St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1880-02-27

the farming line supports so dense a
population as does Malta, and few, if
any, better with such disadvantages
Give these Maltese hundred thousand
acres OF the steepest, stoniest, toughest
land in New England state, and they'd
make it soon garden. They'd wall it.
terrace it with stone-ransack the earth
for stone to build around fields and ter
race fronts, and then enrich it until it
would bear mine of garden wealth.
Give the sturdiest New England far
mer such a tract of land us this and he
would destroy himself in fit of pure
disgust. Think of digging out rocky
places, pounding up the rock to get in
to dirt, then carting finer dirt or mud or
gutter filth to mix with it to make some
thin soil to raise some turnips, clover,
caullf1ower, or what not. In dry sea-
sons the dew their only hope; in very
wet ones, if they have any the soil is
washed over the terraces, and down
against partition walls. Not further.
Tor these are made SO tight that much
DIRT cannot pass, for dirt is their saliva
ton, aud must be kept within the
fields.
NO pasturage has Malta but some for
goats; scarcely any cattle, and horses
III the cities only. DOnkeys and goats;
now ana then some sheep. A good
nice donkey is worth twenty dollars
g0od goats, ten good sheep, say, five.
1he donkey does the drudgery that
men and women don't. The goat pro-
vides the milk; two quarts per dav.
aoouG-worth in the cities fifty cents.
The sheep gives wool and mutton
mutton greatly priced.
Meat comes from Barbary. from Tu-
MS, 1npoli and northern Afric ports ::
also some dates, and coarser fabrics
NO wood Tor hres-nOne needed save
for cooking, and for that is charcoal
used. Wages for laboring men, thirty
to forty cents per day stone masons,
fifty. The island is all stone; not
hard, like granite, but a tufa rock
quarlied out i'll square chunks, and
formed for use in walls and buildings.
They want to build a house They
take the plans; get out lot of stone
the mason takes his block of tufa rock ;
lines it with square and pencil then,
with Il sort of brOad-axe, hews it to Il
face. The axe is not so broad as the
timber hroad-aXe, nOl yet so sharp, but
the work is quite the same. | have sat
upon stone and watched these men at
work. They hew the rock with rapid
precision. To make perfect front the
face is rubbed down smooth-grooved,
perhaps, or carved or moulded. Per
manent As granite. | was in Saint
PauPs church at old Medina to-day
you know he landed thereby force of
| shlpwIeck some eighteen hundred years
ago-or you would know if you went
to Sunday School. was in his church
to-day, built of tufa rock six or seven
hundred years ago, and found it good
for thousand more. | was in the col
iseum once or twice at Rome. The tu-
fa lock they used there has stood close
on nineteen hundred years, and vet is
safe and sound. The advantage of
such a stone in such a kindly climate
can scarce be told or estimated. Easi-
ly quarried-quickly and cheaply
wrought-defying time.
But of Saint Paurs. If you turn to
Exodus or some other proper place in
the Bible, you will likely find that the
sturdy old Saint put out from Rome
some dozen and half centuries ago.
| He struck storm at sea-see Acts, per-
haps the 5th-that lasted half month,
and ended with crash upon these
rocky shores. There were no hotels in
Malta, so he went into Il cave-he and
SAINT Luke-a tufa cave in old Malta,
now old Ceta Vecchia, the ancient cap
Ital town Of Malta, and there abode
three months, before proceeding on his
way. was there to-day, and learned
from my noble guide this fact, regard
ing tufa rock, that may surprise you.
Tuta is like to the contents of the
widows cruse-the more she used the
more she had. So said my noble guide,
priestly man, who led me to the cave,
and swore it true-only he didn't swear.
Said he, o man, observe these rocks,
these walls of tufa round about where
slept and wrote and taught, this
good man Paul. 1t is holy place, be-
loved of God and saints. Good men
from far and near have sent to Malta
for chips of stone from out this sacred
cave, and from it ship loads have been
cut and dug and sent away for ceme-
taries, shrines, and sanity peoples
final resting beds, yet, as you see, the
cavern is no larger than it was the day
the great apostle came there. OF course
we saw it, and wondered at the fact.
Take this small bit of tufa, said the
holy man-nOw if snake should bite
you it will cure the bite. Then he
quoted scripture in broken English,
about Saint Paul biting a snake with
his finger and curing himself with this
sort of stone. l kindly offered to cor
rect his statement as to the biting, but
he knew ME for a hereto and needed
not.
But mention this scriptural matter
not so much for Christian edification as
to impress the reader concerning tufa.
AS to Saint Paul being here-and liv-
ing here-and whether he did or not,
I'll leave for Il future discourse. I've
seen his tracks in so many places, in
one place and another, that am bound
to believe he came here whether he did
or not.
meant to speak of Malta in connec-
ton with its people, religion, language,
British occupation, harbor, shipping,
hotels and the good old knights of st.
John, who fought against the hated
Turk and Barb, and many other very
pleasant things-of perfect climate, Gu
rious fashions, Maltese dogs and cats,
but find l have not time. So, then,
good night, its getting late, and I must
take nap. D. Mr..
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