Laying patriotism and sentiment aside, the promoters of the enterprise hope to open a wider market and create a more general demand for the products and manufactured articles of the Emerald Isle.
For three months each year the Robert Emmet will be used for a vacation ship, enabling those who so desire to take an ocean voyage in comparative luxury at an expense, the promoters claim, less than that now demanded for steerage passage by the regular steamship lines. All passengers will be carried in one class and one rate.
Miss Gallagher is the originator of the Daniel O’Connell memorial, which is to take the form of a building somewhere in Boston or its suburbs for business or other purposes, including a hall of fame to perpetuate the memory of great Irish men.
CELTIC CROSS ON IRISH FAMINE VICTIMS’ GRAVE.
In the presence of about 7,000 American and Canadian Irishmen a monument was unveiled and dedicated at Grosse Isle, Quebec, Aug. 15, 1909, to commemorate the spot where 12,000 Irish immigrants, victims of the famine fever and the ship fever of 1847–48, are buried in the long trenches at the Quarantine Station on Grosse Isle, in the St. Lawrence River, forty miles from Quebec. The monument is a beautiful Celtic cross and it was erected by the Ancient Order of Hibernians. The solemn ceremony was attended by many prominent Americans and Canadians of Irish blood.
The story which the monument will bring to the new people flocking to this great country will be a story filled not only with the heart’s blood of a great race, but with undying evidence of the equal faith, charity and hospitality of the French, who were the first settlers on these shores. A tale of terror and suffering, of faith and courage, of devotion to fellowman and unswerving loyalty to the faith of their fathers under the most bitter adversity is entwined about the great cross which now stands to mark the graves of ten thousand unknown martyrs.
Dignitaries of the Church, high officials of state, priests and laymen, Irish and French, humble and of high degree, stood side by side beneath the open sky, or kneeled silently before the great cross with but one thought—the honor of the martyrs who had died for their faith. To do honor to their memories men had gathered from a score of Provinces and States; many had traveled thousands of miles. Awe inspiring in its solemnity, the scene carried to every bowed heart a meaning far beyond the words of the speakers and left a mark which should last through a lifetime. A new epoch, a renewal of faith and brotherly love, was begun, and few there were in attendance who will not carry the spirit of the great gathering with them into daily life.
From every standpoint the great ceremony was a success. Not a flaw occurred in the arrangements or their execution. In spite of the comparative inaccessibility of Grosse Isle, every man, woman or child who wished to attend the ceremonies was provided for. A perfect day smiled on the scene, as boat after boat, crowded with passengers, left Quebec in the early morning. No one was left. No accident marred the occasion. Thousands had gathered in the city during the day and night. Special trains from Ottawa and Montreal brought their quota of members of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, of church dignitaries and government officials.
To the untiring zeal and energy of the A. O. H. officials was due the success of the great undertaking. P. Keane, P. Doyle, T. Heavers, P. Scullion, T. Heaney, J. Foley, H. N. Morrow, H. Cundy and other officers of the order in Montreal were in charge of the excursion from there. Having already taken a leading part in the movement with the national convention of the order in Indianapolis last year, which resulted in the decision to erect the great memorial cross, these men were vitally interested in the successful completion of the plan and their efforts were fully rewarded.
The train from Montreal, carrying a delegation of several hundred, left Saturday night, and the party arrived in Quebec by six o’clock Sunday morning. There they scattered about the old town until the sailing of the boats, between nine and ten o’clock.