What's the Matter with Ireland? by Ruth Russell
page 66 of 81 (81%)
page 66 of 81 (81%)
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fourteen to six cents a quart.
"In a few days we will engrave our own money. Beside there will be an influx of money from England. About half the workers are affiliated to English unions and entitled to strike pay. We have, by the way, felt the sympathy of the union men in the army sent to guard us. A whole Scotch regiment had to be sent home because it was letting workers go back and forth without passes. "And--we have told no one else--the national executive council of the Irish Labor party and Trade Union congress will change its headquarters from Dublin to Limerick. Then if military rule isn't abrogated, a general strike of the entire country will be called." Just here a boy with imaginative brown eyes, who was, I discovered later, the editor of the _Workers' Bulletin_, said suddenly: "There! Isn't that enough to tell the young lady? How do we know that she is not from Scotland Yard?" In order to send my wire on the all-Ireland strike, I stumbled along dark streets till I came to the postoffice. Lantern light was streaming from a hatchway open in the big iron door in the rear. "Who comes?" challenged the guards. While I was giving a most conversational reply, a dashing officer ran up and told me the password to the night telegraph room. Streets were deserted when I attempted to find my way back to the hotel. At last I saw a cloaked figure separate itself from the column post box against which it was standing. I asked my way and discovered I was talking to a member of the Black Watch. Limerick is the only town in the British Isles that retains the ancient custom of a civilian night guard. While the strike was |
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