The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1907-07-20


way of Dublin and Panama. They
landed at Aspinwall, which is now Co
Ion. because the Panamanians do not
care to preserve in their geography the
memory of either Aspinwall or his rail-
road. in July of 1868, crossed to Pana-
ma over the then just completed rail-
road, whose every tie, it was said, rep
resented a human life and sailed for
San Francisco from Panama a little
the worse for the isthmian fever.
1T was long, tedious trip" said the
bishop. but finally we put in at Aca-
pulco, a small town on the Mexican
coast, whence the Spanish YEARLY gal
Icons for 200 years sailed for Manila.
There is q miniature harbor with a
whitewashed brick fort cooked up on
a hill and a ramshackle town below it.
The doctor had told me to put little
claret in my drinking water, to kill the
germs" explained the bishop. Il went
into the. town to purchase 1t. At a lit
tie wine shop / asked the proprietor in
the little Spanish l had picked up on
the trip kindly to Dame un poquito de
vino tino' He looked me in the eye
'Thiggumste Gaelic he said. And we
talked the old Gaelic. He was the first
Irishman 1 had seen since l left Dub
lin. and / starting to talk to him in
pigeon Spanish. How do you suppose
he knew l was Irish?
Work in California.
"In San Francisco, went right into
the cathedral with Bishop Allemany,
who is the ST. Peter of the Catholic
church expansion in the west. He was
the bishop of San Francisco for twenty
years and his name is yet remembered
and reverenced there. He was then
not an old man. but was bent and fee
Bile, as his health was never very good.
He had, however, within him the fire
of a dozen younger men. His scho-
lastic requirements were wonderful
He was scholar of great repute, good
speaker and remarkable linguist. He
fought with the souls of the hard
drinking mining kings and the reckless
toughs and bad men of those days as
nobly as did st. Augustin. OF the
great names that stand out in Cali
fornias early history those of Mackay,
Flood and O'Brien were inscribed final
ly on the rolls of our church. All of
them became devout Catholics and
were liberal donors to the cause of the
church. Fair never Joined the church.
He was a north Of Ireland man, but
Mrs Fair was one of our communi-
cants, and 1 remember the daughters
we'll as little girls. One of them has
since married a Vanderbilt and one an
Oelrichs. They were beautiful chill
dren. and one of them, 1 have forgot
ton which, had as child a well modu-
lated singing voice.
His First Parish.
Il made several trips from San
Francisco into the arid country for. af-
ter the golden spike was driven at
Promontory, Bishop AEemany would
not rest until he, too, had a girdle of
faith to bind his communicates in the
east and west of his district together.
I spent six months in Woodstock,
Woodland, in Sonoma county, Cal, and
a rough place it was in those days,
can assure you, and was then sent to
my first parish-that of Phoebe, New.
1t was the widest place you can i'm
agine Drinking, gambling and mining
and shooting were the principal diver
sions Two hours after 1 got off the
stage I went up to the principal mine
owner. l asked him for the money
and labor and timber to build a Cath |
Ole church. He was a tough, little |
man, and he looked me over most |
Then he spat tobacco juice |
and told me to take my church and go |
to hell with it. I was young in those |
days, and 1 felt the hot blood rise in |
me and l did not dare answer him. |
He was a little fellow. ] turned and |
walked away. The next day he came |
to see me. Father he says, I'm not |
much for churches, but you're a damn |
good man, and I'll build your church |
for you. And he turned over to me all |
/ wanted Of the siXty-nine men he had |
in his mine and a bunch Of lumber |
built a little board church and pre-
sided over it for two years. Before 1
left we had one of the finest church |
of the early days in Ne |
vada. There is nowhere so great heart
ed and liberal giving man as the early !
western pioneer. That is, if they came |
to like you.
L came to Salt Lake City and the
parish of St. Mary Magdalen on the /
14th of August. 1873, thirty-four years
ago next month. Father KeIly's stay
in Salt Lake had been brief, and but |
Father Patrick Walsh, my predecessor,
had had opportunity for noble and sue
cessful work Barring the few addi-
tions afterward put on it, the church |
of St Mary stood then practically as
il stands now. The congregation |
turned over to me was small; indeed,
the regular communicates numbered |
only about a dozen souls. During the
first year / never had more than fifty
people in my audience, but they were
the same liberal givers that 1 had
found among the primitive mining
camps in Nevada. Among those whom
/ can readily recollect to whom the
church owes the great debt in its