The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1875-07-08
A GLIMPSE AT NAPLES.

"Veds NapoI poi m'orii," say the
Neopolitans :; and all strangers say so
too; only the American and the Eng
lishman say it in English: "See
Naples and die" A very foolish
thing to say, you think. Well, you
know people often say more than they
mean. This saying simply means
that Naples is so beautiful that a man
cannot find more lovely place; and
that having seen this city, he might
die contented. We, sober-minded
boys and girls, who see so much that
is beautiful and lovely in life; who
find so many reasons why we wish to
live,-we should not be ready to die
just because we had seen Naples or
any other beautiful city.
But let me tell you a little of this
old city. Look on your maps, on the
front of what We used to call the
"boot" Of 1taly,-just above the "in-
STEP" You see how the sea goes a
little way into the land and forms a
bay, and on that bay is our city
''Napoli;" or, as we call it NAPLES. "
Imagine, then, that we are on a
steamer going into this Bay of Naples.
First, a narrow place where the
shores come out into the sea, as if
they intended to meet each other,
with three beautiful islands resting
like stepping-stones between. And
here we look over broad surface of
water, spreading in front of US and at
the 81 des like a very large, nearly
round, basin, and about twenty miles
across But tie sir is very clear, and
we can see the shores and the houses
on them quite Us easily as We could
see half that distance in New York
Bay or Long Island Sound. The
scene is so beautiful that an old poet
of Naples called it "a piece Of heaven
fallen upon the EARTH" The shores
generally slope up and back from the
water with level country in some
places.
On our right we see Vesuvius, the
wonderful and dreadful volcano, r1s-
ing like a black sugar-loaf few
miles away, but seeming very near.
About halfway up from the level Of
the sea, its sides become very steep
and precipitous, covered everywhere
with the hard, black zaua, and the
sco1ie which have been thrown from
the inside of the mountain through
the large crater or hole in the top.
There is nothing very beautiful about
Vesuvius; yet it is to be seen from
every place near Naples, always
black, and sometimes with smoke or
steam coming out of its sides, or form
ing a cloud and floating away from
the top. At the bottom Of the noun
tain, and in the valley toward Naples,
the eye sees with relief the bright and
rich green of trees and fields Then
we see houses scattered along the
curved line of the shore,-Resina
built over where Herculaneum once
stood, and then the city, with its mum.
erous white houses, looking, as some
one has said, like q crowd Of pilgrims
going up the hill, while further on,
around this circular shore, we see
the celebrated San Elmo, the great
fort, on higher part of the hillside,
The steamer soon touches the dock,
Now look out! Beggars without num-
Der are there; they know exactly
when the steamers will come. How
they poster us! If we have taken q
hotel omnibus, we shall get through
easily; but if we attempt to walk, We
must prepare for a siege. Every mar
there looks darker and uglier thar
his neighbor; you feel almost SURF
that they are not to be trusted, anc
yet they all want to carry your satch
Ell or show you where you do not wisl
to 60. So much for being foreigner
and stranger.
We reach the hotel in time ant
soon set out to see the city. The ho
tel is not very different from those j,
New York-only almost nobod,
speaks English.
But the city does not remind us o
New York. At first we pass along
wide street with the bay at our right
but when we turn off to "see the city,
we can easily believe that Naples j
more than two thousand years Ole
There is a story--not in the historic
that it was founded by a Siren cal
ed Parthenope, and at first called b
her name. The story is true as to til
name, but we must disbelieve the fir
part, for Siren-who tries to attra,
people-would certainly have pla,
ned and built a different city. I'll
houses are high and dingy, the street
with a few executions. verv narnoy