Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1880-07-02
Underground Naples

A correspondent at Naples wites: The
more l live among the Neapolitnns the
more / understand their utter apathy as
regards politics and political institutions.
| Mr.. Gladstone called the Naples of the
Bourbons ''the negation God :" If he were
to visit the underground Naples" of
united Italy We might call it ''the mega
ton of humanity" Probably If you say
to a municipal guard or to a policeman,
81 want to see the faanachcre, that Is,
the dwellers in the fondaci (the caves and
grottoes in which the people of Naples
| live), he will answer, ''Oh, the fondaci
were pulled down long ago. As soon as
the Municipality was governed by the
Liberals, they had those deus of misery
and inquity abolished; :" and to put you
off the track he will probably take you to
some of the new buildings run up of late
and inhabited by decent class Of work
ing men. But these are not the fonddci !;
to find them you must change your guide,
and plunge with him into the lowest by
ways Of Pendino, or of Porto and Mer-
cato. Choose any Jondaco OF which you
may have heard the name, Divine Love,
the Crucifix. the Abbot, the Slave. lou
enter a courtyard ankle-deep in water, re-
fuse and filth, with one well and cesso
adjoining. Thence you may dive down
into the cellars, where you find whole
families with or without shakedown of
straw, often no other furniture than the
inyariable crucifix If You ask them how
they live. YOU will hear probably that the
father and the piccir'iH are gone to
Juscarc quaichc soido-6"scarc beng
an elastic word meaning beg, borrow,
steal or earn An outer staircase leads TO
the various floors, six or seven IN num-
Der, SIX rooms on floor, and ten or
twelve persons III room. Often TWO or
three rooms receive light one from the
other and there Is n hole Ill the wall
which emptics itself into the well. The
rent of the room varies from four, SIX,
eight, ten, and even fourteen francs
month. Some of the inhabitants have
beds some have none, and the heaps OF
straw seem literally ailvc. In the day
time You only find at home the smallest
children with the NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. OF
children, deformed, diseased, with little
wizened faces, whom only miracle can
save from lifelong suffering and crime.
No one thinks of them, no one cares for
them no lady from the better parts OF
Naples ever enters here, no priest or pas
tor sets foot on those mud-paved floors.
A visit from n gaiantuODiO Is such rare
occurance that you are Immediately sur
rounded by hundreds of Lazzerom all
asking for a gFaIIO, very often not Tor
themselves, but for the most miserable
among them. What distinguishes these
poor people from brutes 1t is difficult to
say. They have the affection of brute
for their offspring. and they are extraor-
dinarily kind and tender to tEeir people.
OF human authorities they have three
vcry clear conception--the landlord, the
tax -gatherer and the recruiting sergeant.
OF hopes beyond the threshold of their
novels, the nearest and the clearcst Is the
chance OF winning lottery ticket They |
have also faint idea that St Gennare, If
he chose, and the Madonna If she would, /
could better their lot. The inhabitants |
Of these tondaci vary i'll number from
200 to 800 in the JdSsi or subterlanean Ill
cellars about 1900 III all congregate. |
At first one will believe himself Ill one OF |
the catacombs of Rome, but very soon
the sound of human voices will convlnc e /
him that he is in the abode of the living.
Tho -rotto hns three branches. and here 1
and there in some OF It's windlng5 comes u
a CLEAN of light from some upper court /
ward, but in the main, darkness, black as |
night reigns supreme bit of twine ]
drawn across the grotto divides the apar TT /
ments, in each of which is some sort of |
bed, varying in size and quality accord
ing to the means of the lodgers. In the
dpdrtanlento noble the occupier has two
good mattresses and some decent bits of
furniture, and pays nine francs per month
for the mud floor and the natural roof,
from which III rainy weather drops the
only water with which the ero:to is fur
nished. Thence to the extreme end of
the grotto misery is found on II descend
ing scale-six, eight, ten men, women and
children huddled on straw shakedown,
and for the few feet of earth on which
they place it they pay respectively four
or five francs Il month In spite Of the
conditions under which they
exist, these people are orderly, are kind
to each other and put together the sum
neco ssary to pay for the lodging of an Old
woman who has nothing and can do moth
ing Those who can, cover Their children
with decent frock and give them n pair
IF shoes, send them to the infant or
elementary schools bu. these are few
indeed and most OF them remain in the
grotto until they are Of an age for the
to take them i'll training or un-
IIl death puts an end to suffering and cuts
off the chance Of crime. And he 1t re-
| am writing Of the better
class of the real poor Of Naples-of those
who do manage to pay for II roof over
their head and bed to call their own.
long since ceased to wonder at the apathy
of the people toward political questions
and party squbbles. The masses are. as
regards their material condition, for
worse off than under the Bourbons, and,
,....... IL. H.. = L.