Mountain Home bulletin. (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1888-1889, 1888-08-25
CUSTOMS OF CAPRI.


PlcturssQus Scenes On the lsiand lGado
Famous by GaribaldL
They have q stran ye way in this little
place. found, Of betrothing the girls
to the young men before the latter
leave the town. As very few Of them
are able to either read or write. long
years pass BY without word from the
lover or "spoza" reaching the patient
girl at home.
1t is not a rare thing to meet here
young couples who were engaged for
ten. twelve or even fifteen years before
fortune was sufficiently favorable to
allow them to marry.
One can not soon get rich on thirty
cents day. and that is the wages Of .
man in Capri. This is perhaps the
reason why SO many men leave the
island. leaving the women at home to
take care of the vineyards and olive
groves.
II is a very picturesque scene, those
women. with their gay costumes. rich
compilations, bright. flashing eyes, at
work in the fields. or leading their
fiocks Of goats up the mountain side to
pasture. Their feet are always bare.
and become so hard that it is simply
wonderful what they can endure. They
will walk over the roads covered with
sharp. tiinty stones, climb the rugged
mountain sides. and be quite as COM
Portable as il walking on the softest
carpet In fact, for hardness their feet
resemble those OF the Western girl,
who, when told by her mother that
there was a red-hot coal under her foot,
drawled out, without moving an inch:
(which foot is it under. mammy?"
Yet the feet IT these women are by no
means misshapen. but on the contrary.
are perfect models for an artist.
During my stay on the island en-
joyed the rare treat Of witnessing the
grand festival Of San Antonio, this be-
ing the great feast day of the year.
One of the most attractive features
to me was the procession of white-robed
maidens. vending their way through
the narrow streets, lined with white
walled houses. From the top of these
walls, friends and lovers showered
down the understanding, golden San
Antonio fiori upon the procession be-
low. The girls were wreathed with
flowers. and carried in their hands
either candles or little wooden images,
and chanted as they walked. surround
ed by clouds of smoke from swinging
censors.
Through the town and up the wind.
ing stone stairs cut in the mountain
side, they passed to the chapel. whe.e
the religious services were held. After
that came the feastng. and the dane
ing, and the music, over which they
became greatly excited.
The numberless movements of their
favorite dance, the "Tarantata," and
the easy graceful forms of the dancer,
as they swayed backward and forw ard
was indeed a pleasing and exhiliaratine
, sight. The "Tarantata" is danced BY
three couples only, the men dancing
around the women and then kneelin
, as suppliants at their feet. The womer
raise them, and with airy moveme MT.
dance around the men. Then the,
separate into pairs. advancing and re-
treating and again dancing together.
The figures of the dance are but small
, part of its beauties; there is an indie
scribable fascination in ths free ant
, graceful movements of the arms, head.
and, in fact. of the whole body. -Bea
{ trice Priesthood King, in Woman.
"A New York woman recently ap
peared at the thsater wearing blue
waistcoat, with gold dollars for buttons
, 1t is said that she did not appear t.
. mind the sensation she created.
, The Oakland Tribune recommend.
: keeping goose in the chicken-roos
as guard against the depredations o
professional chicken-thieves. The COOS,
will ..souaWkn on tho intruler avar,