Mr. Harrel, the Assistant Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, on
receiving the telephone message, ordered all his available men to Clontarf, on the road to Howth. Two com- panies of the King's Own Scottish Borderers were also called out by him and sent to the same place. The Volunteers on their return came into contact with this force. The troops and the police tried to seize the rifles and a fight followed, truncheons and the butt ends of the rifles being freely used, and the Volunteers firing some revolver shots. Three Volun- teers, two soldiers, and one policeman were wounded. After a few minutes the leaders of the two sides began to parley, and the majority of the Volunteers meanwhile escaped with their rifles. The soldiers returned to Dublin, and as they marched through Bachelors' Walk a heavy and continuous shower of missiles was thrown at them by a furious crowd. The stoning was so severe that some of the soldiers in self-defence fired their rifles at the crowd. It was then ,that three civilians were killed. Several other civilians were wounded, and the injuries among the troops were numerous and severe. Demonstrations against the soldiers were con- tinued late into the night. Let those who are inclined to blame the soldiers for having fired prematurely try to imagine the feelings of men stoned by a ferocious crowd out- numbering them by ten to one and closing round them in front as well as in the rear. If the Government throw the Scottish
Borderers to the Nationalist wolves, they will be eternally disgraced.
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