Durango semi-weekly herald., 1902-04-17


DRY that bread and fruit are not nour-
ishing receives a stout contradiction
from The Neapolitans. because there
is no more muscular or vigorous race
than they. and considerable portion
of the population never taste meat
from one end OF their lives to the 9th
er They are exclusively vegetarians
and bread eaters
One reason why oranges are so
cheap in Italy is that they can no
longer be shipped to the United
States Florida and California and
the Mckinley tariff have driven them
entirely out of our market. and the
lemon trade is extremity limited com
pared to what IL was a few years ago.
Our consul at Messini. Sicily, which Is
the center OF the lemon traffic. tells
me that the exports now are merely
nominal
Next to fruits and bread comes mac
aronl. which is made of the semi-trans-
lucent wheat raised in southern Italy,
Algeria and Egypt. which Is very
much richer in nitrogenous properties
than our wheat. Spaghetti is another
Api III vi uNtuIOHls Niil' F'i ~
macaroni drawn into fine threads or
cut into small lozenges. stars, disks,
letters Of the alphabet. forms OF ami
mails and other fauciful shapes. The
flour Is mixed into thick paste of
dough with boiling water. and after
being thoroughly kneaded both with
the hands and by the use Of heavy,
notched rollers. some of them weigh
Ing 200 or 300 pounds ii Is placed In
metallic cylinder One end of the
cylinder Ia pierced with holes and
piston Ii pressed down upon the
dough. which expels the air and forces
II through the holes. coming out In the
form of long tubes When the tubes
have reached n certain length, an au-
tomato knife shayes them on and
they fall in such way as to hang
over wooden rod. which is carried out
in the sunshine to dry or placed in a
room which Is kept at an even tenn
perature Cheap macaroni is rapidly
dried. 1t is very important that the
drying should be slow and that which
Is cured In the sun is much better than
that dried indoors. People joke about
H. and say that the superiority of the
macBfoni dried In the street Is due to
the flavor Of the dust and dirt that Is
blown upon It, for the streets in which
the macaronl is spread out to dry are
about the dirtiest In all Naples. Well
cured macaron is tough, elastic and
entirely without moisture and with
glossy surface. 1t can be kept for
any length OF time in any climate.
The reason Noapolitan macaroni is
better than that manufactured else
where is a subject of controversy.
The same kind of wheat, the same
Kind Of machinery and the same men
may be used in Genoa. Milan, Turin,
aud other cities OF the north and In
cities of the south as we'll. but the
macaroni there produced is different
in taste and always inferior to that
made In Naples. II is also contended
that the only place In Naples where
good macaroni can be made Is the lit
tie suburban town of ORE Annunziata
the first station on the railway this
side of Pompeil
The goats Of Naples go upstairs into
tenement houses to be MIXED, some
times to the sixth or seventh story
and the clatter of the hoofs upon the
steps Is quite musical. The occupants
OF the upper floors let down baskets
with n penny inside from their win
dows to the vegetable peddlers and
haul them up filled with vegetables
Not word is exchanged. and neither
the customer nor the peddler could be
heard II they tried to talk. They com
mdnicate by a sign language in which
the Neapolitans are adept and fluent
Half the meaning and force of their
conversion Is In the gestures, If you
not be able to talk Every gesture
has meaning, and If you go into a
market place you can witness buying
and selling and animated disputes
about prices without sound being ut
tered No people are more ready with
their tongues. but the Neapoitans
can converse by signs equally as well.
Very few OF them can read or write,
until recent years they have had no
schools, aud they have acquired con
tempt for education. 1t is almost inn
phhslnit 10 tOUlpel tne luILaToHl 10
send their child to the free public
schools which have been recently es-
tablished and 1t would be difficult to
induce the children to go even If the
parents were willing. Public letter
writer's are found In all parts of the
city whore the lower classes live, and
they constitute large and well paid
illiteracy. the people are fond of clas
sic poetry and every afternoon public
readers may be heard declaiming pas
sagcs from Tnsso. Arisosto and mod
crn poets to large audiences of work
mon. rag piokers and other people of
equally humble occupations, who pay
Tor the privilege OF listening.
In front OF every cigar store and
sometimes In front Of groceries you
often see coil Of loosely made rope,
one end Of which is lighted and held
M about the height OF a mans breast
by an iron tripod. That is public ci-
gar lighter, which, according to an an
cient custom Is offered by tradesmen
who court popularity.
have said good deal about the
mozzonare, or street eamins, OF Ma
pies. but they are subject OF never.
ceasinE interest n race of little saw
ages who live in tho sunshine and