Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-20
IRELAND As FIELD
FOR INVESTMENT
AMERICAN CAPITALISTS LOOK.
ING OVER EMERALD ISLE
Visit In Response to UrsInss Of Or.
Douglas Hyde, Who Recent
ly Toured the United
States
BY Timothy j. o'connor
,ial Gable to The Herald,

DUBLIN, Aug. 19.-A number of
Americans are making business tour
of Ireland Their object is to learn
by actual observation what opportuni-
ties Ireland offers for the investment of
American capital. the belief being that
Irish Americans might share i'm the in
dustrlal revival. The visit has been
in response to DIR. Douglas Hydes in
vitation when he was in America. Pro-
fess Thomas Taylor, musical director
of the Irish Choral Society of America,
is also here to study the possibilities
of Irish music for choral use in Amer
lea. The party comprises over eighty
persons, and is a very representative
gathering of Irish-Americans. 1t Is
heaGcd by the Rev. j. K. fielding of
Chicago who has given the Gaelic
league and industrial movements in
Ireland spirited and practical support.
Father Fielding originally came from
Mooncoin, County Kilkenny. Mr.. e.
Lahiffe, former city collector of Chi
cago, also accompanies the party on its
tour through ireland.
Among the eighteen votes in the
majority which constitutes that bril-
liant young Irish Nationalist, Mr..
Thomas Kettle, member of parliament,
is one registered under circumstances
which are probably without precedent.
The Rev. Father Toner of Pittsburg,
United States, came all the way from
| that distant city to register his vote
for the Nationalist candidate. HeI
promptly embarked ON the return voy-
age when that duty was performed
without even waiting for the result.
-
by wireless telegram far out on the
Atlantic.
An Old Triumvirate
1t adds to the stirring romance of the
incident that Father Toner, Mr.. An
drew Kettle Gather of the member for
East Tyrone), and Canon McCartan
his most influential supporter in the
contest, formed in the old days, when
| the agrarian agitation had just begun,
a brilliant triumvirate who did battle
| for the tenants The incident illus
trates the enthusiasm and the deter
| mination with which this latest elec-
tion was fought. Up to the last the
Orange Unionist party fought with
desperate tenacity and the leaders of
| the organization were confident of sue
| cess.
| Among the recent visitors to the
| National gallery of Ireland have been
M. Durand-Ruel of Paris and Mr.
Roger Fry, the newly appointed di-
rector of the New York metropolitan
museum. Both these gentlemen are in
cluded among the best living judges
of pictures and both expressed them
selves as delighted and surprised at.
| the high level of excellence attained by
the Dublin collection.
Some very curious proceedings were
recently revealed in a very serious
revenue prosecution in Belfast. The
| disclosures in the case are most in
teresting to the makers and patrons of
genuine potstill whisky. The prose-
cution dealt with different classes of
offense There were two charges for
tampering with patent spirit in transit
| from one bonded store to another and
two for what is called "grogging,
which seems pretty common form Of
offense. The essence of the offense of
grogging is the extraction of spirit
from empty spirit casks by a liberal in
fusion of hot water and judicious shak-
| ing. The product is sometimes en-
ployed in the very profitable process
of transmitting patent-still to pot-still
whisky.
His Queer Story
But in the prosecution of Mr.. Freder-
ick Hoey, wine and spirit dealer, Bel
fast, It Is the two charges of surrep-
titious blending that are of most in
terest to the public. To those two
charges, as well as to one charge of
grogging, the defendant pleaded guilty,
and was fined in all $3.50. The story
he told was a strange one.
On two occasions Mr.. Hoey had a
large quantity of patent-still whisky
in its progress from one bonded store
to another secretly conveyed to his
own premises for the purpose of
blending. The process of secret blend
ing, as described in the case, was an
elaborate process. First, the cask is
"hogged" until the bung starts from
the hole. Then by means of a syphon a
certain quantity of silent spirit is first
withdrawn from the cask, and then
replaced by pot-still whisky.
III Belfast the practice of blending
silent spirit and pot-still whisky is still
frequent. The difference in price is
enormous and allows for a big profit.
Silent whisky is worth about a shilling
gallon over and above the duty when
it is distilled and ready for sale. Pot
still whisky is worth from to 10
shillings a gallon, according to age and