Letter from Ireland

Clogheen, Ireland
September 15, 1908

Gentlemen:

When we left Palmyra I promised to write you a letter in regard to our trip. On our way to New York we stopped two days at Niagara Falls, the scenery there is very beautiful. It is almost impossible to describe them, and a person would have to see them to realize their beauty. On our way to New York from Buffalo through the Allegheny mountains and especially through the Genesee valley the scenery is very grand. We had a rough voyage on the steamer Lustania from New York to Queenstown, which took six and one-half days.

The S.S. Lustania is one of Ocean Liners. Here are its dimensions: length, 790 feet; gross tonnage, 3200 engines, 6800 hp height of masts, 216 feet and the crew numbers 400.

The passenger accomodation is 2300. T he boat is fitted with Macroni Wireless telegraph system, and we got news from all over the world every day. They have every accomodation that is possible to have on a steamer.

When we got to Queenstown the sea was so rough they could not land us with small boats, so they took us to Liverpool, and from there we went by rail to Holyhead, Wales. That country is very rough and mountainous.

There farms are very small but well kept. We went from there to Dublin, which is a ride of about two and one-half hours by steamer. Dublin is a beautiful city with all the improvments of those large cities in the states.

We landed at my old home in Clogheen, Tipperary county just seven days after we left New York. Clogheen is situated between the Knockmealdown and the Galty mountains. The valley is about 50 miles long and is very productive. I met several of my old friends and acquaintances here. The boys and girls have those red, rosy cheeks which I have never seen in any other class of people. The farmers are very industrious and are prospering more than they were some time ago. They are hard working people. The dairying business is carried on very extensively here, which is a very profitable business. About fifteen acres is the average sized farm here and land is worth from three to four hundred dollars per acre, and the purchaser has to pay from four to eight dollars rent every year. The people of Ireland would be the happiest on earth were it not for the cruel laws and landlordism. They can all have such truck in Ireland, but Nebraska is good enough for me.

Yours Resp.
Wm Beecham
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Notes:

The typesetter for the newspaper seems to have misspelled "Lusitania". We could find no record of a ship called "Lustania".

Queenstown was the English name for Cobh, the port town of Cork City. "Macroni" The typesetter strikes again, misspelling "Marconi".