The San Francisco call., 1909-08-22
By HUGH SUTHERLAND
tFlfteenth Letter.


OAsTLEBAR. July 2o.-This little
story is in parentheses. It is a
glance at the other side Like
the account of the Kerry eviction the
other day. it is out Of harmony with
the series of articles. but may be val
liable in giving the reader true per-
spective Of economic affairs in Ireland
We have been surveying the remark
able works OF Improvement which have
been carried on during the last seven
years-the transfer Of tenants from
worthless bog lands and stony hillsides
TO fertile farms: the building of roads
and draining swamp tracts; the erec-
ton OF comfortable, sanitary dwellings
for families migrated TO decent hold
ings: in short. the transferring Of
many thousands Of hapless victims of
the vicious system of landlordism into
independent. seIf-sustaining citizens
Distressing Conditions
Now we shall turn aside for mo-
ment and look at conditions as they
were and as they stiil exist in isolated
districts where for one reason or an
other the congested districts board
has been unable to operate. The pie
ture is not attractive. but it is present
ed because il is typical Of the results
Of the old system and because it serves
10 illustrate how vast is the progress
that has been made. No sensitive
Irishman need shrink at the recital,
FOR the conditions are not due to any
fault Of the people concerned. Rather
he should rejoice that these instances
Of helpless poverty and stifed ambition
are now exceptional. and are soon to
disappear under the operation OF the
land purchase system and the intelli-
gent. helpful work of the congested
districts board.
Hamlet in the Bog
There is no need to give the name
Of the hamlet We reached it while
making detour northward of Charles
town. on the dividing lire between
Counties Mayo and Sligo The country,
for the most part was agrieulturally
poor Sometimes. for miles. the road
wound across a desolate looking bog,
built up like a causeway above a fat
plain Of brown. soggy turf Yet the
population was. for a rural district,
noticeably dense. Here and there on
the wide expanse could be seen clusters
Of thatched huts. with patches of green
that showed where scraps of land, re-
claimed from the bog after the cutting
out Of the peat We're forced TO yield
crops Of potatoes and oats.
There is a certain picturesqueness
even about the commonplace operation
OF turf cutting. The whole surface Of
the bog was SCARED with bitches and
holes. The turf usually five or six feet
in depth. is cut straight down from the
surface with sharp blades. leaving
smooth, perpendicular walls. at the bot
tom OF which pools of water form.
The peat. cut roughly in the form of
bricks, is tossed out on the surface and
then piled in regular heaps from six
10 u feet high. the outside Jumps
being cunningIy arranged to shed the
rain and keep the interior Of the piles
dry. After few weeks exposure TO
the air the turf dries sufficiently TO be
used as fuel It is carried to the homes
IN carts or in huge baskets. These
creels are borne by donkeys, or often
by men and women
Dreary Aspect
At the edge of one of these great
bogs we came upon small section of
firm land. parts Of 1t forbiddingly sown
with rocks. and other parts as forbid
dinghy wet. There were, however. a
pasture here and there and some fairly
decent cultivated land A cluster of
dreary looking thatched houses bor-
dered the road on either side, dozen
in all.
with the officer Of the congested
districts board, I entered eight of the
houses and talked with the persons in
hsbiting them. What 1 saw and heard
pictures the life Of the poorest of the
people here under the old system of
landlordism.
From the roadway we stepped down
six inches into the first house I never
heard 2 satisfactory explanation of this
habit Of building houses below the gen.
ersl level with the floor lower than
the outside surface. Naturally. the
system insures a flooding of the house
with each heavy rain.
This dwelling had single room.