Galway in Days Gone By
Galway In Days Gone By
1919
Men wanted
We learn that the Galway painters find it practically impossible at the moment to get men, and that one or two of our leading local firms of painters and decorators have had to abandon important contracts owing to this fact.
Yet we are told that there are still thousands of men who have been unable to get work since the conclusion of this war.
In England the figure runs to over a million. The resources of the local Labour Exchange have been used unsuccessfully in order to obtain painters. Surely this does not square with the facts given as to unemployment.
It cannot be that the unemployment benefit is affecting this trade where skilled craftsmen can now earn, at least in the better part of the year, a sum of £3 per week.
Strike in Gort
A large number of the I.T. and G.W.U. are out on strike. Their secretary sent notice to everybody who had a member of the union employed to pay him union wages.
In some cases, it was paid but the majority of the employers ignored it altogether. Therefore, the strike was decided upon.
The members who got their demand are working, but it is understood that a sympathetic strike will start on Monday if all the members do not get their demand.
Railway proposal
The Chief Secretary has written to the District Council intimating that the proposal to construct a railway line from Loughrea to Portumna to connect with the proposed line to Birr would receive his careful attention.
The Portumna Improvement Committee have written to the Council suggesting that a deputation from that body should meet the Chief Secretary in Portumna on the occasion of his proposed visit.
Agricultural loans
The total number of applications for loans for the purpose of agricultural implements was 3,272 of which 182 were withdrawn or refused and 78 were under consideration on the 30th September.
The number of loans approved was, therefore, 3,014 of a total of £87,412.
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1921
Bad buying policy
It is interesting and useful to speculate how far the conditions that prevailed at Galway great annual fair on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week were due to its postponement on the one hand, and to the circumstances of our time on the other.
No doubt, the enforced adjournment and the uncertainty as to when the fair would be held combined to reduce the attendance.
It is possible that stock which, in the ordinary course, would have been taken to the fair had it been held at the appointed time, were disposed of by other means. Against this we have the fact that the fixture in point of attendance and sales was smaller than a normal monthly fair.
The truth is that cumulative causes contributed to its partial failure. Of these the postponement was only incidental. Only 159 wagon loads of stock left Galway during the two days against 259 at the annual fair last year and 360 the previous year.
Whilst the Midland Great Western Railway Company did all that could have been expected in the circumstances to assist in making the fair a success, the Great Southern did practically nothing at all. Six wagons were placed at the disposal of purchasers by the latter company on the Limerick-Sligo branch.
This is illustrated by the fact that most of those who attended Galway fair arrived on the evening before; few ventured to make the journey on the actual morning of the fair. Again, buyers report that owing to the difficulties of transport, and the recent unnecessary foot and mouth scare, they cannot tranship cattle to anything like the same extent as formerly, and owning to the prolonged drought, there is a shortage of grass for grazing in the rich midland counties where extensive buyers keep their stock from one fair to the other.
Apart from these causes, another much more interesting explanation is given. It is suggested is that the country farmer has not yet realised that there is a considerable drop in prices, and has not adapted himself to the new conditions.
This fall, it is clamed, is likely to be retrogressive under present conditions. The cost of living is falling, and must fall still further in order to restore “the economic balance”. Yet farmers prefer to hold back their stock in expectation, apparently, that something like old prices will be restored, rather than part with them. This, a cattle-buying expert informs us, is bad policy.
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1921
Careless farmers
The unfavourable spring and summer of 19230 were not altogether accountable for the partial failure of last season’s potato crop. Planting was deferred until three or four weeks after the usual time, and the spraying of the crop was very carelessly carried out.
Not more than half the usual quantities of spraying materials were sold last year in County Galway. The wagon loads of potatoes which County Galway consumers were obliged to get from other parts of Ireland to go to prove the care and attention taken from growers in other counties.
To meet the increased cost of labour and manures farmers must grow heavier crops, and avoid risks as far as possible. To do so, spraying must be carried out efficiently.
County Galway, with 24,000 Irish acres of potatoes, is the second county in Ireland in respect of area. The total yield in 1920 was about 100,000 tons below that of an average year, which was a serious loss to the farmers and a hardship on the townspeople.
We hope that the lesson of 1920 will not be forgotten, and that farmers will this year spray in time and thoroughly.
One of the farmer’s chief difficulties is keeping of his crops free from weeds. Unfortunately in this important matter some of our farmers are rather careless. They do not realises – probably through lack of education in the matter – that where a crop is allowed to get weedy, the material resources of the land are being doubly taxed, and the crop which it is intended to grow cannot be a viable, much less a financial success.
The farmer has no power over some of the circumstances which determine the success or failure of a crop, and it is, therefore, a short-sighted policy for him not to use every means in his power to check weeds over which he has complete control.
Our attention has been directed to this matter by the number of cornfields in some districts, which are covered with the weed well-known to farmers as “Baráiste”.
We cannot estimate the extent of the damage caused year after year to our corn crops, but it must be very considerable. The yield of gran is greatly reduced, and the quality seriously impaired.
Modern science has given us a simple, effective, remedy involving little labour. This remedy has been used successfully for some years past by the best of our farmers, but we deeply regret the lack of enthusiasm displayed by many of our tillers in connection with the destruction of this objectionable weed.
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1921
Village halls
Young men and women of the present day expect and obtain more time for recreation than their parents. The monotony of young lives in the country districts leads to a desire to leave comfortable homes for the towns, or to emigrate.
In this work of reconstruction, which we hope will not long be delayed every means by which the young people can be induced to remain on the land must be considered.
Village halls can be made to play an important part in this respect by providing facilities for recreation and enabling those with progressive tendencies to continue with their reading and education after leaving the national schools.
To encourage a taste for reading and the acquirement of useful knowledge, every hall should be provided with a small library containing a selection of suitable books. The erection and equipment of such halls should not be left to voluntary effort, but should be looked upon as a national duty for which public money ought to be provided, and for which the country would be repaid in an enlightened, industrious and efficient rural population.
Custom House attacked
A large force of armed men raided the Custom House, Dublin, at one point on Wednesday, held up the staff and set fire to the building, which was completely destroyed. Yesterday morning the flames could be seen issuing from the surrounds.
The many Government departments in the building included the offices of the Local Government Board, Customs and Excise, Inland Revenue, the Old Age Pensions, and their valuable documents have been reduced to ashes.
From the housetops and the streets of Dublin on Wednesday afternoon, thousands witnessed the aftermath of one of the most serious assaults made by the I.R.A. upon the institutions of the Crown – the burning of the famous Custom House.
Following the burning, nearly a score were killed or wounded in a battle between the I.R.A. and R.I.C. Auxiliaries of the F and Q Companies.
The building was so badly devastated that to-day only the walls and a portion of the Local Government Board Office are still standing.
For more, read this week’s Connacht Tribune.
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