorities that the famous Dick Mul-
cahy would be at a certain house for
at least an hour from Il o'clock that
night. The locality seemed favor
able one for a raid 1t was in a dis
trlCt Or detaCneu houses. SURROUNDED
by gardens, almost on the outskirts
of the city. 1t was decided to make
the attempt. and the necessary in
| structions were issued.
The night turned out suitable 10
! the operation, dark and overcast,
with a light rain falling, making OBJ
servation practically impossible.
Shortly after eleven parties of men
in twos and threes crept up to the
house by all the available approaches
Very few of these parties met any
body on their journey-it was not
the sort Of night to wander about in
but all kept careful lookout for
scouts who might give the alarm.
The greatest danger they ran was CT
being seen from the windows of the
one of the houses they passed, whose
occupants might have been aware of
the rendezvous and have telephoned
a warning.
One patrol only. inexperienced in
the work, made a bad blunder. See
ing a dark form crouching in a
door way, they turned to investi-
gate, whereat the form took to his
heels and ran. Instead OF pursuing
him as noiselessly as possible one
OF the patrol put up his rifle and