Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-04-12

art lie DOTleQ DeQeatn seas OF IlQulQ nr6.
Beyond, at Syracuse, the noblest mag
niflcence of Greek achievement is crumb-
ling beneath centuries of filth. The sea
the morasses with their deadly miasma
and the ever threatening furies OF Etna,
alone remain. Resplendent civilizations
are annihilated. Etna roared, the seas
! engulfed. the morasses swept hosts
away. That was $500 years ago.
We say of that time, superstition is the
mother of mythology. Let Etna roar
a tidal wave engulf, or sinking swan p
breed a pestilence to girdle the earth, a
more sodden superstition and fatalism
are here to accept the old, and create
new, bugaboos to-day. What availed
st. Paul's austerity, St. Peters benig-
nancy, or even that a Christ was born
to such as these?
But how can you long continue with
the gods, when the vile beggers chase
you from one classic point to another +,
and alert and venturesome f1eas, brave
as another Italian whose discoveries we
are about to celebrate, swarm over new
worlds of conquest upon your tootnsome
American anatomy? 1t is impossible.
And so you see Catania with eyes of to-
day. Those view two or three long
handsome streets with white facades and
towering domes. Back to the bay half
destroyed by lava, and in the other di-
rection, toward tiny peaks and luxuriant
wales, run narrow lanes whose structures
are low and black. These are all built
of lava blocks. The streets are paved
with lava, fountains are carved from
lava, floors are tiled with lava, interiors
are built from lava, the very dishes one
eats from are
TURNED OUT OF LAVA,
and the bread one gets is hard, shiny and
tasteless as lava itself. You can never
get away from a constant consciousness
of the source of destructiveness and re-
vlvification bowling EIna is to Catania,
to its near cities, the dense population
herding all about It's base, and even TO
smiling and exuItant nature itself. Over
eighty eruptions of Etna are of historic
record. 1t spews out rivers of liquid fire
every generation or so. These obliterate
cities, villages, the very face of ma
ture. The people run away and let the
lava cool. Then they come back and dig
out their homes, or composedly cut
blocks from the handy substance and
build anew. Where the old vineyards
olive and fig plantations once were, new
ones spring like magic if the porous stuff
be barely scratched by pick or hoe for
seeding places. Never will the line
''o'er Death eternal Life is blossoming''-
come to you with such flash of forceful-
ness as here.
Perhaps 80 900 souls exist in Catania
The palaces which border her principal
streets are very new, splendid and great;
perhaps the Biscaria palace, which
houses vast stores of Greek sarcophagi,
terra cottas, vases and sculptures, ex-
cavated from the lava, being the most
imposing. Then there is the Marina,
where the lowly gather and listen TO the
music of government bands, a filthy
place, much loved by the lazzaroni.
But the Bellini garden, out on the
heights toward Etna, is surprisingly
beautiful; and in this you will see mill
tary officials, resplendent in uniforms
and decorations; lords and princes, COW
cred with insignia of rank; all the really
interesting aristocracy of Catania, and
truly the most winsome, soulful-eyed,
empty headed women of Sicily. OF
the Greco Roman remains the theater
can be visited by the use of guides and
torches. The ancient Odeum is near,
and in Archebusiri street will be found
what is left of the Roman Amphitheater.
Under the Piazza del Duomo, adjacent to
the great cathedral are the Roman baths;
but the best preserved specimens of these
are seen underneath the Carmelite
church, where there still remain, in
marble. the warm bath, the hot-water-
bath, the yapor- bath, and the fire-room
and the disrobing-room. There are