The Washington herald., 1907-10-13
LONDON'S "CRONAGH"
Annual Irish Fair Biggest
Brightest Ever Held.
ROLLED BACON OF LIMERICK
Luscious - looking Irish Meat in
ROws-Cheapness of Homegrown
Wares-Every Branch of Peasant
Industry Represented-ImpOrt
OF Fair Centers Around Produce.

London, oct I2.-Aeross the pleasan
greensward of Vincent Square. West
Minister. was to be seen throughout yes.
terday an emerald flag floating over th'
Royal horticultural Hail and bearine
upon it the counterfeit presentment oi
an Irish harp. Nearer at hand the skirl-
ing Of the Irish pipes testified with fur
ther surety 20 the fact that within was
in full progress London's annual ''Cron-
ach. or Irish fair. the biggest and
brightest. alike socially and practically,
ever yet held
The "Cronach," originally started by
the Gaelic League 10 help Irish indus
tries, has this year for the first time
enlisted the aid OF the Irish Agricultural
Department It has become. to some ex-
tent state matter. and is more than
ever an event Of Importance TO every
lover Of Ireland. Although the fair is
TO last till the end of the week. there
were evidences even yesterday of the
effect Of this larger scope. Motors and
carriages lined the curb, and there ar
rived quite an unwonted number Of
smart West End folk-for wealth and
the brogue have not been very constant
friends as yet!
None the less, the fair itself. though
more crowded than ever, had the same
old air of homely kindly Irish gayety.
Around the stalls were to be seen bevies
of fair trafickers. fresh-come from Ire
land, with soft Irish voices and faces
that betrayed convineingly enough that
complexion of the lily and the rose
which as Lord Dufferin said, 'is TO be
found nowhere IN the world save IN Ire
land
Band of Irish Nuns.
Here characteristically enough. was to
be seen a little band of Irish nuns They
had jouTneyed all the way from County
Roseommon with carpets TO sell. made
by the hands Of the actual peasant girls
Of the district. Quiet and timid though
they seemed. these same nuns had OF
themselves turned an old manor house
on Lord DiIlOn's estate into a prosperous
farm, doing even the toughest work with
their own hands They had learned their
craft Of carpet-making in Belgium, and
taught it 10 the RoscOmnon giIls. And
here were the actual carpets TO bear wit
ness 10 the result wonderfully cheap
and admirably made, and all charmingly
designed in Irish patterns.
Hard by one might see dark -browed
Spanish-looking boys from the south
guardians over piles OF canned delica-
cies-a new and splendidly progressive
industry for Ireland-and rows of ius-
cious-looking Irish bacon. The old COM
n ms 0F .a Z &r,~.
it is next TO impossible TO get satisfac-
tory shop bacon. even al the orthodox
shilling pound. need never trouble any
one who has tasted the genuine rolled
bacon of verse-famed Limerick
Everywhere the cheapness Of these
homes grown wares was remarkable
There was, for instance. any amount Of
quite exquisite lace-displayed by the
most delicate fingers to be found the
world oveT-being sold for about a quar-
ter Of what would be paid in Regent
street. Then there were wooden railway
rugs-splendid ones for u shillings-and
shaWls innumerable. all the work Of the
Irish peasants; art work OF all kinds IN
wood and metal and true Irish gypsum;
bog oak and other trinkets galore; Irish
tweeds on every band; and, not least.
Irish furniture made from Irish timber
hibted by the postmaster of that town
cut Of sheer patriotism.
Yet another new Irish industry was 10
be noted, too, namely, the manufacture
Of brown paper ont Of peat At one stall.
picture post cards made Of the peat from
the famous Bog Of Allan were in par
ticular demand. This was due, perhaps,
largely TO the affirmation Of the Irish
Autolycus that sure it's a slice of the
auld country I'm sellin' you"
Progress In Irish Farming.
Above all. however the real Importance
of the fair centered round the magnifi-
cent exhibit OF butter, eggs, apples, fruit.
and farm produce generally, sent by the
Irish agricultural department and ar
ranged by one of T. W. Russell's most
energetic officials.
you may know" said he yesterday,
that in the Importation of eggs into this
country, ireland is now second only 10
Russia Our export in 1906 was over
10C0, ,0cO.0o0 eggs, representing some eS<
O09.t00. In the sale of Irish butter IN
Great Britain there has heen an increase
in the year Of e162, OO0, and much the
same has happened with poultry and
bacon
But the great advance Of the future"
he continued, is in the matter of fruit.
There is 10 question aboat the Irish
farmers being able to grow fruit-they
could always do that The difficulty has
been in getting 1t to the market under
proper conditions. Now that is where
we can, and do. help them. We not only
e7.H-
tious as TO the all-important points of
packing and grading or sorting for the
English market. but our instructors go
round and teach the farmers every detail
of the business, while we do all in cur
power 10 facilitate transit. The result Is
that this very year the best Irish apples
were sold in Covent Garden at As a Dozen
Then we Go all We can to encourage
by-prOducts and the canning of such
fruit as is not sent fresh 10 the market
This has been enormously successful,
too. Our Irish canned fruit Is already
showing its superiority to the continental
import largely because, under our in
structions. the proper cooking varieties
are chosen. and not merely the surplus
of the eating varieties
II need hardly be said that all these
encomiums We're fully borne out by the
display of Irish fruit and poultry, and
the rest Of it. upon the departments
benches at the Horticultural Hall yes
terday. Another Irish industry admirably /
exemplifed there was that of the growth
and msnufactuEe Of tobacco for which
the Irish Climate appears peculiarly
suited.
So. altogether, there was a profounder |
triumph about this Irish fair than was
TO be gagged merely by bright faces and |
the marching Of the Fitted pipers up and |
down the hall. and the Irish plays and /
Irish dances that went forward through /