The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1900-04-23

tive and rocky barrens The people appear
peaceable, cheerful and polite, and I'm spite
of the late unpleasantness seem 10 think
none the less OF the '-Americanos.''
Naples. which we reached in three days
after embarking at Gibraltar. proved. In
early March, sad disappointment. The
weather was incement In the highest de-
gree. The top and sides Of vesuvius were
covered with snow, and on the fourth day
of the month Pompeii found ''the beaufi-
fur covering the antique pavements of It's
excavated Streets--a very unusual occur
renee. The surf from the Mediterranean.
agitated by continued storms, threw its
spray high UP on to the ramparts OF the
CASTILLO Del Ovo, opposite which, at the
the Hotel De Vesuve. May Allah protect
Americans accustomed TO warmth and home
comforts from south European wintering
places. The people are provided only with
the scantiest of appliances for heating
their thick-walled houses during the cold
season OF the year. With a temperature OF
deep. damp cellar It often became neces-
sary TO protect ourselves at the dinner ta-
BILE with muller and overcoat. Wood or
coal in Spain and Italy is more precious
than corals and tortoiseshell combs
1t was two years after the close of the
war that / first saw la Bella Eapon."
Its surroundings, with Vesuvius. Pompeii
and the blue waters of the bay, charmed
me. To see this spot of earth was the
gratifying realization OF a long-cherished
and ardent dream of my younger days.
had, at the time, the good fortune TO have
the company of two Americans genial and
cultured young men from the State OF
Maine. One of them, the Hon. Charles +.
Libby, has since served his State as presi-
dent of the Senate. During that stay in
Naples the entire to the aristocratic Cercle
de la Union, adjoining the San Carlos The
ter, was. through the kindness OF one OF
its members, open to us. There, one even
ing, We were presented to Louis, ex-king
of Bavaria. who had then abcicated his
throne. He. in a genial and animated way.
quite unceremoniously interested ldmself
in America and our affairs. and made US
feel very much at home. j recalled this In
cident one night OF our recent visit while
attending at the same theater the produc-
ton Of the opera La Boheme." IL was
artistically sung before @ large and criti-
cal audience. but somehow did not interest
me. The animated behavior OF the bril-
liant concourse, however, engrossed much
of my attention. / was surprised TO see
with what severity of dsapproval singers
were Kissed who did not come up to the
mark, and how more than enthusiastic and
prolonged was the applause lavished upon
the favorite. The audience in the third act
was excited TO such a pitch of frenzy that
IL forced the tenor and leading soprano 10
sing over or repeat almost half the act, q
thing unheard of except in musical and ex-
citable Italy.
Being. on account of Indictment weather.
shut off from making excursions TO the
country. we devoted much time TO the Ma
tional Museum, with its well-known coli
lections of antique statuary, which always
~
student of ancient Greek culture with
many of its finest specimens. The world
renowned aquarium, with Its wealth or
marine life, nowhere else found In such
abundance and variety here, fascinatcs
the visitor with revelations OF the secrets
OF the briny deep. There is the transparent
''Girdle OF Venus" carefully protected
from contact by a glass cylinder: the
fairy-like rose and violet tinted ,Medusa,
propellng herself through the water with
transparent parasol-shaped mantle: there
the nightmare Of an octopus devil fish,
the cutie fish. with It's inky black ejec-
tions-for he, like some men, likes 20 fish
in troubled waters-drunken looking and
deformed beggars Of all sorts OF crabs and
crustaceae, some of them on stills and
crutches; the Muraena eel. priced. petted
and fattened by the ancient Roman gour-
mands, and fnnumerable fishes, from the
shark 10 the sardine. fiat, round, long and
square I'm shape. and of all colors and.
shades, opalescent. transparent and other
wise. The most puZzling proposition pre-
sents itself when you try TO determine
where the plant life ends and animal life
begins This is exemplified ir the eponges.
| corals, the sea anernones. star fishes and
others
Naples is hungry town; the beggar, the
| hack driver and the pedd,er of tortoise
shell combs make life burden 10 the Wis
| itor who, with unfailing instinct. Is spotted
| house. violets. which should be offered by
| young girls. are hawked about by grown
| up. lazy and importunate "Dagoes." Street
| life, nevertheless. proved just as interest
| ing TO me as IL did on former visits: even
| greeted the picturesque Lazarone OF the
| Santa Lucia, with their dirt and feas al
friends OF other days. J. A LEMcKE-