Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-10
A GLIMPSE OF POVERTY
WretChednesS of the People on
the West Coast of ireland.
CHILDREN OF THE MlSTS
Pure, Proud, Polite and Tactful at
All Times.
AMERICA THEIR BEST FRIEND
Work Of the Countess Of Dudley in
Ameliorating Their Condition.
Her Angels of Mercy.
CHILDREN OF THE MIsTS
AMERICA THEIR BEST FRIEND

| A4SA &1AA6OA0 VI x0O4Cys
BY WILLIAM r. CURTIS.
| Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.
| GLENGARIFF'. August 1. 1908.
| Down here 1 got my first chance TO OBJ
serve the work of the congested dis
tricts board. through which the govern
ment is trying to, relieve the distress Of
the poor and make life worth living for
those wretched but courageous souls who
dwell always in the mists OF the noun
tains. among the moorlands and in the
peat boys on the west coast of Ireland.
| They are the poorest, the least nourished
and the most helpless portion of the pop
ulation. They are scattered widely. The
ara BILE soil in this section is so scarce
that they cannot live in communities and
survive.
The Bog Trotters and Their Cabins
Here and there among the rocks where
the kindly winds have dropped grains of
earth during the ages they are cultivat-
| ing little patches OF potatoes and cab
| bage They follow a few cows and goats
| that nibble at the blades of grass that
| grow in the cracks of the rocks, and
l Keep d lew CiIlCkenS, winch snare with
them the shelter of a leaky cabin built
of rough stone with mud floor and a
roof of straw.
These cabins are as comfortless as one
can imagine. but they are no worse than
thousands that may be found in our
southern states. in the mountains of Ten
| nessee, Kentucky North Carolina and
virginia. Thousands of crackers in
! Georgia have no better homes and no
| more consultations in life. but their cab
| neatly Eon
situated among such filthy and loath-
some surroundings as those of the Door
'bog-trotters" of Ireland. 1t is impossi-
Bile to understand why they always pile
| the manure before the door, but they al
| ways do.
The interior of the cabins is quite as
repulsive as the exterior. The chickens
run in and out with the children and
! they kape the pig in the paarlor" be-
cause that is the only room in the house
/ and there Is no other pen. The inevitable
naoy-you never enter a cabin without
| nnding one-is always in its mother
arms and another Is generally clinging to
her skirts. while two or three more are
playing in the filth around the door.
A Picture of Poverty.
There is only one room, where they all
sleep. the elder ones upon rough benches,
covered with pallets of straw, and the
younger ones on the floor; grandparents
parents. children. pigs and chickens
young and old, both sexes. lying side by
side, with whatever covering their scanty
| earnings enable them to provide. There
are no sheets or mattresses; no pillows
| only comfortables that have been used
| for generations and tattered blankets that
| are never washed. There is no furniture
but table and two Or three stools. There
are shelves and a few hooks and nails
| driven into the walls. There is no stove.
but a peat fire under the chimney. where
the mother cooks in pans and kettles
when the weather is stormy and uses a
doesn't rain or blow. There are few
dishes, mostly broken china, and covers
| Of tin cans. The walls are windowless:
| there is no light but that which comes
through the door. and during the long
! winter nights, when in this latitude, it
becomes dark at o'clock the family
hibernate in the darkness because can
dies are beyond their meanF and burning
peat gives no light. You can understand
why SO many of these poor wretches lose
their wits. The insane asylums Of Ire
| land are filled with unfortunates from
this coast: most of them are hereditary
and chronic cases. caused by melancholia
nervousness and starvation l have been
trying to find out how they spend their
| time during the long winter evenings, but
nave been unable to get any satisfactory
| Information on that point.
Children Of the Mists.
Notwithstanding these conditions a
stranger always receives a polite and a
| cordial welcome and usually an invitation
| to come in, rest and drink cup of milk
There is no apology for poverty or the
appearance Of things: there Is no obse-
| quiousness and no insolence, but a dig
| nif1ed. hearty handclasp at the coming
and going, and cheerful invitation to
call again.
W. or;
| bly, well behaved and polite. Although
| their clothes are ragged and their bodies
are filthy with dirt, they have the same
manners you would expect among the no.
bility: They are always obedient. defer
entail and unselfsh. They are kind and
| attentive to their younger brothers and
| sisters. and show perfect respect to their
parents and elders. we have seen them
in the cabins. in the fields and in the
schools. I have asked everybody where
them department In this barren wilder
ness of filth and bad smells. l asked
Miss Walsh, the medical officer of the
district, who goes from cabin to cabin. a
nell who has charge Of the lace school:
asked the head constable at the pOlice
station; l asked the school teachers and
others. and they all say that the polite
ness Of the Irish peasants, like thef,
pride. Is inborn. and final proof that they
are the descendants OF kings
Proud, Polite, Tactful.
This pride is a strange thing, and II
is most surprising. Every woman YOU
find in a soiled and ragged dress In a
wretched cabin receives you as her equal
and talks with dignity and without re-
straint, and Mr.. Duke, manager of the
Eccles Hotel, told me this morning OF a
mountain peasant whose raggedness
aroused his sympathy, but who would not
accept a suit of clothes
Miss O'Donnell. the lace teacher, and
Miss Walsh. the nurse. tell us that the
pretty young women we saw in the lace
school and the boys and girls we saw
in the national school. all come from
such cabins as l have described Some of
the blue-eyed. barefooted urchins have
compilations that society bellies would
give their souls for, and long, beautiful
coal black hair, yet they sleep on a mud
| floor with pigs and chickens, and many of
| them walk three and four miles and back
| for the privilege Of attending school.
They tell us that with little training
these children make excellent servants.
faithful obedient and tactful and that
almost without exception they go to mass
and confession regularly. and that thew
| have high standard Of morals and q con-
| scientiOus devotion to duty
Chastity and Education.
Although II costs as much tn cot NOV