The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1896-07-02
EUROPEAN LETTER.
(From our Special Oorrespondent.)
NAPLES, Italy, June 8, 1895.

New England or Dutch housekeeper
say of Naples? This city stands pre-.
eminent in the bacteria and microbe
manufacturing industries. This is not
meant to be derogatory to Naples at all,
for the interest of the place is largly re.
fersble to the picturesque dirt. The
true Neapolitan face is not character.
izsd 80 much by black eyes and rosy
lips as by dirt, and one always thinks
when looking at the children of Charles
Lambs remark "If dirt were trumps
what hands they would hold" In rainy
weather the streets are covered with a
thin black batter of mud and the care.
fully dressed American and the daily
dubbed" Englishman find themselves
after few hours sight seeing reduced
to the real Neapolitan state.
The streets are painfully narrow, in
fact just wide enough to allow carriages
to pass. On the numerous holidays two
long professions OF carriages block the
business streets from end to end, and
the man who has not yet been go infiu.s
enced by the climate as not to care
whether he reaches the bank today or
next week, finds this slow moving pro.
cession sore trial to his patience. The
side walks are even worse. On the
principal shopping street they are about
two feet wide. At one point in this
street we saw man the other day who
nonchalently led goat out of gate
opening on the pavement, and quietly
sat down to milk her. The pedestrians
respected his energy and the entire
mass moved off the sidewalk so as not
to disturb him. The Italians are good
natured people.
The beggars are innumerable. They
conduct business everywhere and there
seems to be between them and the
gendarmes, who are almost as plentiful,
q kind OF understanding that one will
not disturb the other. There is mag
nificent arcade in the city called the
Galleria vittorio Emmanuelo, but the
pleasure of walk through it is spoiled
by the little beggars who turn hand
springs and somersaults in front Of you
through the entire place in hope of a
penny. A little girl conducts busi.
ness of this kind in the Galleria and
reaps large rewards, shop keeper told
me, for doing it so "modestly". A man
smoking is followed any distance until
he drops the stump Of his cigar, when a
struggle for its possession ensues. In
the streets that lead up to the hill the
poorer classes reside and the sights
these streets afford are worth crossing
the ocean and all it's attendant sea sick.
ness to see. Many of them are only
long flights OF stairs and others are 80
steep that land slides in the city are Of
common occurance. OF course horses
cannot 60 on these inclines, so the
whole domestic economy of the families
is exhibited ON the street. They live
2 almost altogether out of doors and 1t il
not uncommon thing to see children
washed and dressed and other domestic
scenes of more or less delicate character
enacted in the open air. But all o1
these things do not interfere with the
charm of these picturesque, tortuoui
streets and alleys. In fact they con-
stitute its charm and the scene that in
America would make you hasten for &
policeman forms here the subject o.
your snap shot. 1t is something in thu
setting OF the picture-the tall pink ant
yellow houses with their dirty Window
and broken walls, the blue. blue SKY
overhead, the black streets below; IL
the distance across the brilliant ba!
Vesuvius smoking his daily pipe-al
these are the cause and though yo,
talk loudly about the advantage o
American thrift and progressivenes
you long to linger here where "mer'
passive existence is itself Leths."
The schools, 90 far ss can learn, ar
very good. Attendance is compulsor!
and the normal instruction for teacher
very careful In all the grades English
German and French are taught. Th'
fact that the people have enjoyed free
dom and good schools for less than ont
generation is apparent in the superio
intelligence of the younger members o
the households. The older person
speak soft, abbreviated Italian AM
one always thinks of them as a peopl'
whose energy has been expended TO
euphony; but the children show quick
ness Of PERCEPTION and an intelligence
that is surprising. Many of the peopl
are complaining that the public school
are undermining not only parental bu
church authority, which is probabl
true, and will be the cause in fe'
generations OF better days for Italy
And speaking OF the churches, ! hav
seen nothing that so we'll characterize
:. Aha rltramon tame view as q perfOrmanC