The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-09-14
Boston is Almost Entirely Irish.

Flags and banners were waving over
| nearly every inch of old Boston this
| week, welcoming the visit of many
thousands who once acknowledged
Boston as home Mayor John F.
Fitzgerald, young, untiringly active.
tremendously energetic, with the 600, 900
men, women and children of Boston
supporting him, is making this week
the gala week in the history of that
city.
The Boston Puritan who has not Wis
tied his former home in twenty or
thirty years, will find, doubtless, a very
great surprise-in a denationalized city.
For the inhabitants of the Athens of
America might well be mistaken, as to
the greater part of them. for the
metropolis of Ireland. AS a matter of
fact, there are more people of Irish
blood i'm Boston than are living in
Dublin. Foot up the respective popu-
lations of Cork, Limerick, Enniskillen.
Londonderry, Waterford and the
dozen largest Irish towns. not including
Orange Belfast, and the number of
their Irish inhabitants, all told, is ex-
ceeded by the transplanted Celts of
Boston.
Dublin, Cork and Limerick are Irish
Catholic cities, the two last mem
toned Overwhelmingly so, and yet the
Irish Protestant city officials number
one-third of the municipal and county
officials.
Wonderful has been the political adj
vancement Of the Irish emigrants in
Boston, and | do not doubt but the
same energy, if contributed to the
work of other pursuits, would have
been better for the Boston Irish than
politics, says James ]. Mcclure in the
Catholic Sun. However this may be.
and l will not attempt in this letter
to discuss the philosophy Of pernicious
political existence, the fact remains
that political Boston is Irish and the
old-time Puritan field is strangely, pc
culiarly Celtic. And the Irish have
the votes to back up their claims. A
giant stone-thrower of far distances,
hurting stones from the Bunker Hill
monument, would land most of his
missiles on the homes of the Irish emil
grants or their children
When the returned-home son of Bos-
ton reached the old town he was
greeted by Mayor John F. Fitzgerald
and the following members of con-
gress: O'Connell, Kelihar, Sullivan and
McNary- in the footsteps of
Webster, Sumner Adams and Hoar.
They were told of the great work as
mayor of the late beloved Patrick A
Collins and they saw the statue of his
dear friend and great poet-John Boyle
O'Reilly.
At the city hall they found the sons
of Irish exiles and emigrants admins
tering the affairs of the metropolis of
New England and in art. history, book
lore, parks. education and culture. the
first Of American cities-the one great
city where commerce, materialism and
the unitarian is forced to struggles
with sentiment, the old landmarks and
the picturesque
And at the city hall besides the
mayor, he was greeted by John ].
Murphy, chairman of the board of as
SCISSORS, Commissioner of Streets Doyle,
Commissioner of Baths O'Brien, Mr.
Coalley. who is at tn head of the park
department, and Mr. Durgan, who di-
reefs the health department. The chief
OF the re department is John a. Mullen.
The city of Boston has its municipal
printing plant and at the head is Mr..
Whelan. Matthew Cummings, super
ntendent of street cleaning, occupies
the high post of national president of
the Ancient Order of IIibernians. the
largest, the most powerful and the
most useful Irish society in the world.
The register is Mr.. McGlenen. the
superintendent of sewers is John ].
Ieahy; superintendent of the Sanitary
Department Gillespie Superintendent
of Buildings Nolan and the city treas
urer bears the good old name of Stat
terry.
The police of Boston are a state DO
lice, not controlled by the city gov
eminent as under a righteous home
rule they ought to be-but ever so, the |
police commissioner over the 5000 po-
lfcemen is Stephen O'Meara-so there
you arei