The Irish standard., 1916-08-26
AN iRIsH-AMERIcAN POET WAS
RILEY.

Indianapolis Star as of Dutch de
| scent"
Ii the elder Riley could rise from
his grave over in Greenfield his laugh
7 over this break would prove as at
tractive as the sensation OF his resur
rection. Reuben Riley was born il
!! Pennsylvania and his mother was sale
I to be of the stock that is known as
pennsylvania Dutch
The writer knew him and met him
on several occasions. MIR. Riley, OF
Greenfield, made no bones about call
ing himself Irish, and he attended
: many Irish meetings i'll indianapolis
He was a close friend of Captain F.
j. Kelleher, of Indianapolis, and made
his hat store stopping place in the
old days. In 1893 he wrote a fcryid
letter to Captain Kellchcr expressing
regret that he could not attend the
annual Emmett celebration, and in the
same letter scoring England for her
treatment of Ireland and saying
every man with Irish blood should
keep up the struggle for Irish liberty"
Thus wrote the father OF James
Whitcomb Riley, whom The Star de-
scribes of Dutch descent. We have no
doubt if the elder Riley were alive in
our day, he would not only be accused
Of having Dutch blood in his veins,
but he would merit the title of pro-
German. But this is not here nor
there. The point is that an ATTEMPT
has been made to show that James
Whitcomb Riley was not of Irish
stock. We don't know why.
AS to Mr.. Riley's own views of his
ancestry or racial extraction, we don't
know much except this. He was sat
isfied to be a Hoosicr and an Ameri-
can, and he let it 90 at that which is
good enough for ali of us and an en-
ample to many. But an incident hap
pened when DR.. Douglas Hyde, of
Ireland, visited Indianapolis in 1905.
A banquet was given for the Irish
Gaelic writer and poet at the Denison
Hotel, and among the distinguished
citizens invited to be present was
James Whitcomb Riley. 4 place was
reserved for him at the head of the
table near the Irish poet, anu just as
the guests sat down the late DIR.
Hayes of Indianapolis. Mr.. Riley's
physician, arrived on the scene and
said: Gentlemen. am here at the
request Of Mr.. Riley. He is quite ill
at his home on Lockerbie street. He
asked me to come and say to you
that he is deeply panied at not being
able to greet DR.. Hyde and his Irish
friends here this evening. He has
read of DR.. Hyde, and expresses the
sincere wish that DR.. Hyde call at
his home and see him before he leaves
the city, as he would like to talk with
him about the Irish poets and Ire.
land"
The chairman Of the banquet, A. M.
Sweeney, rose and said that if the
doctor would permit it the distin-
guished guest Of the evening, Dr.
Hyde, and some friends would call on
Mr.. Riley later in the evening.
DR.. Hayes agreed and seemed dc
lighted with the suggestion AS he
was about to leave the banquet table,
begging to be excused, as he had to
hurry back to his patient, DR.. Hyde
rose and, pointing to Il beautiful harp
OF roses and evergreen that he had
been presented with, said: Doctor,
know Mr.. Riley loves flowers. Will
you take this harp of flowers to his
sick room and say sent them to In
diana's beloved and honored poet?'
The banquet hall rang with APP
plause with the suggestion, and the
floral harp was sent to Mr.. Rilcy's
home.
About l o'clock that night, DIR.
Douglas Hyde, accompanied by Sam
ual Quinn, A. NJ Sweeney, Maurice
Donnelly and the writer of this arti-
Gle, went to Lockerbie street to visit
the sick poet. We found him propped
up in bed with the big floral harp at
the side of the bed and DR.. Hayes
and the nurse in attendance. DR..
Hyde and he became like old friends
at once. "Sit right here on the side
Of the bed, Doctor" he said, my
voice is not good and | don't hear so
WE'LL"
The first shot from Riley was this:
Doctor, your name Hyde is not as
good All Irish name as Riley Every
one laughed, and DR.. Hyde replied:
That's true, Mr.. Riley but the Eng
lish have changed the names around
over there by law and it is hard to
know who's who and what's what.
But Riley is a great name in ireland.
Especially is O'Reilly."
We'll, my father sometimes said
our people were O'Reillys way back"
continued the Indiana poet, but they
came to Pennsylvania very early and
suppose dropped the o. However,
am often mistaken for a full-blooded
Irishman, though I'm mixed"
do you know" said the Indiana
Poet, 81 met an old Irishman in
small town where I was featuring ono