The Concordia eagle. [volume] (Vidalia, La.) 1873-1890, 1884-12-13
Naples and Her Peopic.

Naples ana Her People.
No one who has had any acquaint-
ance with the life of the poorer classes
in Naples can wonder at the raxages
tho cholera is making in that city.
Large numbers of families are there
pent up together, in high and narrow
houses, which inclose filthy court,
with very inadequate ventilation, with
hardly water enough to Stake their
thirst, and without any of the convc-
niences that decency seems to us to de-
mand. We have high Italian authori-
ties for saving that many parts of the
town are in worse condition than the
lowest London slums; and, from our
own inspection. we are inclined to be-
lieve that life in many Of the fonGaci
woud be simply impossible were il not
for the geniality of the climate, which
permits so much of almost every day to
he spent in the open air.
The tourist drives quickly through the
Mercato and the Nicaria; he has no wish
to mount the filthy stairs and glance
into the squalid and overcrowded rooms
to which they lead. Indeed, it might be
unsafe for him to do so unless he were
accompanied by an agent of the police,
who is sure to be regarded with suspi-
cious and hostile eyes, or 10y one of the
priests who have succeeded in gaining
the personal confidence of this outcast
part of their flock. 1t is not strange,
therefore, that when an epidemic
casts fierce and sudden light on
all this misery, those who have hitherto
ignored it should gaze on il aghast. and
forget how much has been done to al
leviatc it during the last ten or fifteen
years. The sanitary condition of Ma
pies is still, beyond all question, worse
than that Of any English town; but no
English town has made such rapid
progress rs Naples has of late done. A
large garden has been laid out on the
shore for the benefit of the poorer part
of the population; broad streets, that
let in the sunshine and the sea-brcczc,
have been opened up through the most
crowded districts; and. though the fon-
daci still remains open the grotte have
been closed. The latter We're cayernS
followed out of the soft rock, in which
from thirty to fifty families would some
times herd together, with no division
between them but n rough line drawn
or scratched upon the ground between
the beds. For this damp and duSky
accommodation rent was demanded and
paid, and it was not only the landlords
who complained when the caves were
finally closed.
Some of the modern appliances intro
dHccd into the town have not been en-
:rely successful. The s.stem of drain
M 10 hns IA ,-
improved the external appearance Of
the streets, and given them an air of
cleanliness they did not possess before;
but il is more doubtful whether ii has
benefited the health Of the city. The
outfali of the sewers 10 too near
the shore to render their discharge
either impereeptible or harmless in
:. sea that may almost be called tidclrss.
!, IS certain that fever has become more
trcuuGat since they were built, and it is
possible that they may help to carry
the choicra into districts that might
otherwise have been free from danger.
To those who know nothing of South
ern Italy except what they have learned
from Liberal pamphlctecrS aud histOr-
ian;. it may seem strange that the Laz-
Xaroni should suspect their fellow citi-
zcns of Il deliberate attempt to reduce
the surplus population by introducing
the disease into parts of the town that
have hitherto escaped, or even by direct
poisoning in the hospitals. Those who
are intimately acquainted with the
people will feel no surpr,S' ut such
rumorS, strange and unf0uHdci as they
are. The history of Naples for The last
century. at least, has been the history
OF II war between the middle and the
lower classes, in which the latter gained
many victories. the last Of which was
achieved on the barricadeI of lSlS. and
was the dcath-bluw to the Italian Revo-
luton. Now they are reduced 10 ST.
lcncc, but though Garibaidi. the hero
Of the middle class, succeeded in firing
the feelings of the whole population for
thrty-siX hours, the enthusiasm soon
passed away. and the old fcud, the old
luminosity, the old suspicion still re-
manned, Whether the policy of the
new kingdom of ltaly especially
the way in which its taxes are levied
and employci-is calculated TO ailay or
TO irritate this feeling is Il question into
which foreigners perhaps need not in
quire. - SatHrt{aY Hegje@.
SINNERS Nephew.