The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1905-03-18

ger zones, and taking every chance to
gain a point to be rewarded in the
end by just having dragged enough
powder to the front, when the regi-
ment's supply gave out-and Corinth
was saved.
The war tried him-and it proved
him sufficient. And when the war
was over Father Ireland went back to
st. Paul where he was made rector of
the Cathedral church, st. Paul. Here
begins the story which you hav heard
so much about-or rather the fame.
Some one said that this man was a
complete Napoleon in his breadth Of
vision and his grasping of situations.
Well. yes that expresses it-only it
leaves something out. Archbishop Ire
land sees things and makes others see
them. The West of the COS was the
unpromising, disappointing West to
most peOple-to those who didn't know
to be sure, but the majority Of those
thus classed was sufficient to destroy
any ordinary effort for its develop
ment. That was before Horace Gree
ley had told his young man to go
West. Something happened in be-
tween those periods, which would at
tract the young man. Minneapolis, for
instance, was barren of both people
and prosperity. The energetic young
rector of the st. Paul Cathedral, told
the officials at Washington, things
that they had never before heard. He
suggested that they had hundreds of
tracts of land out West Of no possible
value to them. Suppose they let him
have a few Of them, and he'd colonize
them. Well, this was a governmet
proposition. the officials thought-who
ever heard of an individual colonizing
hundreds Of acres of land? No one
had, to be sure, but there was no rea-
son why it couldn't be done, and be-
fore the government had thought
Father Ireland was ready to start,
they saw two growing and prosperous
colonies, of Graceville-named after
the bishop Of st. Paul, the Right
Rev. Thomas l.. Grace-and Still
water populated by more than 1000
people. Many of these he had directed
from Ireland. The best test of plan,
is its popularity and the fact that both
government and societies have fol-
lowed in the path thus led for them
by Archbishop Ireland, shows how
well his plan worked.
For years now. little and small
minds have asked. Can any good
come out of the Catholic church," And
Archbishop Ireland has answered
most emphatically outlining the belief
of the church: The Watchwords of
the age are. Reason, Education, Lib
erty. and the .\meioration of the
Masses"
And the last of these began first.
He was hardly home from the Civil
war--surely not recovered from it's eff
fects-when he started temperance
movement in the West which swept
the great plains beyond the Mississippi
us does Il Kansas cyclone when it
breaks it's bonds and makes common
cause against other states in the re-
Yion. He hammered ut his own people,
and when he saw that the corruption
which threatened the West grew very
largely out of the liquor traffic, he
wi'lrnrd his ground of operations. He
became ut once admired and feared
throughout the Northwest His elO-
uurnrr and his oratory: this had moth
ing to do with t-in fact he had none
People tlockrd to his lectures to hear
him talk. They had heard of the great
priest worker Of st. Paul, and they
wanted t" hear him talk. Anything
trom the abandoned hut of an Indian
nl the plains. when that was large
enough. to the drawing room of an
| early Western hotel served for a meet
ing place. The young priest was
awaited with eXpcctancy-and then
he disappointed his hearers. He
wasn't talking many minutes before
HEY began to weary Of his harsh
r"ice-it WAS dry, not musical, and
his gestllres--they were the most ;lwk-
ward they had ever seen. \ little
| longer they waited, and somehow or
| other what lie said seemed to interest
II was just What they had thought
| only that he never expressed it, and
you know there's nothing more flat
terin% to an audience than to make
| them think you're no cleverer than
are they. 1t was good plain common
sense he talked and so he happened to
hit home every time. Then there was
an interest; it became captivating. and
| before the little talk was over. the
young priest had entirely enraptured
| lis audience
| But the >aloon-keepers didn't like
That. The common sense he talked
was lust what hurt them. So they
CARED him II little longer and finally
II made no difference that the thing
had never been done before. and
hasn't been done since probably. else
whe,r-Er told them that unless they
gave up their traffic he'd refuse to
give them absolution or to confess