Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 50, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 August 1889 — “BE GORRA, I SAVED THE STARS." [ARTICLE]

“BE GORRA, I SAVED THE STARS."

A Story that Made Every Listener SprlnfftO His Feet. “I was present not long ago,” said the colonel, “at a banquet where an old army officer of English antecedents was on the programme to speak to the sentiment, ‘The Irish in the Union army—courageous and loyal Americans, they were as true as the truest, as brave as the bravest.’ This puzzled me greatly. Why should an American of English descent be called upon to compliment the Irish-Americans? I did not understand the situation until my friend, one of the hard fighters of the war, arose to speak. His speech was simply a little story, and yet it stirred me as few speeches ever did. “My friend of English antecedents sat near the center of a long table. Almost opposite him sat a stoutly built man who would have been handsome but for the fact that his eyes were sightless. This blind man received little attention except from the men who sat on either side of him, both of whom wqre Irishmen and strangers to tho majority of the guests. When the toast was read, speaking iu such enthusiastic terms of the Irish soldiers of the war, their faces flushed, and they sat erect, looking straight across at the man jwho was to respond. “My first surprise was in the manner of the speaker. I knew him to be one of the coolest and most unexciteable of men, but as ho rose to his feet I saw that he was controlled by strong emotion. He stood for a minute looking down the line at the table, as if studying the thoughts of every man present. Then he began in a quiet tone saying that when this toast was assigned to him he was puzzled to know why he should be selected above all others to speak of Irish courage in the Union army. “He had said as much to his wife, but as he said it there came to his mind an incident of his army life that made the whole matter clear to him. Then he proceeded to relate the story of his experience at the turning point ofjone of'the fiercest battles of the war. In the midst of a hand-to-do contest, when everything depended on every man doing his best, he recieved a blow that sent him headlong to the ground. When he regained consciousness he realized that a terrific struggle was being fought to the death above him. “The first objects to catch his eye were two sturdy legs in blue—the legs of some one standing astride of him. The owner of the legs seemed to bo bending this way and that to shield the prostrate officer from blows that were falling on his own devoted head. The fight waa over the flag, which was torn in fragments as the men struck and cut at each other in the fury of their wild excitement, but, happen what might, the one man standing astride the captain never moved his feet. The captain did not know who this stout defender was until in answer to a demand to surrender there carpe in Irish bogue, ‘To hill wid you!’ “He realized then that Pat Mcßride was fighting against odds for the flag and his captain. He realized, too, as blood came dropping down in his face, that Pat was sorely wounded. He knew this when in a few minutes he was dragged out from the heap of wounded and saw Pat fall down from loss of blood. They found wadded into Pat’s blouse that part of the flag containing the stars, and Pat’s only remark, as they strove to revive him, was, ‘Be gorra, I saved the stars’— stars, alas, that he could never see again. “This was in brief the story, but il was told by a man who felt every word, and was told so dramatically that at its close nearly every man at the table was standing on his feet. As the speaker went on to pay his tribute to the man who had saved his life, and piotured him as the ideal of soldierly courage and loyalty, tho blind man stood like one entranced, and as the speaker closed, he plunged across the table, reckless of glass and china, and with a howl of exultation, threw his arms about his old captain. “The scene that followed was simply indescribable. The story called out au the demonstrativeness of the Irish nature. The speaker was overwhelmed with congratulations and thanks. Listening to what was said, to other stories that this one story called out, 1 understood why the officer of English anteedents had been selected to speak of the courage and spirit of the men of Irish descent in the union army,”— Chicrgo Inter Ocban. “And now, IHU* girls," said a Sunday school taaaher, "you may tell me about the Epiatiea.” A Uttla gbrl held up her hand. l< wWt,” said the teacher. ‘-The Bpistit are the wifes Of the Apoatlee.”