The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-03-17
THIS Is ST. PATRICk's DAY
How Ii VIII be Celebrated With a Few Re-
marks About dis Birth.

| marks About Ills Firth.
| Today is St. Patrick's day--that Of al
/ days that is dear TO the Irish heart
1t has come round once more with its
miles of green ribbons in the country
places and in the cities with its miles
OF patriotic columns marching to the
| Wearing OF the Green.
| In Wichita the day will be celebrat ted
| in various ways. In church circles the
usual services viii be held at the Ca
| thedral and in the evening a musical
and literary program will be given in
| st. Aloysius hall. 1t IS a very tempting
evening 10 have a dance as the Irish toe
| is never in better humor TO trip the light
fantastic than on this same seventeeth
| Of March. II so happens, however
that this great day comes in the middle
of the Lenten season and the good bis
hops will not allow the members of their
flocks to indulge in such worldly pleas
| ures as dancing.
There are, however. a great many peo-
pie outside OF the fold who have a soft
spot in their hearts and affections for
st. Patrick and there are no strings tied
TO the heels of these good people. They
can proceed at once with the grand
march and dance for a month if they
want to.
This is the season of the year when
kingdoms and empires alive and dead
rise up 10 claim St. Patrick as their
own. Scotland's skeleton long since
stripped of the royal mantle is as posi-
tive as ever that St. Patrick was born
on its soil. Wales, that once shone re-
splendent under the royal sceptre Of
good Kink Arthur. is equally positive.
while England, that naughty, proud and
pompouS monarchy, turns aside, while
claiming half the world, TO claim the
caonnoniZed dust of the humble serv-
ant of the Lord. France insists that he
was of its race, the Strudy Swede dis
puteS his claim, that sunny land that
gave birth to Caeser, Anthony, Brutus
and Pompey steps in between them to
protest and claim he first saw light be-
meath its mild blue skies; and then the
great empire of the Teutons---Germany
---offers its dusty archives to prove
that Pat was a scion of one of its mob
lest houses. Let them dispute. Ireland
is willing TO let them have it out, for
she is dead sure that his sainted bones
lie in peace beneath its own green sod
only a few. miles away from the very
spot where Mrs. Lease first opened her
eyes to the vision of life. And, speak
ing about Mrs. Lease, she has peculiar
theory about st. Patrick. She insists,
or did insist a few years ago, that st.
Patrick was none other than the pro-
phet, Jeremiah, returned to earth. If
her claim is correct St Patrick was a
full blooded Hebrew. Mrs. Lease has
never explained how the Prophet Jere-
miah became st. Patrick, but she is a
pretty smart woman and ii does not
show good breeding for a piece of COM
mon humanity to dispute her word. The
meanest thing ever said about st. Pat
rick is that he was a Spaniard, and yet
a few claim that he was.
The best way to settle all this contro-
versy is to say that he was an Irish
man and not only to say it but TO swear
to it There used to be a much disputed
question as to the date of his death but
Father Mulcahy once settled that in
simple way. Some claimed it was
March 9, while others claimed it was
March s. Some terrible battles were
fought over this but as If by inspiration
Father Mulcahy suggested one day that
the whole thing could be settled by
combining the Sth with the 9Th and
making it the 18th. The suggestion was
a happy hit and ever since then ST.
Patrick lived from eight to nine days
after he was dead
The great event in st. Patrick's life was
when he got after the snakes. He was
the boy that made 'em get a move on
themselves. He drove every one OF
them into the salt sea and told them 10
sink or swim but to never come back TO
Ireland again. They never did. He is
sued a similar ultimatum to the toads
and they, too. pulled their freight. They
knew he meant business and never
came back. He gave a touch Of high
life to some Of the Irish kings, too. He
talked one of them TO death and another
out Of his wits. In a few years he made
about 5000. 600 more converts than Ma |
jor Cole. and the beauty of it was most |
" all of them stuck.
st. Patrick lived TO be 120 years Of |
age, not counting the nine extra days |
Father Mulcahy gave him, and after he |
lied he went to heaven where ST. Peter |
had carpet spread in front of the gate |
for him.
His glories will be sung at the school /
hall tonight by the girls and boys of /
the parish and IT is not improbable that I
some eloquent Irish tongue Will submit |
few remarks on his wonderful career
n the work Of the Lord.