The Irish standard., 1890-09-13
MICHAEL DAYITT'S APPEAL.
Ee Pictures the Approaching Famine
In ireland In All Its
Horrors.
He POTATO CROP is A FAILURE

AID As In Former Years Will Have
TO Uome From Generous
Americans
- -
Michael Davitt writes as follows re-
'arding the potato blighS in ireland:
II visited q large section Of Ireland
ring the past week, and every where
ound abundant confirmation OF the
oort which was started last month,
t the crops generally, and the potato
- in particular. were doomed to
Y s,re this wear. It is needless, after
f4sTaears 1879 and 1856, to inform those
3 know anything about Ireland that
l. involves starvation for large pro-
po ION of its tsinhabitants. For another
sec--on it means insolvency, while upon
the whole commercial SYSTEM OF the
country it will bring general depression.
The continuous rain during the months
of June, July and August has brought
about this direfnl result. 1t has been a
a singular summer. An intelligent
country gentleman of Limerick said to
ne: The weather has behaved In a
Gsost EantaNzing fashion all through.
There was at no time rain sufficient to
make a rise Of two inches in the Shan
nJn and it came in such driblets as not
to give. the farmer chance Of doing
ANYTHING AS usual, She burden Of
distress falls On the congested districts
OF the seaboard, where the potato is the
main support OF the people~-those dis 1
tricts lying principally in the counties
OF Cork, Kerry. Galway, Mayo and
Donegal. The eastern counties have
also suffered severely from the potato
rot and there also the harvest has been
materially jujursd, Another effect,
alnlost rs Todiglous IN its effect Az the
votato failure, Is the possible. fuel
canine. which has been overlooked in
ali that has been reported hitherto.
The sunshine necessary for drying the
surf, which is the only comDustlble
2hSIilhUlt w IiiC AltSH SCcbSdAo iSA LILO
winters fire, has been absent. Hence
it is that not only have the poor people
OF the southern and western seab0ards
. the prospect Of cheerless hearths super
added to famine, but they have to face
the ultimate fatality of eviction, which
inevitably comes where the harvest
does not Weld the rent. In MANY dis
5ylcts the people ara at present burning
t1rze and bram bles in their flies, while
the turf cut this season. which should
be drying, lies very moist at the> bog
,sldes. The southern districts most
affected by the potato failure are those
which surround Schulz, Dumannus and
Beerhaven, in the County Cork, and
DingIe and Cahirciveen, in the County
Kerry. The potatoes will not last
aonger tran November, and thencefor-
ward the people will have no food. On
the Dingle promonitory. pigs alone are
paying at present, but in some cases the
potatoes were SO bad that they were
not sufficient to fatten che pigs. Lob
sser fishing is carried on to some extent
on toe headland, but the want of con-
munication makes the sale unprofitabIe.
Other descriptions Of fishing are out of
the question in some localities, for want
OF proper boats, and in others. such as
the districts surrounding Dumannus
bav. by reason of the distance they lie
no h.
ing industry is thriving in the neigh
7. horlng ports of Baltimore, Glandore,
and Kinsale. but these places are ex.
ceptiopallv favored by situation and by
fortune With little outside assist
ance Baltimore has been raised from
the lsyel OF the neighbor1ng districts to
position of prosperity which renders
the people absolutely independent OF
the potato crop as a solitary resource.
IL the fisheries were further developed
along our coast line, the prospect Of
potato failure would not have such ter
rors for ireland as 1t has at present
Leaving the southern districts. the
same dreadful conditions aud prospectss
exist in various parts of Connaught.
Around Westport and Newport, in the lEl'e
county Of Mayo. including the island 's 1ll
Of Arran. the potatoes were seriously
affected with blight ia the surround 11u
ING market the price II I'D and III u - p J.
stone, over double the price usually '1' Oh
tainable in Septemb mber. Ia other lllEl !; res
poets the condition of the conRested
xiistricts Of Connaught iss the same g: 4 as Is
thar existing insC Cork and IK KerrS. q. I
Nv snggfstio mad three wee ks ago, ,.l
that winter vege abless should be placed p Ml !
III the ground att once was carried out
zbv many farmers ln y nur 1ber5!of s,fl dis s'
ricts, dag III, was left of the il
I apotat toes and iced them N lrnips,,
of codarae, gg,onld Sol1l
|5iilllstrict iarnlars 81 sonaae l,o1aae