A West of Ireland Industry

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXI, Issue 19, 7 May 1903, Page 10

A West of Ireland Industry

It is only in a humorous sense that tho carpets can be said to 1)0 beneath one's notice, for all who appiocmte color must he awiue, says the London ' Times.' that tho (loor of a loom demands almost as mvuh attention as the stills and coiling Tluir /me coloi and duiability hut espotiallv (lie toriner. ha\ c !'< r a long time i l-( oniinondi d Tuikish and i'eisian caipots ; hut what would happen asl.od William Mori is. il the East failed us, and if, as ho foaied. the East lost ' that last gift, tho gift of the sense of harmonious color 0 ' His conclusion was that, in that case, we should h;u o to make our own cai pets , and ho proceeded, theicforo, to master the business, and to sot up his hand looms, (irst in one of his attics in Queen square, then m his coachhouse at Hanunoi smith, and finally at Mci ton Abbov One other good quality at least his carpets had besides color Thr\ weie not mcio mechanical pioductions but showed the indi\ ldualitv of the artist r l he exhibition th.it is now open at the Ciafton Oalloiios lesults noma laudable endea\oi (o extend this hand-made caipet industry to the West ol Ireland, whoie a small crntial depot has <ih ead\ boon established, and tho manufacture is conducted on artistic pi inriplos There can he no two opinions ,is to tho lx-antx of the work hoi c shown In point ol color it is mote chanictoi istic of tho aesthetic West than of t lie gorgeous East , there is goneially haimony rather than contrast, and often a pleasing use of different tones, of tho same color, in some cases with a design of Celtic otigm r l ho texture is that of a pood Turkish caipet Any addition to the industries of so poor a country as the West of Treland is piaisowoithv In the ptt'sen* instance the economic conditions s<em, for onco, actualh fax oi able to tho entei prise Steam powoi and coal aio not wanted, and the omplo\ nient ot powe.r looms would roh these cat pots of something of thnr rharm As things are. i hey are hand made and as their \alue comes mainly fiom simple industi\, it must ho mostly ie|)ivid m the shape of wau.es It is hoped that belore long an impetus may le e;non m Donegal, whoio tho woik is carried on to the production of wool, wool beiiitc tie material used, and that mmiv poor families will mid occupation m tho ptopnration of Iho wool as well as in tho actual making of tho carpets Messi s Motion, of Tai\ol tho promoteis of the industry, will wo'iomo all that patuotism or bono\ olence can no for it but foi its ultimate and poi mam nt success they rH\ . not on the claims of tho workeis but on the intrinsic merit, ot the work 'Iheio is no reason that We know of why their hopes should not bo uistified It should bo added that Messrs Liberty are the organiscis of the exhibition

l\r,- ri ; os , ic ! er^ 1 } OOSC 7° l^ received a box of shamrocks from Mi. John Redmond, Ml., for St. Patrick's Day. r-oJ^nri" last mail left England Lady Weld (Sister £ Jpi°r° rCS)> WlldoWW I ldoW of the Sir Frederick ,1, ?« CMG /' as l y m 8 dangerously ill at the Benedictino Convent, Fort Augustus, Scotland. Tho University of Notro Pame, Tndiana, has conferred tho Laetare medal upon Mr. Charles J. Bonaparte, des?^itf^ »° f NaP( ? leon f J brother ' Jerome Bonaparte, of Baltimore, in acknowledgment of his services in behalf ?Tr 1 ,,r^ atholl i C . hurcn - J t is the highest honor tho University can bestow, and is annually presented to some distinguished member of the Catholic Church r«v??, V v Fa / hGr T - p - °'Keefe, chaplain of the 12th U.S. Cavahy at present stationed at Fort Clark, Texas, has successtully passed an examination to practise law. Father O Keee has frequently had occasion to help his soldiers n a legal capacity before judge advocate courts, proImto courts and otherwise, and lias always done bo with- « hr.Mh r.MrM rr + T ard v Hls formal admission to tho Bar will still further enhance his usefulness by giving him a recognised standing before tho courts.

The lato Rev. William Gleeson, pastor of St Anthony's Church, East Oakland, California was wdl acquainted with 15 languages. He regularly received Sn.n'Th T l /\ a reC) l eatlon Periodicals not only m French, Spanish, Italian German, and Portuguese, but un Hin^ lostan and Arabic In his early life as a priest he had labored 3 0 years in India, where he became familiar with certain languages of Asia, but when over 60 years of age tho W stud R J"of V Insh? ebr ° W and Chaldco ' and ad'ek* 1 to these

v«, ™ °. U le m u tercst aroused by the lectures of the Hex. Bernard Vaughan, K.J., tho brother of Cardinal Vaughan, at Gardiner street, Dublin, says the ' Freeman s Journal,' it is interesting to k«now that the King, when Prince of Wales, once attended a series of discourses by I-athor Vaughan in London. He seems to ha\o taken a great interest in them, and being unable to bo present at the last lecture, aa he had to leave London early in tho day, he wrote Father Vaughan pointing out the fact and expressing his disappointment. Father Vaughan, howe\er, got out of the difficulty by delivering his lecture twice that day ; once early in the day, at which tho King was present, and again later on at the

On Friday last the night Hoo Mr. Seddon, who on that day completed his tenth your as Premier of the Colony, roconod numerous letters and telegrams of congratulation fi om all parts of New Zeaand. and also ft om se\eral places in Australia It is just foitv }i'ais since Mr Seddon became ■"' u A , i ;, stl ' llian colonist, ha-ung nrn\od in Victoria in IK<>.?, and twont.\-four \cdi's since he entered the New Zealand Parliament as member for Ilokitika He accepted ofbee m tho Ballanco Ministry m January, 1891 as Minister of Mines On tho death ot Mr. Ballance Mr Se-ddon was chosen by tho Liberal Party as leader although it was contended at the time that Mr. Ballance favored Sir Robert Stout as his successor. Tho ' Scientific American ' in a recent number descnbes the new telescope of tho Jesuit College at Montioal, Canada This telescope, it appears, was built from the designs of Xcv Father G arias, by the members of tho Jesuit College The spherical mirror of this telescope is in point of size tho third in North America being excelled only by those of the Yerkes and Lick obser\atoncs. 'No little admiration is duo,' says our esteemed contcmpoiary, 'to tho man who has not only designed the whole and constructed the principal part's oi so intricate an instrument, but who has, moreover, with his own hand erected tho machinery required for us production. The woikmg gear was prepared under tho supervision, and according to the directions, of Tathor Oarias, who also designed all the parts and furnished tho wooden models '

Tho mental and physical actnity of the late Mr. \v T L Tra\ois up to the very time of his death was astonishing His scientific .studies embraced chemistry g< ologv. and tho fauna and flora of tho Colony. He contested one ot the Wellington city seats a few years ago, and when he was twitted with his age ho promptly challenged any of his opponents, the oldest of whom was not much moie than half his age, to run to tho top of Mount Cook Needless to say tho challenge was not accepted It was during this campaign that he quieted an obst leperous mdi\ ldual in an audience he was addressing by stopping m his address, going into the hall and putting out the noisy interrupter. He had a erv roa civ wit, and during tho election campaign retorted to ho declared himself in favor of tho three-fifths in.uoritv in legard to the local option principle Some one m tho audience asked if ho would not bo prepared to trust the people. 'Well, you see,' promptly replied Mr Tra\cis, 'the people woi o trusted by Pilate, and they called out " Barabbas." ' There Was a burst of applause, and the questioner was silent during the rest of tho meeting