The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-06-08
PERIANDER's PILGRIMAGE.
Scenes Witnessed and Thoughts Suggested
 in a Tour Through Italy.

Ina Tour Through Italy.
 Botzen, May 22, 1897, ITO the Editor of the Journal and Courier;
 The mulberry tree has very hard time of 1t in Italy. In the first place about this time of the year all It's leaves gre pluoked to be fed to silk worms. The silk worm is very particular about his diet-everybody should be for that matter He insists upon young, fresh mulberry leaves Otherwise he refuses to spin himself eventually into silk cocoon. Now at once comes the ques- tion: If silk be derived, per worm, from mulberry leaves, why cannot silk be produced directly from mulberry leaves without the intervention of the worm? Still further; the particular silk quality of mulberry leaves must be imparted through twigs, branches and trunk. Therefore the quality exists in the wood. Why, therefore, should not a silk pulp be produced from mulberry wood by the same processes by which paper pubs are produced from other woods? Here is an idea of which the prospective value can only be estimated in millions. When factories are estab- lished and silk is being whirled from logs to modistes, let not the pecuniary rights of the originator of the idea be forgotten
 Every individual leaf is not picked from the tree; for in that case the tree would at once die. The skill of the picker is displayed in leaving just enough foliage to induce the poor tree to make renewed efforts, and not to abandon itself to complete despair. Then again in the fall its life is once more endangered; for just before win ter sets in every particle of its precious self that can be cut off without killing 1t is chopped off for the wood pile. As every Italian peasant has not the requt- site skill for this two-fold sacrifice, thousands and thousands of lovely mul- berry trees are each year offered upon the altar of silk and warmth. With re- proachful sadness the lingering trees display their dying stumps all over the fertile plains of Lombardy and call upon ingenious man to devise method for preserving their life and their beau ty. No flat surface can be more beau tiful than when covered with fields of growing grain, divided by living null berry trees, joined together by swayng grapevines. Here and there rows Of tall poplars raise their aristocratic heads to give grace and dignity to the landscape. To travel for hours through scenes so rich, so lovely, so quiet, so as- surfing, brings the soul into a delightful and peaceful sympathy with nature sweeps into forgetfulness the cares and worries of the past and prepares one to live and enjoy anew with the fresh and simple instincts of childhood
 But Botzen is not in Italy. Very true, but it is just out of Italy, and is on the direct road that leads from Mantua and Ferrara
 Of all dead cities Mantua Is the dead est. Its ducal palace Is enormous. In the days of the Gonzaglas it must have been magnificent. Now it looks as if about three dozen old state houses had been jumbled together at every imagin- able angle. A Norman castle in ruins has beauty. A Gothic cathedral at eve- ry stage of it's existence has great beau ty But a medieval Italian palace built of brick and stucco, and with very little architectural attraction to start with, needs constant repair and scrub ping to keep 1t presentable. The ducal palace probably has not had five dol lars worth of repair since 1S66 when the Austrians were finally driven out. When that occurred they took with them everything worth carrying and destroyed everything non-portable which they deemed worth destroying. Fortunately a few things were over looked and these few fully repay wis., 1t. In one room there are still left a few of Mantegna's frescoes Until these frescos are seen, Mantegna can- not be properly appreciated. One of them is perfectly delightful. It repre- sents a meeting between one of the Gonzagas and his son who had been made cardinal. The meeting Is sup posed to take place in the country and near Rome. This is all in the back ground. The figures are life-sze and in the immediate foreground They are so life-llke in every particular that you feel they must be perfect representa- tions to the minutest detail of the most insignificant garment. You are taken back to the time when these worthies lived as you are taken back by no other one work of art in existence. To the right of the picture are introduced a few steps. Of course steps going up into a country scene are absurd. But on those steps Mantegna has grouped half 8 dozen courtiers and to each cour- tier he has given as divine pair of legs as art has ever produced They are beautiful in shape. The modelling is perfect. In addition you can per- ceive and enjoy the elasticity of the muscles. With those legs, those chaps