The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1907-10-05

ana 10 the casual eye there does not
seem to be sufficient edible herbage on
the mountains to half feed SO per cent
of the goats and attenuated sheep that
seem to get living there. The unfor-
tunate farmer does his best to make
the most of the mountains. The ma
jority of the decent patches are arti-
fetal. That is to say, the farmers have
cleared away the stones and boulders
and transported baskets of earth from
the plains below to make it possible
to grow a scanty crop or feed such
stock as they possess. Rents are
charged for the farms, which not the
poorest of poor back lot farmers in
America would live upon If paid to
do so.
1t would be impossible to give an
adequate picture of those poor dwell
ers along the Atlantic seaboard. They
are ill fed, I'll clad, and eke out an
intensely miserable existence heaven
knows how. Those near the coast haul
the weeds out of the sea for fertiliz-
ing purposes, and they only do 80 at
the risk Of prosecution, since the land
lords claim ownership of the beaches
down. to low water mark and beyond.
In little bog patches they. grow pota-
toes. These form the staple article of
food, with milk-when it can be had
and Indian meal porridge, and once in
a while fish. Meat is absolutely be-
yond their powers of purchase.
This year the potatoes have failed
in most parts and at best the tubers
are small and only fit for swine food.
In the circumstances the government
has been warned that partial famine
Will be experienced by the peasants.
but no notice has as vet been taken
by the authorities. who usus,,v take
steps only when the people have been
actually starving for some time. A
failure of food is bad enough, but the
sufferings of the peasants will be ac-
centuated by shortage of fuel. The
extraordinarily wet season made it i'm
possible for the peasants to cut and
dry turf for the winters fuel, and the
supply saved is so scant that the nm
fortunate peasantry will have to live
most Of the winter on the bleak wa astes
in unwarmed cabins.
The congested districts board has
done much to remove those sunken
country people to other neighborhoods
where the conditions are better but
for the most part the peasants look
over the waters Of the Atlantic and
dream of the America from which the
ocean separates them. Poor though
their novels are and poor though thei,
farms they have the greatest affection
on earth for the most miserable of liv-
ings. They hate to leave the old hearth
and the old patch Of farm" to mi
crate to other parts Of Ireland, where
they are not always welcome, and
'O>~o NAS0 10 " get away, i 10
they must, to. the states.
The west of Ireland is romantic
grand and bold, with its mighty cliffs
along the coast. and it's mountains:
but a tour in it is not to be recon-
mended to such as brood over miseries
encountered. The thoughts of the half
starved peasants that haunt the mind
long after. the tour is over rob the
recollection of all pleasure, and all one
gan think Of is the wan and haggard
and prematurely old people who visit
fully looked at the tourist when pass
Ing, the scattered population who are
not as we'll off as the South African
savages in their kraals. the stories Of
misery and the tales of the rapidly
overcrowding warehouses and lunatic
asylums. Despair has the majority in
its clutch; but one outstanding feat.
ure of the west meets one on all sides.
Most of the folks have sons and daush-