The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1897-01-30

of his unfortunate family, for shylocs
must have his pound. of flesh. Surely
Byron need never nto gone back 1900
years for his pathetic picture VI dying
gladiator. Would she#not have found il
on that English railroad ,iwh en.they rails
ed up that simple .,Westers peasant with
the life-blood yelling from his lips but
chered to make landlords holiday"
Some of the wilder and more daring
spirits amongst the islanders find an
easier way of making money to pay their
rent by the manufacture Of "poteen,' i. e.
illicit whisky They evidently have no
scruples in breaking the law, for the law
is only to them as an instrument OF op-
preston and safeguard for evictors.
Many of the local magistrates on the
mainland close their eyes to their illicit
trade and of course if they happen to
find key of Mountain Dew" in their
cellars they are particular not to enquire
too carefully how it got there. 1t would
NC SLl11oSL 1uPOHo1p1O W S0pLuAC cAAJ
"still' or plant" on the islands, as a
revenue boat could be seen approaching
for hours before it could land.
Those who have seen these islands in
their summer robes and decked in all
their jewels, who have watched the wat
ers of the Atlantic flashing in foam upon
their strands, or rearing and curling
against the rocky cliff; who have been
enchanted hey the gorgeous purple and
splendid azureof the mountains will ack-
nowledge that for harmony of color and
beuty of nature the west coast of Ireland
is not to be surpassed. The dark majes-
ty of it's cliffs, the frow of it's precipices,
haunt the imagination with a sense of
wierdnesss and indescribable wildness
which can only he removed by the ire
pressible buoyancy, gaiety and good hui
NOR OF its people.
Here you may be confronted with some
bare-headed dark-haired daughter of de-
throned kings, with eyes like dewdrops
and voice that would charm the coin
out OF your pocket, who naively suggest
may be you'd like to buy pair of stock
ms, good lambs wool, only nine-pence;;"
thank We, SIR and the littl maid steps
off as proudly as queen to bless her good
fortune, and knit another PAL r.
The weather on the islands cannot be
exactly described as changeable Or ca
PRECIOUS; it is raterh coquettish, it. loves
to plague you. When you get up lin the
morning you may find it quite cloudy
and threatening, and you go to breakfast
in i'll humor at the prospects of wet
day, but in a few moments the sun will
come smiling out from behind cloud
as If to say: "Shure was only foolin'.
it's not goin' to rain at ALL" However.
you will be always safe in carrying an
umbrella; the chances are you will not
not want it, but if you leave it at home
you are sure to have shower to teach
you prudence ere you go back.
Crime OF any kind is unknown on these
islands; a policeman never visits them
except as an escort for an ejectn1ent SER
Yer. These people could live happily
and even tolerably prosperous if that
terrible nightmare, the dread Of evic-
ton were removed They know very lit
tie about the outside world unless what
they learn from the local pedagogue who
gets his information from Father Toms
weekly or bi-weekly broadsheet.'' Very
few of the older people can read English
and good many cannot even speak it,
but they all understand Irish.
With the proper government, indus
tries could be encouraged which would
greatly tighten the burden these poor
people have to bear, but no permanent
good can be don for them so long as they
are allowed to exist in state of uncer-
tainty at the mercy of the eyictor.