The Irish standard., 1912-11-23

co the detention insisted upon
a. I'D has resulted in fewer
girls ! ,eived, the work of the
mission otherwise been unaffect-
ed. AS heretofore, the mission uses
it's influence over steamship lines to
protect Irish girls OH board their ves-
sells. 1t maintains representatives at|
Ellis Island to meet and assist them
OH arrival. 1t examines the claims
and fitness Of the relatives or friends
who call for the immigrants dis
charged to the home. 1t provides a
homo of charge for such girls as are
discharged to the mission by the inn
migration authorities. 1t tries to To-
cate relatives of those who bring in
definite addresses. 1t secures posi-
tion in good families for those ready
to go to work. 1t supplies the good
offices of the priest, whose presence
and advice are ever welcome to the
Irish exile. And the service, in what
out money and without price. That
this can be done is due to voluntary
contributions from friends, many Of
whom belong to the Rosary Society,
which annual membership is renewed
in October.
Before concluding we must refer
- h.
brought vividly homo to us at the
mission. or the one hundred or more
Irish passengers on the Inflated ship,
scarcely forty reached New York.
Thank God, the priests Of the mis-
sion We're able to render these well
come and substantial assistance. They
met them at the pier on the arrival
of the Steamship Carpathia, visited
them in hospitals, received them at
the home, served in their interest on
relief committees and did everything
in their power to console them and
relieve their distress. Nor was this
without reward, for VIC were edited
beyond words at the Christian spirit
they exelnplified. They had lost rela-
tives, companions, clothes, money, but
belief in the goodness and mercy Of
God was still theirs in abundance
Never was the deep, abiding faith OF
the Irish nature SO pronounced.
"At the reunion held April % in the
home thirty of the forty Irish sur
vivors were present. The mission on
that occasion was the medium through
which the Irish Emigrant Society
distributed $1,5O0. The affair was
perhaps the most interesting ever held
in the home that has accommodated
100000 Irish girls. There were tears
and smiles. recitals brimful of pathos,
tragedy and devotion, but uppermost
in the hearts of all was gratitude to
Almighty God.
"At least one incident that occurred
is worth recording here. A corps of
newspaper reporters attended. The
girls - nearly all the boys and men
perished-Were asked to describe
what they saw and heard, the launch
ing Of the lifeboats, the orders given
by the officers and a hundred other
happenings pertinent to the wreck.
One reporter, evidently more inter-
ested in psychology than the others,
asked a bright little girl-Margarct
Devaney, from Knocknarea - to tell
him what she thought, what she did
as the ship was sinking and the end
seemed at hand. With fearful eyes,
for she had lost four companions from
Ballisodare, she answered.: II said
the Rosary" For yourself, he oues-
toned. No. she replied, I didn't
think of myself at all. I offered it
for those whose cries 1 heard, those
that were drowning Truly a pro-
fession of faith worthy daughter of
Erin. And girls, Irish girls, and boys
whether secure or in danger, let us
not neglect the Rosary, and let us
sometimes commend to the Almighty,
through the gracious intcrcession of
Our Lady of the Rosary, the souls of
those that perished on the Titanic