Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-08-24
JUMPING OFF PLACE
C0nnemara the Extreme West
ern Part of Ireland.
WHERE POVERTY REIGNS
Poor Land and Poor People, But Fine
Church.
THE REAL GODFREY O'MALLEY
Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Sta
ton Where Messages Are Sent
Across the Atlantic.
WHERE POVERTY REIGNS
THE REAL GODFREY O'MALLEY

chicago Retor0-heralu
CLIFDEN. August 49, 1908.
This is the extreme western point OF
ireland and for that reason Marconi Sc
;lected it for his wireless telegraph sta
stion in communicating with Canada and
:the United States. 1t is 1870 miles in
}direct line to st. Johns, New Brunswick.
sand as a gentleman with whom l was
talking today remarked: There's not a
.spheck of Dire land upon which a burrd
could rist the sole of its foot bechune this
blessed spot and Americky.' If you will
take the map you will understand the
:situation better, and a geological chart
tOf the island will show you that the
western coast, from Mizzen Head to
Bloody Foreland. is protected by chain
of mountains, bleak. rugged and abrupt,
(which nature has placed as a buttress to
Support the rest OF Ireland against the
sfierce attack of the Atlantic. They have
terrible storms over here and northwest
gales several times year that are ter
;rinc. The east winds. which We dread.
bring good weather in Ireland, but the
WEST wind brings storms and cold and
:mists that are almost as bad as the Lon
don fog.
Poor Land and Poor People.
This is the congested district. but it
sdoes not bear that name because the
population is overcrowded. but because
sthere are too many people for this inhos-
,pitable land to support The habitants
;are scattered over vast area. The other
tday I was told that could see from one
7pOint far as radius of twenty-five
smiles and there wasn't human habita-
st1on in sight. nor was there any induce
:Thent to build one because the country
.was a bleak, barren, rocky wilderness
without soil for crops or shelter for cattle.
Here exists the greatest degree of pow
.erty and suffering in Ireland and here
1.-The government is doing its greatest
benevolent work in trying to place the
tpeople upon farms that are large enough
Ito support them and find them other oc-
tcupatfons by which they can earn a few
Traditional dollars.
A railway was built from Galway along
the edge of the ocean to Clifden a few
years ago and the track hugs the coast as
closely possible.
An hour after leaving Galway ma
stufne begins to disclose her unfriend-
illness; the mountains begin to loom
up to height of 1900 and ZOO feet, the
Landscape becomes stern and forbidding
and there is no vegetation except heather
(which Is now in full bloom and which
adds purple hue to the wilderness.
Heather seems to be as brave, as endure
ing and as self-reliant as the sagebrush
that decorates the arid plains of our
courage it's growth. Alternating with the
rocks are peat beds, In which people are
tbusy getting out a supply of fuel for next
swfnfer and stacking 1t in little piles to
sdry.
Connemara Marble.
The most prominent feature of the
Landscape Is a group of mounts aims called
1.-THE Twelve Bens"--sometimes written
1.-THE Twelve Pins" They are so called
specause Of their conical, dome-like peaks
sand the similar individuality Of each.
They rise almost from the level of the
atlantic, and for that reason look higher
than they really are. The highest is Ben
Baum. 2,3a3 feet. and the lowest is Ben
Brach. 1922 feet. Their sides are SCARED
with the wounds of terrestrial commissions
and glacial action, and they are composed
very largely Of quartzite, which fire.
quently furnishes white surface that
glistens in the sunlight and adds to the
picturesque effect. From these mountains
comes the Connemara marble, the most
valuable stone in the United Kingdom,
often as fine i'm grain as the malachite
and lapis lazuli of the Urals and the
onyx of Mexico. 1t is used both for con-
struction and for ornamental purposes.
and the quarries are very profitable.
The landscape is dotted with little lakes
and ponds which have visible outlet
but are all connected somehow under
ground. Most of them cover only an
acre two. but Lough Corrib is the
largest in ireland. except Tough Neagh,
near Belfast. Tough Mask and Tough
Cong are also several miles in length
and two three miles in width There
are said 10 be 800 lakes in Ireland, and
one would judge that the larger number
of them are in Connenara.
Good Fishing, But No Fish.
They are fed by springs and rainfall and
are said to abound in fish. The railway
companies advertise this as the best fish
ing ground in the world and announce
sthat they have leased several of the
tloughs in order to provide free fishing to
sall excursionsts. That is great attrac-
tion for city people when they take their
vacations because elsewhere, as a rule
when a man wants to go fishing he is
compelled to take out license and pay
handsomely for the privilege-from So 80
to 50 day. Therefore the advertisements
of free fishing in Connemara. combined
with the scenery. which is highly admired
and considered second only to that of
Switzerland. bring great many people
here. But most Of them are disappointed.
There, Is plenty Of water to fish in, there
are plenty Of boats 10 hire. but fish are
scarce, and no matter when you go the
Oldest inhabitant always insists that he
never knew a time when fishing was SO
bad ii Is now. There are many skep-
tics and few cynics about who give you
true statement of the situation. Boots
at the hotel asserted that if anything
could be caught in the lakes We might be
sure that the fishing would not be free
{ land added sarcastically that the only
freason ii was free was that nobody ever
3caught anything.
"Agin' the Government"
! The OBriens were once the kings of
athis country. and they were driven out by
1.-THE O'Flaherties. who in turn. were
Sdriven out by the English. You can see
sthe ruins Of Castle Ballyqurk. the prin-
scipal fortress of the OFlahe-ties. from
ithe car window and read the terrible
tetory of how the chief of that clan was
imprisoned in its keep in the time of
Queen Elizabeth and starved 10 DEATH
: The O'Flaherties were always "agin' the
government and were so impertinent In
their replies and so arrogant In their de-
meanor that Queen Elizabeth decided to
bring them to submission and nearly ex-
Terminated the family before she did So
1.-THE OFlaherty''-the head of the fam
lily at present. is Mr.. ]. p. O'F1aherty
;justice of the peace. who lives at Lemon
iheld upon the ancient estates, but retains
svery little of them.
! IL Clifden were not such a dirty town
: IT might be made popular health resort.
The air is glorious. the natural surround
ings are grand and would tempt many
4 artists as we'll admirers of scenery.
There are excellent hotels here hut
the town is decidedly unattractive. the
streets are filthy. the walks in the neigh
( borhood of the town are used so much by
the cattle that they are quite unclean
The people do not seem to have any idea