Science Fiction Review: "Attention Saint Patrick" by Murray Leinster

Tweet

President O’Hanrahan of the planetary government of Eire is hosting Sean O’Donohue, the chairman of the Dail—of Eire on Earth—Committee on the Condition of the Planet Eire. He’s there to check on the colony and could cut off all funding. O’Donohue is there with his granddaughter. He’s also convinced there’s shenanigans goin’ on. Eire is meant to be a place for the people of Eire on Earth to emigrate to when there was more of them than Erin had room for. Which was now! O’Donohue cannot abide shenanigans. While not exactly shenanigans, there are a few things O’Hanrahan would prefer not telling O’Donohue. He can agree the colony isn’t prospering as expected. He blames the dinies, native species of animals that come sizes ranging from great behemoths to those you could hold in your hand. The one thing they have in common is they eat iron. Iron in nails holding the house together. Iron in machinery. After banishing the behemoths to an offshore island—they can’t swim—they found their only solution to the diny problem was snakes, the same animal the blessed Saint Patrick banished from Ireland. Wouldn’t O’Donohue have a fit if he knew the people of Eire had imported snakes. Therefore, they ask their snakes all to lie low for the time being. A new solution comes from an unexpected quarter and Sean O’Donohue is discomfited, albeit there is a meeting of minds. This is a cute, but not great story. I enjoyed it for what it was. It’s not a second read, though. Author Murray Leinster (penname for William Fitzgerald Jenkins) was the first author known to use the idea of parallel universes in a story. He also was the first known author to use the idea of a universal translator. Additionally, he invented a special effects procedure known as front projection. His 1964 novel, The Time Tunnel, used a wormhole connecting the years 1904 and 1964. This led to a television series The Time Tunnel (1966-1967), loosely based on the book. This story is available from Project Gutenberg. It is also available as an audiobook from Librivox. _____ Title: “Attention Saint Patrick” Author: Murray Leinster (William Fitzgerald Jenkins) (1896-1975) First published: Astounding Science Fiction, January 1960 Source: ISFDB