New Britain herald., 1918-09-25
ARCHBISHOP MARTYR TO COUNTRIES CAUSE
John Ireland, Prelate, Dies From Illness Caused by Patriotic Zeal
LED AMERICANISM DRIVE
Famous Prelate of St. Paul Served in the Civil War and Gave Eloquencc Country in Present Conflict.

Country in Present Conflict.
 St. Paul, Sept. 25.-Archbishop John Ireland, of the St. Paul diocese of the Roman Catholic church, died at 3:55 o'clock this morning after long illness of heart disease and stomach trouble. He was so years old
 The archbishop was in frail health for a year Until fall, Archbishop Ireland took a prominent part in patriotic activities and his physicians at that time attributed his breakdown to overWork.
 John Ireland, Archbishop of St. Paul, held such a keen and active in terest in general affairs in the United States during the past half century that he was noted a pubHcist, as we'll as for his religious zeal He was one of the most distinguished of the Roman Catholic churchmen of Amer - ica. There were few fields of intel lectual, political or spiritual endeavor in which he failed to take a positive stand, making himself at times the center of a controversy.
 Born in 1888 in Ireland, a carpen- e- ter's son, he was carried with his parents in the tide of Irish immigra- ton to America while he was a child. N Altar service at Burlington, Vt, and a jolting trip west on a prairie schoon- CT were among his boyhood memories binging him finally to St. Paul. Minn., in 1852, when Indians in gay blankets stalked the streets of that frontier town. One evening, the missionary Cretin, first bishop of St. Paul, while watching from his window some boys of his parish at play, called to JJohn Ireland and Thomas O'Gorman who later became bishop of Sioux Falls--to come into the church. He asked them if they wished to become priests. Both he and his playmate agreed that priesthood was their am bition. Bishop Cretin sent them, in charge of a guardian, to France, where they were educated by the Marist Fathers. When he heard of the outbrestK ~of the Civil War in Am erica the student turned homeward, fired with as much patriotism as re- ligion.
 After being ordained at St. Paul he eagerly sought appointment chap lain in the Fifth regiment of the Min nesota Volunteers.
 Shared Hardships with Soldiers
 He was ardent for the Unionist cause and shared every hardship of the soldiers life in their terrible win- ter raids At Iuka he gave yeoman's help by rushing ammunition to the front when it was sorely needed. He was stricken with fever after less than years service and returned to St. Paul pastorate.
 He soon attracted national atten- ton through his work for temperance. The story is told of how one January night in 1869 three drunkards stag gered into his doorway and handed him d rumpled sheet, which read:
 For Gods sake organize d tenn perance society,"
 The paper was signed by seven men including d Saloonkeeper. Those Were the days when St. Paul was filled with border turbulence and the riot of drink The next Sunday Father Ire land began his paign by organiz- ing a temperance society of so mem- bers He made hut-to-hut visits to St. Pauls shantytoWn, throwing whis- key bottles out of squalid doorways. The work he thus began he extended throughout the northwest and tray eed the whole country preaching tenn perance. He even carried the battle back to Ireland and Great Britain. His energy was so abundant and his zeal for work such that the term "con- secrated blizzard" as applied to him by one of his admirers, was accepted by many others as a peculiarly happy expression.
 He at one time conceived the idea of consolidating the Catholic parochial schools and the public schools. The plan was tried at Fairbault and Still water, Minn., but friction which the archbishop could not relieve arose and the scheme was dropped. He was founder of the Hill seminary on the Minnesota side of the Mississippi river. Tb this he gave his highly prized pri- vate library, one of the most compre- hensive in the northwest. One of his early works was the founding of a colony of 900 Catholic farmers in } western Minnesota in 1876.
 He became bishop in 1875 and arch ebishop in 1886. He received support from many of his admirers for ap- Aointment as the fourth American tardinal. Celebrating his golden jubi- lee few years ago, the priests of his diocese presented him with purse of $100,000.
 As & speaker Archbishop Ireland was direct and magnetic, with a sense of humor. One of the phrases which has often been quoted as characterls- tie of his particular endeaVor in life Is this:
 "The watchwords of the age are reason. education, liberty, the ameli- nratioa of the masses.
 Onposed Teaching of German Tongue.
 Archbishop Ireland's strong Ameri- 2ahisn1, first put to the test when the
 Qyontinued on Sixth Page.)