The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1890-11-20

road like the teeth of saw. with not a
tree to give shade the whole distance.
should imagine they would not leave
home more than once in a lifetime, after
they had climbed back once. As we
neared Naples the land became more
and more fertile, as the larger trees and
vines and very heavy crops of grain
showed.
Vesuvius's plume of smoke was plain
ly seen while yet 40 miles away, and it
was peculiar sensation to see a noun
tain smoking, all the pictures ever taken
will give no idea of volcano, it must
be seen. The crater is at the top, 1000
feet above the sea, and as the mountain
stands quite alone, it is a very prominent
object, the flame at night and smoke by
day make the finest kind of landmark
for seamen. The railway skirts the foot
Of the mountain, soon after passing this
we were in Naples which, with her half
million population, is the largest city in
Italy. s..i s',... .'U
Trees and vines grow thickly all
about Naples; the high road with white
dust about 6 inches deep was full of all
sorts of carts and wagons, while tlOcks
of goats were numerous everywhere, the
first we had seen; should judge large
share of the milk supply of Naples came
from goats, which are driven out and in
exactly as we do cows. The roads are
made with limestone rock and the effect
on the eyes when the sun shines is
dazzling. The city lies in half circle
about the bay, Vesuvius being at one end
of the curve and the best part of the city
at the other; from here one looks out
over the beautiful blue water of the bay
Of Naples, "a miles to the Island of Capri,
which acts as breakwater against the
waves of the Mediterranean.
| The great thoroughfare Of Naples is
the street which runs the whole length
of the city, following the curve of the
shore and close to the water. 1t passes
all the docks, the palace, the pOstoffice
and large part of the business quarter,
and the traffic on it is tremendous. The
pavement of most of the streets consists
Of large stones like those in Florence,
most of them foot to eighteen inches
square; they are extremely hard on
horses.
A very steep hill rises behind the city
to height of at least 800 feet, the top
crowned by an old fortress or castle.
From the street along the water, narrow
streets run up the grade to the base of
the steep hill a distance'of about quar-
ter Of mile, these streets ranging from
8 to 20 feet wide and lined with houses
four to six stories high, all flats and each
fiat with balcony. People fairly swarm
in those streets; it is hard to believe, as
one looks at the city, that so many
people can possibly be there. II it was
an American city It would cover at least
three times as much ground. These
halnn,,.aa ,,at,allxv nnot,ntad hu
member of the family except when the
sun shines there, then, if they must look
out, they throw the long curtain, made
of plated straw and painted in the most
vivid colors with impossible pictures,
over the iron rail of the balcony, so as to
be protected from the sun, yet able to
see up and down the street. In none of
the narrow streets are there any side
walks, the stone pavement sloping to the
centre, and all of them fully as dirty as
the down town streets in New York
City. When the families on the upper
floors wish to buy of any of the numerous
peddlers, they let down a basket by a
cord from the balcony with the cash in
side, the man puts the goods into it and
they draw it up. The balcony is fav-
orite place to hang the washing, and a
novel sight it is on long street, the
same cnstom prevailed in some parts of
Rome.
Outside the business district it was a
common thing to hang the washing on
the sidewalk, the line kept up by port
able poles, the passers by as matter
of course going around it into the
street. H4 u.r
They appeared to have great fond
ness for dried tomatoes; in front OF
almost every house would be number
of dishes full of a sort of tomato paste,
drying in the sun, flies swarmed thickly
about each plate, while during the day a
fair amount of dust settled on them; it
was most appetizing dish. Naples has
a very large commerce, the harbor being
made perfectly safe by two long break
waters stretching out into the bay, but
for all there are no wharves at all.
Every vessel has TO anchor short dis
tance out, and discharge the freight
into lighters; every steamship or steam
boat has to be boared by means of the
clumsy heavy row boats which swarm in
the harbOr.
A very handsome street named after
Victor Emanuel winds in and out along
the face of the hill, at quite height
above the valley, atfording very fine
views over city and bay; a steam tram
runs along this street, cars drawn by an
engine like our dummys; several
European cities have them. A funicular
railroad. as they are called from the one
I'D the cone or funnel of Vesuvius,
operated by stationary engine and wire
cables, runs from this street to the top of
: the hill, far above. This hill is peculiar,
being only a sort Of ridge which slopes
| vary ahruntlv into n broad valley behind