The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-05-05
DIGGING TURF IN ERIN.

HOW ~ ~ WV 0uN oOAN'-SVHNW AsoFO-
Making Another Domestic Industry.
In the county of Kerry, in Ireland, an
Irishman pays % cents to the landlord for
the privilege of cutting a strip of turf nine
feet long, three feet wide and from six to
nine feet in depth. He cuts the turf in
the summer months. SO that it will dry out
during the hot weather. 1t is cut with
narrow spade, called in Gaelic "slan."
When cut the turf is piled in little heaps,
SO that the moisture will evaporate.
These heaps of turf have to be turned
usually three times before the fuel is dry
enough to be carted away and piled into
ricks. As a rule, after drying, the turf
must be oarted from four to six miles to
the home of the peasant. This is done
with the aid of donkeys and horses. If
the peasant happens to be a specalator,
he carts the turf into Tralee, or some other
market-town. and sells it. Turf is meas
ured by what are technically called rails. :"
This word indicates donkey or horse load
The load is held in place on the cart by
means of wooden frames, set into mortises
on the sides and ends of the cart, and is
held in place by ''suRganns." A suggan is
a rope made of straw. These ropes are also
used in some parts of Ireland to hold the
thatch in place.
1t is interesting to watch the process of
straw rope making. One man sits on the
floor of cottage with several bundles Of
straw by his side. He picks up a good
sized wisp of straw and makes a loop by
bending it in the middle. This loop he
bitches over the end of piece of hawthorn
shaped like a fish hook, and with = shank
six feet long. A piece of string is tied
across from the barb of the hook to the
shank, and in the corner thus made neal
the barb the loop of straw is hitched. An
other man holds the end of the hawthorn
stick. He walks backward, slowly turning
the stick. Meanwhile the man who is seated
keeps twisting in more straw. In the course
of five minutes sugann 80 feet long is thus
made.
As the market is always from four to ten
miles distant, the cart is loaded on the
evening previous to the journey. The start
is made very early in the morning. This is
particularly needful in the case Of the don.
key, as his utmost speed is three miles an
hour. There is no pressing need to be at
the market before II o'clock, as in the
smaller Irish towns very little business il
transacted before that hour. Occasionally
Paddy indulges in tricks when loading hif
SO that while on the outside it looks to be {
good, solid load, on the inside there are {
good many vacant spaces. Sometimes tn,
cart is driven by the wife of the 1rishmaI
or his daughter. II it happens to be thu
daughter she almost invariably ties up he
shoes and stockings in piece Of paper an(
hides the bundle in the load until she ar
rives within one mile of the market town
when she stops the donkey, sits on ston'
by the roadside, and puts on her shoes ant
stockings.
On the homeward journey, after having
disposed of the load and walked aroun,
the town with the proud consciousness o.
being the owner and wearer of pair o
shoes, she takes off her shoes and stocking
again, and walks home barefooted as sh,
came. This is Irish economy. A story j
told in Tralee to the effect that after col
leen had removed her shoes on the wa
homeward she stubbed her toe. As she sa
by the roadside crying from pain and try
ing to stanch the flow of blood, she ex
claimed:
''Ain't it lucky didn't have ON me shoei
Shure they'd be bruk intirely wild tha
welt!"