The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1899-09-01


Interesting European Letter from Stanley
E. Parkill
'See Naples and die" Who has
not heard this old expression of ad-
miration. If long continued use can
bring any added evidence of truth to
any saying surely this one would be
beyond dispute, nor am l inclined to
enter into any argument to bring it
into dispute. If seeing in the sense
of living in Naples, and living as most
of the Neapolitans live is intended,
it is undoubtedly true, particularly for
an American who is accustomed to
cleanliness and room to breathe. Still
it would be more appropriate to say,
climb up Vesuvius and die, for after
midnight trip to its boiling crater
by horseback and on foot one feels as
though death would be inevitable the
next day.
We landed at Brendisi Thursday
morning and after many trials and
tribulations reached Pompeii at 6 p. M,
long, hot, dusty ride through the
lower part of the peninsula. Interest
ing we found the journey, too. The
road goes through vast olive groves,
the trees still in bearing, being CEN
turtles old, so old that the trunks and
limbs are supported by stone columns.
The fruit you know, as we get it,
tastes like green plum, the leaves
are very much like those of the golden
willow and its shade on hot day is
a delusion and snare. Still to be
the possessor of fine old olive grove
is very comfortable thing.
Then we went by great vineyards.
You may judge of their extent when
1 tell you that they have tank cars on
the railroads for transporting wine.
There were wheat fields also. We saw
tie threshing floors, some of them
bare and others in use, the grain piled
up on the floor. The bundles some
times being placed on end with the
heads of the grain up, then cattle or
horses are driven round and round
upon it until the grain is all separated
and falls to the ground. Some were
using old fashioned fails instead of
the animals. When the threshing is
finished the straw is carefully raked
off and the grain and chaff gathered
in pile and winnowed by hand.
There are some modern threshing ma
chimes in use, but where labor is so
cheap the old methods still prevail to
quite considerable extent.
But was talking about Vesuvius.
We determined to make the night
ascent and see the sunrise from the
crater, SO we went to bed Immediately
after supper to sleep until one o'clock.
There are mosquitoes in Pompeii and
no screens. You know how cheerful
the shrill hum of a mosquito is and
how it lulls to slumber when you know
the animal is sure to light and demand
satisfaction and blood, both imme-
diately. 1t is so easy to drop into
slumber when you know you have
just five hours for sleep before hard
climb, and none of us slept of course
and started on our jaunt anything but
fresh. We rode some five miles to a
city at the foot of the mountain and
mounted horses for part of the climb.
We rode through narrow lanes between
vineyards, winding about in the dark
ness for an hour and then came to the
lava beds and rode over them nearly
an hour more, until the ascent became
too steep, then we dismounted and
really commenced the journey.
1t looked fearfully steep and high
and the ashes we're ankle deep, but
we started in followed by several men
who hoped to get jobs of pulling us
up when we became exhausted. I
had been up before and knew what to
expect, but it was new thing to Mr..
and Mrs. Towne. To cut long and
very hard experience short, we reached
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