Irish News

New Zealand Tablet, 8 April 1915, Page 39

Irish News

GENERAL. Twenty-five constables of the R.I.C. in the County Wexford have volunteered for service in the Irish Guards.. - •-'. Mr. J. J. Holland, late Captain Limerick City National Volunteers, was recently granted a commission in the Army Service Corps. The regiment, of whom 140 have joined the colors, gave him a great ovation at his departure. At the Omagh Crown Sessions, Judge Linehan was informed that there was no criminal business of any kind returned for trial, nor was there any likelihood of any in the immediate future. Colonel Irvine, C. 8., presented his Honor with a pair of white gloves. Mr. P. A. C. Maginn, son of Mr. Maginn, agent of the Bank of Ireland, Ballina, has obtained a commission in. Lord Kitchener's new army. Mr. Maginn joined the London Irish Rifles as a private, was promoted a sergeant, and has now been appointed to commissioned rank. A big building project which is expected to cost several thousand pounds is about to proceed at Mount St. Joseph's Monastery, Roscrea. The addition will provide further accommodation in the community section in the way of bathrooms, sleeping accommodation, etc., the building will be done in stone work and will provide three or four years' work for about 30 to 40 hands. Right Rev. Dr. De Wachter, V.G., Malines, in a letter to the Bishop of Ossory acknowledging that diocese's 'princely gift' of .£1341 13s 5d for the Belgian sufferers, says:—'What strikes me most in these outbursts of generosity is the happiness and kindness of your nation to be able to assist us, the readiness to do their utmost to relieve our needs. What our forefathers have done to your martyrs in time of persecution is not to be compared with what you are doing for us.' „ Mrs. Grogan, Chapel avenue, Monasterevan, lias five sons, all of whom are or were serving at the front., Four of them have been wounded. Michael (Garrison Artillery), at the front, unwounded ; Martin (Connaught Rangers), home on furlough, lost left eye in the trenches, shot out by a bullet: Thomas (2nd Leinsters), home on furlough, wounded by bullet in the thigh, has rejoined at Cork, and is returning to the front; John, home on furlough, also of the Connaught Rangers, wounded in the thigh by shrapnel : and Joseph, also of the Connaught Rangers, who is at present in a French hospital, severe!v wounded in the chest. The news of the death of the Very Rev. A. F. Canon Scully, Hospital, County Limerick, was received with regret by a wide circle of friends. A devoted and popular pastor, the late Canon Scully was a member of an old Tipperary family, and was educated at Stonyhurst College. He received his theological course in the Irish College, Rome, and was ordained as priest in 1864. lie took an active interest in the claims of the Irish tenantry, and did much to negotiate sales under the Laud Purchase Act. He established splendid convent schools, and introduced the De La Salle Order of Christian Brothers. Sir John Purcell, presiding at the annual meeting of shareholders of the National Bank in London, said that the immediate effect of the declaration of war was to dislocate all business. As regarded Ireland, the action taken by the Government in readily falling in with* the views of the Irish bankers smoothed all difficulties existing there, and he expressed the feeling of the Irish bankers when he pointed to the obligation due to Mr. John Redmond for the hearty manner in which he personally pressed upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer and upon the Secretary of the Treasury the necessity for a speedy adoption of their proposals. Ireland was very prosperous.

MORE IRISH WORKERS WANTED. r Some remarkable disclosures regarding the shortage of labor-in the English agricultural districts owing to the war were made at a meeting of the Farmers' Union in Nottingham recently. Councillor Potter said that in the Nottingham district work could be found immediately on farms for 500 men. Mr. Thatcher, manager of the Nottingham Labor Exchange, outlined a scheme whereby he thought it possible to get men from Irish agricultural districts. This suggestion was heartily approved, several farmers stating that they had already obtained men from the Co. Mayo, who were proving highly satisfactory. Mr. Allsebrook said that he employed Irishmen all the year round, and wished that he could get more. THE POLICY OF PARNELL. Mr. Joseph Devlin, M.P., speaking at Enniskillen recently, said the Irish Party felt that they had acted m accordance with public duty by associating themselves with the Allies who were now engaged in a war with Prussian despotism and for European liberty. The promise had been given that Ireland, if granted Home Rule, would become a friendly part of the British Empire. Was that false to the national principle? If so, then Parnell betrayed Ireland, because they would find that not once but fifty times Parnell declared that the moment Irish aspirations were satisfied she would become the friend of the British Empire. They were pursuing the policy of Parnell, and the Home Rule Bill stood upon the Statute Book. Was it to be argued that they should' stab England in the back in the hour of her difficulty? It was their duty to stand by England and the Allies. DEATH OF A WELL-KNOWN KERRY MAN. The Kerry Advocate reports the death on January 15 of Mr. John J. Scanlon, a highly popular resident or Bally-McDonnell, Currans. There was no movement started, having for its object the betterment of his fellow-countrymen, that did not find in him a loyal and consistent supporter, and for the poor he had always an open hand. His death cast a gloom over his native parish, and the sympathy of the public went out to his sorrowing wife and children. The sad event took place in the Cork Infirmary, to where he was removed for medical treatment. The remains were brought home for burial, and were taken to the parish church of Currans, where they were received by the Rev. Father G. O'Callaghan. The interment took place at the family burying ground at Kilsarcon, the funeral cortege being one of the largest and most representative seen in the district for years. The burial service at the graveside was read by the Very Rev. Dean O'Sullivan, assisted by the Rev. Fathers O'Callaghan, Costello, and O'Riordan. The deceased was a cousin of Mr. John Scanlan, Waiau, North Canterbury. WHAT IRELAND OWES GERMANY. Mr. Michael Jordan, secretary of the United Irish League in the United States, has published a very trenchant reply to a German propagandist, Dr. Von Mach, who argued that Irish sympathy should be given to the Germans in the present war. Mr. Jordan reminds the Doctor that during the 18th century German hirelings, the Hessians, and others, were guilty of the direst atrocities in Ireland. Mr. Jordan also contends that it is a fair deduction that Germany's government of Ireland would not be so favorable as England's during the past twenty years. During that time landlordism has been abolished, periodical famines terminated, complete educational equality conceded, laborers' cottages provided, the Gaelic language preserved, ? the evicted tenants reinstated, and finally, Home Rule enacted. Turning the tables on his adversary, Mr. Jordan asks whether Germany would permit the catechism to be taught in the Polish language to Polish children, whether many priests have been punished for preaching in Polish, whether the German Government has expropriated the Poles, and whether among their crimes in

Belgium the Germans shot a young Jesuit scholastic 1 at Louvain because he had made a private criticism of'the German; Army ? . ; \ * \ * ' ■.'" ENEMY'S SUBMARINES IN IRISH CHANNEL. Some sensation was naturally created in Dublin on Sunday, February 28 (says the Irish Catholic) when it became known that a few German submarines had managed to reach the Irish Channel and were plying their precarious trade between the coasts of Lancashire and Anglesey and those of Dublin and Down. In the course of their operations the submarines sank four trading . vessels and chased the Royal mail steamer Leinster during her voyage from Holyhead to Kingstown, but she escaped uninjured, mainly through, the coolness and skill of her commander, Captain Birch. In the English Channel, German submarines sank two important merchant ships. The trade of Dublin has, in consequence of these raids, been somewhat interfered with, while that of Belfast appears to have been almost entirely stopped. All tlie same, it seems safe to assume that the annoyance can only be temporary, because, even if the submarines escape capture or destruction, they cannot possibly remain long in Irish waters for lack of fuel and other supplies. What has happened, however, brings more clearly to the mind of everyone the fact that a state of war exists. BELFAST SHIPBUILDING. The London Times, in its engineering supplement, says that whatever may have been the aspirations of German shipbuilders—and a successor to the Vaterland has already been launched—the big ship record of the year must, as already stated, be accorded to Messrs. Harland and Wolff, who not only launched the Britannic, of 50,000 tons, but the Statendam, 33,000 tons; the Orbita, 15,500 tons: the Almanzora, 15,600 tons; the Euripides, 15,000 tons; and on the last day of 1914, the BelgenTand, a new Red Star liner, of 27,000 tons. It is a significant commentary on the faith of Belgian citizens that their country will be restored to them, and the port of Antwerp again become the great centre of her maritime trade, that the national name has been reserved for this ship, and that she has been registered at Antwerp. When this vessel takes her place in the Red Star fleet she will be the largest steamer that has ever sailed out of the Scheldt. RECRUITING IN KELTS. A large and enthusiastic public meeting in support of the recruiting movement was'held in the St. Vincent de Paul Society Hall, Kells, on February 28. Sir Nugent Everard, H.M.L. for Meath, presided, and the speakers included, in addition to the chairman (Lord Fingall), Lieut. T. M. Kettle, Private Stephen Gwynn, M.P. ; Major Garroway, and Mr. P. Collins, chairman of the Kells Urban Council. As in the case of the recent recruiting meetings in Drogheda and Navan, Lieut. Kettle's eloquent address was the most interesting feature of the proceedings. Already over 200 Nationalists have joined the colors from the Kells district, and a number of others joined the new Irish Brigade after the meeting.