Perth Amboy evening news., 1922-09-06
Geographic News
Bulletins by the
National Geographic Society
APoUT

ABoIl $1,000
The town that named a rhyme
presents another case in evidence
that history repeats itself" for us
patches state that opposing forces
in Ireland are ~contending for pos
session of Limerick.
Limerick has always been con-
sidered a point of great importance
in most of the wars that have swept
| over the storm-ridden Emerald
Isle" says a bulletin of the National
Geographic Society from its WASH
ington, ID. c., headquarters. III is
located where the River
flows neal the head of the unproKen
, stretches of the green Vale OF Tip
perary." continues the bulletin. "uhe
portion of the river Immediately
| above the city is without navigation
for fifteen miles of rushing torrents,
| of falls. and rapids, make the pass
age of any kind of boat Impossible.
| Above these distractions, WeNe
the river flows from its origin. lar
to the north, through ten counties,
widening into stretches OF placid
lake along which boats sail as FAR
as the ford of historic Athlone.
Nonsense Verse Made city faihous
THAT hve-line stanZa when mos
of us are guilty of attempting u
at various lliliCS ~
reers made the town as wen as
Edward Lear famous. And many
notables, such as Rudyard klpllnS'
George du Maurier, Gelett Burgess
and Carolyn Wells, have tried their
hands at penning it. 1t is said tnat
the composition of limericks origin
atcd as a form of amusement Wneh
a crowd of people gathered together
for a pleasant evening in the irish
town. Each person was supposed
to compose a stanZa in turn, n tne
following chorus was sung altel
each new rhyme in order to give
the next contributor time 10 get MS
limerick ready:
"'Oh, won't you come UP, come up
come up,
Oh, won't you come up to Lime
rick?
Oh, won't you come. come all the
way up,
Come all the way up to Lime
rick?'
1.-THE town which occupies both
sides of the river as well as Kings
Island is about 100 miles from Dub
lin. Its bacon-curing industry, its
creameries, it's condensed milk a c
tories, and it's salmon fisheries keep
busy it's Rory O'Mores and its pretty
little Irish colleens, the glances of
whose beautiful blue eyes are liks
to prove as fatal as hose of Kate
Kearney. Limerick fishhooks are
celebrated, and though the Limerick
lace worked upon a fine quality of
net derived it's name from the city,
it is mostly made in other portions
of the island at the present time.
Old AS Days of Ptolemy
"Tjnarjck has had a mast. II W90
the ancient Regia of Ptolemy; the
Danes desired it for a long while
before they finally occupied it in the
ninth century; and in 1910 King
John visited it and built forts upon
it's coveted soil. The dethroned
James II of England made it his
last stronghold. On the island in
the river the ancient Limerick had
it's beginnings, and today its maze
of crooked streets, and its old cathe-
dral dating from 1170 are important
points of interest.
Limerick also has her romance
and poetry. All Irishmen may well
be proud of Gerald Griffin. whose
Eileen Aroon' is a lyric of the ten
derest and most musical quality.
for their beautiful tone. The story
that they were made many
years ago in Italy by a young bell
maker, who after years of toll per-
fected a set of bells the purity of
whose tone satisfied his critical ear.
They were hung in a nearby con-
vent, but during a war the bells
were carried away and M one knew
of their whereabouts.
misfortune fell upon the bell
and he wandered far from
home always with the hope that he
find his beloved bells again.
Hearing that they had been taken
to Limerick, he set out for the city.
While sitting or the deck Of the
vessel as it made it's way up the
River Shannon, he heard the sweet,
pure tones of his bells once again.
fixed his eyes on the distant
whence the music came,
but when they came to tell him that
he might enter the city, he was
|