River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1881-07-14
PARNELI,s MOTHER.
The Daughter of Commodore stewart
--True Yankee Grit.


New Letter to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
On Saturday called on the Mrs De-
LA L. S. Parnell, the mother of the
Parnells, who, in Ireland and this coun-
try, are making such vigorous fight
for the Irish peasants. She seems
hardly past middle age-a large, fine
looking lady, with brown hair and eyes,
and a forehead as smooth as marble.
Yet she has eight children living, all
of them leagued for the cause of Ire
land, three sons and one daughter max
ing speeches. / asked her how many
speeches she herself made during the
past winter
"Some sixty or seventy" she said
II went into Maine, New Hampshire,
Massachusetts,, Rhode Island, Connec-
ticut, New York, New Jersey and
Pennsylvania, speaking in all sorts of
places. in all sorts of weather. and we
organized over forty Ladies Land
Leagues
''Do you speak from notes.
II generally merely talk, and say
what / feel needs to be said. The first
time | ever rose to speak-it was when
literary society called 'The Origin
ais" met st my house in Dublin, and
they made me a present. thought
should sink into the earth. But we
can do whatever we must"
"You doubtless had some curious
experiences during the winter"
":Yes, indeed; sometimes arriving at
a station at night and nobody to meet
me; sometimes tramping through the
snow. But my greetings were usually
very pleasant.
"What will be the outcome of the
trouble?"
II think the Land bin will pass in
some acceptable shape. My son and
daughter in Ireland are having the
same trouble that / have had here
keeping the Irish temper down. The
Irish are angry, and want to rush to
fight at once, without any regard to
weapons or the presence of overwhelm-
ing enemies. This is what we are con-
stantly opposing. If the Irish had as
much GOODNESS and wisdom and pru-
dence us they have pluck, they would
have been rescued from their troubles
long ago"
"What is rack-rent?"
''Rack-rent is the exorbitant rental
charged by landlords over Griffith's
valuation If Griffith's schedule of
rates were adopted by the landlords,
the tenants would try their best to pay
it. But while the present turbulence
reigns, landlords in some parts get next
to nothing. More than $25, 900, 900
have already been saved in rack-rent"
"What is the object of the Ladies'
Land Leagues of this country"
''To raise money for the Irish cause
Sometimes there is more raised in this
country in one month than there in
three"
"Why ladies' leagues? Are they re-
ally ladies or servant glrls?"
"Mostly servant girls. But the word
lady has been enlarged to include al
most all women in this country. As
long as the German ladies' hold their
festivals, and the 'colored ladies' 60 on
picnic, the Irish ladies propose to
manifest, also, their own dignity and
armour proper"
resumed, ''has refused to convey Mr.
Quinn's dispatches to the Irish World
here, so that we are really in the dark
about what is happening"
Mrs. Parnell makes her home at pres
ent at the New York Hotel. She feels
lonely without her children, but her
declaration that she is mot anxious
about them-they can take care of
themselves" sharply recalls the fact
that she is a daughter of the late Admi-
raj Stewart, of the United States Navy,
whose bravery was proverbial.