The Sinn Fein Rebellion as I Saw It.Norway, Hamilton, Mrs.
History
The Sinn Fein Rebellion as I Saw It.
Norway, Hamilton, Mrs.
Ireland -- History -- Easter Rising, 1916 -- Personal narratives
It is said that when Jacob was told that the military might have to
blow up the factory he replied: "They may blow it to blazes for all I
care; I shall never make another biscuit in Ireland." I don't know
if this is true, but it very well may be, for he has been one of the
model employers in Dublin, and almost gave up the factory at the time
of the Larkin strike, and only continued it for the sake of his people;
and so it will be with the few great industries in the city. Dublin is
ruined.
Yesterday I made a joyful discovery. When we came back from Italy in
March, H. brought back from the office my large despatch-case in which
I keep all F.'s letters. I did not remember what else was in it, so
I investigated and found my necklet with jewelled cross and the pink
topaz set (both of these being in large cases would not go in the
jewel-case), also the large old paste buckle; so I am not absolutely
destitute of jewellery. But, best of all, there were the three little
handkerchiefs F. sent me from Armentières with my initial worked on
them; for these I was grieving more than for anything, and when I
found them the relief was so great I sat with them in my hand and cried.
This week has been a wonderful week for N. Never before has a boy of
just seventeen had such an experience. Yesterday morning he was at the
Automobile Club filling cans of petrol from casks for the Red Cross
ambulance. He came in to lunch reeking of petrol. In the afternoon he
went round with the Lord Mayor in an ambulance collecting food for
forty starving refugees from the burnt-out district housed in the
Mansion House, and after tea went out for wounded and brought in an old
man of seventy-eight shot through the body. He was quite cheery over
it, and asked N. if he thought he would recover. "Good Lord! yes; why
not?" said N., and bucked the old man up!
Some of the staff who came here this morning had seen a copy of the
_Daily Mail_ yesterday, which devoted about six lines to the condition
of things in Ireland and spoke of a Sinn Fein riot in which four
soldiers and about six rebels had been killed. If that is all the
English people are being told of a rebellion which 30,000 troops and
many batteries of artillery are engaged in putting down, my letter
will be rather a surprise to you; and as the news must come out, the
English people will hardly be pleased at being kept in the dark. Such a
rebellion cannot be suppressed like a Zeppelin raid. During the first
three days our casualties were nearly 1,000; now we hear they are close
on 2,000.[C]
[C] This was exaggerated, our total casualties being
about 1,380.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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