Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 154, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 June 1916 — The Emerald Isle [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Emerald Isle

THE historical and political importance of Ireland has created in the minds of many Americans an exaggerated idea of the island’s physical proportions and the density of its population, two vital factors in England’s task of suppressing the rebellion which had its inception in the capital and largest city, Dublin. According to the National Geographic society’s bulletin the whole of Ireland embraces an area slightly less than the state of Maine, but with a population almost six' times as dense. In comparison with the governing country, it is three ; fifths as large as England and Wales, with one-ninth the population. The island is one of the very few sections of the civilized world where the population has shown a marked decrease during the last century, The first census of the island, taken in 1821, recorded a population almost 50 per cent larger than at the present time, while the census of 1841 showed the high-water mark of more than eight millions, nearly twice the present "population of 4,375,000. This remarkable decrease, due largely to emigration, began after the famine brought about by the destructive disease which attacked the potato crops of 1845. This calamity resulted in the withdrawal of more than a million acres from cultivation within two years. Incidentally the potato, which has played such an important role in the life of Ireland during the last 300 years, is not indigenous to the island, but was one of the food gold mines discovered by the Spaniards in the.lr conquest of Peru. The country is directly indebted to Sir Walter Raleigh

for Its “Irish” potatoes, as it was he who brought them from what is now North Carolina and planted them on his estate near Cork in 1585. Mountains, Bog 3 and Lakes. Ireland lies on the western rim of what was once a part of Continental Europe. It has numerous mountains, the highest being the McGillicuddy Reeks (3,414 feet), in the Killarney region, but there is no mountain chain or elevated "backbone." There is a more or less well-defined central plain, however, the distinguishing feature of which is its bogs —the black bog producing - the famous peat fuel, differentiated from the brown bogs of the mountains. If the whole island were brought to a mean level it would rise 400 feet above the sea. The lakes, or loughs, of Ireland are among its most widely appreciated physical characteristics, their scenic beauty being the inspiration of poets, painters and musicians. Nor have the Irish rivers been overlooked in appraisals of the island’s beauties. The Shannon, which flows for 250 miles from the county of Cavan in the northwest to - the Atlantic in the southwosj;, is the longest water course iip the Dnited Kingdom. It is navi-

gated by large steamers for half its length, and is connected with Dublin by means of the Grand and Royal canals. Although coal is found in most of the 32 counties into which the island is divided, and there is considerable iron ore, mining is not an important industry. Gold was being mined in a modest way in County Wicklow at the time of the rebellion of 1798, but the works were destroyed and the source of the metal has never been re-discoverecL— r Industries of the Island. Agriculture and stock raising are the chief occupations of the inhabitants. At one time the woolen manufactures of the island were formidable rivals of English factories, but hostile legislation gave the industry a check from which it has never recovered. As the Irish' have raised flax for centuries the manufacture of linen early became one of the important industries of the country. Irish whisky is an important article of export and one of the largest breweries In the world is located at Dublin. The production of beer is three and a half million barrels annually. Shipbuilding in the great yards at Belfast is one of the most widely known of Irish activities, and the deepsea and coast fisheries afford a livelihood for many thousands. Thanks to the temperate influence of the -west winds from the Atlantic, the thermometer rarely reaches freezing point in winter, while the average for a summer day is 60 degrees. At Toor Head on the north the distance to Scotland (Mull of Cantiri) is only 13% miles. The Giant’s Causeway, a short distance to the east of this point, Is the outcropping basaltic formation which in a former age joined the two islands.

IN A KERRY VILLAGE.