The Irish standard., 1908-01-04

have gone into desuetude. the children
seem to suffer universally from decay
ed teeth, so that one in twenty about
has the usual quantity in working Or
der furnished by nature.
A friend Of mine lately passed by an
old abbey i'll the County Glare, in
which there is a large mound of hui
man. bones disinterred for some rea-
son.. There are several hundred skulls
among them, and scarcely a tooth is
missing from them. although many of
their owners must have been aged per-
sons. In many towns in Ireland some
years ago. u dentist could not make a
living, as his services were not re
.quired for patching and filling and ar
resting decay. Now that profession
aourishes. Tea is said to be a contrib
utory cause. 1t is simply corroding
the stomachs of Irish children, and is
responsible for many bodily and ment-
al ills. l must say that the children
of West here are far ahead of children
I have seen elsewhere in Ireland, from
the. point of view Of health, as their
parents have been mostly brought up
in the country and so less under the
influence of the many phases OF mod
ernity, which has caused such havoc
in other parts of the land.
:Carrick was once famous for it's ath-
letes, and, lndeeo, it's laurels are still
green to some extent in this respect,
for there are some successful competI-
tors with donors and medals thick up
on them living in townlands in the
vicinity. The world-famous Davins are
still hale and hearty. Patrick, the
jumper, looks as spruce and tidy. as
when he bounded over six and one
half feet, while his brother, the ia
nous sledge thrower, is as straight as
a lance. l called OIL him some time
ago. He lives near Coolamuck, and is
the proprietor of a salmon weir on
the SUR, which runs few yards from
two inches and is fifty-four inches
around the chest. He believes that
teetotalism is the only chance for the
athlete who wants to succeed. He
never trained on any particular kind
of food and was very partial to mug
of buttermilk, and would not think of
missing, his morning plate of stirabout
as a preliminary.
Meat he: regards as quite unneces-
sary, to any extent, as an article of
food for the formation Of bone and
muscle. 1t is Mr.. DAWN of whom
am speaking who originated the idea
Of: Ringing the sledge with one hand.
His is an interesting career. He tells
Of his visits to various countries, and
is full of anecdotes of his expert
ences and of athletes against whom he
competed. His rooms bear ample tes-
timony Of his preWess. All sorts of
trophies glitter on the mantel-piece
and under glass cases on the side
boards. He never got his photo taken,
SO let us hope he will be snapshotted
some day. Joseph Quirk. Of Carrick.
Informed me that he once saw Mr.
DAWN at exercise in a quiet corner be-
hind fence all to himself. He was
throwing a f-hundredweight over a
crossbar and catching it on the other
side as it fell-a veritable lion at play.
He was getting the right hand into
swinging form for a big. event.
DAWN acquired much Of his strength
rowing on the SUR. In the early days
before the railway was built an I'M
mense trade was done on the river by
boat. The Davins were proprietors of.
sailing and row boats, and so young