The sun., 1919-04-30
HEROISM OF GOTH
TOLD BY FIR. DUFFY
Audience Is SpellbOund While
Priest Relates Deeds That
Won Fame.
VALOR OF IRISH SHOWN
Recalls Battle Lit "Slackers"
Voted Country Dry When
We Went Over Top.

Father Duffy OF the old Sixty-nlnth
Regiment came back to his own last
night To an audience OF fathers and
mothers and wives and sisters that filled
Carnegie Hall to the topmost gallery
the galleries most crowded Of all-he
told for more than two hours stories of
blood and fire, of whimsical testing In
the face OF death, OF daredevil courage
and all that made up the history OF his
beloved Irish soldiers "over there" and
the more he told the more people called
for When ne began at 10 o'clock a
programme of music and speeches hav-
ing preceded HIM. he said:
"If some OF you want to be going
out I'll not complain, and when l see
that half OF you are gone I'll stop"
When II was almost midnight ne
stopped suddenly in the tale OF bloody
night at Champagne, the first time
got good and scared" he said, and
asked Want to go now"
moi" came the unanimous roar
One great charm of his tales was that
he seemed to know every lad In the
regiment by name. and spoke OF them
as a brother might--of the Jews, yes
and the Dutchmen who filtered into this
old Irish regiment almost as proudly as
he did of his own Irish.
a
| certain background OF ideals that
made them one"
The only thing he spoke of with dis
| taste was some British uniforms that
once by some mistake were sent to his
Irish to be worn. With inimitable
| humor and his touch of rich brogue he
| described the wrath OF the men, who de-
manded to know: "Pfhat do they name,
sndin' those domned things to be worn
by dacint min that's fightin' for thin p
Such was the agitation that Father
| Duffy sought some one higher UP and
talked the matter over
He asked me, Would they object to
British shoes now" related the Chap
lain, and 1 answered No. for they
could be stamping on them
I'VE are strong partisans for self
determination OF Ireland" he went on;
and then he told thrilling story OF
how five soldiers. four OF them Irish
elected temporary captain in the alb
sence OF the regular one and saved some
difficult situation. And yet people say
Ireland can't rule herself" he exclaimed
| Prohibition was another thing the
| Chaplain did not speak of with entire
approval. and he repeated the song the
Sixty-niners sang with the refrain. The
sfackers voted the country dry while we
| went over the top"
There was little drinking among the
men over there" he said in speaking O,
the decent moral life" they lived. "and
what there was did them no narm
When I would see our men come in from
battle, dirty, lousy. tired, and saw
group Of Frenchmen sitting and drinking
their red wine. I felt there was no better
use / could put what money l could gel
than pass 1t on TO them to buy rec
wine"
And yet. on top of all his funny tale.
the story of the sruff New York voice
that rose above the CONSERVATION or,
night In village when II was rurnorec
that tho Germans we're coming, tn,
Ruwery voice demanded. Well, what tn,
he'll do they think we come lo0kin' for p
and Of Jerome O'Neil the sergeant. whc
demanded. You're asking II we've go
morale IF We had anything like tina
around here we'd pull it"--on top OF al
that. at the end. Father Duffy confessed
70 a great sadness that he has brought
back from France
War is a bad business" he said e!
mans got to put a lot OF things dow
as more important than life. There's
heavy price that's been paid. 1t rest
on my mind more than | care TO tall
about Armistice day was a sad da
! Tor me, thinking of the good lads VIII
had passed out; and these days OF wei
come home are sad with thinking Of tn
mothers whose SONG didn't come back
And yet | don't know--it Is better to -
that way than to hang on till fifty o
sixty and rot away. And when the Six
ty-ninth paraded up Fifth Avenue yes
terday there was something they pasS@
on to the young lads who watched. tn
lads OF six and sixteen. Yes. We of Ire
land, the race that's been downtroddeI
but never degraded, received the fiac
, stan to carry and we carried il on : an
now we have put something in the youn
who are coming on to follow us; some
: thing thst will not leave them"
The lecture was given for the beneN
OF the New York Founding Hospita
which is having its golden jubilee. Her;
~ Heide, chairman OF the hospital can
paign committee. to raise $4,000 IN
troduced the speakers. Senator Dari
!. Walsh made a short address Sine
= MIS- orchestra played American an
, Irish melodies. and Ser;t. Thom3s he
!, ~. OF the Sixty-ninth, and Eva Ciauthie
and John Finnegan sang. Archbisho
0 Hayes occupied the box opposite II
/ stage. and directly under his seat wer
| mad ~ aud daa,