The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1915-04-11

Ireland is about the size OF the
state of Indiana 1t has i've million
Inhabitants. Once it had eight. and.
when one thinks OF absentee land
lordism, we wonder why the other
Eve millions did not go, too.
The Emerald Isle is very beaut-
full. The winds blow In from the sea
and supply humidity that makes the
flowers blossom and the plants grow.
In Ireland the pasture lands ald
meadow lands, blosson-decked and
water-fed, crossed and recrossed BY
never-ending hedgefows that stretch
away and lose themselves in misty
nothingness, are fair as poets
dream
Birds carol in the hawthornes and
yellow furZe all day long. and the
fragrant summer winds that blow
.aziIy across the fields are laden with
the perfumes OF blossoms
The Irish love the land Of their
fathers with childlfke love- Their
hearts are bound up in sweet memof-
les, rooted by song and legend In
hooks and curious corners, so the ZEN
drills of affection hold them fast.
Whenever an Irish family embarks
for the New World part Of the five
million Inhabitants go down to the
waterstde to see them OF.
Not long ago 1 stood on the dock at
Queenstown watching two hne lads
walk up the gang-plank OF the steam
ship, clad in corduroy, each carrying
big. red handkerchief containing his
worldly goods.
And the next day 1 kept thinking Of
those two nne young men. and l
thought of the wonderful careers Of
many just such Irish boys as these.
The boys had health, strength, am
bition. They were receptive. eager.
earnest And yet there WAS some
thing roIfcksome about them, after
all
Doubtless they could dance and
sing: and knew perfectly well. II
necessary, they could fight, and per-
haps they could fight when ii was not
necessary.
When the two boys with their big
arrive In America
they will get jobs; they will work
hard and faithfully; they win carry
big burdens, and out OF the work they
will get deal Of laughter
And il pivotal point comes where
the average man lays down and quits,
these boys will work on into the night
and show the grit OF the Irish race.
They will become foremen, superin-
tendents, owners.
Such has been the typical career OF
hundreds of Irishmen in America
Think of John B. Mcdonald. who
came to this country with the peat
mud an his bare feet, and who built
the New York subways-an engineer
ing job that had been declared by So
called engineers as impossible
And how about William G.. McAdoo,
John J. Ryan, Morgan ]. O'Brien, VIII
liam R. Grace, Henry Ford. James
Farrell, Senator O'Gorma1 and scores
OF other big boys whose forebears
were fed on spuds and spinach!
I can remember a time when the
section men on the railroads of Amer
lea were all Irish, and we used to
sing: Paddy on the railroad; fifty
cents a day" But We do not sing it
now
II you want to f1d Paddy, Just look
for him In the general Offices.
The Irish possess initiative, original
ity. energy They can plan, devise,
build.
Take up your official railway guide
and observe the names of presidents
and vice presidents, superintendent,
general passenger agents, traffic man
ayers, and you can easily imagine you
are looking through a Dublin tele-
phone directory.
There were the Harahans, father
and son, president and general super
intendent OF the Illinois Central rail-
way. And of the engineers and build
ers lust little removed from the
peat bog let us name Hartman, Flood.
O'Brien, Larkin, Sullivan, Gary,
Geary. Lanahan, Keneficks Driscoll,
Mackey
William T. Noonal, the railroad