ther parts of the country. He finds work in
factories, for he still shuns the soil, much as he professes to love
the "old sod." A great change has come over the economic condition of
the second and third generation of Irish immigrants. Their remarkable
buoyancy of temperament is everywhere displayed. Bridget's daughter
has left the kitchen and is a school teacher, a stenographer, a
saleswoman, a milliner, or a dressmaker; her son is a clerk, a
bookkeeper, a traveling salesman, or a foreman. Wherever the human
touch is the essential of success, there you find the Irish. That is
why in some cities one-half the teachers are Irish; why salesmanship
lures them; why they are the most successful walking delegates,
solicitors, agents, foremen, and contractors. In the higher walks of
life you find them where dash, brilliance, cleverness, and emotion are
demanded. The law and the priesthood utilize their eloquence,
journalism their keen insight into the human side of news, and
literature their imagination and humor. They possess a positive genius
for organization and management. The labor unions are led by them; and
what would municipal politics be without them? The list of eminent
names which they have contributed to these callings will increase as
their generations multiply in the favorable American environment. But
remote indeed is the day and complex must be the experience that will
erase the memory of the ancient Erse proverb, which their racial
temperament evoked: "Contention is better than loneliness."

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 21: The immigration reports were perfunctory and lacking in
accuracy. Passengers were frequently listed as belonging to the
country whence they sailed. An Irishman taking passage from Liverpool
was quite as likely to be reported English as Irish. Large numbers of
immigrants were counted who merely landed in New York and proceeded
immediately to Canada, while many thousands who landed in Canada and
moved at once across the border into northern New York and the West
did not appear in the reports.]

[Footnote 22: According to the _Edinburgh Review_ of July, 1854,
"Liverpool was crowded with emigrants, and ships could not be found to
do the work. The poor creatures were packed in dense masses, in
ill-ventilated and unseaworthy vessels, under charge of improper
masters, and the natural results followed. Pestilence chased the
fugitive to complete the work of famine. Fifteen thousand out of
ninety thous