The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1891-02-12
HERmIT.s CURSE ON PARNELL.
Queer Story of the Leader and an Old
Irish Miser.

/ Queer Story of the Leader and an Old
Irish Miser.
/ Mr. John Floren. who is a contract
or employed in the Joplin. Mo-, mines.
was in. the city saws the Kansas City
/ Times Mr.. Floren is !; recent arriv-
| nj from Ireland and his story of the
| Parnell mines and the hermit's curse
will be read with interest at this time
! when the name of the great Par
/ liamcntary party leader Is under Il
| cloud.
Il was employed in the Parnell mines
/ for about four months before | came to
| this country. The mines are located
| on Mr. Parnelrs Avondale estate. The
name OF the railroad station from
which the mineral is handled is Ruth
ven. 1t is thirty-Scyen miles from
| Dublin, and as pretty Il place as Il man
can find anywhere in the old country.
These mines did not always belong
to the Parnell estate. The land cen
turtles ago was in the hands of IN old
Irish family named Stone or Stoner. |
don't remember. exactly. The estate
was in dispute and there were many
lawsuits. The lust of the StouerS was
an old man who lived in Il small hut on
the estate of his forefathers. He had
never married and the natives there
gave two reasons. One was that he
was educated for the priesthood. the
other that he was disappointed i'll love.
Both may have been right. | remem-
Der to have seen the little, old. weaz-
eued, dried-up individual trot up and
down the paths of the Avonmerc River
on his way to and from the store at
Ruthyen, where he went only to pur-
chase provisions, when | was a boy.
'One day, Sc the story goes, Mr.. Par
nell aud his solicitor came down from
Dublin on the afternoon train. MIR.
Parnell had just been declared the
owner of the land. Trey say that Mr.
Parnell. who is kindly gentleman at
| heart. thought that he had better 90 and
see the old man and tell him that he
! would be welcome to Il home on the
| land as long as he cared to live there.
| The miSer saw them coming and must
| have guessed what was up. At any
rate he rushed out 10 meet them and
when Mr.. Parncll started to explain
the situation lie broke out into the
| "tibCSI ~ stut Nt L iliitr7
inc Tim Healy's tongue in the kilken-
ny district fight couldn't have been one
half as sharp. AT any rate the SER
wants said that Mr.. Parnell was pale
and white when he got back to Avon
dale. No one has ever seen Mr.. Par
nell pale before or since. Only few
words dropped by the lawyer gave the
people there any idea of what had hap
peued.
The miscr is said tc have told Par
nell that the mines on the land that
Mr. Parncl wanted so badly would
prove failures. 1t was the expectation
OF reaping a profit from the mines that
made Parnell SO anxious to get the
land in dispute. He is said to have in.
formed Parnell that he would he i'm.
prisoned that he would be pushed
down from power, and lastly that he
would be murdered. After venting
his wrath upon the great Irish leader
the hermit disappeared and has never
been seen since.
"Parnell couldn't have been fright.
ened very badly by the curse after all,
for he started his mines on the newly
acquired land. The mines have pro
duced principally gold pyrites, and
they have been Il source OF expense tC
Parnell. Then lie was imprisoned just
as the old man told him. He bids fan
to lose his position as leader of the II
ish Parliamentary party. Whether he
will be murdered as Il result of his po
litical or private rccklcSSncS5 remain;
10 be seen. Do | believe the story?
don't know that it is all true and dare
say part of it is a local tradition
grown up around Avondale. but
know the story has Il foundation in fact
Il was very sorry to hear anything
happened to Parnrll. for he WAS kind
master and knew So much that all the
men on his l:;riu and at The mine fairly
idollzcd Eim. The machinery at the
mine was ali planned by ParnelI. Uc
also planned the machinery in IA saw.
mill near the mines. The same engine
that runs the SaWmill runs the mines.
Parnell used to be very proud of his
Ruthvcn estate and often he had fam
Gus leaders from all over Ireland TO
dine with him there. After dinner
they would walk out and inspect the
machinery AMI the mines. 1t is close
to these mines that Moore wrote The
Meeting of the Waters and The Meet
ing Bridge is often pointed out to the
curious visitors. 1t is a great meeting
place for lovers. aud two or three
couples can be seen there almost any
night in summer. | have often seen
Mr.. Parnell standing there in the even
ing watching the Avoca and the Avon
mere as they come together, looking
rs if he had the world 10y the ears and
the British lion by the tail He is a
moody man and we meyer disturbed
him whenever he seemed to be troub-
led about anything, though no one
could be more kind and agreeable
when lie felt like talking, | can assure
YOU"