Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1907-12-12
IN AND ABOUT CORK
A City Nearly as Dirty as
New York.
P0ET-RIDDEN SPOTS IN ERIN
Places Just as Beautiful as Killarney
That Have Not Been Contaminated
with Surplus Rhymes and Herded
Tourists.
BY CHARLES RATTELL LOOMS.

hIIdTney, lreldnd.-Iney tOld me
that Cork was a very dirty city. They
even said it was filthy, and they said
1t In such way as to reflect on Irish
men in general and Corkonians in par
ticular.
Yes, they said that Cork was a
dirty city, and so l found it-almost
as dirty as New York This may sound
like a strong statement but | mean it,
When l arrived in Cork | saw a hill
and made for 1t at once, because after
railway travel there is nothing that
so takes the kinks out of fellows
legs as walk up a stiff hill. And any
how | was on a walking tour
| arrived at the top about sunset
On reading this sentence over | find
that 1t sounds as if the hill was an
all day journey but it was only a
matter of a few squares, and when
started the sun had long since made
up its mind to set.
In Ireland the sun takes on Irish
ways, and is just a little dilatory. 1t
always means to set, and it always
does set in time to avoid being out in
the dark, but 'it's an unconscionably
long time dying"
At the summit of the hill | saw
church steeple that appealed to my
esthetic sense, and | asked little
boy what church it was
"Shandon church, sirr," said he
with the rapid and undulating utter
ance of the Corkonian.
Where the bells are?" said I.
Yes said he, smiling. And over
beyont is the Lee"
The pleasant waters of the river
Lee" | quoted at him, and he smiled
again. Probably every traveller who
goes to Cork quotes the lovely old bit
of doggerel, but the Corkonian smiles
and smiles.
The river Lee runs through the cen
ter of Cork, and at evening it is a
favorite place for fishing, also for
learning TO swim on dry land
The fishermen seem to fish for the
love of casting, and the little boys
swim on the pavement-two pursuits
as useless as they are pleasant. over
the bridge the fishermen leaned, and
cast their lines in anything but pleas
ant places-for the river is malodur-
ous-and the little boys stood on
benches and dived to the pavement.
where they spat and then went
through the motions of swimming.
There were dozens of the little boys,
and most of them seemed to be broth
ers. Some of them were quite expert
in diving backward, and all of them
were dirty, but they seemed to be hap
py l could not help thinking how soon
the Celtic mind begins to use SYM
bols, for it was easy to see, that when
the boys spat it signified a watering
place to them. I dare say they were
breaking a city ordinance in splitting
and if they knew that they were that
much happier-stolen sweets are the
sweetest
During the time I watched the set
ting sun-which was still at it and,
by the way, performed some lovely
variations on a simple color scheme
in the sky-not even an eel was
caught, but the fishermen cast under
the bridge, let their bait float down
the (un) pleasant waters, and drew in
their lines again and again-mute ex-
amples of a patience that one does
not associate with Ireland
At last l left them and started out
to find Shandon church which seem
ed but a few squares away.
My pathway led through the slums,
and up a hill so steep that | hope
horses only use it as a means of de-
scent. | passed one fireside where
the folks looked cosy and happy and
warm. 1t was a summer evening, but
chilly, and the place into which |
looked was a shop for the sale of coal
Shoemakers' children are generally
barefooted, but these people were
buring their own coal, and the moth
er and the dirty children sprawled
around the store or home, in a shadow
casting way, that would have delight
ed Mynheer Rembrandt if he had
passed by.
| was struck with the population of
Cork. 1t was most of it on the side
walk, and nearly all of it was under
~. Tlelly ldCeS, too, among lnell,
and happy looking. think that SYM
pathy would have been wasted on
them. They had so muck more room
than they would have in New York,
and they were not any dirtier-than
New Workers of the same class.
After | had reached the top of the
hill, | turned and looked for Shandon
church and it was gone. | asked a boy
what had become of it, and he told me
that in following my winding way
through the convolutions known as
streets, | had gotten as far from the
church as | could in the time. He
told me pleasantly, just how to go 10
get to the church, and it involved
going to the foot of the hill and be-