The Washington times., 1935-03-16
NOW
Some Secrets of
The Shamrock
9KINDS SOLD
BY HELEN ESSARY

BY HELEN ESSARY
Notes on st. Patrick's Day!
Irish botanistS with character
istic independence cannot agree
on the true Shamrock. On last
st. Patrick's Day on the streets
of Dublin, 10 different kinds Of
Shamrock plants we're on sale.
Well, we thought, as we read
the item, here's a problem for
the minister of the Irish Free
State to settle. Mr.. MacWhite
knows about many things.
Surely on the flower Of Ireland
he is an authority. So
"Please say, Mr.. Minister,
which is the real Shamrock"
Mr.. MacWhite, laughing, re-
piled:
"Ah! That's not the kind Of
question that diplomacy can af.
ford to answer. 1t is a bOtaniSt
you want to interview. An up.
tO-date bOtaniSt, in the bar.
gain"
'But what sort of flower was
the Shamrock as you knew it in
Ireland? Perhaps as a bOy?"
The Minister, with a twinkle
In his eye and the brogue of his
nationality in his tongue, said:
'When I was a boy there was
only one Shamrock. 1t was a
small clover. 1t grew in the
fields by the hundreds. 1 can't
describe it to you. But it had
three leaves. No studying was
needed to recognize it.
'Every boy knew Shamrock.
Once in a while we found a
Shamrock with four leaves.
That was a piece of luck that
lasted the rest of your life.
ut was the same little plant
that Saint Patrick stopped and
picked from the field the time
he wanted to explain the Holy
Trinity to the Irish King,
Leary. The King couldn't quite
understand the Trinity. Saint
Patrick held up a leaf from the
Shamrock. And he said:
Here is the Trinity Itself
three leaves, the Father, Son
and Holy Ghost, united on one
Stem.'"
But the Shamrock plants
that you see in this country.
we asked, aren't they real
Shamrocks?
"NO wise man would discourse
on such a subject. You know
that no plant rooted in soil
can be legally brought into this
country. The Department of
Agriculture is afraid of import
ing beetles and such at the
same time.
"Dried ShamrOcks come in
letters and packages from Ire
land with the good wishes of
the sender.
perhaps long ago, before the
shipping of plants was restrict
ed, some immigrant brought in
. Spadeful or two of soil. Like
everything else of an Irish ma
ture in this country, the soil
has probably spread and been
the roofing place for good Irish
ShamrOcks grown for American
taste.
'In some cases, though it is
only my imagination that
speaks, it might be that the
Shamrock on this side of the
water is a bootleg Shamrock.
But always a plant of good in
tentiOns."
The birthday of the patron
Saint of Ireland is no holiday
for Mr.. Michael MacWhite. To
night he goes to New York
(Saint Patrick'S Day is cele"
brated there today with a legal
holiday to speak at the ban
quet of 1900 Friendly Sons of
Saint Patrick.
On Sunday morning the Irish
Minister will talk over the radio
to Ireland. On Monday, the
Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick
in Philadelphia at their 164th
annual banquet also will have
q chance to enjoy one of the
wittiest speakers in this part
Of the world.
Mrs. Phoebe Omlie, of the
Advisory Committee for Aero
nautics, whom Mrs. Franklin
Roosevelt mentioned as one of
the most valuable IL women
of her generation, is famous
pilot and has spent hundreds
of hours in the air. But-Mrs.
Omlie has no flying clothes.
No special aviation clothes.
When Mrs. Omlie flys she
wears her everyday garments.
She has no helmet and no gog-
giles. It is one of her pet
theories that if women could
step into planes without the
annoyance of changing into
some particular uniform. they
would fly more often.
The picture published recent
ly of Mrs. Omlie was one made
six years ago, before she eman-
cipated herself.
Mrs. Henry Morgenthau, jr.,
wife of the Secretary of the
Treasury, escaped serious in
Jury the other day when she
toppled head first down a flight
of Stai~S