The Wichita daily eagle., 1897-03-25
Theyitalians af New York.

4
tney We're bred in their homes beyond the
sea- Crowded huts then turn their inhapi-
| tants into the fields and streets, and so
soon as the dandelions begin to grow. hun
oTeds OF women and children are abroad
cutting the succulent young plants close
to the ground. and carrying them home by
the bushel. says the New York Evening
| Pcst
The coming Of spring reduces the living
expenses of an Italian family to little or
noting. The fire is kept going by aid of
fagots brought from the woodlands in great
bundles upon the heads of women. Who
ever walks abroad in the suburban wood
| lands late in the autumn Is sure to meet
little groups of Italian women and children
gathering fagots for the winters store of
hrewocd. Women stasger homeward un-
der enormous burdens of wood. The sticks
are frequently several inches thick and six
TO seven feet long. Sometimes a super
animated man with grizzled hair and
parchment skin goes along to cut down
dead tree or cut into suitable lengths a fall
len limb, but he never so far forgets the
dignity of male bped as to carry home
fagot. He leads the laden procession of
women homeward, himself burdened only
with his axe. The fagot-gatherers seldom
dare cut down healthy, well-grown tree.
but they ruthlessly hack off low branches,
and If a tree have hollow near the ground
they simply set it on fire, and when is has
| fallen, return to cut it up into fragments
| and carry it off piecemeai. A leaning tree
| not infrequently receives an occasional
hack of an axe on the upper side by way of
Encouragement to the destructive forces OF
| gravity.
| But in spite of the fagot-gatherers there
| must be considerable outlay of hard casa
for the winters living, and as the sum
| mer's savings went those Of the italian
| suburban colonists who have braved the
| American winter are filled with envy of
| their fellow colonists who have chosen to
| winter in Italy and now write tantalizing
| accounts of the luxurious idleuess and
| pieasan, warmth along the quays of Naples
| With the return of spring return these
| travellers, bachelors for the most part, but
| sometimes newly wived; for a single year
| in America makes an Italian bachelor a
| dangerous rival to his fellow-countrymen
not yet improved by foreign travel. The
| splendors of Mott Street and other Italian
| quarters are painted with reckless menda-
| city by the travelled Italian in search of a
| wife. Spring that brings back the wand
1 erers brings also to the colonists of the
suburbs the luxury of cheap and abundant
| food. The dandelion mixed with whatever
| else comes handy, and always with maca-
| roni, makes an excellent and nourishing
| thick soup Mushrooms are free and abun-
| dant a little later, but these sometimes, in
| stead of being eaten, are made merchandise
Watercress, wild asparagus on the salt
| marshes, and the tender shoots of the polk
| are used as table delicacies. Any Italian
| who has bit of ground Is sure to grow
onions and tomatoes, and the latter are
! sometimes grown in boxes of earth on win
| dow sils. AS the season progresses will
| raspberries are abundant in the suburbs,
and upon these the Italians feed for weeks.
Many old orchards have been thrown open
| as suburban farms or have been staked out
| in building lots and converted into villa
sites, and from these orchards the Italians
obtain all the apples they need. Even the
acrid, knotty fruit OF the volunteer Wild
| apple trees of the woodlands is not de-
| spised by these keen domestic economists.
Hickory nuts, walnuts, and especially
chestnuts the Italians gather in great
quantities, nd of chestnuts they make
| meal from which rich and nourishing sakes
are baked.
Spring has for the suburban Italians a
sentimental as well as a practical signif-
cnce. They celebrate Easter with tawdry
splendor. and as soon as the weather per-
mits. the men gather nightly in the open
air and sing as the "growler' passes round.
There is an old orchard in the newly an
nexed district much frequented by these
little glee clubs. AS soon as dusk comes the
men gather, and the music continues until
9 or 10 o'clock, thought rarely later save
on Saturday night, as the singers rise early
and work late six days out of the seven.
The scene is not one of debauch, but OF
l.
sic is Neapolitan boat song, just such as
have sounded no one knows how many
centuries, from little fleets of small craft
al night just off shore in the Bay of Naples.
The modern and familiar "Funiculi. funi-
cula," of the pestiferous and officious
guides that haunt the road up Vesuvius is
a favorite with the Italian singers. But |
the ''stornello,' sort of antiphonal singing |
gives scope for the Dramatic instinct and IS |
perhaps the bestowed music of all. ''Itali |
ano man sing like HE'LL said one of the |
singers in answer to an inquiry of an inter- |
ested stranger. The reply must not be |
taken as Intentionally profane. Doubtless |
the suburban Italian has a native store OF |
evil words, but he picks up those of his |
English-speaking fellow-laborer and uses
them with no suspicion of their signif
canoe, but as current soloquial English. |
Dam fine day. cried a smiling italian 10 |
his employer, a venerable suburbanite to-
wards whom the workman had only feet
lngs of the deepest respect.
The 'stornelo" is effective for love songs
or fo- satire After stornello erabodying
a love story had been sung. one of the 1tal-
ian listeners explained IN extremely OBJ
scure English that it was the story OF
young lover and his sweetheart. the wife
of a cold-hearted old man. The tale as
dimly bodied forth suggested the motif in |
a portion of Browning's "Pippa Passes"
A stornello popular in rural Italy and doubt |
less sung in one or another patois by the |
suburban Italians, represents the exchange
of vows between two lovers. and. indeed. |
is otter heard from the lips OF two such as
they walk hand in hand along a country
road on a holiday. Almost literally trans
lated II runs thus:
.'Oh, let US make fair exchange Of love;
Give me thy heart, and 1 viii give thee
mine,
Thy heart shall be the dearest care 10 me,
And mine the dearest care 10 thee snail De
Oh, let us make fair exchange OF love;
Give ne thy heart, and / will give thee
mine"
This lame and harsh translation falls far
short OF the exquisite music that rings
through the original with its softly siuT-
red consonants, its charming dinninutves-
and IT'S echo and re-echo of delicious vowel |
enoiugs. There must be rich stories OF
folklore in the Italian colonies hereaoouts,
and. they could hardly be reached Better |
than by one skilled in italian dialect. and !
ns:ient TO visit frequently these summer
OF the musicians. As for the
-nust. itself. whatever its defects, !; IS
psrculiarly rich and vi-si as heard az