Knoxville daily chronicle. [volume] (Knoxville, Tenn.) 1870-1882, 1880-02-15
TIE IRISH FAMINE.
Some Ghastiy PIctures OF she saT, r.
ings Of the Emerald xste.

TIE IRISH FAMINE.
Some Ghastiy PIeiures OF she suH, r.
ings Of the Emerald Isie.
A correspondent of the Freenan's
Journat, writing from Rosmuck, on
The Galway coast, on the 18Th Of Jau-
nary. says : AFTER visiting The town.
lands upon the Rosmuck promontory,
where all that Is not stone is quiveriDg
tog, traversed Rosmuck Bay by boat
for twelve miles, past Lettermore,
LettercaIbagh, and Iiian eeragh islands
to The group of stony is ands and semi
peniusulas called Let eFmullsn. Has-,
ing rumaged the unspeakab g nests OF
shieings upon DiDan 1s,aDd We pene-
trated the townland Of Carraroe; then,
across eight miles OF water, through
The narrow pass OF Belandangaffl,
coastiug on either side the wretched
townlands Ct Toween, Camus, and
Snsnobo, until we found ourselves
picking our way in the darkness up
the enolm nous rocks of the little natu-
raj cove OF Garrofin. | found not one
single field in all that stretch OF coun-
Try unincumbered with powders, but
everywhere patches OF starved cult
walton scooped out Of corners OF the
rocky plains, or built up in high beds
of bog stuff, with deep streams running
in the burrows between. / found
these starving plots loaded with
rack rents which would be esteemed
merciless in Tipperary. But let that
pass. l found that stock Of any sort
have disappeared from hundreds of
holdings, even tn the very hens, and
that whatever little famished noun
tain cows are left are not only abso-
lutely valueless for sale, but are liter
ally starving, like their owners, for
want of food. 1 found that the seed
oats are in many cases gone, and the
seed potatoes In all places going. /
| found that the kelp trade, which was
as vital to these people as agriculture,
has within two years declined three.
fourths in amount and two-thirds in
price,-is, in fact, utterly and hope
lessly ruined that their fishing has
been of the rudest, and that that, too,
has been unfortunate; that the very
oyster. dredging which used to give
the people employment has been three
fourths destroyed by the cupidity OF
the rich proprietor of the fishery. i
reckon that 600 families at the least
will in month have exhausted their
last ounce of food and their last chance
of raising any, and that at least 100
families are already in that terrible
strait. I saw numbers OF men,
women, and children who were slowly
wasting for want of food-upon two
meals day, upon one meal day, and
that handful of Indian-meal lent
by some less wretched neighbor, aud
eaten without drop Of milk. Isaw a
man prowling over dug potato fields
and digging them over again for a
couple of forgotten roots. saw an
infant gnswiDg a turnip and eight
little brothers and sisters about her
without rag Of underclothing. l saw
beds of stones and sea weed that, II
they were in any other country OF the
world, would raise humanity In re-
volt. | saw sick old woman who
could not stand up without pulling
the roof of the little circular shielding
made of sods of bog mould, which she
herself had constructed between three
huge powders, that answered as VALE.
| saw more than one howell in the
depths of the boys actually built all
over with dripping beg mould,
matched with heathgrass. | saw a
family of nine who had nothing in
the world to keep life in them except
such periwinkles as they could gather
on the neighboriDg strand And, with
al, their peacefulness, their patience,
| their resignation, even their cheerful
ness, Is one of the most astounding
things in the world. / have had to
make a journey close to midnight alone
through one of the most necessitous
regions of Connemara, and the only
persons / encountered in a distance of
nineteen miles were two policemen on
patrol and a water-bailiff watching
the rivers. AS for their cheerfulness,
Father Keane questioned widow
with five children, who had only two
meals more OF potatoes, and had
travelled to Galway in vain for credit,
how were they to live when the pota-
toes were gone. / will never forget
the expression of sweet trustfulness
with which she said in Irish, looking
into the Priests face, Neither GID
nor you will let the little orphans
starve, Aher Shemusv A poor old
bag, clad in a short and ragged red
petticoat, and nothing more, met US on
the road near Carraroe, and, putting
out her withered, skinny hand, said !,
always In Irish, i expect you'll
stretch out some hand TO me, Aher
Shemus.' The Priest, with that mix.
ture OF pathos and good humor
which it seems to me alone keeps the
people from going mad, put out his
right hand frankly and said, There IT
1t Is; it is as empty as your own.
The poor old thing, as if cbeered by
the sense of suffering shared, shook
her old gray curls with laughing as
she said, with blessing, Why, then,
nnnra La The niiu -Ihat Ii miQhlnit be