Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1885-04-24

France viii never forget the generous
support Ireland always gave her IN
her hours of trial The records Of our
war etfice prove that between 1880
and 1870 mere than six hundred
thousand Irish soldiers died in the
service OF France. No. do not give
me the leaves, he said as IL. Scaulon
was about to break off a few froM
their stems TO present to him. I
wand to keep them all and plant them
where We can have good crop for
next St. Patrick's day, and promise
you | shall, if I live, wear shamrock
in nay butt. n hole
just then the oater bell rang again,
and we knew that some new visitor
had arrived. Another small bell
tinkled TO the pressure of the marshal's
finger. A female servant appeared.
She was told to tell madame the
marchloness that her Irish friends
had returned with the sod of sham
rock from the tomb of O'Connell and
to ask If she could receive us. We
heard footsteps running up stairs.
There was pause. and then we heard
footsteps lightly tripping down again.
There was knock at the door, and
the same girl again entered. she
said:
Madame the marchioness will be
glad to see her Irish friends"
The marshal led the way. While
going upstairs we saw a small lady
standing at the top. She was plump,
and cheerful expression was on her
countenance. She way not stately,
but she was charmingly at ease and
dignified. Too womanly to be affect
ed, she expressed her pleasure in no
stinted terms. She shook or hands
and took the sod of shamrock with
unconcealed delight She would
''pat it in her garden. No." she
would "place it in the dollhouse. And
It was from the tomb of O'Connell2"
she asked, looking at her Irish
visitors. She should see its triple
leaves extended and It's emblems ex-
planned. When told that they rep
resented 'Iove, valor, and wit she
laughed and said that these were
worthy Gmblems for such a people,.
At LAST she playfully broke one of the
stems and pinned it on the left breast
Of the marshars tuEic. He did not
demonstrate, but he told her his res
son for refusing to ipjure the Sod
She smiled. and turning to US SAID
Yes, but if this one should die our
Irish friends will get us more" Aud
then the marshal babe us a courteous
adieu aud descended to his office. But
madame should be shown how to
preserve the sod of shamrock, and she
led the way to the conservatory which
stood behind drawing room through
which we passed. Several degrees of
heat were tried. At last suitable
place was found and the sod of sham
rock from the tomb of O'Connelt vas
deposited among the choice exotics
from lands where flowers frin ge
eternal SHOWS she promised us that
her gardener would be specially in
structed to look after the sod of sham
rock. She was a great admirer OF
0ConnelPs, and valued the souvenir
on that account, as we'll as because OF
its national significance, and deepl;
touched at the reception we met with
we took our leave.
Two years after this incident [ was
again in Paris. Ma shall MacMahon
was then president of the republic, NJ.
Theirs had been bourgeois presi-
dent; lie marshal duke of Magenta
was grand seigneur He was allowed
$3.50, 900 a year TO defray the expenses
of his position, but he spent double
that amount. | had business of some
Importance TO myself with the laar-
shall, and he was not easy of access.
I found my friend, NJ. Scanlon, and
asked him if he would accompany me,
and he said he would, and we were
soon bowling along TO the Elysee,
We determined not t. mention the sod
of shamrock, for fear that it had beer
neglecteS, or that we had mistaken
diplomacy for sympathy. It was
possible we thought, that the marshal
and his wife were paying us a delicate
compliment during our previous visit,
and that the sod Of shamrock had
been forgotten during the stormy two
years that had passed since we pre-
scented it to the marchi9ncss in her
drawing room at Versailles. Aud SO
we determined to transact our busi-
ness and not refer 10 the incident
which happened in the summer OF
1871. AS we approached the Elysee
we soon found that it was pot the
Marshal Mcmahon of Versailles we
were about to visit, but Marshal Nc.
Mahon, president Of the republic.
Instead Of being shown in by sous
officer Of the line. we were passed
from one resplendegt officer to anoth-
er. We appeared to be surrounded by
the tormallties of court At LAST we
were shown into the presence Of
Vicomte Emmanoel d'Harcourt, the
private secretary to the president [
explained the object of my visit and
was told to wait. In a little time l
was granted an audience, and my
business being finished the marshal
reminded us of the promise made by
the marchioness about our sod of
shamrock. He rang a bell. a ser.
want, dressed in gray and silver, with
| scarlet plush laeings, appeared. Our
| cards were sent up stairs, and after a
short delay we assembled the stairs and
were shown into a suit of rooms fur
nished with regal magnifcence
Everything around us appeared to be
of a semi-royal character But the
UldfcuiOHeSS WAS as CHARMING auu
frank as before She had not for
gotten US and to prove it she led the
way TO the conservatory. We passed
through rooms all of which indicated
pomp and circumstance. At last the
conservatory was reached. Tue mar
chioness led the way, and passing be-
fore plot of swad which covered
some square yards of surface, she
drew our attention to d large wooden
tub which was painted green. The
sward was healthy looking and green
and / recognized it at once. Facing
US there was a label, and the mar
chioneSs smiled as she saw me reading
the words which were written on its
face: "a sod of shamrock from the
tomb Of O'Ccnnell"
NertherR Limit OF Corn Growth.
On the northeast shores of Asia corn
can not be cultivated at 500 north
latitude, although in the interior it
natures as far north as go Oa the
eastern shores of America the north
ern limit of its growth is 500 and on
the western shores it reaches about
SO, while in the intermediate coun-
try it is known to go as far SIS IS 9 :.
The fact that Ii thriyeS farther north