Evening star., 1940-10-20
Neutral Fire Divided
In Views on War,
Writer Discovers
Peaceful County Kerry
Looks on Conflict as
Matter of Headlines
By TOM YARBROUGH.

London and to find out how Ireland
felt about the war.
1t would be a swell place to come
for a vacation. Just "a hours from
the heart of England, it has cloud
capped mountains and the sea, plen-
" of light to see by and "a hours Of
quiet every day.
John, the hotel man who meets
ali trains, didn't say word. He
lust took my bags and started walk
ing to the hotel
l followed more interested IN the
cows, dogs, two-wheeled donkey
carts and black -shaWled old women
In the slanting street than in John.
who left me in the lobby. carried
the luggage upstairs and in two min
utes came down again.
Then he spoke.
War Seems Far Away.
Number nine he said. That was
all. He didn't care about London.
At least he didn't ask.
1t is a pious town Of LOO persons
is of them Protestants-and 48
pubs. To Cahirciveen the war Is
mostly a matter of headlines-of a
tragic spectacle far removed from
this simple life on an inlet of the
Atlantic.
But the people talk about it with
good word for both sides. The
opposite viewpoints were exempli-
fed by two archeologists IN front
of smoldering peat fire one night.
One said the crumbling walls Of
old English estates in Ireland were
"the signs of the time, the symbols
Of a passing order"
Then he added, paradoxically. and
with a tone of despair, British in
fluence is stronger in Ireland today
than ever. We have been con-
ouered by them too long. The Ger
mans would be no worse"
Sees Choice Of Devils"
His companion pulled on pipe
and countered:
It's better to have devil you
know than a devil YOU don't know,
better an old experienced imper-
ialism than a bold, untried new one.
We've come a long way since the
last war. when even the little dom
KEY carts in our town carried the
British flag. At the start of this war
a lot of people said neutrality for
ireland was impossible. but we have
been neutral for a year already.
We've come a long way!'
This was the first land Charles
Lindbergh saw when he flew to Paris
in 1927. Cahirciveen still laughs
about the woman who was walking
along a country road when he flew
over. Terrified by the sound, she
looked ahead and behind. then out
to sea and back to the town-but
she never looked up
The region has close ties with the
United States, for. as one townsman
put 1t, I'VE raise OConnells, O'Sul-
livans, ONeills and O'Sheas for ex-
port to America Some have made
money and have come back to the
green hills Of home.
Meets Fastest Talker.
Mountains rise in semiclrcle
around the arm of the sea that holds
this old settlement. Misty clouds
hang over them, hale obscuring a
gorgeous patchwork OF soft purple
heather and flaming yellow gorse,
whitewashed cottages and stone
walls that checkerboard the land
scape into countless brilliant green's,
hecked with sheep and cattle.
The night I arrived two friends
took me into the bay in a rowboat.
At the little pier We found Danny
O'Sullivan. a leather-faced farmer
and fisherman. whose talk was the
fastest I've ever heard.
whats he speaking?' I asked,
"Gaelic?"
English my friend said. 1T
takes time to understand him"
Kerry people accent sentences
rather than words, and usually end
the sentence with a rising infection
that gives 1t sing-sons sound. And
they seldom answer a question with
4 simple yes or no" They say
"I did" or Il will" or Il have and
90 on.
After we had missed several shot
gun shots at pigeons in the bay
Danny O'Sullivan pulled the boat
into a cavernous cove that echoed
the gloomy swish of the waves. He
leaped to the rocks and started jerk
ing up seaweed, cramming it into
his mouth and all the while trying
to keep up his rapid-firc monologue.
It turned out that this type of sea-
weed is a sort of local chewing gum.
Goes Grouse Hunting.
Next day we hunted grouse on
steep Knocknadober, where fog cut
the visibility to 80 feet. We got
wet to the skin and one grouse,
which was fine for lunch.
I shared the bird with an Amerl-
can turned a Kerry man, who be-
came fed up with the hustle-bustle
four vars ago, gave up his ice plant
near Chicago and came to Ireland.
A Shakespearean actor told him
Cahirciveen was nice, quiet place
to 70, and he has been here ever
SINCE, IlJOylllb Oil AiluopCiioeiAo AL =
come, taking enough. ale to keep
him happy. passing the hours ex-
changing American tales for the
talk of Kerry.
We were half through the grouse
when the waitress, bespectacled
Bridget somewhere between "a and
36 years of age, brought some fruit
salad
Now, I may be peculiar" said
the man from Chicago, but I like
my dessert with the main dish-not
after" And he took bite.
This was too much for Bridget
"Glory to God!" she cried. You
can't beat the Yanks!"
Bicycles to Beach.
The next trip was to q white
strand 3 miles from town, an
easy bicycle ride. From bridge by
the railroad station We saw men
catching salmon. We pedaled on
along a road heavily lined with
luxuriant fuchsia, then turned down
a shaded way that seemed the