The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-08-24
How Miss Mona Atkinson
Kissed BIarney Stone.
Leaned Over Wall Nearly 100
Feet High.
SOME FEAR OF HOME RULE
PrOtestants Say 1t Will Give
Catholics Full Powers.
Pay Girls Small Wages for
Dangerous Work.

At least one Topeka girl has liter
ally kissed the Blarney stone. OF
course nearly all of the sex m ore
deadly than the male have kissed the
Barney stone, figuratively, so any
married man will tell you, but M 'Ss
Mona Atkinson of SIS East Eigh n
avenue, head of the Crosby Bros. art
department has actually pressed her
liDs to the rock of tabled and per-
suasive eloquence imparting right at
BIarney castle, in Cork county, Ire
land.
She kissed the stone when on a Wis
it to Ireland with her father, John
Atkinson, employed at the Santa e
shops. In July. Mr. Atkinson went 70
Ireland to visit relatives. IN his OLD
home in Wexford, Wexford county,
southeastern Ireland. 1t was his first
visit since he left 40 years ago. Both
father and daughter enjoyed their VS.
it, but both prefer living IN America
and in Topeka, Kan, at that
'sSurely I wasn't going to leave Ire
land without having kissed the Blar-
ney stone" said Miss atkinson
great many are afraid to do So YOU
see kissing the BIarney stone is no
iolxe You climb up a winding stair
in the old stone castle and when you
reach the outer air you are nearly
hundred feet from the ground.
How to Kiss the Blarney Stone.
lyon see two iron rods fastened
into the rock. If you want to kiss the
Blarney stone, you must grasp these
rods. lie down and lean way out over
between the battlements, then stretch
your neck over and touch the stone
below you with your lips.
This is what 1 did, while friend,
held me by the heels No, l wasn't
afraid of falling, but L didn't look
down. If / had perhaps 1 would nave
been like the man about whom Bret
Harte said: The subsequent proceed
ings interested him no more
but 1 am glad 1 kissed the stone
and hope it will do me good. need
sblarney' in my business.
II couldn't leave Ireland either
without buying some of the Carrlck
MaCross lace, made by pupils taught
by nuns in the convent And L must
tell YOU that one of the most wonder
full sights in Ireland was an old DOCK
500 years old, I saw in Dublin. 1t was
written by hand with initial letter
hand coIored or illuminated by the
monks of those times.
Irish girls envy American girls for
their social freedom-and all the
Irish like Americans. They think we
are all rich Yes, they know some
thing about America and have nearly
all heard of Kansas. A little nephew
of mine asked me in his quaint
brogue:
of wild Indians in Kansas
Self Supporting Orphans.
ct want to tell about something saw
on the way to the beautiful Killarney
lakes. Living in a little rock and thatch
house were two orphans. A little boy
and girl They lived all alone and male
a living selling souvenir postal cards %
tourists. The floor of the house was of
dirt. It had no windows-only ore
room. The rent was about So a year IN
our money so the little boy told US. He
wanted to come to America.
mo. didn't hear equal suffrage dis |
cussed at all, although the English |
VIC men were full of it.
LAS to the home rule continued Miss
Atkinson, in reply to question of her |
''PH let father tell you"
Mr.. Atkinson here took up the con-
versation. He is type of the best |
lean, one of the Celtic race which IS
both dreamer and practical.
''The Protestant ten per cent of the |
population of Ireland, mostly in the
northern counties, Antrim. Derry, |
Anna and Down. oppose home rule, |
saying that it would be Pope rule Or |
that home rule would give the Catholics /
the whole power. But I think it will |
come and will be beneficial. 1t will en-
courage home industries, to say the |
least.
In Cordite Factory.
But there is one industry which is |
That is the cordite fac |
tory in Arklow. My nephew, George |
Atkinson, is shipping clerk in the fac
tory and took us through We had tc |
wear rubbers to prevent friction and |
a possible spark from nails in ordinary |
shoes. The cordite is a high explo- |
sive, something Ike nitroglycerine and |
was shipped in large quantities to South |
Africa by the British during the Boer |
war. The different workshops of the |
plant are separated by considerable |
distance and between them are mounds |
1f earth, all to deaden the force |
Of a possible explosion. The girls who |
pack the cartridges risk their lives ev- |
svry day-for 81 a week in our money. |
And they are glad to get the work.
Shake Hands Across Street.
wexford, in the county adjoining |
Arklow. was interesting to met is nv
home town. but I prefer living in To-
oeka town. The Ireland town
iates 500 years back and is famous as |
he birthplace of the mother of Sir |
Thomas Moore, the Irish poet. The /
streets are so narrow that two per-