The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1898-02-12

very differently constituted and governed
The inhabitants contrast. Pontebba is
populated by tall, dark, 1.-THE race, gay
and cheerful to degree Pontafel by
fair people, shorter of build, and more
taciturn and grave The one speak the
musical tull-toned Italian, the other their
cultural German. The one finger their
bronze centessimi and paper lire, the other
their copper kreutzer and silver holin.
The house of the Italians are palazzi
(palaces, } although by that term in ItaI-
ian Is not meant "A royal residence, but
large, massive, isolated building. The
houses, then, of the Pontebba village are
all large and well built Their main doors
are arched with massive stones, sometimes
IN Gothic form and sometimes in circular.
and again sometimes in what is called
square arch, - the door heads being
keyed at right angles to the door posts.
The shutters Of the lower stories are of
IRON, which still further suggests the for
titled palace. On the other hand. the
houses in the Austrian village of Pontafel
are simply cottages, but cottages with
enormous roofs. The roofs seem twice the
height ofthe buildings themselves These
roofs are covered with wood, as a rule,
while the Italian palazzi are covered in
every case with red tiles The Italians
have bright colors about their doors, win
dows, and walls, the Austrians have a good
deal of sombre shade, tending to black
The Italian housewives are to be seen
at every running stream earning liveli-
hood by washing clothes; the Austrian
housewives clean theirs out of sight of the
public eye. The one eat their garlic, po-
lenta, and maccaroni. the others their
beans and bacon and sauerkraut The
Italian bread is cents pound, the Aus
trian is 3 cents, The Italian sugar is 20
cents, the Austrian 10 cents. Italian
matches are l cent box of %; the Aus
trians pay the same for two boxes of so
each. Salt in Italy is 10 cents a pound
and In Austria > cents. The advantage.
however, is not all on the side of Austria
The Italian has his newspapers, native and
foreign; the Austrian has really nothing.
The Italian can meet in public meetings;
the Austrians cannot. The Italians breathe
the air Of liberty and manage their own
affairs; the Austrians are really under
Governors and tutors. and are even ignOr-
ant Of how they are governed 1t must
not be supposed however, that one can
live more cheaply in Pontafel than in Pom
tebba, that the Austrians are better off
economically than the Italians A trav-
cller experience will illustrate that. A
party went to Pontafel from Venice, chief
ly on the advice of Baedeker who speaks
of it as being splendidly situated. -
After running the gauntlet of the Austrian
customs they got settled in the gasthot-
poSte. Comfortable rooms are secured for
about rs cents Il night, and breakfast costs
about 15 cents, luncheon 35 cents, and
dinner so cents There was no view from
the hotel. the windows looked either into
court OF on the houses on the opposite
side of the road A tax of about 5 cents
a day had to be paid on newspapers, and
some were entirely confscated. The po-
lice insisted on affixing to English news
papers two stamps Of kreutzer each; the
Go=:etto from Venice needed the same,
the 1driatico was confscated because Iii
beral, and the Di/cso, the clerical organ.
was sometimes admitted for nothing, ''in
error. the Postmaster said So much
for Austrian Pontafel
Crossing the famous bridge over the
Pontebbana you see splendidly situated
hotel, commanding both the valleys and
find that you can get bed for the night
for 20 cents, and everything else in pro
portion. How food can be as cheap or
cheaper here in Italy is puzzle, until you
learn that it is permitted to take certain
quantity of any article from Austria to
Italy free of duty. For example, sugar
costs 20 cents pound in Pontebba and 10
cents in Pontafel; but it is permitted to
take across the bridge free quarter of
pound, so you find that all the sugar in
Pontafel is put up in quarter pound papers.
1t is curious to see hundreds of parcels Of
that weight piled on the Austrian coun-
ters 1t is the same with other things
In the morning early are the maids and
women in Pontebba seen to cross to Aus
taia to secure free breakfast table
In regard to bread any amount can be
taken across free, or practically any amount,
for 100 weight is allowed Then a good
deal of contraband traffic goes on, all on
small scale. The Custom House men
come to know all the people who come and
go for house purchases, and so they do not
trouble to look into their baskets, far less
search their pockets, and thus the two
villages mutually benefit each other
1t is impossible to say enough in praise
of the country around Pontebba and Pom
tafel Off the great valleys OF the Pom
tebbana and Fera open others with their
rushing torrents in all directions. Good
fishing can be had in the streams and riv-
ers The valleys are fresh and green, in
spite of the heat that is burning up the
plains below. In the valleys maize is the
chief crop, and it is too cold for vines.
The pastures are fields of wild flowers.
Higher up the slopes are hazel woods, still
higher up are beeches. then pines and
oaks, then bare white rocks, towering up
into the blue sky, with patches of snow
lying still in their deeper recesses. Pom
tebba is distant from venice 128 miles,
and two express trains day cover the dis
tance in five hours, which is lightning
speed for Italy Some twenty miles fur
ther on is Jarvis, a well-known summer
resort, and further on is Clagenfurt, with
its lakes and other favorite resorts. The
railway nearly bounds the Dolornite region
on the east, and one can go by foot or
mule without great difficulty to its soul .
and centre, Pievi di Cadore, Titan $ birth
place, across the mountains, and thence
back to Venice.
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TO ascertain the freshness Of an egg,
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