Vernon Parish Democrat., 1919-11-29

~ NE would not, OF course, 0e-
scribe the Kerry roads as
"good." There still exist mo-
torists who visit district not
for the sake of rushing through it as
fast as possible-they do not welcome
positively bad roads, but, given roads
which can be driven over, they are less
keen on the goodness of the roads than
the goodness of the views seen there
from. Such, at all events, was the
temperament of our party, says a
writer in Country Life. Some one had
said: "If you don't do the coast
route from Killorglin through Cahirci-
veen and Waterville to Parknasilla
you will miss the finest thing in Ire
land-perhaps in the British Isles;" so
we turned aside at this tempting pros
pect. And we did not regret our de-
tour.
Soon after leaving Killorglin, where
the Caragh lake lies, still and black
in its opening in the hills, we began to
have some foretaste of the glories be-
fore us. The road mounted into barren
wildernesses, and on our right sud
denly the vast blue expanse of Dingle
bay was Outspread, a dream in the sun
shine. Grander and grander grew the
vistas across that splendid inlet of the
Atlantic, wilder and wilder the ranges
on our left At Mountain Stage, where
there is a little railway station (though
heaven alone knows what the traffic
InnN +Io oc oc
anything have witnessed in Great
Britain.
A railway accompanies the road at
intervals during this part of the jour
ney; but it is very unobtrusive rail-
way, and appears to boast about a
couple of trains per diem in each
direction. It's final objective, of course,
is the ferry for Valencia island. And
it is for Valencia that another of our
companions was bound-the telegraph
! line. For Valencia is one of the cable
stations; and those ordinary looking
wires, nine of them only, which pass
from pole to pole along the hedge side,
are throbbing, maybe, with messages
! for New York. A curious thought, in
this solitude! But Kerry is sophisti-
Gated in spots as it were. 1t contains
three cable statiOns-the Valencia is
land one, the one at Ballinskelligs, and
the one at Waterville. The result is
that you suddenly come on queer
cases of civilization: neat rows of viii
las, spick and span gardens, and
evidences-I will not say of wealth, but
at any rate of more comfort than is
discernible in the thatch-roofed and
generally pOverty-stricken farms. A
cable terminal, you learn with sur
prise, employs a hundred or more per-
sOns-slkilled persons, too; the kind
of persons who have to be paid sal
ary which sounds like untold wealth
in this neighborhood.
Happy Valencia Island.
It was interesting to come ito the
Valencia island ferry and look across
at a little town as neat as some nice
French coast resort. But Valencia is
land, as we found, is by way of being
both rich and happy; and even if its
cable station did not bring unusual
comforts, the Knight of Kerry is one
of those landlords who see to it that
their property, and the tenants there
on, are seemly to behold. Valencis
we all liked; it was, to be candid
rather a contrast to the nearby Cahir
civeen-of which a small pupil ha6
written lin one of the schools which
we visited) in her essay: "Cahirciveer
is a town with great many houses
and most of them are public houses.
For all that, Cahirciveen is very
Characteristic and picturesque. Be
yond it the road was, alas, pretty
rough; army lorries, we were told, hat
ploughed il up, and there had been NJ
time, as yet, to put it under prOpel
repair. An easy pace was not undesir
able, all the same, for there was plent!
TO look at. On either hand the hedges
1--WE saw with delight, were fuchsia-
a testimony to the climates softness
Everywhere we went in this part o
Kerry we were astonished at the vege
tation. Fuchsias grew astOnishingly
On Valencia island there is one colOs
sal tree of fuchsia, and here also W
saw glorious pink geraniums positivel
Nmothering cottage wall. Arum lille
fiourished like weeds in the pOores
gardens. Along the bog sides, and righ
down to the seashore, there were Ofte
acres Of yellow irises.