The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-03-19
OBSERVATIONS On IRELAND.
By Rev. R. Latham, in Yorkv1lle Enquirer

Some time during the early part of
last Fall, constrained by circumstances
over which had no control, | abruptly
brought the desultory sketches OF my
rambles over the British isles to TEN.
pnrary close. These sketches ] now re.
sumo with the announcement that "lime
aud chance must determine how the
subject theme may gang"
Since, perhaps, the majority of the
readers of the Enquirer are of Irish de-
scent, and those who are NOT of Irish
descent are intimately linked, in varie'
ty of ways, with the Irish, | shall begin
again with Ireland. That I may not
offend the Protestant or Scotch Irish of
America or Ireland, l mention the fact
tha. tue word Irish il used to denote the
inhabitants of the Emerald Isle. In
other words, it is not restricted, as is fire.
queutly done, to the papaI potion of the
inhabitants of Ireland.
Without distinct idea of the geo.
graphical location Of country, our his
torlcal knowledge of that country is very
unsatisfactory. 1t may be asked, "What
is IrelandW To this it is replied, Ire
land is one of the many islands of the
Atlantic ocean. This, however, is so
indefinite, that the question, "Where is
it ?" is promptly asked. To this it is
replied, Ireland is situated in the north
eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean, the
southern part being north of the equator,
about fifty one and one half degrees, and
lhe. .porthern part being fraction more
ttan fifty five degrees north of the same
great circle.
1t will be seen that Ireland is farther
north than any territory belonging to the
United States. except Alaska. Dublin,
the capital of Ireland, which is situated
On the eastern coast about midway be
tween the northern and southern eXtrem-
ities of the island, is as far north as
Labrador. From New York to Queens.
Town the distance is put duwn in round
numbers at two thousand seven hundred
and fifty miles. The northern extremity
of Ireland is fully fifteen hundred miles
farther north than the city of Charleston,
South Carolina: From its great distance
the inference might he hastily drawn
that Ireland, in Winter, is an extremely
cold country. Such conclusion would
be egregiously erroneous: The ther
momeler Fahrenheit) rarely rises above
seventy or falls below fifteen degrees.
The average teneerature of Ireland, for.
the year is about torty.seven' or eight
degrees. Such being the facts with
respect to the climate of Ireland, it may,
when compared with other countries in
Europe and America, OF the same lati
lude, be said to be very mild.
There is one thing about the climate
of Ireland which is very noticeable. II
is its uniform moistness. For nearly the
whole year the winds blow from the AT.
lanlic Ocean. These winds are loaded
with moisture, aud there being no high
ranges of mountains to intercept the
western clouds they gently distiIl their
moisture all over the island. To this is
mainly due that greenness of the vegeta.
ton which led 10 naming the island
Green Erin, Emerald Isle, and Green
Isle of The Ocean. 1t never rains in
Ireland as it sometimes rains in our
Southern country. did not see a gully
in Ireland. And l raw no instance OF
any regard being paid TO the cultivation
of the soil so rs to prevent washing. On
the contrary / saw many very step hills
cultivated "up and down" as our fathers
did when they first came to America. 1t
is true that the soil Of Ireland is heavier
and more difficult to be washed into gul.
lies than our Southern soil generally.
Notwithstanding tLis if the rains fell in
torrents in Ireland as they frequently fall
in our country, it would be but few
years until the hills of Green Erin would
fiud resting place at the bottom of the
Atlantic Ocean and the Irish Sea. The
fact is that 1T never rains in torrents iu
Ireland as it 30 frequently does in coun.
tries nearer the equator.
There are two other very noticeable
characteristics of an. Irish rain. They
are its dampness and its chiliness. In
one sense, it may be said that all rains in
all countries are damp, and that the
measure of their dampness is the amount
of water which falls. This l am not
disposed to controvert, but l do claim
that an Irish rain has more wetling prop
critics than the same amount of water
distilled from the clouds in our country
has. The fact of the case is simply this !:
There is constantly so much moisture in
the atmosphere that the leaves of trees
when they fall, or other vegetation when
it dies OF is exposed to the sun, never
become crspy or brittle on account of
the thorough evaporation of moisture
Ge,,so kir,1,a fin oxs.nlnk tsf III - farf Il Ia