The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-03-09
SOUTH IRELAND
. HARD HIT by
BATTLING
Unemployment, Generalization
| and Robbery Reported Prev
/. aIent in Many Places.
BY DANIEL O'CONNELL,
: International News Service.


South OF ireland faring after the
terror Of the last eight months?
Badly, I'm afraid. Unemployment,
decentralization and robbery are prev
alent in many places and, although
the Free State Government is grad
ually bringing conditions under con-
troll, the process is slow and tedious.
| have just returned from a trip
to Killarney. the famous Irish tour
| from Dublin under prevailing con-
ditions is not altogether ideal. There
are risks and fears every mile Of
4 the long. rocky road.
How incongruous 1t seems In all
the wonderful beauty Of Killarney
to think and speak Of death! One
can scarcely conceive such a pos
sibiIity..s To be there, to know, to
| see, to hear the stories that are
told OF the hardships the people
have to endure, of the many con-
flicts, Of the coming of death-it
Ian seems like bringing a terrible
hell into a delightful heaven. And
yet 1t IL the bald. asked truth.
4 Has Suffered Most.
Killarney, the beautiful, the
i Eden Of the West" the blessed
4 and pampered pet Of nature. has
suffered most, and Is now. slowly
recovering from her agony, fear and
dread. III
This journey in the south I will
try to divide into three stages
the three stages which are neces-
sary to complete the journey
namely, Limerick, Tralee and Kilar.
ney. Speaking in broad terms, the
IsituatiOn in Limerick is somewhat
improved. There is nothing. how
ever, in the nature Of general nor
mality. A big crop of weeds, which
Ewill require good deal OF time
and trouble to remove, Is indicative
OF general conditions.
Six months ago, when I was in
Limerick, the fighting by the Free
State soldiers was in full swing
outside the city. Now it is like
visiting a new country. The war
on the railroads by the Republi-
cans had not become very acute
then, yet 1t was impossible TO get
into Limerick by rail. The nearest
could get was Nenagh. and from
there / was compelled to get
push bicycle and had to work
around through Clare into Liner
lex. No automobile could get
through, as the roads had been
trenched and mined.
The Journey is still slow and
Ions. and In many places the engi-
neer has to slow down his engine
and crawl over temporarily re.
paired breaches, but the trip can be
made by rail.
When I started out from Dublin
recently I set myself the task of
counting the number of broken
bridges and the number of signal
cabins and railroad buildings which
have been burned Before got to
Limerick / realized the futility of
the job and threw 1t up in despair.
What I should have done was to
count the number that had not
been destroyed.
$6,OOO,OOO Property Damage.
There is scarcely a bridge or a
railroad depot between Limerick
and Dublin that has not been dam
aged. The total cost OF the prop
erty destroyed Is estimated at
| $4,000, 900 or more. Every quarter
of a mile is guarded by little
group of Free State soldiers. 1t
was cold and miserable. Showers
OF sleet, snow and rain, accom-
panied by biting blast, made one
shiver, and yet along the railroad,
living in dugouts and in impro-
vised shelters Of every kind, were
the troops Of the Free State. In
one place they were stationed I'M
der a rudely constructed hut be.
meath which swirled the waters Of
a swollen stream. At all the sta
tons guards are mounted day and
night, and 1t is solely due to their
presence that travel is possible at
all.
| Limerick city, however, is nearly
normal SO far as business is con-
cerned. I had scarcely left the
train when I ran into a scene of
busting commercial ativity remi-
niscent OF the days of peace. Last
July 1t had been almost impossible
to obtain a room in a hotel, as most
Of the hotels were closed. Now
they are open and eager to accom-
modate the traveller. Business is
beginning to boom. The courts are
open, and the Free State troops
and the civic guard are maintain
Ing conditions which, in contrast
to those Of seven months ago,
might truthfuily be described as
peaceful.