The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-03-17

them before him into the sea The strange
procession had not gone far before Patrick
oeat his drum with such vigor as to break a
mole 10 1t, but an angel instantRneOusly ap-
peaFed and miraculously mending it the
march proceeded without further inter
ruptlon.
st. Patrick may be said however to have
been the means Of introducing into ireland
snakes Of another and more deadly kind
man any that had existed there prior to his
arrival, for tradition assigns to him the
credit OF having instructed the Irish In the
art OF dlstilling whisky, from which alleged
TACT 1t is sail to have been called "poteenn
In bis honor. But Father Matthew and
other Irish advocates Of temperance have
cIaimed St. Patrick as a str ct prohibition
lst, and tell how, in A. d. AS, he one day
commanded his disciples to abstain 4 ON
drink until the bell should ring for vespers
In the evening. One Coleman, though
busily engaged in the severe labors Of the
harvest field, obeyed this injunction so
literally that he did not even taste water
throughout the long, suItry day, and when
at length the vesper bell sounded he fell
desd-a martyr TO thirst.
ONE OF THE SAINTS MIRACLES.
Another of st. Patricks most famous
miracles Is thus commemOrated in the old
Irish ballad OF Polly Roen:
st Patrick, as in legends told,
The morning being very cold,
In order 10 sssuage the weather
Collected bits Of ice together,
Then gently breathed upon the pyre,
When every fragment blazed on fire.
o! If the saint had been SO kind,
As to have left the gift behind
To such lovelOrn wretch as me,
Who daily struggles to be free,
I'd be content-cOntsnt with part;
I'd only ask to thaw the heart
The frozen heart of Polly Roe.
The pessantry of the Galtee or Gaultie
mountains, situated between the counties OF
Cork and Iipperary. have a legend that
when st. Patrick banshed the snakes and
toads from Ireland he chained a monster
serpent in one of their lakes known as
Tough Dilvean, telling he would not be lib
Grated till the following Monday. The
serpent has continued chained there ever
since, and every Monday morning cries out
In Irish: ''I's a long Monday, Patrick"
In the possession Of a family residing near
| Belfast there is a silver shrine containing a
| Jawbone which is said to have been st.
Patricks. Great miraculous powers are
attributed to this relic. 1t Is believed TO
| cure epileptic fits, to counteract the
diabolical Vaccinations of witches and
fairies, and to avert the baleful influence Of
| the evil eye. 1t is also used as an extra
| Judicial test of the guilt or innocence Of sus-
pected persons who are required to place
their right hand upon it and declare their
innocence. 1t is believed that they will be
instantaneously visited by supernatural and
and awful punishment If they then speak
falsely or even suppress any portion of the
truth.
A quaint old book of folklore, published
| at Dublin in 100, says that if the wind
blow hard upon st. Patricks eve 1T be-
tokens death among them that are learned
and much fish shall die in the following
SUMNER point that the United States
fish commissioners would do we'll to make
NOTE on" The same venerable authority
states that an egg laid on St. Patrick's day
will bring luck to the posseSsor if kept.