The Irish standard., 1891-09-05
SPIRIT OF JAMES REDPATH,
It Will Most Assuredly Hover
Over the Green
Isle.

| Isle.
HE WAS A FRIEND OF IRELAND
While There As Correspondent BE Did
Much Good for That
Stricken Land.
IF, as is some1lmes said. the spirits of
the dead revisit the scenes which in the
days of the flesh were their abiding
places, the spirit of James kedpath
most assured]y must hover over the
Green Isle. He doubtless held in rev.
erence other days and other circum-
stances, associated with memories
sacred and grand, but the very object
of his visit among tbe Irish people, at a
time when famine, tornado like, swept
the land, served to instill into his gen.
erous nature in the evening hours OF
life an insuppressibe love for that
downtrodden country and people.
When kedpath went to ireland IN 1879
as the special correspondents of the New
York Tribune. he found the country
drained to the last shilling by the land
lords, whole sea Of military and police
foisted upon people already unable to
feed themselves on the pretense Of pre-
serving the peace, and famine stalking
throughout tbs land. AS matter of
fact, only those remained in Ireland
who could not conveniently get out.
ALL these circumstances became fertile
food for the forciOle pen Of the brilliant
Redpatb, and in a short time the name
Of the famous correspondent was a
household word in every parish in The
country. Redpath, with his American
experience gained as a ne Wspaper at
tache during the stormy scenes OF the
civil war, could not be bafa I'd In his
hunt for facts and figures, and the
bludgeon OF the $'pee!er,' so often and
nnmercifully welded on the head of Che
navive, became useless in the presence
of this foreigner, for even under
British rule an American has rights
which must be respected. His letters
were full of matter which had its good
effect on this side of the water, and, as
a result of their wide circulation here
and there, reprinted as they were ia the
columns of the Irish papers, money bs
gan TO flow iato the Golfers Of the fam
inc fund and blessings were plentlfulY
showered on the head OF tho especial
correspondent" Everywhere he went
he was recognized as a friend bv all
save the landlord garrison and caed
mile failthe was extended by every
man, woman and child he met. In a
word, ere six months after his depart.
ure from America on his mission of
newsgathering elapsed James Redpath
became hero in the eyes OF che Irish
people.
4 LAND NEGLECTED. EY NATURE.
Near 10y the bistor1c town Of Mitch
elstown, in the County Cork, famed
alike as the place where the daring
O'Neill Crowley in '67 and Vaudeville
in 's9 met their death in defense of their
homes and country, is celebrated dis"
trict known as Skeheenarinka. The
land in this locality is Of the poorest
kind, hardly sufficient to sustain the
prcverbial goat. Almost entirely a
mountainous region, it is quite inac-
cessible save to pedestrian, making
any attempts at cultivation an impossi-
bi itv, while as for roadways. such
things are unheard Of. Naturally in
such locality people do anything they
can to gain small pittance Of food and
raiment for their families and them
selves. AS constant dripping wears
away the stone, 50 the continual indus
try OF the unfortunate people who lived
there made in the course OF time a
somewhat arabic soil QUO of parts of
this barren land, but no sooner was this
done than notorious land agent named
Bridge raised the rental almost 2,00O
per cent. The efforts which these peo-
pie made to obtain justice are as we'll
known in the south Of Ireland as the
Lord's prayer, and the vivid description
which Redpath SO ably wrote of the
case was such as to bring him the rev.
erence Of the entire country.
This, however, was but one of many
cases. 1t probably is not generally
known that another well known Ameri,
can journalistic. r. Locke, alias
Petroleum, V. Nasty ecompanied
Redpath in most Of his travels, and the
writer heard him say that on the even
ing of the day Redpath and himself
visited the Skeheenarinka region the
hearty. honest cheer he heard ringing
along the mountain side as a mark of
respect to the stars and stripes would
never be efaced from his memory.
Both Kedpath and himself were ban.
quoted at Cork afterWard. This sketch
would be incomplete we're not an acci.
dent which befell Redpath in County