New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-12-04
4 CONTRAST.
= MARION CRAWFORD ~ THE OLD WORLD
AND TIE NEW-A CALAERiAN
SALT NINE.

NAll MlNls
7, ,,oro :. any truth in tho tritc saying that
variety j. the spice OF life-and there i mnch
real truth in most trte sayines-the existence oi
= man who within a few months passes from '"'
ruvi.itcd REGIONS Of Southern Italy To the pave
Inent Of Now-Nork must he very mghS spree"
indeed II j. hard 20 imagine more cohpt''
and sudd,.l contrast than that between vi" "llue'
nnr, or C,Iobria and tie streets of the metropolis
The moral distance which separates NaH-''.-of
Fifth.ay.-nom "A salt mine worked ny Alb'nian
peasants i undcnahly greater than that which
lies b.twecn the great city and the unnhabited
,,iII.rnes After all we compare places more
lv their relative civilization than by the hgnr'S
of their census.
LAST summer | wa, wandering along the ara
briau coast between thr orang"-gIown gardens oil
Sorrento and the little town Of Pl27o, where III
fnted King Joaquin Mniat met his fate. lived
in an omen frlncca with halt-a-dOzen well tfrd
Sorrentinr sailors who have lecn with me OH
many such expeditions along great part OF the
Sonthern Italian coas' We slept in the bottom
Of the boat when at sea all night OF cnrcd orr
selves mp in the warm sand among TIE rocks
when We could anchor or beach the boat We
lived chiefly upon macdr0ni and hard tack raw
Tomatoes ana fIuit, and We Wer' aS usual, ~
ragged and unslav"n n crew H. ever scared the
and-foE in the DAYS Of the liarbarv pirates " mas
ter skipper and or Of The vessel was entitled
10 SOME distinction. And ] got il in the shape
cf brown earthenwarc plate, grccn-glazcd inside
which was known a. my OWN. ava was n il''"
larger than the rest -b,rIdrs the right 10 sleep
alone i'm the stern sheets. and lie privilege Oh
Sinking my watch when AZ sea. was lever
guilty of that last weakness but one" III my l'I',
ON memorable autumn night last year, when
1 ~ mud
for the first time in nearly forty years ,uccumbcG
70 the cold-n Italian waters and in the last
DAYS Of September | believe | am not the first
man who has remarked that one can be- colder
inside in Italy, than in Minnesota or Arch
angel.
But we were not cold last summer in Calabria,
I'm June can remember certain day when
were at anchor in tie afternoon AZ q place
ironically misnamcd Acquafrcdda- " Cold Water"
The men gasped like dying fish in the blaze and
sting OF the wc-tering sun, IN" sea bnbblcd slowly
like fried oil. and there was nothing cool 10
drink
| suppose that under the circumstances The
idea Of salt. especially in larg, quantities. was
particularly irritating 10 my crew. and remember
the expression Of their faces when declared nv
intention " visiting the remote salt mines of
Iungro. But in spite OF them To I.ungro ! went
II il not easy 10 get there. because IN Calabria
There is n prejudice in favor 81 building roads
which lead nowhere In PARTICULAR and s'iu 10
have way of ending abruptly between the sky
and two precipiccs
Few people know much that is definite about
the coast OF Calabra. and fewer still | fancy
have seen anythrg OF the interior. 80 far A.
the west coast j. concerned am familiar with il
from having visited almost every point bv soa
urtu sl..l los la (, I. .f.r
grand AID wild H. eny shore | know. and nm
I'll very recently the people were ~ primitive and
-impl" Italians can be-. Lately tie government,
has undertaken 10 build oaraec rad AMI lail
way fog military purposes. a'oeg the waters edge.
from the Gulf of SalernO e. Reggie. and the
immense numbers of workinen brought hiihcr from
other parts Of the country have produced the
usual effect upon the coast population with
which they have come in contact introducing
II sort OF vicious civilization far wors.. than none
al all. one may regret thi- "yil-and thus- who
know III" country wiil-but H." vain" Of the now
means Of communication ia developing the i,.-
sources vi Southern Italy viii ultimately be-
enormous. ~ far as one can Judge Canbra pro
ducr- much that j. marketable and which would
find q ready market II the necessary road- c,i-r.d
Tn" wine grown - considering the ~mpl. process
employed in ma,rg il. quite the best in lt1iv: tie
DIV" - abpnIaut, oranges. lemons and H., abound.
A. we'll a. "a great number Of other iTult-: m0r.-
over. the -ilk-wOrm honrshcs here and the Guilt
walton Of II could be- extended very greatly with
ont the Least trouble. a. tn" PEASANTS are mostly
familiar with its treatment from their childhood
Unfortunately. a. j, the cas-. In most part, Of
Italy. an oppressive and -con>ilercd system Of
taxation cnectually brushes all small enterprise
while capital j. wholly lacking for greater under
faltup- EN.rvfl HING ia dana ,..l. .t,b
mnrr,e labor, and against odds which wou!d
stagger a German peasant AMI make Anglo
Saxon hesitate These matters. however, do not
enter into the scope Of the present article. There
Is a mine Of wealth in Caabri which has nothing
Ia do With III" products of Ggricu-
tuIe and who's, Owners do not fall under
the universal law OF taxation. For all |
know the rugged mountains and remote
g0rg,s may contain veins of precious metal, ~ IT.
reported 10 have been the case in former ages
one thing il certain, however. ard that j. that
salt mine OF great extent and value j. SIN print
lively worked 10 the advantage OF the government
in the ncghborhood Of Lunsfo. A. no one will
lind ont easily where the latter place is situated,
| will describe the manner in which goj there
Very olteL dining my trips along the coast in a
SOrrrntne fclucca the captain of The bout who has
been familiar with the coast tor thirty years had
spoken 10 NE OF IIlc lJlN'ffIf SAT- mlnt- when
he himself had never seen, and | conceived the
idea Of attempting 10 visit them. On making in
quirics in various places. found that there was
"a great difference of opinion with regard 20
tie time necessary 10 reach them. aud came 10
the further conclusion that most of the people
who said that they had been there were a. like
all men as iii" P-amist could have wished. Some
told me, for instance, that ! cond go from Paoa
in five or sN hours, while others assured me- that
sixteen hours would be the least time in which
anyone could do the distance. At Scnca-thc
birthplace ('J Of Jddas Iscariot-Da-
mante, Bcvedcrc and iaola. tot NOMINEES.
TOD sententiac. ultimately chos. Dia-
mantle a. my starting point, not because ! really
believed II 10 be any nearer To my destination
{ han any of the other points, but merely in con
of the fact that II former occasion
d certain mIc'e'r of Diamante, named