Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 1906)
TIIE OMAHA ILLUSTRATED BER rbnmry 4. 10OO, Dr. Douglas Hyde and the Move to Revive the Gaelic Language 4 I rwM-nT.Afl JITnE. president of D the Gaelic League of Ireland, I rnme in Omaha this week end will deliver a lecture at the Uoyd, Thursday evening, on "The Gaelic Revival In Ireland." Arrangements for the lecture are In charge of Irish-Americans, and the proceeds, together with a purse raised by friends of the cause, will be de voted to aiding the educational campaign carried on by the Gaelic League In Ireland. Dr. Hyde represents a movement unique In the annals of racial progress. It does not command In the press the attention given to political movements In Inland, yet results have been achieved rivalling the uplift wrought by the Irish Land League of n quarter century ago. Organ lied a dozen years ago, the Gaelic league has marked a wonderful change among the people. It has revived and restored the prestige of an ancient language and laid a secure foundation for making the Iiish a bl-lingual people. The ancestral lan guage Is now being taught In 3,5.0 scnools, academies, seminaries and colleges. Thou sands of adults are studying the language at night schools. It has been acquired by one million people by recent study. Knowl edge of It Is now necessary In official posl vtlons, particularly in the postal service, In banks, business houses, and by trades men in general. This is the result of an aggressive, organized effort of the Gaelic league and Its SuO branches. English M not to be cast aside. The purpose of the movement is to make the Irish the lan guage of the fireside, retaining English as the language of commerce. Some idea of the progress of the movement may be had from the fact that the Hritlsh postal ser vice In Ireland, which resisted the innova tion for years past, recently was forced to capitulate and employ clerks able to translate the Irish language. On one oc casion several . hundred members of the league invaded the postofflce In Dublin, talked In Irish to the clerks and effectively blocked the business of that institution until . employes familiar with the Irish tongue could be had to attend to their Wants. A National Asset. A few years ago Thomas O'Donnell sur prised the House of Commons by deliver ing on the lloor a speech In Gaelic. When asked why he employed a language which was almost totally unknown in England and of which reporters had no knowledge be replied that he was an Irish representa tive who, having spoken the native lan guage from his cradle, saw In Its destruc tion the departure of a national asset as well as a literary treasure, and that with it must go certain Irish characteristics and Ideals that the Gaelic forms and idioms alone could Impart and transmit. At the same session three Irish representa tives, on taking the oath in the house, re sponded to the customary welcome of the speaker with the words, "Clonnus tha thu" (literally, "how aro you?"), a courte ous Guello reply to the salutation. Early Irish Literature. While there is a difference of opinion as to the value of the Irish as a spoken language there la but one opinion as to the Saskatchewan a New State (CoDyrlght, 1906, by Frank O. Carpenter.) itniNA, fcasketcnewan, Feb. L I 13 I (Special Correspondence of The I 1 Bee.) Reeina is the caoitul of the brand new province of Saskatche wan. Until last Septemter all the . land between Manitoba and British Columbia, a distance of 1,000 mil s, and between the boundary of the United States and the Arctic -ocean, belonged to the northwest territory. It had minor sub divisions, but the country as a whole was governed by territorial officials who lived here at Reglna. As the flood of Immigrants began to spread over the country the people of the wheat belt concluded they wanted more than a territorial government. They agitated the matter, brought It before the Canadian Parliament and the result is the two new provinces of Saskatchewan and Al berta. Provinces here mean the same as states In our country. There were seven provinces In Canada up to lost September. There are now nine and the two latest addi tions promise to be the most populous of the whole. Canada's New States. Saskatchewan and Alberta begin on the edge of the United States and run north ward 000 or 700 miles. They are about as long as from New York to Wilmington and are wider than from Philadelphia to Pitts burg. They are about the same size. Saskatchewan lacks only a few thousand mllea of being as big as Texas. It Is more than four times the size of Massachusetts, twenty tlmea as big as Maryland, more than six times as big as Ohio and bigger than any country of Europe with the excep tions of Russia and Austrla-Hundary. The upper part of It la covered with timber, but It has 150,000 square miles of prairie adapted to ranching and farming. It has some of the best of the wheat belt, which will grow the hard, -flinty grain so prized by millers the world over and known as "No. 1 hard." Saskatchewan Lands. I have talked with many of the citizens as to the character of Saskatchewan. Mr. John A. Reid, one of tha provincial officials, MOV value of preserving the language as a lit erary possession. In his introduction to the second volume of "Irish Literature" Dr. Hyde traces the origin and develop ment of early ' Irish literature, lt3 an tiquity. Its characteristics and its partial destruction. "There are two points about the native literature of Ireland," he says, "which entirely differentiate It from the rest of the vernacular literatures of Eu rcpe. Greek excepted. The first of these Is the extraordinarily early period at which it took Its rise and the enormous length of time during which It flourished. The other Is the absolute originality of this litera ture, which was self-evolved, which was utterly unaffected by classic models, and in the syntax of which scarcely a trace Is to be found of those Latlnlsms upon which are really founded and built up so many other modern languages." To understand and appreciate Its mild flavor and extrava gant mode of expression Dr. Hyde says the reader must remember that It was the product of a self-developed people different In thought, feeling and civilization from the rest of Europe, and was composed and written long before the English language was heard of. Irish literature ante-dates the literature of the Slavs, the Teutons or the Latln-spcaklng races. For ten centur ies persistent though Intermittent at tempts were made to destroy It. In the. eighth and ninth centuries Norse Invad ers employed Are and water. Danes and Normans destroyed much of the written language. The English excluded It from the schools and prohibited its use. Not withstanding the ravages of Invaders there are now extant books of Irish MSS. written before the coming of St. Patrick one, the "Book of Dromeneachta," traced back to the year 379. In public libraries in Great Britain and on the continent there are catalogued 1.009 MS8. ranging from SM to 1,000 years old. Dr. Hyde examined the Irish MSS. in the Royal Irish academy and estimated their number at from 8.000 to 10,000. And this academy is but one of the many libraries in Ireland In which Irish MSS. Is deposited. The total number has not been ascertained. It Is known that historic tales nil 6.000 quarto pages and Imaginative talcs 8.000 pages. Romance the Dominant Note, "The romantic, as opposed to the real istic." says Dr. Hyde, "dominates this an cient Irish utterance from first to last. Al lied to thin we find an exuberance of minute description and a love of adjectival thunder, which last, by the way," the doc tor naively remarks, "Is a trait that has not wholly departed even to this day from among Irishmen even those who have lost their language. Its love of rhetoric, Its peculiar mode of hyperbole and Its copi ousness of synonyms lend to early Irish litem ture a charm and flavor that are wholly wanting In early German, Anglo Saxon and Norman-French." "English or Iarnnrnnee.n A century ago Irish was the common language of the people of Ireland. With the act of union In 1801 began a systematic plan of the ruling power to extinguish the language and anglicize the race. Tn the last fifty years this plan was pursued with who has traveled all over It, tells me that the country is flat. For miles north of the American boundary It Is a great plain with no hills to be seen In any direction. Farther north the country is rol Ing, and stl 1 fartner north are patches of forest, which nnai y end in a strip of dense wo ds running across the province from one side to the other. The province Is well watered, except at the southwest. The Saskatchewan river, which has many branches, runs through It and the soil Is such that water can be got ten almost anywhere In It. In the far north Saskatchewan is made up of a series of lakes, surrounded by timber, and there are lakes In the central and southern portions. The country has one strip of semi-arid land. This Is a bite, beginning with the boundary of the United States and running northward In an Irregular curve, which In cludes the most of southern Alberta. This land Is now used for ranching. There are scores of American cattle owners there and cattle are often driven across the boundary from Montana and other states.' Some are tbrought from Texas to be fattened and there is a large ranching Industry In that region, the greater part of which belongs to Americans. Wheat Belt of Saskatchewan. Right here at Reglna are some of the best wheat lands of Canada. All the country southward to North Dakota and east to Manitoba Is taken up by wheat farmers, a majority of the lands belonging to United States citizens. That section Is cut up by many railroads and It is about as well set tled as Dakota Itself. Running northward from Reglna the wheat country extends for hundreds of miles. Almost directly north is Prince Albert, which is now reached by two railroads, with settlements along the way. The distance between the two places, as the crow flies, is over 300 miles. Prince Albert being about 300 miles directly north of the American boundary. More than 100 miles east of that line is Battleford. on the Sas katchewan river, a town which Is now -- a f m m H--ssrtsijFtl Or REOTTTA. CAnTAl. Or SASTTATCirnWAN. ' ' 9 1 1 . , i. -. ! - - DR. DOUGLAS reached by the Canadian Northern railroad -and through which the Grand Trunk Paciilc la to go. This is another wheat center. In fact, the grain growers are settling here and there all over the central and eastern parts of the province. The land about Reglna is a black loam from ten to twenty feet deep in places. In other parts of the province it varies so that there is much choice in locations. The surveyor gen eral of Canada, wno has made a careful study of the province, estimates that Sas katchewan contains something like oS.OuO.OOo acres of wheat lands and that there is also a region about as big as Indiana which might be Irrigated. The wheat lands are more than twice the size of the state of Ohio. A Provincial Capital. I wish I could show you this new cupital of Saskatchewan. Reglna is a ragged town of ragged houses, situated on a rugged plain, spotted with wheat lie Ids which now look decidedly ragged. The town has un gainly houses and wide streets with board sidewalks, which run far out into the country. Ono of the streets is two miles long, extending to the mounted police bar racks and the government house. The en thusiastic Reginans speak of those places as a part of the city and the bare prairie between as town lots. The chief business street runs parallel with the railroad. It has only one side, the stores facing the track. Above the depot are numerous elevators, large wooden buildings which tower over the city, visible for miles. Reglna calls Itself a wheat city, and these elevators are Its landmarks. There are a dozen of them In the town ' proper, and In the wheat district adjoin ing 170, having a combined capacity of (,000,00V bushels. In the Government OAlces. It took me some time to find the offices of the new province. Saskatchewan Is not old enough to have a state house or a par liament building. The government Is now 29r - ' 3 v" i ;. " -v j X if a -'J t' : '..JSkif ;t.. 4 i. . up m er. t ' ' N :-- l' HTDE. PRESIDENT OF THB GAELIC ' LEAGUE OF IRELAND. Carved If iMth Canadian Wheat Belt run in rooms oh the second stories of the various buildings throughout the town. The most of the provincial business is done above the .ban of Commerce, a little yel low brick structure with retail stores on the ground floor and government ofllces above. . ' The new province already has its dif ferent bureaus, and It is rapidly acquiring a good-sized civlr service. 1 seut some time in the Agricultural department and learned that a government larm is in ex istence near Indian Head, where all sorts of experiments as to groins and vegetables are being made with a view to developing the province. The new state has its waed Inspectors who go over the country und warn people to cut down their weeds. If they do not obey the government will de stroy them and the men refusing will bo prosecuted and fined. Laws are already being enacted as to clean seed, and the state Is protecting the farmers In every possible way. I talked with one of the members of the Agricultural department as to the wheat yield of Saskatchewan.' He said: "Many of the figures published are extravagant. We know through the threshers' returns just what we get out of the soil, and while we have many farms which yield twenty bushels of wheat and upward per acre there are very few which yield more than thirty. There may be a patch now and then which will turn out forty bushels, but when it comes to 100 acres or 1,000 acres giving any such yield you must take the statement with considerable salt." Independent Landlords. I arrived In Reglna to find the hotels packed. This had been their condition for the last two or three years, and In the spring and summer It is not uncommon to find the halls tilled with cots. As it is. I have to sleep in a room with two beds, and my companion snores so that he shakes the door open night after night. The landlords are sometimes insolent. If you complain, they will tell you to go elsewhere, and they know very well there Is no elsewhere. All the hotels are full. This Is so throughout the new Canada. It is necessary during the summer season to telegraph ahead to get quarters, and one must be content to rough It. The hotel rhts are about tre same ns In the United Stabs, or If anything a little c'naper. Outride Winnipeg and Montreal the ordinary rates are from 12 to 13 a day for room and board, but the 12 rate should Include n prlvnte bath. Very few of the country hotels have baths, and they are not so well nvtnagrd ns our hotels. Almost every hotel In Cnnadii has a saloon attached to It. According to the law liquor cannot be sold outside hotels, and the result Is the hotel and bar go together. This raises the standard of the bar, but It lowers that of the hotel. There Is consider able drinking, both before meals and be tween them. Pretty Hotel Walters. I like the hotel waiters. The swallow tailed negro, with his hungry eye and Itch ing palm, has not yrt crossed the Interna tional border, and the fee demanding white waiter Is absent. The service of the dining room is through fresh young girls, who do their business rapidly and well. I wish I could introduce you to the International hotel force at the Soo. Every waitress there Is just under 6 feet In height, so stately that one almost fears to give extra dollars: and It does one's soul good to see the Amazons stalk to the dining room door, throw It open with a stately swing, while In dulcet tones they ejaculate: "Soup and fish, twice, In a hurry!" Some of these girls are very sympathetic A blonde waitress, upon my not touching the soft-boiled egg she had furnished this morning, plaintively said: "You don't care for your eggs?" As much aa to say that I was not la lovs 1 , :.' I . it ' ( v t .. - (. , . - B ... I.J t 4 ' with them and had rejected them, which was a pity. '. M most of -the hotels the head waiter is a ripe old maiden, who dresses In black silk, and whose lljs look as though they had been formed by saying plums, prunes, prisms. Tne other waiters are younger. They ull dress In black for breakfast' and luncheon, wearing little bib-like aprons about as big as a handkerchief pinned to their waists. At dinner the waiters come forth In gowns or Immaculate white, as clean as new pins. Here in the northwest many of the waiter girls are Danes or Ice landers. They receive from to J3o a month and board. v Municipal Ownership. I find these new Canadian towns decid edly in favor of municipal ownership. Re glna owns its electric light plant and It has a good system of street lighting. Two years -ago the light was furnished by a private company, which gave a poor ecrvlce at high rates. The city has reduced thu rates and it Is already making money. The reduc tion has been more than -0 per cent. The waterworks are also owned by the munic ipality, which is now building a dam across Boggy creek to furnish water and power. The dam is seven miles away and ninety feet above the level of the city streets. The pressure In the pipes will be such as to fur nish protection against Are and It may be that the water will also generate the elec tricity. Reglna has now Just under 10,000 people. It will probably be continued as the capital of the new territory and It may some day grow to a city of 60,000. It is d. -pendent largely on its agricultural surroundings and It will never have the possibilities of places like Edmonton or Cuary, which are destined to be big cities. As It is now the people have discounted the future. Property Is everywhere high and the surrounding country Is raising a big crop of "for sale" signs. The real estate agent Is ubiquitous. I met one as I stepped from the car and another accosted me on ifjywirrw; $ ' ' ' - """"" ' . .' . , j ' ' . ..- i J ' : ' 1 , , , -.- .-..'.a:' ' .-..,. . ' ruthless vigor. The National Board of Ed ucation, invariably antt-lrish, backed by government funds, "pursued with unceas ing tenacity the aim of exterminating this fine Aryan language." Chlldien were de nied the right to learn the language of their parents. Parents resented and re sisted the change. The dictum ot the ed ucational board was "English or Ignor ance." The stupidity of that dictum Dr. Hyde Illustrates by quoting a verse sung or recited by Irish children In Irish schools: "I thank the goodness and the grace h.cli on my Hu tu i.aii v.nucd And i.nce me in luee i uriMiun days A l.airpy i'i!fciiuu colid.'' Like a ..ioi.nu inn, t.unjle striving to check a. Uuul wave witii a puc.iiork, the liillibli Kuucaticti board of ir.und at tempts to check the tidal wave set In mo tion by the Gaelic league. Heretofore a fund of $00,000 was annually dlatnhuted among uluuentj suuwin Hpcuial p.uflciency in tlie languages. The stu.iy ni Irian greatly laceitued the number of utuuents proiictent in the language!!. Ratuer llian reward these students ot Irish ti.e board discontinued the tund. Itut tne Gauilu league is marching on with increasing mo mentum, 'i'houbands of books aim pam phlets are published in Gaelic and In Gaelic type. In Dublin more ooo..s are published In Irish than in English. A new Irish literature has been created and the classics and almost forgotten Gaelic poetry have been rescued from oblivion. The league has a monthly and a weekly pub lication in Gaelic. Lectures on Irish an tiquities, history, art and literature are regularly given and a national drama tn the native tongue, with a score of pluys, has been Instituted. The league is also or ganising "felseanna" or festivals of na tive music, poetry and song, games and dances In every Irish village, which reach their culmination in the "olreachtus," the annual assembly In Dublin, corresponding to the Welsh "eisteddfod." Revival of Home Industries. Hand in hand with the Gaelic revival Is a revival of Irish Industries promoted by the league. "Sim felnn" (ourselves) signi fies "an Irish Ireland for the Irish raco." Imbued with this spirit the league sets Itself to the task of creating a demand for Irish manufactures. among the Irish themselves. By this means It Is gradually resuscitating Industries of all kinds throughout the island. The league has made It a requisite of patriotism to purchase goods bearing an Irish trademark, hence new life, activity and enthusiasm, and In many places modern methods and modern machinery, much of it American, are found everywhere. To pro duce Irish goods and put them on sale are merely preliminary steps. To create a de mand for them Is the task the league pro poses to accomplish. Its annual St. Pat rick's day parade Is an exposition of Irish products, a moving picture Illustrative of Irish workmanship, genius and skill. Cer tain trades are shown In active operation, and every parader is dressed In Irish goods from top to toe. Similarly every fels, or festival, held during the year throughout the country Is first, Inst and all the time an exhibition of home manufactures and the way to my hotel. He asked If 1 were not Interested in real estate and straight way offered me many choice lands. As he did so a Canadian friends who Is traveling with me said: "My friend, you need not try to sell land to us. We are In the same business that you are. We are looking for suckers ourselves." New Towns of Central Saskatchewan. Leaving Regina let us take a flying leap to some of the growing towns of central Saskatchewan.' First look at Prince Albert, on the banks of the Saskatchewan river, more than 800 miles north of the American boundary. That place was a Hudson's bay post from which the fur lands of the north were supplied. It was a great trading cen ter and today something like ?50.000 worth of furs are brought there every year. The town Is a lumber market and It also Is sur rounded by wheat fields. It has two rail roads and there are ships on the Saskatche wan, which give It considerable river trade. I am told coal has been found nearby and the scientists say that the Coal Fall rapids will give an enormous water power, which will lead to the establishment of wood plup and other industries. Prince Albert has al ready an electric light plant, which Is owned and operated by the municipality, and it is now putting In sewers. On the Saskatchewan River. I talked with Captain Hall of the Hudson Bay company about the navigability of the Saskatchewan. Said he: "The river Is almost as big as the Missis sippi and in some places as deep. With a little money expended upon It It could be made a water highway, which would bring the wheat down to Lake Winnipeg. The chief obstruction now Is In some rapids, near the mouth of the river, about three miles from the lake. A canal or wing could be built. about these rapids, and by dredg ing a few spots along the river, twelve hundred miles or more of navigation could be opened up. As It Is now the Saskatche wan will not carry boats which have more than two or three feet of water. I sailed T y?BBrti If "I- . (i- BCENTJ OST SASKATCHEWAN TJXE3 linn LT an effective appeal to "patronize home In dustry." Dr. It; tie's AVork. In this comprehensive program Dr. Hyde tnkis a leading juirt. He and his asso ciates have accomplished much. Hut Dr. Hyde's work looms above ull olln'rs. An acquaintance of his. In a note to the write, says, "A more unslli.-.!i man th.in I'r. HyOe never worked for any cause. Kor twelve or thirteen years he has niven hU time and talents rntliely to the work of the Gaelic league without a penny of com pensation and has paid ev-ry penny of his own expenses. He and his associates nro doing more to j resi rve the lrlMi race lit their own home than nil oth r tliinns put together. They ure doing n- nvv.it work in promoting temperance among lilshmcn In Ireland. They are doing a tieinendous work In aiding the Industrial revival and thiiy are teaching Irishmen habits of self respect and self-reliance without which all the political concessions In the world would not make them a great race." Kor one who lius accomplished so much Dr. Hyde is a young man, being still In the forties. Like the Immortal Emmet he is a native of the soil, member of tha established church and a graduate of Trinity college. He is president of the Gaelic league, president of the Irish Tex'a Boclety, vie" president of the Irish Literary society, professor of modern lanqu.tgcs and examiner In Celtic in the Royal university of Ireland. Ills industry as an author is as amazing ns his talents are varied. He Is a poet, playwright, critic, orator. Jour nalist, historian, linguist, translator and folklorlst- Above and bciyond thi'so he Is a patriot. Brilliant as are his literary pro ductions they are regarded by him only as a mentis to the desired end that of Inten sifying the national spirit of the Irish people and strengthening their love for their native land. As an Irishman Imbued with the patriotic spirit of the soil Dr. Hyde deserves a "cead mille fallthe" from the Celts of Omaha. Pointed Paragraphs A prophet is a person who expects the unexrected. Iearn to labor while you wait if you would work wonders. An honest man thinks that a pretty woman Is also a noble work. You can't convince a stubborn man that It Is Impossible to convince him. Some people try to hide their Ignorance by saying that they are superstitious. Our idea of a society man Is one who neg lects to Bay anything when he speaks. Before raising the dust with an automo bile It Is usually necessary to raise the dust fur one. A diplomatic woman is one who Is able to keep the same hired girl for three consecu tive weeks. Just because a man Is all right today It Isn't a safe bet that he will not be all wrong tomorrow. A writer says: "Nothing Is best achieved by Indirection." The workings of a cork screw would seem to refute this otherwise plausible theory. Chicago News. up It for 1,000 miles last year on a boat' 100 feet long, which drew twenty-six inches, going from Edmonton to Prince Albert. I was carrying goods for the Hudson Bay company, and made the trip pay both ways." "What is the character of the land along the river?" I asked. "It 's wild pra'rle t ow, slotted with home steads. The farmers do not settle upon the banks, for they are rough. The chief fnrms are just back on the smooth, level plains. The river Is crossed by ferries at many places. The ferries are worked by steel cables, which we had to cut in order to go through." At HnHleford. One of the coming cities upon the Sas katchewan is to be built at Battleford, In th.i western part of the territory not far frrm the Alberta line. This town was reached last year by the Canadian North ern railroad, and more than a thousand hotvesteads have been taken up In the land surrcunding it. Battleford Is right In the heart of the wheat belt, and It claims to have lands tributary to It equal to the state of New York. The climate of Battleford Is milder than further east, as It Is tempered by the Chi nook winds. The winter Is shorter, the thermometer seldom falls as far as 40 de grees below zero, and It remains at that pont but a few days at a time. There are two other roads now building toward Bat tleford. and U will soon be reached by the Caradlan Pacific and the Grand Trunk Pacific. Other thriving towns of Saskatchewan are RoMhern, which marketed millions of bush els of wheat last year; Saskatoon, which alieady claims to be a city, and whose peo ple think It should be the capital of the province; Lloydmlnster, on its extreme western edge; Moose Jaw und Swift Cur rent in the south, as well as Indian Head, Wej burn. Milestone and other plac-s. In deed, the province Is already peppered with Incipient settlements, many of which are aspiring to cityhood. FRANK O. CARPENTER. " v v . . AN